The only text Hasbro has put out with this figure is a direct copy from the 1985 filecard, because apparently the Joe team's mission statement right now is "boring and lazy." So screw that, here's the info from back when they used to have and maintain a website:
Torch is the mad-scientist mechanic of the Dreadnoks
who loves tearing things apart and putting them back together. His hot-headed and impatient nature really comes out in the incredibly dangerous, crazy vehicles, weapons, and battle rigs he builds for the team out of piles of scavenged scrap and spare parts.
Just like Gung-Ho's amygdala, that seems to be new info made up and introduced here for the first time. Old filecards have said that Torch (real name: Thomas Winken) loves disassembling things, and have even said that he does light motorcycle maintenance for the gang, but they've never intimated that he was the one building anything new out of the parts. Or that he enjoyed doing so. If we weren't here saving that info from link rot, it would now be lost to time. Considering the fact his stats are Mercenary 2, Flamethrower 3, Siegecraft 1, and Mechanical Enginnering 2, do you think they made that part up just for the last one because they couldn't figure out any other category that would suit him?
Buzzer had removable glasses that were the wrong color
and didn't actually fit. Ripper had removable glasses that showed a glass eye(?) underneath. But Torch has glasses that are a permanent part of the sculpt. We realize that giving out these assignments to different artists is part of the process, but isn't the job of a design director to make sure their work all coheres when it's turned in? We don't blame Fred Aczon for Torch's glasses being sculpted on, we blame whoever gave him the assignment for not telling him they were supposed to be separate.
Torch has always been the most "biker"-y of the original Dreadnoks, what with his shaggy hair, friendly muttonchops, leather vest,
various chains and spikes, and the knee boots over faded blue jeans. This is a pretty direct update of the 1985 toy, even bringing out details that were easy to overlook back then because they were unpainted, like the chains around his shoulders. Like before, the vest has three straps holding it closed, he has a studded band around his left bicep, a studded choker and a skull necklace, and a belt that's just a chain. The armband and necklace are separate piece, but the collar is a sculpted part of the neck. Instead of ill-defined black items strapped to his legs, there are holsters. Other new features include studs on the back of his vest, something that was beyond the sculpting ability of toymakers in the mid-80s, and thin chains wrapped around both forearms just above his gloves.
Beneath those chains,
he has red flame tattoos covering his forearms, a new feature for any version of the character. Also red flame patches on his back pockets, because embroidery is another one of his hobbies, I guess? They even bothered to put silver apps on the pocket zippers on the chest, and the studs on his back.
Hasbro's got the articulation down to a science by now.
Torch has swivel/hinge ankles, swivel shins, double-hinged knees, swivel thighs, hips that are a balljoint mounted on a hinge, balljointed waist, hinged chest, swivel/hinge wrists, double-hinged elbows, swivel biceps, swivel/hinge shoulders, pectoral hinges, hinged and balljointed neck, and a balljointead head. His vest is loose enough that it doesn't really impede the joints at all. Unfortunately, they still haven't mastered their size-creep, because the character is supposedly 5'9", but this toy tops out above 6½" tall - a good ¾" too big.
Like we've pointed out before, a flamethrower
is not the same thing as a cutting torch, and although every filecard has said Tom used the latter, every single depiction of his has used the former. No change here, but the flamethrower he uses is a lot cooler than any of the others, because he's modded it, building a spiked skull that fits over the barrel and is gouting flame out its eyes. Bad ass! Unfortunately, those flames are permanently attached, they're there even when the flamethrower is turned off. Like, imagine if when Kylo Ren turned his lightsaber off, it still had the little quillions jetting out the sides; that's the same thing that's happening here. When it's stowed on the bottom of his fuel tanks, he'd be constantly burning his own arms. Shame they couldn't find a way to turn those off.
We get three types of flame
to fit in the front of the weapon: a small wisp, for when he's not actively firing it, a typical plume most flamethrowers are depicted as creating, and a more reealistic "line of flaming fuel spitting out" thing. It's nice variety, and they all look good in place.
With the release of this figure we've now got all the "main" Dreadnoks, but the line's not stopping there. There are at least two more on the way, so they're pretty soon going to have a decently sized force, even separate from the rest of Cobra.
-- 08/30/24
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