Saturday, April 1, 2017

Funskool Big Brawler - Around the Web

For April Fool's day, I had to start International Joe month with the biggest joke of them all: the Funskool Big Brawler figure.  He's just so...Funskool.  Nonsensical neon colors.  A samurai sword.  And, the spectacular mutton chops from when such facial hair wasn't ironically terrible.  It all adds up to a figure that is just a must own due to his incredible badness.

It was terrible for collectors of the time to see the highly popular Outback mold was sent to India without Hasbro ever actually using it for an updated Outback.  And, that was part of the problem with Brawler in general: he was a poor Outback replacement.  Had the character been given another body mold with the 2001 release, it's likely that people would have written him off just like they did the equally terrible Sure Fire figure.  But, when collectors saw Outback's body being wasted on a new character, it was another tick mark that forever doomed the character.

This figure was available carded or bagged.  It was rare to see him packed in a vehicle as most Funskool vehicle shipments had been halted prior to his release.  But, large quantities of bagged overstock were sold for almost nothing to American dealers who then liquidated them into the collecting community.  So, there's a couple of ways to get the figure.  Here's the best content around the web on him.

Funskool Big Brawler Profile

Funskool Big Brawler Meme at JoeCustoms.com

Funskool Big Brawler at JoeADay.com

Big Brawler Wackiness at JoeDios.com

Big Brawler at YoJoe.com

2003 Funskool Big Brawler, MIB

3 comments:

  1. never understood the hate for sure fire, yeah david lane was a SB putz (and shares a name with a noted white supremacist lol) but it's probably one of the more realistic joe figures ever made.

    I apologize to the joe community for starting most of the big brawler jokes 15+ years ago...

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    1. Not just their file names, Sure Fire and Big Brawler were "Mary Sue" characters. Sure Fire was given the rank of lt. colonel, making him among the highest ranking joes, and his role more or less supplants Bullet-Proof. Just read Big Brawler's file card, he's both the best at everything, and a loose cannon! He's an intelligence expert, hand to hand combat master, psychological expert and jungle warfare genius! He's just that awesome! He even a first sergeant who turned down commissions like DUKE!

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  2. Aren't red and yellow the colors of the Marine Corp? Why is BB wearing an Army PI shirt with BDU pants?

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