Okay, I admit straight up. This is going to be a tough review to write. I was desperately hoping that Whisper might end up winning the fan vote, and I fully admit I was pretty upset that she didn’t get the nod.
That’s not meant to be any slight against the other three excellent candidates, but I’d be lying if I said this review wasn’t being written through at least some gritted teeth. As it stands, the Stiletto figure came out pretty good, and manages to capture the elements of Bill Nedrow’s character relatively nicely.
The new head sculpt is decent, but would have benefited from better paint apps, especially on the scar and potentially missing left pupil. The figure build is essentially Rise of COBRA Agent Helix with Lady Jaye arms, and as much as I love the parts for that figure (I consider her one of the highlights of the excellent Rise of COBRA toy era) the color placement on Stiletto is odd to say the least. Purple and black on the torso with oddly green colored pants and a blue scarf makes for an eclectic and eye-opening array of colors that seem almost arbitrarily chosen.
While I fully admit to being somewhat disgruntled at Whisper’s shunting to relative obscurity, I’m generally a fan of new characters, and Stiletto works in that regard, although her filecard is in pretty direct contrast to the actual character in the fiction. That leads to some challenges, as she is clearly a COBRA agent in the books, but is written as purely a G.I. Joe member according to the filecard. It’s an interesting dichotomy which will make for some intriguing storytelling opportunities.
ACCESSORIES
As an expert in edged weapons, Stiletto comes with two swords and knives aplenty, as one might expect. She also has a submachine gun and a Drugonov sniper rifle. I’d argue out of the 2 packs she is the best equipped figure and has the most sensible assortment of weapons out of the whole crew.
Stiletto is an intriguing new character and I’m happy for Bill that she managed to get included in the 2016 assortment, and I’m still totally not holding a grudge about Whisper. All that being said, this figure is a decent build with some strange color choices and a nice assortment of useful accessories.
YouTube Video Review
G.I. Joe 2016 Stiletto
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Character
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Sculpt
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Articulation
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Paint Deco
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Accessories
Summary
Another new COBRA character is something to be celebrated and Stiletto certainly has an intriguing look and feel. While I love the Agent Helix build, and am happy with the majority of the figure, the restrictive arms and the mish-mash colors leave me a little cold, not to mention the lack of quality paint apps on her face.
Pros
1 – New character!
2 – Nice new head sculpt
3 – Good accessory compliment
Cons
1 – Lack of paint apps on the scarred face
2 – Pretty bizarre color choices throughout the uniform
3 – Whisper FTW 😛
[wpebayads]
I’m going to be putting Stiletto with the Slaughter’s Marauders guys, since her colors seem to fit in well with their uniforms.
All along I’ve wanted this character to be a dreadnok. It’s all I can see her as.
I’d still gladly buy a Whisper figure someday.