G.I. Joe Classified One-A-Day Beamish-Style Figure Poll - #160 - Headman (DEF)

Chooch555 said:
Nazis were famously drugged out. Also, @Spongyblue the Crooks from C.O.P.S. made it a point to not sell drugs. All that said, I am just now realizing Headman has a blond pony tail with the black facial hair. Damn, that's a choice. I either need that all one color or to have Headman rock full Miami Vice pastels.
Click to expand...
You’re referring to an era when smoking was referred to as “just fine”. Medical and pharmaceutical knowledge has progressed a lot since then, even if the average person’s intellect has decreased. (No, that’s not a dig at you. That’s just a generalization of society).
 
This is a character who must have come well after my time, as I've never heard of him before. As a result, I have no attachment whatsoever to him...BUT...the fact that he is such a ridiculous gangster stereotype with a dash of mustache-twirling-villain-who-ties-damsels-to-railroad-tracks makes me absolutely want a figure of him! Plus, he's named "Headman"...the jokes practically write themselves!
 
Chooch555 said:
Nazis were famously drugged out.
Click to expand...
Kamikaze pilots as well.

And cult leaders famously and frequently use drugs to keep their thralls in line.

And just look at the conspicuous sniffing of many high-ranking MAGAts (hi, Marco Rubio) and of course the rumors that Combover Caligula himself frequently shits himself publicly due to long-term stimulant abuse. Not to mention all the sanctioned alcohol abuse (Hegseth, “America’s Mayor”, you get the idea).

Drugs are not a pleasant subject for “kids toys”, but Cobra would *absolutely* promote (selective) drug use amongst their troops. And while the “Joker hates Nazis” trope could be used vis a vis Cobra and drugs, it really doesn’t make sense. Cobra wants and needs funding: drug trafficking makes big money.

Indeed, with the “Lords of the Underworld” concept being introduced on Sundown’s file card, it sounds like there are more (and perhaps even worse) shady criminals working for/with Cobra. And honestly: given the obvious body-count “real world” horror of guys like Major Bludd and Firefly, a nasty drug dealer feels right at home.
 
I actually like the idea of drug dealers coming later in Cobra's life cycle, too. The first group are true believers or profiteers - weapons makers (Destro), folks seeking revenge (Baroness), smart opportunists (Mindbender), and paid mercenaries (Bludd). But as this out of control roller coaster of a terrorist organization inevitably becomes more unhinged you start to lose the logical profiteers (no money in it for Destro or Bludd, no revenge in it for Baroness, even Mindbender canonically tries to replace CC) and then you bring in these grimier guys like Headman who bring money and drugs and with it a certain amount of decay to your infrastructure.

By the end you've got CC Tony Montana'ing his chromed face into a pile of coke surrounded by half-rate sycophants with defeat and ruin looming on the horizon.
 
This is the weird place for me, being more into my tween/teen years when DEF and Eco-Warriors came out, because I was still “playing” with my toys (like I’ve ever stopped, ha ha), but my “storylines” got much MUCH darker. Like I remember staying up watching New Jack City while playing with my DEFs/Headhunters, playing out really grim Robocop-style scenarios with Robo-JOE and Cyber-Vipers, massive torture scenes with the Interrogator, and pre-Resident Evil bio-horror with Cesspool and company. The figures were brighter (not the Headhunter faction, they were grim as fuck), but my *mind* was darker, so the 90s villains went to much more neo-noir and action-horror places for me. Even the trad-military stuff played dark as hell with me, being in Gulf War era with all the “shine” rubbed off the military for me. Neon 90s ARAH was definitely not bright and sunny for me, and I loved that.
 
Grim Viper is hanging on my desk, I asked him about drugs in Cobra. He popped the hose out of his skull and offered me a hit. I'm assuming Mindbender keeps a candy dish of amphetamines on his desk, and there's no way the Paoli twins aren't coked out of their gourds 24/7. I figure Headman joining up was just Cobra's way of saying the quiet part out loud.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top