G.I. Joe Classified Cobra Island #32; Barbecue: "I fear no man. But that... thing... it scares me."

Toy Logic: A concept that goes against what many would see as sensible, practical and realistic and relies on what would appeal to kids, be it something cool, something cute, or something in between. While I usually accept what would seem to be jumps of logic for the sake of Toy Logic, every now and then, one feels like it's going a bit too far. For example, robots turning into animals? Sure. The bad guys having a Pillbug in their ranks? That's a stretch. A firefighter in the anti-terrorist team? It seems like a stretch, but when said terrorists are employing arsonists, maybe not that much of a stretch (even if it's a bit of a niche specialist). Meet Gabriel Kelly, better known as Barbecue. 

 

"One shudders to imagine what inhuman thoughts lie behind that mask. What dreams of chronic can sustain the cruelty?"

 

For a hero, though, he's undoubtedly intimidating. This look for Barbecue is based on a heavy-duty Fire retardant suit, with onboard oxygen and smoke filtering system. Not the kind of suit you find on your average joe (joke intended) firefighter. Due to that, though, there's a heightened intimidation to the look. If I saw this when I was in a building that was on fire, my first thought wouldn't be, "Sweet, a firefighter has cleared the path to escape", my first thought was "oh shit this guy's come to kill me!". On the plus side, it is faithful to the 1985 toy for those looking for accuracy, just with some minor modernization updates. A few new paint applications, some tweaking to the sculpt. To those who still have the original and can put them side by side, you'll probably be able to spot more differences than I can with YoJoe images. Still, for those without direct side by side comparisons, it's in a similar category to MP-10 Optimus Prime. Different in subtle ways, but unquestionably the character when looking at the figure as a whole. I just wish he came with an alternate head to help ease the intimidation of the design. Are we sure he's not a robot?

 

While there's no alternative head, there is an extra accessory when compared to the original. You get a three-piece assembly of an all-purpose multi-tank (I'm pretty sure you can't use the same chemicals to put out all the different types of fire, it's why there are multiple types of fire extinguishers), a hose and a nozzle to put out fires. The complete assembly looks good overall, though it is a missed opportunity not to have an effect part for the nozzle. The hose itself doesn't feel brittle, but that remains to be seen as it's potentially a long term issue. However, what is far less likely to break are the two axes. You have a short axe that is a modernization of the axe he originally came with and a far larger, more intimidating axe. I've got no complaints with these; they both look great. I appreciate the silver on the axe heads, making them look far more dynamic when compared to most toy weapons I see. Unfortunately, the hose gets in the way when the nozzle is stored, and the giant axe is a nightmare to store thanks to the plastic used for the pack, to the point where I'm not sure I'm even putting it in correctly.

 

Plastic use is the only major issue I have with this figure, as aside from the backpack, the only other note about it is in the hands. They feel stiff compared to the other figures I own, again making using the weapons somewhat frustrating (though thankfully, these don't appear to be painted like Gung Ho's hands were). Barbecue, to me, feels like the kind of exclusive character that should be in the Cobra Island line of exclusives. Though he seems to have been somewhat prominent in the comics (from what I can tell with brief gloss overs), he didn't have much to do in the show, only being in one episode. It makes getting him feel more like a nice novelty, but not a necessity, kind of like a good chunk of the Generations Selects toys for Transformers. While it would have been nice to get an alternate head and an effect part (requests that could probably also be said for many characters in the line), what we got is solid. A great find if you can get him, but not someone to lose sleep over if you can't (unless you're a big Barbecue fan). All this talk about Barbecue has made me hungry, so I'm going to go make some snags for lunch.

G.I. Joe Classified 14; Storm Shadow (Arctic Mission): That one placeholder every one has

There are certain characters in franchises that, when a new tv show, or movie series, or toyline becomes available to the consumer, their appearance is more a matter of how long of a wait it'll be before they show up, not if they'll show up. Storm Shadow is one of those characters for G.I. Joe, at least anything based on the 80's version. People knew Storm Shadow would come, but no one expected this to be his first release in the Classified line. Arctic Mission Storm Shadow, an Amazon exclusive based on (as far as I can tell) a mix of the 1993 Ninja Force release while borrowing elements of a semi-recent version of Storm Shadow from 2011-2012 (that YoJoe only identifies as v44). Many people identify Storm Shadow as a member of Cobra, so for his first release in the Classified line to be based on the toy where he was a member of G.I. Joe, it felt odd to many. Considering the hurdles the line had so far due to the pandemic last year, it wouldn't surprise me if we were supposed to have had a "regular" Storm Shadow by now, and this was meant to come out around the same time as it. However, we're still waiting on said regular release, so while we wait for a version of Storm Shadow that isn't tied to the movie, let's see how this Amazon Exclusive one goes. 

Do you recall the designs from Batman Begins for the ninjas in the League of Shadows? I know that comparison has probably been brought up multiple times when talking about this character, but it's almost inescapable. But that's not inherently a bad thing. While the more traditional Storm Shadow design is a statement for the character's personality, he's so confident in his skills as a warrior that he's willing to go into battle against enemies with powerful guns in nothing but a Gi. But an armoured look does still have its advantages, especially when the armour is light. It gives Storm Shadow a feel similar to that of specific versions of the Batman Suit, such as the ones used in the Nolan Trilogy. Aside from the extra warmth that this would bring (it is being sold as a suit for Arctic Missions after all), it's armour that looks to protect him from blades and other close-ranged attacks, armour Ninjas would generally wear if needed. Where it loses intimidation with the lack of protection, it gains a different kind of intimidation as now you'd need to figure out where the weaknesses are in the armour and hope he doesn't know them as well. It makes the design very comparable to Snake Eyes in that regard. I think it's a comparison that works well, highlighting how similar the two are, even if they don't see eye to eye.

One other advantage this design has is that the armour sculpting hasn't impacted the articulation too much. There's no ab crunch blocking vest here, the only thing on here that gets in the way of movement is the belt and skirting around the thighs, and even then, it's only a minor inconvenience to move the hips and thighs. One thing I wish it had, though, was ways to store his accessories, accessories that I'm hit and miss on, to begin with. Going down the list, Storm Shadow has a bow, an arrow, a quiver pack, grappling hook, removable hood (though the process of it is slightly tedious, so I don't consider it an accessory), a scythe, katana and sheath for said katana. I love the katana and sheath, mainly as they painted the blade, making the sword look that much more impressive. I'm not as big of a fan of the bow, arrow, and quiver because they are not very consistent. The bow (which looks excellent, thanks to the gold and black paint) is missing something resembling a bowstring out of the box, and the arrow is surprisingly tedious to have Storm Shadow hold. Perhaps if there was a bowstring, the arrow could hook onto the string and then have Storm Shadow hold the string? The arrow itself also can't go into the quiver, and because the arrow is unpainted white plastic, it stands out badly against the quiver's gold arrows. There's also nowhere to store the bow, scythe and grappling hook (which for the record does have a line attached to it) without having Storm Shadow hold them, so there's no way to store all the accessories on him, unlike Snake Eyes. It wouldn't have been impossible to do. The Red Ninjas (a review I hope to get to at some point) are an excellent example of this. It's a shame that the same care didn't go into storage for Storm Shadow, especially as all that would have been needed was a hook and hole on the belt and a bowstring for the bow to hook it over a shoulder. While I know the intention is for collectors to add their bowstring if they so choose, this review focuses on the figure straight out of the box, which is why I keep bringing the lack of it up as a negative.

While the accessories bring Storm Shadow down a bit for me, I still think the base figure looks great. Suppose the regular release of Storm Shadow is a repaint of this version, armour and all; I think it would look imposing. I think it fits the character, and it makes him look more intimidating as a result. I could see it working well alongside the armies of Red Ninjas people have in their collections, as those also have the armoured aesthetic. Above all else, Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes look great together on a shelf, which is what you hope for in the release of two rivals. Even though this version of Storm Shadow is a Joe, getting this and Snake Eyes into a fight is fitting and looks good. When I write this, we're back in COVID lockdown (because we clearly haven't spent enough time in lockdown), so it'll be a while before I see the Snake Eyes movie. A minor change to the schedule. What was going to be a combined review of Studio Series Hot Rod and Kingdom Rodimus Prime is going to now be split in two, as a delay has caused Rodimus to not show up at my house until mid-August. Rodimus will come soon, but at least his younger self can get a review first.

G.I. Joe Classified 02; Snake Eyes: Insult to injury if you missed the Deluxe version

Snake Eyes. A character with a name that you'd think would make him a villain, released initially with no paint to not take away from any of the other figures in the initial wave. But that didn't stop him from becoming a fan favourite character thanks to a mysterious history and him being both a ninja and a commando. Now, why a Ninja would be in an elite American military unit is beyond me, but it's a case of "Rule of Cool". "They need a Ninja to fight Cobra's Ninja". So, to tie into the Snake Eye movie releasing soon, the two Ninjas are getting reviews, starting with the title character himself. 

As with most of the Classified figures I've reviewed so far, a few different versions of Snake Eyes are out on the market. A deluxe version came out first, with the main draws are a few extra paint applications, alternate guns weapons, alternate hands and extra ninja weapons for a display piece. There's also a recently released Commando Snake Eyes based on the original release of the figure that comes with his wolf Timber. I intend to get a review of Commando Snake Eyes out sometime soon, as I have one on the way, but for this review, I'll be looking at the general retail release. Same sculpt as the Deluxe version, just without the bonuses. However, this is a case though where, to me, the regular retail version looks significantly better than the Deluxe version thanks to the removal of specific paint applications, mainly the removal of the silver visor. Due to black being the primary colour on him, accenting colours stand out a lot harder, and while the silver and red look good on the belts and sheath, the visor being silver is not a good look. But, if you want a silver visor and can't find the Deluxe version, the recently leaked Deluxe Zartan might be able to help with that, as one of the alternate heads he's coming with is Snake Eyes with the silver visor. 

Unfortunately, though, one problem the deluxe version seems to have going for it is quality control. In terms of build, this is hands down the worst figure I own in the Classified line. If I didn't get Duke, Scarlet and Destro (who's in a similar boat, but not to the same extent) at the same time, I probably would have stopped then and there because of how bad the build is on him. Most of the joints feel weak, especially the ab crunch. There is a lot of give before the joint moves to the next point on the internal ratchet, and it takes minimal effort to move it along said ratchet, especially if you want his back arching backwards. The bandolier is also very loose on him. If you want it sitting flush on his body, you need to ignore the hole on it that's meant to sit over the port on his back for accessories like his backpack (so far the only pack I don't keep with my figures, instead sending it to an accessories draw), and the sword sheath. The weak joints take the wind out of this figure, and while I know they can do better, as I said, this was almost an interest killer for me. 

Getting to the accessories, none of them are inherently bad, but I can see people being disappointed in one of them. The backpack I mentioned previously is fine. The big issue I have with the pack, and why he doesn't wear it, is the issues I have with the bandolier; it makes the backpack not sit flush against his back. You also get a sword and sheath, with the sheath having an Arashikage symbol on it to match the symbols on Snake Eyes's torso and belt. This is what I prefer to be on Snake Eyes' back, as even with the bandoliers issues, it sits naturally on his back. He also comes with a knife, and the only fault I have with the sword and knife is that I wish they painted the blades silver. It's something I'm surprised even the Deluxe version doesn't do, as I think the silver blades would look amazing. Finally, you get a pistol with an optional silencer and an uzi for ranged weapons, both of which do have that "Nerf like" aesthetic to them. Unlike Firefly, I'm not that big of a fan of these two guns. While they look ok, and I stand by my view on the Nerf/ Sci-fi guns not inherently being a bad thing, it's hard to deny that the more realistic weapons the deluxe version came with instead of these two do look a lot better. The uzi especially as it seems lighter, like it would better fit Snake Eye's fighting style. At least these two you can plug together to make a dual gun? For those who want a pistol and uzi to both be in one hand and firing simultaneously? I don't think Snake Eyes will be joining the Cybertronian arms race any time soon, though; he would need more guns to plug together.

I want to love this figure. I love Snake Eyes' design, and only one thing is holding back this modern, faithful redesign for me in terms of enjoyment. But, that one thing is a massive problem and one I can't ignore. I can live with the bandolier being loose. In fact, I somewhat prefer it when comparing it to what it's supposed to look like. But the loose joints are a killer for me, making the toy feel cheap. It stings because, as "new fan" as this is going to sound, Snake Eyes was the figure that tempted me into trying the line in the first place; the other three were purchases to help get a better feeling for the line's potential.

For those wondering what the Deluxe version looked like.

However, I do want to close out on a different final note. After writing the bulk of this review, I looked around to see if the loose ab crunch was a common issue and learned of a silent remake of the toy. Everything is the same, just with some minor changes in plastic used, some improvements to the joints, and removing a red dot on the helmet that looks like it's the top or bottom of the Arashikage symbol. An impulse purchase to see for me got here in time to be included in this review, and I can safely say that it does fix most of my issues with the release. I'm still not a fan of the backpack; it still doesn't want to sit flush against the back, but the ab crunch is stronger, and the bandoleer sits a lot better on his body. This springboards Snake Eyes from one of my most hated in the line to one of my favourites now. If you were turned off from getting the figure because of my review of the first version, look for a copy of the toy that has the knife already sheathed, not packed separately. With that said, see you for the review of Storm Shadow.

G.I. Joe Classified (Cobra Island) 21; Firefly: Now with 100% less explosive robotic flireflies.

"Exclusive figure". A term that screams pain and misery for a lot of collectors due to the extra difficulties. For Transformers, especially during the War for Cybertron Trilogy, complete teams would be divided thanks to exclusivity. One of the worst offenders of this recently was the Earthrise release of Starscream, where if you wanted to complete the six main Decepticon Seekers, you would have to find five of the six in three different retailers (at least in the U.S.). For international fans, the product even coming to your country isn't a guarantee. Just because a product might be exclusive to Target U.S. doesn't mean it's exclusive to Target/ Target equivalent stores internationally. When you have a line like G.I Joe Classified, where retailers are barely stocking the mainline where you live, let alone getting store exclusives like the "Cobra Island" subline, then your best option is to look elsewhere and hope the price isn't too high. So how did I get a Firefly? Facebook. Facebook contacts and Buy/ Swap/ Sell groups might not be the official way to get the products, but when the demand isn't meeting the supply, you go elsewhere. Was Firefly worth the trouble, though?

To start with, Firefly is, for the most part, a repaint of another Cobra Island figure, Beachhead. As tempting as it would be to do a dual review of them, I don't own a Beachhead. He and the Cobra Island Cobra Trooper are the two big holes in my Classified collection so far. It would be great to review at some point, but that won't be anytime soon. The two significant differences between them are the accessories and the ab crunch blocking vest the two figures have. Like with Roadblock, I am not a fan of these vests in execution, but I'm willing to make an exception for Firefly due to the design and the intended purpose of the vest. It's an explosive resistant vest meant to protect the wearer from heat and blasts from explosives, so a thick vest that's harder to move around makes sense for the character. I love the sculpting on it, things like the pockets at the front, the crotch and butt flaps, the grenades on one shoulder, with a shoulder guard on the other; it's well done. My only real complaint with it comes from the figure's neck. Thanks to some Q.C. issues, the neck on my copy of Firefly is a bit stiff, and when you combine it with the vest's neck protection, getting the head into positions that require him to look down are just a bit harder than they would otherwise be. I've been able to do it on mine, but it's often required taking the head off the ball joint, positioning the neck, and then putting the head back on. 

While I like Firefly's accessories, in theory, the execution is hit and miss for me. He comes with a handgun which... ok, tangent for a moment. One point I see brought up now and then that has people split, most leaning towards viewing it as a negative, are the weapons looking like Nerf Guns. I honestly don't see that comparison as bad, as the sculpting on many Nerf guns is very impressive. Most of the Nerf guns I have seen and used are only held back (in terms of a visual design) by their colours to ensure they comply with safety standards and don't look like real firearms. If you give them a better paint job, one that doesn't scream, "I'm a toy for kids to shoot with!" most Nerf weapons can look like really intimidating weapons. One of the frequent reasons I hear about it being a bad thing is the desire for realistic armaments, which is a fair reason, at least for G.I Joe. But for Cobra? I don't see the appeal. Most of their technology has often aired on the sci-fi side of the spectrum anyway. What realistic vehicle is the H.I.S.S. tank supposed to be? The S.N.A.K.E.? Serpentor's Air Chariot? The Trouble Bubbles? To my knowledge, the A-10 Thunderbolt doesn't have VTOL capabilities, and the Blackbird didn't have a second vehicle that attached to the top of it. So, why is Cobra using weapons inspired by a toyline that blends realistic design cues with futuristic ones a bad thing?

Alongside the excellent looking gun, Firefly comes with a pair of goggles that he can wear, a backpack to store most of his gear, a cluster of Dynamite sticks for an explosive, a drone, and a tablet controller for the drone. The only two significant problems are the dynamite and the tablet. The tablet can barely stay in his hand, and it takes next to no effort to pop it out, while the dynamite doesn't fit at all. I cannot for the life of me get him to hold the dynamite. Supposedly, the drone can carry the dynamite, but the connection for it feels, to use a Lego building term, illegal. It feels like connecting the dynamite to the feet of the drone puts strain on the drone's legs and could break them. With all of his gear on him, along with his grey camouflage look, he stands out in a good way when standing alongside your other Cobra figures, as the grey stands out nicely among the mainly dark blue, back and red aesthetic. 

While Firefly is a nice figure, the question about "is he good?" comes back to the issues related to the distribution of the Classified line, especially Cobra Island branded figures. He's a solid figure overall, not the best, but not the worst. He's average for the Classified line, which is still very impressive considering other 6-inch figures in other toylines. But was he worth the inflated price I paid for him second hand because there was no hope in him getting an official release here in Australia? Not really, no. If he were spectacular, then I would say it's worth getting him, but because he's only an average figure in an exclusive line, it's hard to not look at the effort needed and go, "he's not worth it".

G.I. Joe Classified 01; Roadblock: Why was he first?

At least when it comes to the box numbering. To compare the toyline to Transformers, I can understand the leader not being first in the numbering. Throughout War for Cybertron and Studio Series, the numbering has been in the order of size class, smallest class to biggest in wave order. Even then, Core Class Optimus Prime in WFC: Kingdom is WFC-K1. Here though, they're all the same size in terms of packaging; they're all sold at the same price, so why wasn't Duke or Snake Eyes first? Maybe this could be my lack of in-depth knowledge showing that, in reality, Roadblock is the most beloved character in G.I. Joe. It would certainly explain why he's had three toys so far, two of which I will not be covering in this review as one isn't out yet, and the other is a (for me at least to get it brought in) overpriced exclusive repaint. So we're sticking to the original release; here is Classified Roadblock.

Drawing inspiration from (I believe) his 1986 version, just with some more sci-fi touch-ups, the overall sculpting on Roadblock is solid. However, I don't think it's as solid of a representation as something like Duke or Cobra Commander were. "Close, but not quite there" is probably the best way to describe the figure if you're looking for a faithful version of Roadblock, as some of the modernization changes are detrimental to the feel of the character. The biggest one of those? The weapon. I'm of two minds for this. While I agree that something that many prefers to be more current day military-themed like the Joes shouldn't have something like this, I'd be lying if I said the idea of someone lugging around a giant two-handed Railgun wasn't awesome. This is a cool looking weapon, with many excellent paint applications and even sporting accessories like a removable magazine (which I think is undersized for something this big, but it's not a deal-breaker). Does it work as a weapon for Roadblock, though? Not really. It keeps to the theme of his original gun, a two-handed heavy machine gun. Still, I wouldn't say this is a good substitution, as a Rail gun is a sci-fi version of a rocket launcher. Due to the size of this accessory, though, his only other accessory, a knife, looks ridiculously small in his hands. 

Sculpting wise for the figure, he's a solid action figure, but aside from the uniform, there's not much here that says it's Roadblock. At least, not the 80's Roadblock. There's a mix of styles here with things like the facial hair being inspired by the Roadblock from G.I. Joe Renegades, and the tattoo potentially being a nod to Dwayne Johnson, the actor who played Roadblock in G.I. Joe Retaliation, but his tattoos look nothing like the lion head that's on this toy. I'm not a fan of how the designers handled the vest. It's a piece put on over the chest, which does make the vest itself look good. Still, because it's a solid rubber piece, it makes the ab crunch that most figures have useless, something that I've noticed on many other Classified figures that have a similar vest as a part of their design. It's something that I wish was a paint application on the torso rather than a separate piece. The vest, though, is the only real issue I have with the figure as a whole because on its own, it's a nice figure and fits in well with the Classified team. Is it a good Roadblock figure, though? That's more debatable.

 
The more I look at this guy, the more I'm reminded of how Hasbro handles the more "mass market appeal" sides of Transformers, the toylines tied into shows like the Unicron Trilogy, Animated, Prime, and Cyberverse (among others). Character designs for these versions are somewhat amalgamations of different representations of said characters in visual design, personality, and other character design aspects. If you're looking for a faithful recreation of a Roadblock toy from the '80s, this isn't it. Even with the different two versions available, you're going to be looking for a while. This toy does a solid job capturing the character's spirit over the years, combining different versions to make something new. Still, because of all those inspirations, I can't help but ask for something more. I think versions of characters based on the other cartoons and the movies done in this style could be interesting to see if this line does take off to a point where stock can reliably get to stores and not disappear in under a minute. Again, not bad, but I doubt he fits the description to what many collectors of the line are looking for.

Opinion Piece: Hasbro Pulse Fan Fest 2021

Because the April Schedule is already out of whack anyway.

 

With the continued struggle of running events, Hasbro has decided to stream product reveals for six toy brands. Four licensed brands, two in house brands so that people who have access to Hasbro Pulse (without needing to resort to PO Boxes) can see what's coming up and what may join their collections. Instead of a regular review, I thought it would be interesting to go through the four and a half hours of live-stream, taking a break to finish building a new Lego Set, which will be getting a review soon, and see what new products are on the way. Here are my thoughts on the first Hasbro Pulse Fan Fest. 

 

 

 

To quickly get one thing out of the way. The six IP's that are focused on in this presentation. Transformers, G.I Joe, Star Wars, Marvel, Power Rangers and Fortnite. I actively collect two of these brands. I don't delve hard into merchandise for two of the brands here, choosing to focus more on the media they output, and the remaining two I don't care about in general. If you're coming here looking for my deep thoughts on the Power Rangers and Fortnite stuff, you're going to be disappointed as I didn't grow up watching Power Rangers, and I don't play Fortnite. 

I'll be going at this in order of reveals, but as an AV technician, I do have to call attention to awkward and frustrating aspects of the presentation, especially early on. Awkward camera transitions, the presenter's focus on the wrong camera, showing bad set direction early on, along with the continued use of "talk from the office via webcam", something that is a case by case technical issue depending on where the person lives and what they've done. There was stuttering, one of the people presenting in the Power Rangers muted themselves and didn't turn it back on, just minor issues like that which make the overall presentation look and feel kind of cheap. I was also not a big fan of the pointless padding like the Trivia, small Q&A sections, and talking to some fans moments that killed the presentation's pacing. Those shouldn't have been in the main show. Also, while I won't be going into details, I will still talk about all six IP's so going in order, relatively blind, so if it sounds disjointed, that's because it likely is. With that said:

 

 

Fortnite: The Victory Royal line looks alright overall, though, with my lack of knowledge on the game, I don't know if these are just fancy skins or actual characters, maybe both? It's why there are reveals that I'll be skipping because I can't think of much to say other than "looks alright". Ripply looks cool reminds me a bit of Minion from Mega Mind, but I'm cautious about how well those translucent joints will hold up over time. It seems like a very risky figure to be starting with engineering-wise. Lynx looks a bit too much like robot Catwoman, though I hope the articulation is carried over into other lines. Scarlett, the one female G.I Joe I have so far, only has single joint elbows, and I've heard Marvel Legends fans have been clamouring for better articulation in female characters for a while now, so hopefully, it happens. Shadow Meowsel (Meowsle?), the details are lovely, but I do find it odd that they released the obvious repaint first for this new line, though I shouldn't be surprised based on what I've seen from other toylines. The shark seems to be just a fancy accessory pack. I'm guessing a Loot Lama will be on the way based on how the accessories store in the shark. Will I go in on this line? No. As I said, I don't play the game. I've got no interest in these characters. I've not seen enough about them to know about any personalities they may have (compared to Overwatch, another shooter I don't play, but the characters do interest me). I might do a review of some if I get a chance to borrow the figures from someone interested in the line, but for the time being, I wouldn't expect to see more Fortnite on either site. 

 

 

Transformers: Purely because they addressed it in the presentation, Hasbro does need to get a lot better about leaks when it comes to Transformers. The new Titan looks fantastic; it's nice to get a Transforming Ark, and while I have minor nitpicks about the gaps for the sake of transformation, they do look bad in vehicle mode. It does, however, look very impressive as a whole. The Ark might be the first Titan I own because of how good it looks overall. Rodimus Prime, when I first heard about it from leaks, I wasn't impressed, as I don't care about Rodimus' trailer being a trailer. I was hoping it was going to be integrated into the transformation. After seeing pictures of it, though, and seeing all that it can do, all that it comes with, I've warmed up to it more. Ignoring what I wanted it to be, this Rodimus does look to be a great looking Rodimus. Galvatron I was excited for the moment we heard it was coming, and after getting Scourge and Cyclonus in hand, Galvatron doesn't look as impressive based on the pictures, but not to the point of it looking bad. I'm still loving the look of it and can't wait to get it. Scorponok looks fantastic, probably one of the best looking Scorpion Transformers so far, though that's not too hard to do. Wing finger looks alright, not too big on the fossil mode primarily due to the dinosaur they chose, but the robot mode looks great. I'm going to try and make the fossil combiner when I get all three fossilizes. Not entirely sold on Tracks, I think he looks a bit too bulky in robot mode, but the car mode and flying car modes look great. I can't wait for Rhinox, Dracodon's a Vertibreak repaint; see my review for my thoughts on that. Not sure if it looks good in green, though. Soundwave I'm not too interested in mainly because I'm not collecting the core class G1 characters. The only one so far that interests me is Megatron because of the accessory. Astonishingly, he comes with a Lazerbeak cassette, and because of that, I might change my mind depending on how well he looks in tape recorder mode when next to bigger figures. Tricranius looks cool, and I love the fact that they're doing a blast effects pack at last. I'd love to see them do more blast effects in different colours, especially if weapons that are blast effects compatible are going to continue going forward. Shattered Glass Blur, 1/5 figures that are going to be Shattered Glass repaints. I wish we could see more of those figures, but Blur looks excellent. I'm hoping to get the Shattered Glass two-pack sometime this year, and this one will look great with Prime and Ratchet. The final thing revealed is an app and voice-controlled Optimus Prime. This has been floating around for years as what looked like a Robotics designer's personal project, now given a mass retail release. It looks cool, but not the likely over $1000 cool. Though it's a shame that Studio Series didn't get any love, and it was so Kingdom focused, the fact that this paragraph is as long as it is shows you that there was still a lot of info released that I'm excited for. There will be a Fan Friday in May that'll show more off, hopefully including Studio Series?

 

Power Rangers: A significant focus for this section of the presentation was on the media side of Power Rangers, game updates, a new comic, episodes of the shows being uploaded to Youtube, along with unknown collections that will be retail exclusives in August. I don't have much to say about those. For the Lightning Collection, they first showed off the remaining team members of the Mighty Morphin Metallic Power Rangers. Yellow, Blue, Black, and Red. They look good; the glitter effect looks OK, the weapons look alright and will look good with the already released Pink one. Finally, they showed off the Boom Studios Tyranosaurus Sentry, and again, it seems fine. It might be the cape, but it looks like it'll be awkward to pose in exciting ways and doesn't look as expressive as the other figures shown (well, the digital renders they offered). The weapon effects on all the figures look great, though, and I think those interest me the most out of all of the reveals in this section of the stream.

 

 

G.I. Joe: The focus for the Joes was the product reveals for the upcoming Snake Eyes movie (which we're still waiting on a trailer for). The kids' roleplay items look fine, though I get the feeling the sword will be a bit difficult to hold for kids, at least based on the video itself, for all I know they're the same size as Lightsaber hilts which will be fine. Out of all the roleplay items, the spring-loaded staff would have interested me the most as a kid, but I could see them causing issues for parents. Parents beware when it comes to those toy Ninja weapons. The kids' action figures look good as well, a Joe equivalent of lines like Transformers Cyberverse, looking closer to the Deluxe class for them. The weapon combination gimmick, along with the spring-loaded attack gimmick, looks fun without being intrusive to the figure (they're not going to be as poseable as the Classified series, but these don't look to be as invasive as gimmick focused Transformers). The figures look good; not a big fan of the Baroness and Ninja Tech Snake Eyes, though. However, some accessories like Storm Shadow's quiver and a dagger that Baroness comes with seem to give off the impression that they'll work well with the Classified line for those who can't find the Classified versions on shelves. The Character and Vehicle figures don't look great to me. The characters look good, but the bikes feel forced in, and I'm not sure how well the gimmick will work considering they're motorcycles. I love the look of the Classified versions of the movie characters. They're different enough from the regular Classified figures that they stand out while not looking so drastically different from the familiar 80's aesthetic to not clash with the current Classified figures, at least when compared to the Transformers modernized looks compared to their movie designs. A solid presentation overall, but it's hard to be excited for a movie where there's no trailer for it yet, especially a movie now coming out in July this year.

 

 

Marvel: Starting with Marvel Legends Retro Wave 3, Bullseye, Grey Hulk, Invisible Woman, Cyclops, Ant-Man and Vision. While they look good, not too into 3.75-inch figures, at least on their own (something that I hope to elaborate on in the future). Going into the 6-inch stuff, Quazar looks well done; I just don't have much to say about him. I love the look of Classic Ultron, with there being just enough mechanical detail to give him some texture without going too far away from the comics. Evolt Guardsman looks fine; nothing really to say about him as I've never heard of him before. Hologram Iron Man seems interesting, but as with Ripply in Fortnite, I question how durable the material will be due to the translucent body. I love the look of Stealth suit Iron Man, along with Iron Heart. They did bring attention to the fact that Riri will have double pinless elbows, so regarding my comment about Lynx, there's a good chance the articulation improvements carry on into other lines. Not sold on Darkstar, to be honest, at least when compared to the previous reveals of the Iron Man wave. All of the figures from Ultron to Darkstar will come with components to make Ursa Major, which looks very impressive, but I would probably be more impressed if I knew who Ursa Major was. Stand alone from those in the 90's Modular Armor, which looks great and a good representation of the 90's armour. I could see people who played (what I'm assuming to be) Marvel vs Capcom enjoying the look as well, potentially keeping them around as new fans. The Iron Man suits are tempting, along with Iron Heart and Ultron; the others aren't interesting to me personally. In terms of the MCU stuff, while they couldn't show Disney+ figures, they did show off Thor from the final battle in Endgame. The sculpt looks good, and I like the effects parts, but I'm not a fan of the translucent blue weapons. They don't look good without the effects parts, which is a shame for those that don't want to use them for displays. A new piece of Legends gear is the MCU Eye of Agamoto, complete with a glowing, Removeable Time Stone. For people who like collecting the MCU gear, they're going to love this, and I can easily see this working well as a cosplay prop. After going into some details on the Haslab Sentinel, it appears that the next project they're going to try and crowdfund is a Galactus, at least based on the teaser and a teaser for the second wave of Age of Apocolypse revealed a Sabertooth coming. It is a nice mix of reveals, maybe not so much if you prefer MCU figures, but still solid overall.

 

 

Star Wars: Up first for Star Wars is the Galactic Snacking Grogu, based on his hunger from Mandalorian Season 2. An electronic Grogu toy is about what you'd expect it to be; looks fine. I hope you're not sick of Baby Yoda merch. After that came the reveals for the Vintage Collection. Re releases/ remakes in the collection include Luke Skywalker in his Hoth outfit, Han Solo in his Endor trenchcoat, Admiral Ackbar, and the Royal Guard. They look good for 3.75-inch figures. A new subline in the Vintage collection themed around Star Wars game characters was revealed, with the first wave including Heavy Battle Droid from Battlefront 2 (they didn't say which one), Shadow Stormtrooper from The Force Unleashed (which looks nice to me but, once again, translucent body parts), Scout Trooper (which looks to be a regular Scout Trooper but with new harness and a stun baton), and Electro-staff Purge Trooper, both from Jedi Fallen Order. The four figures look great, but I find it odd that it's all army builders and no characters from the games in question. Going to the 6-inch Black Series figures, they revealed figures they teased back in January, including General Lando from Return of the Jedi, Aura Sang from the Prequels (most notably from The Clone Wars), Tech from The Bad Batch, Zero from The Mandalorian, and Koska Reeves from The Mandalorian. All of these are faithful to their representations in Star Wars, though I am surprised they've finished The Bad Batch and Bo Katan's team so quickly, especially when there are (apparently) other teams and squads missing characters. Black Series Role-Play (I didn't catch the actual name) reveals include Wedge's helmet (which is probably a repaint of Luke's helmet, so again, looks fine if you're collecting them). The final reveal for the section was a Rogue One X-Wing for the Vintage Collection, along with an Antok Merrik that will be bundled with it to pilot it. During the presentation, a fan vote started to bring a vintage collection figure back into production in 2022. You can find it on Hasbro Pulse's social media channels. Maybe it's the fact that this took me all of Saturday to write (and I still need to do the thoughts on the presentation, the opening and closing paragraphs), or it's the fact that I don't collect Star Wars toys. Still, nothing in this section of the presentation interested me. 

Final thoughts on it all? I like the fact that Hasbro does product reveals like this and their Fan First Fridays. I hope that even after things fully recover, they continue to do them as it helps keep the excitement going between press shows. But, there are still some bugs to work out. I hope that if they keep working on them, the web cameras from home/ office stop once they can get people back at work, give the presentation a more professional look, and avoid technical hiccups that have frequently appeared in these kinds of events. I also think they need to strike a better balance in terms of the amount revealed compared to the discussion on the reveal. Four and a half hours is a lot to get through. Stop Motion trailers might be a thing to consider to show off a figure, what they come with, how they move, something that the designers would discuss. However, that will depend on how much they can cut the production time down. The padding, such as trivia and fan opinions, is also a pace killer; I think that kind of stuff is best saved for a post-show stream that could go into more detail on the reveals. I hope this was good read for you, I'll have a review of something for next week.

G.I Joe Classified 06; Cobra Commander and Regal Cobra Commander: And now for some different forms of buckethead.

For every hero, there is a villain, or at least there should be. The 1980's G.I Joe reboot, A Real American Hero, wasn't originally going to have an offensive force to fight against. Originally, Hasbro wanted the Joes to fight other companies toylines like Star Wars. I can imagine the epic battles between the Joes and the evil forces of Lego Castle. When Marvel, who was working with Hasbro to develop a comic series to tell the toyline's story, told them "No", a random idea resulted in the creation of the Joes, now infamous villains. Cobra, "a ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world"... it was the 80's, terrorism wasn't immediately associated with radicalized Muslims flying planes into buildings and bombing places in the general culture that's quick to label anything and everything in black and white. Well, now that I've probably pissed a lot of people off with that comment, let me quit when I'm behind and review that one time Starscream was the leader of an army and why it was probably for the best that he never gets to lead the Decepticons, Cobra Commander.

For this review, I'll be looking at two versions of the Commander. The general retail release Commander, which has a darker, more realistic colour palette, and the Hasbro Pulse exclusive Regal Cobra Commander, boasting a brighter cartoon and 80's toy accurate colour scheme. There is a third out there that was a San Diego Comic-Con exclusive before COVID happened. It became a Hasbro Pulse exclusive with more accessories and a different colour scheme, going for a mix of black, red and gold. Due to the fact that shipping is a problem, and I'd rather not spend triple digits on a $40 figure, we're not covering it in this review, ok? Ok.

 

I'll quickly touch on the articulation, as while it's similar to Duke's from back in February, both versions I have seem to suffer from different quality control issues. On the regular retail version, the hinge in the shoulders to help bring the arms closer to each other rarely wants to stay in any position other than getting the arms in closer, especially the left shoulder, though thankfully, the Epaulette does hide that. When using some of the accessories, you don't even notice it. The Regal variant doesn't have that issue in the shoulders, but the ab crunch ratchet is uncomfortably stiff and does not feel good to use, at least on my copy. If you ever wanted an example of how the QC is in the Classified line and how varied it can be, that should give you an idea when comparing two versions of the moulds. One minor note that may or may not be quality control, the rubber sashes and Epaulette are noticeably looser on the regular retail copy than the Regal version. However, I don't know which one should be correct in terms of application. 

The sculpting and paintwork on both figures give Cobra Commander a very ornate. It's fitting for a character that is so over the top in terms of personality (at least going off the 80's cartoon), and the Military General Dress Uniform fits this personality perfectly. The dark blue and black colours make up most of the colour on the figure on the regular retail release, with beautifully contrasted accents done in silver, gold, and dark red paint. I love how the snake motif is integrated into the sculpting without overpowering the look. It's on the strapping and Epaulette, the sheath for the sword, the black patches on the coat (not counting the gauntlets) and red striping on the pants. Enough for it to be noticeable, but grounded enough to have it still be a realistic-looking uniform. Regal Commander shares this aspect with the sculpting, but it's harder to notice on him due to the brighter colours. Everything that was dark blue on the regular version is now a more brilliant blue, in line with the 80's look. The black patches on the coat, the red striping, and the black gauntlets and boots have all been swapped out for dark blue. Anything that was silver (except for the visor) is now gold, giving him more of a presence due to how loud the colours are compared to the general retail version. The only complaint I have with the paint is that the gold doesn't look as durable or as well applied as the silver, but even the silver on the regular retail version has some issues when it came to the application, mainly the front of the left shoulder.

 

I love the head sculpts on both of them. There's enough detail to make it look visually interesting, without things being distracting, like many of the designs from Rise of Cobra. It's a shame that he doesn't come with an alternate head to look like the Hooded Cobra Commander in any version of the figure, but the accessories he does come with are good enough. While I wish he came with the sceptre as Snake Supreme does, both figures come with a handgun that's sculpted beautifully while still keeping the snake theme toned down. Due to both guns only being one colour, the snake detailing looks more like ornate detailing, which fits the figure as a whole. The same thing sadly can't be said for the sword. Both figures come with an elaborate dress sword that, while the blade looks solid and formidable if you dare try to put it into his right hand, something I haven't tried to do, the Cobra head for a sword hilt stands out badly against the rest of the figure's more toned down snake aesthetic. I wouldn't mind as much if he came with the sceptre, but as it is, it looks awkward. Unlike all the other figures released so far, Cobra Commander comes with four hands, two left hands and two right hands. For the left hand, you have a fist or an open hand that could be either a "resting comfortably hand", "resting on sword hand", or an "I'm going to rule the world!" acting hand. You have a trigger finger grip hand that will hold the gun and a pointing hand on the right. These hands sell the figure. He's surprisingly expressive purely because of the hands for a guy with a mirror for a face. It would have been nice for the figure to come with a version of each position for both hands. It would be excessive for a figure to be released with eight hands, but the possibility for photos and displays would be worth the CAD file mirroring required to pull it off. I hope to have some picture tests in a new photo set up on my twitter feed sometime during the week.

"Decepticons! Megatron has fallen! I, Cobra Commander, am your new leader!... Wait, wrong series, but you should make that red, white and blue jet with the beautiful voice your new leader!"

 

Like with Duke, Cobra Commander is a nice modernization of the original character. But unlike Duke, the sci-fi elements don't clash as hard against the design, partly because Cobra always had one foot in sci-fi and didn't need to get around the logic loophole of realistic, modern army people using space guns. While Duke can look a bit too generic as a general army person at times, this is unmistakeably the Commander. Both the regular and Regal versions have their unique charm, and both are worth picking up, depending on your preference.

G.I. Joe Classified 04; Duke: Does this mean I'm a "proper" action figure collector now?

 There is a bit of backstory for this one, so if you're only here for the review, skip to the image that shows Duke in box. The paragraph below that is the actual review.

That question might sound weird, but there is a reason I ask. Growing up, I didn't have many "traditional action figures", a lot of the toys I got were Transformers or Lego (mainly Bionicle). Oh sure, I was a fan of things like Star Wars, still am (though it's many ups and downs), even played with some Star Wars toys that other kids have. But to this day, I've not bought a single Star Wars toy (no, not even Black Series). I'm also a Marvel fan thanks to the MCU, and DC thanks to viewing the DC Animated Universe in recent years. I don't own a single action figure of either brand partly because I knew it would be a deep rabbit hole for all three of those. Even Pokemon, the only Pokemon toys I ever got that could even be considered action figure, were barely moveable (if at all) electronic toys of Pikachu and Blaziken, both of which were a present. I still own the Blaziken, however, I think the batteries may have corroded to oblivion by now. Action figures didn't make up a lot of my childhood.

There is an exception to this, though, Action Man. I had Action Man toys when I was in kindergarten, going into Primary School, none of which I own now. I remember I had a Go-Kart, a snow bike, and a Venus Fly Trap like thing? It was like a Bear Trap (in terms of function), but sculpted and painted to look like a Venus Fly Trap. I also have vague memories of a parachute one that could go up a kite before falling back to earth, along with a scuba themed one? My memories of this time are hazy. It was around 20 years ago, after all. 

So, now that I have an income, why don't I buy collectable Action Figures outside of Transformers? Well, the main reason has always been a thought inside my head regarding value. Due to the nature of Transformers and Bionicle, many Action Figure lines like Marvel Legends, Star Wars Black Series and especially 3 3/4 inch offerings from several places (looking at you Super7 Banzaitron), I just didn't see the value in. A $40 traditional action figure felt like a rip off when I compared them to other products like the $30 Deluxe class Transformers: a humanoid action figure, a vehicle/ animal, and a puzzle. Even back when Lego was making buildable action figures, nothing stopped me from digging into my parts collection and creating something different if I didn't like the official build. So why am I reviewing a G.I. Joe Classified figure? Curiosity finally got the better of me, and it seemed like these were somewhat shelf warming at one of my local Toyworlds. I figured "why not? May as well see what these are about." Hopefully, this interests some people, though I don't know how interesting a review from the perspective of a somewhat recent fan of G.I. Joe. Not to mention someone who hasn't touched a standard Action figure in 20 ish years these being his first actual G.I Joe toys ever would be. Well, time to see what the fuss is about with this whole "6-inch Action Figures".

Starting with the accessories, and we come to the first sign of "this guy probably doesn't know what he's talking about". On all four figures, I had a hard time getting their accessories to behave the first time. Some like the backpacks were easy, but getting anything into their hands felt uncomfortable like I would break something. After that initial struggle, things got more comfortable, but a part of me thinks that I did break something or bent something out of position. Maybe I'm overreacting, fueled by me being so used to the 5mm ports that are Transformers hands, that is entirely possible. The accessories themselves are fine though. Duke keeps things pretty tame compared to some (Snake Eyes), with his main accessories being some binoculars, a small pistol, a rifle, and a backpack, all of which can store on him. From what I've heard, the use of space weapons in the line is frustrating for many G.I. Joe fans. I can understand why, however, I'm perfectly fine with them, I prefer space guns over real guns. That, and the whole "it's *current year*, you can't sell real looking guns to kids" argument is probably the main reason for it. It's at least a minor compromise, and I wouldn't be surprised if people were 3D Printing realistic guns for their figures.
 

The pistol I like the most, though that's more due to minor issues I have with the backpack and the rifle. For how well the pack is sculpted, there are parts that I wish had some more paint to help break up the green, things like the water bottles and some of the straps. From experience, it is accurate though for it to be mostly green, so in that context, it looks great, but I can easily see it being a "what would you rather?" situation, where there is no one right answer to the look. The sculpting on the rifle looks great, along with the paint job. My issue with it though is the barrel, it angles up, fresh out of the box. From reviews I've seen, mine isn't the only one that does this, and due to it being hard plastic, it looks like it was intended to do this. Why? Thankfully, straightening it is easy, and once straight, it looks great. Duke can hold both weapons with ease. However the binoculars (sculpted well, but due to the lack of paint, doesn't really look good) I've not been able to get him to hold. For me, they stay on his belt. The belts themselves are fine and once again sculpted well. I would have prefered the one on his chest, along with the pistol holster to be more firmly attached. Seeing as there's no way to remove any of them without disassembly, it makes me curious as to why they're loose in the first place. The central belt around his waist I get, it's to help with articulation after all. The others though, I just find it an odd choice. 

Looking at Duke on his own, I think he looks great. The face is the only weak thing about it, though I can't figure out why. Just something about it isn't sitting right with me. The way the sculpting hides the articulation is awe-inspiring, with the only noticeable joint being the ab crunch. Moving those joints though seems to be difficult at points. Some take a fair bit of force to get going initially. Nothing feels weak, far from it, but it sits a little too close to the "too strong" side for my tastes (but again, this could be "Transformer/ Bionicle experience" talking, where most of those joints are variations on friction, not ratchets like in Duke. While it might be hard to position the joints, it's effortless to set the figure naturally, simply due to how many joints there are. Below is a (poorly laid out) list of joints comparing Duke to Earthrise/ Kingdom Leader Class Optimus Prime, just to show the differences between the amount of movement both are capable (not including Prime's gimmicks).

It's genuinely impressive how much movement you can get out of this guy. It is a struggle to get him into some positions like being on one knee, but I feel a way to help with that involves the stand ports (for a non included stand) in Duke's heals. These look to be the same ports that you'd find in a Transformers butt, which would probably help a lot when making dynamic action poses.

I see now why people collect these, Marvel Legends, Star Wars Black Series, etc. I'm genuinely impressed by this, and the fact that the other three I got are of a similar quality has given me a "I have seen the light" moment when it comes to traditional action figures. Will this mean I'll start collecting Marvel Legends and Black Series? No, I'm not made of money! Will I go all-in on this line? Doubtful considering what I've seen and heard about their distribution. Are there others I plan to get? Yes. I have Duke's Decepticon alike counterpart, Cobra Commander, on the way. I also have my eyes on other characters released (though I have no idea where I'd put a Baroness if I ever manage to get her, due to her coming with that bike). If there is interest in me reviewing other Classified figures, I'll gladly review more of them. The 80's line is something I'm curious about, but that's in the "when I have more space" category of future plans. Would I review those old Action Man toys? If I somehow got my hands on them again, sure, but I doubt there is any interest in it now.