wow thats awesome info, thanks! It would be cool if they updated Blowtorch to be an expert on these new Incendiary weapons.
Agreed. Blowtorch is already an expert in these new incendiary weapons. Just like both his 1984 and 2011 filecards say, “Blowtorch is thoroughly familiar with all military incendiary devices and flame projection equipment…”, and on the original 1984 filecard his primary MOS is Infantry Special Weapons, and his secondary is Small-Arms Armorer.
Because he has some futuristic version of an M-7 styled flamethrower, small children get stuck in the moment and think of him as only a Flamethrower soldier. In this Pursuit of Cobra series version, Hasbro tried to keep all of the details consistent with the 1984 and 25th Anniversary versions of this character, but also to take it to the next level with more realistic accessories.
For instance, he comes with two olive drab colored High-Explosive Incendiary (HEI) Anti-tank landmines (designed to pierce armor, fragment, and ignite readily combustible materials) with a very distinctive 220 lb. trigger visible on the top, and six magnetic firing mechanisms radiate upwards from the outer edges of the mine (to enable it to detonate even if the tires or tracks of a vehicle do not touch it).
Once a Cobra vehicle detonates the landmine, Blowtorch and his fellow Joes must assault the surviving enemy victims. During this phase of the attack, a M-7 flamethrower wand is not needed to spray liquid fire on the burning enemy, and Hasbro knows that.
Instead, Blowtorch should be correctly equipped wearing his backpack fire extinguisher (which says “Powder” on it, but we know it really is Purple-K, a dry chemical fire suppression agent used in dry powder fire extinguishers of the military. Very effective, but should not be inhaled, thus Blowtorch would still have to wear his facemask.
In his arms would be his FN SCAR-H assault rifle, but he has those two important canisters of Purple-K behind him when needed.
It's just a very realistic way of using the Blowtorch character in a military capacity, but it seems that some collectors just aren't appreciating it or understanding it.
Oh well, I'm glad Hasbro tried.