Retro Toy Week: Quake Tank Strogg!

This is the figure that got me thinking about old figures, so we'll start with Tank.

I never played Quake, or it's sequels; but goddamn, this is still a hell of an action figure. ReSaurus Toys only managed one wave of Quake figures (I think another was planned but never panned out) that featured a male and female Marine (Athena, who came with a little dog-sized Strogg monster) and an Iron Maiden Strogg, all of whom are fine, but look like a pile of puke compared to the Tank.

His rocket launcher shoots--not well, since it's a three-missile lump, but it's not obtrusive. The launcher and his head move in tandem, so it points where he looks. A panel on the left leg comes off, as 'battle-damage,' revealing three rotating gears underneath. If you choose to leave that panel on, you can still see the gears, since it's all shot full of holes.

Both legs have springs on the struts: they make the piston-like ankles look like they're moving and taking weight. (I've broken one of them, but it's still holding up.) The piston pieces are metal!

The sculpt and paint are appallingly great, from the deformed, ugly head; to the cogs and gears of Tank's superstructure, to the little dings and dents he's taken as damage. He looks like he's got a lot more fight left in him!



Now, take this with a grain of salt, but...either I bought Tank for $3.99 at KB Toys, marked down from $9.99, or I could have. I might've paid full price for him when he first came out, then saw the clearanced one some time later--I know I bought Athena for $3.99, and I might've left the Tank for someone who didn't already have one. Very selfless of me, I know. Of course, now Tank will run you $49.99 at Amazon. (Please note: the links to Amazon are merely for reference purposes: I don't get a kickback or whatever, so buy it from a site that does! And for god's sake, shop around a bit!)

He might be dated 1998, but Tank still holds up, and how. Does tomorrow's figure? We'll see!