In fact, we only were supposed to trade one figure for one figure, but you all know how Jboy rolls with his toy care packages. My sincerest thanks, Jboy! You do the Horde proud!
Anyway, I'm gonna cut to the chase and talk about one of the greatest G.I. Joe figures ever released. i'm talkin' about William "The Refridgerator" Perry!
"The Fridge" played for the Chicago Bears from '85-'93, and was responsible for scoring the winning touchdown in Super Bowl XX against the Patriots. I was 12 years old at the time and deep in the throes of Bears fever, which I attribute to the catchiness of the Super Bowl Shuffle.
I have no idea why G.I. Joe decided to make a figure of The Fridge. I guess they did that occasionally, like when they made one of Sgt. Slaughter. By the time this figure came out, I was on the very tail end of playing with toys, but I remember a kid in my neighborhood having one and being very jealous of it. It's been years since I've seen one up close and now that I get a second look, this figure is beyond the level of awsomeness that I anticipated.
Just look at the perfect likeness (sorry for the blurry pic)...
They even got his gap in his teeth!
I do wish that Hasbro was able to put him in Bears colors, but that was probably a licensing nightmare. Instead, they gave his his signature number 72, but made the color scheme of the jersey red, white and blue.
I have no idea what's up with the green and orange pants, though...
One of the zaniest aspects of this figure is Fridge's bizarre "weapon" which appears to be some sort of iron or steel football on the end of a length of cable, attached to a handle. Soooooooooooooooooo strange.
As a toy fan, a G.I. Joe fan, and a Bears fan, this figure is a triple threat. I saw that Jboy mention how he had always wanted a Remco Warlord figure (the figure I traded for the Fridge), so I find it poetic that we both got something that fullfilled a longtime toy-collecting dream. Or at the very least, knocked an item off of our wishlist.
The Fridge represents a time when football players were still heroes, giants that walked among their fellow greats of the gridiron. When they were worthy of becoming Real American Heroes.
Unlike a certain whiny little crybaby quarterback I'm currently pretty ticked off at....
"Son, you may be talented, but you ain't no Jim McMahon."
And now you know.
