Art Design: Like most GI Joe boxes, the package design is very alluring. The front of the window-card displays the Real American Hero character, Shipwreck, whose real name is Hector X. Delgado. The back of the card has a nice photo of Shipwreck on the beach, and a collectible Real American Hero File Card, which tells everything about Hector Delgado, the ace navigator and sailor. Why would an outstanding navigator be code-named "Shipwreck?" I guess the answer might be similar in spirit to what happened in the 1979 film Animal House when (John Belushi) Blutarsky told Pinto what his Delta House name was, and Pinto asked "Why Pinto?"
The Headsculpt: Hector/Shipwreck has a very distinct look. He looks very handsome, like a Latin Zorro. The GI Joe scar on his face is tiny, and flesh colored so it is almost invisible. Hector has a painted on goatee, and he is a good addition to anyone's collection, if only for the sake of variety. If you do not like the clunky body, you can remove the head and put it on any other GI JOE body. In order to remove the head, you have to heat up the neck so the rubber gets softer. You can do this by using a hair dryer or by putting the head in hot water. At some point the head will be soft enough that you can pull it off the neck-post fairly easily. Many of the newer GI Joes have a bobble-neck effect due to the use of a rubber band to connect the neck-post to the body. This elastic rubber can snap if you try to pull the head off of the GI Joe figure when it is not soft enough.
The Action Figure: is another one of the new style of bodies that have no waist articulation, similar to a 1960s doll, it can turn around on its waist, but it cannot bend. The Hall of Fame series also had no waist articulation. Shipwreck is worse than Beach Head, however, because Hasbro has molded-on a sweater for Shipwreck, and his biceps look like a roll of meatloaf. Shipwreck has big fat arms without any muscle tone, and they can hardly bend to a ninety degree angle. Look at the photos!
The Outfit and Gear: The urban camouflage pants and sailor deck shoes are OK. The gear is very good considering this is a $9.99 figure. The blue rubber cap is awesome. It is classic GI Joe! The shoulder holster with the molded-on ammo-belt looks good. The only oversight is that the Smith & Wesson .45 included with the figure is smaller than the holster. If you look at the photos above, you can see the gun is a tad too small. The perfect .45 for this holster is the kind that were issued with the Target 50th Anniversary of World War II sets. Several of the big Hall of Fame style handguns have been issued, and those would fit snugly in this holster. The nice combat knife and sheath are another plus. The gigantic handheld radio (World War II style) is out of place in this set. The M-16 is the plain one-piece kind that Hasbro usually includes in carded sets.
The Price: $9.99 at K-Mart, it should be at Wal-Mart, Target and Toys R Us also. The headsculpt alone is worth the price, and the extremely neat blue-rubber cap and shoulder holster is gravy. This is not a great set, but the positives are pretty good.
Grade: B
