Packaging: Just when you thought Hasbro had lost its nads and had become "family friendly," they unleash a nice window box with an illustration of a Vietnam Door Gunner actually churning the rice paddies with hot lead. Certainly there are no illustrations of VC with their entrails splayed across a bamboo trail, but as ELMO says: "Use your imagination!" The back of the box provides some general information regarding the role of the Door Gunner in Vietnam.
Figure/Headsculpt: This box included a super-poseable G.I. Joe with Gung Ho grip. Sadly, the headsculpt is another red pinhead. I eventually replaced the pinhead with a head from a Power Force ($4.99) figure which sort of looks like the comic book version of a young, crew-cut Peter Parker (Spiderman).
The Outfit: The uniform is a nice green color and the flak vest is thick and it is a new design, not another Hall of Fame era rehash!! The boots are average and a some detailing or some weathering would be a plus.
The Gear: The helmet looks like what most movies of Vietnam show. It looks like the real deal. Sure, it does not have the kind of attention to details that it would have if DRAGON had done this set, but it is G.I. Joe. The handgun included is a .357 or .44 caliber revolver & holster which helicopter personnel usually carried in Vietnam. A web belt is included. The (Door Gun) is a modified M60 (7.62mm) machine gun with spade grips that is a very detailed and well constructed scale weapon (thanks to Al Hernandez and Ronin 67 for the M60 information). Several parts of the firing mechanism move and the ammo belt can be fed into it. Both the helmet and machine gun can use a bit of custom weathering for the sake of realism.
Overall: This set brings to mind the early days of G.I. Joe (1964-1969) when their military uniforms were taken seriously, and not the recent kid-oriented Double Duty or Hall of Fame sets. The fabric feels like a higher quality of cloth. The sewing is much more scale oriented, and the clothing looks more realistic not as much like "doll clothes." This is the kind of set that made G.I. Joe legendary back in the 1960s.
Grade: A
