Lifeline

 

I’ve never had any of the medic figures for GI Joe, so it was about time to get one. This week I’m checking out the newest incarnation of Lifeline, from the 30th Anniversary collection.

Appearance:

You know this is one of those figures I’d normally shy away from. I prefer my figures in earth tones. However, in this case the bright red reminded me of a Coast Guard first responder.

The cool thing I think they have finally caught on to is that most uniforms are made from common components, and Hasbro has built up some really great stock components to build this figure on. So underneath everything, He’s wearing a red shirt and pants.

Added on top of that is a ton of gear. He doesn’t come with a back pack, but he can carry a ton of gear on his body. There’s two holsters and a knife sheath on his body. The one on his chest is a little oddly placed, but other than that I can live with all of them.

There are several pouches on the front of his chest and one has the same orange logo that is found on his case.

Red and white can be troublesome, but here they are done well enough. the only place the white seems a the slightest bit thin is the “RESCUE” on his leg. I really love the fact they went under the knee pad with it, rather than trying to fit it all on his thigh.

I also love the fact they didn’t paint both of the bicep pockets like we’ve see on other uses of these arms. It’s also a bit odd that he doesn’t have gloves. I almost would have like to have seen his hands in blue like non-latex gloves.

I do not know what the think on his right hip is. It’s painted well enough, I just wish I knew what it was.

Of course, the most unique part of this figure is his head. On recent episode of the Flag Points Podcast, the hosts remarked on you would think that his head and helmet almost appear to be one piece. Hasbro did a great job of fitting this helmet. It’s kind of a strange shape, I’m not really sure how reality based it is.

Under the helmet you got a guy that looks a bit Top Gun. He’s got on a pair of aviator shades. I’m okay with that, since I see him as getting to his patients by chopper. He’s got a pretty unique face, has a bit of that rugged pilot look to him.

I really don’t have anything negative to say here. While he isn’t one of the most realistically colored figures, I can appreciate that he is both homage and update.

Fun:

A medic isn’t necessarily one of the most fun figures to own. He doesn’t really get to fight. Oddly, this release has a BFG with him. I could see him coming with a typical stripped down AR type rifle similar to what Airborne came with, but that isn’t what we got here.  He’s got a tactical weapon with all sorts of extra gizmos.

He does come with an automatic style pistol, as well. That makes sense to me as, it would be more of self defense weapon. A taser may have made even more sense for him.

On top of that, he has another gun like injector that sort of fits the holster on his chest. It doesn’t want to stay in there. This makes a fair amount of sense, as he wouldn’t have to change needles in the field. The last personal item is the knife on this right ankle. Knives have plenty of uses that aren’t hurting people, and it makes sense Lifeline would carry one.

 Now for the good stuff. Lifeline comes with a ton of cool medical gear. It all starts with his case. It’s a white plastic affair and looks fairly real on the outside. Inside, it looks like there’s a bunch of other medical stuff painted in.

One of the things that is painted there is a portable defibrillator. To go with it are two small white plastic “paddles” that fit into notches in the case. When I was putting the top picture together, I felt the paddles were a bit weak. Repeated use may not be good for them, especially in Lifeline’s left hand, which is tighter than the right.

The other thing that snaps in the case is an IV bag. Probably one of the cooler accessories I’ve seen in awhile. Molded in clear plastic with some paint it looks like a miniature IV bag. To attach it to the needy is a small tube with a wrist type cuff. One end plugs in the bag and the other end goes around the figure’s arm. It’s done so it isn’t really oversize. Bravo!

The last thing that fits in the case is an oxygen tank. A mask goes of the figure with a clear tube that goes to the tank. When I first saw it, I thought it might be a reused Millennium Falcon accessory, but I don’t believe it is.  The mask fits well enough on the couple figures I tried it on.

The last piece is a stretcher. Stretcher isn’t the right term. It’s actually a backboard like the type EMT’s use to get folks out of tight areas. There’s a single strap that comes with it. Unlike the real ones I’ve seen, this one has the head immobilization blocks built in. It’s a pretty nice realistic piece. I just wish there way to get it to sit flatter with the strap in it. And it would have been neat if there was a way to lock it on to the VAMP.

Overall:

Like I said above I really don’t have any complaints here. Lifeline is a really solid figure with a ton of accessories. And except for the rifle, all of the accessories make sense for him. I really wasn’t expecting to like him as much as I do. Of course none of the recent Joes have let me down, so I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised.

Engineernerd Score: 98/100

For another take on this figure make sure to check out this review at Planned Banter!

 

 

Tags: 30th Anniversary, GI Joe, Hasbro, IV, Lifeline, Medic

Category: Featured, GI Joe, Toy Reviews