GI Joe Vanishing Act Review

When this year's batch of "50th Anniversary" stuff first showed up online, there were quite a few of the two-packs that I knew I wanted to get. I've been pretty successful in getting what I want from the two-packs.

The only one of the three-packs that I was interested in was the set with Alpine. Got it, sold off the Rock Viper, no big deal. None of the other sets were of much interest to me.

Until Toys R Us started clearancing them out...
I couldn't resist. How can you resist when the per figure price drops down to around $4.50? So I picked up the Vanishing Act and Sneak Attack sets. I still don't give a crap about the Screaming Duke set.

As usual, I'm late to the game on figure reviews, but what the hell. Here goes my random thoughts.

I'm actually not very impressed with either of these sets.

The Vanishing Act set includes Torpedo, Hit & Run, and Zartan. Zartan is the high point for this set. 

Zartan has been a bit of trouble for me in recent years. I haven't been able to figure out my "default" version. I'm thinking that this guy has made the cut. For a while, the Resolute version filled that slot, but I think this version jumps ahead.

The parts choice works out quite well to closely match the original look, but not obnoxiously so. There's enough of a modern vibe to the figure that all the parts work well together.

The oddest accessory is the mask backpack. Like the original figure, the mask just slips under the hood and, there you have it, Zartan in disguise!

Uh, who the hell is this supposed to be?

Oh yeah, it's Storm Shadow! Yeah, that's right...

Crap, I forgot to take a picture with the Duke mask. Oh well, no loss.

This is a decent head sculpt. Is that the Vosloo head sculpt? Looks a little like it to me.

One day, I've got to revisit all the different versions of Zartan and make a final choice. I think this guy wins.

Next up is Torpedo. Decent figure, but there are a few issues. It looks like Hasbro went with the original torso and added the arms and legs from the Retaliation Snake Eyes. The new parts actually work quite well for Torpedo. The new arms and legs give a lightly armored look to the figure. I'm not too sure where the head came from.

The belt that originally worked with Retaliation Snake Eyes should work on Torpedo, but the sculpted belt interferes with its ability to rest comfortably on his waist. I like these types of figures just fine, but they just don't really work with most of my collection. I focus more on land warfare over water or air warfare. I may try him on eBay and see what I can get for him.

Lastly, we have Hit & Run. Such potential and such failure. The uniform color is great, but what the hell happened to his skin?

Look at that paint job on the helmet and the backpack! Excellent paint apps!

Alright, so Hit & Run is going for some nighttime camouflage, right? Yeah, sure, that's the ticket. I suppose it could work, but after the all green face from the Club version last year, I was hoping for a more normal skin tone. Perhaps Hit & Run got caught in the "Great Magnetic Field."

So for Vanishing Act, we have one hit and two misses. All decent figures, but Zartan edges out the two Joes with their flaws. Still, at $4.50 per figure, not a bad set. 

Next up - Sneak Attack!