Wednesday, March 22, 2017

FSS 5.0: Sneak Peek & General Flagg

Sigh... Can I get through one review of FSS figures without finding issues?

The official second shipment from the Club has been delayed again, so they sent out the 4th set of figures - Sneak Peek and General Flagg. When I first saw the reveals online, all I saw were just quick pictures of the carded figures. Initially, they looked great and this appeared to be a great set of figures.

I get home that afternoon and there in the mailbox is my shipment. Woo Hoo! Right? 

 

They're awesome, right?

One minor problem... The Club chose the same head sculpt for each character and they both shipped together. Sigh...
Individually, each figure turned out great. Both are great builds and deserve a closer look.
Let's take a look at General Flagg first.

The General Flagg build is simple and effective. I know others out there on the interwebs dig down deep into the builds that the Club does, but I'm not 100% sure of the parts choices. I know that the torso is from a Firefly figure from Retaliation and it works great for Flagg. I'm guessing that the legs come from the Shock Trooper figure (another Club source figure).

Accessories are light with Flagg. Machine gun (MP something...), pistol, briefcase, and that hat.


The briefcase originates from the "money-bags Destro" figure. It's a great case and a great choice for Flagg. He certainly can't be carrying around a case full of money. The insert in the case is simply the static stacks of money with new paint apps/detailing but the oddness of the sculpt of the money just doesn't work with the new deco. The hat is a bit over sized, especially on the Airborne head sculpt. Overall, General Flagg turned out great, but...

Let's take a look at Sneak Peek. Is this the third version of Sneak Peek from the Club? Maybe just the second. Last year, for FSS 4.0, the Club released a Tiger Force version
 

This version aligns more closely with the original o-ring version of Sneak Peek. It's a good build and captures the general look of the original figure. Accessories in line with the Tiger Force version, but the periscope is just a bit too bright green. Many have observed that the 'scope is a bit out of date with modern technology, but it had to be included for that nod back to the original figure.
 

Sneak Peek was always bit of a boring figure to me, but I think I'm digging him a bit more. Someone online mentioned that perhaps he should be a drone operator. Sounds good to me! Another win by the Club, with just the nagging issue of these two being twins. Ugh...

I figure that the easiest solution to the Wonder Twins aspect of Flagg and Sneak Peek would be to swap out Flagg's head. The Airborne head sculpt is just a bit too young looking for a General. Sure, Flagg is supposed to be a young General, but... c'mon. For now, I'm trying out this Marauder head sculpt for General Flagg. The first criteria for the head swap is "how well does the hat fit" and the second would be "how well does the head rest on the neck post."

There may be a post in the future about who finally becomes General Flagg. I've got a few more ideas for head sculpts.

The Club did a great job on these two figures, but it seems a bit unfortunate that they chose the same head sculpts and both figures wound up in the same shipment. FSS 5.0 is still a strong set of figures. I'm looking forward to who comes next!