Direct to Consumer Wave 2 - Salvo
Toy
name: David "Salvo" Hasle
Assortment: Direct-to-Consumer
Wave 2
Price: MSRP $4.99
Availability: September, 2005
Nothing
makes me smile more than seeing some of my 90's favorites getting some new life
breathed into them! And here comes Salvo as he's meant to be instead of his
body being used for yet another Big Brawler clone...go Salvo go!
But how successful is this version of Salvo? Enough for me to hang up the original?
No, not enough to do that, but he's still pretty darn cool in his own right.
Figure Mold
First of all, it's gonna be real tough to overshadow the original Salvo in my mind...he is kind of the epitome of what made those 90's figures great...an unusual but dramatic sculpting style...a determined, military look, and a wealth of great, unusual accessories. He fits the mold perfectly, and this new version takes some nice elements from that.
But we start at a slight downward note...the head sculpt. The sculpting itself looks great, don't get me wrong...he's got that same mean grimace, and he looks the way a soldier should look...but one of Salvo's defining characteristics has always been his bald head. It was a dramatic, striking look for the figure, and really defined who he was well. This new version has a layer of fuzz on his head, and while that really shouldn't be a big deal (I mean is it unusal to expect Salvo to grow a little hair over the past 15 years?) but it is such a defining aspect of the character, that it almost doesn't seem right without it.
In spite of this minor gripe, though, the rest of the figure is pretty darn nice. The Grunt figure has always been one of my favorite new sculpt molds...it's worked almost perfectly in every rendition. So I'm pretty thrilled that they used the bulk of Grunt's mold with this figure here. At first it might seem a little bit scrawny, but with the ripped, muscular look of Grunt's arms here, it really helps him look large and torn up...something Salvo could definitely be from carrying all of that heavy equipment.
The rest of the figure is really in proportion, too, and works well...from the retooled chest to the perfect length legs, this figure fits in with other new sculpts well, but looks different enough to stand out as his own character.
Paint Applications/Color Choices
While Hasbro seems to have taken a page from Salvo's paint apps back in 1990, they do mix it up a little bit, and the result is pretty good, I think. The dark brown shirt works well, and reminds you of the t-shirt worn by him way back when. However, instead of the camouflage pants, we get a dull gray pant color here, which I really don't mind. The colors aren't striking, but they all work nicely together, and the black belt and boots compliments the gray perfectly. The silver plate on his chest stands out well against all of the dull colors, and I love the added "Right of Might" touch on his shirt. Very nice.
Accessories
As has become par for the course with the DTC offerings, Hasbro has turned it up on the accessory front and given us some great ones...a LOT of great ones.
First of all, we start off with the necessities, a MASSIVE missile launcher that would be perfect for Salvo to use to take out pretty much any COBRA vehicle you can think of. This thing is HUGE...it's almost too huge, but it still works well, I think...one of Salvo's trademarks is his insanely oversized rocket launchers, so I think this works for the figure. He also comes with a little submachine gun, wrist gauntlet, and the perfect crowning touch is his helmet. This helmet looks remarkably similar to the cooler than heck one that he came with back in 1990, and it's a perfect update. It tops off the figure nicely and really gives him a "Salvo vibe" when he's got it on. The accessories are nearly perfect here as they are with most of the DTC offerings so far.
Final Comments
A pretty solid update to an old favorite of mine. Not sure it's quite cool enough for me to retire the original yet, but it's a good new sculpt figure and decent enough to warrant a purchase. New sculpt accessories are still the rage in DTC, which I'm happy for. A middle of the road figure, but I like it quite a bit.
Ratings (out of 10)
Character: 8.5
Mold : 8
Paint Apps: 7
Value: 8
Overall score (not an average): 7.75
