Karate was king when I was a kid which is probably why it never stood out as odd to me that Quick Kick was running into battle shoe-less. It’s one of those things that sticks in my adult brain that I have to actively ignore with some of these retro-properties, but these little oddities are also kind of the fun of it in a way. Let’s take a look at G.I. Joe Classified Quick Kick!
The box art here is really nice with a nice illustration of Quick Kick screaming while flipping his nunchaku around and the scene render is a fun reference to his first appearance in the cartoon with both the Leopard Seal and Storm Shadow that he fought in his first appearance. He actually beats Storm Shadow in the show which seems almost impossible to imagine these days since Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes have been elevated to mythic levels of martial arts invulnerability over the years.
Quick Kick comes with a good amount of stuff including a pack, two swords, two nunchaku, two fists, two knife hands, a chocolate bar, an alternate head, and a throwing star effect piece.
The throwing star effect is neat though I’m not 100% sure how it’s supposed to go. It’s cast in blue translucent plastic with the lead star painted silver. I think the best I got it to look was throwing it out with his arm extended behind him, but I think of ninja stars as more of flicked thing than a full arm throw. I wouldn’t have minded just a star by itself though that may be too small of a piece to include.
The fudgee bar is another reference to Quick Kick’s first appearance in the Sunbow cartoon and actually features an impressive amount of sculpted detail in the little chocolate segments and crinkled wrapping paper. The crinkled foil has in impressively shiny paint and I really like that they are working Sunbow elements into the line. While my favorite iteration of G.I. Joe media has been the Hama comics, Sunbow was a huge part of my childhood love for the line too, so that always brings me joy.
The pack is cast in red plastic and features some nice sculptural detail in the pouches, straps, and clothing wrinkles. There is no paint detail, but it stays on fairly well and can store his two swords. It’s a little surprising to me that they went with a red pack over the vintage black, it’s unusual that these modern figures are more colorful than their vintage counterparts.
The short swords are cast in a fairly stiff plastic that holds its shape well and the blade and pommel are painted with a pretty shiny silver. The pommel design matches the design on the nunchaku, lending both weapons a bit more of a fancy feel than they had in the vintage line.
The nunchaku look like reuse from Nunchuck so I have the same issues with them as I feel like they are bit on the small side in terms of stick length (ahem). Sometimes I would prefer a real chain on a toy nunchaku, but I do like the mid-flight poseability of an all plastic chain too. Ultimately I think these look best hanging on his belt as a bit of extra 3D detail. I do like that he got a pair of swords and nunchaku as the vintage only came with one of each.
The alternate hands are very welcome additions to this character specifically, but also the line in general. The Joes need to be able to punch people, especially their martial artists, so I’m glad to see them do this a bit more often lately. I would love if he had more open hands as well, you know the sort of partially open hand pose Bruce Lee would do while fighting? I’m not sure what you would even call that, but the fist and chop are very appreciated.
My favorite accessory is the alternate head with the more windswept hair and the angrier expression. He totally looks like he’s mid WOO! or some other martial arts cry. I’ve seen complaints that this head isn’t different enough from the more neutral expression, but I disagree. This is so perfect for the character and as a fan of martial arts movies I appreciate the effort to give him a fighting face other than just a yell. However, I wouldn’t have minded a yelling face as that would match this current and vintage card art well.
Quick Kick does have a fairly simple design, so I’m impressed with how much care and detail went into the sculpting here. First of all, the body looks all new to me and the musculature has a great lithe feel with lots of muscle striations and veins. I’m thinking they might re-use this torso with the upcoming Zandar. Even the feet look very realistic with vein and bone details. The pants get some panel and seam details, while the sash gets some rivets and thread and the belt a lined texture making for a more polished overall look.
Articulation is very nice in the classified standard with the neck and waist ball and sockets getting especially nice movement and he can get into most martial arts poses you want. Quick Kick has:
- Swivel/hinge shoulders, wrists, hips, and ankles
- Swivel biceps, thighs, and mid-calf
- Double hinged knees and elbows
- Hinged butterfly pecs and drop-down hips
- Ball and socket head, lower neck, and waist
Paint is good with most of the body being cast in the correct color of plastic and two solid face prints. I do like that they added a bit of gray detail to the sides of the pants with a pattern to add a bit more interest to his fairly plain costume. I’m impressed at how the strands of hair that fall over the headband are painted on the alternate head, that’s nice detail allowing the rising sun logo to show through. On the neutral portrait, they kind of missed a strand so it’s not quite as nice.
Quick Kick was a favorite of mine growing up, so I’m a bit predisposed towards liking this figure, but also to be a bit hyper-critical if it doesn’t meet my expectations. Thankfully I think they knocked this one out of the park and he’s a blast to play with and pose. I feel like I’ve been saying this a lot with this recent wave of Joes, but he’s in figure of the year territory for me right now.
