Torpedo (1983)

Torpedo was one of the first GI Joes I bought myself. After getting Cobra Commander in a school trade, and Flash from a trip to Wards with my dad, Torpedo was one of the new for 1983 figures that caught my eye. I picked him up at the same Wards from which I had acquired Flash. He immediately got regular use on my Joe missions.

Torpedo is yet another 1983 figure whose accessories sent my young toy buying mind into a frenzy. Compared to the more simply equipped figures of the first series, having a diver opened up so many play possibilities for the line. Even though realistically he might have looked funny fighting on land in wet suit, flippers and with a speargun, as a kid with a vivid imagination, I didn’t care. He still ran around with the other Joes, even with his flippers on. Torpedo also provided the impetus to get my Joes to venture into the water (not really a great idea considering the metal screws).

Torpedo made a decent number of appearances in the Sunbow cartoon, and was memorable to me from the beginning. When he first showed up in the MASS Device mini-series as the Joes were ready to embark on their search for the heavy water, it was obvious he was well liked among his comrades. In a moment that now appears a bit awkward, many of the Joes cry out, “Hey, ‘Pedo!” Torpedo himself even uses this little nickname a couple times. These days of course, that word has its own connotation, and I doubt if he wants his teammates to use it. Torpedo made later appearances in the series clad in jeans and a white t-shirt. There’s always been a laid-back dress code going on with the Joes, but that was surprisingly casual.

Compared to later figures, Torpedo’s build may look slight, but considering he’s wearing a wet suit, he really shouldn’t look bulky anyway. Even when Wet Suit, a technically improved figure came along a few years later, he didn’t replace Torpedo in my adventures. As with other ’83 figures like Snow Job, this is one of those toys whose iconic design and amazing playability transcends time and changing styles.

8 comments

  • Speaking of rusty screw. I better replace the ones in that BC Cobra commander i picked up today.

    I just finished watching Worms of death on Youtube. Last time i saw that was twenty years ago. The way he acts in that is a little out of character. But i suppose thats what the writers had to do to help sell Torpeedo gifures.
    I guess with the jeans and T shirt. I would have made sense for him to wear those on land. He would look a bit out of place, getting about the HQ in his diving suit, although Wetsuit did that all the time.

    Also; spearguns can be used on land. Sean Connery did so on Thunderball

  • Torpedo saw a lot of action during the year or so that I first owned him until he “mysteriously” disappeared in my cousin’s sandbox. (Don’t ask what he was doing in a desert environment to begin with!) I probably got a replacement figure soon after until I gave away all my original Joes in the mid-80’s.

    I was never happy with his head sculpt. Those droopy eyes and lack of goggles didn’t help make his pinheaded noggin look any better. But as the team’s first frogman/SEAL, he was a most welcome addition. It’s cool to see how the character has endured over the years through various brand incarnations.

  • And ironically, my first Torpedo figure is the 25th Anniversary version.

  • @Clutch “Heavy manouvers in the sand?”

    I remeber going to preschool one day and taking the C.O.R.P.S figures Jones and Fox with me. I stuck out as everyone else was into ninja turtles [it was 1990]. Anyway, I lost them both in the sandpit [thats what we call sandboxes] so when my Mother came to pick me up in the afternoon, she had to help me comb the desert ala Dark helmet to find them.

  • Interesting how being grown up changes uses. ’86 Wet Suit, while enclosed in his wet suit like Torpedo, also saw many adventures alongside ’86’ers like Hawk, Lowlight, and Sci-fi: all on land. Wet suit borrowed the accessory pack Eel spear gun.

    Being old now, all my figures in environment or mission specific gear were stuck in those intended areas. When I finally got a Torpedo (’97 or ’98 TRU mission raft one), that was sort of when my dividing and categorizing started. (more divers felt like I should just make a dedicated GIJoe navy!)

  • Great G.I.JOE action figure!

  • Still have my childhood figure. Easily top five favorite figures.

  • This is one of my favorite figures. My brother had him and I didn’t, so I always coveted his Torpedo. Wait…. that doesn’t sound right.

    He was so unique compared to his classmates from 1983 and the following class of 1984. There really wasn’t another great underwater figure. Deep Six was just weird, but at least they used grey again on him.

    I loved Torpedo’s accessories, the flippers, the two tone backpack (a first for Joe?!), and the spear gun were perfection. These were the days when they only included a few accessories, but they wed all perfectly though out, designed and executed.

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