G.I. Joe: Resolute - Firefly

Though Firefly only appeared in about thirty seconds of the G.I. Joe: Resolute animated feature, the popularity of the character and the uniqueness of his new appearence dictated that he get the toy treatment somewhere down the line. In fact, many fans argued that Firefly had already been produced as a toy at some point, considering Sgt. Flash's very vague look in comparison to the Resolute design.

Personally, I always felt like the original Toys "R" Us exclusive version was Hasbro's way of paying homage to the Resolute look...in the end, Hasbro took both figures and kind of smooshed them, then built an entirely new vest to make it all come together. The end result is a figure that doesn't break any barriers, but is still very cool just the same.

I absolutely loved the Rise of Cobra TRU Exclusive Firefly figure. Using the Resolute Cobra Trooper as the base with the masked head and Airborne's vest was, at the time, an ingenious combination of parts that redefined the Cobra Saboteur for the next generation of G.I. Joe.

Firefly has always been a very popular character, and has been a mainstay throughout the Joe line, perfectly exemplifying the "Boba Fett" syndrome. He was immensely popular when folks knew nothing about him, but as Larry Hama unpeeled his layers a bit, some folks didn't like what they saw underneath.

Still, fans can ignore what they don't like, and when it comes to a masked saboteur who likes to blow crap up, they'll take what they can get. This version of Firefly certainly fits that bill. Using the Resolute Trooper figure base (as the TRU exclusive did) with the head from the Rise of Cobra Sgt. Flash, you get a pretty basic masked trooper figure. Nothing ground breaking or amazing. The light gray color really does give off a nice "animated" vibe, with just the right touches of metallic silver and brown to break up the dullness of the uniform.

Of course, as with most of the Resolute offerings in these two seven packs, though, where Firefly really shines is his accessory compliment. Immediately you notice the rocket launcher, culled from the Resolute 5-Pack, and exactly where it should be, considering that's Firefly's primary weapon in the single scene he appears in.

He also comes armed with the Cobra Trooper submachine gun, and the awesomely newly tooled backpack that's a great throwback to the original.

But of course, it's the vest that rules the day.

With absolutely astounding detail, Hasbro designers sculpted a fantastic blast suit for Firefly with a shoulder strap and belt that is truly amazing. I continue to be so impressed with the level of artistic quality that Hasbro sculptors can achieve at such a small scale. It's quite obvious that this material is a leathery protective shield, with the right sculpted seams, wrinkles, and buckles. As if the sculpted vest wasn't cool enough, too, a nicely concealed sheath at the small of his back hides a removable knife. Fantastic.

Like many of the other Resolute offerings, Firefly uses mostly reused parts, but uses them in a creative way. Great paint applications bring those parts together and plant them firmly in the Resolute universe, and then the figure is topped off by a great secondary vest that just completes the package perfectly. A terrific formula that works remarkably well throughout both of these sets.

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