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Saturday, October 16th, 2004
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Three reviews.
First we have Deathstroke The Terminator:
Coming from DC Direct, Deathstroke is from the new Teen Titans line found in specialty and comic shops. Deathstroke is a mercenary and sometimes villain, sometimes “good-guy”, though currently he’s back to the bad side of things.
This figure has a very accurate mold, capturing his comic look nicely. His primary colors are blue and orange. His head, covered in a mask, is half orange and half blue, with the single white eye on the left. The back of the mask features blue and orange ties, simulating how his mask is held on. His chest features armor over his upper portion, with chain mail on the lower portion. His muscles are nicely detailed. A molded ammo belt crosses his chest, with a slot in it on the back to hold his sword. His arms feature nice muscle detail, with the same chain mail and armor as the chest. His orange gloves flare out as they reach the elbows. His waist has a highly detailed utility belt, with many pouches and grenades. The legs have a holster on the right leg and pouches on the left leg. His boots have the floppy tops folded over onto themselves, with nice detail on his boot tread. His left shin has a knife sheath molded onto it. He comes a silver shotgun and his trademark sword and he features a base that says “Teen Titans” on it.
His articulation is above average: He has neck, ball jointed shoulders, elbow joints, cut wrists, hips and knees.
He averages around $15, which is more than an equivalent figure found in retail stores, but the fact he’s not found there, means you’ll pay more.
Next up we have Master Chief:
This is Master Chief as he appears in the sequel to the hit game Halo. As with the figures from the first game, the Halo 2 Master Chief comes from Joyride Studios. He has totally redesigned armor and weapons. The figure is also taller than the first game’s figure, though with the thinner armor, he seems even taller.
The detail on the armor is quite extensive, making him look far better than Halo’s Master Chief figure. The basic color is a light green armor with a purplish-grey bodysleeve under the armor. Like the first figures, Master Chief does feature a mirrored visor, only it also features small lines molded into it.
His articulation is about the same, but it is slightly better. His head now has a ball joint, though the armor prevents it from moving too much. His elbows and shoulders are the same, with the wrists featuring more movement. A new bit of articulation is the chest/abdomen, which now has a ball joint, giving him the ability to bend forward, back or side-to-side. His waist swivels, as it did on the old figure, but because of the new armor, it doesn’t go all the way around. His hips also feature new articulation, with a better ball joint and rotating joint replacing the old leg joints. His knees also feature more bend in them, with ball jointed ankles replacing the old jointed ones.
He comes with an extra hand, which is a left trigger hand to allow him to fire two weapons at once. His weapons are the new assault rifle, which has a removable ammo clip and twin sub-machine guns, which feature a sliding stock.
Also around $15 and found in game stores, he’s worth the money, for the figure is quite large. The articulation is also very nice and his accessories are good.
Lastly we have a Joe vehicle, the Jungle Strike Humvee:
This is one of the newer Joe vehicles and it can be said, the most realistic vehicle they’ve ever had. In fact, if one looked at it, they’d probably not even associate it with G.I. Joe. It’s pretty much a straight up replica of the military Humvee, right down to the lettering on the front end. There are no Joe logos on it, whatsoever and the figure that comes with it is pretty much a standard generic looking soldier. The only real way to find it’s Joe heritage is the TOW missile launcher on the roof, which features a firing projectile.
The Jungle Strike features a fully detailed interior, matching for the most part, what a real Humvee has. All four doors open, as does the hood and trunk. The engine features nice detailing and the rear cargo area has racks for the other two weapons: The .50 cal machine gun and the grenade launcher. The hydraulic pistons in the deck lid also function as they do in real life. Other details include real rubber tires and an antenna on the back.
Paint is as expected in this type of vehicle to be woodland cammo, as most Humvees are depicted.
Also in the $15 range, the Jungle Strike Humvee is certainly worth it, simply for it being a replica of an actual Humvee. The fact that it’s a Joe vehicle with this detailing is even better.
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Sunday, October 10th, 2004
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Now it is time for the semi-regular G.I. Joe reviews.
First we will look at the VAMP with Twin Battle Gun.
This is a Toys “R” Us exclusive re-issue. The original VAMP and Twin Battle Gun(also known as the Whirlwind) came out back in the early days of the 3 3/4" line. The VAMP is a repaint/slight remold of a previous remold of the original VAMP. A few years ago Hasbro brought out the Desert Striker, which had the base VAMP body and wheels, but had some added parts, like a new front bumper/brush guard, hood, new roll bars and weapons.
This features the hood and part of the new roll bars in addition to the front gun and combined missile launcher/gun mounted on top that was found on the Desert Striker. It drops the front bumper add-on, revealing the original VAMP headlights. Molded in a dark green and featuring silver wheels, it is a classic looking vehicle. The only problem is the new roll bars look too tall for the short vehicle. It wasn’t as noticeable on the Desert Striker, thanks to the new front end that clipped on and the extended rear roll bars , but it’s really noted here. Other than trimming the roll bars down or finding an old VAMP roll bar(which was a lighter green), it’ll have to remain that way.
The TBG/Whirlwind is a straight repaint of the original that came out in the early ‘80s. It’s pretty much how all the older stuff was, slightly futuristic, yet based more on a more real level. The gun is mounted on a frame that has fold up wheels and is towed by the VAMP. The operator station has twin hand grip controls and a few display/dials on some stickers. The gun can swivel 360 degrees and the guns themselves can elevate. The barrels can spin by using the knobs on the bottom of the guns and two panels can be removed at their rear, to show the bullets inside.
The set comes with three figures repainted from the old lines. You get Chief Torpedo, Pathfinder and Big Brawler. Nothing noteworthy on the figures, though Pathfinder(who is nearly identical to the version that came with the A.W.E. Striker re-release I reviewed last year) comes with all his original gear.
At $20, this is a nice deal. With one vehicle and trailer, and three figures and gear, it’s worth the price.
Next, we have Wave 4 of Valor Vs Venom.
First there is Duke versus Venomous Maximus:
Back in the beginning of Valor Vs Venom, they released the Action Attack Duke and I said he had nice boots, but that was really it. Now, we have nearly the same figure, yet it’s worlds better. Gone is the AA feature, being replaced by a standard construction. The mold, while similar, is slightly different then the earlier version. He does have a slightly blockier looking chest, but the molded on under-arm holsters add to this. His narrower waist doesn’t help. He comes with a Ka-Bar knife, wrist communicator, pistol and one of the coolest weapons to date. It’s a grey M4, but it features removable parts: The silencer, grenade launcher and stock come off. Certainly one of the best small weapons for a figure to date.
Duke faces off against the leader of the Venom Troops: Venomous Maximus. The story of Valor Vs Venom features a captured General Hawk being mutated into this creature. He is bigger than any of the current line of figures(Though, compared to the Spy Troops line, he fits right in). Befitting his mutated origins, he is bulky looking, with bulging muscles. His left arm is even larger, giving him sort of a “I just came from Resident Evil” look. His skin color is a pale color with red veins in it. His left arm has most of the red in it. His outfit is mostly armor plates, which have a nice sliver metal look to them. The plates cover his legs as well, over green pants. The chest features a molded serpent on the armor, painted in gold. It’s hard to tell if his skin is supposed to have scales, thanks to the diamond pattern on the upper arms and shoulders or if that’s just part of his outfit. His head sculpt, mounted on a ball joint rather than a traditional neck, is quite distinctive. He has a pronounced brow, pinched nose and broad chin along with long flowing blonde hair(matching General Hawk’s hair on his figure). He comes with a cobra headed staff/weapon, silver knife and a cape to cover his mutated left arm.
Next up we have General Abernathy versus Overkill.
Finally the new Joes have their General. Featuring his first new mold since the early 90's, General Hawk is back. Though, thanks to copyright problems, they can’t outright call him General Hawk, so they use his real name(though in the VvV movie, he’s General Hawk). This figure is probably the best Hawk since his second figure from way back in ‘86. He features a green uniform with nice details like buttons and crease lines. He has brown web gear with a molded holster on it. His trousers have pockets and knee pads on them and he has brown boots with grey laces. His head sculpt is really spot on as to how the General looks. Not too old, not too young, with a stern glare fixed. His hair is blonde, which really is a treat, since save for his very first 1982 figure, only one of the Real American Hero Collection figures has him with the blonde hair(his Comic 3 pack figure of course has blonde hair). He has a garrison cap on with three stars on it, a nice nod to the much used Talking Battle Commander figure from the ‘90's. He comes with a CAR-15, two grenades, a Desert Eagle and the wrist unit.
He faces off against Overkill, coming back for his second repaint of the new Joe Vs Cobra version. The mold is the same as the other Overkills, with only the color changing. Now coming in beige with gunmetal grey colored armor padding. His scarf/mask is now orange. The biggest change is the addition of a claw accessory for his right arm. In addition to this, he comes with the already released gun arm. His best accessory is something comic book fans know all about: The BrainWave Scanner. This is as it appears in the VvV movie. It is molded in grey plastic with blue “pads”. It features two clamps on either side, to hold the figure’s arms and the top “skullcap” can fold down over the figure’s head. It can either stand upright, or lay flat on it’s legs.
Coming up next is Gung Ho versus Wild Weasel.
Gung Ho is an all new mold. For the first time in the new line, he has returned to his mustache, ditching the goatee they had given the previous two versions of the Gung Ho. His mold is really nice, with him wearing a blue shirt with the sleeves cut off, grey trousers with green cammo blotches and brown boots. He has wrappings on his wrists and his hands have brown gloves on them. He also features wrist articulation, something not seen in recent waves. He comes with a removable tactical vest and green cap. He also has a working holster on his left leg, that even has a fold down flap for it. In addition to the clothing items, he comes with a grenade launcher, a M1911A1 .45 pistol, a sub-machine gun and the wrist unit. Now the bad part of the figure is that he features Action Attack. This means that he has a T-crotch and a button on his back(which does mean the vest has a cut in it to fit the button). The feature is supposed to be some sort of knife slash thing, but it just moves his arms like he’s running in some cartoonish fashion. Overall, the AA isn’t as distracting as Kamakura AA and Duke AA, but it’s still there. Hopefully they’ll make this in a regular figure as this would be nearly a perfect Gung Ho in that case.
He faces Wild Weasel. This version of the Cobra pilot is the same as the one released with the Night Adder, only in red. A bright red. Other than the color change, it’s the same exact figure. He comes with a parachute, a rifle and a knife.
Next we have Kamakura versus Storm Shadow
Like Duke, Kamakura came out in the first VvV wave and he quite frankly stunk. He could go down as the worst G.I. Joe figure ever. However; in Wave 4, the basic mold is back, this time with standard O-Ring construction and he is much, much better. He’s got the same basic green tunic on, only instead of a yellow mask and ascot, it’s grey. His gauntlets also get a color change, coming in black and silver now. His right hand is also the standard “battle grip”. His legs feature the most changes, with the plain pants legs giving way to more segmented armor plates, matching the gauntlets. These cover the lower legs completely. His boots start at the knee and also are much better than the plain ones found on the first version of this figure. He comes with a new sheath with dragon embossed on the back and a new sword, with a interweaving design on the blade and a new hilt/grip. He also comes with the wrist unit.
Another Action Attack victim in an earlier wave, Storm Shadow returns with a standard construction, which also marks the first new O-Ring SS in many, many years. And all the good points of the Wave 1 VvV Storm Shadow AA are increased here, with the added plus of normal articulation. This quite possibly is the best Storm Shadow ever. The mold is slightly altered here and there, but nothing like Duke and Kamakura’s changes. Another great part of this figure is his accessories. He comes with two hooked swords(that he uses extensively in the movie), a break apart bo staff and a back pack that holds all his weapons. He also comes with a removable “loin-cloth”.
Last in the two packs we have Dr. Link Talbot versus Night Creeper.
Dr. Link Talbot(from here on out, just Link) is a new member of the Joe team. Listed as a veterinarian and former Navy S.E.A.L., Link was a major character in the movie, coming to the Joe’s aid when Cobra unleashed it’s Venom Troops. The figure isn’t all that bad, with a distinct head sculpt that features nicely detailed corn rows. He’s wearing a sleeveless shirt that features a graphic on it proclaiming him “Navy Kung-Fu Champion 2003". His shoulders feature small pads and his gloves also have small cylinders molded onto them. The oddest part of his arms are the elbow pads, which seem to be glued to the skin. His trousers are a reddish color and feature yellow padding on them. The pants are tucked into grey sneakers. He comes with a spear gun and the wrist unit.
Night Creeper is a repaint of the Spy Troops Wave 7 mold. Now he comes in a greenish-blue color, with silver padding and brown web gear. He comes with a sniper rifle and the robotic drone seen in the movie. This drone also features a working winch at it’s rear, so it can carry a figure as it flies around. However; Night Creeper does not come with any swords or other ninja weaponary, a small oversight, having a small arsenal of swords and sheaths.
Next up we have the two mini-vehicle packs. Snake Eyes with Ninja Lightning Cycle and Storm Shadow with Ninja Lightning Cycle.
Snake Eyes is the same that came out with Wave 1 of VvV, only now he’s in black with blue trim. He comes with a submachine gun, wrist unit, nunchucks, sword and sheath.
Storm Shadow is the same figure that comes in this very wave, only instead of red he had black. Also the dragon on his back is not painted. He comes with the same nunchucks, sword and sheath that Snake Eyes comes with, plus he comes with an Uzi. This figure and bike are a Target Exclusive, unlike the general release of Snake Eyes.
The bikes are the same, the only difference is in color. The mold is quite nice and detailed, with the brakes, engine, gauges and exhaust all visible. The rear wheel is mounted on a spring, so it can go up and down(it also is what fires the front mounted missile). The rear tire is big and chunky, with nice detailing on the wheel and tread. The bike features foot pegs to help hold the figures on it. In the back, there is a slot to hold the nunchucks. The small windscreen is clear plastic and affords a view of the gauges. Snake Eyes bike features the Joe Star and Bars logo on the gas tank, while Storm Shadow’s is unadorned.
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Thursday, October 7th, 2004
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A review that is filled with Transformers.
First, we have sort of a return visit. Smokescreen GT is the culprit. A slightly different version of the previously reviewed Alternator Smokescreen, as seen here.
This one is a Binal Tech, from Takara, so it’s primarily die-cast in construction. Front end, hood, roof, doors and quarter panels are all metal. The paint job is also different, with it being dark blue metallic, so he appears much darker and shinier than the all plastic Alternator version. In addition to the difference in material used and in paint color, Smokescreen GT features a 2004 sponsor decal package, unlike the original Smokescreen with 2003 livery. Other changes included a new nose with modified air dam and grills and new wheels.
The biggest difference, however, comes from an addition: A shoulder mounted missile launcher. In robot mode, the missile launcher can clip onto either shoulder.
Transformation is the same, obviously as Smokescreen and Silverstreak.
With a much slicker looking paint job and die-cast construction, Smokescreen GT is considerably better looking then the older Alternator Smokescreen(The Binal Tech Smokescreen lacks only the new graphics and missile launcher, so it’s really the same as the GT version). Coming in around $50, it’s pricy for a Transformer, but, since I used to buy 1/24 die-cast race cars and they averaged $50 and did nothing but sit there, he’s worth it to me.
Up next we have a few Transformers from Energon.
First up is Bulkhead.
Coming in one of the new Powerlinx Battles boxes, Bulkhead is a helicopter that comes with a clip on weapon unit.
In vehicle mode, Bulkhead resembles an AH-64 Apache gunship(which reminds me of an old Deluxe Go-Bot that also was based on the Apache). His main color is green, with two shades being used: dark green and bright green. He also has some off-white in his body. He features retractable front landing wheels and by pushing back on his rear wheel, you turn his rotor blades(which can get up to speed with a few pushes). Mounted on his winglets are four missile launchers(two on either winglet).
His add-on unit can fit onto the bottom of the helicopter. This features two forward facing weapons and two folded up arms that can double as booster rockets or landing legs. It’s primary color is light blue, with some grey, black and green thrown in. It features three sounds: A weapon fire sound and two ratchetting transformation sounds.
Transforming is a tad complex, but not overly hard. Mostly the problems come with getting the rotor assembly out of the body for use as a weapon. It requires some tugging after you depress the rear wheel.
In robot mode, Bulkhead has good stability and articulation. The rotor assembly features a fold down handle that allows him to use it as a weapon of sorts.
The add-on unit can be turned into a stationary weapon platform or slotted onto his back as shown here.
Coming in at $25, he’s one of the more pricy of the Energon Transformers, and most of this is because of the electronics. However; he’s got a nice size and with the backpack unit on, he’s even larger.
Next up, we have Cliffjumper.
Borrowing an old Generation 1 name, Cliffjumper literally is a cliff jumper. Based on a dune buggy in vehicle mode, Cliffjumper has an odd assortment of colors. The front is brown, the cockpit is yellow with red windows and the back is green. They do clash quite a bit, needless to say. In vehicle mode, it must be said that Cliffjumper is quite large. He’s close to a foot in length, though not very wide in body. In front of the windshield, there are two missile launchers. He does have a port for batteries in the engine area, but I didn’t put any batteries in him. A button on the top of the engine block activates the sounds.
Transforming is relatively easy for his size, with no real trouble spots.
In robot mode he’s smaller than you’d think, with most of the vehicle’s bulk being found in superfluous additions. He can use the two missile launchers as hand held weapons, but other than those, he has no other weapons.
As with other Transformers of his size, he can link up with them and form a more powerful combined form.
At $20, he’s nicely priced for his size.
Lastly we have the smallest of the bunch, Towline.
Towline is a small van, coming in primarily blues(light and dark) and white, with red striping and windows. He’s pretty detailed in van mode, with ladders on either side and windows molded onto the sides and back. Mounted on top is the Energon weapons, which in his case form radar equipment.
Transformation is simple, which is not unusual for his size.
In robot mode he forms two separate units. This makes him much like the old Ironhide/Ratchet mold from Generation 1. The base of the van forms a small sled that can hold the weapon block. The front wheels can fold back, while two treaded wheels fold forward, bringing the sled off the ground. Towline in robot mode has nice articulation for his size
At around $10, he is quite worth the price, with many little features that set him above some of the other similar classed Transformers.
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Tuesday, September 28th, 2004
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A long time since the last update, so here goes. And since it messed up the last time, it now has an addition.
First up we have the Anti-Venom Task Force.
Another of the multi-pack reissues Hasbro has released through Toys “R” Us since restarting the line. Like the others, it features repaints of classic Real American Hero figures. Unlike some of the other sets, this one attempts to keep the figures original gear intact as much as possible. Each figure comes with their own figure stands.
Mutt is mostly his version 1(1984) figure with the head, torso and waist being repainted(the head does feature a slight upgrading in detail it seems). The arms come from Wet-Suit version 2(1986) and the upper legs come from Roadblock version 1(1984) while the lower legs come from the Cobra Infantry and Officers released in 2004. The paint scheme, as it is on the majority of the figures in this set are uniform. He has a grey-blue shirt, with a green undershirt. His trousers are a desert camouflage pattern with brown boots and knee pads. The paint applications are quite nice, though his face and arms have a slightly reddish look to the skin color, but not overly bad. He comes with a machine gun, pistol and knife. His helmet, as all the ones who come with it, is based on the old Steel Brigade figure helmet. It features his name across the brow, the flag on the back and on one side it features the Anti-Venom Task Force shield. Lastly, he does come with his trusted companion, Junkyard.
Barricade is next. He is a straight repaint of the original figure(1992). Unlike the others in the set, he has the desert cammo as his primary colors, with only the pads on his armor providing the other colors. These are molded in dark green with a nice sparkle pattern. His head mold features a turtle neck, which gives him a long neck look. He comes with the AV helmet and a submachine gun.
Roadblock is up next. Like Barricade, he’s a straight repaint of his version 3 figure(1992). He features a blue-grey vest sweater, with the ribbing molded into it. He has a black undershirt that covers his shoulders. Black straps with pouches and a knife are another detail featured on his torso. The head sculpt features nice detailing, and even comes complete with his earing in his left ear. His trousers are in the desert cammo pattern, with brown leggings covering his black boots. Red bands are tied above the tops of the leggings. Another nice touch of this mold features his belt, with “RB” on the belt buckle. Coming with the AV helmet, Roadblock also features his version 1 gear: The Browning .50 cal with tripod and the backpack.
Up next is Sgt. Lifeline. This version of Lifeline(the second with the “new” file name) is a straight repaint of the figure known as Stretcher. He is wearing a blue-grey long-sleeve shirt, with straps and pouches molded onto the torso. His legs are done in the desert cammo, with black and brown shin high boots. His head sculpt features a black “Amish”-style beard, molded on cap and radio. He comes with all of Stretcher’s original equipment. Included are the backpack with antenna, hose to connect the backpack to the hand radio that plugs onto the figures chest, an injector gun(or flare gun), sled unit(with removable front cowling and control arm). He is the only figure not to come with the AV helmet.
Coming in next is Charbroil. He is a repaint of the original figure. He features a blue-grey top, with a dark green chest/armor piece. Trousers are again the cammo pattern. The reddish-flesh color affects Charbroil more than every figure but Duke, since his hair is bright red. It also doesn’t help he has a rather fat head, with a very pronounced jaw line. The mold is not as exciting as it could be, for what he is. He does come with his original equipment, sans original helmet. He has the AV helmet, the backpack unit, flame thrower and the hose to connect both. The hose is really hard plastic and doesn’t really fit too well, keeping the figure from holding the flame thrower without either it coming out of his hands or the backpack coming off.
Lastly, we have Duke. Almost a straight repaint of version 1 Duke(1983). His arms come from Gung Ho version 1(1983). His shirt is the blue-grey color, with dark green undershirt and his trousers are the cammo pattern. The color problems with the flesh are noticeable on his head as well, thanks to the blonde hair. Unfortunately, this mold is not the best, thanks to it’s age for it is much thinner than even Mutt, who only came a year later. He comes with the AV helmet and the same guns Mutt comes with.
The Anti-Venom Task Force set features some winners(Mutt, Roadblock, Barricade and in my opinion Lifeline) and some okay ones(Duke and Charbroil). The attempt at using as much original gear as they could is welcomed. For $20, you get a nice assortment of classic molds.
Next we have Autobot Hound:
Part of the Transformer Alternator line, Hound features a licensed vehicle mode, in this case a Jeep Wrangler. In vehicle mode, he features an opening hood, opening doors, real suspension and real rubber tires. The seats, both front and back, can be folded forward(as part of the transformation, but it’s realistic). He is molded in a dark metallic green, with black trim along the wheels and bumpers.
Like all Alternators, his transformation isn’t simple, though the more it’s done, the easier it gets.
In robot mode, Hound more closely resembles his Generation 1 counterpart. His head is slightly off-looking to me, but other than that, he captures Hound’s look nicely. Unlike other Alternators, his weapon is not part of his engine. Instead, his gun is stored in the spare tire cover mounted on the tailgate. It’s accessed by swinging the outer edge of the spare tire cover up, certainly a nice little detail. One of the downsides to the robot mode is the bit on his back, which features the front windshield, dash, seats and rollbars. With no where to go, they just sort of hang there, but it does enforce the fact that he can transform into a Jeep.
For $20, like the other Alternators, he is worth the money. You get a realistic vehicle mode with good features that transforms into an articulate robot mode.
Lastly, we have Silverstreak:
This Alternator is a repaint/remold of the previous Alternator, Smokescreen. Like Smokescreen, Silverstreak(or Bluestreak if you follow the old Generation 1 cartoon) is a Subaru Impreza WRX. Only in this case Silverstreak is the civilian model and not a WRC rally car. He is molded in a shiny silver paint that really looks sharp. While mostly the same mold as Smokescreen, he does feature a few changes. The nose is different, with a different grill and now has fog lamps and a license plate. His rear wing differs a great deal from Smokescreens rally wing. He also has different wheels and side mirrors.
Transformation is obviously identical to Smokescreen.
In robot mode again, he is basically Smokescreen. He does feature a new head and altered shoulders. His head matches the G1 cartoon’s Bluestreak’s head nicely, though it seems it’s slightly more silver than the rest of his body. The weapon is the same intercooler design that Smokescreen has, only now it’s mostly red and black.
For those who want a complete line, he is a must, but the casual fan might now want him if they have Smokescreen, since he really doesn’t offer that many differences. But this was how the old G1 line was, so it’s no different here.
The addition: Dead End:
This version of Dead End is from Takara’s Binal Tech line. Nearly identical to Hasbro’s Alternator line, Binal Tech versions use die-cast metal in the majority of construction. For Dead End, the front and the doors are metal, while the rest is plastic. Beyond that, this is the same as the Alternator Dead End. Packaging accounts for the rest of the changes, with the Binal Tech Transformers coming in a clamshell case in the box, while Alternators are tied down to a cardboard base in the box.
Dead End is a remold/repaint of Sideswipe/Lambor. Unlike Sideswipe and his Dodge Viper SRT-10 body, Dead End is the Dodge Viper Competition Coupe, which is the race version Dodge puts out. He has a new air dam, new hood, roof and rear window, new wheels and new rear end with large wing. He is primarily black, with grey racing stripes and amber windows. He is also the first Decepticon Binal Tech/Alternator.
In car mode, he is the aforementioned Viper Competition Coupe. He’s got a slicker look that the roadster version Sideswipe is.
Transformation is identical to Sideswipe with only the roof/rear decklid being different.
In robot mode, Dead End’s changes are more noticeable. He lacks the chest piece that Sideswipe has and instead displays his Decepticon logo on a grey plate. Colors are also different on the arms, legs and feet, with gold and red joining the black. His head is a new sculpt, though, unfortunately, it bears a very close resemblance to the G1 character Sunstreaker. This may have meant that before becoming Dead End, this mold was intended to be Sunstreaker, which made sense, as in G1, both Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were both Lamborghinis. However; the mold is now Dead End, and with the gold face and red eyes, he has an evil look to him, so the face does fit. His weapon, though, is the same as Sideswipes.
The Binal Tech versions, being imported and mostly die-cast are going to be more expensive than the US Alternators.
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Wednesday, July 28th, 2004
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On the hunt for the elusive G.I. Joe Comic 3-pack figure sets, I managed to get one of the new Joe vehicles, the Thunderwing with Slip Stream.
This is the new jet for the Joe team and it’s pretty big; bigger than any jet they’ve had in the new line so far(not that they’ve had many, really only just the Tiger Hawk, unless you count the re-release Conquest).
The Thunderwing is based off of the Air Force’s new F-22 Raptor fighter, though, as with most Joe “real world” vehicles, it’s not to scale(But this is nothing new, nor were they intended to ever be in scale). It’s primarily a light grey, with some darker grey cammo patches. Stickers are sparse and done in white, so they are hard to spot.
Features: Like other newer Joe vehicles, the Thunderwing has “action features”. In this case, a handle can be deployed on the bottom of the fuselage, with two triggers. One activates the sounds and the other fires either the missiles or the bombs. The sounds are interactive, depending on how you turn the jet. If you bank it to the right, you’ll hear the pilot say “Break right!” or if you tilt the nose up, he’ll say “Push it up!”. Other voices are “Break left” “Going down!” and some battle related ones. If you fire a missile, he’ll indicate the missile is away and then when it hits the target. By looking through the engine nozzles, you can see through the jet, with crosshairs targeting the enemy. By turning one of the nozzles, you switch to bomb mode and you now can look underneath the plane. Pressing the launch trigger will drop the four bombs mounted on the wings, with the appropriate voice and sound effects.
The missiles are loaded in through a hatch that opens on the top of the jet.
Other features: The Thunderwing can hold two figures in it’s incrediably detailed cockpit. The jet features retractable landing gear and of course, an opening canopy. The Thunderwing comes with Slip Stream. Slip Stream is featured in his third mold since being first released in 1986, and this is the best one ever. In fact, it’s one of the nicest figures to date in either line.
Toys “R” Us has the Thunderwing with an extra figure, in this case Ace(shown in the backseat), but no TRU has this jet so far as I’ve seen, so I got the bonus-less version. Coming in at $30, you get your money’s worth, as the Thunderwing has a great figure and tons of cool features. Plus it’s a solid jet that just looks cool.
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Has it been a month already? Err, nope, just having more to review than in the past.
Only one thing on tap for tonight, though. Straight from the 2004 Official G.I. Joe Convention in Orlando, we have one of the convention exclusive vehicles: The G.I. Joe Tiger-Ray Hydrofoil.
The Tiger-Ray is perhaps better known to fans of the 3 3/4" line as the Cobra Moray. Released in 1985 originally, the Cobra Moray Hydrofoil was red with a light grey hull. It was one of the vehicles that I always wanted and leading up to the convention, I had hoped to score one in good condition.
However; when the convention started, the exclusive vehicles were announced and the repainted Moray was one of them, albeit in Joe Tiger Force colors. As with the previous convention exclusives, I figured it would be long gone by the time I got there Saturday morning, but after waiting for one of the club staff to get free from other customers, I found out that they still had some left.
So, wasting no time(as in, buying it before even entering the exhibit hall where the bulk of the con was held), I picked one up. Coming in at $65, it’s far more expensive than it would be if it had been a store release, but considering the fact that there is no guarantee that this will hit the stores in whatever form and also the fact that even used Morays are expensive, it was a price I’d pay.
Now for the review: First off, the Tiger-Ray is a big boat, coming in around 20 inches in length, around 10 inches wide, around 6 inches tall and with the foils extended down about 7 inches tall. The Tiger-Ray’s body is orange and it’s hull is black. It has plenty of room for figures, with spots for at least 9 of them. Two can sit forward of the cockpit, inside small compartments with black hatches over them. Two can fit in the driver’s compartment with a third sitting in the top mounted turret. Four more figures can stand around the engine box and man the aft machine guns.
The weaponry: The Tiger-Ray(as with the original Moray) features a veritable arsenal. Up front, under a pop-up hatch, ride 4 missiles. The hatch is activated by pushing down on a button disguised as a periscope looking device mounted in front of the starboard side cockpit window. The launcher in it’s open position. Also visible are the two main guns mounted port and starboard on the “winglets” next to the cockpit. Further back, nestled in-between the cockpit windows on the central spine of the roof, lies a small black gun. This is seen here where the top turret’s twin guns are visible and the side mounted missiles are located. In the aft open bay of the craft, sit four machine guns. Also visible in the picture are the two depth charge launchers(with the 1 and 2 stickers on them). They hold 2 depth charges each and are “deployed” by picked each rack up and the charges roll out.
Other details: The engine features a removable cowling to show it’s detail, as seen here(The depth charge rack is also shown in it’s open position). In addition to the removable cowling, along the deck on either side of the engine are two small equipment bays, hidden under a black grating(which has the foot pegs for the figures using the rear guns). This bay is also shown in the engine picture. By using a tab on the aft of the craft, you can deploy the foils, which enable the Tiger-Ray to ride above the water, thus allowing it to reach greater speeds. This shot shows the front foil.
This pretty much is typical of all the classic Joe vehicles of the “old days”. Not to say the newer stuff is bad, far from it, but a lot of the older toys had certain charms about them. The Tiger-Ray(Moray) had these. As a convention exclusive basically made at special request by the Collector’s Club, there aren’t many of these out there in this color scheme and the price is, as mentioned, high. But factoring in you won’t see this particular scheme on the Moray mold again, and finding and paying for a mint in box Moray, the Tiger-Ray is worth the price. That said, I really do hope Hasbro releases the Moray under it’s original name and affiliation in the near future and if they can’t or don’t want to use the old red/grey color, I’d love to see it in Cobra Trooper blue. As big as the Moray mold is and as much as it’s desired, it makes sense for Hasbro to re-release it as they have other classic Real American Hero vehicles and figures.
As for the convention itself: ( click here to view my thoughts on it. )
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Up tonight, two reviews.
First, it’s the Takara re-issue of Astrotrain.
Many thanks to Arion, who picked up Astrotrain for me during her trip to Japan!
Anyway, as an older Transformer, Astrotrain has limited articulation and of course, the animation counterpart looks very dissimilar. Still, he’s neat. Having owned the original American release, I have experience with Astrotrain and taking him out of the package was a blast from the past, even though he’s not in his American colors here. Though it should be noted he is painted to resemble the Space Shuttle. To note the differences, the American release was light grey where this one is white and purple where this one is black.
The box is designed fully with the collector in mind, with a booklet containing information, though obviously not in English as this was a Japanese release and a cover from Dreamwave comics. Astrotrain is secured in a plastic clamshell package that holds his weapon as well.
In robot mode, Astrotrain’s limited to simple articulation, as noted before. Basically, it’s all in his arms, which are mounted on a ball joint, so they have a pretty good range of motion. And that’s it for the articulation. His fists have holes in them to hold his large weapon.
As he is a Triple Changer, he can go to either the shuttle mode or locomotive mode.
Going to either mode is fairly simple from robot mode.
In shuttle mode, Astrotrain resembles the Space Shuttle. Primarily white, with some black trim, Astrotrain looks sharp in shuttle mode. For plastic wheels(2 up front, 2 behind) provide “landing gear” for the shuttle mode.
Flipping the nose up into the legs; flipping the wings against the body; flipping the panels on the lower legs down, and you have the other mode for Astrotrain, the locomotive. In this mode, Astrotrain is pretty much solid black. He has molded train details, such as drive wheels and pistons. The boiler is diecast metal, which is also something the old Transformers contained(though the Japanese versions of the Alternators, Binal Techs, do have metal in them).
As this is a gift, price isn’t an issue, but as with the other re-releases, if you’re a fan of the older Transformers, then Astrotrain is for you.
Next up, we have something that should have been reviewed around November or December, but since I never saw one until yesterday, I couldn’t. Finally, I was able to purchase the Cobra Crimson Command Copter. This is a slight reworking of the G.I. Joe Night Attack Chopper. Done up in red and black, along with a new canopy, rotors, weapons and some addition armor on the missile pods, this helicopter looks different enough.
Though the storyline from Spy Troops: The Movie is that the CCC is a captured NAC that’s retrofitted to serve Cobra. This means that it looking like the NAC fits it’s origin, since that’s what it once was.
As with the NAC, it holds three figures up front, with a few more in the rear. These rear seats are accessible via sliding doors on either side.
New weapons feature a large moveable claw on the bottom of the nose and a new side gun. The missile launchers are the same as before, but feature new panels on the sides and new missiles. The tail also features a new gatling gun mounted on the rear stabilizer.
The CCC comes with new versions of Tomax and Xamot, the Crimson Guard Commanders. Though, it should be noted that while they are new versions of the twins, they are not new molds; in fact, the mold is largely that of the C.L.A.W.S. Commander with the head from Scalpel. Only the red of the CC’s uniform was darkened and his undershirt is now grey, while Scalpel’s hair was darkened and his scar moved around on Xamot’s face. The helmet comes from Spy Troop’s Duke, repainted in red and grey. Still, aside from the funky hands on the CC mold, the new Twins do look nice. One does hope, however, that in the future, we get true twins, and a return to their mirror image manner of dress, which is lacking here.
Coming in around $30 originally and only $20 at KB when I got it, the Crimson Command Copter is a nice deal, since you do get two figures with it. The only problem is the wonky shipping, since it took several months for it to show up here and only since other KB’s have started closing.
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Saturday, June 26th, 2004
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Storming the Soapbox with new reviews. Okay, I'm not really in the rain, but it is raining out.
First up on the table, we have one from the Halo Collection. Joyride Studio brings us from Halo, the M12 LRV “Warthog”. This is from Wave 4 of the series and is the Warthog depicted with the M12A1 LAAV rocket launcher in place of the machine gun found on the first release of the Warthog.
Detail is fairly nice, considering the smallish size of the ‘Hog. Coming in roughly 1/24 scale, probably slightly smaller, though, it can hold the smaller scale Halo figures from Joyride. It comes with three red Spartans complete with Assault Rifles. The mini-Spartans have several points of articulation, which is nice.
The ‘Hog features real rubber tires and full front and rear suspension. There are numerous painted details in the cockpit, from gauges to an info screen. The seats have yellow molded padding and a “wear” paint wash. Some yellow stripping differentiate this ‘Hog from the earlier one. Up front, under the lip of the body, is found a molded winch and two “tusks” to give the ‘Hog a link to it’s name. Front and back find molded and painted lights to add even more to the mold.
The rear turret, which can rotate a full 360 degrees and the launcher can pivot up and down slightly. The launcher has some nice detailing, such as spare ammo packs mounted on the arm and one pack in the launcher itself.
There is really only one major way for this to be even better than it already is and that’s to feature the full quadrasteer the ‘Hog features in the game. The only other way to improve would be to make it on the same scale as the larger sized Master Chiefs and Marines, but then the Warthog would be rather large and expensive. Though, making it 1/18 scale would have been nice, since then the Master Chiefs and Covenant forces could interact with the GI Joe and Star Wars figures. For $15, you get a cool vehicle and three Master Chief figures, so it’s a good deal anyway you look at it.
Up next comes the 3rd Wave of G.I. Joe Valor vs Venom and since these are quite lengthy, you can find them here: ( G.I. Joe vs. Venom Wave 3 )
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We came, we saw, we kicked as-err reviewed.
Three reviews up tonight.
First we have from Takara, the re-release Hot Rod(or Hot Rodimus I believe they called him in this instance).
This is the “hero” of Transformers: The Movie. He makes his debut here along with a few other of the years new Transformers. Nominally paired with the veteran Kup, he eventually acquires the Autobot Matrix of Leadership and becomes the new Autobot leader: Rodimus Prime(reviewed a few entries ago).
This is a remake of the original toy that came out in the mid ‘80s’. Like most of the Transformers from that time, he doesn’t feature much in the way of articulation in Robot Mode, unlike the new breed of Energon and Alternators. Even so, he’s still pretty cool. The only articulation to be found, for the record, are swivel joints in the elbows in addition to the elbow joints and swivel wrists. He’s molded in about 4 colors(dark rust red, orange, yellow and chrome). His head features some grey and blue for variation. Stickers cover the rest of his details, like the flames on his hood and sides, plus his leg ornamentation. He comes with two light grey blasters for weapons.
To transform from Robot to Vehicle Mode is not all that complex, again, like most of the Transformers of the day.
In Vehicle Mode, he appears as a futuristic sports car with the exposed engine, huge rear wing and gleaming chrome exhaust running down either side.
As this is not only an import and not that new, Hot Rod can set you back a bit, unless you opt for the just released Targetmaster version(which features the same Hot Rod, just a new transforming weapon). I lucked out and found one in a local comic book store and got a nice price on it. Like Rodimus Prime and other reissues, Hot Rod is mostly for the older fan, and isn’t really a toy to be played with(which isn’t stopping me anyway since he is cool.) For fun, here’s Rodimus Prime and Hot Rod together.
Up next we have from Star Wars: A New Hope, Red Leader’s X-Wing.
This is another reissue of a classic toy, in this case a repaint of the Kenner/Hasbro X-Wing Fighter from their 3 and 3/4 line. This holds one pilot figure and one Astromech droid. The cockpit opens and closes and the landing gear is retractable. It features a nice assortment of little details, from engine ports, the lower cargo hatch, battle scarring and general wear and tear. The primary color is grey, but there is some black and light blue mixed in to give it a “heavily used” look. Red stickers provide the adornment seen on the flanks of the fuselage and the decoration on the S-Foils(wings).
As for the S-Foils, as seen here, they are able to be opened and closed by way of small tab on the rear of the craft.
The X-Wing comes with one figure, Red Leader, but does not come with an Astromech droid. And as such, I had to use R2-D2 as the droid, even though it’s not Luke piloting.
Pricewise, this TRU exclusive will set you back $30. A bit much, perhaps, but then Star Wars vehicles are always up there in price thanks to the licensing. Even so, the X-Wing is rather large, with a nice wingspan topped off with the lasers on the S-Foils’ ends.
Lastly, we have another classic movie vehicle. This time it’s Ecto-1 from the movie “Ghostbusters”. Although, this version of the venerable vehicle more closely resembles it’s brief appearance in the sequel, before it gives way to Ecto-1A.
Anyway, this 1/21st scale replica is from Joyride Studios(part of Racing Champions/Ertl, the same folks who brought The Car to die-cast several reviews ago). It faithfully reproduces Ecto-1 down to the little warning label on the right rear off the car. The hood opens to reveal the huge Cadillac engine that powers the extra long former ambulance. The front doors open to reveal the detailed dash, while the tailgate opens to reveal the ghostbusting gear in the back(though no proton pack pull out rack, sadly). The top of the car is fully decked out in all the ghost sensing equipment that was found on the real car, with two real wire antennas, rotating sensor dome and rubber hoses. Also included is Slimer molded in clear green plastic.
Price at TRU was apparently $18.99, even though the shelf tag showed it to be $24.99. Though maybe the smaller scale meant a lower price point, even though it’s still about as big as a 1/18th car(and it would have been nice had this been 1/18th, but it would be even bigger and more expensive). Regardless, if you’re a fan of the Ghostbusters or maybe just a fan of vintage Cadillacs, then this is for you.
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| Subject: | Reviews! |
| Time: | 9:01 pm. |
| Mood: |  complacent. | | Music: | Ennio Morricone: "L'Arena". |
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Finally, the tracking down of Wave 2 of Valor vs Venom has paid off. Now the reviewing shall begin in no particular order.
First, we have Beachhead vs Cobra B.A.T. V4:
This is the second version of Beachhead in the new(since 2001) G.I. Joe toyline. The first one, coming out a year and change ago, had some pluses, but mostly was a tad out of proportion and had bow legs. This version, looking closer to how he appears in Spy Troops: The Movie, does a bit better on the proportions, but still has some issues, namely the broad shoulders and small head. He’s still primarily wearing green, with a green ribbed sweater and balaclava(just like the original) and olive green trousers and under shirt. He sports silver chest plating and black straps crossing over this.
His outfit is quite nicely detailed, if lacking weapons, molded or otherwise. His undershirt blouses out around the tops of his black gloves and the same is done with his trousers and his boots, which have superb detailing on them. He comes with a Joe wrist communicator, an M4 Carbine and a silver knife with an eagle on the hilt.
The Cobra B.A.T. V4 is as the name states, the fourth Version of the venerable B.A.T. that Cobra has brought out(not counting the two Version 3s). This is also the most whacked out looking B.A.T., with it’s most android like appearance. It’s face leaves no doubt that it’s a machine, with an almost wedge shape to it. Twin antennas sprout out of the back of the head, and coupled with it’s “mouth” makes the V4 look like Ultron from Marvel Comics. His primary colors are black, silver and purple. The purple, which is found on his arms and his bike shorts, yes bike shorts, is a complaint of people, who also wonder why it’s wearing bike shorts.
Odd uniform choice aside, the V4 comes with not one, but two interchangeable arms. It is equipped with two hands(right and left, natch), two gun arms(slight differences in each), and the large blade weapon from the previous V3 B.A.T. Unfortunately, there is nothing provided for the V4 to use to carry it’s spare arms.
Detail-wise, it has an impressive array of servos, pistons and other android parts molded into it’s body. The lower legs, which are bare metal, have a very unique shape to them, almost curved backwards, leaving no doubt it’s an android.
Next up we have Alpine vs Swamp Rat.
Alpine, who now has his second ever figure, is a major departure from his first figure from 1985. Too much in my opinion, but there’s not much to be done about that, save customizing. His proportions are mostly good, with only a slightly smaller head. Coloring is probably one of his weaker areas, with a mustard color shirt(which looked bright yellow in the prototype pictures), a light maroonish color shorts and boots, with grey straps and knee pads. Yes, like the V4 B.A.T. Alpine is wearing shorts, coupled with his plain shirt and ball cap, he doesn’t look at all like a combat soldier. His face sculpt features a full beard(unlike the mustache only original). He also lacks goggles like his original.
Accessory-wise, Alpine does shine, however. He comes with a removable molded rope that he wears around his chest, a grappling hook with real rope, a pistol, the Joe wrist communicator and a machine gun with plastic strap. All in all, he’s not a bad figure, just not a good one. With some customizing, I’ve made him look years better. Custom Alpine on right.
Swamp Rat is another of the new Venom Troops Cobra has rolled out. He’s a rather interesting figure. Save for a slightly small head, he has great proportions. His colors are primarily tan and grey, which sound boring, but work for this figure. His outfit is body armor, with nice little mold details here and there to bring out the figures look. His head is hairless, with small beady looking eyes, a mask covering the lower portion of his face and an extremely pale complexion. He has two knife sheaths on either leg, which hold his small knives.
Accessories are not as plentiful as Alpine, but he comes with two costume pieces; a helmet that can be worn covering his face(save the mask part) totally or back, leaving his eyes exposed. and a cloak, that has a “rat tail” that can be attached to the back. He comes with the aforementioned knives and the standard Cobra G36 rifle.
Up next, we have Kamakura vs. Destro.
Kamakura is the second version of the Devil’s Due comic book character, this time in a new uniform. This Kamakura also has the distinction of being one of the worst figures in the G.I. Joe 3 3/4 history dating back to 1982. His primary colors is green, with a yellow mask(bright yellow), yellow forearm pads and black belts and boots.
There is almost nothing redeeming about this figure. He lacks pretty much any standard G.I. Joe articulation, thanks to the Action Attack feature. His right arm only has an elbow joint and a swivel shoulder joint and his left arm has the ball joint shoulder and the same elbow joint as the right(only tighter because it’s not the Action Attack arm). He has a swivel neck joint and swivel leg joints. He lacks the swivel elbow joint, the ball jointed neck, and worst of all: no knee joints.
His Action Attack feature is this: Squeeze his legs together and his right arm will flip back, grip the metal handled sword with the magnets in the right palm, pull it from the scabbard and bring it forward. Since my figure’s feature broke when I tried to move the legs, I don’t know if it would work as advertised or not. But that’s immaterial, since I never planned on using this figure anyway. He comes with the aforementioned sword and scabbard, plus the Joe communicator and a Skorpion sub machine gun.
The only hope is that Hasbro, as they have claimed, will re-release this figure minus all the Action Attack and with a standard O-Ring later on, maybe making this figure not bad, since the mold is not really that shabby.
Destro is the third version of the character released since the Joe line was reborn a few years ago. After the nearly perfect Wave 7 version(whose only complaint was his somewhat relaxed look with the sweater and pants), this version features a return to the more battlefield leader look. He is primarily dark grey and black. His uniform jacket looks like a field commanders uniform, with a dark maroon sash and a big black belt across his midsection. His trousers feature a few molded pockets and he features ankle high boots. Like the previous wave Destro, he has a chrome head(since it’s the same head afterall). He comes with the same shotgun as the previous one and two “flare” guns. The proportions on this Destro are a little off, with a long neck, large chest and shoulders, and small feet.
Next we have Hard Drive vs. Baroness.
Hard Drive is a new character to the Joe team, taking the place of Mainframe as the computer expert. His primary colors are black and a light green. The light green is found on his trousers and his cap, so it’s not too military looking. He features a mustard coloring on his boots and straps.
The sculpt is fairly nice, though the molded eyepiece and mic boom are annoying. His left arm features a silver computer with a flip up screen, which is very nice.
Accessory-wise, he comes with the Joe communicator, a pistol, and a backpack with antenna on it. He could also use the G36, but the Baroness may “get” that one.
One other gripe beyond the colors is the softness of the plastic, which has a real rubbery feel to it.
The Baroness is here with her second figure since the relaunch. This all new sculpt has more realistic proportions than her anime inspired first GvsC figure. Her hair is longer and flows better than before. Her uniform is now a powder blue color, which is supposed to be an homage to her first comic book and cartoon look(before the very first figure came out with the black leather).
She comes with a submachine gun, possibly the G36(if you want to give it to her) and a knife.
The major gripe is the Cobra logo on her chest, which seems to suffer from an excess of paint applications, almost looking like it’s been globbed on it.
Lastly, we have the troop builders of the wave: The Razor Trooper and Neurotoxin.
The Razor Trooper is almost a straight repaint of the previous wave’s Razorclaw figure. The prevailing color is red on this figure, which replaces most of the previous versions black with an almost crimson red. The only thing new about the figure is the head, which eschews the open face look of the previous figure for a more generic visored helmet. He comes with the same M16 w/ M203 grenade launcher and pistol.
Neurotoxin, also a repaint of a figure from the previous wave, is the leader of the Sand Scorpions. Unlike the Razor Trooper, the figure is just a straight repaint, with tan replacing the pink on the “scales”, brown replacing the black on the chest and black replacing the red on the Cobra logos and arms. He comes with the same gear as his “troop” figures do, the mechanical scorpion that doubles as a backpack and the two scorpion claw arm weapons.
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A few late night reviews, or is it early morning. At any rate, we begin.
First up, from the 1989 movie Batman starring Michael Keaton as the Caped Crusader; the Batmobile.
This 1/18th die-cast replica was produced by Hot Wheels, and released in 2004 as part of Mattel’s licensing agreement with DC Comics and their Batman line.
The detail is quite spectacular, from the turbines on the jet intake, to the “bat” symbols on all four wheels. The car is spot on accurate to the movie version, lacking only Batman himself to drive it.
It features steerable front wheels, opening canopy, revealing a highly detailed driver’s compartment, flip up machine guns, and a pop out jet engine.
The car is just what any Batman fan could hope for, and it’s priced around $20. Hopefully Mattel will make other 1/18th Batmobiles, namely the TV series version.
Next up we have: Colonel Danny McKnight.
Normally I don’t review my military figures I pick up here, but I figured what they hey. This figure is representative of the real Col. McKnight, who lead the 3rd Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment in Somalia back in ‘93. He’s brought to us from Dragon Models, a leader in the 1/6th(12") figure market.
The figure is from a specific time during the operation, namely the events depicted in the novel and later movie “Black Hawk Down”. He features a full load out, just as the real McKnight would have. Dragon went all out with the detail, featuring all cloth or nylon pouches and straps. From the ammo pouches to the holster for his Beretta M9, they’re just as they are in real life, only in 1/6th size. They also feature “Battle Wear”, to make them appear as if they’ve had heavy use. This extends to his other gear, from his vest, to his M16A2.
The real kicker is: The bloody uniform. Yes, his uniform has blood stains on it(simulated of course). He has numerous blood splotches on the arms and legs, with some on the collar of course, where his injury is. This is covered with a gauze pad and surgical tape. The blood extends to his undershirt where the wound is located, showing attention to detail.
However; unless he took his vest and web gear off, those too should have some blood on them, but they only have dirt and dust from use, no blood spots. A minor thing, to be sure.
Some gripes are to be found, though, namely in Dragon’s helmets. They fixed the cover problems they once had, but the helmets are still too soft and the lining too small. Thus it’s best to sometimes replace them with the better Soldiers of the World helmets, which are hard plastic.
At around $49.99, he’s a tad pricey for a “basic” soldier, but considering the detail and the fact that he’s a real person memorializing a real event, he’s worth it. Granted to those who collect these figures, that is.
Lastly, we have Van Helsing from the new movie Van Helsing, starring Hugh Jackman(of X-Men fame).
This 1/6th figure is produced by Jakks Pacific, a brand best associated with wrestling figures. Since they are in the business of making figures of real people, they’ve mastered getting likenesses correct.
With the 12 inch line, they’ve only done a few of the characters from the movie, which is understandable.
As stated above, the likeness is uncanny to Hugh Jackman(even though he sort of looks like Snake Plisskin minus the eye patch). His outfit is very nice, consisting of a leather-like overcoat, a leather like vest, a grey turtleneck shirt, trousers and knee high boots. He’s equipped with two spinning blade weapons, one for either hand.
Articulation is not what most companies are doing with their 1/6th line, but it’s not too bad. The only major gripe is the legs, which use the “Barbie” legs, which are the internal joint and the rubber legs. This doesn’t allow for much movement in them, but there isn’t much to be done.
The only other gripe is that he doesn’t come with the hat and other weapons Van Helsing uses in the movie. Maybe later versions will feature other weapons. Or not. Either way, at $20, he’s not a bad deal for a great detailed figure.
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Saturday, March 20th, 2004
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The battle of the Rodimuses has commenced. We’ll look at two different universe’s takes on Rodimus(Prime).
Up first, we have Rodimus Prime, from Transformers: Generation One. Rodimus Prime debuted in Transformers: The Movie, when, as Hot Rod, he claimed the Autobot Matrix of Leadership and became the new Autobot leader.
The toy version of Rodimus Prime came out stateside in 1986 and has been recently re-released in 2004 as part of the Generation One Commemorative Series.
These come in a nice, attractive box, with character art on the cover, which opens to reveal the toy in vehicle mode. It is designed to be opened and resealed with ease and the toy rests in a removable plastic shell.
The only problem is that not all the stickers are applied and a decision has to be made regarding keeping it mint in box, or simply applying the stickers. I chose the latter, since I have no intention of selling anyway.
Like most G1 toys, Rodimus Prime does not have much in the way of articulation. In robot mode, only his arms feature articulation. They are mounted on a swivel and can move in a 180 degree arc, assuming the rear wing is not attached. His legs, though jointed at the knees, feature no articulation.
His colors are simple, with a rust red body and orange highlights. This matches how he appears in the animation. The flames on his chest are on a sticker, with all other detail being supplied by stickers. He can hold his large Photon Eliminator gun in either hand.
His trailer/back part can open up to reveal a small base/gun station. Rodimus can then be placed behind the pop up twin barreled cannon. The cannon can pivot up and down as well as side-to-side. Two blast panels fit on either side of the cannon’s stand. There is molded detail on the inside of the trailers open walls, with texture on the floor of the platform.
Transformation is simple, as expected. The cannon folds up and the side walls close up, forming the back section. On Rodimus, the rear wing comes off, the feet fold up, the head folds down, then the chest folds up and slides back, under the windshield. The arms can then be folded into the body and the rear wing can be placed on the top of the windscreen. The truck is then slipped into the underside of the trailer and the tab on the back of the truck locks into the trailer, holding them together.
In vehicle mode, he looks closer to his animation counterpart. He is supposed to be a sort of futuristic, souped-up recreational vehicle. He has six wheels, with real rubber tires.
All in all, he is much bigger than I expected, never having owned him before. Not much was expected on the articulation side of things, having much experience with the old Generation One toys in my youth. He is expensive, sold through Toys “R” Us only, coming in at $34.99. Clearly intended for the collectors this time out, rather than kids like before.
On the other end of the spectrum, we have the brand new Rodimus from Transformers: Energon.
This version of Rodimus has ditched the Prime, since he isn’t the leader, and he’s ditched the RV look. He’s now a souped-up semi.
In robot mode, he features a nice amount of articulation, with many, many joints. He doesn’t stand too tall, but he looks powerful nevertheless. He comes with a clear orange gun that can fire a “fire” missile. His colors are primarily rust red with gold flame. He has nice paint detail, such as headlights, grills and the windshields.
As with most Energon Autobots, he can Powerlink with other Autobots to form a new, bigger robot.
Transformation has a nice degree of complexity, yet is quite easy in the end. The head flips back and the shoulder bits fold up around this to form the rear of the truck. The hands spin around on the arms to form the jet engines on his rear. They connect together and the rear wing is formed this way, and then connect to the lower part of the rear with the wheels. A small panel on the waist flips up and then the legs can be folded into position. The knee guards slip into position when the feet are flipped around and the legs are pushed into the rest of the body, forming the front end of the truck and the cab. The knees form the grill and the toe parts form the spoiler. Two panels fold back on the sides to cover up the exposed parts of the legs.
In vehicle mode he is a very hot rod looking semi truck. He features six wheels and a peg for the missile launcher on the rear wing.
Like most of the Energon figures, he is very nice in presentation. And like most, he is clearly influenced from G1 Rodimus Prime. For comparison, here are both of them, in vehicle mode and in robot mode.
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Tuesday, March 16th, 2004
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This would constitute a request review. I would guess this as tia has...”asked” me to post this review of this particular figure I picked up over the weekend.
The figure in question is Willow Rosenberg as she appeared in the Buffy The Vampire Slayer episode “Dopplegangland”. In this episode, Willow had to appear as her vampire self that had arrived from an alternate dimension. Willow: “It's horrible. That's me as a vampire? I'm so evil, and skanky... and I think I'm kinda gay”
The figure is one of the new Willow Collection figures from Moore Action Collectibles. She stands around 5" tall and comes with a wood pattern base, a whip, manacle and chains, and a box of matches.
Detail-wise, she appears as she did in that episode, with the facial likeness to Alyson Hannigan is spot on. Paint application is quite nice, with great detailing on the eyes and the black nail polish. Her outfit has equally nice details from the ribbing in her corset, to the button hoops on it, to the ruffle material in her top. The arms are two tone red and black and flare out around the hands. Her pants have nice crease and fold detailing making them look very real.
Articulation is sparse, though she has a swivel joint head, shoulders, wrists and hips with joints in her elbows and knees.
The figure is a little pricy thanks to the limited supply of them and the exclusiveness of them. This particular figure was a Previews exclusive that apparently is being released in Suncoast Movie stores(which is where I picked mine up). The figures sold for $14.95.
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In recent weeks I’ve been purchasing a lot of Transformer Energon stuff. Which is odd, since I had originally sworn off buying any of it, electing then to stick only with the Alternator line. A chance purchase of one of the smaller Energon TFs, and I was hooked.
I’m going to review two of the bigger ticket items from the line.
First we have the leader of the Decepticons, Megatron, in his newest guise. Megatron is now a sort of jet/shuttle combo this time out, and he looks as cool as ever.
In Robot mode, he has a nice array of articulation, with shoulders, elbows, hips and knees. There could be a little improvement in the joints by adding swivel joints to the mix and may a ball-jointed head, since he looks stiff standing in most poses. Looking at him, one would think he’s back heavy, but he stands easily and with no backwards leaning, thanks to his large feet.
His legs, which form the engines of the jet mode, are somewhat stumpy and round looking, but remind me a lot of Generation 1's Galvatron and his legs. Indeed, this version of Megatron looks more like Galvatron thanks to the head with it’s “Galvatron crown” and his abdomen with it’s paneling.
His shoulder cannons can pivot forwards and back to give him nice firepower front and back. His arm cannon, which is a tank that can attach to the forearm, has nice detail on it. His sword blade can be attached to the rear of it and the tank can be attached in a way to allow Megatron to use it as a sword. The detail on the tank, which is based off of Armada Megatron, is very nice, with battle damage showing internal circuitry and other internal detailing. It rolls on four wheels mounted on the inside of the molded treads. The barrel of the tank holds one missile that can be fired by pressing the lever at the back of it. The tank also features a flip up clear green aiming scope. The tank weapon uses batteries to power up it’s light and sound action, but I haven’t put any in it yet, so I can’t say what the effects are.
Transformation to vehicle mode is easy, plain and simple. There is little complexity to it. Flipping the head forward opens the area to push the arms up into. The sword blade can be stored in the nose and is held in place by a tab. The nose of the aircraft mode then can be flipped up and locked into position. The wing unit is spun around 180 degrees and the two legs are folded up along the side of the body. This pushed the hands into the arms as they are mounted on springs. Pulling the rear landing gear assembly backwards retracts the feet into the front of the engine unit and also pushes the knees over the end to form the thrust units. The wings are then folded down and connect to the top of the engine nacelles. The tank can be placed on the back in between the wings.
In aircraft mode, Megatron is a large jet. He features pivoting front cannons, wing cannons and retractable landing gear. Lifting the top part of the end of the wing extends the lower part of the wing with it’s weapon and flips out two more weapons that were hidden under the upper part. This is one of the neat parts of the jet mode, though it gives Megatron sort of X-Wing-like S-foils for his wings. He is solid in jet mode, with little to no instability.
For $40 he’s a bit pricy, but he is worth the price of admission. It will be interesting to see if they do like they did with Armada Megatron and repaint him in Galvatron colors, since he really does look like G1 Galvatron.
Next up we have the Triple Changer, Scorponok, another Decepticon. Named after the original Scorponok that appeared in the late ‘80s, this Energon Scorponok keeps the scorpion theme(naturally) and similar coloring.
In vehicle mode, he resembles a rather bizarre looking construction vehicle crossed with a scorpion. He has two big pincer claws up front, with hidden missile launchers and a upswept tail with a hook and two swing out weapons. He rides on molded treads, with the smaller real wheels inside the treads.
He is loaded with detail, from the moveable front “fangs” on the grill, to the rear grippers found on the back of each tread. He could easily classify for one of the busiest looking Transformers ever, with the shear amount of detail found on him. His tread parts are a little loose, being easily moved from side to side since they have nothing to lock into on the body.
Transformation to his robot mode is not very complex, with it flowing very logically.
In robot mode he seems a bit short, but that’s do to the massive arms he sports. The don’t have a traditional hand assembly, instead it’s formed from the claws in vehicle mode. I’d have settled for real hands, but it doesn’t matter too much. His tail can be positioned over his head with the weapons extended to provide more offensive firepower and the missile launchers can be exposed in the arm units. His head features a clear yellow visor that can be flipped down over his face or placed on his forehead as desired.
Transformation to the third mode, the aircraft mode, is also relatively easy.
In this mode, he’s not as stable as one would like, with the nose(formed from the tail) being easily moved up or down and the engines(formed from the feet and bottom of the legs) being easily moved all around(as they’re mounted on ball joints). The arms don’t really latch onto anything either, but the ratcheting shoulder joints hold them in position nicely.
For $25 Scorponok is worth every penny. He’s got the detail and he’s got the three different modes. Plus he just looks mean sitting there in robot mode.
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Thursday, February 12th, 2004
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Ever since I first saw the prototype a little under a year ago, I had wanted what appeared to be the best, most accurate Generation 1 Optimus Prime ever constructed. Then the painted shots appeared, making me want him even more, even knowing he probably wouldn’t come with his iconic trailer.
I could have ordered the Masterpiece Convoy, the import version of the 20th Anniversary Optimus, but never getting around to it among other things kept me from it. So I waited for the domestic release, which slowly appeared in Wal*Marts.
Yesterday, when I was going through our toy section, after having been called into work for a mid(later closing)shift, I saw him sitting on the shelf. So, when I went on my first 15 minute break, I picked one of the shelf and purchased it.
A very long shift later, I finally got home and got a good look at the 20th Anniversary Optimus Prime. He’s big, he’s heavy and he’s expensive.
Robot Mode:
In robot mode, Prime is as he appears in the animation. Unlike the original Prime toy, the back is not open, nor do the front wheels stick where they aren’t supposed to(according to the animation). To be sure, this is not 100% accurate to the animation, as the design has been, updated a bit, to show off the large size; he stands over 10" tall. The upper part of the cab and the lower legs are made of diecast metal, which is where the weight comes from.
He comes with his Ion Blaster (though, it’s grey here, not black as it should be), an energy axe that can be placed on the arm in place of the hand,Megtron in gun mode(with removable parts), and a detailed Autobot Matrix of Leadership. Both forearms have a small flip up screen with computer pad underneath it. On his right arm, Starscream is pictured, and on his left arm, you see Bumblebee. His chest opens up to reveal the Matrix stored inside, which will light up when you press a button on Prime’s shoulder. He features tons of articulation, so posing him in any pose you wish is fairly easy. The joints are ratcheting, so his weight doesn’t hamper holding a pose by himself. Each finger is jointed, but only at the junction of the hand.
On almost all joints, you can see the hydraulics that function, which is cool and adds to his detail. An example of this is found in his ankle area. Even the hands receive this attention, with small pistons under each hand that are seen when the hand is moved.
One of the neatest features is the head. By pressing a button on the back of it, you can move his faceplate mask up and down, to mimic how Optimus is shown talking in the cartoon. Another nice detail is the eyes, which are a blue chrome, giving them a glowing look to them.
Transformation:
Transformation is actually a fairly easy job to perform. Once you do it once, it’s instinctive. At least I found it to be. The hardest part I’ve found is flipping the torso section back, perpendicular to the legs, it’s very stiff, so you have to be hard, yet careful when doing it.
Vehicle Mode:
In truck mode, the changes done to his design are really shown, with the “updates” done to his headlights, windshield visor, wheel trim and trailer hitch area. He has real rubber tires on all his wheels, and those wheels feature full suspension. There are some problems in vehicle mode, as the headlight section doesn’t hold too well against the front of the arms. There are gaps to be seen, but other than that, he looks very nice. He would look better with a trailer, but that something that can be dealt with later.
Gripes/Other Notes:
As noted, his rifle is grey and not black, but that’s minor in my book. One of the major differences in the domestic version versus the import is the shorter exhaust stacks and the “battle damage”. The latter of which is basically a black paint wash on parts of his body, to show wear. I was leery of hearing about this, but it turned out to add a little character to Prime. The shorter stacks are a bit off-looking, but again, I don’t mind that much. Another thing is his scale, in truck mode, as shown here, he is in scale with the new Alternator line(which is 1/24th scale). However, in Robot Mode, you can see Prime towers over those same Autobots. Of course, he was always supposed to be bigger, since he is the leader, after all.
Price-wise, Target sold him for $70, pricey yes, but if you like Transformers and Optimus Prime, then the 20th Anniversary Edition is for you. Wal*Mart is said to have him for $63 and change, so if you are going to get him and don’t work for Target, that would probably be your best choice. Assuming you can find him, since in this area, there hasn’t been any seen that I know of. I very much am glad I got him, as he was worth the price and the wait. Now if only they would make a trailer for him that was equally as detailed. I’ve seen people use a 1/24th trailer from a die-cast replica truck and have heard that supposedly a company is making one, but I don’t know much beyond that.
And yes, did you think my music of choice would be something not Transformers related?
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Friday, February 6th, 2004
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My Toys “R” Us finally got in some of their exclusive G.I. Joe merchandise in stock. What they got in was the new Cobra A.P.C. Transport.
This is another of the TRU exclusive repaints of classic G.I. Joe vehicles and figures. Originally released in 1993 in the guise of the G.I. Joe Monster Blaster A.P.C. for the Mega Marine line, it featured an olive green body and neon yellow/green parts. Now, 11 years later, it’s mold has been utilized with a much darker color scheme for service in Cobra to transport the B.A.T.s. Indeed, this is what A.P.C. is all about: Android Personnel Transport.
To that end, it comes with three Version 3.2 B.A.T.s(Battle Android Troopers) from the G.I. Joe Vs Cobra line, complete with all accessories.
It can hold up to 22 figures and is bristling with weapons. The driver sits in an enclosed cockpit with opening armored canopy. The gun station next to the driver can be protected by the gun that can swing down over the opening.
Under the opening missile launcher, there is room for 6 figures, as shown here. More figures can ride the siderail on the exterior of the A.P.C. Two more figures sit on either side of the launcher, in their own gun stations that feature pivoting and turning guns. The rear bumper features even more room for figures to ride.
The missile launcher, which can be raised or lowered, has a rather neat loading mechanism. Much like the breach on a bolt action rifle, one loads a missile into the launcher through an opening hatch, then with a lever moved forward is the launcher primed to be fired. It carries a total of four missiles, which are stored on the launcher body. This body also serves to protect the figures riding on the inside.
With the A.P.C. Transport, Cobra finally receives a vehicle that matches what the Joes have been getting in the repaints. And with the new sizing of the current batch of figures, they’ll all fit nicely with this machine. For $20, you get one nice transport vehicle and 3 full B.A.T. V3.2, definitely worth the money.
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Tuesday, February 3rd, 2004
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A late, brief(or so I think anyway) review.
A few days ago, I picked up the second release in the Transformers: Alternators line, Side Swipe. His car mode is that of the new Dodge Viper SRT10. Like Smokescreen before him, Side Swipe’s car mode is that of a totally licensed vehicle and is, for the most part, accurate in depicting the Dodge Viper in 1/24th scale. Only a few minor quips, such as the rear wheels sticking out and ill fitting doors when closed keep this from being perfect. A nice touch is his license plate, being “SIDE SWP”.
Like Smokescreen, Side Swipe features an opening hood with engine, steerable front wheels, and opening doors. He just lacks the opening trunk thanks to the transformation sequence.
Transforming him is a bit easier that transforming Smokescreen, but still takes a bit to get used to at first. In robot mode, he has fully articulated arms, head and legs, though the hood of the car hangs down in the back, hampering leg movement a bit.
The only other major gripe is the red plastic isn’t “red” enough and when in car mode, Side Swipe isn’t the most stable feeling cars. But, other than those gripes, Side Swipe is worth the $20 paid for him.
For fun, here he is with Smokescreen: Two Autobot heroes.
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Wednesday, January 7th, 2004
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A couple of reviews for your reading displeasure. [That’s pleasure] Pleasure? I guess whatever floats your boat...
First up we have the Piranha Attack Boat...hey, it’s a boat, and lo and behold, it floats! The Piranha Attack Boat:
This is one of the new vehicles released under the Valor Vs Venom banner and boy is it slick. It looks functional in it’s design. Not to far fetched looking, like other newer Joe and Cobra vehicles. It can hold 4 figures, with 3 manning the forward machine gun platforms and 1 driving the boat.
The machine gun platforms are rotated by twisting a knob on the top of the operator control station. This is the Action Attack feature for this vehicle and the knob is fashioned to resemble a large radar dome, so it’s completely fitting in with the design of the boat. It rests on a roll cage surrounding the operator. Twin antennas are mounted to either side of the cage and these can be folded down as needed.
The operator station features a pedestal with wheel and some controls painted grey to show up better on the black of the pedestal. The gun stations feature a large machine gun mounted on a pivoting monopod, which in turn is mounted to a turntable-like platform which is grey in color. The guns can turn side to side on their own and pivot up and down, in addition to the platform being turned.
Up front, there are two launchers mounted on either side of the bow. The stern features a large outboard motor that will propel the boat in water. It is a little oversized, but that’s because the batteries it takes need room to fit. A moveable rudder covers the propeller housing for steering.
The boat is painted in black with white vertical striping along the hull. It comes with a new version of Shipwreck, who has ditched his sweater and pants combo for a cool looking BDU set. He comes with a matching boonie hat and a back pack. One major gripe with the figure is hair color, since Shipwreck has dark brown/black hair, not red. Some have taken to calling the new figure Cutter, but I’ve decided he’s Deep Six.
Next we have the new Cobra airplane, the Cobra Night Adder:
First look at this plane, one wonders how it can fly, since it looks more like a Star Wars fighter craft. Taking it’s odd design with a bit of suspension of disbelief and you have a nice new fighter plane for Cobra. It’s nose section resembles a snake, with molded eyes and scales.
It’s long and narrow fuselage widens at the wings, which are at the rear, so it looks rather truncated. The cockpit holds one figure and has twin controls for flying. The second cockpit also holds one figure and features a twin barreled machine gun. This is actually reminiscent of the Cobra Rattler and it’s tandem cockpit design.
The engines are mounted on the wings and feature the snake motif on them as well. The wings can be extended out further or pushed in to the fuselage as needed.
Weapons feature four “pom-pom” guns on either side of the cockpit. These light up when the Action Attack feature is activated. The tips of the guns can be removed and used as missiles for the nose launcher, which can fold down looking almost like a mouth.
The Action Attack feature is activated via a fold down pistol grip on the bottom of the plane. The trigger, when pressed, causes the 4 “pom-pom” guns to go in and out and light up, the rear turret to rotate to one side and a “laser gun” sound effect to go off. Also, pressing a button on the back of the right engine causes what is supposed to be a jet sound, though it more sounds like a ship decloaking from Star Trek.
The biggest plus the Night Adder has is who comes with it: A new Wild Weasel figure. Since the toyline was brought back, we’ve had 2 previous Wild Weasels. The first was nothing more than a Neo-Viper in red with a new helmet(which was nice looking, but way too small for the figure’s body). The second was another repaint, this one coming with the BTR set, had the first GI Joe Vs Cobra Destro’s body with the pilot version of the Cobra CLAWS head. It was better than the first, but still not Wild Weasel. Finally we have a completely new Wild Weasel. Now dressed all in black, his uniform is accentuated with red straps and pouches. His helmet, clearly emulating the classic Wild Weasel is red, with a black visor. Aside for a minor proportion issue, he is definitely a great figure.
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Friday, December 19th, 2003
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More reviews, since I can’t wait. Wait for what you may ask? Why, the rest of this Wave...plus the extra Wal*Mart exclusives that I’ve yet to see and the two remaining figures from Wave 8 or 9 or whatever it wound up being. So much stability in the numbering system up until Wave 7 and then it went all sideways, with 7.5, 7.75, 8, 8.5, et al. Anyway, I’ll review those once I actually get them.
For the time being, I present Valor Versus Venom Wave 1(or Wave 9 if you want).
First up, we have Alley Viper II and Cobra Viper:
This Troop Builder two pack is crammed pack with Cobra evilness, as two classic Cobra troops get a new mold treatment. The new Alley Viper II, once you get over some of the problems and missing parts(as in not part of the actual design not just missing from my package), the figure isn’t that bad. If you go further and imagine the figure as female, it gets even better. Yes, female. For whatever reason, the Alley Viper II mold has more female attributes than male: Long thin legs like almost all other new GI Joe female molds, small feet, thin arms with small hands, and even a hint of a breast under the chest sheath. Only the head is “male” looking and that could be due to the helmet the figure wears. So, at least in my universe, the Alley Viper II’s are the female Alley Vipers, while the re-released AV s are the male counterparts. *shrugs*Okay, a bit of a stretch, but it seems a waste to discard an otherwise good figure, and besides, maybe Cobra is now equal opportunity for world domination. Okay, specifics: The new AVII is colored a dark blue, with yellow and grey highlights. Like the classic, the figure has a sheath on it’s chest for a knife, only this time the knife is removable. The paint application and choice of color is excellent, in my opinion. As for the gripes, well, you have the aforementioned missing gear, namely the face mask and shield that made the original AV what it was. Plus confusion on which of the weapons that come in the pack go to the AV II. Thankfully, having extra G36s eliminate that problem.
Now we have the Cobra Viper. Like the Alley Viper II, the new Viper has a completely new mold. There are touches here and there of the classic Viper, like the goggles on the helmet, some of the ribbed padding, the grenades on the chest and the boots. Other than that, it’s a brand new Viper. The biggest complaint is the fact that the colors chosen don’t emulate the old Viper. The new one features a dark red uniform with purple padding and gloves. In all honesty, while I would have loved to see the purple blue instead, the colors work. Besides, we’re bound to get endless repaints of this figure, so you can bet we’ll see a “classic color” Viper in the future. The colors aside, the figure is quite nice, with only a slightly too small head marring an otherwise perfect mold. Getting the old Viper rifle back would be icing on the cake for this figure, but the G36(which seems to be the new Cobra rifle of choice) is an adequate firearm for this basic of basic Cobra Trooper.
Up next on our tour is Duke vs Cobra Commander. Okay, the Duke figure has nice boots...and that’s about all you can say about this figure. Oh, the basic design is okay, if a bit plain...it’s what Hasbro did that makes this figure rather poor. Like the vehicles, the figure has “Action Attack!”, which means, pressing a rather large button on Duke’s backside, pivots the torso and swings his arms(which can carry nunchucks for him to use). This means there is no O-Ring and a rather large button on his backside. Basically it ruins what would be an okay Duke figure, though, he wouldn’t be as good as the previous version of Duke(in original or Night Force colors). However; he does have nice boots.
This Cobra Commander is a straight repaint of the previous wave’s CC, so at least the figure is good. The only difference is that his uniform is now black, with his gloves, belt and holster being a light grey(too light in my opinion). Really, outside of having a black uniformed CC, the only other noteworthy thing is his wicked looking new staff. It is crooked, with a nasty looking claw at one end, and a large lantern looking thing up top with a spike on it. The lantern is painted green to suggest that it perhaps glows with some sort of energy. It’s very cool looking.
Next we have Heavy Duty vs Razorclaw.
Heavy Duty is another straight repaint from the previous wave, only in more subdued colors and different weapons. Nothing much to say on this figure that wasn’t said in the previous review of him.
Razorclaw is one of the new figures and is one of the new “Venom Troopers” of genetically modified and enhanced soldiers. He’s a unique character, though, and it shows in his filecard. He’s essentially a wild man now, thanks to his improvements. A rather interesting figure, with some plainness to the mold. The red used in his color scheme is a bit brighter than it should be, but it’s not a major problem. His weapons are his main points. Each arm sports a flip out long blade. He certainly is an interesting looking fellow. Only main problem is the blades are a bit loose and don’t stay on his sides well.
Coming in next, we find the “brains” of both teams: Hi-Tech and Dr. Mindbender.
Hi-Tech is another new character, who actually debuted in Spy Troops: The Movie, before his figure appeared. His job on the team is more or less inventor. His mold is quite busy looking, with pockets and pouches all over his uniform. His hair does suffer a bit from an “anime” approach to the design, with it looking less military that it should. His head mold also has the headphone molded to one side, which is one of the main gripes. His equipment make the figure a nice bargain, considering it’s almost like the Gun Station Big Brawler came with, and the fact that there is another figure in the pack. The weapon is a combination missile launcher/machine gun. The launcher does launch it’s missile and has a place for Hi-Tech to stand behind and use it. He’s protected by a movable shield that clicks onto the right side of the unit.
Dr. Mindbender, which is the second new mold the bad Doctor has seen since the relaunch a few years ago, is probably the figure of the wave. Gone is the bare chested, cape wearing, monocled circus wrestler looking Mindbender. In his place is a more scientist looking Mindbender. Clearly based off of Devil’s Due’s Mindbender, he is wearing a white lab coat(in the comics it’s dark purple), grey slacks and black boots. He has small rectangular glasses in place of the monocle. A very cool looking mold and a very cool looking Mindbender. He comes with twin silver Desert Eagles, a fold up lap top computer and two vials that can be stored on the lap top.
The penultimate review is Scarlet vs Sand Scorpion:
Scarlet has a new mold, the second of the new Joe line. Simpler than the previous figure, the new Scarlet has a sleek jumpsuit/catsuit, with a few straps on her legs and the shoulder armor over her right arm. Her gauntlets, like the previous Scarlet figures, have throwing stars molded on them. Her jumpsuit is a light green color, with a grey chest piece and inner arms/legs. Her shins are covered with black armor, just as her arms are covered. Her hair is very nicely done, with excellent sculpting done to bring out the character. She comes with the crossbow she has previously come with, only minus the sound attack tab. She also comes with a small quiver, to hold the crossbow bolts. She can either have this for her backpack, or a sheath for her small sword. Like other Joe figures, she comes with a wrist communicator/small weapon holder guantlet.
Sand Scorpion, like Razorclaw, is another “Venom Trooper”. This one is in fact a nameless trooper and there are supposed to be several of these enhanced soldiers. He has rather interesting colors, with black, dark red and brown. Some have worried that this figure would have a scorpion claw for a left hand, but it’s just something that fits over the standard hand. He has a gun unit that fits on his right hand. He comes with a big robotic scorpion who’s tail can swing forward to strike, like a real scorpion. Folding the legs up allows the Sand Scorpion to wear the robot as a back pack and use the robot’s arm weapons for more firepower. The file card suggests that the “scales” on his body are actually from the enhancements, but they can just as easily be part of his uniform, designed to give him a more exotic look. Depending on how much of the Valor vs Venom story you wish to use.
The final review is fittingly enough, the final bit of Spy Troops. We have the Cobra Polar Blast.
This is Cobra’s answer to the now very old G.I. Joe Polar Battle Bear(renamed the Rockslide in the first wave of Joe Vs Cobra). This two man snowmobile features a front mounted machine gun and a rear mounted missile launcher. The cool thing about the Polar Blast is that the handle bars are connected to the front skis, so they turn with the skis. The front gun is also part of this, so it will pivot in the direction the skis are turned. The rear launcher doesn’t move, but when the missile is fired, the chair it sits on rocks. As with the Desert Coyote, the “Action Attack” sounds are present. When you turn the skis, the machine gun firing sound is heard and when you move the vehicle forward and back, you get the engine sound. As with the DC, Venom Striker and the Tigerhawk, I removed the batteries to keep the sound from being produced as it got annoying.
The Polar Blast comes with a repaint of the Joe Vs Cobra Snow Serpent from early in the run. Aside from being painted white now, the figure is the same. Still, it’s a good looking figure, and he blends in with the Polar Blast. Definitely a cool little vehicle.
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After going to the store today, I found something I’ve been waiting for: Smokescreen, from the brand new Transformers Alternators line. This line, set apart from what has come before, features licensed vehicles that transform into Autobots. In car mode, Smokescreen appears as a Subaru Impreza WRC 2003 rally car. This is an actual rally car, driven by 4 time WRC champion Tommi Makinen and Kaj Lindstrom and carries the 2003 Rallye Monte Carlo decals. For more information on the real Subaru Impreza WRC team, follow this link to WRC.com 555 Subaru World Rally Team.
In car mode, Smokescreen’s hood, all four doors and trunk open, showing various details from like the engine, driver’s compartment and trunk. Here is a shot of the steering wheel and driver’s seat through the open driver’s door. Real rubber tires and steerable front wheels just add to the detail level. Very little of the robot is visible in car mode, which is good.
The transformation sequence is a bit on the tricky side, with the feeling that you may break it if you aren’t careful. Though, the arms and legs do pop off, they go right back on with minimal fuss.
Once transformed, you have Autobot Smokescreen in all his new glory. His engine, once removed, folds out to become his weapon. In robot mode, he is fully articulated, though his legs suffer a bit from the rear window parts. They can prevent his leg from moving properly. Another minor gripe is that his joints are incredibly stiff, requiring more force to move them, and leading again to the feeling you may break Smokescreen. Beyond that, he’s nearly perfect, and for the price($20 at all retail outlets), he’s a steal. A must buy for any Transformer fan.
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shiroamada440's journal
good.
dorky.
enthralled.
okay.
chipper.
accomplished.
sleepy.
amused.
excited.
bouncy.
creative.