Plus, look at how many details and paint applications there are! We got knives, webbing, two different boots, chains, spikes, bands, gauntlets, and no less than 5 different colors- blue, yellow, gray, black and pink! This guy is made with a lot of love, and you can really tell in the level of sculpting and paint applications. It’s radical! He’s dressed exactly like a bad guy from Mad Max or Fist of the North Star, and that’s TOTALLY COOL. Willie seems to subscribe to the Berserker school- no clothes, balls out, fight to the death. If you see the file cards, you’ll know he’s just a wild element of the team, kinda like The Dirty Dozen- bad and you know it, but also bad enough that the enemy will piss their pants when they see him coming, and boy will they ever! If you had him as a kid, your first instinct was that he was a bad guy, most likely. Whispering Willie, despite appearances, was actually on the good guy team, though you would only know that from reading the file cards.
He has other versions, but this one is my favorite, and I was born in 1992, so sue me. This version that I’ll be reviewing was released from 1986-1992, which means he just squeaks into the neon 90s. The Corps! was originally known as Gung-Ho!, which definitely caused some legal beef with Hasbro, who had just co-opted the term for THEIR military figure.Īfter a legal battle in which Lanard tried to allege they had no idea about that (I seriously doubt it), it was renamed the Corps! International Security Force. Whispering Willie was one of the original 18 figures released in 1986. The Corps! Whispering Willie (Version 1) Review They may not know his name, but they love his face. In fact, they are still producing figures today- some of the non articulated ones are not to my taste, but they’re constantly on store shelves, unlike some brands I could mention.Įven the biggest Joe Bro who says that every military figure that’s not a Joe is a Corps! figure may agree that the greatest “Lanyard” “Corpse” was Whispering Willie. They have continued to provide products with all the fun of GI Joe at reduced cost. While most others write them off as cheap imitations or, at worst, complete and inferior knockoffs, I think The Corps! is a worthy brand.
The Corps! is one of my favorite toy lines of all time. Cody is a fantastic photographer, action figure customizer, writer, and storyteller.
( Editor’s Note: Today’s review comes from my good friend Cody, who you may recognize from our Whipsaw review.