Review and photos by Phillip Donnelly

Here we've got another first series figure, Figure Number 1001 - Duke. This figure falls into the "Jungle Assault" category, and he definitely looks the part. Some great jungle camo and smatterings of mud on his shins and forearms squarely place him in in this environment. As opposed to say, Snake Eyes.

When the themed environments started last year in the Rise of Cobra line, we got a City Strike Duke with a Channing Tatum head. However, with the shift in direction this line eventually took, the movie connections were de-emphasized in favor of more generic Joe looks. I actually think we benefitted from this with a great new headsculpt for Duke. He still has the cheek scar, though the scar paint on mine is slightly in front of the molded scar. Oops! You can still see some Reactive Armor from a previous Duke figure in the torso, but with the rest of the figure being all new, we actually get a really different take on this character. Speaking of different takes, he's apparently the "Team Commander" now? Guess we won't be seeing another Hawk figure for a while.

Duke comes with some really cool gear - webgear with an integrated sheath for a machete, a machine gun with removable (read: easily lost) clip, a rifle, a pistol, a flashlight, and a MOLLE backpack. The backpack continues a trend first seen last year, being a hollow shell but with a molded holder for a smaller accessory - in this case, the flashlight. The pack takes it one step further however, adding an elastic strap that can wrap around the top. This allows you to strap one of or both of the rifles to his backpack, freeing up space in his hands. It may not be as nice as an opening backpack like the one Firefly has, but it's certainly nice to have some functionality to it.

This is an excellent figure overall, with perhaps some influences of totally radical '80s movies like "Predator" and "Commando." He even manages to have the underrated ability to carry all his gear at once! So what exactly are you waiting for? Go out and buy this toy!

Archive entry:
Duke (v42)

Editor's Note:
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Images from the collection of: Phillip Donnelly

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