Recondo

I'm not ashamed to say the roar of guns and cannons almost made me cry. Since many years I haven't seen a rifle in your hand. Can you hear the drums, Recondo? Do you still recall the fateful night we crossed the Rio Grande? I can see it in your eyes, how proud you were to fight for freedom in this land. There was something in the air that night, the stars were bright, Recondo. They were shining there for you and me - for liberty - Recondo. Though we never thought that we could lose, there's no regret; if I had to do the same again I would, my friend, Recondo. If that doesn't sound right to you, we challenge you to find any official information from Hasbro about the character. He didn't have a bio on the official Joe website before Hasbro took the whole thing down, and none of the product listings say anything about him, so as of right now, we're the A-#1 authority on who and what he is. Now that we have said it, it must be canon! It's possible that Tiger Force Recondo was never intended to exist, despite "the jungle guy" being one of the few characters who actually made sense in that sub-team. The behind-the-scenes point of the 1987 group was to reuse existing molds, both to recoup costs and to give new fans a shot at some iconic vehicles. One of those was the classic 1983 Dragonfly helicopter, redubbed the "Tiger Fly." Apparently Hasbro couldn't find the Wild Bill molds, so they just grabbed Recondo instead. Presumably because he also had a mustache and something resembling a cowboy hat. Was that an intentional choice, or a hasty mistake? I don't know, could be either, but either way, it happened; Wild Bill was never made in Tiger Force colors (until Genertion 2), and Recondo was suddenly promoted to helicopter pilot despite no previous expertise in that area; they even rewrote his filecard to excuse it! The European release of the Tiger Fly still identified the figure as Wild Bill on the packaging and filecard. So technically, if you wanted this to not be Recondo, and instead Wilde Willem, it could be. Like all the Classified Tiger Force figures so far, this was a Target exclusive. Unlike most of them, this is (as of writing) still the only version of the character available - there is no "plain" Daniel M. LeClaire yet. This isn't the first Recondo to have a removeable hat, but it's certainly the first to make him look like a guy who would love being in the jungle, rather than a 19th century British dandy. [clearly yo has forgotten about Pursuit of Cobra and its sexual tyrannosaur --ed.] Instead of light khaki, Tiger Force Recondo gets something that might actually hide him out in the bush: his shirt is black, and his pants are dark green with a few yellow tiger stripes on them. His boots, belt, and webgear are all a dark brown. His watchband is also brown, and the watch face itself gets a silver app, which matches the compass on his belt. His hat is a very dark blue, almost black in most light. Not that he ever has trouble moving around undetected, but this colorscheme would definitely make it even easier. Classified figures have 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. Recondo's pec hinges were stiff, but I don't know if it's construction, or something about the way they fit into the torso. His hair is a little long, but it flares out at the base, so he can still tip his chin up to watch the tree tops. The belt and the lower edge of his shirt are molded as one, so that ring of plastic can push out of the way if it needs to when you raise his legs. The original 1984 Recondo's weapon was popular with collectors because it was such a nice sculpt - it was an M-1/M-14 style rifle, with a folded bipod sculpted on it, and cloth wrapped around the body, making for a very detailed accessory for the time. The rifle this toy has is similar, and does get a few strips of cloth, but no bipod this time. The figure also includes a pistol for the holster on his chest, and a big kukri for chopping his way through the undergrowth. His backpack is green with a brown bed roll, and while it does have the sculpted canteen seen on the original, it's lacking the top handle that would allow him to carry it rather than wear it. Shame, that was an iconic part of the look. There is one opportunity for an Easter egg with this figure that Hasbro missed. His stats are Environmental Specialist 3, Light Weapons 2, Recon 2, and Jungle Combat 4, which are probably what we'll see on the eventual standard release. But if you remember what we all learned up above, the G1 Tiger Force Recondo suddenly had to be the helicopter pilot because of Wild Bill's absense; so why not turn either his Role or Skill into Rotary Wing Pilot at a rating of 1? It would have been a funny nod to their old mistake. I was tempted by Tiger Force Recondo but, like Outback, I figured I'd wait for the regular release if I got the character at all. But then I found him on clearance while visiting a distant Target, and couldn't resist the price! Let that be a lesson, Hasbro: lower prices equal more impulse purchases, and if playing Lemonade Stand has taught me anything, that can lead to higher profits overall. -- 08/04/23

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