 Hello everybody hooded Cobra Commander 788 here. This is the show where we review every vintage GI Joe toy from 1982 to 1994. It's been over a year since we looked at Tiger Force. This week we are going to look at a Tiger Force helicopter with the wrong pilot. In 1984, GI Joe had a jungle trooper, Rekondo. It was a great figure. In 1988, Tiger Force used Rekondo for an entirely different role. They made him a helicopter pilot, despite him having no helicopter pilot experience. There will be a GI Joe classified series 6 inch Tiger Force Rekondo figure released soon. This is a good time to look at the vintage figure that inspired the modern figure. You know how these Tiger Force vehicles are. They're always wild and crazy. Let's find out how Rekondo ended up piloting a classic and iconic GI Joe helicopter. HCC 788 presents the Tiger Fly and Rekondo. This is the Tiger Fly and Pilot Rekondo. This figure and vehicle set were introduced in 1988 and were also available in 1989. They were discontinued for 1990. The Tiger Fly and Rekondo version 2 were only sold together. They were not sold separately. The Tiger Fly and Rekondo are copied from earlier toys. Rekondo is an odd choice for pilot of this vehicle. More on that later. Both the vehicle and the figure were part of Tiger Force, which was a sub-team in GI Joe that consisted of reissues of old action figures and vehicles. They were all recolored with a Tiger Stripe pattern. In 1988, there were 7 carded Tiger Force figures. Bazooka, Duke, Dusty, Flint, Lifeline, Roadblock, and Tripwire. There were 5 Tiger Force vehicles in 1988, 3 of which had drivers. The Tiger Cat with Frostbite version 2, the Tiger Fly with Rekondo version 2, and the Tiger Rat with the only original character in Tiger Force, Sky Striker. Although Sky Striker was an original character, the figure was made entirely with reused parts from older action figures. The two 1988 Tiger Force vehicles without drivers were the Tiger Paw and the Tiger Shark. Tiger Force continued into 1989 with another set of vehicles, but no new figures. The 1989 lineup only included the Tiger Fish and the Tiger Stain. By the end of this video, I'm going to be really sick of saying the word Tiger. Tiger Force was a convenient way to get figures and vehicles that were no longer available at retail. I was happy to get Tiger Force Duke since my original Duke figure was lost or broken by then. The bright colors and Tiger Stripe theme come from the NATO Tiger Association, which is a collaboration of NATO Air Forces designed to promote solidarity among the participating states. They have an annual convention called the Tiger Meat, in which aircraft are painted with Tiger patterns. The name Tiger Force is a bit problematic. It's the name given to a US Army unit that committed the worst and most numerous war crimes in Vietnam. They killed civilians, then planted weapons on them to make them look like combatants. They tortured and killed prisoners. They collected body parts as trophies. I don't think Hasbro consciously named G.I. Joe's Tiger Force after that unit. The designers probably weren't even aware of it, but in hindsight, could have picked a better name. Tiger Force started the tradition of putting the word force in the name of G.I. Joe's subteams. We will take a thorough look at Rekondo version 2 later in this video, but let's set him aside for now so we can take a closer look at the Tiger Fly. The Tiger Fly is a recolored re-release of the 1983 Dragon Fly. It has exactly the same body and features. The only difference is the color. The date stamp on the side even still says copyright 1983. The Tiger Fly and the Dragon Fly are near-perfect copies of a real-world helicopter, the Bell AH-1 Cobra. The Cobra was a Vietnam-era attack helicopter that was still in use in the 1980s. It's a wicked-looking design and makes a great toy. Full disclosure, there are a couple broken parts on my example of the Tiger Fly, the skids, and the canopy, but I have them attached sufficiently that I can show them to you for the purposes of this review. Let's look at the parts and the features of the Tiger Fly and let's start with this all-over Tiger Stripe paint. It was rare to get paint on GI Joe vehicles, so this is exceptional. It also has this fade from white to brown to yellow. Is this better for combat than the original Green Dragon Fly? No, but it is eye-catching. At the front, we have this black hard rubberized nose tip. This was common on GI Joe aircraft. We have this chin gun in red plastic. The blueprints call this a 25-millimeter Vulcan Gatling Gun. It will pivot, not all the way around. The Dragon Fly had a variant where these guns would elevate as well, but the Tiger Fly does not have that variant. On this side of the turret, the blueprints call this a TF3 Smoke Grenade Launcher. We have some sticker applications, these Tiger Teeth and Tiger Eyes. The teeth wrap around both sides. On the port side, there is a cutout for this side-mounted gun. That's a really nice touch. The eyes are set really far back, which makes it look a little derpy, but this is the correct sticker placement according to the instruction sheet. We have a canopy in clear plastic with kill marks. This canopy should lift up to reveal the cockpit, but as mentioned before, mine is broken, so it just pops off. The cockpit features two seats in gray plastic, a front seat and a back seat. There are no instrument panels. The front seat is traditionally the gunner's seat, and the back seat is for the pilot, but the AH-1 Cobra could be piloted from the front or the back. The box art for the Tiger Fly shows Rekondo in the front seat, so let's place him in that way. He will fit all the way in. It's a little bit of a tight fit, but he does fit in there. The box art also shows Tripwire in the back seat, so let's put him in there too. There should be plenty of room for both figures inside the Tiger Fly, although it will work this way. Rekondo's hat makes that a tight fit with him in the front seat. On the port side, we have this molded-on side-mounted gun, which blueprints call a TF7 short-throw 20mm cannon. On each side, we have these short weapons pylons. They each have the Tiger Force logo, and each can hold three missiles. The missiles are in red plastic. There are four of these longer, skinny missiles. The blueprints call these Tiger Force Sidewinder air-to-ground missiles. There are four total, two on each side. There are two of these shorter red missiles, one on each side. I don't find a reference for these in the Tiger Fly blueprints, but the Dragonfly blueprints call these Sidewinder HE missiles. Also on the port side, we have this side-mounted gun. It pins onto the port side skid, and it has this black hose piece that connects to the side. It has a yellow body and a red barrel. The blueprints call this a laser-targeting, recoilless 60mm cannon. This piece is often missing. We have black landing skids, and on each side there is a foot peg, but those foot pegs are a little on the thick side. I would not attach a figure to one of those that could crack a heel. On the underside, there is a working winch that has a black hook on a black line that's on this spool with a thumb wheel that can reel the line out like so, and then reel the line back in. On top of the helicopter, we have these black blades with red tips. On the port side, a midships, there is this thumb switch, and if you push that forward, you can make the blades really spin. On each side, there is a removable engine panel. They can both be taken off to reveal engine detail. Then in the back, there are these black exhaust pipes. The Tigerfly has a long tail and short rear stabilizer fins. It also has tail fins. The blueprints call these offset V-tail vertical stabilizer, and of course, they have the Tiger Force logo. At the very back, there is this black cap. The blueprints call this a counter-rotating shaft-driven rear turbine. This is apparently what allows the Tigerfly to operate without a tail rotor. The Tigerfly is armed to the teeth since it is a copy of a 1983 vehicle. It is loaded with features. They really stacked vehicles with features back then. No skimping. The Dragonfly was a great toy, so the Tigerfly, by extension, is a great toy. There is so much a kid could do with this, but some G.I. Joe fans may have a hard time getting past the obnoxious colors. Now let's look at Rekondo version two. This figure is a reuse of the mold of Rekondo version one, but in different colors. These are the only two versions of Rekondo in the vintage line. Rekondo version one was the Jungle Trooper from 1984. Rekondo had nothing to do with helicopters, so how did he end up piloting the Tigerfly? The pilot of the original Dragonfly was Wild Bill. We should have gotten a Tiger Force Wild Bill packaged with the Tigerfly. Rekondo was going to be a carded Tiger Force figure, but there must have been a problem. The mold for Wild Bill was apparently not available in 1988. The molds for these figures were shipped to manufacturers around the world so those countries could produce their own licensed G.I. Joe toys. Some of them didn't make it back, so Hasbro had to make do with what they had. Wild Bill is a guy with a hat and a mustache. Rekondo is also a guy with a hat and a mustache. Since the only qualifications required for piloting a helicopter is to have a hat and a mustache, Rekondo took the place of Wild Bill. Look at me, I'm a helicopter pilot now. Rekondo was designed by Ron Rudat for Hasbro to be an Australian fighter, but the character was made an American in the final release. Rekondo was sculpted by Bill Merkline. In fact, this was Bill Merkline's first G.I. Joe figure sculpt. Let's take a look at Rekondo's accessories. Wild Bill did not include any accessories, but Rekondo did. The accessories are appropriate for jungle fighting, but superfluous for helicopter piloting. Since this Rekondo figure will spend most of its time in the cockpit of the Tigerfly, his accessories are either going to be left behind or they're going to rattle around inside the vehicle. Rekondo's first accessory is his rifle. The rifle is in black plastic. Rekondo version one included the same rifle, but in all of green plastic. Besides the original green rifle and this black one, there was a tan rifle that was included in a battle gear accessory pack. The version one rifle was called the M14 E2X. It has cloth wrapping around the body. It has a magazine and a stock. It has a molded in bipod, but that is not removable. It's just molded in. This is based very loosely on the real world M14 rifle. It would have been anachronistic in 1988 and 1984 since the M14 had been out of service as the standard US Army service rifle since the 1960s. The second and final accessory is the backpack. The backpack is in dark green plastic. It has a carrying handle and a canteen and a bed roll and some pouches. It's very nicely sculpted. Rekondo version one had this same backpack in all of green and there was a tan backpack from a battle gear accessory pack. As nice as this backpack is, Rekondo cannot wear it when he's sitting in the cockpit of the Tiger Fly so you'll have to do something else with it. Let's take a look at Rekondo's articulation. He had the articulation that was standard for a 1984 GI Joe figure, not a 1988 figure. He could turn his head from left to right and he could lift his arm up at the shoulder and swivel his arm at the shoulder all the way around. He had a hinge at the elbow so he could bend his arm at the elbow about 90 degrees. He had a swivel at the bicep so he could swivel his arm all the way around. This was an O-ring figure, meaning the figure was held together with a rubber O-ring that looped around the inside, not allowed him to move at the torso a bit. He moves 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 sculpted design and color of Rekondo version two and it's worth mentioning again this uses exactly the same mold as version one. The only difference is the color. On his head he is wearing a blue slouch hat with the left side of the brim pinned up. He has brown hair and a brown mustache. The color of brown on version two is a little lighter than on version one and of course on version one that hat is in olive green. I think this hat is blue to closer mimic Wild Bill who Rekondo is replacing. On his chest he has a gray shirt with an open collar. He has a brown pistol holster with a black pistol. He has brown straps that go over the left shoulder and across the chest and over the right shoulder. Those strap details continue to the back. On the left side of the chest there is an unpainted parachutist badge. Version one had a tan shirt and that badge was painted black. That's an unpainted detail on version two but that's not too bad. The pistol and the holster and the straps are all appropriately painted. His arms feature gray rolled up sleeves and bare forearms and bare hands. He has a brown watch around his left wrist. Version one had tan sleeves and a black patched tempo on the left sleeve that's missing on version two. So that's another missing paint application but that is not too egregious. If the watch hadn't been painted in that would have been a problem but it's still good. On his waist he has a brown belt with pouches. Very nicely detailed and sculpted. He has his gray shirt tucked under that belt and he has green trousers with yellow stripes on the butt. His legs are green with yellow tiger stripe camouflage. He has a pocket on the right leg. On the left leg he has a white handled machete with a brown sheath and we finish with some nice brown boots. Slightly sloppy paint application on my figure's left boot. These colors are not bad for Tiger Force. There were much worse Tiger Force figures. The original Rekondo figure had tiger stripe camo so we're not really gaining anything with the yellow stripes on version two. The original colors were also better for jungle fighting. They kept the paint on the machete and the sheath. They could have easily dropped those paint sprays but they didn't so that's good. Let's turn our attention to Rekondo's file card and this is very peculiar. Although the biographical information is the same, the rest of the file card is entirely different from version one. None of the text is reused. That was uncommon for Tiger Force file cards. In this case they had to transform Rekondo from a jungle fighter to a helicopter pilot. They didn't copy any text from Wild Bill's file card either. This is entirely new. The card has his faction as GI Joe. There's a portrait of Rekondo here and this is updated from the Wild Bill artwork. His code name is Rekondo. He is the Tiger Fly Pilot. The serial number and the primary military specialty have been updated. The rest of this biographical information is the same as Rekondo version one. His file name is Daniel M. Leclerre. His primary military specialty is Tiger Fly Pilot. His secondary military specialty is Intelligence. His birthplace is Wheaton, Wisconsin. He's probably a Packers fan. His grade is E4. That is the same as version one. They made him a helicopter pilot but they didn't give him a promotion. This paragraph says Rekondo has been flying prop jets and helicopters since he was 17 years old. Naturally, when he enlisted in the army, he immediately put in for helicopter training. Rekondo served in the 7th Air Mobile Assault Unit when it put down an uprising on a small Caribbean nation. This must be referring to the 1983 Operation Urgent Fury in Granada. His greatest achievement was when he launched a bold and highly successful counter-attack against an entire enemy brigade. At the end of his tour, Rekondo attended flight school for advanced training and now leads the Tiger Force Aerial Reconnaissance Unit. This bottom paragraph says I sure thought we were history that day. The enemy was everywhere and we were running out of ammo fast. Then before anybody knew what was what, Rekondo hopped into the Apache and took off to launch his own counter-attack. The man was crazy but if it wasn't for his courage, I wouldn't be telling this story today. I assume this second paragraph is describing the counter-attack from the first paragraph since G.I. Joe did not have an Apache helicopter at the time. They did eventually get an Apache helicopter but not until 1992. This card is describing a totally different character from version one. There is not one syllable written about his jungle fighting. Other than the name, this could be a different guy. Looking at how the Tigerfly and Rekondo were used in G.I. Joe media, the Dragonfly helicopter made its first appearance in the animated series in the 1983 miniseries part one. The Dragonfly was frequently used in the cartoon. Rekondo first appeared in the miniseries Revenge of Cobra in part three. He had numerous appearances in the animated series but he was never a major character. He had the most spotlight in the episode Jungle Trap. He was used as a jungle fighter, naturally. He did not make the transition to the Deke animated series and he did not appear in his Tiger Force uniform. The Tigerfly was only animated for commercials. Oddly, the premise of Tiger Force as stated in the commercial was to repaint captured enemy vehicles. The Dragonfly was not an enemy vehicle. They just captured Cobra vehicles, repainted and re-op. They're part of Tiger Force now. In the G.I. Joe comic book series published by Marvel Comics, Rekondo first appeared in issue number 32 in a brief cameo. His first real mission was in issues 38 and 39. He was used as a jungle fighter, as you would expect. Rekondo had a decent run in the comic book. He was on the cover of Special Missions number two. Tiger Force appeared briefly in the comic books. They had their most exposure in Special Missions number 25. Rekondo was in that issue in his Tiger Force uniform. The Tigerfly did not appear. Looking at the Tigerfly and Rekondo overall, this is a great figure and vehicle, which is to be expected because they are copies of a great figure and vehicle. Everything good that can be said about the Tigerfly and Tiger Force Rekondo can also be said about the Dragonfly and version one Rekondo. Whether you like the original or the reissue depends on whether you like the color change. I prefer the originals, but the Tiger Force versions are not bad. The Tigerfly is wild and eye catching. As a kid, the colors would have put me off, but as a collector, the striking colors look great on display. The Dragonfly would have got a lot more play time, but on a shelf, the Tigerfly really makes you say wow. Rekondo's colors are not bad for Tiger Force. Some Tiger Force figures had obnoxious repaints. This is one of the better ones. The gray shirt is subdued and looks good with the green and the brown. The yellow stripes are not an improvement on the camouflage for the 1984 figure. The blue hat doesn't necessarily go with the rest of the figure, but it seems they were trying to mimic wild build. The accessories are a little frustrating. They aren't needed for Rekondo's helicopter pilot role. Wild Bill did not include accessories. These are going to rattle around the inside of the Tigerfly. The best thing to do is to give Rekondo his rifle and backpack and let him loose in the jungle. That's his home. Let somebody else pilot the Tigerfly. Flint is a helicopter pilot. He can do it. That was my review of the Tigerfly in Rekondo. I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please give this video a thumbs up on YouTube and subscribe to the YouTube channel for more vintage GI Joe Toyer views and share this video with your friends. That's what helps this channel grow. You can find me on the social medias on the Facebook and the Twitter and I have a website, hcc788.com. I can only continue doing these videos with the help of my friends on Patreon if you'd like to support the channel and maybe get a few extra things as well. That's a great way to do it. You can even get your name in videos like the names you see scrolling on the screen right now. Hey, I know it's been a rough few weeks but I'm trying to catch up and do a lot of extra work as well. I'll be back soon with another vintage GI Joe Toyer review and until then, remember only Tiger Force is Tiger Force.