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Hasbro Collector's Club WWII Army Ranger

Check out those steely eyes!  Yep, it's the WWII Ranger, done in a limited edition of 10,000 by Hasbro.  This is one of the Collector's Club editions, and if your smart you'll check it out at Kbkids.com where you can get a terrific deal right now - this figure, plus the 21st Century German Paratrooper, plus 4 other carded 21st Century outfits PLUS 2 carded weapons packs, all for $80.  Use the $5 off coupon code 4FRIEND, and you've got one heck of a deal - especially since it is considered a 'single item' and shipping is only $4.25!


This is a pretty nice figure, particularly for current Hasbro standards.  Originally, this figure was to have the head sculpt of Tom Hanks, and be the Saving Private Ryan figure.  Rumor has it that Spielberg nixed that idea, but if you'd like to see just how that would have turned out, check out my Saving Private Ryan display.

Packaging - ***
It comes with a very sharp retro-package, designed like the early Joe boxes.  The graphics are well designed and crisp, and it's a very nice, nostalgic touch.

Articulation - ***
Standard Hasbro Joe articulation, except for the improved jointed neck, which allows for forward and backward mobility.  Otherwise, it's the standard shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist, hips, knees and ankles.  I'm hoping that Hasbro will begin to use the double jointed elbows and knees that Dragon started and Max Steel also uses in the higher end dolls.

Accessories - ***
Plenty of equipment comes along with this figure.  Obviously he has pants, shirt, combat jacket and assault vest - he's well protected from the elements.  The boots are covered by a terrific set of leggings, and there's the required helmet.  For weapons, he has his knife, .45, Browning rifle and Thompson machine gun.  In addition, he has a canteen with pouch, shovel with pouch, binoculars and ammo bag.  Everything can be attached to his uniform somewhere, although it's all not obvious.

There are pluses and minuses to Hasbro's accessories, particularly when you compare them to a company like 21st Century.  The hard plastic accessories from 21st Century are usually much more realistic - the Hasbro helmet and guns can't even begin to compare to the 21st Century sculpt quality.  However, there are some of us that much prefer the style of cloth pouches that Hasbro has always used, and the fact that you can actually open things up and put other things inside.  All of these accessories were very sturdy and well made, unlike some of the 21st Century accessories I've broken just taking out of the package.

The uniform itself is very well done, with real pockets, straps and snaps.  It fits extremely well, and looks terrific.

Sculpting - ***
The sculpting on the hard plastic accessories leaves something to be desired, as I mentioned.  But this unique head sculpt is great, and is certainly a cut above the standard Hasbro head sculpt.  Thanks to Stephen Chan, I now know that this head is called the WWII head sculpt, because that's where it showed up first from Hasbro.  It's been used on 7 different figures so far, but this color combination of red hair and blue eyes is unique to this production figure.  Only one other figure has this combination, and that is the WWII Marine Convention Exclusive from 1998.  Thanks Stephen!

Overall - ***
I like this Joe quite a bit, and it's certainly a cut above the average that Hasbro produces.  Of course, it costs more as well - $60 if you buy it by itself (but I recommend that Kaybee deal I mentioned above!).  For the WWII buff, and for the serious Joe fan, this is a great figure.


Figure from the collection of Michael Crawford.

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