G.I. Joe: Retaliation - Flint (Wave 2)

It almost seems like poor Dash Fairborne is getting the short end of the stick as months lead up to the film launch at the end of March. He hasn't appeared in many promotional materials, including the official calendar, and at first glance, his action figure is nothing but a Wave 1 Duke repaint with PoC Jungle Duke webgear.

Certainly Flint deserves better, right? Rumors are early drafts of the script actually had Flint taking the leadership role until Dwayne Johnson came in as Roadblock and turned the whole thing on its ear...so why is there such a small focus on such an integral character?

Well, from an action figure standpoint, Flint fans have only a little while to wait, as a much better Flint figure looks poised to hit retail later on this year. Fans at JoeCon got the briefest glimpse of it before it was snatched away, but it helped alleviate a lot of fears that Flint was not going to get his due when it came to a movie accurate action figure. The real disappointment isn't just that this is merely a repaint, but that it's a repaint of a somewhat sub standard figure. Using the strange Duke figure from Wave 1 as a template, with no swivel ankles and no double joint knees, the base figure has its own share of questions, none of them really answered for this Flint.

The paint applications for Flint seem to do their best to mask the strange layered armor of Duke, but don't quite hide it completely. The camouflage pattern painted throughout Flint's uniform is actually really nice tiger stripe deco, though far from movie accurate. Going with various shades of very light green and gray, I'm not entirely sure what environment Flint is designed to blend into, but the pattern itself is actually fairly well done. The sculpted chest armor is detailed pretty well, with some dark straps around the torso. One bright spot here, too, is the white underneath each arm, which brightens up the figure and makes him stand out nicely.

Hasbro did spring for a new head sculpt with removable beret which is cool enough, except the head is a little on the large side for a slimmer action figure and doesn't really mesh with the rest of the toy all that well. From the looks of things, the same head sculpt is destined to be used for a second version of G.I. Joe: Retaliation Flint in a later wave, and it looks to fare much better the second time around.

ACCESSORIES

Flint comes with the same webgear as the Pursuit of Cobra Jungle Strike Duke, and it does a decent job hiding the strange techno-armor that the figure is wearing. His removable beret fits quite well, and I'm glad they designed it that way, since from all appearances Flint runs around most of the film without it. He also comes with an assault rifle, a machete for his sheath, and the somewhat out of place laser pistol that a few other figures have come with, too. The figure is topped off by yet another wacky string-riding device, the same mold that comes with Storm Shadow. It can be somewhat played off as a jetpack, but doesn't work especially well in that regard either.

The original Wave 1 Duke isn't a bad figure necessarily, but some reduced articulation and a really weird armor design makes it one of the worst figures of the first wave. A very nice camouflage pattern attempts to redeem Flint for Wave 2, but doesn't meet the mark either. He's not a terrible figure, but certainly doesn't meet the lofty expectations of others like Roadblock, Snake Eyes, or even Firefly in this wave.

Even for you desperate Flint fans, I strongly recommend waiting for his second version to appear.

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