G.I. Joe 2016 Stiletto

by generalsjoes | Jan 3, 2017 | 50th Anniversary, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Toys, review-no-frontpage

Okay, I admit straight up.  This is going to be a tough review to write.  I was desperately hoping that Whisper might end up winning the fan vote, and I fully admit I was pretty upset that she didn’t get the nod.

That’s not meant to be any slight against the other three excellent candidates, but I’d be lying if I said this review wasn’t being written through at least some gritted teeth.  As it stands, the Stiletto figure came out pretty good, and manages to capture the elements of Bill Nedrow’s character relatively nicely.

The new head sculpt is decent, but would have benefited from better paint apps, especially on the scar and potentially missing left pupil.  The figure build is essentially Rise of COBRA Agent Helix with Lady Jaye arms, and as much as I love the parts for that figure (I consider her one of the highlights of the excellent Rise of COBRA toy era) the color placement on Stiletto is odd to say the least.  Purple and black on the torso with oddly green colored pants and a blue scarf makes for an eclectic and eye-opening array of colors that seem almost arbitrarily chosen.

While I fully admit to being somewhat disgruntled at Whisper’s shunting to relative obscurity, I’m generally a fan of new characters, and Stiletto works in that regard, although her filecard is in pretty direct contrast to the actual character in the fiction.  That leads to some challenges, as she is clearly a COBRA agent in the books, but is written as purely a G.I. Joe member according to the filecard.  It’s an interesting dichotomy which will make for some intriguing storytelling opportunities.

ACCESSORIES

As an expert in edged weapons, Stiletto comes with two swords and knives aplenty, as one might expect.  She also has a submachine gun and a Drugonov sniper rifle.  I’d argue out of the 2 packs she is the best equipped figure and has the most sensible assortment of weapons out of the whole crew.

Stiletto is an intriguing new character and I’m happy for Bill that she managed to get included in the 2016 assortment, and I’m still totally not holding a grudge about Whisper.  All that being said, this figure is a decent build with some strange color choices and a nice assortment of useful accessories.

YouTube Video Review

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G.I. Joe 2016 Tombstone

by generalsjoes | Dec 12, 2016 | 50th Anniversary, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Toys, review-no-frontpage

Interestingly, in stark contrast to the other figure in this two-pack, rather than a long time established character with over 50 separate iterations, Tombstone is a brand spanking new character, something very much appreciated by this long time fan.

But is this being a new character enough to wow a discriminating collector?

Along with being a new character, Tombstone also has a great new head sculpt full of character.  He’s a former COBRA trooper who has been through the wringer, and that’s immediately evident with one look at his face.  The sculpt is good to boot.  Looking at the figure build, it’s a decent one, with the G.I. Joe: Retaliation Snake Eyes arms, which I’m always a fan of and the Pursuit of COBRA Firefly legs.  The result is a pretty skinny, but flexible figure, a character that looks especially lanky buried underneath the long and heavily armored tactical vest from Firefly.

Obviously the shining point of the figure is with the new head, and the new head is pretty great and pretty gnarly with a nasty scar over his right eye making the character look like he’s seen some stuff.  It’s a really neat “battle worn” look for sure.  One thing Hasbro does a good job with in looking at the part selection is the range of motion is great.  Long limbs and non-restrictive joints means the figure can achieve all sorts of great firing positions, which is a nice effect of the way the figure was built.

There’s a healthy run of purple and black throughout the figure, which leaves it nicely dark, but with some interesting colors, though I’m really not sure what’s up with the stark white shoulder armor.  It’s not an especially realistic color and it stands out in distinct contrast to the rest of the dark figure.  It’s not a bad look, just a bit on the odd side.

The backstory for Tombstone is certainly interesting, as a psychological operations guy who is now essentially the field commander for the COBRA Viper corps.  It gives him some intriguing twists and lends some credence to his strange accessory compliment.  The figure itself aesthetically looks decent, but doesn’t quite come together in all areas with some off color combinations and very lanky parts selection.  That being said, he’s a figure that even with existing parts manages to stand out from the crowd, which is a good thing.

ACCESSORIES

I’m not really sure what to make of Tombstone’s accessories other than to assume, they were more or less randomly chosen without a clear indication of purpose.  He’s got a great assault rifle, but then comes with the old school gas grenade launcher alongside futuristic laser weapons.  It’s possible these are meant to be some kind of state of the art pyschosis weapons to go along with his psychological warfare specialty, but that’s not clearly stated anywhere.  The weapons are fine, they’re just kind of there.

I’m always a fan of new characters and great new head sculpts and Tombstone has both of these, which gives him a major edge in my book.  Some of the construction choices leave me scratching my head a bit and the color combinations are interesting.  The newness of the character and head, however, overcome some of those design choices and leave me with a sense of satisfaction with the figure.

YouTube Video Review

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