Powderkeg is one of the figures that I never had as a kid, and quite honestly never paid much attention to. Any packaged picture I saw showed me a guy crammed in strange armor defusing a bomb, and really, that didn't impress me all that much. When I finally did get him off of eBay, it was in a lot with a few other figures, and as soon as I opened them all, Powderkeg immediately outshined them all. He's a hidden gem in the C.O.P.S. line and one of my favorite figures of the series.

Even without his armor, I really love how he looks, straight forward and simple as it is. He wears a fairly standard police type uniform, but nicely patterned to give it a modern edge. The row of buttons is a cool touch as well, especially with the splash of silver down them as there is...shows some serious effort being put in, even for a figure who should spend most of his time suited up. Powderkeg, even without his armor, is a large figure and a big character, and this all suits his specialty perfectly. His legs are like tree trunks, and I love the design of his boots and gloves. They're armored and somewhat stocky, so even outside of his suit of armor, he's got some nice added detail that makes him look at least somewhat different than your run of the mill C.O.P.

Powderkeg's colors are pretty straight forward, but also very cool. A dark gunmetal gray adorns his uniform, which I love, and surprisingly it compliments the red of his gloves and boots perfectly. The little touches of silver on the straps on his legs are nice additions, too, and again, even without his elaborate armor, Powderkeg is a respectable figure.

It's his accessories, though, that really "make the man" here. Powderkeg is loaded with 'em.

As a member of the bomb squad, he's gotta come with a protective suit, and he definitely does. A strap-on slab of chest armor goes over his torso and fastens securely. The leg armor snaps onto his legs in two different pieces, one upper and one lower, which gives him a nice solid layer of protection without sacrificing articulation. His arms stay "bare" but the normal detailing of them gives the impression of a layer of armor, anyway, so that doesn't matter much.

Now Powderkeg also comes with a terrific, elaborate helmet, that has several layers of protection with a flip down double-visor and several different looks each with its own level of coolness. He also comes with a very neat, simple baseball cap for those times when he doesn't need to defuse a bomb. There is also a large, clear, "cap-firing" bomb disposal unit, designed to contain the bomb that he finds and set it off without harming anyone. This is one of the more ingenius methods of integrating a cap-firing mechanism, and works very nicely. Powderkeg also comes with said "bomb" in the form of a briefcase, which, when shut, actually can function just as a briefcase, and add another, more normal, accessory to the mix. A grenade is also thrown in there, and as if that all wasn't enough, Powderkeg also gets a very, very cool western-style pump-action shotgun. I mean really...come on. Is there anything this guy DOESN'T come with? It's very cool to see him loaded up with all of his gear, yet if you want a more simple look, dropping the armor and sticking with a baseball hat and shotgun gives him a great look, too. This figure is very versatile.

Easily one of my favorite figures of series 2, and in the running for one of my favorite figures overall, I cannot recommend Powderkeg enough. He's not well known, and he can be somewhat tricky to find, but if you do, snap him up, because he's worth it. A great figure with loads of very cool accessories.