Post by countzackula on May 16, 2012 15:21:03 GMT -6
If you haven't heard of the set of six GI Joe figures available now (or very soon) at Dollar General stores, then now you have!
Got these yesterday. I had heard of these a while back, and wasn't sure if I was really THAT into 'em, but I warmed up to them. There are six in all, and apparently only come one figure of each per case...yipe!
You get the Joes: Snake Eyes, Duke, and Shipwreck.
You get the Cobras: Storm Shadow, Cobra Commander, and a trooper.
All have the same cardback. No file cards, either! They're six dollars, which makes them slightly cheaper than major retailer prices...slightly, but you get a tad less bang for your buck. Not as many accessories or paint apps...plus the names are no longer printed on each character's figure stand. Eh, not bad, but not awesome. Don't give into the hype just because they're "exclusives", though.
Some quickie reviews and thoughts, though......
Snake Eyes is based off of one of his many vintage incarnations...I forget the year, but this is when he went all paintball on us and had that big set of reddish goggles and a grey vest over his blue 'n' black suit. Never was a huge Snake Eyes fan as a kid...never had not a one! I did always remember this version, though. I just thought it looked sweet. A nice homage using reused figure parts! Duke is kinda un-Duke-like, in my opinion. A lotta fans actually seemed to assume this was a trooper, or greenshirt. Regardless, still a nice classic "green army man" figure. The head really doesn't look very Duke-ish either...almost looks like Hasbro tried to pick a noggin that looked like the movie version (Tatum Channing), but wasn't exactly it (probably due to legal rights kinda stuff). I like to pretend it's Duke as a new recruit. One note, is that the cardback shows him with two pistols...he only has one. Shipwreck is my favorite. I just love the fact that they made a modernized one that still has the feel of the original. The one from the early 2000s and the Sigma 6 series
kinda had the sweater and cap look. They gave us a version in the first movie line, but I'm elated to see a full sweater version with more cartoony colors and not mostly black and grey. Sadly, mine was missing his pistol! Yep, might be a factory error, but the space in the bubble was empty...darn...didn't notice 'til I was opening him.
Storm Shadow is actually based on his "good guy" version from the late 80s/early 90s (eh, I forget...not a numbers guy!). He's packaged as a Cobra, though. I originally wasn't all too thrilled about this one, but ended up liking it. Cobra Commander always seems to come in black at intervals of time...or red...or really dark blue. The black one here almost seems to be a homage to the Battle Corps one, only Hasbro skimped on painting his chest. This is my only real gripe. At the very least, I'd have loved to see a Cobra insignia. Looks a tad unfinished, but still cool. Gotta love a chic terrorist leader with a snake sword! Last is the ol' Cobra Trooper...another chic all-black guy...if you dig that. Sometimes it can be bland. Aside from the empty built-in pistol and knife sheaths, he's awesome. I would troop build, but he's so hard to find in large quantities, plus...I have so many troops, I just don't feel like it! He's my official super-evil bodyguard to Cobra Commander.
There's a second wave of these exact figures done up in new paint schemes on the way...in time, though. Nothing new...all reused figure parts. Seem to be unofficially tied into the new flick. You can probably live without 'em, but if you can find 'em...not too bad.
Got these yesterday. I had heard of these a while back, and wasn't sure if I was really THAT into 'em, but I warmed up to them. There are six in all, and apparently only come one figure of each per case...yipe!
You get the Joes: Snake Eyes, Duke, and Shipwreck.
You get the Cobras: Storm Shadow, Cobra Commander, and a trooper.
All have the same cardback. No file cards, either! They're six dollars, which makes them slightly cheaper than major retailer prices...slightly, but you get a tad less bang for your buck. Not as many accessories or paint apps...plus the names are no longer printed on each character's figure stand. Eh, not bad, but not awesome. Don't give into the hype just because they're "exclusives", though.
Some quickie reviews and thoughts, though......
Snake Eyes is based off of one of his many vintage incarnations...I forget the year, but this is when he went all paintball on us and had that big set of reddish goggles and a grey vest over his blue 'n' black suit. Never was a huge Snake Eyes fan as a kid...never had not a one! I did always remember this version, though. I just thought it looked sweet. A nice homage using reused figure parts! Duke is kinda un-Duke-like, in my opinion. A lotta fans actually seemed to assume this was a trooper, or greenshirt. Regardless, still a nice classic "green army man" figure. The head really doesn't look very Duke-ish either...almost looks like Hasbro tried to pick a noggin that looked like the movie version (Tatum Channing), but wasn't exactly it (probably due to legal rights kinda stuff). I like to pretend it's Duke as a new recruit. One note, is that the cardback shows him with two pistols...he only has one. Shipwreck is my favorite. I just love the fact that they made a modernized one that still has the feel of the original. The one from the early 2000s and the Sigma 6 series
kinda had the sweater and cap look. They gave us a version in the first movie line, but I'm elated to see a full sweater version with more cartoony colors and not mostly black and grey. Sadly, mine was missing his pistol! Yep, might be a factory error, but the space in the bubble was empty...darn...didn't notice 'til I was opening him.
Storm Shadow is actually based on his "good guy" version from the late 80s/early 90s (eh, I forget...not a numbers guy!). He's packaged as a Cobra, though. I originally wasn't all too thrilled about this one, but ended up liking it. Cobra Commander always seems to come in black at intervals of time...or red...or really dark blue. The black one here almost seems to be a homage to the Battle Corps one, only Hasbro skimped on painting his chest. This is my only real gripe. At the very least, I'd have loved to see a Cobra insignia. Looks a tad unfinished, but still cool. Gotta love a chic terrorist leader with a snake sword! Last is the ol' Cobra Trooper...another chic all-black guy...if you dig that. Sometimes it can be bland. Aside from the empty built-in pistol and knife sheaths, he's awesome. I would troop build, but he's so hard to find in large quantities, plus...I have so many troops, I just don't feel like it! He's my official super-evil bodyguard to Cobra Commander.
There's a second wave of these exact figures done up in new paint schemes on the way...in time, though. Nothing new...all reused figure parts. Seem to be unofficially tied into the new flick. You can probably live without 'em, but if you can find 'em...not too bad.
