As we near the end of the week, the G.I. Joe Collectors Club has revealed their second to last FSS IV figure, the Night Creeper Ice Ninja!
Using the same formula as the Concept Case Night Creeper with the ’98 three pack paint scheme, this is a really nice looking figure in stark white colors. Check out GIJoeClub.com for the latest FSS subscription info and the image is mirrored below.
Bring on Billy!
The British invasion continues with the Figure Subscription Service. The Collectors Club revealed Tiger Force Sneak Peek today, a European variant of the G.I. Joe reconnaissance trooper.
Check out the image below, and get more info on the FSS at GIJoeClub.com!
Continuing their FSS IV reveals, the G.I. Joe Collectors Club has shown off their version of Bullhorn today, taking inspiration from the 90s version…well, the only version unless you count the Club’s own take from 2008.
It’s a good looking figure that is certainly based on the 1990 version with some good modern parts and great accessories. In my younger days, Bullhorn joined Hit & Run as being “boots on the ground” for the next generation of G.I. Joe, so I’m excited to see him here.
Check out GIJoeClub.com for the latest info on FSS IV!
The Figure Subscription Service reveals are officially in full swing, and the Collectors Club has now revealed Tiger Force Outback!
A great looking new head, and the tiger deco on the shirt came out great, though I would have enjoyed a slightly updated build. The 25th Anniversary one isn’t terrible, but those arms… just feels like better stuff was available recently.
That being said, it’s a good deco, and they nailed the most important part, which was the tiger pattern on the shirt.
Keep checking GIJoeClub.com for the latest info, and sign up for FSS IV right here!
While the folks at Fun Publications were ramping up for Botcon, they put FSS IV reveals on hold to focus on the task at hand.
Now Botcon is over and the latest Figure Subscription Service is open for business again. To celebrate the launch, the Club has revealed Interrogator!
A personal favorite character of mine (I still can’t believe in FSS 3 & 4 we got or are getting Hit & Run, Vypra, and Interrogator. Too cool.) I am pretty particular about how Interrogator should be represented. We’re fortunate enough to have a few good sources of inspiration for the character, from the awesome ’91 original to the Direct To Consumer “Viper Lockdown” version which is pretty amazing. Here, the Club is taking a different approach.
This Interrogator draws some inspiration from older models, but also adds some nice newness. Using Retaliation Cobra Commander’s torso and arms with Artcic Destro’s legs there is some nice armor and some great black and gray offsets. I’m not wild about the re-use of the 2010 Convention helmet (really if they’d used the Retaliation Cobra Commander head along with the torso and arms with a red faceplate it would have worked) but the rest of the figure surprisingly appeals to me. I like that he’s more combat ready, and goes in a bit of a different direction than previous versions. This almost looks like it could be a Plague version if the colors were darker.
Anyway, I’m excited for this one. Check out the image below and keep watching GIJoeClub.com for the latest info. Also, if you like what you see, sign up for the FSS, it’s only open until midnight of July 15th.
I will fully admit that Big Ben has never been one of my favorite characters, even with his great entry in the 1991 line, and certainly his rampant appearance in 2000 – 2002 didn’t change that opinion much. I think part of it was that I loved the 1991 run of figures so much, he sort of faded into the background in an awesome selection of character updates.
Back in 1991, Big Ben was equipped in what appeared to be arctic gear with a heavy machine gun, and I was never a huge arctic fan anyway. If I wasn’t a big fan of Big Ben even in 1991, his constant resurgence in 2000 would have definitely pushed me over the edge. So Big Ben hasn’t been high on my list of figures I wanted to see, but now that I have the Figure Subscription Service in hand, I realize that narrow opinion was a fallacy. This Big Ben update is nearly perfect.
With a new head sculpt (sporting a nicely updated Bluetooth headset replacing his previous old school earpiece) immediately Big Ben is a character meshing perfectly with more modern updates. As we’ve come to expect, Boss Fight Studio did terrific work here. Utilizing a nice build from parts in recent years, the figure is stocky and solid, yet maintains fantastic articulation and range of motion. I absolutely love the G.I. Joe: Retaliation G.I. Joe Trooper arms, they have great details and bend really far to allow for nice poses.
The Pursuit of Dusty legs adds some bulk to a winter based figure, and the overall look of Big Ben is terrific, really separating him from some other contemporaries.
The Club deco borrows heavily from the original 1991 version, which actually has the very nice added benefit of being a close match for the Z-Force deco as well, and Big Ben actually jives with the FSS Quarrel in a nice way. Utilizing his British background, the Club takes this opportunity to dovetail Big Ben with “Special Action Force” giving him a nice arm patch on one side the the Union Jack on the other, which again puts him in league with Quarrel (and the upcoming Jammer) very nicely. These are the kind of great added details I like seeing from the Club in these FSS entries.
Accessories
Big Ben is pretty loaded with accessories. He has a large backpack, which opens up, twin machine gun ammunition belts, and the heavy machine gun to go with them. He also comes with the grenade launcher from the G.I. Joe: Retaliation Trooper, a pair of grenades, and a satchel. He doesn’t come with the bag that opens for the grenades as other versions have, but the overslung satchel charge is a nice homage to it.
If you’d asked me to name 50 figures I wanted to see in the FSS, I’m pretty sure Big Ben wouldn’t have been on that list. But the Club took that somewhat forgettable character and made him extremely memorable. A great build, a fun deco, and terrific accessories makes for an impressive FSS entry, and one that I’m extremely happy we got.
Summary
For this entry into the FSS, the Collectors Club managed to take a character I had little affinity for and make an amazing modern update. Nearly a perfect parts combination, really great paint deco, a great new head sculpt, and awesome accessories give us one heck of an FSS update. Love this guy.
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