Action Figure Overview: G.I. Joe - Iceberg (Hasbro, 1986)

1986 G.I. Joe "Iceberg" action figure (Hasbro, 1986)

After having more than 10 years of huge success with the original 12" G.I. Joe action figures that came out in 1964, Hasbro took a break from the line for a few years.  During the late 1970s, the popularity of Kenner's Star Wars figures made 3 3/4" the new standard size for action figures.  In 1982, Hasbro came back with the "Real American Hero" re-launch of G.I. Joe and it was a huge hit!

Iceberg keeps watch in the snow for G.I. Joe 

In 1982, I was the perfect age for G.I. Joe and I was instantly sold on these new 3 3/4" action figures.  I still remember how excited I was when I first saw them in the stores and the agony of trying to pick just two of these awesome characters.  The first several waves of figures were amazing!  Sure, not every idea could be a great one, but for the most part, the first four waves specifically were pretty solid.  By 1986, when the fifth wave arrived, there were a few signs of trouble, but there were still enough solid characters to keep me on board.  It was in the fifth wave that the figure Iceberg arrived.

The original cardback that came with my G.I. Joe "Iceberg" figure (1986, Hasbro)

The first cold weather G.I. Joe figure was Snow Job.  When he came out in 1983, he was the only snow guy on the team.  I thought he was an awesome figure, but it kind of tough to have cold weather adventures with just the one winter character.  By 1986, Cobra had the awesome Snow Serpent figures and the Joes had Snow Job and Frostbite, so the addition of Iceberg made it start to feel like a pretty decent little team of Snow Troops!

G.I. Joe cold weather troops with all of their gear: Snow Job and Iceberg

In 1985, most of the figures were fairly well loaded up with gear!  It wasn't uncommon to get a combination of accessories that could include a gun, knife, backpack, helmet, and sidekick animal.  However, for some reason it seems like Hasbro decided to cut back on that for the 1986 releases.  As a result, Iceberg came with only a machine gun.  I was ok with that.  He was still a cool figure and honestly, some of the gear had become a little bit ridiculous anyway.  The last time we had some snow on the ground for a few hours here in Atlanta, I took the opportunity to get out Iceberg for his first mission in several decades!

My vintage G.I. Joe "Iceberg" hits the snow for the first time in...well, ever!

Iceberg was never really an A-list character on the G.I. Joe team, but with that said, he did show up in the Sunbow cartoon series a few times.  For the most part, they got his costume pretty close to the figure.  They didn't give him his light blue vest and, while the action figure had a green pistol and green grenades on his chest, the cartoon version had a white pistol and white grenades, but you could totally tell it was supposed to be him; mostly because he was usually the only black guy in snow gear.

Iceburg's typical look in the Sunbow Cartoon

He was briefly pictured all geared up for snow on some tropical island in the opening credits of the cartoon one season; I guess it was the 1986 season?  Most of the times that he showed up, he was a background character in some warm-weather setting who got maybe a line of dialog or two.  However, there was one episode that took place in the Arctic called, "Iceberg Goes South" where his cold-weather gear was perfect for the episode!  I liked the cold weather guys, so in the beginning, I thought this was going to be a great episode because the cold weather team could finally be utilized in their element!  Unfortunately, it was only a few minutes in that Iceberg ended up in a tropical dome randomly located in the middle of the arctic...where he was turned into a whale.  Yep.  Dr. Mindbender turned Iceberg into a killer whale.  This was Iceberg's one starring role in the cartoon series and he was literally transformed 100% into a whale.  If you follow my blog and my YouTube channel, you've heard me talk about how my favorite G.I. Joe figures were the ones that were more realistic.  I was not a fan of the cartoon stories that seemed less realistic, so turning one of the members of the Joe team into a killer whale kind of made that episode stand out as one of the worst ones for me.

Iceberg in the G.I. Joe cartoon episode, "Iceberg Goes South"

Iceberg only made a few minor appearances in the comic book, which is a shame.  I felt like they could have done so much more with the character.  My prime years playing with G.I. Joe figures was 1982 - 1985, so in addition to be under-utilized in the comics, Iceberg came around a little bit too late for me to use him in my own G.I. Joe adventures as much as I would have liked.  He did make it into a few of my final battles, but I would really have loved more snow troops in 1983 and 1984.  I was still getting new G.I. Joe figures for several more years (I specifically remember picking up about half a dozen wave 7 figures), but none of them saw much action like my Joes did those first few years.  Despite not being one of my main figures, I've liked Iceberg since he was released and today, I'm glad to have him as part of my cold weather team!

Iceberg trudges through the snow on an important mission for the G.I. Joe team!

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