Duke (2005)

Another Duke? Of course. Would you expect more than a couple weeks to go by without one? After all, we’re up to about 475 versions. If I continue the blog for another twenty five years, I might be able to cover them all. This one is another follow up to the infamous Action Attack version that was colloquially known as Butt Plug Duke. You gotta love the parlance that pops up when grown men gather together online to talk about toys.

Since Duke is a prerequisite for seemingly every batch of figures released, he often was the subject of a recolor in the  2000s series. I don’t have a hatred of repaints, particularly when they’re an improvement on a previous version. The colour scheme here is quite different from what we’re used to seeing the team’s top sergeant wearing. Most often, Duke sports colors in line with his original 1980s release. This time out, he’s gone for a bit darker look, but not one that’s quite as dark as Night Force. This Duke’s darker, green colour scheme is to me a better thematic fit for the Valor vs. Venom series. Although he’s proportionally weird, I like the color concept and uniform design. As a plus, he’s equipped with a pretty amazing machine gun.