 Welcome to the final review of 90s Months, we have been looking at GI Joe toys released in the 1990s. We finally reached the end of the month and I'm so excited. Sorry folks, it's already the end of the month and I'm way behind on my 90s references. I gotta make my quota. Anyway, this week we are looking at another well-known character in GI Joe, Flint, and we are looking at the last version of Flint in the Vintage Line. It's appropriate that we finish 90s Months with the last version of a figure that was released in the last year of the line. Let's give 90s Months a good send off by seeing if GI Joe gave Flint a good send off. Let's go with the matter 788 here. GI Joe rescue, hoodie is back with Flint so rightly, in 90s Months with the color so brightly. Is the figure crap? Yo, I don't know. Turn off the lights. He won't float. This version of Flint has a tan and brown shirt, he ain't covered in neon, he stressed for the desert. This figure is good, I cannot be displeased, don't forget he's Lady G's main squeeze. Yo, if you read the title it ain't no misprint, hoodie presents 1994 Flint to your mother. This is Flint GI Joe's desert paratrooper from 1994. This figure was available only in 1994. It could only be available in 1994 because that was the last year of the Vintage GI Joe toy line. The line was discontinued after that year in favor of Sergeant Savage. In 1994, the toy line was drastically scaled back from 1993. There were dozens of new figures in 1993. In fact, if I only reviewed 1993 figures every week, it would still take me nearly a year to get through it all. In 1994, there were only 14 figures in the Battle Core series, which was the main GI Joe line. There were a few more figures in Star Brigade. The Shadow Ninjas were also released in 1994, but there was only a handful of those. In the last few years of the Vintage GI Joe toy line, they did their best to keep up with the toy trends at the time. In 1994, they finally lost their race against their competitors. After that, Hasbro went an entirely different direction with the brand. Actually, they went in several different directions, none of them really worked. This is the fourth and final version of Flint. Version 1 was released in 1985, which is considered by many to be the golden age of Vintage GI Joe. It was a fantastic figure and a cool character. Version 2 was introduced in the Tiger Force sub-team in 1988. It was just a recolored version of the original. Version 3 was in the Eco Warriors sub-team, and this time he got to be in command. He was the leader of the Eco Warriors. His figure was wildly different from the previous ones. Flint leading the Eco Warriors is significant because he was introduced as a second in command behind Duke. This is a guy with leadership skills, but he was second in the GI Joe command hierarchy. That is, until General Hawk was introduced in the animated series. At that point, he became third place in the leadership pecking order. I have the full card back for Flint, so let's take a look at that. The card art is okay, it's nothing special. The anatomy seems to be a bit off, the torso is a little wide, and it seems like that arm is missing an elbow. We have the GI Joe logo and the Battle Core logo. As noted earlier, Battle Core was the main GI Joe figure series. The rest of the line was broken up into sub-series. Flint is firing his weapon with his left hand, and there's something odd I've noticed about 90's card art. In the last 3 reviews I've done, the card art shows the character holding a weapon in the left hand. Sometimes he has one in the right hand too, but always the left hand, and sometimes only the left hand. Is this a coincidence? Let me look at some other examples. Left hand, left and right hand, left and right hand, left hand. They're not all like this, there are some counter examples, but they definitely did it a lot in the 90's. And also, notice how all the characters are facing to the left. I think I know why they did this, this is a composition choice. By facing the character to the left, and indeed sometimes having him shoot to the left, it is directing the buyer's attention to the toy inside the blister packaging. That does make sense, there is a logic to it, but as they say there is more than one way to skin a cat. For instance, you can have the artwork frame the toy in the packaging, or by facing the character the other direction, you can make the artwork seem like it is bursting out of the packaging toward the buyer. And that can get people's attention. I just noticed something on this card art, Flint is winking. That is weird. Flipping the card around to the back, the cross cell minimizes the battle core figures, it only shows a few of them. The emphasis is on Star Brigade and Street Fighter 2. I do not consider Street Fighter 2 to be part of the vintage toy line, it also advertises some vehicles. We have the file card here and we will look at that later. Let's take a look at Flint's accessories and let's start with his missile launcher. This is a spring loaded missile launcher. The file card calls it a sand blaster rocket launcher. I appreciate the fact that they made it look kind of like a rifle, and the figure can hold it pretty well. What I do not appreciate is the fact that they made it bright orange for no reason. The figure came with two black missiles, so let's demonstrate how to load and fire this thing. We're going to slide the missile into the launcher, notch side up, and press it back until it clicks. Dr. Meinbender has been our target for these spring loaded missile launchers all month, so I've just been leaving the figure out here. So let's take out Dr. Meinbender again. There's a black trigger on the top of the launcher, so let's just take aim and fire. Now let's take a look at his hat, and this is not really a helmet, it is a hat, because this is a beret with a havalok and goggles attached to it. The hat is made of a soft, flexible plastic, and it does fit on the figure pretty well. Giving Flint a beret makes perfect sense. The first version of the figure had a beret, and I kind of expect any version of Flint to have a beret. That's one of the reasons why the eco-warriors version of Flint doesn't quite look like Flint to me. I like the idea of this hat more than the execution. The beret itself looks more like a mushroom cap, and the goggles make him look bug-eyed. And I know I'm a terrible person, but I can't help but see the havalok as hair. And to me, he looks like Kathy from the old comic strip. But at least they gave him a beret. Flint needs a beret. I support that decision. The rest of the accessories, including the two black missiles, came on a tree. Kids would have to break the accessories off of the tree. I've already made my feelings known about these accessories trees, so let's just move on. He came with a rifle. This rifle has the magazine behind the grip. This resembles the real-world Enfield EM-2. This is also a copy of the rifle that came with the 1990 ambush figure. About the only difference I can see between these two rifles is the Flint rifle is a bit glossier than the ambush rifle. So do be careful that you don't mix these up. He came with a submachine gun. This is a Colt 9mm SMG. Another real-world weapon. It is also another reissue of an earlier accessory. This accessory originally came with Hidden Run from 1988. And again, it is almost identical to the original. So if you want to make sure you get an authentic Hidden Run accessory, the Hidden Run submachine gun has more of a matte finish and the Flint submachine gun is glossier. He came with a machine gun. This looks like the M240, which is an American manufactured version of the Belgian FN MAG. This originally came with Big Ben from 1991. He came with one other accessory, a figure stand. That's always a nice bonus. Of all the accessories this figure came with, I prefer the EM-2 rifle. It reminds me of the French FAMAS that Dusty carried. Since Flint is fighting in the desert now, it seems appropriate. Let's look at the articulation on Flint. He had the articulation that was standard for GI Joe for years by 1994, meaning 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 it 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 legs at the hip about 90 degrees and bend at the knee about 90 degrees. Looking at the sculpted design and color, this is another figure that is shifting to a desert theme. Last week we looked at Duke Version 3, which had a more or less desert color scheme. I like this idea. I like having popular figures equipped for different environments. In the cartoon and the comic book, the Joe's uniforms were treated kind of like superhero costumes. For the most part, they would wear exactly the same uniform no matter where they were fighting. It got really ridiculous when Quick Kick was fighting in the snow without a shirt or shoes, or when Torpedo fought on land while wearing his swim fins. So maybe I want to send Flint on a desert mission. It's nice to have him in a desert uniform. He doesn't have to wear the same black shirt every time. Wash that thing every once in a while, will ya? Looking at his head, he has black hair. They got that part right. Other than that, he doesn't look at all like the first version of Flint. He looks more like Eco Warrior's Flint, except the part in the hair is different and the head on version 4 is bigger. I guess that stint leading Eco Warriors gave Flint a big head. Looking at his chest, he has a caramel brown vest and tall shoulder pads, too tall, I think. He has tan straps and a tan belt that is sculpted on the chest and back rather than on the waist piece. He has three black grenades on one strap, and those straps look more like suspenders than load bearing equipment. They stop right here in the back. It looks like it's holding up this mesh part. Is that his girdle? His right arm is totally bare and muscular, and on his bicep, they sculpted some veins. I appreciate the attempt at extra detail, but it ends up looking a little weird and gross. On his left arm, he has a tan armor piece on his shoulder. That tan color is so close to his flesh tone. It's easy to miss. He has a black watch on his left wrist. On his waist piece, he has a continuation of that brown vest. It is otherwise pretty plain. On his legs, we have tan trousers, and on both thighs, we have straps and various pouches, and here is where we have a variant. Some Flint figures had those straps and pouches unpainted. 3D Joe says this is because Hasbro was manufacturing figures in China and Indonesia. The different factories would sometimes do small details differently. The variant with the black straps was produced in China. The other one was made in Indonesia. In fact, you can see this on the country of origin stamp on the butt. I prefer the variant with the painted straps. Without the paint, the legs are too plain. Some of that nice sculpted detail is lost. The black pulls it out. On the lower legs, he has bands around his shins. He has two knives on his right ankle and black boots. Some of the details on this figure don't quite hold up, but a lot of them do, and this desert color scheme is solid. They don't try to throw in any orange or red or anything weird. For the 90s, they show surprising restraint in the colors. I have to give them credit for that. Let's take a look at the file card, and this file card is one of those 90s file card that has a list of the features on the figure. I will not be reading those. This file card says his codename is Flint. His specialty is the Desert Paratrooper. His filename is Dashill R. Fairborn. His primary military specialty is paratrooper operations. Secondary military specialty is Commando. His specialties have changed. On his original file card, he was a warrant officer. His primary military specialty was infantry and secondary military specialty was helicopter pilot. On his second file card, his primary specialty remained infantry, but his secondary military specialty changed to demolitions. And now he is a Desert Paratrooper. His birthplace is Wichita, Kansas, and his grade is W02. On his second file card, his grade was W3, which means he got demoted. Maybe he got busted for fraternizing with Lady J. No worth it. This paragraph says a graduate of Special Forces School as well as Flight Warrant Officer School and a former Rhodes Scholar, Flint enjoys a well-known and well-deserved reputation as an expert in desert battle tactics and training. This mostly refers to his known history and that's good, at least there's some continuity. But he is especially renowned for being a top-notch paratrooper successfully completing difficult missions behind enemy lines after skydiving with a halo or high-altitude low-opening parachute from heights of 40,000 feet. He's a tough, snake-eating, no-guff taking commando who has the unique ability to lower his body temperature to adjust to the boiling hot rays of the desert sun. No, no he doesn't. Looking at how Flint was used in G.I. Joe Media, in the cartoon series he first appeared in Revenge of Cobra Part One. He had an interesting sub-plot in that mini-series. After being separated from roadblock, he and Mutt disguised themselves as Cobra troops and discovered shipwreck in a bar. That sounds like where you would discover shipwreck. Flint had plenty of appearances in the Sunbow series. His relationship with Lady J was developed too. Since Flint had figures introduced in the 90s, he managed to get into the Deke series too. Most notably, he was in the sludge factor, parts one and two, where he led the eco-warriors. What's great about Flint in the animated series is that he was introduced as a second in command after Duke. But there was no rivalry between them. There was no competition for power and Flint didn't seem to have any ambitions to be the top dog. He was like, Will Riker. It was a contrast to the constant power struggles that went on in Cobra. In the comic book series published by Marvel Comics, he was introduced in issue number 37. He had a lot of appearances in the comic book too. In the comic, like the cartoon, Flint was romantically involved with Lady J. I don't think women characters always have to be paired with romantic partners, but I like Flint and Lady J together. Both are intelligent and tough. They would come to the relationship as equals. It's nice to see a mature relationship depicted in children's entertainment. Even though Flint got plenty of use in the comics, I never thought the character was developed there as well as he was in the cartoon series. I can't find any appearances of Flint in his version four uniform. In issue number 123, he's wearing his version one uniform and he gets his version three eco-warriors uniform. He had a short run with the eco-warriors through issue 125. Then in his next appearance in issue number 140, he's back to his version one uniform. Looking at Flint overall, this is an excellent figure. It's not quite as good as the first version and I even like the second version a bit better, but it's miles above the eco-warriors version. There is so much to love about this figure. The head sculpt is great, the colors are great. They actually gave us desert colors without throwing in red or orange or something like that. Except for that missile launcher. The downsides, the shoulder pads are a bit tall and look kind of silly. I don't love the orange missile launcher. The hat was a good idea, but the execution leaves something to be desired. Most of my complaints are with the accessories. This is one rare occasion when I prefer the generic accessories from the tree to the unique ones, but at least they made his accessories black. The trend in the 90s of releasing desert versions of old characters was a good one. It was a lot better than neon colors and aliens. The shift toward desert themes was probably due to the Gulf War in the early 90s. This seems entirely appropriate to me. Early Joe's looked like we expected soldiers to look with lots of green and jungle camouflage. In the 90s though, we started to see soldiers as desert fighters. The theaters of conflict changed and G.I. Joe changed with them. Flint, like Duke, is portrayed as a hyper-masculine character that is almost impossibly smart and tough, but there's something different about Flint. Maybe it's the fact that he was never at the top of the Joe chain of command and never tried to be. There is a quiet confidence to it. Am I being unfair to Duke and giving Flint a pass for the same character traits? Maybe, but I will remind the viewer that I still prefer Duke over Flint and I stand by that. I had more sentimental attachment to the Duke figure as a kid and I respect Duke's place in the G.I. Joe universe, but Flint seems like the guy I would prefer to hang out with. Ow, no, I didn't get enough 90s references in. Here are a few random ones just to make sure we make the quota. Some baby moments every day is all the 90s I can handle. Let's get back to the 80s next week. Thanks for watching this review. If you liked it, please give it a thumbs up on YouTube and subscribe to the YouTube channel. Find me on Facebook, Twitter and Patreon. I have a website, don't forget to check that out, HCC788.com. It has all of my G.I. Joe reviews sorted by year. If you want to know if I've already reviewed something, check the website and you can find it there. Thanks for watching. I'll see you next week with some good old-fashioned 80s G.I. Joe. And until then, remember, only G.I. Joe is G.I. Joe. Action to the core, path for the Joe. G.I. Joe. Now you can go for the Joe that formed the team. Get a special Hall of Fame G.I. Joe figure by mailing in 20 proofs of purchase from G.I. Joe action figures. Details inside specially marked packages offer ends January 31st, 1995. Go for the Joe.