G.I. Joe: Retaliation - Cobra Invasion Storm Shadow

Poor Storm Shadow is going to get a complex.

My last review of a Storm Shadow figure didn't go so well, and resulted in my first "1 star" review in a very long time. Of course when all of my excited fans out there gave me heck for finally giving a toy a bad review, I kindly reminded them that I have given less than stellar reviews before.

Oh, look at that. Another Storm Shadow. Oops.

Truth be told, I really do like Storm Shadow. Heck, both his G.I. Joe: Renegades version and his Wave 1 G.I. Joe: Retaliation version got extremely high marks (for extremely different reasons). Honestly I don't have anything against him!

Well, except this version. This version kinda sucks.

I'm one of those folks who actually really likes the movie universe Storm Shadow. Besides the fact that Lee Byung-Hun is a really effective actor, the cool business suit attire ninja look is actually pretty cool. I know it was first implemented by Devils' Due for their G.I. Joe: Reloaded comic series, and frankly I think it works really well on the comic page and the movie screen. In some previous versions of this character from the Rise of Cobra film, Hasbro moved away from the whole trenchcoat and gave us a figure that was much more poseable. The best of which (in my opinion) being the Paris Pursuit version. Since then, we have gotten different versions of the character, but none of them lacked the spirit of Storm Shadow, or heck even the quality of construction (or lack thereof) like this one.

I'll be honest, I'm not used to complaining about the actual quality of a toy when I'm reviewing G.I. Joe action figures. Besides some paint sloppage, typically these things are made really well these days. Tight joints, no stuck limbs...things just pretty much work. Not with this guy. The hip joints on this figure are so loose, he can barely stand. I'm not sure if this is typical of the figure or if I just got a special one, but if you pick him up, his legs just sort of flop around loosely, and in looking at where the hips meet, they almost look too big for where they are.

The figure has a strange cavity in his back, that I honestly cannot recall the need for, and his color scheme is...well... bland. All white with a some gray trim (including one spot placed directly over his mouth that looks like he drank chocolate milk without taking his mask off first).

All in all I just find this figure boring, uninspired, not very well constructed, and just... unfun. Yes, like the earlier version I reviewed, he has the new wrists, which can be considered a bit of a draw, but not enough of a draw to overshadow the detractions present throughout.

ACCESSORIES

His gear doesn't especially help much either. He has the same backpack as the original 25th Anniversary 30th Anniversary Storm Shadow, with two swords, the compound bow, and a single arrow. They're fine, though nothing spectactular involved here. All weapons we've seen before, and not a whole lot of cool stuff for Storm Shadow to play with. Mostly the same old, same old.

Maybe it's because I removed this figure on the heels of Sgt Airborne, Agent Mouse, Snake Eyes, and Firefly, but compared to all four of these figures, this version of Storm Shadow really falls flat. Certainly there is a load of re-used tooling throughout the G.I. Joe: Retaliation line, but somehow most of those figures manage to do things that remain fresh and interesting. Not here. This figure looks, acts, and feels like a rehash, not unfortunately not a very good one at that.

Hasbro, you can do better.

GRADE: