Action Force Sgt. Slaughter: At least I can't get demonetized for this.

 Let's start the year's reviews with something slightly different, shall we? It's rare to see complementary toy lines in today's day and age, isn't it? Sure, you'd get cases like the Transformers Studio Series 86 line and Generations Selects to help bolster the Generation 1 figures on shelves (because we need more of those...). Still, those feel like an extension, compared to a complement. Compare that to the '80s, and 90's Lego sets, particularly the Space themed sets where, even in separate lines, the sets still complemented each other, helped make Space feel a lot grander in scope. I bring this up because since learning of Valaverse's Action Force line, it's felt intended (at least partially) to complement the G.I. Joe Classified line. Valaverse heavily promoted the line to the dedicated G.I. Joe fans. The company owner is a former Hasbro designer that helped work on (among other brands) G.I. Joe and was likely aware of the Classified line long before the general public did. Combine that with the history of Action Force as a brand name is directly tied to the Joes, as Action Force was the name many G.I Joe: A Real American Hero toys and moulds were brought into the United Kingdom, even the inclusion of today's review subject, Robert Rudolph Remus, was one of the first real-life people to be included in the Real American Hero toyline under his wrestling persona, Sgt. Slaughter. While the Valaverse Action Force is its universe, with its own story its own characters, it feels like the intention was always to balance the legacies of the brands (a history and heritage I do recommend looking up, as it is a fascinating story). That's why today we're reviewing that main bridge, the big hook to try and convert fans of Classified. Welcome to the Slaughter House.

One thing to bring up early on, this is not based on any version of Slaughter from the Real American Hero toyline. As far as I'm aware, this is an original design based on his wrestling persona. Based on the bio on the Valaverse website, this is a Slaughter that is somewhat past his prime. But, he still has a "toughened veteran" feel and is viewed as a threat to the Action Force's enemies: the Swarm (among other threats? I haven't read the comics they've been putting out on the story, I don't know if Bone Collector is an enemy, a mercenary, or something else). You get the feel of a veteran pulled out of retirement with this figure, but there's still enough of a sense of youth to the figure that allows him to still work as a Drill Sergeant. While he may not be the one breaking recruits in, there's still a sense of "recruits are probably still terrified of this man". There's still a sense of authority to him. Among one other in particular, the figure reminds me of a teacher at my old high school who was in charge of the school's Cadet Program. When in uniform, he also had that sense of authority to him.

 

While this does complement the Classified series, there are distinct differences compared to how Classified handles certain elements, Specific elements of the engineering are different. For example, Sculpt was kept a high priority for Slaughter, whereas many Classified figures prioritize articulation. Not to say that Slaughter is rigid, just that there were some compromises he makes that the Classified line doesn't, and vice versa. The way the stomach, for example: while it is as articulated as the Classified series, it's more natural to the way the human body works, thanks to the upper body and the hips having joints built into the stomach to handle an ab crunch and hip spin, compared to Classified's far more visible ratchet hinge. On the flip side of that, Slaughter's neck is more limited than necks like Duke's, and the extra joints incorporated in Duke's neck, and hips allow him to maintain the articulation without having visible gaps in the sculpt. However, this is only an issue in Slaughter's neck, as the dark green pants and jacket help hide the gap. 

One thing that does unobjectively put the Classified line to shame is the accessories. One thing I should mention is that there is a known issue with the first wave of Action Force toys, where the joints and ports are too stiff out of the box. Included is a letter from Valaverse regarding ways to help fix this, as it's mostly down to the internal seal of the joints. This issue is something that will be addressed for Wave 2 and onwards. I don't bring this up to bring down the figure, even though it affects my toy copy (mainly the hands). This wave of toys was kickstarted, the company itself is still young, and the transparency about the issue is appreciated. With that said, what do you get with the sarge? You get a wide variety of alternate hands, with both hands having a trigger hand, a neutral gripping hand, a fist, and a relaxed/ "Come on, try me!" hand. The right hand also gets a pointing hand, so you could do things like having a pointing contest with Cobra Commander. Unlike the Classified line, these hands use a very stiff plastic, meaning that the unique gripping hands are the only way you'll be able to get him to hold his two weapons: a revolver and a knife, both of which have dedicated holsters and sheaths on his thighs. Out of the two weapons, I prefer the knife thanks to sculpted details like the eagle head on the handle, but both weapons put many of the Classified lines weapons to shame thanks to them being beautifully painted. It's nice to have a silver revolver and silver blade. Slaughter also comes with a removable hat and sunglasses, the hat itself is a snug fit that won't easily come off unless you knock it, but the same can't be said for the sunglasses. It's the one major flaw I have with this toy, as I would have prefered to have a different head sculpt with the glasses moulded on. If you have Profit Director Destro, you'll be very familiar with how frustrating the glasses can be, and this pair has the same issue. I'll probably be getting some glue eventually and gluing them onto the head due to him never removing them in the cartoon (at least from memory. Again, not a wrestling fan). The final accessory is another that I wish the Classified line would come with, a display stand. It's nothing spectacular, as there are no painted details on it, but all the moulding detail helps give it a distinct look without becoming distracting. Considering as the designer, Bobby Vala, has gone on record saying the reason Classified doesn't come with things like stands and alternate hands is the perceived value of toylines like Marvel Legends and Star Wars: The Black Series, I'm not surprised to see all of these accessories here, and they all help bring life to the figure. 

No, I'm not a photographer. Why do you think I mainly use promo images?

While I can't say that this has convinced me to go all-in on Action Force, as many of the designs are a bit hit and miss for me (though if I could, I would probably get that Wasp Raider, nice to see Waspinator getting some love) it's hard to deny how good of a figure this is. You can tell that this was done with a lot of care put into it. This toy feels like an uncompromised love letter to the 80's military action figures. This figure does achieve what I believe the goals of this line are: a balance of old and new ideas, modernizing the concept of the military action figure while respecting the legacy of Action Force, its predecessor Action Man, and his American brother in arms, G.I. Joe. If you can only get one figure from the line, this is the one I recommend getting, though I don't think you could go wrong with any of them. Just be aware that this is a smaller company. These likely won't be as readily available as something like a Classified figure (though if you live in Australia, that's not saying much because Classified isn't readily available anyway). See you next week for the start of the Golden Disc Collection.

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.

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.

Marvel Legends Into the Spider-verse Gwen Stacey and Maximum Venom Ghost-Spider: At least this can last a while.

 "Will this mean I'll start collecting Marvel Legends and Black Series? No, I'm not made of money!"-Mediaholics Toybox's review of G.I. Joe Classified Duke. My curiosity will be the death of me, I swear.

Well, with my curiosity fueled by the return of, and my introduction to, G.I. Joe toys with the Classified line, along with seeing a wave of Into the Spiderverse figures on shelves, it was not a good combination for someone who is curious by nature, and still waiting for the Events Industry to recover from COVID-19 with time to kill. Though my knowledge of the comics isn't excellent when compared to other fans, some things do pique my interest, which is why this is a dual Ghost Spider review. Thanks to the Build-A-Fig accessories, these will likely go on for a while as semi-regular reviews, if for nothing else, then not having random torsos lying around my collection. Shall we try and see why there's love for Marvel Legends? Oh, and encase you're curious, yes, that quote does extend to Star Wars, but that's for another day. It can wait.

"Alright people, let's start this from the beginning one last time." To start things off with answering some questions as to who these two are and why I'm reviewing both of them at the same time when they look nothing alike, that requires a bit of unpacking. In a basic summary, Gwen Stacey was Peter Parker's first love in the comics; The Night Gwen Stacey Died being regarded as one of the most important comics in Spider-Man history. Many, many years later, a comic event was being written themed around Spiderman known as Spider-Verse, a multiverse adventure pairing many different versions of Spider-Man together. A mix of pre-established comic spiders like Miles Morales from the Ultimate Marvel Universe, spiders based on media representations like the then ongoing Ultimate Spider-man version of the character, along with versions of the webhead that flip the concept on its head all being brought together for a story. "What if Gwen Stacey got bitten instead?" was one of these "flip the idea on it's head" ideas. This event is where the Spider-Woman that the fanbase nicknamed "Spider-Gwen" came from, and when she was dimension-hopping, she got herself a special Venom Symbiote. She would eventually adopt the alias of "Ghost-Spider" when she was brought into the central comic universe. Symbiote part excluded, her role in the Spider-Verse and popularity from that series was one of the driving reasons why Spider Gwen was put into the Sony Animated Movie from 2018, Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse. Anything I could say about that version of her can be summed up as "go watch Into the Spiderverse, it's a great movie." My apologies to the more well-known fans about this likely butchering of the character's history, there is a lot to it, and I know people don't like to read a lot, so I had to keep this brief.

I'll start this review with the Build-A-Fig pieces; so that if I do more reviews of Marvel Legends, I don't need to go into this process again. With the majority of Marvel Legends figures (that I've at least seen), a themed wave of figures tends to come with a piece of a larger figure that you can put together if you collect all the figures in that wave. Both figures come with the torso of their respective figures, Gwen Stacey (the name I'll be using when referring to the Into the Spider-verse character) comes with the torso of Stilt-Man (who wasn't in the movie, but that is best saved for a dedicated review). Ghost-spider comes with the torso and weapons of Venompool, who, as far as I can tell, is Deadpool with the Venom Symbiote. It is a solid idea for getting larger figures into the market, though annoying for those who don't like leaving random pieces of figures lying around (like me). When writing this, Stilt-Man is complete, and Venompool has a set of legs to go with his torso. If these reviews interest people, I'll keep making them, and they'll eventually get reviews once I've covered the characters lugging around their body parts. In the meantime, let's look at Gwen. 

To get one positive out of the way first, with the significant exception being the Maskless Gwen face, this can be quickly passed off as the comics Ghost-Spider, the traditional look, not the symbiote costume, due to how faithful the Into the Spiderverse design was to the comics. Those looking for a Gwen from the comics and can't afford the late tax (the first one I could find on eBay was $100+ shipping, and an Amazon listing had her almost $190). Completely accurate? No, but within the ballpark. If you're hoping I compare this to the Edge of Spider-verse version, you'll be disappointed as I don't have that one, and I'm not paying those prices. Maybe if I can get one second-hand, as I do enjoy the character in all the media appearances that I've seen, but that might not be for a while. As for the Spider-verse version that I do own, when she's wearing her mask and hood, she looks like she's jumped off the screen. However, to compare it to something like modern Transformers Masterpiece figures, there is extra detail here that, while likely coming from other characters, adds enough detail to help it feel alive. To jump ahead a bit, I think the two figures here share moulding for their lower chest, but that's me basing it that the abdominal muscle-sculpting looks to be the same. Even in basic poses, the sculpted muscle tone gives the figure an air of power to her, like this is someone that can, and will, beat you up without breaking a sweat. 

While as good of a figure as it is, there are parts about it that I'm not a fan of, thanks to a mix of things like unknown expectations going in, accessories I wish she came with and accessories that I'm not fond of the result. I've been focusing on the masked look because I'm not a fan of her unmasked face. Don't get me wrong, it's sculpted well, and the detail with things like the eyes is impressive, but she has a dead eye look about her with the mask off, which is kind of unsettling. The face needed a better expression on it, something like the smug smile from the forest where she debuts as Ghost-Spider/ Spider-Woman would have been a lot better at giving some more life to the face. It's a shame that it's the face the figure is wearing in the box. She comes with other accessories: a pair of web-shooter hands to swap out with the fists she has by default and a Spider-Ham figure that can't move (outside of a ball joint for the head) but is well sculpted and works well as an accessory. It would have been nice if she had come with gripping web hands, encase someone wanted to use some white string as makeshift webs, but a part of that goes into a flaw I have with both figures, so I'll save that for after I talk about the symbiote suit.

One of my significant issues with the traditional Spider-Man Venom suit is that for as nice of a look as it has, it's somewhat surprising how well red and blue characters being painted black works; it is just a black version of the Spiderman suit. No extra details, no bells and whistles, just a black suit, likely due to its introduction and the cause of the suit coming after the fact. I bring this up because Ghost-Spider's suit fits the Symbiote suits' potential now that people accept that the symbiotes are more than a set of black threads. I love some of the details like the jacket with the spiked shoulders, and the hood being designed like a symbiote mouth. Honestly I think the hood is a far better way at executing the symbiote mouth when compared to other costumes such as Miles'. The "tongue" I'm a bit hit and miss on. While it looks fantastic in comic art, I don't think it's translated well to plastic, even though it is nicely sculpted. I think it has something to do with the length of it. I think it's a bit too long if you have it just dangling, but you can wrap it around her leg and have her hold the end of it in one of her hands. I also like that it's more of a dark blue and not black, which helps her stand out a bit more when put next to other symbiote suits. Unlike Gwen, you don't get extra accessories like alternate hands or a head without the hood on for her, but I don't have an issue with that as it's not needed, and the clawed fingers are the only hands she needs. 

Articulation on both of them is about the same. However, Ghost Spider's hood and jacket limit the head movement, and the joint in her chest doesn't seem to want to let her arch her back. The overall articulation is fine for what it is, but it is limiting when you consider how limber she and other spider characters are in media. While I've been able to replicate poster shots of Gwen's Into the Spiderverse design, neither can pull off things like a wall crawl or a "spider landing"; fingers of one hand on the ground, the other arm in the air, the body as low to the ground as possible). The problem with articulation is that it is hard to balance the figure's movement with its sculpt, especially when there's nowhere to hide the hinges, such as on figure-hugging, single-piece super-suits. Would I have liked these two to be more agile? Yes, but I don't know if that would have been worth sacrificing to the sculpt needed to pull it off. At the very least, though, was it too much to ask for a forward ab crunch on these two?

From an outsider looking in, one of the biggest problems is that it is a very, very deep rabbit hole due to the massive catalogue of heroes, villains, side characters, and alternate costumes for all of them. When you combine that with a business model that encourages you to get figures, you don't want to complete larger figures. From there, enabling you to start pairing them up with other characters thanks to the web of connections that are the many different Marvel Universes makes getting into the line as a new collector very daunting. With two of the ones I took the plunge with, what I got were solid but a little underwhelming. Great representations, to be sure, but I can't help but think things could have gone further when it comes to stuff like articulation. I plan to do more reviews of Marvel Legends in the future, for both the Spiderverse wave and the Venom wave of figures. Past that, though, is a bit more up in the air. I might not know how deep this rabbit hole goes, but I know it goes deep, and many figures have hefty late taxes on them. See you next week for a review of Maximal #2.
 
Also, I should say this now encase anyone wants to ask; I've got no plans to review now brand new wave of X-Men figures, which only just launched at the time of writing. I recognize some by name, none by design.

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.