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Interestingly, in stark contrast to the other figure in this two-pack, rather than a long time established character with over 50 separate iterations, Tombstone is a brand spanking new character, something very much appreciated by this long time fan.

But is this being a new character enough to wow a discriminating collector?

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Along with being a new character, Tombstone also has a great new head sculpt full of character.  He’s a former COBRA trooper who has been through the wringer, and that’s immediately evident with one look at his face.  The sculpt is good to boot.  Looking at the figure build, it’s a decent one, with the G.I. Joe: Retaliation Snake Eyes arms, which I’m always a fan of and the Pursuit of COBRA Firefly legs.  The result is a pretty skinny, but flexible figure, a character that looks especially lanky buried underneath the long and heavily armored tactical vest from Firefly.

Obviously the shining point of the figure is with the new head, and the new head is pretty great and pretty gnarly with a nasty scar over his right eye making the character look like he’s seen some stuff.  It’s a really neat “battle worn” look for sure.  One thing Hasbro does a good job with in looking at the part selection is the range of motion is great.  Long limbs and non-restrictive joints means the figure can achieve all sorts of great firing positions, which is a nice effect of the way the figure was built.

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There’s a healthy run of purple and black throughout the figure, which leaves it nicely dark, but with some interesting colors, though I’m really not sure what’s up with the stark white shoulder armor.  It’s not an especially realistic color and it stands out in distinct contrast to the rest of the dark figure.  It’s not a bad look, just a bit on the odd side.

The backstory for Tombstone is certainly interesting, as a psychological operations guy who is now essentially the field commander for the COBRA Viper corps.  It gives him some intriguing twists and lends some credence to his strange accessory compliment.  The figure itself aesthetically looks decent, but doesn’t quite come together in all areas with some off color combinations and very lanky parts selection.  That being said, he’s a figure that even with existing parts manages to stand out from the crowd, which is a good thing.

ACCESSORIES

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I’m not really sure what to make of Tombstone’s accessories other than to assume, they were more or less randomly chosen without a clear indication of purpose.  He’s got a great assault rifle, but then comes with the old school gas grenade launcher alongside futuristic laser weapons.  It’s possible these are meant to be some kind of state of the art pyschosis weapons to go along with his psychological warfare specialty, but that’s not clearly stated anywhere.  The weapons are fine, they’re just kind of there.

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I’m always a fan of new characters and great new head sculpts and Tombstone has both of these, which gives him a major edge in my book.  Some of the construction choices leave me scratching my head a bit and the color combinations are interesting.  The newness of the character and head, however, overcome some of those design choices and leave me with a sense of satisfaction with the figure.

YouTube Video Review

G.I. Joe 2016 Tombstone
  • Character
  • Sculpt
  • Articulation
  • Paint Deco
  • Accessories
3.6

Summary

A brand new character with a new COBRA specialty is always welcome, and Tombstone has a pretty great and unique head sculpt as well. The build is interesting, though feels a little cobbled together, though the overall look of the figure is pretty fun.

Pros

1 – New character!
2 – Great new head sculpt

Cons

1 – Strange combination of purples blacks and whites doesn’t make a whole lot of aesthetic sense
2 – Weapons selections are strange

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