The Chuckles thread was so fun I figured I'd start another one.

In 1987 when The Renegades came out I was intrigued by the figures and the cool packaging. I hadn't seen the movie yet, and they weren't in the comics so I had no basis for their characters.

In the end I ultimately felt that they didn't fit well with the Joe team and they all immediately became Dreadnoks. To this day, there are Dreadnoks to me.

Howsabout you?

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I remember using them as the Australian Joe equivalent. Much like Action Force or the October Guard. I have no clue where I got that from.

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I always loved the Renegades. I had seen them in the movie and just HAD to HAVE the 3-pack.

I honestly don't deviate from Hama's intended use for them. Basically, a "blackbag" type of operation whose existence is never mentioned and has no official status. On Taurus' fc, it evens specifies they are paid via the Pentagon Pest Control fund. They aren't carried on the rosters of any existing military unit which includes the Joes. Of course, they fight alongside them for the same cause.

Another interesting sidenote to this is if people use the concept of the Slaughterhouse to give hard case recruits a chance to redeem themselves.

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As a kid, I didn't have much use for them in their intended capacity. I never saw the movie, so that was largely irrelevant to me. I thought that both Red Dog and Taurus were terrible figures and both were quickly forgotten. Mercer, though, was a decent figure and I liked his backstory. So, I just made Mercer a standard Joe. To this day, my original Red Dog and Taurus figures are in decent shape since they were never used. But, my original Mercer is pretty beat up since he was one of my standard figures througout '87.

The Funskool Red Dog, though, is a great figure and has found some modern use as a villanous albino who represents a third faction outside the scope of Cobra.

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i only use Mercer...Taurus went back to the circus and Red Dog is a high school football coach and a football insider reporter that charges 2.99 a call to find out the scoop on your favorite player. (kids ask your parents before you call)

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I remember buying them at kmart before I even knew the movie existed. I watched the cartoon religiously, and had no idea there was a movie until it popped up in syndication.

anyways, I used them as a special ops type of group. Mercer was the attitude guy, Taurus I used as a really strong guy (he reminded me of a circus strongman from the 20's, not an acrobat) and Red Dog was just kind of there.. I don't recall ever giving him much of a personality.

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I use them just like Hama wrote them: A bad ass black ops organization that takes the missions GI Joe won't touch. They're assassins, sabotuers, and all around nasty mothers. They're basically the bad guys, except that they work for us.

There are also 3 new guys for a grand total of 6 now.

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I don't. At least not as a group. I like the characters just fine, but I never cared for the Renegades concept. I guess you could say they must be running opertaions so top secret even I don't know about it.

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I don't. Don't like em, don't use em. At least, not in my regular Joe-verse anyway.

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BEST. ANSWER. YET!

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The Renegades are the Joe version of the Dreadnoks. They handle low collateral high damage missions where creating the most destruction is the name of the game.

Now how/why do they exist. The movie may have been an odd concept but I liked the Idea of the Slaughter House. Sgt Slaughter rehabilitates soldiers with potential. Like Lt. Falcon who was permanently assigned to Sgt Slaughter after his drug use incident. Mercer, Taurus and Red Dog take assignments with the Sarge and William "The Fridge" Perry helps Falcon Keep the training camp going. The current Slaughter House Class is Hollow point (BC being BTR is a sin) and two custom characters who will be graduating soon. Falcon will lead them while a new class of bad asses will be trained by the Sarge. Once you pass the slaughter house your reassigned back to your original team unless the sarge wants you like one of my custom characters Chainmail (Mercer V2) then you become a Renegade.

Steve

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At the moment, I don't believe in the Renegades. Not a fan. Stupid designs, bad characters (in the Movie), and without comic representation, they've got no storyline to make them interesting to me.

The concept (per the filecards) works for me, though, and if it were my call, I'd recast them with Sgt Savage as their leader. Slaughter is an 80s anachronism. Savage performs the same function, has a "mysterious" background (if you don't address the "frozen for fifty years" origin) and his own arch-enemy to fight. If the government had an 80 year-old infantryman in their employ, they'd stick him in a black-ops group since he's essentially off-the-grid anyways.

Every time I choose two new Renegades, I choose two different Joes. So I wont both playing that game now. Suffice it to say Mercer would be joined by the guys who have no place on my proper Joe team, and who would work in down and direty sitches you'd expect the Renegades to stick their noses into.

Taurus may end up as a custom Lenin. Never had Mercer, so no feelings on it. Red Dog's pieces may either be a custom ashigaru, or used as kiosk owner in a dio.

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I use them to take up space in other peoples' collections, thereby leaving good figures free to migrate to mine.

Dirty tricks squad whose actions often backfire on the Joes. I separate them from Slaughter, though.

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