Shipwreck (2007 Operation Flaming MOTH)

Shipwreck is one of those characters that folks seem to love or hate. This is probably mostly due to his portrayal in the Sunbow animated series. He was brash and sarcastic, and marched to his own drummer. This combined with voice actor Neil Ross’ Jack Nicholson imitation put off many fans as he seemed like such an over the top character. Oh, and the fact that he and his sentient parrot often argued probably didn’t help either. I always liked him in the Sunbow series. He was a refreshing counterpoint to the blandness of guys like Duke.

This figure was included in the GI Joe collectors club’s exclusive Operation Flaming MOTH collection, a series of four two packs that told a story of the Joes and Cobras attempt to recover a downed military satellite. Each of the four packs covered a different type of environment, such as the desert, arctic, or jungle. This particular pack was set in the pacific ocean, hence the inclusion of a naval specialist.

This version went back to his original figure’s roots, and depicts Shipwreck again in a usual sailor get-up, hat and all. The difference this time is a life vest, which is a part of the reused Cutter mold that makes up nearly the entirety of this figure (minus the head). The file card explains that he’s superstitious (which he wasn’t before) and always travels with a vintage naval life vest and his parrot, Polly. Good try, but I call it a cover story made up because the collectors club couldn’t get their hands on his original mold.

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