When one thinks of G.I.Joe Navy personnel, one generally tends to think of the divers -- Torpedo, Wet-Suit, Deep Six -- or maybe a certain sarcastic sailor, Shipwreck. But there's another Navy man on the G.I.Joe Team that, probably because of the year of his release, doesn't seem to get much attention -- TOPSIDE.

This character was introduced in 1990. Granted, the later years of G.I.Joe were regarded, in my opinion unfairly, by many collectors as the years of neon colors and special teams of debatable merit. Admittedly, there was some of this. But to disregard those years in entirety and out of hand is to miss out on some pretty cool characters.

I regard Topside as one of these. He wasn't a diver. His official specialty on his file card is listed as "Navy Assault Seaman". And he certainly managed to look the part.

Topside was dressed in a light blue shirt and grey trousers. Unfortunately these colors have been somewhat subject to discoloration over the years. Hasbro managed to get the figure more colorful by giving him a padded orange vest. But this color was not inappropriate to the character or to the life vest itself. About the only somewhat over-the-top aspect to the figure design was that instead of a belt to hold his pants up, he had a length of rope tied around his waist.

The detailing on the figure was really very well carried-out, especially on the padded vest. The painted detailing was just as effective, with the word 'NAVY" spelled out on the vest, one letter each on padded segments near the top of the vest.

The only oddity about the paint job that really should have been corrected was on the face. Topside had blonde hair, and a blonde mustache and beard. This was sort of cool, since there really weren't all that many blonde G.I.Joes over the years. But for some strange reason, the figure also had blonde eyebrows and blonde eyes! The blonde eyebrows were barely visible on the head, and the blonde eyes certainly weren't. I should mention, since you're doubtless looking at the picture of my Topside figure accompanying this article, that I long ago repainted both the eyes and eyebrows a medium brown. Wonderful painting tools, cactus needles...

Topside never got a whole lot of attention in either the comic or the animated series, although he did turn up in one episode of the animated series, where he and a couple of other contemporary G.I.Joe Team members infiltrated Cobra.

Topside's accessories included a submachine gun, a helmet, a backpack that was also a missile launcher, a stand for the missile launcher, and three small missiles. Topside was released one year before Hasbro got into the practice of giving spring-loaded, missile-firing weaponry to their individually-carded figures, so Topside's missile launcher does not actually work.

Topside has one of the more hysterical file cards, especially of the later years. According to his background details, Topside is one John Blanchet from Fort Wayne, Indiana. He grew up on a small Indiana farm where he helped his father raise prize-winning pigs. After any number of county fair wins, Topside gained a reputation as "Fort Wayne's Hog Master". An honorarium of great distinction, I'm sure.

When he turned 20, he enlisted in the Navy. This doubtless gave him the chance to get as far away as possible, geographically, from the midwestern pig farm. He was serving on a deck hand on a ship that was transporting a covert team of G.I.Joe members. After listening to their stories, he offered to take them all on in a fight. His boldness earned him an invitation to the team.

Apparently he would've been able to back it up, though. Topside's file card goes on to say that Topside is so tough that he can down typical greasy Navy scrambled eggs while sailing through a storm that would send experienced officers to the rail to personally pollute the waters. He once took a full wind-up upper-cut punch from another seaman and didn't so much as flinch. Definitely not someone you'd want to mess with. The figure does have a somewhat burly look to him, as far as that goes.