REVIEW: GI Joe 25th Anniversary - Mutt and Junkyard

Produced by Hasbro | Released 2008

MUTT is a natural with animals. He likes them and they like him. The problem is that he gets along better with dogs than he does with humans. He graduated Jungle Warfare Training School and was attached as a cadre to Special Ops School and as an advisor to the Security and Enforcement Committee. He and his K-9 dog JUNKYARD have worked together so long, they no longer need to give each other audible or visual signals. It's almost as if they function as one organism. Qualified expert: M-16, M-14, M-1911A1 auto pistol, and MAC-11.

Packaging Shots

Note: if you look closely you'll see the front of the package was damaged where somebody attempted to remove the figure. Thankfully somebody stopped them from completing their thievery and nothing was lost from within the packaging.

Mutt and Junkyard

Mutt and Junkyard come from the 2008 25th Anniversary releases. As such they suffer a little from the TOO BRIGHT COLOURING and toy-like hips that plague some figures in the line but - these minor flaws aside - there's also a lot of good here and the man-and-his-dog pairing works nicely.

Mutt is clad in his dog-training/K-9 Officer uniform, which consists of loose coveralls and a (removable) vest. The sculpt doesn't really have any surprises but there are some nice touches like the training mitt on his left hand, the thigh holster (which can hold either weapon) and the vest that features some cool details such as a (non-removable) knife. However, it's not really a sculpt that's going to get you too excited and it does suffer from the weirdly-wide hips some of the other 25th Anniversary figures have. I'm not a fan of this, as it makes the toys look very toy-like. And strangely, both is elbows feature ''flaps of skin.'' I don't know if this is a casting error or if it's some attempt to disguise the joints when seen from behind. Whatever it is, though, it looks bad.

The head sculpt is pretty good, even if he does look suspiciously like Gomez Addams. There's a pretty good, lifelike face under the (removable) helmet, that aside, with some nice details like a facial scar and lifelike hair.

Articulation is pretty much as you'd expect but his elbow and shoulder joints seem very stiff. It took a little working out to get them limber enough to pose but even so, they're still a lot more rigid that his leg joints. Conversely, his right wrist is quite weak and I was worried a few times that it may bend or snap off. And as mentioned, he's gos slightly bulky/inflated hip and thigh joints, which I'm not a fan of, visually.

Mutt's paintwork is average at best. The green is a very bright, leaf green that would look much better in a more subdued tone but at least the figure's red-green-brown colour scheme is consistent. There are attempts to pick-out some detail on the figure such as buckles and other metallic items which sadly don't work particularly well. The knife hilt and badge on his vest are messily applied but on the plus side, the head detailing is quite clean, with well-defined eyes, brows and moustache.

Extras

Mutt comes armed with a machine pistol and nightstick (that's a little short), plus a removable vest and helmet, the latter of which also includes a hinged face guard/muzzle.

The weapons are an OK fit in his hands, but the machine pistol tends to sit at an angle when placed in his grip. The nightstick - as mentioned - is too short and would benefit a lot from being a little longer. The loop on the base is a nice - if impractical - touch.

Perhaps the most important accessory is Junkyard, Mutt's dog, who is presumably named after the idiom. The figure is a non-poseable sidekick, much like Croc Master's crocodile or Snake Eyes' Timber. The sculpt and paintwork are really quite good, overall and he's a really nice little accessory that can be posed well with Mutt.

I especially like that the included stand names both Mutt and Junkyard, reinforcing the bond of them as one being.

Final Thoughts

Mutt is simply an OK figure by himself. The sculpt is fairly average, his accessories are nicely done but not mind-blowing and the paintwork is slapdash. However, add Junkyard to the mix and suddenly Mutt comes alive. Posing the pair together is a lot of fun and the dog's presence immediately defines who and what Mutt is, something he lacks when Junkyard isn't present.

OK, so the bright colouring and toy-like hips are pretty poor but I can just about overlook that thanks to Junkyard, as the two work together incredibly well and its his presence that's stops this toy being an also-ran. Fans of the original and the cartoon Mutt and Junkyard will love this I'm sure and even somebody who's only casually interested in the 25th Anniversary line (like me) will find this a fairly solid addition to their collection.

Scores

Sculpt	B
Paint	B-
Articulation	B-
Production Quality	B-
Final Score	B

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