Presenting the G.I. Joe Tracker Spirit Iron-Knife from the G.I. Joe 50th Anniversary “Classic Clash” Action Figure 2-Pack [featuring Spirit Iron-Knife and Storm Shadow]. In the 80s Spirit Iron-Knife, not Snake-Eyes, was set up as the arch-nemesis of Storm Shadow. No offense to the Native Americans, but Storm Shadow is a master assassin! Spirit Iron-Knife should not have been able to stand up to Storm Shadow – even if both were Long-Range Recon scouts in Vietnam. However it was probably easier to have Spirit-Iron Knife go up against Storm Shadow in an animated series meant for children since Snake-Eyes does not speak.
Spirit Iron-Knife is Staff Sergeant Charlie Iron-Knife, a Native American Indian from the Taos Pueblo Reservation in Taos, New Mexico. Spirit Iron-Knife is primarily an infantry trooper and tracker. He also serves in social services – thanks to his Doctorate in Psychology (According to Air Commandos blister card). Unofficially he’s a Native American Shaman. He is a qualified expert with the M-16, M1911A1 Auto Pistol and the Remington Sniper Rifle.
The 50th Anniversary Spirit Iron-Knife’s blister card reads: “A Native American mystic warrior with a degree in psychology, Spirit Iron-Knife Is also the best wilderness tracker on the G.I. Joe team. He can move with complete silence and analyse and anticipate an enemy’s behaviour and actions. When he picks up the trail of Cobra ninja Storm Shadow during a stealth mission, he launches into a battle of both physical and mental agility to overpower and outwit a deadly enemy! ”
This is the tenth Spirit Iron-Knife to be released and is the result of a new desert paint-job over recycled parts of several GI Joe Pursuit of Cobra action figures.
PROS
FIRST: In 2010 Spirit Iron-Knife was released as a part of the Pursuit of Cobra toyline. This is a reconceptualization of that very popular figure but in desert camouflage. And it is a wonderful incarnation of Spirit Iron-Knife. They’ve done away with the Native American garb that he wore in the cartoons retaining only his long hair – which Special Forces operatives are allowed to do.
SECOND: The 50th Anniversary GI Joe Spirit Iron-Knife comes with an iconic arrow-dart rile and ammo bearing backpack; a machete; a small knife, and a bow-and-arrow set. The quiver is a re-paint of the quiver that came with his POC version and the folding compound bow used by Storm Shadow from the GI Joe Retaliation Ninja Showdown set.
THIRD: The GI Joe Spirit Iron-Knife action figure’s articulation is an improvement over his POC version thanks to the addition of the new GI Joe wrist joints.
ARTICULATION:
Head is mounted on a ball joint on a neck hinge
Upper torso is also on a ball joint allowing it to swivel and tilt.
Ball jointed shoulders with bicep swivel
Single direction elbows.
360° swivel wrists. Right hand can cant left and right along his wrist, his left hand can cant up and down along his wrist.
Waist swivel
Ball jointed legs
Double jointed, single-direction knees
Boot/ankle swivel
CONS
FIRST: The G.I. Joe 50th Anniversary Spirit Iron-Knife comes with a pair of really bad hands. He has difficulty holding on to anything and eventually we resorted to using blue-tack just to complete this shoot. This is sad considering that Spirit Iron-Knife comes with the wonderful, new wrist joints.
SECOND: If you are able to get his arrow-dart rifle to stay in place, his vest prevents him from properly holding it with both hands while keeping the stock in the small of his shoulder. Also the vest is a repainted vest from his Pursuit of Cobra incarnation. It looks like it’s holding ammunition for the rifle that came with his POC incarnation. This particular incarnation of Spirit Iron-Knife not have that rifle. His handling of the arrow-dart gun is better if you remove the vest – but the length of his neck is a bit awkward without it.
THIRD: Spirit Iron-Knife has no place to store neither the machete nor the knife that he has. It would also have been nice if he had a weapon that he was qualified to use, not weapons or theoretical weapons that we would associate with him being a Native American.
BUYER/COLLECTORS RECOMMENDATION: The GI Joe 50th Anniversary Spirit Iron-Knife is a very nice modern incarnation of the character. While I believe that his POC version is still the ideal of what the character should be, if you cannot find one, then this is not a bad substitute - although you might want to swap out his weapons with other more modern ones till you find ones that fit. A brand new G.I. Joe 50th Anniversary Classic Clash Action Figure 2-Pack featuring Spirit Iron-Knife and Storm Shadow will set you back around US$ 20.39 - Which is a pretty good price for two figures. Personally I would still go for the ‘Predator’ themed Pursuit of Cobra Spirit Iron-Knife, but that now retails for US$ 44.45. It’s available HERE.
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