You can definitely tell where the line was drawn between series 1 and series 2 of the C.O.P.S. line, and it's actually pretty similar to the 80's and 90's of the G.I. Joe line. It started off very classicly themed, very old school, very retro and authentic, and then ended up quite ultra-modern, almost futuristic, beefed up, and over the top. Well, I actually love that over the top aspect from the 90's era of G.I. Joe, and same goes for series 2 of C.O.P.S. They are a little bulkier, more elaborate, and much more "larger than life" and ultimately, I think are still very successful (although evidently the buying public did not agree). They are a lot more colorful the second time around as well, and with mixed results.

Airwave is the first figure from Series 2 that I'll cover, and as a basic figure, I like him a lot. He unfortunately starts off a little weird...the face and head sculpt look odd, with squinty eyes and a strange facial expression. However, the rest of the figure is very cool from neck to toes and really looks cool mixed in with the rest of Series 2. As the Communications officer, Airwave has an almost military aspect to him. We start off with a nice thick turtleneck military-esque sweater/shirt that immediately gives him almost a special ops kind of look. The leathery brown shoulder pad/chest strap looks great as well, and gives the badge a place to sit and the pouches look good as well. The figure is detailed all over the place, with a nice tech-oriented communicator on his left forearm and his right thigh. Each of his belts has all sorts of pouches, and his right boot is nicely adorned, too. All in all, there are a lot of nice, small little details everywhere and it shows a nice level of craftsmanship.

The colors are also pretty effective, with a dark, dark blue sweater, white pants and nice hints of silver for his tech gear. An aforementioned shoulder strap wraps up around the shoulder and goes across the chest and is a nice, realistic leather hue. All in all, the colors are bright, but realistic, and appealing.

It also becomes quickly evident that Hasbro is putting a heavy emphasis on accessories for series 2, even moreso than the first wave of figures. Airwave starts off with a very, very cool battle/communications helmet that is loaded with technological paraphenalia and design. The extended scopes over one eye is an awesome touch and the comm microphone works seamlessly. The whole helmet just looks like it fits in place and works perfect. His cap-firing weapon is in the form of a cylindrical backpack helicopter with a zipline that spins the blades. While the backpack doesn't look all that great, it's a very cool concept, and I can really get behind the idea of him flying through the rooftops, monitoring an assault down on the street. His accessory compliment is topped off by a nice communicator/walkie talkie and a very cool little pistol that slips easily into a holster on his left thigh. The accessories are all very cool and work nicely in the communications officer aspect.

I'm a big fan of the understated second series of C.O.P.S. and this figure is a great example why. The good thing about these figures is that they're very affordable on the secondary market and a lot of them are as cool as, if not cooler than, the first series of figures. If you can get past the iconic characters of the first series and get to just plain good action figures, series 2 can offer you some great things for a great price.