G.I. Joe 30th Anniversary Sci-Fi

I know there are people out there who accuse me of loving every single thing that Hasbro does, but truth be told, back in the 80s I absolutely could not STAND Sci-Fi. Neon has never been a blockade for me loving a figure, but uninspired design and a speciality I have no use for have. And Sci-Fi I really had no use for. If you're a Sunbow fan, a laser trooper does nothing, because everyone shoots lasers. If you listen to the filecard or just read the comic, he just pretty much sits there and uses the laser for spotting or for pinpoint destruction, but not in actual combat. The figure was a bit chubby and while it took elements from Robocop, it just was not very good in my opinion. I actually enjoyed the newly sculpted Star Brigade Sci-Fi a lot more.

But then Hasbro to go and release this figure and turn my opinion of Sci-Fi completely on its ass. This newly developed figure obviously retains a lot of the same elements as the classic Sci-Fi, but it has cranked up the bad ass meter to 11.

The new design aesthetics for the recent figures treat Sci-Fi very well, giving him an awesome padded uniform that looks large and bulky, yet has an amazing level of articulation. Of course it is the little touches that make things so great. The removable chest pad is a great touch, as well as the small battery packs that fit into the thigh pouches on each leg. These little things just really spice up a figure that is cool enough as it is, but these added details only make it better. I find it astounding that he actually uses a lot of the Snow Serpent tooling from the 25th Anniversary line. The torso and upper legs are all Snow Serpent, though he appears to have new lower legs and perhaps lower arms? Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Of course, the bright green colors are still intact from the '86 version, yet because of the classic inspiration they do not feel out of place and actually nicely compliment the figure's look. Really awesome.

There were concerns when early released 30th Anniversary and Renegades figures had distinctly fewer accessories than previously thought, but as it turns out in most cases the important gear is still intact. Sci-Fi comes with his removable helmets (two of them) and I love how they are designed. One with his regular, 80's look, and the other with a completely closed visor. He has his familiar (though newly tooled) backpack and a laser rifle that looks as if it was meticulsouly rebuilt from the ground up. It has all of the classic look, but all sorts of awesome modern details. The hose hooks to the backpack and the rifle is easily mounted there.

He doesn't come with a huge overabundance of accessories, but what he does come with is true quality and character specific.

This is a great figure. Hasbro has been doing an amazing job taking figures that I wasn't wild about (Sci-Fi, Airtight, and Lifeline) and making some astoundingly cool new figures out of them. I am truly impressed.

GRADE: