G.I. Joe vs. Cobra - Firefly

It's always been said that a hero is only as cool as the villain he fights, which is what really always drew me to G.I. Joe. Granted, I am and always will be a fan of the Joe team, but to me, it's always been the Cobras that made the Joe team so cool. How else can you explain why so many formerly evil members of Cobra ended up turning over a new leaf in the comic and became heroes. The fans loved the badguys so much that they ended up joining the good guys...

But Firefly was one guy who never joined the Joes. Although his character was nearly ruined by the revelation that he was tied to the Arishikage Ninja Clan, Firefly's popularity has remained high. As an evil terrorist saboteaur who is painfully determined to never reveal his identity, Firefly has found a place in many Joe fans' hearts as an evil soldier, forever cast in darkness. As a big Firefly fan myself, I was quit happy to see that a new version of him was coming out in 2002, and retrofitted for the O-Ring at that!

To alot of people, Firefly simply is not Firefly without his gray camo. While I do think that the gray camo was a cool aspect of the figure, I don't necessarily think that he has to have it to be Firefly. I loved the 90's version of the figure as well, and I think this 2002 version is super cool, too.

I see this version of Firefly as a modernized classic terrorist. He's got the ski-mask and dark uniform, but it is souped up for the new century. He is adorned with lots of terrific looking metallic armor and the dull green pouches just add even more to an already cool figure. The mask is sculpted tight to the face, and his silver metal chest pad houses twin pistols for easy access for quick getaways. I LOVE those twin pistols! I can just see him throwing himself backwards out of window to escape, while unleashing those two pistols and firing some cover fire to get away.

The saboteaur also has scores of nice little pouches on his arms and legs with which to hide his explosives, and his belt is also riddled with the same pouches as well. These add some more nice touches to the figure. I still say the coolest parts are his armored arms and legs, which are even marked up with dings, dents and scratches, showing that Firefly has been through some skirmishes and made it out in one piece. He also comes with a nice assortment of weapons, including a black version of Beachhead's machine gun, which is what my Firefly will be using from now on.

There are however, some...transitional points, I think, considering this is Hasbro's first return to the O-Ring. Firefly's shoulders and chest are still a little on the large side, and his legs seem abnormally long as well. This is most likely a by-product of him originally being a non-O-Ring figure, but I think Hasbro did a great job gearing him back down to a regular O-Ring figure. Also, Hasbro has gone an extra step and added articulation, which was a very nice surprise when the Joe community first learned of it. Firefly has pivoting ankles and swivelling thighs, which make him even more poseable than the old style Joes! A very nice touch and something that I was quite happy to see.

At any rate, this is an excellent update to a great character and great figure and I really can't wait to see what else Hasbro has in store.