Thursday, January 23, 2025

Wrapping Up 2024: William "Wild Bill" Hardy from G.I. Joe: Classified Series by Hasbro

 


   While he's no Duke or Snake Eyes, Wild Bill has had 15 figures in the classic 1/18th scale G.I. Joe toylines. That's a lot! Wild Bill was one of the 1983 characters and was packed with the vintage Dragonfly Assault Copter XH-1, so it's no surprise that he's both quite popular and the figure Hasbro selected to include with the base HasLab Classified Series Dragonfly (XH-1). Thus far, I think Wild Bill is definitely the highest profile figure to only be included with a HasLab vehicle, so this guy is selling for mucho dinero on the aftermarket. The Dragonfly is a fantastic vehicle but it's so large that my photography space just couldn't hold it and I didn't feel like doing a video review of it. Wild Bill, though? I definitely wanted to check him out. I never had him as a kid; not the original nor even the Battle Corps versions. My first Wild Bill was either the Valor Vs. Venom version or one of the G.I. Joe: Vs Cobra releases after they'd been on the market for a couple years. I was married by that point! Still, I appreciate the character and always liked his appearances in the cartoons and comics. His file card gives him a lot of personality and that spills over into the figure and the Classified Series Dragonfly with lots of cool little details like the names "Chips" and "Salsa" being given to two of the rocket launchers on the helicopter. Ready to check out Wild Bill? Then join me after the break...





The Facts:

Height: 6 1/4ths inches

Articulation: Double swivel/ hinge ankles, double hinged knees, swivel thighs, ball-jointed drop down hips, ball-jointed waist, ball-jointed mid-torso, butterfly pecs, swivel/hinge shoulders, swivel biceps, double hinged elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, balljointed neck base, and a barbell jointed head.

Accessories: 2 swappable hairpieces, hat, glasses, knife, and 2 revolvers. 

Non-Scalper Price: N/A, included with the base Dragonfly (XH-1) for $275 dollars.





The Positives:


* Wild Bill is decked out like his classic figure with a green jumpsuit/ flight suit and a brown leather vest. The colors are excellent and complement the Dragonfly nicely. The vest and the belt with the holsters are separate pieces though they're not removable. The fit is excellent, though, and Wild Bill can easily slip into the cockpit of the Dragonfly with no problems at all. The paint work is all excellent here with lots of nice details, especially on the "leather" parts of his outfit. It's a good blend of a standard military look with a Western flair. 









* Wild Bill is a nice looking dude with a killer mustache. Think he's about to bust out into a Country Western tune? I can imagine this guy singing some Hank Williams or Waylon Jennings into the communication devices while the Joes are out on patrol. He uses removable hairpieces to swap between his slicked back hair and his hat.









* And here's the hat! Wild Bill's cavalry Stetson with crossed sabers across the front. This is attached to a hairpiece so it stays on securely and looks like it's absolutely in place.







* Hasbro also included a second hat that can just fit over the standard hairpiece. That's a neat idea as you might want to pose Wild Bill holding his hat or tipping it to the ladies. Options are always a good thing to have and this was a well thought out one. 




* I'm usually not the biggest fan of removable glasses. Goggles are usually always fine, sunglasses work most of the time, but regular glasses can be tricky. Wild Bill's aviators do look good and fit his face well. I 've got a bit more to say about them in a bit, but the size and fit is quite good and with a little heat you can mold them to fit him pretty well. 




* Wild Bill has 2 patches on his shoulders: Old Glory herself with muted colors on his left shoulder and a Dragonfly unit patch on the right shoulder. The printing is neat and clean so they look great. These kind of small details just really make the Classified Series stand out for me, really helping to make each figure feel more unique.









* The detail on the texture of the vest, the chest strap, and the belt are all just fantastic. It's amazing how all in Hasbro manages to go on these $25 dollar figures. I do purchase some higher end lines, but I find myself often more impressed by what Hasbro's Joe team pulls off in a mass market line than by what some other companies do in more expensive, collector focused lines. The little painted details and such on the belt are just so nicely done.











* The excellent detail continues on these gloves. They look great with the high collars and the distressed pattern accomplished through paintwork. There's even a start and a cattle skull on them. Wild Bill is a Texan through and through, definitely.










* Like Rip Cord, Wild Bill is wearing a flight suit with the pants over his boots (they use the same basic body). Unlike Rip Cord, Bill is sporting cowboy boots. Whew, doggy! I wouldn't want to be a Cobra who disrespects the United States of America, Texas, or Willie Nelson in front of Wild Bill. You'd feel that cowboy boot in a place you wouldn't be pleased with. 







* Wild Bill moves great, just like Rip Cord and the HALO Jumper figure from the 60th Anniversary line. His vest might impede his torso movement a little bit, but not too much. He's easy to get in and out of the Dragonfly and a heck of a lot of fun to pose with his dual revolvers. He's ready for a showdown! 









* The vintage Wild Bill didn't come with any accessories but he did have some Colt Single Action Army revolvers on his hips. This time they're functional accessories with pearl handles and a gold star design on the handle. Pretty flashy!







* Wild Bill's pistols fit really nicely in the holsters on his hips. I've heard a couple folks mention that the holsters should be flipped so Wild Bill can more easily draw them from a seated position. Anyone seated definitely benefits from a cross draw as it's easier to draw the pistol in tight, confined spaces and while sitting. It's also an old cavalry way of wearing the pistols. I'm not aggravated or anything, but it would have been a neat detail. This is still incredibly functional, though, and it looks great. Oh, wait.. check this out...





* The belt can rotate, allowing you to have Bill cross draw! How cool is that? It looks great. Was this intentional? It looks great either way. The cavalry originally wore their pistol on the right hip in a cross draw position because up until pistols used cartridges and were more reliable, their sabers were their primary weapons, so they were worn on the left to cross draw with the right hand. Plus, in a pinch, you can still fumble out your pistol with your right hand if it's worn in a cross draw position on your right. Wild Bill Hickock wore pistols cross draw similar to this, so Wild Bill Hardy might should do the same.



* Wild Bill's knife is pretty cool. It's a bit more ornate than your standard government issue knife. Definitely something that's a personal item of his, no doubt. 










* It slides securely into the little sheath on his vest, at the ready if needed. The black pouch on the other side looks to just be a pouch of some sort and not anything else special or unique. That seems pretty accurate to the vintage figure. The 25th Anniversary version of Wild Bill gave him either another pistol there or perhaps a flare gun. 




The Negatives:

* My only problem with this figure comes back to the glasses. They look pretty good from the front but I wish Hasbro would realize that they just don't stay on the figure all that securely. They need to do either one of two things when making glasses for the figures (eyeglasses or sunglasses; their goggles are fine: They need to either make a place for the glasses to tuck in under the hair, ala the Baroness, or make them part of the hairpiece on a figure like this. Otherwise, they're doomed to fall off. 



   Wild Bill, despite having some loose glasses, is an Epic figure. I really like the character and I think the only things that could have made this guy better would be if his glasses slid under his hair and if he came with something like a Winchester rifle, a Colt Walker, or a mare's leg shotgun as an additional piece. Bill's outfit and the Western inspired touches are fantastic, though. He's fantastic and looks amazing by himself or along with the Dragonfly. This was an incredibly well executed HasLab and the vehicle and the four figure crew that came with it are all just stellar. 




This is the first figure of William "Wild Bill" Hardy I've reviewed. For more G.I. Joe: Classified Series reviews check out the following: 

2 comments:

  1. Wild Bill v2 (the one in the blue shirt) was one of my first Joes as a kid. I always called him Teddy Roosevelt. I really didn't want the Dragonfly, but I'm hoping some version of Bill gets a single release. Maybe even the V2?

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  2. In one of the later IDW letters pages you can see a photo of Larry Hama standing with the old friend of his who provided the inspiration for Wild Bill. From the square face to the heavy mustache, it's all there. What an incredible way to immortalise your friends.

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