G.I. Joextravaganza... Part 4: Duke

No list of favorite G.I.Joes would be complete without Duke (Conrad S. Hauser). While most people would gravitate to one of the first two versions of Duke (which were basically the same except for the Tiger Force deco on the pants of the second), my favorite was always the 3rd version from 1992.

The sculpt of the figure was larger and more fitting of the Master Sergeant of the Joe team. The originals were slimmer and more slight. Those thinner sculpts were closer to the Duke that everyone loved from the cartoon. I just always felt the field leader of the team should look stronger. This figure achieved that. The tan and red color scheme was strong as well. This figure also came with great accesories (I always loved Joes with removeable helmets).

These later addition Joes came with different file cards. They included a tagged picture which listed all the weapons that came with the character. It was good to ID the weapons, but a geek boy like myself loved the back story on the original cards.

I also enjoyed the 11th version (from 2002) of Duke which used the completely new body sculpt when the line was reintroduced. I'll be posting images of those little gems. I think those sculpts included some great new versions of key figures, but are not generally highly regarded by Joe traditionalists.