Any day that I’m sitting down to review a G.I. Joe figure is a very good day. Heaven knows, those days feel pretty few and far between these days, and with rumors abound that the G.I. Joe Collectors Club may be losing the license after 2016, I shudder to think what the outlook will be next year at this time.
Regardless of the depressing part of this review, I was ecstatic to see my FSS 4.0 figures arrive today! That could be because I’ve been without new G.I. Joe figures for so long that this is like a cool glass of water in a desert, but actually, the figures themselves are pretty nice.
First one up is Law, a figure build that should be very familiar to anyone who collected the 30th Anniversary figures, because it uses the same parts, from head to toe. The main structural difference here is that he’s wearing the 25th Anniversary Wild Bill vest to better mirror his vintage ’87 look than the tactical vest the 30th Anniversary/Renegades version wore.
I love the use of modern parts. Renegades Duke was a tragically unsung figure during that same era, with some simple parts that looked relatively generic, yet had fantastic articulation and range of motion. Really happy to see those parts used here, giving this figure a great look and feel.
On top of those modern parts, Law has a much more vintage themed paint scheme with the olive green pants, red shirt, and blue vest, all topped off with the white helmet. The colors don’t perfectly match the vintage, but taking into account the modern construction, they do a pretty good job of approximating what an update would look like. The result is a modernized version of this character that looks much more in line with his ’87 look, and thus fits in better with his peers from that era.
Now, obviously the vest doesn’t have a sculpted badge, so the Club approximates it with a tempo to mixed success. Still, I suppose I have to admire their effort to get things as accurate as possible.
ACCESSORIES
Law comes with a relatively basic accessory load out, similar to what he came with in the 80s, including an Uzi, helmet, and the pistol that comes default any time these legs are used. He also comes with his trusty Order, a very nicely decoed version of his familiar German Shepard. It should be noted that Law does not come with the silencer that is typically seen alongside this pistol. According to the GIJCC there were some factory production issues and the silencer was omitted from every figure. Considering I have about 32 of these silencers kicking around, I don’t consider that a huge loss.
This figure isn’t ground breaking in any particular way, but it uses an extremely effective modern parts template with the right combination of vintage colors, giving folks a nice update to Law. Heck, the 30th Anniversary version isn’t all that easy/cheap to come across at this point either, so this kills two birds with one stone. Nicely done on this one.
FSS 4.0 Law & Order
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
3.4
Summary
Even without any new parts and only some minor alterations to his paint scheme, this version of Law & Order manages to pretty seamlessly blend into his ’87 counterpart. It’s remarkable what a new vest and some minor paint color changes will do to make a modern, more tactical figure and change it effectively into a more accurate vintage representation. Modern parts does wonders for sculpt and articulation. This is a pretty decent update.
I have also done a YouTube video review for this figure. You can check that out below:
As a kid in the late 80s, early 90s, ninjas were pretty much the be all, end all. My first ever exposure to the term “ninja” was with Storm Shadow, and that opened these doors for me into great films and stories throughout the next decade.
Ninja Force, first released in 91 felt like it kind of came on the tail end of the ninja craze, but it had some spectacular, somewhat outlandish designs that worked really well with the 90s era of G.I. Joe.
Unfortunately many of those figures were hampered by spring-loaded action features that either ruined the aesthetics, or wrecked the play value of the figure. Thankfully the G.I. Joe Collectors Club has been making an effort in recent years to fix some of those mistakes.
Slice, Dice, and TJBang are a few of their modern revisits, and each one has been a very successful take on these colorful characters. Nunchuk is much the same.
Using modern parts like Airtight’s legs, with 30th Anniversary Storm Shadow’s torso and arms, they’ve cobbled together a pretty effective Nunchuk update, who has the right ninja/martial arts elements, but also is more of a combat based figure, too. He’s got terrific articulation, and the use of modern parts means the sculpting and overall design of the figure is really great.
I will say I’m not real wild about the decision to just use the clunky mask from the Training Storm Shadow. I’m not sure what existing alternative could have been selected, but this doesn’t look a whole lot like Nunchuk from that perspective. Also, the singular Storm Shadow chest strap makes the figure look a little empty in the torso, too. Again, not sure what else could have been used, but this doesn’t feel like quite the right formula, and it’s not even vintage accurate.
The color scheme is good, using the familiar green uniform with black tiger stripe camouflage, with black wrists and boots. It’s a good look and a very nice update to the original.
ACCESSORIES
As one might suspect, Nunchuk comes with… nunchuks. As well as a pair of swords, sais, and the darts that Storm Shadow came with. He has the sheath on his back from the Storm Shadow strap, and that about covers is. Pretty straight forward accessories that work fine, though part of me would have loved for him to come with a crazy scimitar looking thing like the original did.
Simply from the new parts and modern construction, I consider this figure a win, even though there are some cosmetic changes I would have recommended. The head and webgear are two changes that could have made a big difference, but even as it stands, I’m excited about a Ninja Force update and Nunchuk is a cool addition to the FSS. Now I need me some Dojo, Snake Eyes, and Scarlett! At the very least!
FSS 4.0 Nunchuk
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
3.9
Summary
The latest addition to the modern era Ninja Force, Nunchuk does a great job approximating his vintage look, while taking advantage of the modern style. His paint scheme is relatively close, though muted compared to the vintage look. While he’s got a number of cool accessories, the simple Storm Shadow sash leaves me a bit dry, and I would have liked to have seen a little more ingenuity there.
I’ve also done a video review of this figure on YouTube! Check out that video review below:
The last couple of years as I sat down to write this up, I think ‘oh, this will be easy this year…there was barely any product’!
Then I go through all of my reviews over the past 12 months and realize that for a line that is supposedly on prolonged life support, we still got some GREAT stuff in 2015. Really great stuff.
Now, I migrated to a new review system in 2015, one that makes calculating review scores a bit more granular. But, I’ll be honest… I still went by the seat of my pants on this rundown, and looked at these figures from the perspective of a 100 mile view. It can be tough to write up a review “hot off the presses” right when I get a figure in hand, because honestly, that’s often when I’m in love the most. It can be tough to be impartial that close to the newness of that toy for the first time.
So I whittled down the list and ultimately looked at figures that I could step away from for a little while and gauge my appreciation.
The British invasion continues with the Figure Subscription Service. The Collectors Club revealed Tiger Force Sneak Peek today, a European variant of the G.I. Joe reconnaissance trooper.
Check out the image below, and get more info on the FSS at GIJoeClub.com!
While the folks at Fun Publications were ramping up for Botcon, they put FSS IV reveals on hold to focus on the task at hand.
Now Botcon is over and the latest Figure Subscription Service is open for business again. To celebrate the launch, the Club has revealed Interrogator!
A personal favorite character of mine (I still can’t believe in FSS 3 & 4 we got or are getting Hit & Run, Vypra, and Interrogator. Too cool.) I am pretty particular about how Interrogator should be represented. We’re fortunate enough to have a few good sources of inspiration for the character, from the awesome ’91 original to the Direct To Consumer “Viper Lockdown” version which is pretty amazing. Here, the Club is taking a different approach.
This Interrogator draws some inspiration from older models, but also adds some nice newness. Using Retaliation Cobra Commander’s torso and arms with Artcic Destro’s legs there is some nice armor and some great black and gray offsets. I’m not wild about the re-use of the 2010 Convention helmet (really if they’d used the Retaliation Cobra Commander head along with the torso and arms with a red faceplate it would have worked) but the rest of the figure surprisingly appeals to me. I like that he’s more combat ready, and goes in a bit of a different direction than previous versions. This almost looks like it could be a Plague version if the colors were darker.
Anyway, I’m excited for this one. Check out the image below and keep watching GIJoeClub.com for the latest info. Also, if you like what you see, sign up for the FSS, it’s only open until midnight of July 15th.
