It seems only right as news about G.I. Joe: Renegades finally starts to ramp up that I wrap up the reviews for the first onslaught of G.I. Joe: The Pursuit of Cobra toys. Judging by all reports, the next run of PoC items should hit retail around the holiday season, so this may close that door, at least for a couple of months. Hopefully G.I. Joe: Renegades will help fill that void, at least from an animation perspective.
The last two items on my review list have been posted to the Pursuit of Cobra Review Page:
Both items have their pluses and minuses, and I lay them all out for you in the reviews. Enjoy!
Interesting. I was hoping that maybe something on Night Fox’s filecard explained the color choices on the AWE Striker, but no such luck. If they had come up with some A-Team like backstory of how he built this AWE from junk parts of eight other vehicles… maybe it would have made sense. As it is, just bizarre.
So Nightfox gets all that gear… and they can’t throw in a stand why now?
Hahah, love the fact that he comes with 3 of the same pistols, especially those pistols. What a weird choice.
Nightfox saves the toy from the junkpile?
that figure couldnt save leftovers for the next night.
yes, that was a lame analogy…….as lame as this entire set.
I still like the AWE striker, but I really have to pass. I like meyerc13’s potential “why” story in that it would have been nice to know why it’s like it is. AS IS, it really looks like someone filled the hopper with the wrong pellets.
Or if there was something new on this AWE, I would have been all over it… like that machine gun being able to get mounted on the roll bar and a small “plate” battle stand that would snugly sit on top of the engine cover.
That Attack Trak gimmick won’t do for me, as much as I would have liked to have the Ice cutter… it seems like a nice size for a vehicle that would be very environment-oriented (AKA, something that would sit on a shelf for the most part). That’s a long twin gun, too, reminds me of ’88-’90 vehicles mostly…with exception of the action feature.
With the semi-classic feel that the Ice Cutter gives me, I think it really fits in with vehicles like the Quick Strike, or something that would have went up against the ’04 Ice Sabre. In where a vehicle had much nice detail, but there was one or more action gimmicks, like the “pop-up” ice Sabre turret, which all works, but limits a full-range of more intricate small movements. Patriot Grizzly’s super big turret that was limited to a 30* swing via it’s control is another action gimmick which was neat to me, but not as much fun as my Equalizer.
So…Night Fox is a combat diver…good job sending him to the desert, GI Joe.
I like the AWE Striker here, but that figure…what a Franken. He has the worst legs produced in the RoC line (Those calves look stubby) and his gear doesn’t fit on him all at once.
As for the Ice Cutter…your review is spot-on, but I’d take away that half a star for that terrible Snow Serpent. He looks like a cheap knock-off, something you’d find in the back of Dollar General with the name ‘Solders of Fortoon’ plastered across the package. Totally weak.
As always, great pics, and solid reviews. Even where I disagree, I appreciate your work on these.
i have to second what Nas has stated.
regardless of whether or not i like whats being reviewed…..i too, enjoy and appreciate the efforts.
thanks.
Night Fox and AWE Striker: Well, I have to say, I do like NF’s figure way more than the sad, lame excuse for an AWE Striker Hasbro is feeding us again. NF looks pretty cool, for a repainted and reaccessorized mold figure from RoC. The fact that he comes with so much extra gear is cool by itself, but I echo, why not a stand?!
Aside from the cool NF figure and his extra gear, the AWE Striker is not leaving me in AWE of anything except just how absurd the assemblage and coloration is on that thing. Perhaps they let a small blind child from Make-a-wish choose the colors and parts to build this thing, I dunno. More than anything else, it just reeks of a Dreadnok version of yet another Joe vehicle taken down a wrong path, except the Noks might have chosen better colors…or not.
Bottomline, I guess we really have to ask ourselves if getting the figure and the extra gear is worth shelling out $15 bucks for a throw away AWE Striker? I dunno. I wasn’t planning on getting this one anyway, just because of how atrocious the AWE looked, and also considering that most drivers either come with no gear or very little gear at all, and so Night Fox would be left out of my collection, even though I did want him initially, and even moreso now. Now I have to decide whether to buy it to get NF and either toss or customize the AWE somehow to make it somewhat viable as a vehicle for SOMEBODY to drive, or stick with my original decision of no confidence and let it go. Gee, thanks, Justin, lol.
Now onto the SS Officer & Attak Trak, D’oh! I mean, Ice Cutter: Okay, first off, the color scheme for the SSO just doesn’t work for an arctic soldier theme whatsoever. I mean, come on, the goal is to BLEND into the arctic environment in order to better get the edge over your opponents and thereby achieve victory. Red does NONE of this in WHITE snow. As a matter of fact, that paints a target on an OFFICER in the field. Anyone with a brain cell knows that you never even salute a superior officer in the field of combat because the enemy will recognize this and shoot him first in order to more easily and rapidly overtake a platoon, etc., so where was the wisdom in decking these guys out in RED trim and gear?! Sorry, as much as I like Snow Serpents since back in the early days, this will not entice me to buy the Attak Trak… I mean, Ice Cutter…
As for the vehicle itself, I think I have probably hated this thing since day one, on all levels. However, Justin’s review HAS shown me ONE thing that I like about it now, and that would be the guns up top. Still, that will obviously NOT be enough to get me to bother buying one unless it is on MAJOR discount, like $5 or less. Even then, I’m going to have to do some serious work to make it acceptable to me as an arctic vehicle.
@ Justin: The big rear wheel you mention liking? I know it appeals to you for whatever reason, and that’s okay, because it is interesting in a way, but I believe its purpose, based on your photos in the review, is to support the vehicle’s back end when the front tracks “flip” forward. Sort of like how “if frogs had wings, they wouldn’t bump their @$$#$ when they hop” (-Tia Carrera, Wayne’s World), well, that wheel, is its “wings” so to speak.
Beyond that, I just really do not like the obvious parallel to the old Masters of the Universe line from Mattel, being thrown into GI Joe. For me, it just doesn’t work…and obviously, it doesn’t actually work play-wise either, according to the review. The old Attak Trak from He-Man’s time was good for what it was, AND it actually DID what this thing was supposed to but can’t. I think, if Hasbro would have just made the tracks fixed instead of trying to get all cute with an action feature that fails miserably, this one would have been MUCH better all-around and it might have even been worth my time to ponder purchasing one, like I am now having to do with the AWE/NF set, thanks to Justin.
Bottomline, this one is a massive waste of cash in this recession era, on all counts, and even moreso because it is a blatant ripoff of an old MotU toy, the ATTAK TRAK, which was done better (as far as functionality goes). The cool guns won’t save this one for me, but if it’s on serious markdown, I may contemplate getting one and fixing what ails it, so that the tracks are permenently placed without that flip action nonsense.
For the most part, these two toy sets are big flops, IMO, with only Night Fox saving the day. Still not sure I’ll be able to justify getting him for $15 though.
Regardless of whether I like them or would buy them or not, I definitely appreciate the work you put into reviewing these toys, Justin. These detailed reviews really help me decide what I should and shouldn’t buy with what little I have to make purchases on these items, without having to get it and then be disappointed that something sucks. Thanks for all the hard work and effort!