Direct to Consumer Wave 2 - Major Bludd
Toy
name: Major Bludd
Assortment: Direct-to-Consumer
Wave 2
Price: MSRP $4.99
Availability: September, 2005
If
you ask pretty much any Joe fan out there right now which COBRA figure is the
most in need of an update, I can almost guarantee you that 85% of folks would
put Major Bludd high on that list. The fact that he hasn't gotten a new sculpt
update until now is very surprising to me...but I'm almost glad Hasbro waited
until the DTC line was around, because we ended up getting a pretty decent upgrade
to the classic figure in almost every way.
Figure Mold
It becomes obvious right off the bat that Major Bludd is based heavily on Blackout's figure from Spy Troops, which actually makes me pretty happy, because it's a decent figure as it is. Pretty much the biggest flaw with Blackout was with his monkey-arms, but since Bludd has the JvC Firefly's arms, that point is rendered moot.
Starting off with the head sculpt, I can immediately see that this Major Bludd is going to be flat out cool. His mean gaze immediately glares out through his eye patch and the widow's peak hairstyle makes him look evil and menacing as he should. It is a GREAT head sculpt and you can immediately tell who this is, straight off the bat. I love the moustache and tiny little goatee addition, too...brings the character to life in a great way.
The torso mold works well, too, looking imposing and fully equipped, and this uniform look travels down to his legs, too. Even Blackout's webbelt is present here, which is great, because it was one of the better aspects of that figure. The working holster is gravy on an already tasty turkey, and the figure looks great with it. His arms are nicely played, too. There's always been a big debate as to whether or not Bludd had an artificial arm or merely armor over it to protect him from his rocket gun. Well, this look can kind of please both sides of the debate. He has armor plating on both forearms and loose gloves. so you can have it whichever way you choose.
Paint Applications/Color Choices
The name of the game in color schemes so far with Wave 2 has kind of been "bland". Lots of browns, lots of greens, lots of normal, ordinary, non-splashy colors. Well, Bludd picks up this theme, but it works well for him. His familiar colors have always been dark, dark brown and black, so the combination works well here. But they've kicked this figure up a notch, too, but giving him some great gold tainted armor trimmings, and an almost rusty metal to the grenades and such. You end up with a very realistic set of colors that, while somewhat bland conceptually, end up looking terrific together.
Accessories
Honestly, like most of the other figures in this wave Bludd's accessory compliment, is pretty darn good, although it treads the line of realism somewhat. His helmet and scarf are an incredible combination. The helmet looks perfect and the red scarf is something that no one has really thought of for Bludd, but it looks striking among his brown uniform and works surprisingly flawlessly. A great, great idea.
The rocket weapon this time around looks more like a shotgun format than the earlier attack pistol...it still looks pretty unrealistic, although at least it's a little bit more possible than the pistol was. It's a bizarre looking combination, but has some pretty awesome potential, I think. I really dig the tactical look of the shotgun, and combined with that funky top-mounted rocket launcher it's a freaky, but plausible weapon for a COBRA mercenary to tote around. His pistol finishes off the look perfectly, and fits in the holster well...better than the original weapon meant for it even did!
Final Comments
A great update to the venerable COBRA Mercenary. All of the aspects of the original, but souped up nicely for the modern day. He looks as I would imagine Major Bludd to look, and is high among my favorite DTC figures so far. A great, great update to a cool character and a figure I'd love to find some uses for.
Ratings (out of 10)
Character: 9
Mold : 7.75
Paint Apps: 8
Value: 8
Overall score (not an average): 8.5
