I loves me some Night Creepers! Even with the strange purple and gray camouflage of the vintage versions, I always really dug the overall look and concept of the Night Creepers. Ninja assassins and saboteurs who leveraged next generation technology was always a really awesome concept, and Larry Hama executed it pretty nicely in the Marvel Comics throughout the 90’s. The way the legs were somewhat thick but still moved really nicely, as well as the elbows on those classic o-ring figures just made the toys felt really “natural” for me and made the figures really easy to play with, which was important back in the day. More modern repaints (specifically the COBRA Urban Strike Force version) made me love the figure even more, especially because the softer plastic for the hands made the thumbs a lot less breakable. And before anyone says anything, no I don’t really consider the Rise of Cobra Night Creeper to be a proper “Urban Strike” repaint.
When Hasbro revealed an updated build for the much maligned 25th Anniversary Night Creeper at JoeCon a number of years ago, I was pretty ecstatic. I wasn’t wild about the COBRA Island 7-Pack version with those dated 25th Anniversary parts, and the more modernized parts combination was fantastic.
The Collectors Club seemed to take a page from that book, but instead of giving us just a new classic looking (or even better, an Urban Strike version!) they used the parts combo as a modern interpretation of the 1998 Toys “R” Us exclusive Arctic 3-Pack. I’m pretty sure I could count the number of fans who wanted a modern update to that figure on one hand, but as a devout fan of the Night Creepers in general, I’m pretty happy to see any iteration of that figure in modern format.
Replacing some of those dated parts with limbs from the Wave 1 G.I. Joe: Retaliation Storm Shadow makes a world of difference, giving us a more modern iteration of the arctic Night Creeper with parts that are better sculpted, larger, and have far better range of motion. The seamless integration of martial arts and technology lives on in these Storm Shadow parts and suits the Night Creeper to perfection. I am a big fan of this updated parts recipe, that is for sure.
Looking at the deco of the figure, he certainly resembles the arctic 3-Pack version from 1998, and from a cost perspective, I suppose I can see why the Club went that way. By eliminating paint masks for elaborate camouflage, they can bring costs down, fitting this figure better within their constricted budget. If money were no factor, I would have much rather preferred an updated vintage deco Night Creeper or the Urban Strike.
ACCESSORIES
The COBRA Night Creeper comes with a decent set of accessories, including a crossbow and the trademark wavy sword that initially came with the vintage figure. He’s got a modern version of the Night Creeper backpack as well as the shoulder cape that originally came with the Retaliation G.I. Joe Trooper. Somewhat strange is that he cannot wear the cape and the backpack at the same time, so you have to pick and choose one or the other. While the cape does have the backpack hole, the peg of the backpack isn’t quite long enough to accommodate for it. He also has the familiar head dress and chest armor that we’ve been getting on versions of the Night Creeper since the COBRA Island set.
I love the Night Creeper. I don’t necessarily love the arctic version of him, and desperately wish the Club had found a way to use this much improved parts combination on a figure with a somewhat more exciting deco. Even as this figure stands, he’s got a great selection of parts and decent accessories, and is a fun figure overall. I just wish his paint scheme was a bit more exciting.
Here is my YouTube review of the figure as well:
FSS 4.0 Night Creeper
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
3.5
Summary
Ever since they first jumped on the scene in 1990, I’ve loved the Night Creeper, especially their rendition in the Marvel comics by Lee Weeks. The hybrid techno sabotage and ninja elements worked really well together. I will admit I wasn’t wild about the 25th anniversary version, but this FSS rendition fixes pretty much every structural problem I had, I just wish the Collectors Club had been a bit more daring with the color scheme. I really like the addition of the cape, and the modern parts work exceptionally well. A great figure from a build perspective, to be sure.
While many a G.I. Joe fan will bemoan the Battle Corps era for its outlandish colors, spring-loaded weapons and plethora of sub teams, I remained quite interested in G.I. Joe even through those somewhat strange years.
It’s nice to see the Collectors Club pay some attention to the Battle Corps years within the Figure Subscription Service, though I have to admit, somewhat begrudgingly, that the execution leaves a little to be desired.
Back in the day, Barricade was a “Bunker Buster” soldier, the guy who broke down the doors, took volleys of gunfire, but led the rest of the team into the breach. The vintage version of the figure was very large and blocky, yet managed to maintain the great range of motion of those classic o-ring figures, a combination that I really loved, even if some of the colors of the time were questionable.
This version of Barricade seems to want to continue that philosophy, but ends up looking more cybernetic than armored (likely a result of a lack of parts choices that fit the aesthetic well). Using parts from the Rise of Cobra Accelerator Suit figures, the parts are exceptionally well sculpted and have great articulation, and from a pure visual perspective, the figure parts look outstanding. Instead of the Accelerator Suit arms, the Club went with Battle Armor Cobra Commander arms, which is a little unfortunate, as the elbows aren’t quite as flexible as some others, and the arms end up looking just a little “stumpy”. They’re also pretty distinct for Cobra Commander and it’s tough to see them utilized in a different way.
The head sculpt here is a re-use of the 25th Anniversary Chuckles Rise of Cobra “Aqua Viper Officer” which has been used here and there (I believe it was also Dice’s head sculpt) but it works okay as a generic head that doesn’t look too much like anyone else.
In the past, the Club has had a tendency to take really bright figures and mute their colors somewhat for a more modern release. Barricade is actually somewhat the opposite. The blue used is brighter than the vintage version, and even though they added some paint wipe detail to the deco work, the gold ends up looking a little brighter as well.
As for the paint applications themselves, that’s where I really struggle. There is a ton of sculpted detail throughout these Accelerator Suit figures, but Barricade himself is just mostly gold with just a few hints of the blue. He could have been much better served with some additional areas of blue deco where there was armor separation, even if it didn’t completely match the vintage paint masks. Looking at Barricade from the front, it just looks like there’s way too much gold, and they don’t quite capture the “metallic” look of the original.
ACCESSORIES
One thing I have to give the Club some props on with Barricade are the accessories. The figure gets a nice spring-loaded grappling hook launcher, a great shotgun, very nice submachine gun, removable pistol and helmet, as well as a really cool breacher tool/battle axe. There’s a lot of gear here, and a lot of it looks really great. I love the blue pistol, even if it does look somewhat futuristic (either that or it’s some kind of taser). Regardless, I really like the blocky barrel and how well it fits in the holster, even though the holster really struggles to stay flush with the leg.
He’s got the Accelerator Suit helmet which doesn’t jive real well with the original look of Barricade, but it’s still a neat helmet that I really like the design of.
Barricade has been one of my favorite characters and vintage figures, and I was really excited to hear the Club was bringing him into FSS 4.0. Unfortunately the end result isn’t quite as good as I hoped it would be.
Check out the YouTube video review below!
FSS 4.0 Barricade
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
3.1
Summary
I love that the G.I. Joe Collectors Club is digging into the Battle Corps era to pull out some of the key characters in that subset, and Barricade is a fantastic choice. That being said, I’m not a big fan of the parts they chose, and the paint applications leave a lot to be desired. The shade of gold and blue feel a little bland and the color breaks don’t take full advantage of the great Accelerator Suit sculpting pattern. I’m happy to see Barricade get some modern treatment, and I’m also happy to see somewhat of a modern twist, but the end result isn’t all that appealing.
Any day that I’m sitting down to review a G.I. Joe figure is a very good day. Heaven knows, those days feel pretty few and far between these days, and with rumors abound that the G.I. Joe Collectors Club may be losing the license after 2016, I shudder to think what the outlook will be next year at this time.
Regardless of the depressing part of this review, I was ecstatic to see my FSS 4.0 figures arrive today! That could be because I’ve been without new G.I. Joe figures for so long that this is like a cool glass of water in a desert, but actually, the figures themselves are pretty nice.
First one up is Law, a figure build that should be very familiar to anyone who collected the 30th Anniversary figures, because it uses the same parts, from head to toe. The main structural difference here is that he’s wearing the 25th Anniversary Wild Bill vest to better mirror his vintage ’87 look than the tactical vest the 30th Anniversary/Renegades version wore.
I love the use of modern parts. Renegades Duke was a tragically unsung figure during that same era, with some simple parts that looked relatively generic, yet had fantastic articulation and range of motion. Really happy to see those parts used here, giving this figure a great look and feel.
On top of those modern parts, Law has a much more vintage themed paint scheme with the olive green pants, red shirt, and blue vest, all topped off with the white helmet. The colors don’t perfectly match the vintage, but taking into account the modern construction, they do a pretty good job of approximating what an update would look like. The result is a modernized version of this character that looks much more in line with his ’87 look, and thus fits in better with his peers from that era.
Now, obviously the vest doesn’t have a sculpted badge, so the Club approximates it with a tempo to mixed success. Still, I suppose I have to admire their effort to get things as accurate as possible.
ACCESSORIES
Law comes with a relatively basic accessory load out, similar to what he came with in the 80s, including an Uzi, helmet, and the pistol that comes default any time these legs are used. He also comes with his trusty Order, a very nicely decoed version of his familiar German Shepard. It should be noted that Law does not come with the silencer that is typically seen alongside this pistol. According to the GIJCC there were some factory production issues and the silencer was omitted from every figure. Considering I have about 32 of these silencers kicking around, I don’t consider that a huge loss.
This figure isn’t ground breaking in any particular way, but it uses an extremely effective modern parts template with the right combination of vintage colors, giving folks a nice update to Law. Heck, the 30th Anniversary version isn’t all that easy/cheap to come across at this point either, so this kills two birds with one stone. Nicely done on this one.
FSS 4.0 Law & Order
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
3.4
Summary
Even without any new parts and only some minor alterations to his paint scheme, this version of Law & Order manages to pretty seamlessly blend into his ’87 counterpart. It’s remarkable what a new vest and some minor paint color changes will do to make a modern, more tactical figure and change it effectively into a more accurate vintage representation. Modern parts does wonders for sculpt and articulation. This is a pretty decent update.
I have also done a YouTube video review for this figure. You can check that out below:
As a kid in the late 80s, early 90s, ninjas were pretty much the be all, end all. My first ever exposure to the term “ninja” was with Storm Shadow, and that opened these doors for me into great films and stories throughout the next decade.
Ninja Force, first released in 91 felt like it kind of came on the tail end of the ninja craze, but it had some spectacular, somewhat outlandish designs that worked really well with the 90s era of G.I. Joe.
Unfortunately many of those figures were hampered by spring-loaded action features that either ruined the aesthetics, or wrecked the play value of the figure. Thankfully the G.I. Joe Collectors Club has been making an effort in recent years to fix some of those mistakes.
Slice, Dice, and TJBang are a few of their modern revisits, and each one has been a very successful take on these colorful characters. Nunchuk is much the same.
Using modern parts like Airtight’s legs, with 30th Anniversary Storm Shadow’s torso and arms, they’ve cobbled together a pretty effective Nunchuk update, who has the right ninja/martial arts elements, but also is more of a combat based figure, too. He’s got terrific articulation, and the use of modern parts means the sculpting and overall design of the figure is really great.
I will say I’m not real wild about the decision to just use the clunky mask from the Training Storm Shadow. I’m not sure what existing alternative could have been selected, but this doesn’t look a whole lot like Nunchuk from that perspective. Also, the singular Storm Shadow chest strap makes the figure look a little empty in the torso, too. Again, not sure what else could have been used, but this doesn’t feel like quite the right formula, and it’s not even vintage accurate.
The color scheme is good, using the familiar green uniform with black tiger stripe camouflage, with black wrists and boots. It’s a good look and a very nice update to the original.
ACCESSORIES
As one might suspect, Nunchuk comes with… nunchuks. As well as a pair of swords, sais, and the darts that Storm Shadow came with. He has the sheath on his back from the Storm Shadow strap, and that about covers is. Pretty straight forward accessories that work fine, though part of me would have loved for him to come with a crazy scimitar looking thing like the original did.
Simply from the new parts and modern construction, I consider this figure a win, even though there are some cosmetic changes I would have recommended. The head and webgear are two changes that could have made a big difference, but even as it stands, I’m excited about a Ninja Force update and Nunchuk is a cool addition to the FSS. Now I need me some Dojo, Snake Eyes, and Scarlett! At the very least!
FSS 4.0 Nunchuk
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
3.9
Summary
The latest addition to the modern era Ninja Force, Nunchuk does a great job approximating his vintage look, while taking advantage of the modern style. His paint scheme is relatively close, though muted compared to the vintage look. While he’s got a number of cool accessories, the simple Storm Shadow sash leaves me a bit dry, and I would have liked to have seen a little more ingenuity there.
I’ve also done a video review of this figure on YouTube! Check out that video review below:
Hot of the heels of an especially great Convention exclusive set, we now have an equally great membership incentive figure! Available carded at the Convention itself (and through the Club store), the free membership figure started arriving last week.
When you’re pounding through 20 something reviews in 10 days, some times there are some details that get missed, and unfortunately it’s been pointed out to me that complaints about Outback’s arm articulation were likely because I had his left arm positioned backwards throughout most of the review.
That is a true point, though it doesn’t help the movement issues in his right arm, but hey, if you’re cool with Outback being left-handed then he can hold and position his weapons a LOT better than I indicated in my review.
So I do apologize, and from now on in my universe, ole Outback is a south paw. 🙂
I’ve added the images and a little clarification text to my Outback review as well. Thanks to the folks who pointed this out to me.
