Sideshow Collectibles - Sideshow Exclusive Beachhead

I will admit right up front, my first experience with Sideshow Collectibles was not optimal. I received their Snake Eyes figure just after release, and while I loved the detail, the articulation, and the concept, I was pretty concerned with fairly loose joints, some serious stitching issues, and other quirks.

Of course, to a 3 3/4" collector who is used to action figures that are "sturdy construction for rugged play" having to adjust my mindset to a more intricate, delicate format was a bit of a tricky proposition. Yes, the Sideshow stuff can be considered "toys", but they are also pretty ornate collectors items that are meant primarily for display.

I am happy to report, though, that since I reviewed Snake Eyes quite a while ago, the quality of the Sideshow items has been getting steadily better, and has reached its peak here with the Exclusive Beachhead figure.

Some characters are built for the Sideshow 12" format, and some are not. Duke, even though I loved the figure, I'm not sure is really designed for this format. His uniform is plain, his accessories are pretty straight forward, and even though I think Sideshow did a great job on the Duke figure, he does have some significant departures from the source material. However, Beachhead is simply made to be done in this larger, more detail oriented format.

By and large, the figure body is the same as previously, with noe notable difference. Suddenly, this figure's knees ratchet. I'm not sure if this was an advertised change, but to this point, the knees had always been smoothly jointed, but with Beachhead, they click in place. On the one hand, this helps keep his legs steady, which is always a good thing. On the other hand, I always cringe a little with every "CLICK CLICK CLICK" of the knee joints and part of me likes the smooth articulation better.

Beach is wearing a commando sweater over camouflage pants, buried under an exceedingly well made flak vest. The vest has a number of working pouches, and a fully functional zipper that closes it neatly below the neck. The pattern of the pants is intricate and very nicely detailed, and as always with these Sideshow figures, holsters, sheaths, and pouches abound. The highlights here are his shin-mounted knife, and the terrific combat pistol that rests at his right hip.

While on the subject of accessories, the vintage Beachhead to his credit, had an awesome miniature crossbow sculpted to his backpack, and now Sideshow runs away with the idea, giving the Ranger a fully removable camouflage patterned crossbow with removable bolts that hook into a great holster on his left leg. Awesome touch. The string actually pulls back and clips into the locked position, and the bolts can be mounted inside. Amazing.

Beachhead also comes with a terrific machine gun that is another state of the art piece of equipment. It has a movable sight, tactical grip, and the magazines, of course, are removable and replacable with the mags in the pouches on his vest.

Like any Sideshow figure, he's got swappable hands for trigger fingers, clenched fists, and if used the right way "Bazooka harassing action".

One thing that more recent releases look to be coming with are swappable boots, too, which allow for more realistic combat poses. That would have been very helpful with Beachhead here, for sure.

Along with the nicely done flak vest, Beachhead also has a very well designed backpack, though it's a bit of a hassle to get on and off. There are some teeny tiny little clips that hook onto equally teeny tiny little clasps on the back of his vest, which are quite tricky to get properly assembled. It's nearly impossible with Beachhead's real fabric beret slipped onto his shoulder as well (also a very nice touch by Sideshow).

Like the other Joes, this Ranger also comes with a full bore 12" scale XMLR laser rifle straight out of the Sunbow cartoon. No matter how many times I get one of these in my hands, I love it. Such a great little Easter Egg.

But of course the real draw for the Sideshow Exclusive figure is the swappable "portrait" or the additional head sculpt. I know many Joe fans sort of scoffed at it when it was first revealed, but you know what? I love it. Beachhead has always been an ornary cuss, and the snarly look on his face is just perfect. The head is sculpted to meticulous detail, with a great overspray of 5 o'clock shadow and hair scruff. His mouth is twisted in a perfect snarl of distaste and the molded beret fits on his head perfectly. Not just the regular head, it also fits nicely on the masked head as well.

This is quality. While the price point still makes these figures somewhat out of reach for many Joe fans (myself included, but for the rare exceptions) I cannot argue that the figures are not worth it. There are so many great details throughout this entire figure. Head to toe, the articulation, the craftsmanship, the design, the execution, and the near perfect displayability of this character cannot be argued. If I have any complaints it's that for every Sideshow figure that I buy, I want three more that I cannot afford.

A great piece here, and still available on Wait List at Sideshow Collectibles! Go get 'im!

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