At first glance, I mistakenly thought the Boa Constrictor Gorgon was a mild repaint of the Coral Snake Gorgon, mostly due to the deco on the arms and the overall skin tone being a darker, brown color. Once I got the figure in person I was thrilled to see that while the Boa Constrictor does play off the Coral Snake Gorgon in her arm patterns, the rest of the figure is significantly different and compliments the entirety of the Gorgon Horde exceedingly well.
One thing I’ve really loved about the various different Gorgon figures was the fact that Boss Fight Studio wrote them such interesting biographies, which managed to take similar figures and add some distinct uniqueness to them. The Boa Constrictors are no different.
Described as the replacements for the Colubrida Guard, Medusa apparently enlisted the air of these nocturnal creatures after an almost successful attempt on her life. She keeps the Constrictors very close, even training them in the use of her personal weaponry and allowing them within her temple walls. The Boa’s listen to her and not her sisters and serve as her personal bodyguards and assassins, a really cool specialty for these really cool additional Gorgon forces.
I clearly remember the first time I got one of the Vitruvian HACKS Gorgons in hand, and marveled at the amazing feat of engineering with the tail and how well it integrated with the rest of the figure itself. Here we stand, months later, and we have nearly a dozen different variations of the Gorgon, yet still I find myself slowly shaking my head in marvel at how amazing the figure construction is, and how distinct each variant is, using the pattern of the snake scales to really separate the various Horde members.
The Boa Constrictor is no different, with an awesome dark skin tone and complimentary patterns on the arms and head. A diamond shaped black pattern really shines nicely among the darker skin tone, and the calm version of the Gorgon face makes sense for this vicious nocturnal predator.
Metallic green armor and gauntlets look considerably different from the other Gorgons and only serve to add another excellent design element.
The Boa Constrictor Gorgon has all the great fun of the existing Gorgons and does an excellent job further filling in the Gorgon Horde. A really fun addition.
Accessories
As with most other Gorgons, the Boa Constrictor comes with the skull helmet and long sword, though this figure eschews a shield and sheath for Medusa’s skull spine whip and knife. A nice assortment of cool accessories, for sure.
Like their master, the Boa Constrictor Gorgons are vicious, evil creatures that only serve to add some excellent elements to the quickly growing Gorgon Horde. With a great paint deco, awesome looking tail, and good assortment of weapons, she is a force to be reckoned with and Medusa is only stronger for having them by her side.
Boa Constrictor Gorgon
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
4
Summary
Another great looking Gorgon figure that further enhances the growing Horde of snake warriors. As Medusa’s new personal guard, these night hunters look vicious and come with some great accessories. As with pretty much every Gorgon figure out there, this one is a must have.
The selection of Carla Greer for the FSS is all at once confusing, yet also makes perfect sense, especially as an entry into the 13th figure category.
From 2003 – 2004, Devils’ Due Publishing released an alternate universe G.I. Joe story entitled G.I. Joe: Reloaded which featured Duke as a COBRA double agent, Storm Shadow as a Yakuza looking guy in a white trenchcoat, and a version of Doc who was female rather than the Carl Greer we all knew and loved. It was an interesting twist, and at the time was not a part of normal continuity.
Fast forward to 2007 and the G.I. Joe Collectors Club released the “Tanks for the Memories” Convention set. Within that boxed set, they brought forward the idea that Carla Greer existed in the main G.I. Joe continuity and had elected to join G.I. Joe after the death of her father, the original Doc. It was an interesting way to tap into the Reloaded series and provided the G.I. Joe team with another much needed Medic. For that reason, it does make sense for them to then bring that character forward into the modern format, and to their credit, they do it pretty well.
She’s got a decent build, combining some Rise of COBRA era parts with some nice later generation 25th Anniversary parts, which makes for a good update to the 2007 original. Her elbow articulation is a little restrictive, but she’s got a great look and manages to tie back some homages to the original Doc as well as her own original figure from seven years back.
I believe her head sculpt is new, it isn’t one I immediately recognize, and while it’s not phenomenal, it’s always great to have a new addition to the library of female head sculpts, which are badly needed.
The figure’s paint deco is clearly inspired by both the vintage Doc and the 2007 update, with tan, brown, and white put together in a very nice combination. This is a really solid figure, though not one I thought I desperately needed as part of my collection.
Carla “Doc” Greer borrows much of her gear from her father, including the bandolier with med kit and the flare launcher. She also has the webgear from 50th Anniversary Lady Jaye and the hypodermic needle from Lifeline. It’s a great selection of accessories that really adds some nice design aesthetics when it’s all put on the figure. The darker webgear and lighter bandolier contrast quite nicely with the tan uniform underneath adding some much needed flair.
Note – I somehow misplaced the hypodermic that was supposed to come with Doc, so Fred from JoeBattleLines very kindly allowed me to use some of his images for this review. Thanks, Fred!
I wouldn’t have picked Doc as a necessary figure in the FSS even if you gave me 100 choices, but the execution is decent. She makes sense as a 13th figure, one that has some great collectible elements, but not one that’s eminently desirable, and balances the execution of the figure quite nicely. Not bad.
FSS 4.0 Carla "Doc" Greer
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
3.3
Summary
Not a character I feel like I needed, but executed in a way that makes it a nice addition to the cadre of G.I. Joe medics. She’s got an interesting build, some great (if somewhat derivitive) paint apps and a nice selection of decent accessories. Not a must have, but certainly a nice to have.
Along with the different Action Force focused characters released as European exclusives, one of the more famous and popular branch of UK and Europe released figures were their Tiger Force themed versions. Outside the United States, the Tiger Force color pallet went a decidedly different direction, using oranges, blues, browns and greens rather than the more familiar yellows and blacks. Looking back on it, the orange and brown specifically makes a bit more sense given the whole Tiger Force motif, though the domestic released figures appeared to be paying homage to some real world military themes.
One of the most familiar of these repaints was Tiger Force Outback, who actually developed a whole new t-shirt deco featuring a great looking cat face that has really drawn lots of collector interest over the past several years. It makes sense for the Collectors Club to want to dip into this area of collector desires.
What’s really interesting about how the Collectors Club handled this was that they actually wrote Outback into this look and feel throughout their monthly comic. Making Outback a part of the Zombie Invasion convention set, they had him infected by Compound Z, and while he ultimately recovered, it ended up coloring his hair white (as the foreign version had white hair and a beard as well). Once that revelation appeared in the convention comic, it was pretty clear that this figure was in the works. So now that we have it, how does it measure up?
It measures up… pretty well, I suppose.
I love the concept, and I love that they revisited the UK Tiger Force Outback in a modern format, I just wish they had taken a few more chances with the build. I love the new head sculpt, it’s a great likeness and quite a bit better than the head we got for the 25th Anniversary. It’s fantastic, actually.
The torso is the same torso we got with the 25th Anniversary version, as are the legs, both of which are kind of a shame. I understand why the Club went that route, mostly for the leg-mounted flashlight and the tie back to the original, but at this point, parts developed in 2007 – 2008 look pretty out of date next to more modern sculpted figures. Not only that, but the COBRA Trooper legs tend to look bow-legged. The knee pin on my figure is actually barely holding together, which might color my opinion a little bit too much, but still, looking at Outback’s legs compared to legs sculpted and developed post 2010 is a pretty stark reminder of how far things have come. Thankfully, however, the Club does change out his arms with the more modern 30th Anniversary style short sleeves, which is a change that is very much appreciated, adding some better articulation and range of motion over the old school 25th Anniversary arms.
What the figure does excel at, however, is the deco. The cat face shirt pattern looks terrific, and the color matching of the figure is pretty spot on. He’s a vibrant, interesting looking entry into the FSS, I just wish they hadn’t been quite so faithful to the outdated original with their parts choices.
Accessories
Tiger Force Outback comes with a different sort of webgear that is actually cool, because he can wear it around his shoulders without covering up the awesome cat face. He has a machine gun, large backpack and knife (again with the 25th Anniversary accessories, though. It looks woefully out of scale and out of date compared to newer items).
The accessories are pretty good and work well for the character, though don’t provide anything especially revolutionary.
Ever since his escape from Borovia, Outback has been one of my top tier characters in the Real American Hero mythos. He’s gotten a surprising amount of love throughout the modern era, but none of them have been quite perfect. The Tiger Force version improves most with a vastly improved head sculpt and great shirt deco, but the outdated build once again reduces the “wow” factor that the vintage figure provided.
FSS 4.0 Tiger Force Outback
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
3.2
Summary
Taking the European exclusive Tiger Force decos into a collector themed release is a great idea and the Club executes it fairly well. The paint scheme is good, but unfortunately it’s applied over a mediocre build circa 2008 which does it no favors. I applaud the Club for dipping their toes into more foreign exclusive waters, I just wish they would think a little more outside the box and not feel like they have to be quite so tied to the past, especially when the parts from that era don’t hold a candle to similar parts from post 2010.
Like with Tiger Force Outback, the G.I. Joe Collectors Club looked overseas for an idea on the deco for this particular figure, and I’m really glad they did. In a way, I’ve always preferred the look of the European Tiger Force exclusives over much of the domestic releases (and really loved the aesthetic of the Toys “R” Us set, which mimiced some of that look) and it’s cool to see those decos represented here, even if they don’t really closely match some of the domestic figures.
I found myself especially excited for Sneak Peek considering his recent (well, somewhat recent) run in the IDW G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero comic, which had him coming back from the dead as a top secret undercover operative. Interestingly that storyline tied into a story bringing Darklon back as well, and now both of those characters are appearing in more familiar paint schemes in FSS 5.
Keeping our minds on Tiger Force Sneak Peek, the build is pretty straight forward, looking like more or less the Pursuit of COBRA Shock Trooper from neck to foot. While not unexpected, this kind of default build can get a little tiring after a while, especially when it sidesteps some of Sneak Peek’s more identifiable traits like his rolled up sleeves and knee-high boots. I know, I know, I consistently complain about dovetailing too closely to the vintage look, but in the case of Sneak Peek, it feels like they ignored some of the unique aspects that make him different, instead just giving us more of the same with the Poc Shock Trooper. I’m curious to know if their access to tooling libraries is getting more restrictive, as we’re starting to see more and more figures sharing more and more of the same parts.
Now, don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with the Shock Trooper parts, they have great sculpting and impressive articulation, and look suitably military, but I’m hoping they’re not becoming a crutch and restricting creativity, especially when parts do exist. Sci-Fi’s legs and 50th Anniversary Flint’s arms could both work for a Sneak Peek formula. Perhaps there were restrictions I’m not aware of, though.
Thankfully they appear to be under no restrictions with the color pallet, though, and do a great job with the orange and blue that’s become a trademark of the European Tiger Force clan. The look is great from that perspective, and I love the colorful nature of Sneak Peek. He’s a great looking figure in spite of the somewhat generic build.
Accessories
Sneak Peek comes pretty well loaded with accessories. He’s got a removable helmet and Scrap Iron’s vest, along a newly sculpted and tooled periscope which looks pretty fantastic. He has his trusty M-16, binoculars, and a field radio, all of which mesh nicely with his specialty. It’s a pretty awesome selection of some great accessories that make the figure really pop.
As a character, Sneak Peek never did a whole lot for me until Hama inadvertently brought him back from the dead and added some more intriguing twists to the character. Since then, I’ve become much more of a Sneak Peek fan (even if it was a pseudo retcon on Hama’s part) and I’m glad to see him represented here as well as in the upcoming FSS 5. Plus, it’s about time we started filling out more of the 1987 roster, which was one of the more unique series in the line’s history.
Although the parts chosen here feel a little bit phoned in, the deco is great and they gave him a ton of awesome gear, so the end result is better than I might have suspected. A good note to end FSS 4 on.
FSS 4.0 Tiger Force Sneak Peel
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
3.9
Summary
I’ll always upvote more European exclusives, and thankfully Sneak Peek’s execution is a bit better than Outback’s. The paint deco manages to overshadow some of the blandness of the parts underneath, and the accessory compliment goes a long way towards making Sneak Peek truly great.
Pre-Order the Blanks at BossFightShop – Either Female or Male!
While fans of Vitruvian HACKS wait patiently for the fifth wave of Greek Mythology figures to hit, Boss Fight Studio is continuing to release more product, most recently a new color of Blank figures, Green. Unlike some of the other selections, there doesn’t appear to be any fancy names for this color, it’s just flat out “green” but that’s okay, it’s the figure itself that’s the shining point.
As with all previous blanks, there are female and male selections of this green color, and the design expertise of Boss Fight Studio continues to be at play with the shade of green they use here. It’s a rich and vibrant color, perfect for any number of customs, whether you want to add another Gorgon to your roster, or consider developing some new Emerald Knights to your super hero shelf.
There are some great color combinations available with the green blanks as there are with many others, including black and the Unearthly Green, which adds some real intriguing brightness to the flat, muted tone underneath.
One might think that these green blanks are the same shade as some existing figures, most notably Medusa (both the post and pre-curse variety) but the color hues are just different enough to add some nice variety. They can exist alongside Medusa and still stand out on their own. With the Berzerker Gorgon on the way, and existing green Gorgons already relatively plentiful, the green blank adds some fantastic flexibility to existing parts and allows for some great mixing and matching for new color combinations.
Each blank comes with three heads, three sets of feet (boots, bare, and sandals), two sets of hands (one jointed forward/back, one jointed side-to-side) and the footpeg to help them stand. I could actually see someone producing a full line of just blanks, the fact that Vitruvian HACKS offers them as compliments to a full blown universe and toyline is absolutely amazing.
Not only is the 2016 G.I. Joe Convention “Sky Patrol” themed, but it’s also “Sky Sweeper” themed. The COBRA Hydra in a former life was a G.I. Joe vehicle called the Sky Sweeper. Now, we have this Sky Sweeper, which is an update to the original Rise of Cobra vehicle also called the Sky Sweeper.
Confused yet?
The Rise of Cobra Sky Sweeper was one of my favorite vehicles released in that line, which is surprising since it leverages so many elements from the COBRA Firebat. Obviously the entire core of the vehicle is the Firebat, with the addition of some gun-mount skids and external engines, which honestly make a lot more difference than one might initially suspect. They take an iconic and unique COBRA vehicle and make it look different enough and cool enough to appear completely separate.
Ever since I got my first Terror Drome for Christmas in 1986 I’ve been infatuated with the Firebat. A small, nimble, and potent vehicle, at that time it was one of COBRA’s only real viable air-to-air attack craft. The Rattler was a bomber (though not really treated as such) and the Night Raven was a high altitude surveillance plane, which left the Firebat controlling the skies. The fact that it was small enough to comfortably fit my 12 year old hands and the functionality of the Terror Drome launch silo only helped things. It remains one of my all time favorite vehicles 30 years later.
It’s no surprise then that the G.I. Joe version, with some added enhancements, retains a good deal of the charm and joy of the old school Firebat. The rounded, sleek shape, awesome sculpted armor panels and the fold-up wings all remain intact with this vehicle, but some minor tweaks have greatly improved parts of it, too. Blocky external engines are now mounted on each wing, adding a sense of “oomph” to the vehicle, and in a much more subtle adjustment, sculpted guns on skids enable the vehicle to land more logically and add some great firepower.
Since this is a Sky Patrol version, obviously the main color scheme here is a very vibrant and shiny metallic silver, an especially eye catching and interesting color scheme, balanced off nicely by black trim on the wings and a great shade of olive green throughout. The Sky Patrol logos break up the blank spaces very nicely and I am always in favor of tampos over decals. This version of the Sky Sweeper maintains the spring-loaded missile launchers on the wings, but compliments those with the standard Firebat rockets to offset the gimmick (which really doesn’t look all that gimmicky to be honest).
Speaking of gimmicks, the Collectors Club has fully admitted it was a mere coincidence, but if you wedge the Sky Sweeper between the tail fins of the Sky Striker, it fits in there and holds almost as if it’s meant to. A neat little touch, an homage to the Sky Patrol Night Raven (even though that plane actually didn’t come with its drone), and a way to tie the two air vehicles together. Neat!
The Sky Sweeper is a very fun addition to your Sky Patrol arsenal. It’s a small vehicle with a very pleasing design aesthetic complimented by equally pleasing and vintage themed Sky Patrol colors. I really dig it, in fact, I like this vehicle far more than the Skystriker.
Sky Sweeper
Vehicle Design
Paint Deco
Play Features
4.3
Summary
Using the template from the Rise of Cobra Sky Sweeper, the G.I. Joe Collectors Club gives us a really nice and exciting new vehicle for our Sky Patrol armory. The small and sleek Sky Sweeper is an excellent compliment to the larger Sky Striker, and the very nice color scheme only serves to help things along. Far and away my favorite vehicle of the 2016 Convention Set.
