Packaging: The Vietnam Combat Engineer Set brings all the gear you expected to get when you bought the Vietnam Combat Engineer figure ($21.99). Now for $7.99, Hasbro provides a bunch of useful tools. The card has a faded out picture of jungle foliage in the background. The back of the card shows the three newest sets.
Gear: Machete & sheath; knife & sheath; detonator and wire roll; rifle & ammo clip; canteen; gun & magazine with removable bullets; jungle helmet; Engineer hardhat; flashlight, axe, shovel and belt. The gun is great, previously appeared in another set. The helmet fits most Joes; I put it on the Frank Sinatra head and it fit perfectly. The canteen has a weathered look, and clips on. The flashlight also looks good in black. All of this gear is excellent with a couple of negatives.
Utility of Gear: The Axe, Shovel, and knife are made for tiny hands. Only the Gung-Ho grip could hold these, and they really look like they were purchased from an early batch of Soldiers of The World or a Ken Camping Set. The Engineer Hardhat is smaller than the helmet, and also looks like a Ken piece. The rubber belt has the cheapest nipple-hook I have ever seen. Only Gilbert's, Formative, or some knock-off manufacturer would have made a belt like this. It really looks CHEAPO!!! Somewhere, a Hasbro executive should hang his head in shame. Joe Hassenfeld should be turning in his grave. I had never seen G.I. Joe use a nipple-belt-buckle. This is something maybe FISCHER PRICE might use in its sets for babies to learn how to dress their dollies!!!
Like usual, Hasbo does not know what market to cater to: The Hall of Fame & Classic Collection style with big hands, or the new Gung-Ho Grip and tiny hands. So Hasbro sticks both sizes into every set.
Price: For $7.99 you get a lot of gear, and if you have a variety of action figures, every piece will fit on something!
Grade: B
