EDIT – Some of my part breakdowns were horrifically inaccurate. They have been adjusted to reflect more accurate source material! I apologize.
Invariably when plans change and retail offerings don’t pan out as expected, some items generally hit the production chain and end up in the after market stream in Asia. It happened a few years ago with the first run of Pursuit of Cobra figures, and it is happening now with G.I. Joe: Retaliation.
Occasionally, these after market samples will be the first time we get a glimpse at some of these figures, as is the case here with viperkingdom. While folks who went to Toy Fair got a brief and fuzzy glimpse of the second wave of G.I. Joe: Retaliation 3-Packs, this is the first real up close and quality series of images, and I gotta say, these look to be right up there with the impressive first run. More new characters, some great parts choices and some interesting character tweaks. Check out the mirrored images below, and I’ll do some parts breakdowns as well.
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G.I. Joe: Retaliation “Tactical Ninja Team”
- Sgt. Airborne (Previously cancelled Data Viper body, cancelled 30th anniversary Law alternate head, Renegades Ripcord helmet and Para-Viper webgear)
- Agent Mouse (looks like a new head and vest, the cancelled 30th Anniversary Lifeline alternate helmet with G.I. Joe Trooper body with some different arms)
- Night Ops Snake Eyes (PoC Snake Eyes body, cancelled Jungle Strike Storm Shadow webgear)
G.I. Joe: Retaliation “Cobra Invasion”
- Firefly (New head, torso, and webgear with 30th Anniversary Lifeline arms and legs)
- Cobra Para Trooper (Shock-Trooper in red with Retaliation Cobra Trooper parachute pack)
- Storm Shadow (mostly a Rise of Cobra Storm Shadow) repaint
I know many folks are likely going to complain about more repaints and rehashes, but holy crap I think these two sets look pretty amazing. Airborne is fantastic and it will be really awesome to get that Data-Viper figure in hand finally. I love the G.I. Joe Trooper, and since Mouse pretty much IS a G.I. Joe Trooper it makes sense for this figure to be built off that. Not really sure about that bright vest, but… Snake Eyes has the perfect base figure, and I am loving the fact that they are finally using that cancelled PoC Storm Shadow webgear! I have to admit, though, the colors of the webgear and the base figure clash big time. The straps are just a bit too bright for the sheer black underneath.
Firefly looks astoundingly cool. A great modern update to the original, with a great use of PoC/30th Anniversary parts. The Para Trooper is probably my least favorite. I really like the Shock Trooper, but that torso looks really plain even with the parachute pack on top. Too much blank area. Storm Shadow is okay, and looks like a more movie-accurate version compared to the Wave 1, but overall, I much prefer the futuristic and sleek look of the first version in Retaliation.
All in all some very cool pieces, especially for being more or less kit bashed together. If these end up being $20 for three figures like Wave 1 is, that is a freaking bargain, especially because these look to have more new characters and new imaginings than Wave 1 did. Good stuff.
Thanks much to Kenny2274 on Twitter for the heads up!
Love the ultimate looking Firefly. Hope he gets a darker grey shade with the camo pattern in the final. Mouse and Airborne are pretty cool looking as well. In fact the whole Joe set looks good.
Most of all love all the articulation in these figures.
Must…..own……that…..Firefly!!
FF is one of my very favorite characters and he’s never realllllllly been done justice in 25th/POC/ME era figures. The original was too much Beachhead….the Hall of Heroes version was way off….the TRU exclusive ROC version was close but no cigar…..and the POC Alien looking thing was a new direction.
This is by far the best attempt at a modern re-do of our beloved classic Firefly. I sincerely hope we can all own this one some day!!!
Firefly and Airborne are total winners, these look great. Are these around on eBay now?
Yup. Each of the names is a link to the eBay auction.
Great Airborne figure, but he’s a “ninja” now too? I like the” Delocated” head though. I couldn’t help it, I wrote a little diddy, :)…
Yo Ninja!
He’ll chop and kick for freedom where ever there’s a sword fight.
GI Ninja is there.
It’s GI Ninja against Cobra the other Ninja’s
Fighting to save the day.
He never gives up.
He’s always there,
Fighting with swords and nunchucks over land and air
GI Ninja- A real American Ninja
GI Ninja is there
GI Ninja is the codename for American’s daring, highly trained
special mission Ninja’s.
It’s purpose, to defend human freedom against Cobra-
a ruthless, Ninja organization determined to rule the world.
He never gives up.
He’ll chop and kick til the fight’s won.
GI Ninja will dare.
GI Ninja- A real American ninja
GI Ninja
Nice!!!
Firefly is really amazing. Torso and head look new tooling, am I right?
I’m fairly certain the torso at least is new, and likewise the webbing.
that Cobra Para-Trooper needs the shocktrooper vest asap, the head doesn’t look right on this body without it.
Firefly is to die for.
Firefly is most definately my favorite in this wave. I hope that he ends up with a darker shade of gray, too. By far this is the best version of him, IMHO.
I do like Mouse but hopefully the final version’s vest will be green. The black and blue don’t go well with the light green uniform. I do like his head sculpt, though. Airborne’s not too bad, either.
Firefly’s head is the same one that comes spare with the Ray Stevenson Firefly single carded figure. Also Airborne’s masked head he has there was the alt head that was to come with Renegades Law and Order.
Aaah, that’s why the head looked so familiar. Nice pickup.
Also, glad to see that’s a “movie” Firefly head. Saves me having to buy Street Luge Firefly.
The Joe set looks interesting for sure. Not liking that Para trooper in the Cobra set and Storm Shadow is more of what we’ve already gotten but holy crap that Firely is awesome. Looks just as good as the Beachhead from the first waves of 3-packs, who is along with the tan accessory Joe trooper by far the best of what has been released so far.
So far the 3-packs, wave 1 and 2, are the highlights of the Retalation releases. Well and that Joe trooper…..just too cool for words.
Thanks for the pics, and here I thought I had to wait eight months to find out what these guys looked like.
Can someone with more knowledge of parachuting and military tech tell me what the heck the Cobra Para-Trooper’s mask is supposed to be.
It’s the same gas-mask that the original Cobra Shock trooper came with; the US MCU 2/P or MCU 2A/P:
http://www.specwargear.com/images/gasmask-MCU2AP-2.jpg
It just looks funny because the optical element has been pushed up under the lip of the figure’s helmet, making it appear that the air filtration assembly is some sort of bizarre set of goggles.
Yup, sign me up for Firefly. I’m a little tired of seemingly everyone coming with those SE legs now (it’s a great mold to be sure, but does everyone, Joe and Cobra alike, shop at the same store?), but the new torso and webgear more than makes up for.
That FireFly has so much win!!!!!
All good stuff! I mean, more or less depending on how you look at it. I think Storm Shadow is the only real disappointment…because why do we need an older mold painted like the new one? Just…give him some homage paint job that isn’t homaging a figure out right NOW. Otherwise, for anyone that I don’t want; they have good parts! Also lots of good canceled items or items I didn’t get, so it fills some holes one way or another. Man, these three packs just keep getting nicer!
these are great. The three packs show that hasbro still tries to make the collectors happy. Kinda wish Airborne had his 25th head instead of the ski mask. but that’s easy to fix.
I wonder how the POC Firefly head and Vest would look on Firefly. guess I’ll have to try that when it comes out.
Just wanted to note that Mouse’s helmet is the cancelled part that was originally supposed to come with Lifeline. Nice to see it used here.
Ah, good call there, Alyosha. That is correct. And Airborne’s head is the cancelled Renegades Law & Order alt head, too.
How much does Hasbro pay you?
Not nearly enough to deal with the likes of you.
aww that wasn’t very nice
What I like about this page is that Justin is positive about GI Joes. If you want negativity, there are tons of places you can find it.
I am not thrilled with what Hasbro has done lately but there is some good stuff in there. It would just be nice if they got rid of all the shortcuts and cheaping out they have been up to these days.
Everything here looks excellent, though I have mixed feelings on the Airborne head sculpt. On one hand, it’s an awesome looking sculpt. It reminds me of some of the pictures of Seal Team 6 from Rogue Warrior. On the other hand, I really kind of hate when Hasbro throws a balaclava-clad head on a re-purposed body and calls it a ‘Joe character – especially a fairly well established one like Airborne. Still, the figure itself is amazing and I’m a big fan of the micro Galil he comes with.
These are awesome. It’s sweet that we finally get to see what Mouse looks like. I’m digging the Airborne the head sculpt has possibilities for a custom. Firefly rocks, Snake-Eyes its cool . Really as stated by others the weakest one seems to be Storm Shadow but I can live with it.
Incredibly awesome, with the very, very small caveat that I hope the weapon / webgear colours get cleaned up a little between now and release.
Storm Shadow I didn’t really need to see YET AGAIN (I mean, c’mon, throw us a bone and throw together another new Zartan at least since he’s just as prominent in the movie), but he’s the only bad element in the bunch. Mouse looks fun, I like the re-use of unavailable webgear, and… let’s face it, Airborne and Firefly are worth it in and of themselves.
If these are $24, they’re going to sell just as well as the first three-packs did. My only concern is that someone at Hasbro will do the math and figure out that they’re basically losing $5 from me every time they put one of these out….
That Firefly is the one we’ve been waiting for. Here’s to hoping they darken him up a bit and increase the camo contrast.
Oh, and one very, very minor nitpick: Airborne’s helmet is from Renegades Ripcord, not the Para-Viper. The webgear is indeed Para-Viper, though.
I really hope these make it to retail. The Firefly and Airborne are awesome updates. Is firefly’s web gear new? I really like how they are including cancelled parts in these sets. Although i would like to see a full data viper and Qwinn.
I’m a little surprised with how well these are being received when they are mostly kit bashes. I guess Hasbro has really lowered our expectations. Haha.
They are okay to me with the exception of Mouse and FF. I think Mouse’s head sculpt looks great and I love his articulation in general. FF is simply a great update to the original and you gotta love that.
Bummer that these won’t be available until next March.
There’s really no reason Cobra Invasion couldn’t have skipped yet another uninspired Storm Shadow and thrown us a bone with Kwinn and his accessories.
That firefly is awesome. Airborne is cool too and it’s cool to get that body in some form. The rest don’t really excite me at all though.
meh
Snake Eyes looks cool in both 3 packs. Firefly is a great update, by the way, i still ´like my Tru Rise of Cobra one.
Mouse has some new head, that´s point, I simply don´t like the Storm Shadow and the Para Trooper.
I only imagine Airborn jumping down from a plane, at most.
But waiting for the next year? well, i can not wait for Night Vipers and Alley Vipers.
Hey Justin, that same seller has the Single Pack green Firefly(no ankles or wrists, and single joint knees) and Flint(but you linked us to that earlier). Just thought I’d mention the pics of Firefly and express the disappointment in articulation.
Wow, nice spot on the wrists. Retaliation articulation sinks to an (amazingly) new low.
I guess the cost of the “light up blast board” is the wrist articulation. God I hope that (a) the line survives the movie mess and (b) they go back to standard articulation afterwards.
Yuck.
That is a huge bummer about green FF. That fig has a great sculpt.
That sucks! I’ll still buy it, if only for the gear and that cool unmasked head.
“Holy just turned gay for a plastic toy soldier batman” that firefly is beautiful. Its gona be miiiiiinnneee!!!!!!!!!
Everybody talks about the knee and ankle articulation missing on a few figures, but few seem to notice that paint apps have gone to crap and it’s a line-wide problem. No camo on Firefly? Come on! That’s first on the checklist!
He has camo. It’s just really light. Much like the first 25th version. I didn’t see it at first either.
Yeah, I noticed after I posted. Hopefully, this being a production sample, the final figure will have more pronounced camo and maybe some darker shades of gray overall.
I remember looking at Justin’s pre-release review of Kamakura and thinking he needed black lower leggings to match his black lower arms and sure enough, the final version had that.
Boring figures.
I cannot buy these uninspired toys after the great POC and 30th Ann.
Now I just have to wait patiently until 2014 to see something cool (inspired, new, fun).
I like what I see.
Sgt. Airborne, Mouse and Snake Eyes will be good figures. Each one has great custom potential, too.
Firefly looks awesome and Storm Shadow’s fans will like his figure as well.
I would have hoped that the Cobra trooper would look like those camouflaged Cobra guys we have seen in the trailers. He’s the thumbs-down in the lineup.
Other than that, I’ll buy multiples of the figures.
Some great looking , and fun, figures. Can’t decide if “airborne” should be ‘DropZone’ or ‘FreeFall’ ? Oh well plenty of time to figure it out.:)
It would have been nice if they had used the 30th Lifeline parachute instead of the Para-Viper gear. The way he looks now, he’s just a collection of gear without a purpose. The Ripcord helmet with the Lifeline parachute and rifle would make a great paratrooper. As is the figure seems to be missing something when I look at the rear view.
I think these all look pretty good… I like the Airborne and Mouse figures. Gotta say that even though the Snake-Eyes is one of the best versions so far, I don’t see how he could really go “Night Ops” with that bright turquoise web gear. But I can paint that I think… The Firefly pretty well rocks as I like that grouping of parts… Especially the legs/arms/head and the gear looks good on him… I would have made the Cobra Paratrooper blue camo or something instead of red (can’t imagine why). Oh and the Storm Shadow? Why didn’t they just throw in the Renegades version since it is probably the best one ever made?? And since I never got one for 40 dollars. 🙂 My two coppers.
PF