We’re quickly moving through a lot of the iconic villains of Cobra, with yet another ’84 entry to the ranks.
Scrap Iron, with his anti-tank exploderator, was an instant favorite when I was a kid. He blew up the MOBAT innumerable times, knocked the Dragonfly out of the air, and turned Joes into a gooey red paste.
Scrap Iron’s Classified version maintains the aesthetic of the original figure, with the classic red and blue color scheme and that iconic helmet. There have been a few minimal alterations to his design, but for the most part everything has maintained the vintage purity.
Once again these continue to be some of the best-looking figures on the market. The sculpting is excellent, with creases and folds and puckering to give the clothing a level of verisimilitude. The pinless joints aid in pulling off the streamlined feel.
This time around, Scrap Iron comes with a removable helmet. The original card art depicted him with a scar on his cheek, and this one carries that detail over, but adds to the scarification with a severely burned/melted left side. The lumpy, bumpy sculpt and mangled ear is topped off with a pink coloration to suggest ruined skin.
I do find that the helmet is a little fiddly, meaning that it takes a bit of doing to get it to sit just right on his nose. It tends to want to scoot askew with the slightest provocation, so I ended up having to center it quite often. For that reason alone I think I would have been fine losing the unhelmeted effect, since I don’t plan on having him without his helmet anyway, but that’s purely a me thing. I don’t plan on gluing it in place, but that is an option if it bothers anyone.
He also comes with a pistol that can be holstered to his side. I think one of my favorite things about this generation of Joe figures is the fact that, when appropriate, they have holstered guns. When you’ve grown up with guns sculpted into their holsters you appreciate the little things like that. His final personal accessory is a control pad for his missile launcher.
Scrap Iron was a deluxe figure, with deluxe pricing, but it feels more than justified, considering his previously static missile launcher has been upgraded into a rolling death drone.
The missile launcher comes in two sections that snaps together by a ball joint. That ball joint allows the turret a wide range of motion, from turning fully around to angling up or down. The drone makes me wants Classified versions of the PAC/RATS even more, because it feels like an honorary cousin. Except eeeevil.
The familiar missile designs slot into the chambers. There are several effect pieces that can be used in a variety of ways. There are two missile burst effects that can be attached to the end of the missiles that then peg into the back of the missile chambers. One is longer than the others, so it appears that the launches are staqgered.
The set also comes with a few explosion effects that can be placed on the ground. The are all cast in a translucent orangey color with a white smoke effect.
Scrap Iron does not disappoint at all. It feels well worth the deluxe price point, and the upgrades to the missile launcher feel like natural extensions of the original offering.
Source: Fwoosh
