Time for another FSS 4.0 review and as usual, I'm late to the review game. This latest shipment involved two of the most anticipated figures from FSS 4.5, Billy and the Interrogator. Not much in depth to my reviews, just a few pictures and random thoughts.
The Interrogator first appeared in 1991 as the driver/pilot of the Cobra Battle Copter, a rather dorky vehicle that sort of flew with the pull of a zip cord. The Interrogator's role in Cobra was, well... interrogating, I suppose. He's got some fancy electronic helmet that does some sort of mumbo-jumbo on a prisoner's psyche. Secrets are revealed and all that sort of stuff.
Hasbro released the Interrogator in a new color scheme in 1993. A new sculpt came along in 2006, and the Club came out with another version in 2010 for one of the Convention exclusive sets.
The Club decided to include the Interrogator into the FSS 4.0 set and for me, he's a welcome addition. With an army of faceless legions, it's always welcome to add an individual personality into the Cobra hierarchy.
Big problem right not, at least for me personally. I've got a job change coming up at the end of July and nearly all of my GI Joe stuff has been packed away. So pictures will be extremely limited in their creativity.
The Club did a decent part selection in my opinion. He pretty much matches the original figure enough to satisfy me. Plus his helmet is removable!
I'm not real crazy about the web gear. It works well enough, but I may try something different once I get my stuff unpacked in a couple months.
The head choice from the Club was not very imaginative. The original head sculpt was a masked head that was seen on several other figures. I've tried out a few different head sculpts and have settled on this Fred head for now. To me, it works well enough with the character and the idea that, unmasked, he could hang around with the troops without drawing any attention to himself. Great job by the Club on this one; one of the stronger entries of FSS 4.0.
Next up is the son of Cobra Commander, Billy. Since when did Cobra Commander have a son? At one point in the Marvel run, he was a young kid who attempted to assassinate CoCo under the urging of Major Bludd and the Baroness. Later, he grew up and became an apprentice to Snake Eyes and a somewhat reformed Storm Shadow. Somewhere along the way, he lost an eye and a leg in an explosion. The leg was replaced by a cybernetic version, but no luck with the eye.
The cool part about this figure from the Club is that Billy has never been made as a figure before this. First time in action figure form! So how did the Club do? Not too bad! He's a simple, but decent build, but like most of the Club figures, there are a few flaws. The torso is a bit odd. There seems to be a ridge between the collar and his neck. Not a huge deal. I don't like the web gear. That little clip on the back strap is useless. I've used an extra set of web gear from an extra Ultimate Snake Eyes figure and it was okay for a bit.
Since the time I took these pictures, I switched out one set of Snake Eyes gear for another. I'm currently using the belt from City Strike Snake Eyes and it is far superior. New pictures eventually.
The head sculpt is well done, capturing the look of the adult Billy.
Not a bad figure, one of the better figures from FSS 4.0. The Club walks away with two winners for this shipment.
Only one more shipment to go! Tiger Force Outback and Sneak Peek as well as the mysterious 13th figure. The Club says that this will be a female figure with a new head sculpt. My guess is a Tiger Force Jinx with an unmasked head based on the animated movie appearance. She already showed up in one of the comic stories in the Club magazine. Besides, why not stick with the Tiger Force theme of these last two named figures?
"Hello, son... What brings you by today?"
"Perhaps losing your other eye will help loosen your tongue..."
Brutal, even for CoCo.
But then again, CoCo killed Billy toward the end of the DDP run of GI Joe.
I'm guessing we're about a week away from the last shipment for FSS 4.0.
Stay tuned!
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