Any day we get a modern update to our favorite European special missions force is a good day, and I’m a pretty big fan of Jammer.  Even back in the 80s, Jammer was a barely repaint of the original Stalker, essentially a slightly different shade of color with the trusty Zed Force logo in red on his chest as well as a red beret.

When the Club revisited the whole Action Force/Red Shadows conflict in the Convention set in 2010, we saw another update to Jammer, this time using the Comic Pack Stalker formula (o-ring version).  Now, for this final iteration of the infamous Zed Force Communications Specialist we get much the same, though with some interesting twists.  His head sculpt is from the Convention Tiger Force Stalker, which is nice for folks who might not have that figure yet (and it certainly helps that the head sculpt kicks all sorts of ass).  The torso is from the 25th Anniversary, which is a bit of an oddchoice, in my mind, as it makes the figure look somewhat short and misproportioned, and the torso is visibly less detailed than the rest of the figure.  I understand why they made that choice, to tie him into the vintage “original 13” aesthetic, but I would have loved to have seen something a bit different.

His legs are the updated “Original 13” legs that were seen with Attack on COBRA Island Zap and the discount store Duke, which is a cool enough choice and fits the theme.  His arms are more modern, large and baggy with the updated wrist joints, which is all well and good, except they somewhat add to the misproportioned look, making the figure look somewhat top heavy and creating a mis-match between the exceedingly wrinkled arms and smooth torso.  As much as I love the Pursuit of COBRA Shock Trooper arms, I can’t help but think they don’t jive 100% with the rest of the figure here.  I am glad to see the increased articulation, though perhaps if the Club had used the Shock Trooper torso, the flow would have been a little better.

Where this figure does really shine, however, is with the paint applications.  The shade of green and black is fantastic and fits well with the Zed Force look and feel.  The “streak” pattern of the black camouflage is exceptionally well done, and I love the striking color of red in the logo and the beret.  Great to see the Union Jack on his right shoulder, too, which blends him well with Quarrel, Big Ben and Blades, who both had that distinct patch on their uniforms as well.  Great touch.

ACCESSORIES

Jammer comes with a removable beret and the same chest strap that Zap and the Duke came with, which is a departure from the vintage version, who shared the same torso as Stalker with the double-strap webgear.  I don’t mind the change, as this webgear fits the contour of the chest well and is detailed nicely, however it also covers up a big chunk of the great Z logo on his chest, which is a bit unfortunate.  I have to admit, though, that older 25th Anniversary double strap webgear does look a little dated.

He’s got Dial Tone’s backpack, which fits the communications theme as well as a nice machine gun and two holsters.  A nice touch is that one holster contains the traditional pistol you’d expect, but the other holster holds a smaller mobile phone to fit in with the communications motif.  Unfortunately the peg on Dial Tone’s backpack is a little on the large side, and doesn’t fit real seamlessly into his back hole.  You can generally rotate it and get it to sink in, but I’d be concerned about wear and tear on the peg of the backpack long term.

When it comes to a figure trying to resemble the original 13 look, generally I love using that Zap template.  It retains the vintage look but with slightly more modern sculpting, and I am in love with the twin holsters and removable pistols.  Unfortunately, while I completely applaud the choice to use more modern arms for the enhanced range of motion, it does look a little off compared to the rest of the figure in a way that my eyes can’t quite reconcile.

Jammer has great accessories, I’m a big fan of the character, and the paint apps are pretty terrific as well.  Overall, I approve of the figure in most ways, I just wish the parts formula looked a little bit more consistent and uniform.

Video Review

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