Yo Dawg, I heard you like communication devices so we put communication devices into all your communication devices so you communicate while you are communicating! Let’s take a look at Dial-Tone!
The box features some lovely artwork on the side that represents the character well and back shows a scene of Dial-Tone investigating the site of some sort of crashed Sci-Fi vehicle. I could imagine that being some Cobra vessel and it kind of reminds me of the old cartoon episode where Cobra makes that restaurant launch into space.
Dial-Tone comes with a rifle, a pack, a cell-phone, a listening device, and a knife. The knife is cast in all black plastic and does not feature any paint for blade. The handle is pretty small and the weapon is pretty loose in the left hand even though I had not stretched it out with the rifle at all.
The listening device is also cast in all black plastic and looks like a cross between a bullhorn and a radar device and has a curved handle that makes it somewhat awkward to hold. It does remind me of a comic issue where Dial-Tone was there to use a listening device to spy on Cobra from across the street. I found that I liked it best in the right hand because that hinges up and down and it’s easier to get him holding that in a convincing manner. However, putting the rifle in that hand stretched out the grip, so he doesn’t really hold it securely in that hand any longer. I like the inclusion because it gives him more stuff to possibly do on missions.
The rifle is also all black plastic and has a removeable magazine that stays in securely. There is a clip at the top that can accommodate his cell phone so he can maybe use that to record or perhaps follow a map in the device. I don’t know how feasible that is in a modern military situation, but I honestly do not care. It’s a neat little functionality.
I don’t really require them to modernize these figures, but I think it’s nice that they try and the cell phone works for me as an interesting little accessory to fiddle with. The holster works well and there is a very basic graphic on there that got scratched on my figure.
The beret is removeable and it fits on securely and doesn’t have that tell-tale over-sized feel that some removeable hats have.
The pack is the star of the show here and it gets the lion’s share of paint hits with some lovely shiny silver over most of it. He has the hinged piece that comes down to his mouth as a mic, but I’ve seen people put it to his eye as well. I can’t blame them for that because it does look a bit like an eye piece to me and the design of that hinged arm seems oddly less fantastical than it was depicted in the ’80s cartoons and comics. Back then it had a real, almost mech feel to it with different panels and bends to it and the end would often be a sharp point. I did find that if I didn’t have the overlays pulled down properly, the arm was a little high and didn’t quite get down as far as I’d like.
The silver protuberance on the side rotates and looks like a camera, while the black one beneath does not rotate, but it reminds me of a store security camera. My favorite feature is that the pack hinges open to reveal a terminal of some kind with a little screen. I imagine that he uses this to send coded signals. The inside wall also includes some neat retro tech details. I think the only thing I’m missing is a little phone receiver with a wire so that mission leaders could use it to make and take calls from HQ as seen in some issues of the book.
Sculpting references the ’80s figure fairly closely including similar strap and belt details to the V1 figure. He re-uses a lot of Scrap-Iron, but the vest overlay disguises that pretty well. The portrait feels inspired by the original card art a bit, but I kinda see a hint of actor Orlando Bloom in there. As large and awkward as the pack is, there is an inherent cool factor for me of the profile of the shiny silver thing looming over Dial-Tone’s head.
He’s also got a nicely detailed watch and some sort of hi-tech wristband on the other arm. Dial-Tone has a non-removeable walkie on his thigh strap and an ear-piece and throat mike are sculpted into the neck and head. Add that to all the stuff in his pack and the cell-phone and I think this guy has you covered for communications.
Dial-Tone’s articulation is G.I. Joe Classified standard, but hoo-boy is his neck hindered. It’s ball jointed at the base of the neck, but the neck is a smidge too big for the hole, so it’s worthless for movement. The barbell joint in the top of the neck has no clearance, so his head movement is also really bad. The vest does hinder ab articulation a bit too.
Paint is pretty standard stuff with clean paint where you get it. I do miss the silver on the blade, but the pack has nice detail. His face is a little glossier than most classified figures, however. Not bad, just slightly glossy.
Overall, this Dial-Tone is a very nice enlargement of the V1 figure. I did find myself wishing he came with a satellite thing he could set up or a radio equipment, but the more I think about it, that’s kind of what the pack is. He’s the signal tower, the receiver, and the code breaker machine all in one. I figure he carries all the electronic spy devices that he would need to attach to Cobra bases to monitor communications in there as well. The old file card says he would paint targets for bombing too, so perhaps that’s part of the functionality in the pack in some way as well. I think there is an inherent anachronistic quality to the Classified line and their re-do of ARAH, so specific things like Dial-Tone’s code-name no longer being relevant to people or the fact that his bulky gear doesn’t make as much sense in a digital age don’t particularly bother me, but I also appreciate the attempts to modernize it a bit. I see these characters as being of their time more than representing the real current military techniques and equipment anyway. That said, I’ve always been more of a Breaker guy than a Dial-Tone guy, so this one is less exciting for me, but a solid release that looks great teamed with wave mate Leatherneck.
Source: The Fwoosh
