Calling all BATTLE ACTION FORCE experts! :)

[Space Commander]

Hello, gang!

I could do with a hand regarding a little project I'm working on please....

In the BATTLE ACTION FORCE Datafiles, nearly all of the characters that originated with Palitoy are given a 'real name'. For example, EAGLE is CHARLES BUCKINGHAM, SKIP is GRANT CAMPBELL, and so forth.

However, the Datafiles for the characters that originated with Hasbro, ie. the ones that had previously been GI JOEs, were not given real names, only their codenames.

However, if you read the story THE LASER TROOPER, the comic reveals that FLASH's real name is JACK WATTS, and Englishman from Birmingham.

I just wondered, do any of you know if RIPCORD's real name was revealed in any of the BAF stories? Or do we simply call him by his GI JOE name, WALLACE WEEMS?

I hope you can help! Cheers!


SPACE COMMANDER

[Chopper]

G'day Commander. As far as I can remember none of the series 3 characters used their US counterparts names. I could be wrong though. The only other ones would be Moondancer and Dolphin. Interestingly, Steeler isn't listed in the archives as a Series 3 figure.

[Space Commander]

That's right, Steeler was issued in Year 2, he was one of my older brother's first figures, if memory serves! In BAF, Steeler's real name was Andreou Stakis, but in GI Joe he was Ralph Pulaski. Flash was Jack Watts instead of Anthony Gambello, (if I recall correctly...!), and Gung-Ho was Harry Brewster, not Ettienne LaFitte.

There wasn't a GI Joe called Dolphin or Moondancer, though of course their action figures were based on Zap and Short-Fuze.

I could really use a BAF name for Ripcord... Maybe we should just make one up?


SPACE COMMANDER

[Chopper]

Check the MAF era filecards too. They'll be a bit more Euro friendly. You could use these too;

http://www.bloodforthebaron.com/toys/00 ... index.html

http://www.bloodforthebaron.com/toys/00 ... index.html

http://www.bloodforthebaron.com/toys/00 ... index.html

http://www.bloodforthebaron.com/toys/00 ... index.html

http://www.bloodforthebaron.com/toys/00 ... index.html

[Space Commander]

Cool, that's a lot of good info', cheers!

Sorry to be a pain though, but it's specifically a name for the BAF era Ripcord that I need. I'll probably end up having to trawl through every last story they wrote, (ordinarily not a problem! But I was hoping for a speedy solution...), or just making something up!


SPACE COMMANDER

[The Baron]

If it'll be in any story, it'll be Operation Snakebite. Worth pointing out that Dolphin and Moondancer were rollover characters so their names will be in the Q Force and Space Force datafiles.

US Steeler was never released in the UK, only Z Force.

[Space Commander]

If it'll be in any story, it'll be Operation Snakebite.

Ah-ha! That's the kind of clue I was after! Cheers Baron, I'll commence reading immediately.

Worth pointing out that Dolphin and Moondancer were rollover characters so their names will be in the Q Force and Space Force datafiles.

Yeah, I always found it kind of funny that in the Hasbro version of these figures, the Kuwaiti chap named Tariq El Shafei (Moondancer ) had blonde hair! Kind of rare in the Middle East...!

Cheers, chaps! If I can't find the answer in Operation Snakebite, I'll be back for suggestions for a made-up name!


SPACEY!

[Red Laser]

I thought Quickfire also looked better blonde rather than as another dark haired character as the toy version was.

[Chopper]

If it'll be in any story, it'll be Operation Snakebite.

Ah-ha! That's the kind of clue I was after! Cheers Baron, I'll commence reading immediately.

Already did, nothing, just Flash, Recondo and Ripcord. I loved that story when I was a kid - look at all them Hovercrafts. I read through a few more too, BAF writers were pretty clever, there are hardly any references to any names anywhere. Snow Job is mentioned in the first panel as an alias. Smart.

[Space Commander]

Thanks for all the encouragement, chaps. I may have had a breakthrough and perhaps, to quote the Riddler, a breakdown!

Okay, what I've found isn't exactly from Battle Action Force, but it IS a European name for Ripcord that differs from his American name of Wallace Weems.

As much as I hate to rip-off someone else's details, I found on ebay of all places, a Spanish Ripcord figure. I copied the type from the cardback and used google-translate to turn it into English.

His callsign is FIRE, he's an ASSAULT SOLDIER, and his name is... MICHAEL BERGER!

Sounds very Anglo-European!

I think that's as close as I'm going to get to a European I.D. for this character, and in the end it didn't come from BAF or MAF at all. D'oh!

Thanks again, chaps!


SPACE COMMANDER, still finding out new stuff about !