Spy Troops Wave 5 (Wave 8) - Agent Faces
One of the biggest gripes about the Spy Troops line is that there weren’t any actual known “spies” on it. Fan favorites like Chuckles, Zartan, and Mace (err…well, okay, maybe not) were not included and it seemed like an odd omission. Hasbro rectified that in no uncertain terms with Wave 8 including Zartan, Zarana, and G.I. Joe’s newest undercover operative, the oddly named Agent Faces.
Labeled an “infiltrator” according to his filecard, Agent Faces is a new recruit who uses his talents to bury himself deep within the COBRA cabal, feeding G.I. Joe information from within. A cool concept, and really a pretty nice figure, although not quite perfect.
My original feelings for this figure were that he had very abnormally long arms...something about them just seemed very disproportionate to the rest of his body. But upon much closer inspection (and a mini reality check by Tim F... ;) ) they actually match up pretty well.
He suffers somewhat from the Wave 7 syndrome of short torso and long legs, which I think fools the eye into thinking he's got some long gorilla arms as well, but they are really pretty close in length to many of the other current figures, and at least Faces has a normally sized head, which helps things considerably.
Overall, the mold is very good. He’s got a short vest w/ t-shirt underneath…a nice casual look for an abnormal military force. His pants seem straight military issue, and while the mold is simple and non-descript, it makes sense. I can’t imagine Faces would be seen in this uniform very often, so there’s no need to have anything flashy or extravagant. His twin holsters on his legs break up the plainness somewhat, and the detailing of the pistols in those holsters are spot-on. But overall he’s a figure that will probably fit in with a crowd, which is as it should be.
His colors are also not too bad, although, again, seem somewhat plain. The basic dark, drab green and black paint apps don’t make or break the figure, though they are nicely muted for those non-neon fans. The face sculpt is nicely done and is humorously reminiscent of the Hasbro design team member who its based off of, which gives the figure a certain character…but overall, he's not really a shining star of Wave 8, but he's a solid backbone to this terrific wave, and he fits his purpose very well...much better than if he were wearing a blue and pink Hawaiin shirt, anyway. ;)
As for his accessories...concept-wise, I think they're GREAT. The two masks fit very snugly, yet despite the snug fit, still make the head look pretty huge. But still, I think it's a neat concept that the kids with imagination may really get into. Full head masks are something you didn't see in the Joe figure line, and I think it's cool that Hasbro is giving them a shot, even if they only end up moderately successful.
I am digging this character quite a bit. Someone who is willing to go that deep into COBRA and try to struggle from within has a certain determination to him...the figure isn't stunning, but it is a pretty cool one, and if the Spy Troops movie is any indication, this particular figure may have a rich place in the Joeverse from here on out.
The Zartan repaint that comes with this figure makes a lot of improvements over the original mold...and this figure is a pretty decent one as well. I'd say picking up this pack is a pretty safe bet.
Hmmm...how did this picture of Dr. Mindbender get in the Agent Faces review? :P