G.I. Joe vs. Cobra - Desert CLAWS

Was it only a few months ago that I was reviewing the new Wave 1 G.I. Joe figures and writing about all the controversy surrounding them. The bulky, stocky molds...the missing O-Rings, the mammoth shoulders. Wow, how far as Hasbro come since then?

You wouldn't know it by looking at this guy. The C.L.A.W.S. figure exemplifies everything that bugged people about the first Wave of these new Joe figures, and now that I've seen what Wave 2 is capable of, I can see why people were so upset about those figures.

I'm not backpedaling, honest! :) For what they were, I still think the Wave 1 figures were a huge step for Hasbro. They beefed up their sculpting, and really put them into the next millenium...now, as the Waves progress, I really think we're going to be impressed with what they've done and what they will accomplish in the future.

But back to C.L.A.W.S. He had such potential...he had the ability to be an amazing figure. The molding...the great, sleek armor. The built in gasmask and cool urban-esque detailing. He had such awesome potential, but came across as a mis-proportioned ape-man. His arms way too long, his chest way to broad, C.L.A.W.S. was just not a figure that I thought could ever be used with the classic Joes. And this version, I fear is no different. This version is probably the worst.

His stark white and gold uniform is just an odd color scheme, and paired up with ANY of the Wave 2 Joes, this figure just does not work. If they did some serious work on his mold and were able to really retrofit him into an O-Ring mold, he has great potential. I know they're doing it in Wave 4, I'm just hoping it comes out nicely.

Maybe I'm just upset because we keep getting bombarded with constant repaints of substandard Cobra Troopers. They could have made a really cool new Desert Scorpion or something of the sort, instead we get a white Ape-man. But I'm going to leave this review as a short one, because there is so much more to cover...and so much GREAT stuff to cover!!

There is still a great foundation here...something solid to build on, and I hope Hasbro can really run with it by the time Wave 4 hits.