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Indiana
Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular
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The
Attraction
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My intention when I took my family to Disney World in August 2004 was to buy the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular GI Joe figure. But strangely enough, a co-worker went to Disney two weeks earlier and one morning I get this phone call from the MGM Indiana Jones store. He was all excited telling me they had this Indiana Jones GI Joe figure and would I like him to pick one up for me? I said "Sure. I was going to get one anyway when I got there." But he picked it up for me so that would be one less thing for me to do when I got there. I had it in-hand before I ever left for Disney.
The first thing we did when we entered Disney MGM Studios was to go right for the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular. This was an excellent attraction. It's a live show in which a stunt man plays the part of Indiana Jones as he raids an Incan temple, complete with the gold statue, flames, explosions and a very large round rolling rock.
Then they clear the stage for the kidnapping scene in which a stunt woman plays Marion Ravenwood in Cairo as Indy and Marion fight it out with many bad guys. This segment features fight effects including a lot of high falls and fake combat. Quite good.
Next the set clear again for the airplane scene in which Indy fights the mechanic around the strange-looking Nazi plane. This one included a lot of fire, guns, explosions and a scene in which the mechanic gets shredded by the plane's rotors. Again, very fun to watch.
I highly recommend this attraction.
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The
Figure
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Indiana Jones and Gear
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Indiana Jones Rear
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This figure is a Classic Collection GI Joe and comes in either Caucasian or African-American colors and headsculpts. The Caucasian headsculpt is the WWII head with hair in black. The AA sculpt is a nice one that's fairly new for Hasbro. None of them resemble Indiana Jones and the licensing of Harrison Ford's image makes it very difficult to officially have a Hasbro figure that looks like Indiana. *
The pants are a reddish brown, the boots are the short boots that I like so much. He has a belt with metal buckle. His shirt is a cream-yellow color with collar, flap pockets and same-color buttons. The jacket at first seems too neat. I wonder if just wringing it out in my hands for a few hours or burying it in dry beach sand would help stress it enough to make it look like Indy's coat... I'm probably not going to try. But it's a reasonable "leather" jacket and has buckled straps at the bottom on each side and two pocket flaps (though no real pockets).
The back of the jacket has the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular logo, which is a plus for those who bought this as a memory of the attraction, but a minus for those who were looking for a realistic Indiana Jones figure, as Indy never had that logo on his back.
The fedora is pretty nice. It is a bit square, but it's not bad.
Indy comes with a very nice whip, a small green pack with strap, a torch, a sarcophagus (from the new Adventure Team Secret of the Mummy's Tomb set complete with mummy with raising arm) and three gems. The figure also comes with three black snakes. "Snakes... why did it have to be snakes!?!?!"
The whip is rubber and whips very well. I liked this whip when it came out with the Secret of the Mummy's Tomb, but I like this one more because they bothered to paint it up with brown paint which ages and adds to the whip's look and feel.
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The
Box
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The box is based on images of Egyptian tomb carvings and a map of the middle-east. Over that are several images from the movie. The weird thing is Harrison Ford's image is dead-center of the back of the box leading me to wonder why they couldn't get a figure sculpt that looked like him if they were allowed to use the image on the box.
The box text reads:
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Facing death-defying obstacles and clasing with the enemy is part of a normal day for Indiana Jones. The epic tales of this globetrotting archeologist have fueled the imaginations of would-be thrill seekers around the world, thanks to the magic of movies. Making that magic look real onscreen means taking real-life risks that can only be handled by highly trained stunt people and experts in explosives and weaponry. The Indiana JonesTM Epic Stunt Spectacular recreates those amazing scenes, pulse-pounding explosions and awesome clashes of Indiana Jones' adventures for a live audience. While watching the professional crew and stunt people in action, some of the guests may be chosen as extras, but the director chooses GI JOE® to play the most important role - Indiana Jones himself. GI JOE has extensive combat training and nerves of steel that make him a natural choice as he faces the perils of performing dangerous stunts. Fending off a gang of masked attackers, jumping from rooftops, even narrowly escaping before being crushed by an enormous boulder are all handled deftly by GI JOE. Emerging unscathed among exploding fuel tanks and army vehicles, he proves that even in the fantasy world of moviemaking, a role like that of an Indiana Jones stuntman is serious business, where only professionals need apply. |
Even though this figure is a lot of rehash, it's good rehash. Based mostly on the Mummy's Tomb set, with its sarcophagus, gems and whip, Hasbro has added a pretty cheesy torch, a bright green pouch, and clothing which fits. The main new thing here is the fedora which I know I've been wanting for years. Now that Hasbro has a fairly good fedora sclupt perhaps we'll see it on more future figures in other colors.
As I already said, I would love to have had the jacket stressed a little. But overall this is a nice set. It's a bit much at $40.00 considering what you got with the $20.00 Secret of the Mummy's Tomb, but that didn't come with the hat or the jacket. I could see paying $30.00 for it. And I wish it had a good Harrison Ford sculpt, though the back story on the box specifically says Joe is a stunt double for Indy, and not supposed to be Indy himself.
If you get to Disney MGM Studios go see this show, it's a blast (several, actually) and the figure will help commemorate it for you.
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Overall Rating
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* Formative International makes several figures that *ahem* resemble Harrison Ford. Plus there is one from 21st Century that has more than a passing resemblance. Swapping out this standard WWII headsculpt Joe with one of those will make this figure much more Indy-like.
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This is 21st Century's Brush Crew Firefighter in GI
Joe's outfit. There are other figures out there with faces that resemble
Harrison Ford that can be used to augment this set.
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