 The subject of this review is not a character. He's a real person. The Fridge as a football star was part of one of the greatest teams of all time. Since the glory days of his NFL career, Fortune has not been tined to the Fridge, but there's one thing no one can take away from him. He was a G.I. Joe. This week we're going to look at the Fridge, both the figure and the man. We're here to love G.I. Joe. I'm Slaughter Rising! Sarge Sarge! Wait a minute. Ready. Ready. Ready. Silence kill. The Hooded Cobra Commander 788 here, there were several G.I. Joe's based on real people, but they were all fictionalized in some way. Sarge and Slaughter was a real guy, but his figure was really based on his wrestling persona. The Fridge was different. This figure wasn't based on a fictional persona or a character similar to the Fridge. It didn't just have his likeness and his name. The figure was supposed to represent the real person in plastic form. This isn't just a review of an action figure. This is a biography. It is a review of the history and the legacy of William Perry, a big man who scored touchdowns. At the end of this video, I will have a special message for the Fridge. In case anyone he knows sees this, we will also hear from you. I asked viewers to share thoughts and memories of the Fridge. Let's look at this special G.I. Joe football crossover. HCC 788 presents the Fridge. This is the Fridge. G.I. Joe's physical training instructor from 1987. This figure was available as a mail-in offer only. It was never offered as a carded figure. It was available from 1987 all the way to 1989. You would not use flag points to order the Fridge. You would collect special Fridge proof of purchase certificates packaged with some carded figures. Stickers were placed on the front of the cards to advertise the offer. For example, on this crystal ball file card on the flip side, there you can see a sticker advertisement that says, Get a free Fridge action figure. There were a couple other mail-away exclusive figures offered in 1987. Starduster and Steel Brigade. The Fridge is a real guy. He is William Perry, nicknamed the refrigerator, or the Fridge for short. The name comes from his size because he is said to have been as big as a refrigerator. His teammates had another nickname for him though. Biscuit, because he was just a biscuit shy of 350 pounds. He was an American footballer drafted in the first round of the 1985 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears. He played for 10 years, mostly for the Bears. Later he played for the Philadelphia Eagles and finished his career with the London Monarchs. The idea of making the Fridge into a G.I. Joe came from Bob Prupas, the Vice President for Boys Toys at Hasbro. Perry was reportedly thrilled by the idea of being a Joe. The Fridge wasn't the first real person to become a G.I. Joe. However, other figures based on real people had big differences between the character and the real person. In early 1986, Sergeant Slaughter was released as a male-away figure. Sergeant Slaughter was a wrestling character though. His real name was not given on the file card and his place of birth was changed. The figure was really based on the wrestling persona, not the real person. In 1985, Dusty was released with the name of Hasbro's primary figure designer for G.I. Joe, Ron Rudat. Well, sort of. Dusty's last name was Tater, which was Rudat spelled backwards. In 1986, Leatherneck was sculpted with the likeness of Ron Rudat. In 1987, Tunnelrat was sculpted to look like Larry Hama, the writer of the G.I. Joe comic book. Also in 1987, Law was sculpted to look like Hasbro executive Kirk Bozigian. Those figures only looked like real people though. They did not have the names nor the personalities of the real people. In 1987, Fastdraw was given the file name Elliott Brown. He was named after a technical artist that worked for Marvel Comics. In 1987, Sneakpeak was given the name Owen King, the son of author Stephen King. Sneakpeak only shared the name of a real person though. In 1987, Crystal Ball was sculpted with the likeness of Vincent Price. But the character was not based on Vincent Price. In 1987, Steel Brigade was released as a mail away offer. It was a fan insertion character. Kids could personalize the file card and were encouraged to imagine Steel Brigade as themselves. This wasn't literally based on a real person though. Steel Brigade wore a helmet, so he didn't have the likeness of a real person. It was really a generic figure with a customizable file card. In 1989, Scoop was given the file name Leonard Michaels, which was the transposed name of Michael Leonard, a real journalist. Scoop's face sculpt was also based on Mike Leonard. But Scoop's file card and his media appearances do not track with Mike Leonard's history. The character is only loosely based on the real person. In 1988, Road Pig was given the file name Donald DeLuca. He was named after a Hasbro employee. In 2015, as part of the 50th anniversary series, Hasbro released Sightline, a figure with the file name Gary Goggles. That name was an homage to Gary Head, a person in the G.I. Joe fan community who had passed away. To the best of my knowledge, the Fridge was the only literal translation of a real person to a G.I. Joe figure. He had the name, he had the likeness, and he had the character of the real person. There were other G.I. Joe figures with a football theme. In 1985, Bazooka had the football jersey of New England Patriots quarterback Steve Grogan. Grogan was a legend in New England, and he played in the Super Bowl, in which the Patriots were defeated by Perry's Chicago Bears. Hasbro headquarters is located in Rhode Island, but apparently there were no hard feelings between Perry and the New England toy company. In 1990, we got Captain Gridiron. He took the football theme very literally. He even had football shaped grenades. In 1983, Steeler may have gotten his name from the Pittsburgh Steelers football team, and he was born in Pittsburgh. In 1986, we got Thrasher, a dreadnock, and he had pads that looked a little bit like football shoulder pads, but he also had a lacrosse stick, so they were probably lacrosse pads. In 1987, we got Red Dog, a member of Sergeant Slaughter's renegades, and he had a football jersey with a number one on it. Also, Red Dog is a football term, referring to rushing a linebacker against a five-man offensive line. In 1988, we got Road Pig, another dreadnock, and he had removable football shoulder pads. There may be other football-themed GI Joe figures, but that's all I know about. Let's take a look at the Fridge's accessory. He came with only one. This is a football on a chain, although since it's molded out of hard plastic, it looks more like a football on a stick. This is supposed to be a flail weapon, which can be seen in the commercials for the Fridge action figure. It is weird, but at least it's football-related. The figure had the usual C-shaped hands that we got on most GI Joe figures, so he would not have been able to hold a football accessory. If you want to display the Fridge with a football, you could give him one of Captain Gridiron's football grenades. It had a handle, which looks a little awkward, but that's about the only way you could get a figure to hold it. When I place the football flail in the figure's hand, I always have him holding it by the chain. The handle is a bit on the thick side, and I'm concerned about breaking the figure's thumb. Let's look at the articulation on the Fridge. He did not have the standard articulation for figures from 1987. This figure had a swivel head, so he could only turn his head from left to right. Most figures by that era had a ball-jointed neck, so they could also look up and down. He could swing his arm up at the shoulder and swivel at the shoulder all the way around. He had a hinge at the elbow, so he could bend 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 him to move at the torso a bit. He could move his legs apart about so far. He could bend 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 the Fridge. First, let's do a height comparison with an average GI Joe figure. He is quite a bit taller than Airborne here. He is about half a head taller. If you send away for a Fridge action figure, this is what you would get. You'd get a box, and in the box you'd get a sealed bag like this that would contain the figure and his accessory. And then it would also have the file card. There's the face of the file card there. And the back of most Fridge file cards is red like this. Looking at the head sculpt, the likeness to the real Fridge at that age is remarkable. He's smiling. He has that gap in his teeth. This sculpt not only captures the likeness of the Fridge, but also his personality. He was pretty well known to be a friendly guy. He's a happy big boy. He's just a happy-go-lucky guy. He just enjoys himself. His chest is extra large by GI Joe figure standards and he has a blue jersey that is similar to his bear's jersey but not an exact replica. It's a lighter shade of blue than the bear's home jersey. It has his 72 on the front and that is sculpted on, not just painted on. There are no numbers on the back and I think that's unfortunate. He has red stripes that run over the shoulders and under the arms. No name on the back of the jersey either. That would have been a nice final touch. The chest, as big as it is, is not as rotund as the real Fridge. It appears to have been sculpted on the standard buck. But the Fridge was proportionally wider than this. It does somewhat break the illusion that this figure represents the then biggest football player in history. On his arms he has huge bulging muscles and on these upper arms they could have simply reused the upper arms from Sarge and Slaughter. But they did not. These are new parts. He's wearing wristbands and there are some variants for these wristbands. We'll get to that in a moment. But I do want you to notice something about the hands. The hands are sculpted to look extra fat. And that is more like the Fridge. Yojo.com lists two variants on these wristbands with the blue stripes in and the blue stripes out. However, there are other variants. As you can see from this sealed example this has the blue stripe on the same side on both wrists. And I've seen examples with that reversed. Basically the quality control on the paint application just wasn't very good. And they mixed up the red and blue stripes in every possible combination. On his waist he has a lace up fly like football pants. He has a brown belt, a wide brown belt. Then he has this silver belt buckle with a red GI Joe. There is a variant of this belt buckle that is brown with a silver GI Joe stamped on it. But I was not able to find an example of that variant to acquire for this review. I searched for months and didn't see a single one anywhere. I know it exists because I've seen pictures of it. This silver paint is problematic. It tends to wear off easily. So you'll see a lot of fridge figures with no paint left on the buckle. On his legs he has green trousers with red pads on the thighs. This is a little different from football pads which would normally be on the front of the thigh. He has purple and red bands around his knees and I think this is supposed to be part of his boots. He has tall white boots with unpainted shin and foot pads. He has black soles on the boots. This is probably intended to mimic the look of the tall socks worn by American football players. Let's take a look at the fridge's file card. And this file card of course was sealed in the plastic bag that the figure came in. And it has his factionist GI Joe. It has a portrait of the fridge here. Not a bad likeness. His codename, really his nickname is the fridge. He's the physical training instructor. Of course that's not what he was in real life but that's his role on the GI Joe team. File name is William Perry and that is correct. Primary military specialty is physical training instructor and that just repeats what it says up here. It does elaborate on that below. Secondary military specialty is special services. Special services is the US Armed Forces Entertainment Branch. They specialize in entertainment and recreation. His birthplace is Akin, South Carolina. That is also correct. His grade is E5 but that would be for the purposes of his service on the GI Joe team. That's not a real rank for him. This top paragraph says, GI Joe training procedures are tough to the max. And no expenses spared in ensuring GI Joe personnel are prepared to deal with the worst possible scenario. Regular troops tackle standard obstacle courses like fences, crawl pipes, and water traps. The GI Joe obstacle course consists of only one obstacle, the fridge. This bottom paragraph has a quote. It says, If lacrosse is the little brother of war, football must be the rich uncle. Note the similarities. Strategy in parentheses, offensive and defensive. Teamwork, violence, camaraderie, television coverage, parades for the victors, and humiliation for the defeated. Using the fridge to train the Joe's is logical and practical. Besides, the fridge likes to see the looks on their faces when they look up from the mud and see who they have to get past to pass the course. And here in the corner, we have William Perry's autograph and his number 72. Some of the information on this card is true. Like his name and his place of birth, he is fictionalized like his pay grade and his specialties. Perry was never in the army, so any rank or specialty would be honorary. His role for the GI Joe team is as a one-man obstacle course. This obviously refers to his role as a defensive lineman rather than a part-time fullback. When Perry was drafted by the Bears, it was Coach Mike Ditka's idea. Defensive coordinator buddy Ryan didn't want him and refused to play him at first. Fridge was caught up in the team's internal politics. Ditka played Perry as a fullback in goal line situations, either as a ball carrier or blocking for Walter Payton. We can't talk about the Fridge without talking about Walter Payton. Payton had his own nickname, Sweetness. In 1985, Payton was a 10-year veteran with the Bears. He was a star performer on a team that wasn't always very good. He had paid his dues. At last, in the 1985 season, he was on a Super Bowl team. Both Perry and Payton were both known to be very friendly guys. They even recorded a rap song together called Rappin' Together. That wasn't the only rap song they did together. They were also both in the infamous Super Bowl Shuffle video. The Bears did make it to Super Bowl 20, where they destroyed the New England Patriots, my favorite team. Perry's moment came in the third quarter. The Bears were leading 37-3 and they had the ball on the one yard line. All they had to do was punch it in. But instead of calling Walter Payton's number, Coach Ditka put the ball in the hands of the Fridge. Of course, the Fridge easily bowled over the defense for a touchdown, bringing the score to 44-3. Walter Payton never got another chance to score in the Super Bowl. It was his one-shot and it was taken away from him. Many people, including Coach Ditka, believe that play should have gone to Payton. Ditka later admitted it was a mistake. The criticism may not be entirely fair. The Patriots' defense double and triple-teamed Payton the entire game, holding him to only 61 yards. With so much coverage dedicated to Payton, it opened the field up for other players. Even so, that third quarter play was on the goal line and the Bears had a 34-point lead. They could have given Walter Payton one shot. Payton never got another chance. He retired in 1987. The same year, the Fridge got an action figure. In 1999, he announced that he had a rare liver disease and he died later that year. Looking at this figure overall, for me, this is a middle-tier figure. It is nicely sculpted and an excellent likeness of the real person. The accessory is kind of silly. I don't need it. But the figure itself is nicely done. I don't have a personal connection to the figure, though. I didn't have the figure as a kid. I have come to appreciate the figure as an adult collector. What I appreciate more than the figure, though, is the connection to the real person. In the years after his NFL career ended, the Fridge has fallen on hard times. He was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome in 2008. In 2011, ESPN published a story recounting his health and drinking problems. In 2016, he weighed more than 425 pounds and was hospitalized for diabetes. He is now confined to a wheelchair. He's not that old, either. He's only 54. He did make a triumphant return to Soldier Field in January of 2016. After that, he had to be hospitalized for a leg infection. The Fridge has had more than his share of misfortune. His Super Bowl ring, the largest Super Bowl ring ever made, was auctioned off. His worry days are a fading memory. He does still have one thing, though. He is a G.I. Joe. Nothing can take that away. Kids could watch him play football on TV and then bring him into their battles against Cobra. He came to G.I. Joe not as a persona, not as a fictionalized character, but as himself. This message is for the Fridge. If you should ever see this. At different times of the year, there are conventions where G.I. Joe fans get together. One such convention is Jocon. Sadly, next year will be the last Jocon. I am not affiliated with any of those conventions. I'm just a fan. I know your health makes it difficult to make personal appearances. I wouldn't want you to do anything that would jeopardize your well-being. However, if you could make it to one of those conventions, I promise you, Joe fans would be thrilled to see you. We would love to get your autograph right next to the printed autograph on your file card. We'd like to shake your hand and see you wearing that big 72 again. We would love the chance to treat you not as a sports star, but as a G.I. Joe. To end this video, I ask viewers to share memories of the Fridge, both the person and the figure. Thank you for watching, and until next time, remember, only G.I. Joe is G.I. Joe. Hey, HCC. My fondest memory of the Fridge was when the Bears went up against the Phoenix Cardinals, before they became the Arizona Cardinals. This is obviously way back. He body slammed Neil Lomax, who looked pretty way-laid after getting hit by the Fridge. That is definitely one of my fonder memories of him. Mr. Perry, if you do see this video, I wish you and your family all the best. My thoughts and prayers are with you, and thank you so much for all the years that you dedicated to your talent and entertaining us with the NFL. God bless. G.I. Joe's The Fridge. The only figure from the original line before the animated movie came out that I didn't receive. I sent off for him. I sent all of my Fridge points. He just never arrived. Where were you, Fridge? Why didn't you show up? I just wanted to play some ball. Hey, what's up, YouTube? Thanks, Hoodie Cooper Commander, for giving us this opportunity to get in on this Fridge video. You know, William the Perry Fridge was an icon for the NFL, played for the Chicago Bears. He was an awesome player on the field, and he did a lot of charity events later in life, off the field, boxing and whatnot. You know, he's well-deserved and immortalized into a G.I. Joe figure, and I'm proud to have him. And you can get a free Fridge. He is out. Select five Fridge certificates. They're calling a number on the certificate, and the Fridge will tell you how to get in on the action with only four certificates. The Fridge rating was my hero when I was a little kid. And while interest come and go, I'm always going to have a soft spot for him because all my life, I've been a big, heavy-set guy. And to be a little boy and turn on the television and see this big, heavy-set guy playing football and having such a tremendous impact, it was inspiring. Made me feel better about myself. So, my hat's off to William Perry wherever he is. Thank you very much.