Spy Troops Wave 5 (Wave 8) - Switch Gears
I can honestly say that when I first saw this figure’s picture, he definitely seemed like the low point of Wave 8. His mold looked pretty non-descript…his purpose was unknown…and heck, if he was supposed to be the original Gears, I had just killed him a few months before!
Thankfully on all counts, though, now that the figure is released, it finds out that all of my preconceptions were pretty inaccurate!
Switch Gears, is not “Gears”. He is a completely different character, which suits me fine. I was also pleased to find that he has a distinct specialty…”Tank Driver”! No longer will my Patriot Grizzly (or my soon to be Patriot Grizzly…don’t have it yet. :/) have to be manned by Wild Bill…now Switch Gears is the man. Which is definitely cool with me, because even with my limited access to Switch Gears so far, he’s growing on me already.
Again, as with most Joe figures, it all starts with the head sculpt. And this one is pretty plain, but still has a good deal of character…but what really draws the eye is the body sculpting. He’s got one of those short vests that Hasbro seems to like so much, but it’s framed by some really cool silver shoulder pads. These pads just really look neat for some reason, but unfortunately they are quite a detractor to his arm/shoulder movement, which is really too bad. The green color of the vest is an interesting shade…a nice different color green like Heavy duty. One a little more pleasing to the eye than the generalized olive drab. But then the real splashes of color begin…his off-white shirt and tan pants all add some nice flair to what could have been a boring mold. Combine this with his pretty cool thigh-pads, kneepads, and army issue combat boots and you get a figure that is pretty neat head-to-toe. For whatever reason the light colors and off-green shade really blend well together and make the figure pretty appealing.
The mold, as I said, is simple, yet effective. Plain shirt and vest…normal pants…yet the colors really make him come alive. But not as much as his filecard. I’m almost certain Larry Hama wrote this card as it is a pretty neat, but brief characterization if this guy, who is evidently more muscles than brains, yet still has a good deal of personality.
While his look is a little odder than some others, this figure really actually surprised me. I wasn’t sure he would be that great, but he jumped right out of the pack at me, and the fact that he is paired up with what might possibly be the best JvC figure to date, I think this purchase is a no-brainer.
