Thursday, February 18, 2016

GI Joe Sneak Attack Review

Let's take a look at the Sneak Attack three pack from this year's "50th Anniversary" line. This is another set that I would never have purchased if it had always stayed at full retail price. But at $4.50 per figure, you can't fight the deal!

An odd choice of characters and an even odder color palette choice. Blue? Seriously? 
Sneak Attack includes Dusty, Bazooka, and Firefly. Blue? I'm not sure, as I write, which one is my favorite. I do know which one is my least favorite though. 
The Firefly from the set is very well done, but there are just a few minor issues. He's basically a repaint of the Retaliation Firefly (best ever!) from one of the three packs.  I like the different shades of gray for the uniform, but I think the boots and gloves should have been a darker gray. The added detailing rocks.
The paint apps on his weapon just make it pop. I haven't seen this MP5 very often in a GI Joe figure. I don't know where it originally came from, but it's a cool weapon. One drawback for the figure are the two bombs; they've been glued to his web gear. Dang it.
Ooh, that backpack! Where did this come from? Such cool details and great paint apps. Another drawback - the backpack peg is very short; it barely fits into his back. Very loose fit. No other solution besides glue.
Compared to the Retaliation three pack Firefly, I'm still in favor of the one on the left over the new paint scheme. Maybe Firefly in night ops gear? That'll work for me.
Next up we have Bazooka. Oh the pain. So much fail. Blue? Seriously? Blue? Hasbro took Bazooka's head and dropped it on the Rock/Roadblock body. Hey, let's make another tall figure! I liked the original 25th version of Bazooka and it still holds up to the more modern figures. Plus he seems to be looking downward, almost sad. 
I'd be sad too if I had to wear a baby-blue uniform. I don't know what I'm going to do with this guy. You may never see him again in another photograph of mine. Poor dude.
Lastly, we have Dusty. In blue. A desert ops soldier. In a blue uniform. Yeah, seriously. But I actually like this figure. The blue tones aren't quite as baby-blue as Bazooka's outfit.
Plus the parts selection just works for this figure. The PoC Duke torso and web gear look great. Original Duke arms and new hands? Unsure, but the parts choice works
This particular head sculpt is quickly becoming a generic multi-purpose head for bot Hasbro and the Club. It was originally used for the PoC Dusty, then it went to the Dollar General Duke, onward to the SpearHead figure from the Club from last year. This year, the Club is using it again for Bullhorn. 

I don't think I'm going to use this guy as Dusty though. You know, because his blue uniform would stand out a bit in the desert. I've seen some talk on the interwebs of using this guy as an aquatic ops sort of guy. Yeah, I like the land warriors better over other environments, but he could still work for me as an aquatic specialist. I'll have to come up with a new code name for him.

I'm going to have to go with blue Dusty as my favorite from this set, with Firefly coming in at a close second. With the other lighter gray version being my favorite, this new one just doesn't quite make it enough to bump blue Dusty from the lead position.

Trailing in at a very distant third place, Baby-Blue Bazooka staggers across the finish line.

That's almost it for reviews for this latest batch of "50th Anniversary" sets from Hasbro and Toys R Us. I did buy the two vehicle sets, but I sold off the HISS tank and the oddly colored Snow/TigerCat - HAVOC II thingy. I still have the black SkyStriker and the FOE Striker to review. I had almost forgot about them!

It looks like the figures from FSS 4.0 are finally going to start shipping next week! Yeah! New toys!!

Stay tuned!

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