GI Joe Rise of Cobra- 5 most notable figures that I have thus far

So, I've decided to review five of these new ROC figures in a bunch. I feel each one is worth mentioning for one reason or another, whether it's because of the character, the figures itself, or a combination thereof.

FIRST! Everyone's favorite ninja, and hands down the most popular Joe, Snake-Eyes:
And Snake-Eyes shows that it's bloody hard to photograph a completely black figure. You might not be able to tell from the picture, but he has a fully sculpted, detailed chest. As if he were wearing spandex. He also has baggy combat pants. This combination has caused some people to think that his legs are too small, but he's likely wearing armor that looks like his chest. His headsculpt has been causing quite a few fanboy complaints. Because he has lips on his mask. BOO. HOO. Does that REALLY matter? Under his visor (which is a translucent separate, non-removable piece for some reason) he has a fully sculpted face. Which is weird. He's, of course, pretty much completely black, but what paint there is is crisp and well done, particularly the Arashikage (Uh-rash-ee-kog-ay) symbol on his shoulder. He comes with an Uzi, sword (His webgear has a clip to hold his sword!), and a backpack, that I've left off my figure. It just got in the way. Not as much as some of the others, but he definitely the essential Snake-Eyes stuff. He also has a holster on his webgear, but the pistol in it is a sculpted part of the holster. WTF, Hasbro?

You can't have Snake-Eyes without his arch nemesis and Sword Brother, Storm Shadow (Which is a direct English translation of Arashikage), the Cobra ninja:
Storm Shadow is also causing a lot of whining, mainly because of his long coat and shoes that appear to be canvas hi-tops (Think Converse Chuck Taylors). Really? REALLY? Oh well, fanboys live to complain. Personally, I dig the coat, and I'm not bothered by his shoes. His coat his a nice, fine texture, and while the tails are a bit restricting, they're a separate, soft piece so they'll move out of the way of his legs. Again, the paint is well done on both the figure and his swords. Along with his katana (long sword) and wakizashi (short sword), both of which have the Arashikage ninja clan symbol, Storm Shadow comes with a small pistol that fits in a holster on his coat tail, and a clip on Wolverine claw thing that a few classic Storm Shadow's have carried in the past.

And now for something completely similar, Snake-Eyes... again. But this time he has Timber! And is in Paris, apparently:
This is the "Paris Pursuit" or "Trenchcoat" Snake-Eyes. I was rather excited about this figure, as it's a cool, new look. This time 's hearing loose clothes all over, plus the obvious coat, and a more traditional face mask (No face, better visor). He's mostly gray on this figure, with various details painted on. He actually doesn't share any parts with the normal Snake-Eyes, though you can switch their heads if you want. But I'd recommend not doing that, as this is an awesome figure. He's got an assault rifle of some sort, pistol, knife (Take from the first G3 SE) a sword, WITH scabbard, and his pet wolf, Timber! Yes, I am aware that the picture of Timber sucks. Timber uses the second G3 sculpt, first released in the recent GI Joe 5-pack (Which I have). If you only want to get one ROC Snake-eyes, this is it. He's different, but awesome in every way.

Next is a figure that made me angry (And I can usually take change, so that's saying a lot), Cobra Commander:
Hurm. The early pictures of this guy were pretty bad. His sleeves didn't match his coat, his face was horrible, he had tubes coming out of his chest, etc. But, now that I have the figure in hand, I like him more than I thought I would. First off, his sleeves and coat are the same color. His coat is rather nicely textured, and I love that the inside lining is Cobra Blue. the bottom half of his mask is painted silver to look like metal, and he looks disfigured underneath it. They also got rid of the stupid tubes (Though there's still ports on his head and chest for them). The paint is good, though the wash on his coat is spotty and odd. He comes with a cobra, some sort of injector thing, something I think is either a walkie-talkie or remote (The injector and walkie talkie thing can plug into ports on his thighs), and a gun that looks just like the original Cobra Commander's! While the figure surprised me, I still don't really like what he looks like. I won't mind it as much now, but I still wish they had gone with the old hood, whether it looks too KKK-ish or not. He's an evil terrorist leader dammit! Do you REALLY think the NAACP or Jesse Jackson will complain because the despicable EVIL TERRORIST looks almost kind of sort of like a Klansmen?!

Finally, my all time favorite Joe, Shipwreck!:
Unfortunately, ol' Hector Delgado and Polly, probably won't be in the movie. We at least get a toy of him though. And it's a damned awesome toy! He's wearing the "Reactive Armor" a lot of the Joes seem to have, and combat pants. On him, the armor looks like a wet-suit and the blue camo on his pants works for a sailor.His face is perfect Shipwreck, with the beard and hat (Though it's not a sailor hat this time), and it has a lot of character. He comes with a wealth of great accessories, foremost amongst which is his parrot, Polly. In the 80's Polly was always poking fun at Shipwreck, creating some great moments in the cartoon. For weapons he has a gun that looks like similar to the FN 2000, but with a harpoon on top, a pistol, and a large knife. Finally, he has some very nice scuba gear consisting of a backpack with air tanks (Polly can stand on the pack), a mask with tubes that slips over his head, and a pair of flippers that can store on his backpack. Very nice stuff, complementing a great figure.

All these figures has the standard modern Joe articulation. Balljointed head (Though it's rather tight, almost acting like a swivel joint on a lot of movie figures), pin-swivel shoulders, elbows, and ankles, swivel wrists, balljoint torso, true balljoint hips, and double knees, so they're superbly posable. They all also have figure stands, though these are very different from the G3 stands. Finally, on each cardback is a file card, though they now look like some sort of ID card/security pass.

Overall, the figures are well done, and good toys. Hopefull the movie will live up to them.

COOO-BRAAAAAAAAA!

~Raw/Monty