 Hello, G.I. Joe fans! I am using green screen technology to explore the depths of the ocean. I will reveal the mysteries of the underwater kingdom. We will see things no human has ever seen. What wonders will be revealed in this dark and inhospitable place? Hello, everybody! Hooded Cobra Commander 788 here. This is the show where we review every vintage G.I. Joe toy from 1982 to 1994. I'd like to start by thanking a new patron. Thank you to Chris Tingey for adding your support. I can only continue to do these videos with the support of my friends on Patreon. If you'd like to support the channel, that's a great way to do it. This week we are going beyond the surface level 6 to look at the deep 6. The first deep 6 action figure is rather notorious because it is almost entirely unarticulated. It had an air pump diving gimmick and it came with a flying submarine. If you liked the air pump feature, you probably liked the first deep 6. If you wanted to use the figure for anything else, you were out of luck. Deep 6 got another chance though. His second version is drastically different from the first. Should you deep 6 deep 6? Let's find out. HCC 788 presents the 1989 release of deep 6. This is deep 6 G.I. Joe's deep sea diver from 1989. This figure was introduced in 1989. It was also available in 1990 and was discontinued for 1991. This is the second version of deep 6 in the vintage line. Version 1 of deep 6 from 1984 was included with the shark G.I. Joe's flying submarine. That figure was almost completely unarticulated because it was designed to work with an air pump diving gimmick. I reviewed the figure and the vehicle, but at the time I neglected to notice that part of the air pump diving system was missing. I hate it when I do that. Version 3 of deep 6 from 1992 was different from any other version of deep 6. It had a unique mold and was part of the eco warriors subset. As with all the eco warriors, it was in Crayola colors. This version of deep 6 came with a dolphin. There's a very rare variant with this dolphin colored as an orca. Good luck finding that one. Version 4 from 1993 went back to the version 2 mold. This was a male away exclusive figure available only in 1993. It was in bright yellow. The male away deep 6 does not include all the same accessories as version 2. It has the harpoon gun and the helmet and a figure stand. It doesn't have the other accessories. Version 4 also has a unique file card similar to but not exactly the same as the version 2 file card. This version is somewhat rare and expensive and offers very little that is new. Since I only have a sealed example of this figure and since I have no intention of getting a loose example of the figure, I guess you could consider this to be a review of version 4 of deep 6 as well. Unless you are a completist, you can easily skip this one. Most GI Joe fans don't think much of deep 6 because we remember him from 1984. That figure was nearly useless. It was a plastic paperweight. A lot of fans of GI Joe from the early 80s had moved on by 1989 so they never saw the second version of deep 6. The term deep 6 means to destroy or dispose of something. I am not aware of any prototype names for deep 6. The first deep 6 was a vehicle driver, but this one is not. I can't imagine the first deep 6 was especially popular, but someone at Hasbro must have seen the potential in the character and decided to give him a second chance. I'm glad they did. That's not to say the shark was out of the picture. In fact, there were a couple later reissues of the shark for Night Force in 1988 and for Sky Patrol in 1990. Deep 6 was not included with those later releases. Let's look at deep 6's accessories. He has a lot of accessories, but they are all appropriate for his specialty and all the accessories can be held by the figure or they fit together so nothing is loose. Let's start with deep 6's weapon, his gun. The card contents just called us a gun. It is in grey plastic. It has a pointy tip and a grip and a scope and a buttstock. I think this looks like a harpoon gun, which would make sense as an underwater weapon. The accessory was issued in a couple other colors. It was recolored black for Dodger version 2 from 1990. It was again issued in black for that third version of deep 6 from 1992. And finally, it was reissued in gold for that Malaway deep 6 version 4 from 1993. Next, let's look at deep 6's helmet. The helmet fits on this ring around his neck and removing the helmet gives us the first look at deep 6's face. The helmet is in bright orange plastic. It has some detail without having exceptional detail. This is an essential part of deep 6's diving suit. This looks like a Kirby Morgan helmet, which is a lightweight diving helmet. It is slightly modified, but it would make sense for deep 6's specialty. The bright orange color of the helmet may be a problem for some GI Joe collectors, but I think it makes sense for deep 6. Real Navy divers often use bright colors on their diving suits. Maybe not this color, but bright colors nonetheless. The opaque viewing window is the biggest problem for this helmet, but I understand doing a clear plastic panel would have been too expensive for a carded figure that already had a lot of accessories. But, Wetsuit version 2 from 1992 had a cutout panel for the eyes, and that looked much better. The next accessory is the backpack. It is in black plastic. It has tanks and hoses and gauges and pipes. It looks really good. At the bottom of the backpack, there's a peg that connects the hose that goes to the buoy. That can be removed. This black soft plastic hose or wire was standard and was issued with a lot of GI Joe action figures. The other end connects to a buoy. That buoy is in gray plastic. It has some rivets and not a lot of other detail. This would probably be used to allow a surface craft to locate deep 6 when he is underwater. Deep 6 is supposed to be a deep sea diver, but he can only dive about that deep. Let's take a look at the articulation. On deep 6, he had the articulation that was standard for GI Joe figures well before 1989. That automatically means he has better articulation than version 1 of deep 6. That figure only had articulation at the shoulders for the arms. He could turn his head from left to right and look up and down. It does not seem to be obstructed by this ring. He could lift his arm up at the shoulder and swivel at the shoulder all the way around. He had a hinge at the elbow that allowed him to bend his arm at the elbow about 90 degrees. He had a swivel at the bicep that allowed him to swivel his arm all the way around. This was an O-ring figure. That means 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 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 deep 6. He is wearing a dry suit, which is a type of diving suit designed for cold water temperatures. This type of suit is useful in environments where scuba suits would not be sufficiently insulating. Looking at his head, he has orange-red hair. He has the same color eyebrows and unfortunately, he has the same color eyes. I hate it when they do this, when they don't add a different color for the eyes, so you end up with figures with red eyes. It's a well-sculpted face. This face may have been based on a real person, but I haven't been able to identify who. By this time, it was common to base GI Joe head sculpts after Hasbro employees. Deep 6 version 3 from 1992 was based on Louis Bettencourt. Not that you can see it very well. I'm pretty sure version 2 was not. The head of Deep 6 version 1 was memorable because the non-removable clear plastic bubble kept it completely sealed off and because the face looked rather elvish and the orange-red hair was striking. The color is close to the version 2 figure, but that version 1 hair is a bit more red. The head of version 1 was taken from an unproduced alpine trooper that was planned for the 1984 series, but was canceled before production. On the torso, he has a light blue diving suit with an olive green seal ring for the helmet. That has some rivet detail and he has a gray tank and hose on the front. His arms feature the long light blue sleeves of the diving suit and he has orange gloves. I see them as orange, but they're coming out on the camera as more of a salmon color, so I'll leave that up to your interpretation. I'm calling them orange. On the inside of his right forearm, he has a silver hose and on the outside of his left forearm, he has an electronic device with some straps that go around his arm. The waist piece is in an olive green base plastic color. There is a lip at the front and an unpainted belt buckle and an orange or salmon colored belt with diving weights. The legs are in that same light blue color as the top half of the figure. He has a gray handled knife in an orange or salmon colored sheath on the right leg. He has olive green straps that go around the right leg. On the upper left leg, he has a couple orange or salmon colored pouches with a couple straps in the same color that go around the upper left leg. On both lower legs, he has segmented olive green padding that goes from the knees to just over the top of the boots. We finish with some silver shiny painted diving boots. These are no doubt supposed to be metallic weighted diving boots. This uniform is great for a number of reasons. It is a realistic diving suit. It gives Deep Six some articulation, which he was lacking on the first figure. It also has some bright colors, which is realistic for this type of suit. Maybe not these exact colors, but bright colors would be expected. I understand any toy line needs some color variety. If you want to introduce bright colors, this is the best way to do it. Put bright colors on things that are supposed to be brightly colored. Let's take a look at Deep Six's file card. His file card has his factionist G.I. Joe. It has some artwork of Deep Six here. His codename is Deep Six, and he is the Deep Sea Diver. His file name is Malcolm R. Willoughby, his primary military specialty NEC. That has an asterisk and down here it says Navy Enlisted Classification. That is Master Diver. Secondary military specialty is underwater demolitions instructor. His birthplace is Baltimore, Maryland, and his grade is E7 CPO in parentheses chief petty officer. That's a bit of a departure from the version one file card. That file card had his primary military specialty as diver, secondary military specialty as small craft pilot slash motorized. Also, he's gotten a promotion. His grade was P.O. Second. That is an E5. He's now an E7. This paragraph says always a loner and an individualist. Deep Six rarely talks to his G.I. Joe teammates and barely remembers their codenames, but his loyalty to the organization is unquestionable. He has recently given up crossword puzzles and bottle cap collecting to devote his off duty hours to recording and studying whale songs. Crossword puzzles and bottle cap collecting is a reference to the hobbies listed on the version one file card. I guess he still plays solitaire. He hasn't given that up. He is a qualified underwater demolitions instructor and an avid supporter of public television. What does supportive public television have to do with anything? This bottom paragraph has a quote. It says, Cobra is always coming up with new underwater specialists, none of which can fill Deep Six's flippers. He does not include flippers, but we'll let that go. It severely cuts down on efficiency if, while sabotaging offshore drilling platforms or trans-oceanic cables, Cobra divers have to constantly look over their shoulders to make sure that Deep Six isn't sneaking up behind them to cut their air hoses. This does suggest a combat role, but there's also an emphasis on his underwater demolitions expertise. And I think his equipment fits that role very well. Let's take a moment to look at the version four file card. That file card has an updated faction logo, updated artwork. It says Deep Sea Diver in bold text and codename Deep Six. This is a bit of a throwback. Older G.I. Joe file cards had the specialty in bold text and the codename underneath, but every card after about 1985 had the codename in bold text and the specialty underneath. The text of this file card is almost identical to the version two file card, except the serial number is different for some unknown reason. Also, there is still an asterisk after NEC, but there is no footnote. The Hasbro intern didn't copy all the text before he pasted it to the version four file card. Looking at how Deep Six was used in G.I. Joe media, in the animated series he first appeared in the episode Cobra Stops the World. He was piloting the shark with torpedo in the back seat. Of course, the toy shark doesn't have a back seat. His chilly personality was emphasized. Torpedo sarcastically describes him as Mr. Warmth. Mr. Warmth? That was Don Rickles' nickname. That would have been a fun interpretation of Deep Six as an insult comic. What's your first name, Mr. Anderson? Bill Anderson. Get up. He was never a major player in the animated series, but he appeared whenever they wanted to sell the shark. He wasn't a major player in the comic book series published by Marvel Comics either, but he appeared a few times without the shark. His first appearance was in issue number 25. We first see him wearing a Gilligan hat and a gray sweater. It's a made-up uniform for Deep Six in the comic book, so he didn't have to wear his bulky diving suit all the time. We never got an action figure of Deep Six looking like that, but I would have liked it. He did appear in the shark in his diving suit as well. One of Deep Six's best moments had nothing to do with the shark. He was manning a machine gun on the killer whale. He was wounded and the mount on his machine gun was damaged. With the help of Roadblock, he was able to shoot down Destro's Rattler. As with the animated series, Deep Six usually appears with the shark. To my knowledge, he never appeared in his version 2 uniform. Looking at Deep Six overall, I think this is the best version of Deep Six and a really good figure. This is a candidate for most improved figure over the first version. Deep Six version 2 was everything the 1984 Deep Six was not. It was fully articulated, it was well sculpted, and it was relatively free of gimmicks. You may think the bright orange color on this figure is a problem for me, but it isn't. In fact, it's very appropriate and realistic for a deep-sea diver to have a brightly colored diving suit. I prefer the more military aspects of GI Joe, but I understand the toy line needs colors other than green, brown, and black. This is the best way to introduce bright colors, put them on a figure where the bright colors are appropriate. Deep Six is in a deep-sea diving suit. He is not equipped as a frogman. There are plenty of things he can do for GI Joe, but he doesn't have flippers and a sleek wetsuit like torpedo. He does have a torpedo gun at least, so he can get involved in the fight, but he's probably better used sneaking into a Cobra underwater base and setting explosives. The accessories are mostly pretty good, but the buoy and the line are a little cumbersome. The helmet is fine in orange plastic, but an open pane for the goggles would have worked better. This is a well-made figure, and I think more GI Joe fans should think of this figure rather than the clunky first version when they think of Deep Six. That was my review of Deep Six Version 2. I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you again to Chris Tingey for adding your support. If you liked this video, please give it a thumbs up on YouTube, and subscribe to the YouTube channel for more GI Joe videos. You can find me on Facebook and Twitter, and I have a website, hcc788.com. I can only continue to do these videos with the support of my friends on Patreon. If you'd like to support the channel, that's a great way to do it. You can get early access to videos and other things like that, and you can get your name in videos. You see the name scrolling on the screen right now? Your name could be there! That's all for now. I'll be back next week with another GI Joe Toy Review, and next time, I think we will stay in the 80s, and I'm in the mood for some anarchy and destruction, aren't you? I'll see you then. And until then, remember, only GI Joe is GI Joe.