 I've gotten a lot of requests for this, and so I'm finally going to do it. HCC788 presents...Fast Draw! This is Fast Draw, GI Joe's mobile missile specialist from 1987. This figure was donated by Zartan 121, almost a year ago. Sorry it took so long to get to this figure, but thank you for your help. This figure was first available in 1987 and was also available in 1988 and was discontinued for the year 1989. In 1993, it was available as a mail-away offer in a package with Night Force Repeater and Night Force Shockwave. He didn't have his original accessories as a mail-away figure. In theory, that means more loose Fast Draw figures exist than accessories, but a complete Fast Draw is still pretty easy to find on the secondary market. The figure seems to have been popular, there are plenty of them out there. There were no other versions of Fast Draw released either in the vintage or modern era, and that's surprising considering how many people seemed to like this guy. Fast Draw's predecessor was Bazooka, the missile specialist from 1985. Bazooka and Fast Draw could not be more different. Fast Draw is entirely fanciful, whereas Bazooka, although his uniform was impractical, was entirely based in the real world. He had real weapons, and although no soldier would wear that football jersey into battle, the jersey was also based on something real. For a missile specialist on the enemy side, you have Metalhead from 1990, although this is the 1994 version. Thank you to Chris Pierce for getting this version of Metalhead for me. Metalhead didn't really work for Cobra, he worked for Destro, but he did have the same specialty as Fast Draw. For an earlier enemy missile specialist, you have Scrap Iron. Scrap Iron technically also worked for Destro, but the figure did have two Cobra symbols on it, and in GI Joe Media Scrap Iron was depicted as working for Cobra. Let's look at Fast Draw's accessories, and he came with a lot of them. Let's start with what the card contents call a face mask with voice activation link up. That is this visor with a blue hose attached to it. This visor pegs into the side of the head and can be raised and lowered. And we have some silver paint on the visor, and that's very nice, I'm happy to get paint applications on accessories. In theory, this visor is a good idea. He is essentially firing rockets from the hip, and the blast from those rockets is going to hit the entire front of his body, so he would need to protect his face. The connector between the visor and the backpack also makes sense. The card calls it a voice activation link up, but it could also be for a heads up display in the helmet. In fact, the file card does give it that purpose. In practice though, these accessories are very frustrating. The visor fits on well enough, but connecting the blue hose between the backpack and the visor is a nightmare. I find it easiest to connect it to the backpack first. There is a hole just over the right shoulder, but then connecting it to the mask takes a lot of work. The tip of the hose is just too big to easily slide into that tiny hole. Let's pop this mask out so you can take a look at it, pop it out of the front first, and then the backpack. The blue hose is made out of a soft, pliable plastic, but the hose is actually straight. I'm comparing it here to another hose that I am not using on an action figure. After you can torque the hose into the shape it needs to be to fit on the backpack and visor, it can take on a permanent warp. The visor, as I said, pegs onto the side of the head and it can be removed, best to remove it carefully. That of course reveals a non-removable helmet. Next we have the trigger pistols and the black hose connectors. These black hoses connect to the pistols and they go around to connect to pegs on the missile launchers. Let's go ahead and remove these black hoses. They do tend to get in the way. There is a peg at the bottom of the pistol grips and then around here in the back there's a peg on each of these missile cradles. You can just pop those off, remove the hose and get those out of the way so we can look at the rest of the accessories. These triggers look like pistols so I think we're supposed to pretend that he's drawing the triggers like six shooters, only instead of bullets he's firing missiles. That's not a bad idea, but there are no holsters for the trigger guns. Sculpted holsters would have helped create the illusion that fast draw draws his trigger's cowboy style to shoot his missiles. In fact there is a sculpted holster on the right leg but it has a regular pistol in it. I think that was a missed opportunity. The trigger pistols have these hooks on the end and I think it would have been nice if those hooks could have been used in conjunction with some holster either on the backpack or on the figure. The backpack does have a couple holes on the bottom that I thought maybe could be used with the hooks but the hooks don't really fit there. If they are supposed to serve some purpose I haven't found it. Now we get to the good stuff, the missiles and these missiles are large for an action figure and they peg onto these missile launcher cradles on the backpack and they peg using small shallow dumbbell shaped pegs. These are pretty good missiles if they had come with a vehicle I probably would have been pretty happy with them. They are substantial and they have some decent detail. Are they anti-tank missiles or anti-aircraft missiles? I think they are intended to be anti-tank missiles but you can imagine them being used for both purposes. The file card calls these FAFNIR, F-A-F-N-I-R which stands for Fire and Forget Non-Tube Launched Infantry Rocket. Fire and Forget refers to a guided missile that does not require further guidance after launch. Once fired the missile guides itself to the target. You can fire it and forget about it because you know it will hit the target. These are supposed to be non-tube launched infantry rockets. If such a thing exists I cannot find an example of it. I'm not saying it doesn't exist, I just can't confirm that it does. There are plenty of examples of shoulder fired infantry anti-tank weapons that are launched from tubes. The description accurately describes the toy even if it doesn't reference a real world thing. The word FAFNIR comes from Norse mythology, FAFNIR was a dwarf that became a dragon. It looks like the fins would interfere with the launch, the fins would run into the cradle. If this were a real world weapon the fins would probably pop out of the missiles after launch, like the javelin anti-tank missile. Finally we have the backpack. The backpack is olive drab green and it has some nice detail on it. Of course it has the cradles for the missiles. It has the hole for the connector to the helmet. It has pegs for the black hose connectors to the cradle. Some examples of fast draws file card have instructions for the backpack and missiles and based on those instructions I believe the cradles should be under the missiles with the pegs toward the back. I've seen some examples with the cradles on top and the missiles underneath and they can work that way I guess if that's your preference. This backpack is actually a three piece assembly and these cradles are connected by a thin plastic bar that runs between them through the backpack so they can move together and that is actually a major weak point on this backpack. That bar that connects the missile launchers can get warped with excessive use and since it is a very thin piece of plastic it will break very easily. It is possible to fix a warped bar but it is not easy. First you have to pry the backpack apart and it is not designed to be taken apart. Then you have to take out the launchers and hold them over boiling water. The steam will make the plastic as soft as a wet noodle and then you have to straighten the bar immediately before it cools and be careful not to break it. Once the plastic cools and becomes solid again you have to reassemble the backpack without breaking the pack or the bar. I did it once with this one actually and trust me it's far less stressful to just buy another fast draw backpack. I'm not sure fixing those warped launcher cradles is worth the effort. This entire accessory set is frustrating. On the one hand it is clear they put extra work into it. I have to appreciate the engineering involved in such an intricate system. Unfortunately it's difficult to put on the figure and keep on the figure. It's not that the pieces don't peg in solidly they do but the whole thing becomes a tangled mess. Putting the hose on the helmet is like threading a needle and you have to put pressure on the delicate launcher assembly to put the hoses and the missiles on. Let's look at the articulation on fast draw. He had the articulation that was standard for GI Jofei years in 1987 so he could turn his head from left to right and look up and down. He could swing his arm up at the shoulder and swivel at the shoulder all the way around somewhat hindered by his shoulder pad. He had a hinge at the elbow so he could move at the elbow about 90 degrees. He had a swivel at the bicep so he could swivel his arm all the way around. The figure was held together with a rubber O-ring that looped around the inside. That allowed the figure to move at the torso a bit. He could move his legs apart about so far. He could move his leg at the hip about 90 degrees and bend at the knee about 90 degrees. Let's take a look at the sculpt design and color of fast draw starting with his head and on his head he has a non-removable helmet that is red. It is all one color. It's pretty plain. It does have some stripes carved down one side and it has some notches for attaching his visor. We have a brown chin strap and his face sculpt has prominent lips and cheekbones. I'm not going to complain about the non-removable helmet in this instance, really considering how difficult it is to connect the hose from the visor to the backpack, adding an extra accessory to the mix only would have made it more frustrating. The red helmet and the face sculpt remind me a lot of crazy legs also released in 1987. I find it strange that two figures released the same year look so similar. If I didn't know better and you told me that these figures were meant to represent the same character just in different uniforms, I would believe it. So the chest and back, the base color is olive drab so they did try to give him some army colors. He has some very prominent space age shoulder pads. This is probably a green jumpsuit that he's wearing and over that he has blue straps that would be load bearing equipment for the missile system. Then he has gray padding on his chest with this bubble pattern that looks like bubble wrap. This is to protect him from the blast from his rockets. His arms are green. He has bands around his biceps and he has red gloves. On his waist piece he has a blue belt and in the back we have more of that green jumpsuit with some pockets. In the front we have more of that gray padding. On the back of his legs we have a continuation of that green jumpsuit and we have some well sculpted gray straps. On the front of his legs we have more of that gray padding and we have a pistol holster on the right leg with a black pistol in it. We have red bands that go around his knees all the way around front and back and on his knees we have small knee pads. His shins have more of that gray padding and he has gray boots or boot covers. The entire idea behind this uniform is protection from his own weapons. These rockets are going to launch and send rocket blasts right back at him. So of course he'll need to be protected from head to toe except his neck is still exposed. There is a solution to this. Just use a traditional tube launch to rocket. Unless he uses these rockets to launch himself. Let's take a look at Fast Draw's file card and his file card had his faction as G.I. Joe. Has a portrait of Fast Draw here and one thing I think is interesting about this portrait is the card artist left out the blue tube connected to his visor. See even the artist couldn't put it in. His codename is Fast Draw and he is the mobile missile specialist. His file name is Elliot Brown and he is named after a real person. He's named after Elliot R. Brown, a technical artist who worked for Marvel and DC comics and did the artwork for G.I. Joe Order of Battle issue number four. The one with all the vehicles. There is his name right there. His primary military specialty is ordnance. Secondary military specialty is clerk typist. Sometimes Joe's were given mundane secondary specialties. For example Alpine being a finance clerk. His birth place is Collierville, Tennessee and his grade is E4. This top section says Fast Draw carries his new Fafnir missile system and wears the necessary protective suit to shield himself from hot exhaust gases. Fafnir has an asterisk and that stands for fire and forget non-tube launched infantry rocket. The Fafnir target acquisition and homing devices are all self-contained in the missile itself allowing the operator to take cover immediately after launch. Great lock on displays are projected on the interior of the helmet faceplate as well as threat and malfunction warnings. The missile is extremely fast and resistant to ECM jamming. Another asterisk and that stands for electronic countermeasure. This bottom section has a quote. It says Fast Draw thinks of himself as an old west gunfighter. A whole squadron of Cobra stunts could be rumbling across the landscape at him and he just stands there with a missile rack in each hand and that come and get me look in his eyes. You might call him arrogant but at least he has the firepower to back it up. That bottom paragraph solidifies the cowboy Fast Draw source for his codename. But Fast Draw wasn't the only Fast Draw on the GI Joe team. From the Sky Patrol sub team, Altitude was a literal Fast Draw. He was an artist that would sketch his observations on reconnaissance missions rather than take photographs. Of these two Fast Draws, I wonder which one could draw the fastest? They call you Fast Draw. You probably think you can draw pretty fast. I reckon. You want to put your Fast Draw to the test? You think you can take me? We'll go ahead on. Fast Draw was used in GI Joe media. He did not appear in the animated series. The figure was released in 1987 after the animated movie. The Sunbow series was cancelled and the Deke series was still a few years away so Fast Draw fell in that gap. He did appear in an animated commercial for the Marvel comic book. In that commercial, he had a single missile mounted on his arm. The commercial focused more on the new Dreadnoughts vehicles. In the GI Joe comic book by Marvel Comics, he first appeared in issue number 60. That was the issue advertised in the commercial. And that was the issue penciled by Todd McFarlane before he was famous. In that story, a group of guys are recruited for the GI Joe team by extremists in the Pentagon. The group included Law and Order, Fast Draw, Falcon and Chuckles. Only they weren't really Joes. It was a ruse and part of a plot involving a giant missile targeting Cobra Island. The non-Joes help Hawk thwart the illegal operation and Hawk makes them real Joes. I agree with the general consensus. Todd McFarlane was not right for GI Joe. You could see some of the elements that would make McFarlane famous on Spider-Man. But a cartoony art style doesn't fit with GI Joe. Why? Well in GI Joe you have vehicles and uniforms and weapons all with tons of technical details and you need an artist that can showcase all of that. An artist like Elliot Brown. Fast Draw is spotted again in issue number 64 but he doesn't do much. He appeared again in the Cobra Civil War in issues number 74 and 75. He blew up some Cobra maggots and provided some exposition and that's about it. Looking at Fast Draw overall, the best I can do for this figure is put it at the lowest end of the middle tier. What saves it from the bottom tier is the excellent sculpting and all the effort that went into the accessories. Unfortunately there are numerous problems with the figure and the accessories. Though the missile system should have been awesome, it is cumbersome and delicate. It's difficult to connect. The bar between the missile cradles is way too thin and very easy to warp or break. He only has two missiles, two shots and he's done. Bazooka at least had a backpack with more ammunition. I failed to see how this missile system is in any way superior to a shoulder launched anti-tank missile. I guess you could fire two missiles at once but then you're out of missiles. The green and grey uniform could have been fine and the blue might have gone with it. But the red is just too much. I have tried to be tolerant of the bright colors. I don't want to be a color Nazi but this is where I have to draw the line. I'm sorry, I can't take a red helmet guy into combat. I avoided this figure as a kid. I didn't like it but if I had it, he would just stay at the base. I can't bring him on any missions because he would have been seen by the enemy and he would have brought fire down on the whole squad. And I can't have that. I have tried to be as kind to this figure as I can be. I really don't enjoy pissing people off when I don't like the things that they love. But the truth is, I never liked this figure. It was this figure among others that made it hard for me to stick with GI Joe in 1987. There were some good figures that year that kept me in but other figures like Fast Draw and Crystal Ball and Raptor really shook my faith in the franchise. To prove that I'm not just an adult using adult logic on a children's toy that should be judged by a different standard, I have invited the younger version of myself to tell you what I really thought of this figure when I was a kid. You know, it doesn't make sense for a kid version of me to be as tall as adult me. That's better. Now, Kid HCC, tell everyone what you thought of Fast Draw in 1987. Hated it. There you have it. The truth is, I was a much harsher judge of figures as a kid than I am now. I have warmed to a lot of figures that I hated as a kid. Just not this one. So, does everybody hate me now? What did you think of the review? Ewww. GI Joe was better. It stinks. What about you, number one fan? I can always count on you to have my back, right? Un-subscribed. Re-subscribed. I love you. I hope you enjoyed this review. I'm trying to put a lot of effort into these videos. If you like these videos, you can support the channel in a number of ways. First, make sure you subscribe and like this video and share it with your friends. Like me on Facebook and Twitter. Support the channel on Patreon and visit the website, HCC788.com. I've got a new vintage GI Joe toy review coming up next week. Until then, remember, only GI Joe is GI Joe.