G.I. Joe Convention 2013 - Nocturnal Fire Night Force Lady Jaye

I'm not sure what I'm more excited about, the fact that this is a pretty good new Lady Jaye, or what this figure represents about product we might see from the Collectors' Club going forward.

As pretty much every G.I. Joe fan knows my now, Hasbro revealed a mind-blowing "concept case" last year at the G.I. Joe Convention in New Orleans. It was chock full of figures that had made it through some part of the production process, but for whatever reason didn't make final release. These figures included a fantastic new Hit & Run, HEAT Viper, Beachhead, Flint, and many others. Included within them was a new Lady Jaye.

So excited by this concept case were we that both HissTank.com and myself organized fan feedback surveys to gauge interest in these items, and the response was fantastic. So here we are, less than a year later, and the very same Lady Jaye that was in that concept case is here in a convention set. Well, construction-wise she's the same...this version is in gray and black Night Force colors rather than the traditional uniform, but I think that's a pretty minor issue personally.

I will admit, this figure isn't quite as impressive to me as some other concept case figures, but I find myself more excited by what this figure represents...her inclusion in the convention set shows that Hasbro doesn't mind letting the Club have access to this tooling and these figure concepts, and that even if Hasbro isn't going to invest lots of time and money into the concept case figures, at least there's a good chance the Collectors Club will.

This version of Lady Jaye came carded at the Convention, and was included, I imagine, to give folks something to have Mary McDonald-Lewis sign. It just so happens the figure is pretty nice as well. She has a brand new head sculpt, the 25th Anniversary Lady Jaye torso, the updated 5-Pack Lady Jaye arms, and Cobra Shock Trooper legs. Upon first glance I wasn't really sure about this, since I think sculpting has come a long way since the 25th Anniversary. I wasn't sure why this torso was used instead of the updated 5-Pack torso, which already worked pretty nicely on Freestyle. But I understand they were trying to mimick the old school Lady Jaye look, which is... well... surprisingly a bit more "busty" than the updated version.

Lady Jaye goes back to the ballcap look for this figure, which works fine for me, considering we already have a few versions now without the cap, and the goal here was vintage figure accuracy. The articulation in this figure is actually very nice. I had concerns initially about her elbows, but a little extra "oomph" and they actually bend very nicely. The Shock Trooper legs add some good bulk to the figure, but really don't look overly large as I was also concerned they might. The paint job is somewhat drab, without much added detail. The medal on her chest is unpainted, as is the belt and other smaller trim bits throughout the figure. But I can appreciate the Club's desire to shave some costs, considering they probably figured most folks would leave the figure carded with Mary Mac's signature intact.

All in all, the new head sculpt is pretty nice, and over the few days that I've had this figure in hand now, I've grown more and more impressed with it, and think she makes for a terrific G.I. Joe: Resolute version of Lady Jaye, fitting in with that Flint quite nicely, thank you.

ACCESSORIES

As with Freestyle, I'm not entirely sure why Lady Jaye's accessories have that gold-ish color, other than as a strange tribute to Night Force. I love her machine gun, and I can understand why they included the javelin, even if I'm not certain I'll ever use it. I really dig her updated webgear, too, which looks to be a totally newly developed piece of gear. It simulates the twin straps down the front of her uniform, but also provides some reinforcement and tactical protection to her as well. Not very many accessories, but the ones she comes with are pretty great. Have I said lately how much I love that rifle?

My initial reaction was somewhat mixed on this figure, but as I've gotten her in hand for the review, she has really grown on me. Better articulation than she initially looks, some really nice updated sculpting on the head, and even though it's not traditional, I like her Night Force paint deco as well. A cool idea by the Club to get something out there for signature at the Convention, while adding a new element to Night Force and bringing us something from the concept case as well. This one is a winner, all around. Not quite as impressive and state-of-the-art as figures like Repeater or Muskrat, but she holds her own okay.

GRADE: