Roadblock Returns!

The mystery 13th figure came to me with a bit of an issue. He had two upper right arms! Thankfully, the Club's customer service is top notch and they took care of the issue. I had emailed them on the day that he arrived and shipped out my wonky Roadblock on the following day.

In just a little over a week, a new Roadblock was sent back to me and he's in great shape!

Well, almost. That left knee is a little wonky, but I can live with that. Some repeated, careful bending will take care of that problem.

Now that I've got him back in hand and I've had a chance to look him over, I think that the Club did a fine job with him. There always sees to be an issue with nearly every Club figure and,, unfortunately, Roadblock does have an issue. The skin tone on his head and his body are two different shades. Just barely. Enough to notice, but not terribly bad.

Oh that head sculpt. I don't know the story, but the head sculpt is supposed to be from a cancelled Hasbro release of Roadblock. Such an amazing treat that Hasbro was able to make this mold available for the Club to use.

Overall,, he's a fine figure with decent accessories. There are issues with the gear that actually go all the way back to the original TF Roadblock. I've seen a comment about how the helmet doesn't really fit that well on Roadblock. Yeah, so what? The original Roadblock couldn't wear a helmet either.

I've always had an issue with the huge 50 cal machine gun that Roadblock carries around. Yeah, i get it, he's a big dude. But seriously, how long could anyone continue to carry that beast around? Plus the rate of fire and maintaining adequate ammo supplies would be additional issues to deal with.

My next issue is which figure becomes my "default" Roadblock? I really really like the Renegades Roadblock and this Club version is also so cool! 

Hey, maybe one of these guys is a dimensional crossover from another reality, thanks to Dr. Mindbender's failed dimensional travel experiments.

I think I need to do a post on all of the "big guys" from the past few years of GI Joe figures. Starting off with Rock/Roadblock fro Retaliation. Then from the Club and Hasbro, there's Leatherneck, Repeater, Salvo, Big Lob, Heavy Duty... anyone else? I've done a custom with Gung Ho, increasing him to the "big guy" scale. Could be an interesting post!

FSS 6.0: Tiger Force Roadblock

The Club hit a home run with their  mystery 13th figure for FSS 6.0. I don't know if anyone predicted that it would be a new version of Roadblock. Plus the Club got to use an unused original head sculpt of Roadblock from Hasbro. Using Rock/Roadblock body parts, the Club did a damn fine job and he's awesome!

Well, not quite. Unfortunately, I fell victim to a random factory error.

 Roadblock's right arm, no problems, great sculpted musculature.

Left arm, straight out of the package. Something is looking a bit odd. That's his triceps on the front of his arm and there's that muscle that connects to the back of the elbow. Initially, I thought that the arm was just positioned incorrectly and just needed to be twisted around on the shoulder joint.

Nope, it didn't work out that way. This is an upper right arm part on his left side. You can see the exact sculpted details like the other arm.

An attempt to flip the arm around shows the less detailed underside of the arm. It doesn't looked near as good as the detailing of the right arm.

Plus, the arm construction allows for it to fit closer to the body. It doesn't work out that way once you flip the arm around. Crap.

I posted a few places on Facebook, mainly to see if this was a common error or did I just get a factory error. It seems like it's just a factory error and no fault of the Club. Shit happens. 

I guess I can't go off on an awful tirade against the Club. 

"Deth of teh line! The Club sux! Hasblow ruined my childhood!"

I emailed the Club and after a couple messages, they let me know that I could send in my Roadblock and they would send me a new one. Awesome customer service! Yeah, I'm still a Club supporter and truly appreciate all that they have done to support the love of such a great toy line!

Looking forward to Roadblock returning to me, fit and ready for action!

FSS 6.0: Vorona, WORMS Officer, Windmill, & Ghostrider

Big review time here on this ridiculous blog. Four figures for the price of one! Well,that's mainly because I'm a lazy ass and just haven't felt like writing much.

Anyway, since I have delayed so long in reviewing Vorona and the WORMS Officer, I thought that I would write up a quick review of the last four "revealed" figures from FSS 6.0.

Vorona is the code name of the October Guard member known as Daina. She was one of the original members introduced early in the GI Joe comics. I believe that Brandon Jerwa actually created her Vorona code name and used her quite a bit during his run on the Devil's Due GI Joe comics.

The figure turned out well enough. That harness across her chest is a bit bulky for her small frame, but it works out okay. Overall, Vorona turned out just fine and it's always good to have another female figure among the ranks.

Next up is the WORMS Officer, based on the WORMS driver of the MAGGOT. I always thought that the original figure was very well done by Hasbro and I think that the driver was sought after quite a bit to fill the crew of the MAGGOT. Was it ever re-released through mail order? I don't remember.

Decent job by the Club, but definitely not one of the best from FSS 6.0. The vest/jacket piece comes from a previous Club release or two. The name escapes me right now. A General from Destro's army? I don't recall, I'm too lazy to look him up. General Blitz? Anyway, the jacket portion is a bit too large for the torso and arms and it just doesn't look good. Plus, the helmet, while faithful, is a bit too large and wobbles about on the head. 

The Club went a different route with this guy and gave him a distinct personality on his file card. Decent idea and with the head being masked under the helmet, the figure could still be a troop builder. I originally planned on selling this guy to someone else, but ultimately decided that since the FSS waves are heading to the end, I'm going to keep all of the remaining figures through wave 8.0.

Next up is Windmill, originally the pilot of the Skystorm "x-wing" helicopter. The original figure was bright green and orange and the the Funskool (India) version was even crazier in color. The original Photoshop mock-up of Windmill was a bit bright than the final result. The head is a reuse from... Dodger from BF2000? Maybe, I'll check later.

Overall, I like the figure. The choice of vest isn't that great, it's a bit bulky under the arms and doesn't allow for his arms to come down to his sides. But who cares? He's piloting his cool heli-pack! Uhh, what are the brake handles for on the control sticks?

Finally, I come to "##########."  Uh who? It's Ghostrider, damn it! I think that the name Ghostrider was perfect for the pilot of the Phantom stealth fighter. But Marvel has this other character, some sort of blazing skull dude, and they had to knock down Hasbro's use of the name, at least in the comics. Trademark issue. Whatever. I don't give a crap about Burning Skull, I like this guy as Ghostrider!

Anyway, the Club did a helluva' job with Ghostrider. I'm not sure about all the parts used. I know that's Blaster's head. There's an armored chest under that bad ass red scarf and I think the legs came from POC General Hawk. Whatever. The original figure was simple in design and the Club captured the basic design quite well.

Ghostrider is easily one of the best figures from FSS 6.0. Is he the best? Not sure, I've got to look each over to get my rankings together.

So what about the mystery 13th figure? Who made that slot? Well, I'm sure you know who he is, but I had a minor issue with my figure. If you've read my posts on various Facebook GI Joe pages, including the pone for this bit of nonsense, you know the story. Stay tuned!

FSS 6.0: Rampart & Night Stalker Commander

Time for some new GI Joe figure reviews! The third shipment of FSS 6.0 has arrived and I figured that I would get this dumb blog rolling again with my thoughts on these two figures. 

This shipment brings us Rampart and the Night Stalker Commander. Initial appearances from the card art and the figures in package looks like some good solid work by the Club. Time for a closer look.  

 Rampart first appeared back in 1990 alongside quite a few other brand new characters to the ARAH line-up. Quite a few have already been recreated in modern form by the Club. I believe that Grid Iron, Stretcher, and Rapid Fire are the only ones left to be made. Rapid Fire? Yeah... we'll see... I suppose Super Trooper would have to come out first. Yikes... those two would be interesting to see in modern form! 

Overall, I'm very pleased with how Rampart turned out. He's got a decent set of weapons included with him. The parts choices work out well, mostly. There always seems to be at least one issue with Club figures. The Club often hits solid home runs with figures like Cross Country, but usually, there's at least a minor issue. With Rampart, it has to do with his neck. The head choice works just fine; it's a reuse of the head used for Blocker from the BF2000 Convention set from last year. And like Blocker's head, Rampart doesn't have any eyebrows! No worries, the goggles cover up his eyes nicely. So the combination of the head and the torso is a nice fit, but the head rests just a little too high on the neck post. Rampart suffers a bit from the giraffe neck syndrome. Easy fix though, a gentle twist of a drill bit in the head will carve out a little extra room to allow the head to rest lower on the neck. Alters the original figure a bit,but so what, it's mine to do with as I please. Besides, I've already glued some of the loose bits to one of the weapons that he comes with!

 Next up is the Night Stalker Commander. The Night Stalkers are an original creation by the Club. They were a set of female Cobra operatives that first appeared in the Tanks fro the Memories convention set from way back in 2007 in Atlanta. I actually went to that convention, but only as a one day guest.

The original figures were, of course, made from o-ring molds. This new version is naturally all modern construction. 

What's cool about this figure is that she is a unique character. She's got a real name, Rebecca Bristow. She's pretty much the same base figure that the Club created for the female Cobra troopers from just a couple years ago. The main difference is the arm construction. The troopers used Helix arms, while the commander uses... uh... some other female arms. Baroness arms? I think so.

Bristow is just as... well endowed as the Cobra troopers, which is okay, I guess, but still impractical for the personal protection of the soldier. Overall, the Club has done great work with these female troopers. I believe that the plan is to release a set of Night Stalkers like they did with the Cobra troopers. They'll all be geared up in black uniforms and I believe that they'll be ethnically diverse as well. Hopefully, they'll be out this year and also hopefully available at the convention in Chattanooga in June.

Next up? Who knows? We'll see next month. Maybe I'll have some other new posts on this silly ass blog before then.

FSS 6.0: Dojo & Captain Skip

Well, it certainly didn't take long for the next shipment of FSS 6.0 to arrive. One week after the first shipment? I don't know what the story behind that was, but I don't really care. New figures!

The next two figures are Dojo and Captain Skip. Captain who?

First up is Dojo. Okay, the original Ninja Force figures were some crazy looking figures. Usually bright colors and wild designs. Initial thoughts of the design of modern Dojo were pretty rough. But he actually turned out pretty well, considering the goofiness of the character. The Club matched the goofiness quite well. The head sculpt turned out quite nicely. Much speculation is running around the various Facebook groups about the idea that the head sculpt can be easily reused as Headman. Will the DEF be next year's convention set? Sounds good to me!

Minor issues with Dojo. Including the sash and the harness makes for a bit of bulkiness in his gear. Without the harness, he looks a bit casual. Maybe off duty and hanging out around base.

The harness looks a little better by itself, but it seems a bit loose. Minor issue, but not that big of a deal.

So who is Captain Skip? I believe that he was a character from the Palitoy line before they got use of the original o-ring molds back in the 80's. I've seen pictures of a 5 POA figure in the same color palette. 

Captain Skip is a member of Z Force, a branch of the Special Action Force from Britain. The Club did a great job with the build and the Rise of Cobra Sgt. Stone head sculpt works quite well for Skip. Seems like there's always an issue with most Club figures, from minor to serious flaws. Skip's issue? Poor choice of web gear. The web gear actually looks fantastic, but it just doesn't really fit on Skip. It just seems a bit too loose. I'll probably switch it out with some other gear.

Overall, these are two fairly solid figures in their design and execution. Four great figures from the Club lead off the FSS 6.0 releases. Who's next? I'm seriously doubting that the next set will come out next week. I certainly won't complain if they do!

Stay tuned!

FSS 6.0: Hardtop & Cross Hair

FSS 6.0 started shipping just a few weeks ago and the first two figures arrived in my mailbox on November 13th. My Club magazine seemed to have been running a bit behind, so it was nice to get both in the mail on the same day.

The shipment had already been "spoiled" online, which really doesn't bother me much. Everyone knows who is coming, they just don't know who is in each shipment.

First up is Hardtop and Cross Hair.

Nice to see the Defiant Crawler driver get remade in the modern format. It was a pretty safe bet that the Club would use the Tollbooth head sculpt as Hardtop. No helmet mic, but that's not a big deal to me.

The build of Hardtop is simple and effective. I'm not sure of the parts, but they certainly work well together. I would have to say that Hardtop is one of the best figures that the Club has put out. Top ten easily.

Next up is Cross Hair. This figure turned out quite well also. There was an issue with the original design regarding the web gear. Fortunately, the Club revisited their design and used a different set of web gear. Much better!

While this is a great weapon to include with Cross Hair, it really doesn't work too well. Yeah, it's cool that the rifle breaks down into the case and I suppose it was an easy to use accessory since Hasbro had recently used it with Shooter, but it has issues.

It just doesn't stay together. I couldn't get the scope to stay on long enough to take a picture. There are alternatives!

I think this rifle came with the BBTS Slaughter's Marauders Lowlight figure. It's still a bit of a cumbersome weapon, but a little more easily held by Cross Hair.

My only complaint about Cross Hair is the head sculpt. Again, I have no idea what the decision making process is for parts usage, but I'm sure there were limitations in the design. There's only so many times that you can reuse the Airborne or Dusty head sculpt. It's a minor issue.

FSS 6.0 is off to a great start! I'm excited to see who's next!

FSS 6.0 Reveals

Well, all the reveals are done for FSS 6.0. Now it's time to seriously consider if I want to jump in with this set. I don't get too critical of the offerings of the Club and I think there are a lot of decent builds in FSS 6.0. Plus there are quite a few characters that I just want to add to my modern collection. Time to start liquidating older stuff to probably pay off these guys!

1. Ghostrider - When the X-19 Phantom stealth fighter came out back in 1988, I was hooked!. Loved the design of the jet and the pilot. I think that the Club has done an excellent update to XXXXXXXXXX. Clever... sort of... to go with a secret code name instead of the potential copyright violation of Marvel's idiotic character. For me, he's Ghostrider. Flaming Skull can suck it.
   
   
2. Windmill - based on Funskool/India? Okay, give him the helicopter pack, but those colors... Please, no... Oh dear god, they did... I'm not sure what to say about this guy. Just too much brightness! The build looks decent, but those colors. The build is decent to me, and the colors aren't too bad. I could get used to him.
   
   
3. Rampart - Looks pretty good! Looks like the Club used Blocker's head and the RET GI Joe trooper torso. One of the stronger reveals in my opinion.
   
   
   
4. W.O.R.M.S. Officer -Oh boy... That oversized "jacket" piece. It just isn't working. The biggest flaw is that the lip of the "jacket" under the left arm has flipped up in front of the arm. Doesn't look good. The arms and legs look too small; 25th figure foundation? Not a strong figure based on this.
   
   
5. Vorona -Decent build, great paint apps, looks like a winner!
   
   
6. Guillotine - I don't know a whole lot about the character; I do recall the "Plague" from the comics, so this is a pretty cool direction for the Club. It's always nice to have named, specific characters for the Cobra side.
   
    
7. Sub-Zero - Not too sure about this build. I was never really impressed with the original figure.
   
   
8. Night Stalker Officer - Fire torpedoes! New color for the Club's female officer set? Looks cool! Keeper!
   
   
9. Hardtop - He looks great! As suspected, Tollbooth's head gets a reuse. The overall build looks great. Where's Payload? Doubt he'll ever happen, not much stock to draw from that would make a convincing astronaut.
   
   
10. Cross-Hair - Decent base construction, but that web gear is just too bulky for modern figures and the belt is too loose. I think quite a few collectors have tried using the original gear with the same results. **Update - The Club released a new mock-up for Crosshair with a tighter fitting vest. They also removed the goggles. Much better! Well done, Club!
    
    
11. Captain Skip - I don't know who he is, but he's a decent build. I like him!
    
    
12. Dojo - People complain about a crazy looking update to a crazy looking original. Not a bad build, looks pretty good. Much speculation that the head sculpt is ripe for a Headman reuse. Go for it!
    
    
13. Clues from the Club!
1. This figure features a NEW head sculpt!
2. Previously Missing-in-Action from a sub-team!
3. Highly requested GI Joe team member! 

The weakest figures in this set, in my opinion, are Dojo, Sub-Zero, and WORMS. The WORMS figure is a potential troop builder, possibly would go up for sale. 

As of this exact moment in time, I think I'm going to be on-board for FSS 6.0. It may limit my spending at the Convention in a couple weeks, but that's the Club's fault, not mine.