Ever since his name was first uttered at JoeCon 2016 as being a part of FSS 5, Salvo was a figure I was greatly looking forward to.  Not just because he was one of my favorite 1990 characters, but because I could immediately picture some pretty straight forward builds that would represent the character perfectly in the modern format.

Today, I quickly got a flurry of messages from several friends when the reveal went live, and when I heard it was Salvo, I was excited…  his look original look was remarkably plain, but equally distinctive.  Bald head, muscular build in a t-shirt, he was a front line missile launching bad ass that didn’t need any sissy armor, and was happy to tell his enemies that the might was indeed right.

As I eagerly navigated to GIJoeClub.com my excitement quickly turned to disappointment.

I try to temper my opinions based on early Photoshop mock ups, because they are just digital images and not always true to the finished product, but when it comes to the FSS Salvo… there’s quite simply nothing right about this figure.

Well, maybe I’m being overly harsh.  The helmet isn’t bad.

I can’t comment about the head, because you can’t see it underneath the helmet, but if it’s Serpentor’s head, then there’s no redeeming that either.

What kills me is that the perfect recipe for an updated Salvo is RIGHT THERE.  All they really needed to do was slap some better paint over the Retaliation Roadblock figure they’ve used countless times, but instead they’re using the Law torso and arms, which are great body parts, but are not nearly beefy or muscular enough for Salvo.  As if trying to accommodate that, they give the figure the large-thighed Resolute legs, but all that does is accentuate the scrawny torso and arms.  Layered on top of this is the strangely colored legs which are monochromatic green and an attempt to mimic the color of the machine gun belts with odd gold straps.

Simply put, this figure is a mess.  As I said, I hesitate to make snap judgments on most of these reveals, because I understand they are digital mock ups, but in Salvo’s case there isn’t a single thing I can find to explain away here.  Perhaps there’s something about the tooling library we don’t know…there would almost have to be, because I can’t think of a logical reason why the figure build would be done this way rather than several other ways.  Even the font on the shirt is off.

I don’t think anyone would claim that Salvo is a critical element to any G.I. Joe roster, after all, this is the first version of the figure we’ve seen since the Direct to Consumer line eight years ago.  But one would think, at the premium price that the FSS garners, we should be getting premium effort, and I’m sorry, but Salvo doesn’t meet those expectations.

Go check out the reveal at GIJoeClub.com and make sure you log into their forums and make your voice heard if you like it (or don’t).  It may be too late to change anything at this point, but if we’re getting two more years of exclusive product, make sure as the consumer, we speak intelligently and respectfully.

Salvo was destined to be one of the highlights of FSS 5, and sadly, this figure doesn’t pass muster, especially not for a figure with an MSRP of over $30.  I’ve been buying product from the Club for nearly 20 years, I know they can do better.  They should do better.