G.I. Joe Collectors Club "Operation Bear Trap" 2012 Convention Exclusive
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Page Three
The Extras
Page Five
Extras Images

I don't think too many people would argue that the main draw for the boxed set at the Convention in 2012 was the Oktober Guard. They remained high on a lot of want lists throughout recent years, and they were the focus of much attention as the Convention set theme was revealed.

However, with the fans all reacting pretty strongly about the canceled Iron Grenadier multi-pack that was shown at JoeCon a couple of years ago, there were obviously still some feelings for the figures that were to be included there as well. Considering what the Collectors' Club has to work with for tooling dollars, and considering they went all out on the Oktober Guard figures, it made a measure of sense for them to stick to the basics, so to speak, when it came to the Iron Grenadier troopers, and the end result, while somewhat predictable, still ended up pretty fun as well.

Iron Grenadier Trooper

Iron Grenadiers always seemed to come across as your basic shock trooper and ceremonial battle guard for Destro. In 2003 with the Spy Troops line they seemed to make a bit of a jump, eschewing at least some of their ceremony for a more hard-edged battle combat look. In my opinion, the Sigma 6 line really took the next step, using Hellghast and the enemies from Killzone as a very direct inspiration for the new look Iron Grenadiers.

The multi-pack which never made it to retail took that idea and really built upon it, going deep into the Hellghast concept, while still maintaining a strong tie to ceremony. Using much of the G.I. Joe: Resolute Cobra Commander figure (as well as the legs of the original 25th Anniversary Iron Grenadier) this version of Destro's trooper is the boxed set's straight infantry trooper. He is the guy with the boots on the ground, and while he has that Elite edge, he's meant to be in the dirt exchanging fire with the enemy.

No new parts were used in the creation of this figure, and I will fully admit that the Cobra Commander source material has not aged well in the least over the past several years. I wasn't wild about that torso and arms back in 2007, and compared to what we've seen since, it hasn't held up. The elbow joints lack the same range of motion that newer pieces have, and while the overall design of the Resolute update does a good job hiding some of the flaws, the figure comes across somewhat dated, especially next to some of the better Oktober Guard members.

The legs help the matter, as they are very nicely designed, well articulated, and the rich brown color actually looks a lot better in person than it ever did in picture form. I like the tie back to the original 25th Anniversary Iron Grenadiers (which of course were based on the legs of the originals from 1988).

Light gray, red, and brown are very interesting color combinations, giving us a figure that does look the part of an Iron Grenadier, yet is obviously separate from what we're used to. I do like the fact that there is a strong base of black, red, and gold, which are the most familiar Grenadier colors, with enough newer lighter tones to distinguish these more elite troops from the crowd.

The accessories given to this trooper should be exceedingly familiar to any Iron Grenadier fan. He's got the trademark Uzi, pistol, and sword, and the bandolier to slap across his chest. One of the benefits of this new design concept with separate webgear is the ability to take distinguishing characteristics (like the bandolier) and since it's removable, it can be used across the trooper ranks and tie them all together. None of these accessories are ground breaking, but they all add to the overall package and make his allegiance evident.

This figure is good. I suspect that, like many Joe fans out there, had this figure been included in a retail-priced multi-pack for $20 or so, he would get rave reviews. However in a boxed set at the price of Convention exclusives, surrounded by fantastic Oktober Guard figures and other great looking Iron Grenadiers, there is something to be desired.

The old school Cobra Commander parts have not aged well, and his restricted articulation due to the arm choices and the jacket skirt limit his viability somewhat. A decent piece for display, but not the most playable figure out there.

GRADE:

Iron Grenadier Elite Guard

Like his more standard trooper brother, the Elite Guard figure is based off of an older Cobra Commander concept, only what's unique about the Elite is that he uses parts from the G.I. Joe: Resolute Arctic Cobra Commander, a figure that actually never made it to retail! So while technically these parts are not newly tooled, they are still new to Joe collectors, and I'm thrilled the Club was able to get the parts out there.

Of course, when I say "parts" I mean mostly the jacket bottom, since his torso is the same as the old school Cobra Commander, and the arms are from the 25th Anniversary General Hawk, and unfortunately suffer the unique distinction of being perhaps the least poseable arms in the entire 25th Anniversary line. I'm not entirely sure why, but it just seems as if the folds of the jacket were in just the wrong places, and the result is an arm that can barely bend 45 degrees, and is nearly useless for holding a rifle.

The design limitations of the figures at the time the original tooling was done is evident as we have a crazy oversized holster to go along with the arms, but even with those tooling quirks, the figure looks really neat. The paint apps seem obviously inspired by Cobra's Crimson Guard, using red and silver to denote the "Elite Guard" function of this particular trooper. The Destro logo tampoed on the jacket is a fantastic finishing touch. Like the standard trooper mentioned above, the brown boots are a very nice color, much better in person than in initial pictures, and tie the Grenadiers all together nicely, even though they all have pretty different and distinct paint schemes.

Another aspect of the Elite Guard that I'm not crazy about (along with the dated nature of the tooling choices) are his accessories. He comes with the G.I. Joe: Resolute Cobra Commander pistols (one of which fits in his oversized holster) and the G.I. Joe: Resolute Trooper grenade launcher. I'm not especially fond of either weapon really, so the combination of the two leaves me somewhat lacking, especially since the compressed nature of the trigger guard on the pistols means he really can't hold them all that well.

Like the other Grenadiers in the set, he has the removable bandolier, which is a great way to tie the troopers together.

I truly understand and appreciate the spirit of this set, and from a display perspective this figure does look really nice as an arctic Elite Guard for the Iron Grenadier corps. But the truth remains that in 2012 G.I. Joe fans have grown accostamed to much better detail and much better range of motion. As cool as it is getting these unreleased parts into our hands (and from a historical perspective I'm glad they did that) these figures are not quite as functional as I might prefer.

GRADE:

Iron Grenadier - Heavy Weapons Specialist

I've long established that the G.I. Joe: Resolute design for Destro was one of the most inspired re-inventions for a classic G.I. Joe character that I had ever seen, and in toy form, Hasbro managed to replicate the look and feel, yet still make a good toy out of it. A great toy in fact. Of course there are some limitations, specifically with the long jacket and a reduction in leg movement because of it, but the aesthetic greatness of the figure almost totally outweighs any functionality issues. That probably seems odd to say coming from me, considering how much of a proponent I am for articulation, but there are exceptions to every rule.

For this reason, I was ecstatic to see this figure in the cancelled Iron Grenadier multi pack. The whole Hellghast concept I mentioned above is translated to near perfection with this figure, a long, elaborate trench coat complimenting the Iron Grenadier helmet and gas mask, and bringing together a very imposing, very aggressive looking version of Destro's highly trained specialists. The great thing about this figure as well, is even with using some older tooling from 2009/2010, it still works impeccably well alongside newer figures, and doesn't suffer the same range of motion issues, especially in the elbows. The hands fit rifle grips very nicely, and even though the legs cannot move a whole lot, the overall impact of the figure is fantastic.

Another great thing is how multi-faceted this figure becomes. He works flawlessly alongside the G.I. Joe: Resolute Destro, almost becoming a ceremonial bodyguard to that version of the character, but he also works nicely as the heavy weapons specialist he was meant to be within the confines of this set, too. He is just a great update and a terrific compliment in pretty much every way. The Collectors' Club tried to remain pretty close to the spirit of the Iron Grenadier concept here, using dark grays, gold, and black to give us a much darker and more imposing trooper than the other two Iron Grenadier offerings in the boxed set. I'm very glad for that and the figure is far and away my favorite of the trooper figures contained within.

I will readily admit, though, the weapon selection is not my favorite. I don't necessarily mind this figure being relegated a heavy weapons specialist, because I can change out weapons at whim and really make him whatever I want, but the old school heavy machine gun just seems out of date. I understand the idea of an almost steampunk type of heavy weapon, matching the spirit of the figure design, but something a little more modern would have been cool.

The two pistols for the holsters which originally came with the Resolute Destro fit nicely and are both great small weapons to go with a very nice figure.

Without a doubt my favorite Iron Grenadier trooper figure from the Convention boxed set, this Heavy Weapons Specialist is a great new figure, and a great compliment to some existing figures as well. Love it.

GRADE:

Voltar

When we first heard that the Collectors' Club was producing an Oktober Guard/Iron Grenadier set, I never would have even dreamed that they would find some way to make Voltar a part of it. Granted, he's a major part of the Iron Grenadier mythology (even if he's now dead in the Marvel universe) but he's a relatively obscure figure and his design aesthetics don't necessarily lend themselves to a nice modern update.

Well, not only did the Collectors Club buck the trend and include a Voltar, but they also managed to maintain the spirit of his color scheme, with just enough darkening to make it work, yet still look like a great homage to the original. The deep purple color of his base uniform looks surprisingly fantastic over the top of the mixture of Rise of Cobra Accelerator Suit parts and the Pursuit of Cobra Beachhead. This is a perfect example that you don't need to replicate the original formula pricesely to have a successful figure that also portrays an homage to the original. With just the right parts choices and just the right color adjustments, you can make a figure that works really nicely in the modern format, and still fits the theme of the ridiculous original. Amazingly they manage to do this all, and use such great parts that the articulation is fantastic, the detail is great, and even if it were not an homage of something it would be a great looking figure.

Of course the best part of the figure is the newly sculpted head and removable helmet, which both resemble the original Voltar quite well and essentially make this new update what it is.

Speaking of his removable helmet, Voltar comes with a great range of accessories. Resolute Destro's state of the art machine gun is fantastic, though somewhat tough to squirm into his open grasp. Once you get his hand in that hand grip, though, it looks almost perfect.

He also has a great belt with removable sword, and the same pseudo-futuristic gun that Agent Helix came with in the Rise of Cobra line. This all seems a bit too modernized for a figure that is supposed to exist in 1989, but they are great weapons nonetheless. As for the helmet...I am a bit disappointed to say that the helmet does not quite fit perfectly. It's not bad, but it's a little bit too tight for Voltar's distinctive melon, which results in the eyepiece not quite sitting perfectly over the eye. With a bit of squeezing, pushing, and torquing, you can get it at an acceptile level, but I wish it was a bit more flush right out of the box.

But really, besides that relatively minor complaint, this figure is one of the gems of the entire boxed set, if not the best figure included. Stormavik is my favorite Oktober Guard member, Voltar is my favorite Iron Grenadier, and it's probably a foot race as to who is better out of the two. There is a lot to love with each, that is for certain.

GRADE:

Boxed Set - The Consensus

Now that I've discussed every individual figure in the boxed set, how was the set as a whole?

Pretty fantastic. It was really awesome to go back in time so to speak and recreate the days of the Oktober Guard using some newer figure parts and some very creative ideas. The injection of new blood in the form of General Iron Bear (a character we are now free to use in our current universe) and fantastic updates to some of our favorite Russian Spec Ops troopers gave us some of the most hotly desired figures, Convention or otherwise, in a long time.

For some folks this wasn't a sign of satisfaction, but a source of much discontent, and to those people I apologize if my excitement for new toys on a toy review website is cause for concern. Ultimately, though, the Club's job is to promote attendance at their conventions, and I think this boxed set went a very long way to making attendees feel like the trip was worth it and the toys were pretty excellent.

Highlights of the set were, in my eyes, Stormavik and Voltar with Horror Show, Brekhov, and Daina very close behind. Iron Bear was surprisingly excellent, while Schrage was decent, just not a "wow" to me. The Iron Grenadier Troopers of various shapes and sizes offered a great look into an unproduced concept and helped us build up our modern style Iron Grenadier armies nicely.

Something not many folks seem to talk about, too, is the comic. An excellent comic this time around as well. It managed to fit fairly seamlessly into the old Marvel Universe, yet still brought enough cool new concepts to the table. A great set this year, and easily in the Top 3 or 4 for Con sets in my mind. Kudos for this one, Collectors Club.

Darklon

Along with Voltar, Darklon was another character I somehow doubted the Club would include in the convention set, both because of cost reasons and because I couldn't quite figure out how they would approximate the classic look. Well they managed to accomplish both.

Evidently resigned to the fact that they really couldn't replicate classic Darklon's look exactly, the Collectors' Club decided to use it as a vague inspiration and just build upon it. The idea of using Pursuit of Cobra Firefly's tooling is great, I think. The various different armor and textures throughout the figure make it a natural fit for Darklon's bizarre uniform design, and also allow for plenty of tie backs to the classic look beneath the layered armor.

I will admit the countered torso feels like it could use a little bit more green, but it also works as a close-fitting armored vest which not only fits the look of this particular figure, but also works nicely for an Iron Grenadier character who would conceivable have some state of the art technology. The figure is slender and very poseable, something we've grown used to with the Pursuit of Cobra body style, and even though the entire figure from the neck down is a familiar one, I can't help but really appreciate what the Club has done with it.

The new head sculpt looks like almost a pure retool of Darklon's classic head, just modified to fit the newer style body, but that works well, too. Part of me would have loved to have seen a 21st century sculptor go to town on a new Darklon mask that uses the old one as inspiration, but I can appreciate the classic look, especially considering this figure represents a character from 1989 as it is.

Paint colors are really the main homage point here, though. If you look at the figure part choices, while they are good, they really do not make you think about the '89 figure, but once the Club puts the right coats of paint on it, he comes alive nicely. The green is a perfect shade, as is the purple on his pants. The tan is just right, too. As I mentioned earlier in the review, the black almost seems overwhelming, but there are still enough splashes of new color to make the figure pop.

The Collectors' Club didn't even really bother to find a weapon that replicated the bizarre chain gun that the original Darklon came with, but that's fine with me in all honesty. I really like the 25th Anniversary Zartan sniper rifle, and the Rise of Cobra Shipwreck underwater machine gun is cool enough, too. The Club elected to use the Marauders Taurus webgear, which is cool and adds some nice shoulder pads, though I do find the belt rides pretty high and doesn't really blend with the rest of the figure perfectly. Also, instead of the larger revolver that fits in the holster naturally, we got a much smaller pistol, which does fit, but it doesn't seem like it belongs.

Not a bad compliment of weapons, all told.

For absolutely no reason whatsoever, Darklon is a character and an old school figure that I absolutely love. I was a huge fan of the Evader back in the day, I loved the look and feel of the character, and the fact that his backstory was relatively unexplored made him ripe for future use. I remember being really upset when it seemed as though Larry Hama killed him off in the old Marvel days, but he's back now, and I'm thrilled to have a modern figure for him. By and large the figure is quite successful at maintaining the spirit of the original, while building on it enough to make something new and exciting, which as the main goal of the product the Club produces, makes for another great offering.

GRADE:

Sergeant Major

Another figure which totally came out of left field in my mind was a plastic version of a character that had never been seen in plastic form before... Destro's venerable right-hand man and Iron Grenadier field leader, Sergeant Major. Yet another seemingly minor character that Larry Hama included in the comics to put a name to one of the many faces in the crowd, Sergeant Major has been someone that collectors have wanted to see for a long time, but never really had the stature that demanded Hasbro release him.

So the Collectors' Club made their move, and in spite of an amazingly simple formula, nailed a really nice looking figure.

Like the Heavy Weapons Iron Grenadiers and Resolute Destro, Sergeant Major has the very cool long jacket, which does restrict leg articulation, but almost makes up for it just by looking as bad ass as he does. Where Destro was in a dark blue and the Iron Grenadiers were more gray, Sergeant Major goes for straight-up black with red trim, and I love it. This figure just looks spectacular in these darker colors. The two holsters hold twin pistols and even though this is essentially Resolute Destro/Rise of Cobra Sgt. Stone all mashed together (with some nice gray hair thrown in) the figure really resonates.

The weapon selection for Sergeant Major is pretty great as well. He has the familiar Iron Grenadier bandolier just to tie him in with the rest of the team, he has the two pistols, and the awesome machine gun that G.I. Joe: Pursuit of Cobra Shock Trooper originally came with. The included sword is really awesome, too, though to get him to hold it, you have to take apart the handle a little bit:

Sergeant Major was an extremely unexpected figure to be included in the attendee exclusive 2-pack, but he is a very welcome addition and I am psyched to add him to my Iron Grenadier ranks. The formula is very simple and straight forward, but the execution is terrific.

GRADE:

Annihilator

The Collectors Club has to walk a fine line sometimes...they seem to enjoy paying tribute to some of the more obscure late 80's/early 90's figures and characters, but collectors have long held a grudge against figures with bright colors. I can think of no better example than the Annihilator. G.I. Joe collectors seem to be clamoring for Hasbro to make updates to many of these classic characters, yet they do not hesitate to complain about neon colors and overly bright figures ruining the "realistic" aesthetic of the G.I. Joe brand.

The Collectors' Club manages to bridge the gap fairly nicely, giving us a figure that certainly resembles the old school Annihilator, but is not a 100% faithful retread. The problem with the figure is, I think while it does a decent job capturing the spirit of the original Annihilator, it manages to miss a lot of the coolness of that figure.

For the base figure the Club elected to use several parts of the 25th Anniversary Air-Viper (Strato-Viper). The torso and upper legs are different (both coming from the Boxed Set animated Snake Eyes, I believe) but the arms and lower legs are Air-Vipers, with Lamprey's head of course. That's not bad, necessarily, but like many other 25th Anniverary figures, Annihilator's arms don't bend nearly as much as I'd like them to, especially since he's supposed to be piloting his backpack helicopter. The pose is servicable enough to work, but not quite as poseable as I would like. Another issue is that the Air-Viper's hands seem to hold very odd shapes. The left hand really cannot hold the machine gun that the figure comes with, and while the right hand can hold it okay, because of the trigger guard, it does not look like a realistic weapon-firing grip. A lot of these complaints probably sound minor, but I think it just goes to show how far Hasbro has come over the past few years, and how specific our expectations now are based on revolutionary new toy design techniques.

I have long admitted that the Annihilator is one of my favorite Iron Grenadier figures. I love how flexible he is, I really like the texture and design of the suit he wore, and unfortunately this update just doesn't live up to what I considered fantastic source material. It's tough to say if any update could, though, because it would almost need a totally newly tooled figure and obviously the Club can't do that, and I strongly doubt Hasbro would do that.

Looking at the paint applications for Annihilator, the Club used the original as a template, but they elected to forego the super-bright orange and go with a golden bronze instead, which not only tones the colors down a bit, but also blends better with the rest of the Iron Grenadiers as a happy side effect. The semi-translucent mask is certainly interesting, but I actually think I would have preferred it to be totally opaque. Really, though, these are nitpicks for the paint apps, and I think the Club did fantastic work honoring the colors of the original, yet maintaining at least a minor sense of realism that current Joe fans demand.

Really, the accessories were pretty much a no brainer. Back in the 25th Anniversary Hasbro released a Matt Trakker figure, and as an homage, they gave us Annihilator's helicopter backpack and submachine gun, so it seemed to only be a matter of time before we got them somewhere else. The Club also elected to use the Strato-Viper vest to simulate the pattern of the original Annihilator, and it works to a degree, though it's not perfect. The multiple belts kind of clash with each other as well and don't flow quite as nicely as I might like.

Upon reading this review, you might think I hate this Annihilator update, but that is truly not the case. I just hold the original figure to very high regard, and I think the Club didn't really capture the best parts of it. Combine that with the fact that the figure is all 25th Anniversary parts, which are starting to look a little dated already, and you have a figure that just doesn't rank really high on my list, especially compared to all of these other excellent offerings within the same Convention set. But for those Iron Grenadier fans (like myself) this might be the best we're going to get.

GRADE:

Extra Figure Sets - The Consensus

In many cases throughout previous conventions, the Attendee Exclusive figure sets have actually been the highlight of the show. In 2005 the Steel Brigade figures almost overwhelmed my love of the Iron Grenadiers, and in 2007 the Starduster and Grand Slam figures were the best of the whole Convention. While I'm not sure the Iron Grenadier multi-packs here quite outweigh the sheer coolness of Voltar and the entire Oktober Guard team, it's a pretty close race, and there are some excellent things throughout both the 2-pack and the 3-pack. Annihilator left me a bit cold, I will admit, but the two pack with Darklon and Sergeant Major is full of awesome, and was truly an item I was very happy to acquire in New Orleans.

Great stuff by the Club.

Page Three
The Extras
Page Five
Extras Images

Page Three
The Extras
Page Five
Extras Images