G.I. Joe: Retaliation - Storm Shadow

A recurring theme throughout these reviews has been some comparisons to the recently revealed Amazon.com 4-Pack as well as the upcoming Ninja Showdown and Dojo Battle 3-Packs that I had a chance to review a short while ago. One thing Hasbro seems to be doing is getting out various versions of the core characters, with some added perks for the multi-packs. Snake Eyes gets his webgear, Cobra Commander in black...various changes that many folks considered improvements.

Well, I'm happy to report that this single pack version of Storm Shadow is just as kick ass as the other versions, and I can't think of any major reasons to recommend others over the single pack.

As I mentioned quite a bit in my Cobra Trooper review, I am loving this 90's era or new sculpt era design concept, with the layered bodysuits, the armor and a somewhat futuristic "comic book" look to the characters. I can't think of any characters this fits better than Storm Shadow. He simply looks incredible here. I can't accurately explain or describe exactly why I love this Storm Shadow so much. I think it's the unique combination of futuristic sleek-body suit and traditional martial arts. Hasbro manages to make a figure that looks awesome in a 21st Century Aesthetic, but doesn't look so crazy futuristic that he sticks out among more current releases.

The sleek and nicely shaped torso with the padded detailing looks really cool, and I love the popped collar, too. Very subtle strapping over the shoulders, around the arms, and down through the legs adds detail, but doesn't hinder movement or articulation. He's got great silver trim on his shins and knees and just the right hints of light gray throughout the rest. There's enough armor to look protective, but not so much that he looks encombered. I just love the looks of this figure.

Like Snake Eyes, his articulation has not been sacrificed one iota. He's got the full range of motion everywhere, including multi-jointed wrists and ankles as well as the double-joint knees. This figure is really awesome.

Like many of these Wave 1 Retaliation figures, Storm Shadow's accessory compliment is mostly made up of his crazy spring-loaded zipline stuff, which is pretty fun, but still looks a bit out there. Storm Shadow's launcher is sort of shaped like a jetpack, and it has various handles that Storm Shadow can hold on to when sliding down the zipline or roaring up it.

Beyond the launcher and hook he has just a pair of swords and a very cool understated sheath for his back that is quite small and out of the way, yet holds his weapons perfectly.

Like many other wave 1 figures, he doesn't have very many accessories, and he's loaded with the spring-launchers, but at this point I've got a metric ton of weapons I can loan him.

While I will always love the 30th Anniversary Storm Shadow and can find zero fault with that figure, this version is an awesomely new take on the venerable Cobra ninja, and for that I love this figure in entirely different ways. He has barely any accessories to speak of, but is amazingly flexible, extremely cool to look at, and excudes 90's and new sculpt era awesomeness with the new construction. I can find very little to complain about here.

GRADE:

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