Arctic Threat Doc

Height: 10.5cm to top of head.

Articulation: 22 points total- ball-jointed neck; 5 points each arm: universal joint shoulder, universal-joint elbow, forearm swivel; mid-torso ball joint; 5 points each leg: ball-joint hip, double-joint knee, universal joint ankle.

Colors: Molded orange, yellow, white, black, blue, red, and fleshtone. Painted black, blue, silver, orange, teal, yellow, and red.

Accessories: Rescue kit with removable tools, Medic Bag, Flare Gun, Jet Injector, Helmet, Stretcher with blanket, Crampons, Stand.

Release Data: Released as a ToysRUs Exclusive in January 2010 with a SRP of $7.99. This item is still widely available at ToysRUs stores.

Author: RAC

(more...)

Carl "Doc" Greer is a medical doctor on the GI Joe team and specializes in emergency medicine. His extensive training has prepared him for battlefield situations requiring immediate care. He works with calm professionalism as weapoms fire and battles explode all around him.

Arctic Threat Doc is basically a prelude to the Pursuit of Cobra line we'll be seeing later this year. He and fellow TRU exclusive Shipwreck are both part of the "Arctic" theme (obviously) which will be accompanied later in the year by Jungle and Desert themes. Arctic Threat Doc was getting a lot of familiar-sounding complaints when he was first shown and released. However, you don't have to search very long to find arctic or mountain rescue teams in very brightly colored clothing. Something about needing to be very visible in low-visibility emergency situations, I think.

Weird, huh?


The Figure


Doc's a little taller than the average GI Joe even though his head looks to me to be a bit smaller. Not sure if that's actually the case, or just a side-effect of the incredibly wide collar on his bright orange coat. It's nicely sculpted too- it looks as though the outfit itself is adding bulk to whatever Doc's normal physique would be. There's a nice bit of silver trim on the coat and on his blue gloves- reflective tape, I guess. Although the collar and gloves make it pretty obvious this deco was not intended for the shapes of the mold. (Which is really odd, because I'm told Doc's collar piece is an all-new piece, not present on the 25th Arctic Snake Eyes that this body hails from.) In case the medical supplies, flaregun, and bright colors didn't tip you off, the word "RESCUE" is tampographed on his back in large white letters. To go with the parka, Doc's wearing highly visible yellow, black and blue pants. His sunglasses, which the character has always had, are much more reflective now- I guess to prevent the glare of the snow he's presumably dealing with.

The head isn't restricted in its range by the collar- there's some resistance when you get to swiveling around the 180-degree mark, but presumably Doc has bigger problems if his head's stuck in that position anyway. There's not a lot of vertical tilt, but that's the shape and function of the neck joint to blame, not the collar. Like the Pit Commando, Doc's shoulder joints are shaped oddly- this seems to be so that his arms can hang straight down. However, it also means that his arms can't quite lift straight out to the side, nor can he swivel his arms straight up. The elbow joint is scalloped in such a way as to bend best when the forearm is pointed straight ahead- and even then it doesn't manage 90 degrees. Given the big gloves, I'm not sure any change would've made it any better, though the ability to turn the forearm to the left or right as desired would be nice. I do prefer function over form, every time.

The midsection joint is pretty nicely mobile, though the tilt's more noticable when you pull the torso back to look as though Doc's back is arched. It really is a shame that Doc doesn't have the Pit Commando's waist joint though, as the coat is even longer than the tail of the tunic on that mold- it'd hide the waist joint perfectly. The bottom piece to the coat is very stiff; too stiff, in fact. It limits the front-to-back range of the legs severely. Side-to-side is still pretty decent, still better than ankles with no rocker joints can accomodate. The bulky legs fold pretty well for their size, managing a pretty tight V. The ankles have great range with lots of lean both forward and back, and the joint is not shaped as severely as the elbows, so it's easier to turn the feet to one side or other. It's restricted compared to a lot of other GI Joes, but probably more flexible than a real person wearing clothing this heavy would ever be.


Accessories

-Rescue Kit

Doc's backpack is a blue case with double doors and an odd folding handle that serves no purpose that I can determine. Inside are a variety of tools, about half of which are removable. Molded into the case are a hand grenade (always invaluable for rescue operations!), a couple rounds for the flare gun, needlenose pliers, some thread, and a rectangular brown thing that I'm going to assume is part of a splint. Removable tools include a larger pair of pliers, a flashlight, a water can, and a rectangle. The rectangle is actually my favorite accessory. See, this backpack is a reuse of a demolitions backpack included with a version of Firefly, where this was more clearly a bundle of C4 with a timer attached. But now, as Doc's rescue kit, this is a stethoscope wrapped around a bundle of bandages. I think this is probably the best and most entertaining repurposing of an accessory mold I've ever seen.

-Medic Bag

A simple white back with red pouches and a silver closure. If you want it slung across the shoulder as opposed to just over one arm, Doc's head and collar will have to come off. But it'll stay put after that, and not really hamper his articulation any.

-Helmet

A blue helmet with the movie GI Joe logo on the front and a couple of tiny prescription medication bottles strapped to the sides. I like that. What I don't like is that it's molded white and painted blue rather sloppily. You can't tell when it's on Doc's head, but once you take it off of him it's pretty obvious, as the inner edges of the helmet are very uneven.

-Flare Gun

A World War II-era brass flaregun. Why a piece of old army surplus? This particular model was included in dozens of 1/6-scale GI Joe sets throughout the `60s and `70s, and dozens more of the reissues of those sets in the `90s and `00s. In short, it gets around. It fits the hand securely, and that's pretty much all you need.

-Jet Injector

Meet the real-world version of the hypospray! At least that's what I assume this is, because it doesn't look like much of a weapon to me. If it's based on any real-world model of jet injector, I haven't found it yet, but it fits into Doc's hands just as well as the flare gun.

-Stretcher and blanket

A hard plastic stretcher and a cloth blanket with an elastic loop to keep it on whatever figure you've designated as wounded. The molded detail on the stretcher is pretty sharp- in addition to the pouches and vials underneath, you can make out the rivets around the edges. The underside has a small red GI Joe logo- another creative way to deal with places where they can't put a red cross. There are also small legs to keep the stretcher sitting level, and there's a clip on each handle, a leftover from this mold's use as an accessory for [EXT http://www.yojoe.com/action/83/doc.shtml]the orignal Doc figure, when the GI Joe hands were not flexible enough to use the regular handles.

-Crampons

They don't fit as snugly as City Strike Snake Eyes', primarily because they don't peg into Doc's feet the way those do. Instead, these have holes so that Doc can still be pegged into his stand when he's wearing them- nice! On the other hand, since they do slip off you have the problem of having Doc face-down on your shelf and a pair of crampons stuck to his stand. Sub-optimal.

-Stand

I'm using it as crampon storage. I don't use those often nor do I use the stand, and that should hopefully keep them from getting lost.


Closing Remarks

Doc's a balanced package- the articulation is limited in places, but I think that's forgivable since he's in a pretty bulky outfit. And the accessories are varied, and in some cases very entertaining. And hey, no missile launcher! All in all, he's a Very Good[/i] figure.

-RAC