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

Thoughts on the upcoming GI Joe movie, and the burden of being a nerd.

As you guys almost certainly know, the live action GI Joe movie, GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra, is coming out next month (August 7th, to be exact). Obviously, as this movie is, just like the Transformers films, based off an 80's toy property, there are new action figures (Which you can now find in stores)! As a toy collector and GI Joe fan, I have already bought a number of these figures (Yo Go Re of OAFE has suggested waiting until they go on sale, but every time I do that, I can't find what I want). Now, my hope for the film has dropped considerably in the past few months, but we haven't gotten any new Joes in months, and these new ones are rather good, and I'm not about to pass on good toys.

So, what exactly do I think so far of the movie? Well, I already have some problems. Now, I should mention I don't care that Snake Eyes has lips, Ripcord is black, Storm Shadow is wearing a coat, or any of that stuff. It either doesn't matter, or, in Storm Shadow's case, is something I like.

But then there are things like the Accelerator Suits. While I wouldn't be surprised to see some sort of power armor in the old cartoon, it would show up once to help sell the toy, then maybe appear every once in a while as long as the toy is on shelves. But in the movie they appear to be much too prevalent. Of course, this is just going off the trailers, so it's entirely possible that they appear in one scene which has gotten more attention in the trailers than the other scenes. Hopefully, this is the case, but, and again, I'm going off the trailers for this, it doesn't appear to be.

Next are the Cobra vipers. Seriously? In stead of the old Cobra Troopers, we get these ugly guys? The old Blueshirts were great. They looked like actual members of a paramilitary force, had the great helmet/half mask combo concealing their identities, and looked very distinctive amongst the various villainous henchmen of pop culture. The new Vipers have none of that, instead looking more like generic sci-fi bad guys. And while the old Real American Hero version of Cobra had Vipers, the only thing they have in common with the movie guys is the name and full face masks. Oh, and maybe the elbow pads.

Cobra Commander. Goddammit. GOD. DAMMIT. LOOK AT THAT THEY DID TO HIS FACE! WHY?! The only reason I can possibly think of for doing that is to make him look creepy. What a featureless metal mask isn't creepy? Or, you know what's would be really creepy? Cobra Commmander's fucking executioner style cloth mask. Also, from what I've read on Joepedia, ROC Cobra Commander's origin is as follows: He fought alongside Duke and Ripcord, but was injured in an ambush. Duke and Ripcord were rescued by the Joe team (After this they joined the team) while Cobra Commander, real name Rex Lewis, was left behind. He then went nuts, becoming first "The Doctor" then Cobra Commander. Oh, and the Baroness is really his sister, Ana Lewis. And she was engaged to Duke. This means three things. 1. They're not using Larry Hama's great origins for Cobra and Cobra Commander from the comics. Any Joe fan will tell you that you should always use stuff from Larry Hama. 2. We know Cobra Commander's real name. And 3. We see his face. It could be worse I guess. He could be a snake man.

There are various other elements I fear will be left out. Will the connection between Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow, which has been hinted at on their toy file cards, be a plot point? Will Snake-Eyes and Scarlett be an item, or will the movie be like Resolute and have Duke and Scarlett together (The only thing I disliked about Resolute). And so on. Speaking of Resolute, I think many people hoped the movie would be serious like Resolute but instead, it looks like we're getting a heaping helping of 80's goofiness.

However, despite all this, I'm still going to see the movie. I'll be at the midnight showing even. I'm not like those RotF haters who won't even see the fucking movie before hating on it. Besides, there are some things I'm still hopeful for. Ray Park as Snake-Eyes, for example. As long as he can emotes effectively as a silent character, there's really no way that can turn out bad. And who knows. Maybe the film will surprise me. Basically, I'm going to see it, and keep an open mind.

Finally, there's what I said in the title about the burden of being a nerd. You see, to the average movie goer none of what I've said here matters. They don't know enough about GI Joe to care. Even if they watched it as a kid, it's doubtful they remember enough. But as nerds (Or, if you prefer, geeks) we know all about this stuff, and we've kept up with it much longer than most people. Much longer than is healthy, some might say. So to us, it does matter, and it could make the film less enjoyable.

Anyways, I'll review some of my new figures soon.

GI Joe: Resolute boxset review

One of the new things Hasbro has been working on for GI Joe, now that the movie it gaining it more attention, is a new cartoon called "GI Joe: Resolute". It's basically a sort of modernized re-imagining of the 80's GI Joe universe, but less Sci-Fi and Anime-ish than Sigma 6 (Despite having great toys, the Sigma 6 cartoon was astoundignly "meh."). And, it's written by the great comic book scribe, Warren Ellis! To go with the 'toon Hasbro's made some figures, comic packs, and this boxset with Resolute characters.

First is the new Cobra B.A.T. (Battle Android Trooper. GI Joe has fun acronyms/backronyms!). The B.A.T. is the same exact figure as the previously released single G3 B.A.T., with the same accessories. So, while you're not exactly getting a new figure, it's a good one, and an army builder. The only difference is, of course, the paint. It's in a new black and red scheme, instead of black and yellow. So it looks rather more menacing now. It's also bloody hard to photograph without the details being hidden. I did it though! The paintwork is very nice on the exposed robot bits. They were molded in black, then heavily drybrushed with silver, giving the stuff a nice, unpolished metal look. The pads on his boots have clear brushstroke marks in them, which kind of makes them look scuffed. It also kind of looks like they might have half-assed that bit. So I'm not sure if it was intentional or not. There is a bit of slop on his right leg from the box thing on its thigh. The sculpting shows that someone was paying attention. The clothes actually look like they're on top of something NOT human, with bits sticking out at strange angles, particularly the butt-plate (Heh). The B.A.T. gets five interchangeable limbs (Two hands, a claw (The claw opens!), a flamethrower, and either a laser or machine gun), a backpack that can hold two limbs, a removable belt, and a silver pistol. I prefer the gun arm and claw.

Next up are the Cobra Trooper and Cobra Officer. They're literally the same figure. The only difference is the mark on the Officer's helmet. I added a bag (From a comic pack Snake Eyes) and knife (From this set's Duke) to the officer the help set them apart. They're direct repaints of the previous Resolute Trooper. Again, in a red and black scheme instead of blue and black. This is a pretty new look for Cobra Troopers and Officers. Though Cobra Comander has often had a black and red look, the Troopers and Officers were always the blueshirts. The paint is nice enough. though some areas need better coverage. The clothes and heads are sculpted well. This is the first G3 Trooper/Officer with sculpted hair! They each get a nice removable vest, a backpack, removable helmets, a high tech looking SMG, and some large shotgun/grenade launcher gun. The trooper gets an SMG, and the officer gets the big gun, and there's one of each left over for my extra weapons pile. They also get this spring loaded missile launcher that I don't really care about. At least it's realistic looking enough for displays.

Thirdly, is my favorite from the set. Cobra Commander! I loves me some Cobra Commander. He's evil comedy gold! Evil, yet over the top. That definitely describes this figure, with his cloaks, fancy helmet, and sword. This guy uses a mish-mash of Cobra Commander parts from all over the G3 line. Again, nice sculpting, particularly on his cloaks. The paint has basically no real errors other than the bad coverage on the exposed collar on his upper cloak bit (In order for his collar to show over the cloak, they put an extra one on the top of the cloak). He's got a removable upper cloak (The bottom one is a separate piece, but not removable), a removable helmet, sword (There's a scabbard on the bottom cloak), and two pistols the look like Lugers to me. The black and red outfit is a classic, if less well known, look for the Comamnder, and I like it here.

Last is Duke, the only guy with new parts! He gets a new torso and upper arms. All this is because he's Jetpack Duke! So he needs a harness and stuff. The rest comes from the previous Resolute Duke. Including the stupid holster with a sculpted, permanently attached gun. He's in off-white, gray, and black this time around. The camo pattern on his shirt is a nice touch. His face also has a sublte scar going down one side. Unfortunatley, one of the eyes on mine is angled inward a bit. It's not really noticeable, unless he's got his helmet on, which make it look like he has one eye. Along with the helmet Duke gets the jetpack (The wings and tailfins are jointed), a machine gun (Originally from the other Resolute Duke), a pistol (A slightly modified pistol from the normal G3 Duke, with the trigger guard removed), the aforementioned knife (Reused from G3 Snake Eyes. This knife has been given to tons of guys), and a new belt with pouches on the back. I've decided to leave the helmet off because of his eye problem. Makes him look more badass anyways.

All the figures have the standard G3 Joe articulation (Plus the B.A.T.'s articulated claw). Unfortunately, Cobra Commander's cloaks restrict his movement somewhat. Everyone also gets a filecard and figure stand, like always.

So there you go. The final verdict is that I like this boxset, but it's not for everyone. It's mostly repaints, with one retool. If you haven't found the original verisons of these figures (Which is why I got it), I'd definitely say go for it. Otherwise, I'd get it if you like the black and red Cobra look, really want Jetpack Duke!, and/or want some nice new army builder figures.

Make sure to watch Adult Swim at midnight on April 25th, when Resolute premieres! Originally, it was going to be a series of webisodes, but Hasbro seems to be pushing things out of the way to gear up for the movie, which is sad. Hopefully, Resolute will be well received, and the movie will get GI Joe enough attention that they decide to continue with Resolute. I could see it becoming like the MArvel Animated movies.

~Raw/Monty CO-BRAAAA!!!


That was disturbing.
(Hassenfeld Bros. was the original name of Hasbro)