Hm.  Every once in a while you run across a figure that you mostly like and mostly enjoy, though a certain decision was made that seems strange and misplaced, but you want to love the figure anyway…

Okay.  Why is Scoop orange?  I think the Club might have been going for “mustard yellow” (since they seem to like making these modern updates just a little dimmer and darker than their vintage counterparts)…but he really, truly looks orange.

Before we go down that road, I do want to say, as another entry into G.I. Joe’s illustrious roster of 1989 characters, the inclusion of Scoop was pretty much a given ever since we got Sky Patrol Airborne in the Con Set in 2015 using Scoop’s distinctive helmet.  That kinda sealed the deal right there.

And it makes sense.  Scoop is one of those rare later year characters who appeared after 1987, yet still had a very distinctive and familiar role in G.I. Joe animation as a Crimson Guard traitor on the G.I. Joe team during Operation: Dragonfire.   Now, as one might suspect, he ends up having a change of heart, but he was still a central character throughout that mini-series and it makes sense to explore him as an action figure in the Figure Subscription Service.

Scoop’s figure is legitimately great.  His head sculpt is reused, but it’s not exactly common and feels fresh just the same.  His parts are all from the G.I. Joe: Retaliation family and its evident with the nice modern sculpting, great range of motion and functional articulation that suits the figure build perfectly.  From a construction standpoint, I feel like the Club really and truly nailed this one.

But what’s up with the paint scheme?

I can’t remember a time when Scoop was orange, either as a toy or in the comic or in the cartoon, yet here he is in action figure form a wholly more orange color than he should be.  It would be interesting to hear why.  It’s not like the color is terrible, it’s a fine color that works well enough, but the Club typically works hard to mimic the vintage color pallet as much as they can, so this stark distinction seems surprising.

That being said, by and large, Scoop is pretty fantastic, honestly.

Accessories

Not only is the figure great, but the Club did an awesome job getting the right accessories for him, too.  He’s got a Resolute tactical vest, which I’m always in favor of, a nice multi-colored assault rifle, the great camera that came with the old school 25th Anniversary boxed set, as well as a microphone.  He also has a knife that fits in his ankle sheath.

In short, Scoop has a perfect allotment of great gear that makes sense and feels interesting.

If you’d told me six months ago that halfway through the FSS, Scoop would be my favorite, I would have said you were out of your mind.  Yet here he are, and here he is.  So far, among the rest of the Figure Subscription Service, Scoop stands alone at the top.  He’s really fantastic, strangely orange colored and all.

[wpebayads]