The only thing people would be less impressed with than an obscure character, would be a repaint of one we already have. The last thing that should be in the sub are subteam recolors. There's no existing tooling that would do Budo justice, there already is a Short Fuze, and an original character is a real crapshoot for the Club. While I'm not impressed with Topside, I do like him, and I can totally understand why they did him. He's a character that has yet to be produced in the current format and he's not part of a subteam, which I imagine the Club would rather save for con sets.

Perhaps. But, I would rather be "wowed", than bored. This figure is kind of boring to me.

Well, I think we'd all prefer that. Given the limitations the club has though, I'm really not sure what would "wow" people.

Rolled up sleeves? Ungloved hands? Pants tucked in the boots? A torso that's not Shipwreck's (since Topside did not sport a button-up shirt)? A rocket launcher?
I mean, even Cutter got rolled-up sleeves while otherwise recycling most of Shipwreck's tooling!

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That sums it up for a good number of people...

When I first pulled it up from my email, I was stoked. Generic enough sailor figure that didn't look like Village People reject. I hadn't paid attention to the header, so I just assumed this was next year's subscription figure. While pondering whether he was worthy enough to sign up for the club again, I saw he was the subscription figure. That put a considerable damper on the situation.

Again, I just don't like the idea of having to buy an entire year of exclusives, where I'm spending more on retail on something I don't want during some of the months and have to get rid of it myself.

Wow... a lot of Topside hate! I personally love the character selection. The figure could have and should have had better parts selection and his trademark launcher but I have no problem with the club giving us Topside over a subteam, foreign character, or even other '90 recruits, in fact I prefer it over the first two options.

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Please, don't get me wrong. I'm not hating the character. And, the figure is ok enough, but, just not at an exclusive price. For $20 to $25, I would want a ton of accessories or a second figure or maybe a small vehicle.

I mean, I am a talentless nobody. And, I could make this figure.

No, the choice would have been good, but given that he's got even less effort than freaking 25th Anniversary Cutter to differentiate him from Shipwreck tooling-wise, and that they didn't even try to give him an update to his classic weaponry, well...

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Personally, I find it hard to gripe about a Navy character wearing a Navy uniform. It really comes off as just looking for something to nitpick about. http://www.flickr.com/photos/54786106@N02/5077581970/

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The Shock-Viper SMG is a great update to his classic weapon. As far as the launcher pack goes, well, there isn't any existing gear that matches it, and I'd rather they spent tooling dollars on heads before accessories. Though I never much liked his original backpack anyway. They could have gotten closer than they did with the body recipe though, I'll admit that. I'm also bummed that they didn't go with the two-tone color scheme for his helmet like on the original card art.

The mathematics do not exist that could convince me that figure is worth more than $7

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I am not hating on Topside as a character, not at all. I'm glad he's not been totally forgotten about. He's a welcome choice for a reintroduction.

All I meant was of all the new Joes in '90, Topside isn't the first to pop to mind, he's not as "iconic" as a few of the others from that year which they could be doing in addition to Topside. Of course maybe they have plans up their sleeves to update Pathfinder, Salvo, Stretcher and/or Rampart later on somewhere. Maybe they're just starting with the Navy Assault Seaman.

Well, it's a dual-missile backpack that can also be used on the ground with a stand.
25th Anniversary Scrap-Iron's launcher pack works nearly the same way.

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I feel bad for the Club rep that has to report "does not come with a missile launcher" as a complaint. I had to look the figure up to even know he came with a missile launcher backpack. We aren't talking Metal Head or Fast Draw here, I think Topside does not need his backpack to be Topside. To be worth more than $10, maybe.

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