Chopper (Lanard CORPS!)
As much as people who want to bag on 80’s Joes use that lame resemblance to the Village People joke, at least there’s no Joe of the time who’s a direct resemblance to a 70’s motorcycle cop. Lanard’s CORPS! on the other hand, had Chopper here around since ’86. Feast your eyes on Ponch and John’s long-lost partner, complete with awesome epic mustache. I know that the Selleck and Reynolds rule as History’s Greatest Mustaches, but were either of those gents able to muster their facial follicles into growing almost completely across the width of their skulls? Muy impressivo, Mr. Chopper.
The head is where the figure falls apart for me. It’s the ultimate giraffe neck. The rest of the figure doesn’t fare too badly, considering the time of its release. This particular version dates from the 90’s. The original version of the figure had bare arms, hence the lack of any shirt detail. I’ve never been able to understand the inclusion of the whip, especially at the expense of including a handgun. I guess they felt that a motorcycle cop would most likely specialize in melee weapons. Hey, it works for the Dreadnoks, and they also ride motorcycles. Smart thinking, Lanard marketing department.
I picked up this minty fresh version at the annual Lanard warehouse sale, just outside Kansas City, MO last fall. Hopefully, there will be another sale this year. If so, I’m planning on holding the first annual Joe A Day Convention Get Together Expo-Fest-A-Rama during its opening weekend. In attendance will be me, and..that’s pretty much it. Maybe I’ll broadcast a live stream of my visit to the warehouse for the three people who’d be interested.
Want to hear more about the CORPS! and other GI Joe knockoffs and wanna-bes? Listen to Flag Points Episode 29, in which Dave, Don and I cover some of the 80’s greatest and not so greatest non-Joes.
Upon going through some old toyboxes of mine a while ago, I discovered that apparently I had a Corps! figure–Gunner O’Grady. The screws were a tad rusty, the waist piece was broken, and the arms were pretty much loose, so–I salvaged the torso, head and legs, and am saving the uzi he came with for the DC Universe Infinite Heroes Deathstroke.
Finally, another Corps! review! I actually have bunches of these guys, the classic o-ring 1986-2001 versions. Chopper’s candy-shaped head and lack of detail ranks him near the bottom of my list, though. I never thought what to make of him. He doesn’t even have a proper G.I. Joe counterpart like other team members such as Tracker Tom, Dragon Han, Hiro Yamato, Shark, or Gunner O’Grady. Still, he does make a better foil for Ponch and Jon that Wheels Willy or Jimmy Squeaks ever will.
I do have a lot of fondness for my Corps figures. They were amongst the better knock-offs and had some interesting specialities and great vehicles. I just wish there was a site equivalent to yojoe.com to keep track of all the releases and repaints.
There is:
http://corpscollector.com/corps/Default.htm
Man, I had to do a double take on the whip. At first I thought it had to be a dog leash, and he was the first motorcycle/K9 cop unit. Hey, that still works better than just carrying a whip.
Ouch!
Why do I keep hearing Ah-nold in my head?
Get to dah Chopper!
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It is very dificult to find him here in Brazil and my police forces miss him.