G.I. Joe vs. Cobra - General Tomahawk

I get the impression that a lot of folks didn’t really care for the 2000 version of my namesake, General Tomahawk.  In all honesty I am not sure why, whether it is because of the odd name change, or if it’s because of paintwipes and marbleized plastic.  In any case, what folks don’t like about the original version, I think were really fixed in the current version.

Since Wave 1, you can see a visible difference in the thickness and prevelance of the paint wipe technique.  While it was pretty widely used in the first wave, it has slowly faded away up until this point.  As far as I can tell, Wave 1.5 is pretty much paintwipe free, which is fine with me, although I didn’t necessarily have anything against them in the first place.  However, I will admit that the removal of this technique really makes the base colors of these figures stand out, and this one is no different.  His tannish/brown jacket and light gray pants really show up well and really make this figure stand out nicely.  This is General (Toma)Hawk as he should look! 

He now pretty closely resembles the original Talking Battle Commander version, only without the fake-tan look and in a more subdued hue.  I can see this version of General Tomahawk leading his troops into battle or sitting behind the desk, whichever he might be doing at the time.

But really, it’s the little touches that make this figure pretty cool.  That kind of unpolished silver on the grenades…the little G.I. Joe logo on the shoulder.  He even has reflective paint on his sunglasses, making them really look like reflective sunglasses.  It seems Hasbro went all out for the paint schemes on Wave 1.5 in general, and this figure in particular.

There are some odd choices that Hasbro did make, however…I’m not sure exactly where they got the idea for the aqua green straps and holsters…it’s not a BAD color per se, but after the solid, dominant tan and gray, I could think of many better colors than teal.  Still, the color is muted enough to barely be noticed, and the overall figure is nice enough to replace my 2000 version.  Heck, he even has relatively decent accessories.  Sure, he’s got that same backpack and rifle that everyone and their mother comes with, but you gotta love that scoped pistol…it’s a great addition to a great figure!