Ever since the beginning, one of the awesome things about G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero was a focus on strong characters, regardless of gender and certainly Scarlett was no exception. It was clear from the first issue of the G.I. Joe comic and the first episode of the G.I. Joe animated series that she was one of the heart and soul’s of the G.I. Joe team.
From flying a Skystriker to low for Duke’s comfort or burying a throwing star in COBRA Commander’s gun arm, she’s been in the thick of it and I was thrilled to see her as a part of the first wave of G.I. Joe: Classified.
Hasbro did a pretty bang up job on this figure, too. They managed to keep the basic design aesthetics of the vintage figure, all while giving her some nice new armored elements that thrust her into the future.
A combination of layered body armor sculpting, impressive articulation cool accessories and really sharp paint applications gives this new Scarlett some great life, and I really love their choices here. While some of the figures suffer a bit from the abundance of gold (especially Roadblock) I think it works really well on Scarlett.
An absolutely critical member of the G.I. Joe roster, Scarlett deserves her place in the inaugural wave of these new six inch figures and she gets a pretty terrific update.
While there are some minor limitations to her articulation, the color breaks and textures of the suit are great and overall she brings some great color and vibrance to the Joe roster, especially at this larger scale.
DESIGN
From a design angle, Scarlett is almost a perfect update to the original, taking the overall shape and color of her 80’s unitard and translating it into something that bridges the future/military and super-hero divide very nicely.
I absolutely love the armor she’s sporting, looking thick and protective, yet sleek as well, allowing for great range of motion. Her armored gauntlets and boots are terrific as well, and I find myself loving the little touches like the three throwing stars on her left forearm and what appear to be small “rocket” boots at her calves. At least that’s what they are in my little world!
The color combinations are really nice, too, a mixture of blue, green and tan, a nice amalgamation of several different hues from Scarlett’s history. All of the different shades work well with the sculpt breaks on the body suit and armor, the overall appearance very eye-catching and appealing.
G.I. Joe has always existed in this strange place between real world military and comic book sci-fi, and this version of Scarlett really seems to lunge full speed into comic book sci-fi, and to be honest, I’m glad for it. She’s never had a full-blown military look or feel and this updated armored bodysuit is an excellent evolution from some previous appearances.
The shoulder pad and star on her left shoulder feels like a nice call-out to her Devil’s Due appearance as well, which featured a very similar design aesthetic. Her hair is nicely painted, though I would have loved a bit more of a red wash just to darken it up some. I find myself really loving the paint work on her face, including the light application of freckles underneath her eyes. Very well done.
I really love the strap, sheath and quiver over her torso, too, giving her room for all three of her throwing knives, which is a really awesome touch.
ARTICULATION
For the most part, Scarlett’s articulation is fantastic. Multiple torso joints, ball-joint neck and shoulders, double-jointed knees and rocker ankles. She’s capable of falling into a wealth of effective poses. Like the other figures she has “drop-down” hips which give her more sideways motion as well.
There’s only one hitch with her articulation. Because she’s got such skinny arms, she doesn’t get double-jointed elbows like her male counterparts. It’s not a huge take away, but I feel like it needs to be mentioned.
In spite of her layered body armor and aside from the aforementioned elbows, she maintains a great range of motion and fantastic articulation, a hallmark of G.I. Joe action figure design that is here in spades.
ACCESSORIES
Well, this is certainly the hottest topic in any of the discussions around G.I. Joe: Classified. Scarlett I think manages to walk the line perfectly. Unlike many other members of the G.I. Joe team, Scarlett has never been known for her heavy duty military weapons compliment. The crossbow has been her stalwart, and it remains so here.
It’s a pseudo-futuristic crossbow with a pretty cool design aesthetic, with a removable top and bottom. I’m not sure what the benefit to taking the crossbow apart is, but it does come apart if you’re so inclined.
Along with the crossbow, she comes with three small knives, one of which fits neatly in a sheath on her chest strap, while the other two slide in place in sheaths within her quiver on her back. I love that she’s got places for all three knives, it’s that sort of detail that I really enjoy about the G.I. Joe: Classified line. So far none of them have come with accessories they didn’t have a place to store. A small point, but a valid one.
Scarlett’s accessories don’t blow my socks off, but they make sense for the character and are a nice inclusion. The trio of knives are the definite highlights for me, it adds a cool element to the character and I really dig the sheaths, too.
Good stuff.
PRESENTATION
Like the other figures in the first wave of G.I. Joe: Classified, Scarlett has unique artwork on her box, in this case done by Phil Noto an acclaimed artist of comic books and other things. The art looks terrific (though somehow I neglected to take a picture of the other side of the box), though I do agree with some complaints that a lack of unification across all packaging can be a bit jarring for MIB collectors.
CONCLUSION
Scarlett is one of my favorite characters in G.I. Joe lore and I’m thrilled that such an important piece of A Real American Hero history ended up in wave 1 of the G.I. Joe: Classified line. Her modern updates are terrific, adding a fantastic sci-fi flair while still keeping some solid homages to her old school appearances.
The shining point for sure is the face paint with the freckles and the eyes, though she’s got amazing paint throughout the entire figure with a great mixture of gold that works far better for her than for some of her compatriots.
All things considered, this figure is terrific and the G.I. Joe: Classified line is off to an amazing start.
General Gallery
Group Shots
The Capture of Destro
G.I. Joe Classified Scarlett
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Sculpting
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Paint Applications
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Articulation
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Accessories
Summary
As one of the founding members of G.I. Joe, I was thrilled to see Scarlett included in wave one of G.I. Joe: Classified, and she’s got some great updates to boot. A terrific sculpt, great modernized design aligned with her vintage look and her familiar trademark accessories. The narrow sculpting of her female form unfortunately sacrifices some key articulation, but the figure is great otherwise.
Pros
Cons
Although Scarlett was never one if my favorites (I was more of a Lady Jaye kinda guy), this iteration is awesome. Her accoutrements scream Sci-Fi ninja with a touch of special ops. Big thumbs up Hasbro.