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.
If anyone has been paying attention to my YouTube Channel then you know I’ve recently been posting some more video reviews to go alongside my written reviews. Chris from The Full Force podcast has also signed on to help me out on some of my production values, and I’m thrilled to say we’re pushing these out on a pretty regular basis!
At this point, I’ve posted video reviews for the first four Figure Subscription Service figures under the header of Generals Joe and Tell and Chris and I are having a lot of fun with them.
We just posted one for the FSS Night Creeper, and also have Barricade, Nunchuk, and Law & Order posted as well. Written reviews are coming very soon for the Night Creeper and Barricade as well.
If you’re into video reviews, please consider Subscribing to my Channel, and you can check out the latest FSS video reviews below.
Yes, I reported on Wednesday that the G.I. Joe Collectors Club would be accepting new members until the end of the day on March 16th, as they have every year.
However, they announced that this year they were expanding the deadline, and you now have until midnight TONIGHT to get your memberships in for 2016! This will be the best way to get your hands on the 2016 incentive figures, Pythona or the 12″ Mike Power.
Apparently these two figures are in hot demand, as the Collectors Club announced today that they have reached a landmark number for memberships, their highest active member group ever. Pretty exciting, and testament to the great looking exclusive figures that they’re giving away this year.
If you haven’t joined yet, you’ve got a small window of time, don’t lose out! Hit up GIJoeClub.com and a hearty congrats to the Club on this great milestone.
So it’s March 16th, and for the past several years that’s meant the cut off for signing up for the annual membership to the G.I. Joe Collectors Club. This year is no different (though next year is looking drastically different).
One major difference, though, is that this year the Collectors Club is offering up Pythona as the incentive figure for signing up! This is HUGE. Pythona has been a long in demand figure since her first appearance in the 1987 G.I. Joe animated film and to celebrate the final sign up day, they’ve released some awesome new images of the upcoming figure over on their Facebook page.
I love that you can detach her ponytail to put the hood over her head, and I’m really pleasantly surprised at how effective the figure looks with paint deco representing the raised pattern of her uniform. The new head, hands, and upper torso definitely help as well.
Check out the images below, and if you want this figure, I strongly recommend joining the Collectors Club! After 2016 is over, I suspect this figure will be in MAJOR demand and will be very difficult to come by.
Brian Savage from Fun Publications sent out a pair of emails tonight on the subject of BotCon and JoeCon, each email serving a couple of purposes. There were some updates on the respective conventions in each message, but most importantly, he appeared to take an opportunity to thank the communities and say “good-bye” signaling the first official confirmation that Hasbro appears to be moving away from Fun Publications for their Collectors Club and Convention licensees.
However, sharp eyed readers might have noticed a distinct difference in the two emails.
While the Transformers oriented email contains the following text:
“All memberships will end December 31, 2016. Hasbro looks forward to sharing new plans for the Collector’s Club with you in the future.”
Meanwhile, the G.I. Joe one has the following:
“All memberships will end December 31, 2016.”
Yeah, that’s it.
Nothing about any kind of Hasbro announcement or any sort of indication of future events to celebrate the G.I. Joe brand. Some might say that’s a sign of bad things to come, but I think the G.I. Joe community really needs to take this as an opportunity. We need to show that we really want some kind of G.I. Joe Club or Convention representation. We need to prove to Hasbro that our fandom counts, too, even though we don’t love a billion dollar franchise like Transformers.
The fact is, Hasbro would not exist as a company right now if not for G.I. Joe. Do they owe us something? Of course not. But I feel like they owe the BRAND something, and for once maybe we should look past simply the bottom line and do something for the fans who have supported them for not just years, but decades.
Let Hasbro know how you feel. Write them a letter:
Hasbro, Inc.
1027 Newport Avenue
Pawtucket, RI 02862.
Most important thing is to BE RESPECTFUL, but I think it’s pretty clear to me that Hasbro at large doesn’t think G.I. Joe is even worth considering the future of, and that doesn’t sit well with me. Hopefully I’m not alone.
I have hundreds of friends in the G.I. Joe community that I would have never met without JoeCon. This isn’t just about toys, it’s about friends, family, and a little bit of joy in our lives. It’s just one small weekend a year where we ask that G.I. Joe maybe be one of the priorities for a change. I don’t think that’s too much to ask, but we need to convince Hasbro of this fact.
It’s on us. However you can do it, DO IT. It’s evident from that email above that plans don’t appear to be set in stone for 2017 for the G.I. Joe side of the house. We may be able to change some minds. If you’re passionate about it, do something about it. I know I will. Let’s try to come together on this!
