Taurus (30th Anniversary)
by KansasBrawler
I’ll admit, I have a very soft spot in my heart for the original animated G.I. Joe movie. The crazy alien nature of Cobra-La really appealed to my kid brain. However, what made the biggest impression on me out of that movie was Slaughter’s team of Renegades. While I’d never really been all that attached to Slaughter’s appearances in the cartoon, but when you added in the dynamic that he leads a team so tough that he’s the only one that can manage their activities, I was sold. Though my favorite Renegade was Mercer, I think that’s partly due to him being the only one I had (my parents came up with a really equitable way of splitting up that three pack, whoever got to pick first would get their favorite of the three so the one who couldn’t get their first pick got the other two figures—I got my Mercer, so I was perfectly happy with the arrangement and I think my brother was as well with Taurus and Red Dog). I’ve always felt the Renegades were my favorite Joe sub-team. When you read the filecards of all three Renegades, they’re all really awesome characters and had pretty cool figures to boot. Taurus was easily my second-favorite based on his figure and filecard and while the 30th Anniversary Slaughter’s Marauders pack had to call him “Bull”, I’m still very glad to see all three Renegades getting some love from Hasbro itself rather than just the Collectors’ Club.
Taurus here comes really close to hitting all the right marks, but some unusual choices really do wind up hurting his look in the long run. I still like him a lot, but the flaws do keep him from sitting on the front row of my display shelf, and that’s kind of a shame. Taurus is a great character, but some bad execution really dings him pretty hard. His torso and waist come from Pursuit of Cobra Recondo. That’s the first strike against him since, while Hasbro has fixed the neck lean and hunch from its original use, Taurus still has a little bit of trouble making eye contact. I do like his arms, which are a combination of Pursuit of Cobra Recondo’s short-sleeved upper arms and Resolute Roadblocks lower arms. Despite the problems with the Recondo torso, I’m really glad they went this route with Taurus. The movie and filecard made it clear that while agile, Taurus was also a pretty big bruiser. The original Joe figures could do a lot of things, but make characters look bigger or smaller than others when they’re shown as being really big or really small in other media wasn’t one of them. I’m glad that the Taurus figure I now have looks bigger and meaner than the other Joes on my shelf. The second strike against Taurus comes from his legs. The 25th Para-Viper legs have a weird permanent knee-bend. I don’t know why that happened since I don’t recall the Para-Viper having this problem, but it leaves Taurus in a permanent semi-squat. He’d look even more imposing if he were able to stand at his full height. The third strike comes from his webgear. Though it definitely looks better on Taurus than it does on Zanzibar, it’s still not a great piece. While he’s not swimming in it, that holster still blocks his face if there’s a gun in it. That’s just poor planning and it’s a shame, because I do like that it does feel kind of like that funky belt-holster-shoulderpad combo he wore back in the day, but it’s still just so awkward that I can’t like it. However, while I have some minor complaints about his body, I can’t really criticize Taurus’s face (well, maybe that he lost the really awesome mustache he had back in the day to go with his really awesome beard, but that’s it). There’s a lot of character in his face. He’s got a really stern glare that basically says don’t mess with me…and with his brawny build, he’s definitely got the strength to back that up. The scar on his face is a really nice touch, too. It runs down through his left eyebrow and down on to the left cheek and really makes him look even more intimidating than he did before. I’d hate to see what the other guy ended up looking like after Taurus finished thrashing him. I’m guessing it probably wasn’t an open-casket affair.
Taurus’s construction may have had a few issues, but his paint job is really great. The colors are a direct copy from his 1987 look, though I do wish his pants were all green. I understand that since they used the Para-Viper legs they had to do something two-toned, but I really wish they’d switched the placement on the green and the really light tan. I think it would have hearkened back to his original figure a bit better. The webgear get some attention, though, full disclosure as you can tell from the photos, there’s a pretty bad paint flaw on blue button on his left side over the holster. I’m not sure what caused that, but it’s a shame that I couldn’t sift through the box sets sitting out at a store to find the best one. Beyond that, though, the webgear looks really nice. I like the gold highlights on the shoulderpads because I think it really adds a Turkish flare to the design. The paint job makes it really clear who this is supposed to be and I have to give Hasbro credit for doing such a faithful job at recreating his rather colorful original look.
To me, the coolest part of the original Renegades three-pack was that they all had unique weapons. That’s where all three Renegades from the 30th Anniversary line have a problem, but Taurus really got dealt from the bottom of the deck there because all three of his guns have been used a lot over the years. He gets a pair of Wild Bill revolvers and a Tomax cartoon laser pistol. Hasbro did make an homage to his original equipment by making his laser pistol silver like his original rifle, but I still feel like he got kind of shafted here. I understand that Hasbro can’t tool up brand new guns for everybody that had unique weapons back in the day, but I wish they wouldn’t reuse such iconic weapons so much. My brain associates all his weapons with someone else, and that’s unfortunate. I would have loved to have seen Recondo’s rifle/grenade launcher combo here. It fits with Taurus’s style but it’s also not a piece that’s been used excessively over the years. I think there were a lot of other routes Hasbro could have used to equip the Renegades and the choices they made kind of left me cold. He does get a new-ish knife that fits in the sheath on the back of his webgear, but unfortunately, the sheath is about the only place it fits. His hands have a bit too open of a grip for that knife and really, with as small as it is, it doesn’t look that impressive in his hands. Parts of me have thought about giving him Road Pig’s scimitar, but I really like how it looks with Road Pig and I can’t bear to separate him from it. Why they couldn’t have just used that mold twice (since they’ve already got Taurus and Zanzibar badly sharing the same webgear) is just beyond me. With the couple of Retaliation Joes that came with as many weapons as the Accessory Packs from back in the day, I’m looking at getting Taurus some new gear, but it’s a shame that I have to raid gear from other figures with way too much stuff to make Taurus look good.
Taurus is a passable update of his original figure who unfortunately came out during the 30th Anniversary line instead of the 25th Anniversary line. If I didn’t have so many amazing, point-for-point updates of other childhood favorites cluttering my mind, I think Taurus would have fared better. He’s not a bad figure by any means and isn’t the weakest in the set either, but he fell a little short. I always thought Taurus was the second-coolest Renegade, but considering I actually have him in my collection now, there really hasn’t been any change in how I rank the Renegades. I thought at first look that Taurus might actually dethrone Mercer as my favorite Renegade, but the couple flaws in execution definitely cemented his status in my mind as second-coolest Renegade. I was expecting a lot from Taurus, partly because like the rest of the Renegades it’s been a long time since they’ve gotten attention from Hasbro and partly because I am unashamed in my love of G.I. Joe: The Movie and all the Renegades were a big part of why I loved it so much. Unfortunately, between his awkward webgear and his crouchy knees, he just isn’t quite what I was expecting he would be. I’m still glad he got a modern version, but the flawed parts choices really did hurt him a bit more than I was expecting they would.
Pingback: » Field Report Friday: Taurus (30th anniversary) by KansasBrawler
I do like the way that he can carry all his gear. But that pistol does get in his way.
On the subject of G.I.JOE: the movie. does anyone know if it had the same budget as the Transformers one? Last time i saw it [via youtube] i noticed the animation didnt seem on par and the plot seemed to be padded out. I wonder if it was written as a tv mini-series and was hastily edited into a “movie” ala Secret of the sword.
@Skymate: I think it was a movie first; in fact, I think of the “Hasbro trilogy”, it was produced before either Transformers or My Little Pony: the Movie, but for whatever reason, was put out later. Neither of those latter films really made big cash in the box office, so they decided to put G.I. Joe directly to home video. And because of reactions to Optimus Prime’s death (which apparently was not appreciated by young children, nor the parents of same), what was supposed to be the death of Duke was re-dubbed to indicate he was in a coma, no matter what you saw on the screen.
(I’m also relatively convinced that the Dreadnoks kill Alpine and Bazooka when they break into Joe HQ in the first draft. Look at how they go down. This is all speculation on my part, though, as I’ve never seen anyone discuss this particular incident).
On the other hand, the movie definitely breaks down into a mini-series pretty neatly, so what do I know?
@Captainswift
I didnt find a copy of the movie till ’04 and i thought Bazooka, Alpine and Gungho died. The way sergeant slaughter beats up nemisis enforcer at the end suggests to me that their deaths were animated but cut [like Zarana’s nude scene]. I for one was far more disturbed over Alpine and Bazook’s apparent death then Dukes.
On a different note regaurding the “Hasbro trilogy”. A coulpe of years ago when Hasbro rebooted the ponies, my neice went mad for them but the dvd’s had a later release date down here so the only one i could find for her was the ’86 movie. And she hated it. [though i kept laughing at it as one of them sounds like Bart Simpson]. When the F.I.M dvd’s were eventually released, i had to fight a Brony for one.
My two and a half year old nephew loves the ’86 Transformers movie at the moment. He’s watching it up to five times a day. And he’s started singing along to “The touch”. His parents are desperate for him to go back to Cars2 and Monster inc.
I think if I were in charge of designing the Renegades for this 7-pack, I would’ve done something like this for the cases of Red Dog and Taurus:
-For Red Dog, I would’ve kept everything we got except the Shadow Tracker legs, and would use the 25th Gung-Ho ones (with Airborne’s pocket) since they could work for the boots and holster he had originally. I also would have given him a modified version of the webgear the ROC Arctic Snake Eyes had, along with a recolored 25th Dusty backpack in the colors of the original Red Dog’s (which itself was also from the Dusty mold).
-For Taurus, I would’ve kept the head and arms used here, but use the torso of the 25th Roadblock and the Shadow Tracker legs that ironically were used on Red Dog. I’d then add the belt that came with the 25th General Hawk, which would be a decent fill-in despite the lack of the original Taurus’s buckle. And yeah, I would’ve given him POC Recondo’s machine gun w/grenade launcher too–AND the scimitar that came with Road Pig in the Dreadnok pack.
I too am happy we finally got these guys. My sentiments are the same point for point. Red Dog was the least faithful which is too bad since he was my favorite. I outfitted Red Dog with RoC Heavy Duty’s chain gun.
Zarana had a nude scene?
I liked the new Renegades even though they’re not perfect due to the way modern Joes are designed. Can’t understand why Hasbro lost the rights to Taurus, though. It’s a freaking zodiac sign for Christ’s sake. If Hercules is public domain fodder, how can Taurus fall under copyright law? It’s all a load of “bull’ to me.
@Clutch
One of the points of trivia i heard about the ’87 movie is that the animators were also trying to target a teen audiance as at that point in time very few teens got enjoyment from syndicated toy commercials. I heard that the plan was to have Zarana change into her swim wear but there was a couple of strategically placed branches so nothing too raunchy was seen. I heard Hasbro disliked the idea so it never got any further than stroyboard.
I’m just curious as to what would have happened if it had been added. Would parents have been more upset over Dukes death or Zarana’s..eer…um wardrobe malfunction?
It is a cool action figure i.m.o.!
@Clutch, Skymate: Pretty sure it was a back-view. She takes her disguise shirt off, slips on her regular pink shirt. She’s naked, but it’s just her back. Again, this is what I understand.
On yet another unrelated note about the aforementioned Hasbro Trilogy: In an interview with Buzz Dixon, he says he was asked to punch up the script of the My Little Pony movie back in the day, and one thing he wanted to do was have one of the ponies going around the world trying to find whatever it was they were looking for, and along the way encountering Optimus Prime, possibly Jem (?), and Shipwreck. Shipwreck has a mug of undefined beverage in his hand, which he pours out after his conversation with the pastel flying pony. (The Sunbow executives laughed, said, “That’s hilarious” and then “No.”)
@Captainswift
I think thats pretty hilarious. But yes, it isnt suitable for a kiddies cartoon. Though on a simmilar note, i’m positive Wrek-gar shows Hotrod and Kup a clip of Stormshadow on his little TV; is that singer he shows them a second later Jem? [bit of a stretch] But why stop at the pony floating by. I would have had Pinkie pie perform on the uss flag for the troops ala Cher.
Excellent trivia on what could have been, guys.
I suppose when it comes to the Sunbow/Hasbro Universe it all comes down to Six Degrees of Hector Ramirez.
Drilling a small hole in the bottom of the shoulder holster allows the barrel of the revolver to poke through so the handle sits lower. You lose no functionality and the figure looks MUCH better.