GI Joe 50th Anniversary Marine Devastation Gung-Ho

GI Joe 50th Anniversary Marine Devastation Gung-Ho

Presenting Gung-Ho from the GI Joe 50th Anniversary Marine Devastation toyline. 

There's a rumor going around the interweb that suggests that Hasbro has stopped producing GI Joe action figures because it militarizes the youth, simplifies the war against terror and promotes Nationalism bordering on racism. 

GI Joe makes collectors Rednecks. 

We should point out that Gung-Ho is a Cajun, not a Redneck. We understand some Cajuns take offense to the use of the generic term for people South of the Mason-Dixon line. 

We think that such an idea is too simplistic and is a matter of marketing and public relations.

But then again, Trump is inching his way towards becoming "the most powerful man in the universe" so what do we know?

MORE AFTER THE JUMP

The blister pack of the GI Joe Marine Gung-Ho states that his real name is Gunnery Sergeant (E7) Ettienne R. LaFitte from Fer-de-Lance, Louisiana. His primary military specialty is Reconnaissance and his secondary military specialty is Jungle Warfare. The blister pack reads "Born into a Cajun clan in the Louisiana swamps, Gung-Ho joined the Marines and graduated top of his class from Parris island. He's meaner than a Louisiana black bear in battle and faces imminent disaster with a big grin: in other words, he's a Marine. While conducting night recon a Cobra base, he is attacked by Cobra Shadow Guard troopers, and teaches them not to irritate a bare-knuckle brawler from the bayou."

Just how bad-ass is he? In the Marvel comic-books he stood toe-to-toe against Storm-Shadow and both left the battle injured.

The Marine Devastation Gung-Ho comes armed with:

• A General Electric (Hard to believe they make weapons) M134 Mini-Gun - Say what you will about the Expendables, Dolph Lundgren's character Gunnar Jensen was both correct and incorrect in the 3rd movie when he told Terry Crew's character Hale Ceasar that his mini-gun would blow it's wad in 10 seconds. Even in the movie it lasts a little longer than that. But Gung-Ho is carrying no more than 25 seconds of ammunition - which makes the M134 impressive, but impractical. 
• An M249 Squad Automatic Weapon with removable ammunition clip similar to the one used by the Pursuit of Cobra Duke. 
• An M79 40mm grenade launcher
• A pistol
• A knife
• An ammunition belt for the M134 that attaches to an ammunition case backpack and harness.

What's to like about the GI Joe 50th Anniversary Marine Devastation Gung-Ho?

FIRST: The Marine Devastation Gung-Ho comes with a new body and face sculpt. The body is slightly taller than the Gung-Ho that was released in 2007, and his Marine symbol tattoo is larger now. it covers hi entire chest, not just the area above his solar plexus. 

His facial sculpt is also new. At least Gung-Ho no longer looks like a muscular Hitler and cannot be mistaken for Leatherneck - who uses the same head sculpt as Gung-Ho's predecessor. 

He kinda looks like a short-haired Machete (Danny Trejo). 

Here's Gung-Ho without his vest on so you can see the details:

SECOND: Yes, the Marine Devastation Gung-Ho can kneel. His articulation is excellent! The GI Joe 50th Anniversary Gung Ho comes with the new wrist articulation for the GI Joes that we've grown to love. His left hand can basically curl, while his right hand can cant along the forearm. Because of this, it's actually easier to have him fire the Mini-gun using his left hand while cradling it with his right hand as you can see in the above pics and these pics below:

GI Joe 50th Anniversary Marine Devastation Gung-Ho

But Gung Ho can also be made to reverse his grip, but as you can see, his grasp of the handle is not as firm:

THIRD: The GI Joe 50th Anniversary Marine Devastation Gung-Ho comes with other weapons should you find the mini-gun too.... lacking... However Gung-Ho only carries additional ammunition for the grenade-launcher:

Here's Gung-Ho with his SAW:

GI Joe 50th Anniversary Marine Devastation Gung-Ho

What's NOT to like about the GI Joe 50th Anniversary Marine Devastation Gung-Ho?

FIRST: The first thing we don't like about the Marine Devastation Gung-Ho is his ammunition harness. It fits poorly over Gung-Ho as long as he is wearing his vest. It simply looks weird and it's resting on top of his grenades. If you want it to look "cooler", remove the vest.

SECOND: What's with the teal color? Marine Urban Camouflage actually has a version that is dominantly blue - but nothing that looks like this. We understand that this is a nod to the colors of Gung-Ho as he first appeared waaaay back in 1983, but it's just over the top. He looks like the Green Ranger that General Hawk despised in the Devil's Due Comic Book. And what's with painting the bullets Teal as well?

Happily if you're as bothered by Gung-Ho's color scheme as we are, and are a hard-core collector like us, then you should easiy be able to replace that ammunition belt.

The GI Joe 50th Anniversary Marine Devastation Gung-Ho is available as a part of a two-pack involving a Cobra Shadow Guard trooper for US$ 34.40 (Roughly PhP 1,651.20 plus shipping).

If you don't mind the color (Drop the vest, change the belt, keep the mini-gun), then this is without a doubt the best version of Gung-Ho that we've seen.

GI Joe 50th Anniversary Marine Devastation Gung-Ho