Alpine
Well, I've been profiling a lot of figures from the late 80's and early 90's in an attempt to go into some uncharted territory. To hopefully turn your eyes onto some figures you had forgotten about. But to assure you that I haven't forgotten about the "golden years" of G.I. Joe, I'm going to take a couple steps back this time and go back to 1985. The middle of the decade of greatness that was the eighties. Generation One Transformers and G.I. Joe on TV and in the stores. Masters of the Universe, Thundercats, MASK, and even Silverhawks ruled the toystores and the afternoon cartoons, and life was good. It was a great time to be a Joe fan. The next mini-series featuring the dreaded "Pyramids of Darkness" was on television, and in the comics, Larry Hama and Rod Whigham were just getting going on what would be the best few years in that comics' history. The toyline was absolutely no different.
I remember my first forey into the action figure aisle of my neighborhood Rich's that day. I had heard from a classmate that "new Joes were out!", and that call was like a call to arms throughout the whole school. After much begging and pleading and tugging of the pant legs, my gracious mother took me to the local shopping hub for a Rich's journey. Would be the best Rich's trip I had ever had. Imagine going into a store and snagging a Flint, Lady Jaye, Snake Eyes v2, Quick Kick, Bazooka and Alpine brand spankin' new, on the card for just about $20. Yup, those were the days! And I want to take this time to focus on probably one of the more underrated of those characters, good ole Albert Pine. Yeah, that is his real name.
Alpine is the epitomy of underrated. In the cartoon, he was given some due, but was always saddled by his "goofball sidekick", Bazooka. While their friendship was amusing and entertaining, it didn't really let either one of them shine. As for his comic appearences, well Alpine had very few. He was featured in a terrific storyline that had the Joes make their first visit to Cobra Island, which was a monumental occasion, but after that, he pretty much vanished from public view. Too bad, really.
Alpine is a great, great action figure, pure and simple. An aboslute testament to what Hasbro was capable of producing in that wonderful decade of the 80's. From the top of his insanely detailed mountaineering cap to the toes of his rugged green boots and everything in between, he was fantastic. First of all, the facial sculpt is very nice, displaying lots of emotion, even though it is slightly cluttered by a hat, glasses, and a moustache. As for the figure detailing, it is impeccable. There is a great padded vest over his white shirt, and very cool brown gloves which would be perfect for climbing rocks and using a pike. His legs are nice and have those cool molded carabeenors(sp???) which just polishes off a great figure. But it doesn't stop there.
What really makes this figure stand out are his exceptional accessories! It is said that the clothes make the man, well in Joe world, good accessories can make or break a figure. Check my profile of Downtown for an example of this. I really and truly think that this is part of the reason that the Joe line faltered in those later years. There were some beautiful figures coming out, but without any unique accessories, they just didn't have as much umph. Alpine is accessoried to the hilt! He has a great tan backpack with a nice slot for his grappling hook and pick, which fits nice and stays there. To launch another grapple, he has a really sweet hook launcher, which could have been made incredibly stupid by making it spring loaded, but instead is nicely detailed and sized. Then once Alpine reaches his destination, he whips out his little machine pistol and is ready for action!! A great adventurer, but also a terrific soldier figure!
Alpine is a perfect example of G.I. Joe's excellence back in their heyday. I am looking foward to the years ahead with the hope that a second period of "golden years" lies in the near future...
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