Years ago, first ReSaurus and then Plan-B Toys had a line called Special Forces, which were 6" military figures, beating both GI Joe Classified and Action Force to the bunch by about a decade and a half. Eventually the line expanded to feature non-military toys, like cops and firefighters. Well looky what kind of Classifed figure we have here!
Search & Rescue Firefighters place the welfare
and security of others before their own, breaching areas that are hazardous to life and health.
The GI Joe Classified "Legacy Collection" was announed this past June during one of Hasbro's collector hype-building events. Two sets were revealed - fire and police - but while everything else announced at the event went up for preorder immediately after, the Legacy Collection Emergency Service Unit Police Officer still hasn't. Hasbro, if you're waiting to put preorders up until there haven't been any stories of cops abusing their power or abusing the public, we've got some bad news for you. That's like when a TV show delays an episode until there hasn't been a recent mass shooting - it ain't gonna happen. But hey, like the saying goes, nobody ever wrote a song called "F&@( the Fire Department," so here's the first release in the subline.
The figure reuses an existing sculpt, but it's an extremely clever choice: firefighters wear thick, protective gear, but nothing as stylized as Barbeque or Blowtorch. So what sculpt can they possibly reuse
to show that? It's Snow Job! Snow Job was a Hasbro Pulse exclusive, I am just now learning, which is why you've never read a review of him. The clothes are appropriately bulky, because what works visually for "protect the wearer from extreme cold" can also work fairly well for "protect the wearer from extreme heat." It's all about maintaining the temperature inside the outfit, right? That means we know all these zippers and big pockets were sculpted by the man responsible for scientifically measuring and recording the ideal definition of "room temperature," Paul Harding. Snow Job's webgear has been replaced by a different harness and they've changed the collar on the coat, but otherwise, this is some strong re-use!
Like the 60th Anniversary figures, the Legacy Collection features swappable heads. Since the fireman is wearing a close-fitting hood,
the necks don't need to be removable, even though the two heads are different ethnicities. Unlike some former GI Joe marketing executives we could name (or the sad losers who agree with him), the Springfield Fire Department obviously isn't opposed to diversity, equality, or inclusion, because you have the option to make this firefighter either black or white. Correction: black or Asian, I didn't look closely enough at the head he's got on in the tray.
The heads trade out easily, which is good news, since it means it's easier to use some of the accessories. When Emergency Forces made firefighters, they did swappable heads, allowing you to choose one that's bare or one wearing a helmet and facemask.
Legacy does similar, by making the helmet and mask separate pieces that actually fit onto the toy! We've come a long way, baby! The full-face mask slips onto the head and features a hose that plugs onto a nozzle on his harness. Thing is, since it's easier to get the helmet on by putting the back of the head in first and then sliding the strap down over the chin, you wouldn't be able to do that when the mask was in place; however, since the head is removable, you can actually get them both onto him fairly easily, then put the head back on the neck. Between those and the goggles, there are a lot of possible looks for this dude!
It really is impressive how drastically a new coat of paint can hide this mold's origins. The majority of the suit is black,
but there are bright yellow and silver stripes painted on the chest, biceps, wrists, waist, and shins - a refernce to the real-life reflective strips firefighter turnout gear has. The harness is grey, as are the belt and pockets molded on the lower portion of his jacket, while the tubes attached to that harness go back to being black, with a silver nozzle to plug the mask onto, and a printed dail gauge on the left side. His undersuit - at least, the hood and gloves that we can see - is beige, which adds just a little more contrast to the toy. The mask and goggles are clear, with black fittings, and the helmet has a red crest with "609" printed on it in white - obviously the firehouse's number, but we couldn't say whether it was chosen at random or if it's a reference to something. I thought maybe Hasbro's area code, but that's 401.
Since this is an existing Classifed body, it has existing Classified articulation: swivel/hinge ankles, swivel boots, double-hinged knees, swivel thighs, hips that are a balljoint mounted on a hinge, balljointed waist, balljointed chest, swivel/hinge wrists, double-hinged elbows, swivel biceps, swivel/hinge shoulders, pectoral hinges, balljointed neck, and a barbell head. The hose on the mask is soft PVC, so it doesn't lock the head into place when it's on, and the straps over his shoulders follow suit.
Beyond the mask, goggles, and helmet,
the firefighter has an air tank that plugs onto the back of his harness, a repainted version of Ripper's spreader, a halligan (a tool that combines a crowbar, adze, and pick into one), a full-size axe, two mini axes, a sledgehammer, and a smaller sledgehammer. Finally, there's one of those thermal blankets, silver on one side and uncolored on the other. That's not a bad assortment, though we'd have happily traded the blanket and the baby-sized weapons for the rest of the Jaws of Life.
Like many recent Joes, the packaging here references old media. At a glance, it's just firemen doing fireman stuff: putting out a car fire, helping someone out of a burning building, etc. But if you look closely, you'll notice that the person they're bringing out of the house
isn't just some random civilian, it's Shipwreck. Why is Shipwreck in a house fire? Because it's a reference to "There's No Place Like Spring Field," the most emotionally devastating episode in the entire cartoon - and possibly of the entire field of '80s kids animation. Cobra sinks the USS Flagg, and Shipwreck has to watch his wife and daughter die right before his eyes as their home burns down. To quote Roadblock, "sure was toasty!" This isn't the same style of house seen in the cartoon (this is a full two-story building, while that was one and a half at best), but there's no other reason Shipwreck would be pictured here.
The Legacy Collection Search & Rescue Firefighter is a great repaint figure, and we'd be interested in seeing more, done in all three colors of the Emergency Forces figures: we've got a dark one, so now we just need a tan one and a white one to complete the updates. And since this version comes with so many superfluous axes and hammers already, leave them out of future releases and take another page from Plan-B's playbook, and give the others different parts of the Jaws of Life. And a fire hose. What's a fireman without his hose?
-- 08/29/25
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