FSS 3.0 - Muskrat & Slice

Time for some more quick reviews. Mine aren't the best in the world, but I thought I'd my opinions anyway. Again, like last time, two better reviews can be found on General's Joes and JoeBattlelines. 

The next two up for review are Slice and Muskrat.

If you don't know the history, Slice & Dice were a pair of Cobra Ninjas from the Ninja Force line back in 1992. I liked them both well enough back then and their newest incarnations are pretty decent as well. Dice was part of FSS 1.0 and looked decent enough, but I wasn't on board for FSS 1.0, so Slice is partner-less for now. I think I've got an idea for a custom Dice. 

The Club pretty much hit a home run in my opinion with Slice. There really wasn't much that they needed to do besides using a new head sculpt. Boss Fight Studios provided an excellent update that still remains very true to the original version.

There's really nothing new with the design of this new version and the original and I'm fine with that. There was a later version of Slice that was just hideous. I'm pleased that the Club stuck with the original design.

Slice comes well equipped with assorted edged weapons. There's two hooked swords which are a bit odd to me. He also comes equipped with climbing claws and a set of four swords that can connect with each other into two longer double bladed weapons. They are a bit loose in the backpack and easily slide out.

I've become more accepting of the ninjas in my collection. The original Ninja Force got weirder and weirder. I suppose that it is still a bit weird to have some ninjas clashing with modern soldiers, but that's always been the fun part of GI Joe.

Muskrat is an odd choice to pair with Slice - a ninja and a swamp specialist? Whatever. No big deal. Muskrat's original version was decent enough and usually found good rotation in my various displays. Even tagged as a "swamp fighter," he still has enough of a military look that he'd work well with most everyone else.

His boonie hat is well made, but doesn't stay on very well. I figure a little spot of rubber cement would help Muskrat to keep his hat on.

Great job on the head sculpt. I don't know the origin, but the head is well done. The body is a combination of various other bodies - I think maybe the Jungle Assault POC Duke for the torso and arms, while the legs have been used by Cobra Troopers, Snake Eyes, and numerous other figures. It's a good mix of parts. There's a decent amount of gear that comes with Muskrat including his wake board. Is that what that is? A mini surf board?

I'm not too sure how appropriate the wake board is for a swamp fighter. I don't recall ever seeing a situation where ride-able waves in a swamp. I suppose he could get pulled along, surfing behind a Killer Whale or a Devilfish?

I'm pleased with these two figures from the Club. I really don't get when other Collectors just slam on the Club because the figures aren't perfect or are too expensive based on how they were made or what gear they did or didn't come with. Somewhere, some collector's childhood has been raped because the Club didn't quite get it right with a particular figure.

Geeze... Lighten up. Nobody forced you to buy them, and damn, GI Joe isn't out there in the wilds right now. If you don't like them, don't buy them, and shut the hell up.

GI Joe Collector's Club: FSS 3.0

Well, here we go again. The GI Joe Collector's Club is at it again with FSS 3.0. The offerings this time are pretty exciting and examples of many of the figures to be offered are already out there in the collector environment.

The Club's 2013 Convention set was called Nocturnal Fire and featured many of the Joe characters in their Night Force colors. I've never picked up any of the Convention sets so I'll leave it up to Justin over at Generals Joes for an in-depth review of the set. The Club's versions for FSS 3.0 will be closer to the colors of the original figures.

FSS 3.0 is really, really tempting. I'll probably be right down to the wire in my commitment to the set. I'm going to run down my quick opinions about these figures. Only a few have had their "official" pictures released right now. I'll update the list as the pictures show up on the interwebs.

I believe Boss Fight Studio is responsible for the original head-sculpts for most of what the Club is doing right now. Awesome work!

First up is Spearhead and his pet bobcat, Max. Spearhead first made his appearance in this new form in the 2013 Con set. Thankfully, the Club toned down his original color palette. I was never a huge fan of Spearhead, but I like this guy. Definitely in the keeper column.

Next is Alpine... in shorts? Based on his Valor vs Venom appearance, the Club makes good use of Kwinn's shorts. Alpine's first modern appearance was extremely tough to find. He came with one of the DVD packs in 2008 that barely made it to retail. I'k okay with this version, I think he'll stay in the keeper column.

Next up is the Night Creeper Leader based on version 2 from 1994. He looks pretty good, but I'm not too thrilled about the figure. Nothing about the Club's efforts, I'm just not really thrilled by the character. My Dark and Red Ninjas from the Retaliation line and the 2 versions of Storm Shadow from the basic assortment (Dollar General) take care of my ninja needs. He'll probably be in the to-go column.

Psyche-Out is next. I really liked this guy when he first appeared way back in 1987. I liked the concept of the character and he was showcased a few times in the comic with some cool character development. This sculpt of Psyche-Out first appeared in the 2013 Con set. I like him, I'll keep him.

Now we have Muskrat, also from the 2013 Con set. His first version back in 1988 was pretty well done, a favorite to me back then. The Club has scored again with this guy. I like him and I'm keeping him.

Vypra just showed up over on Generals Joes as I was going back to look over the list. She is based on a new character in 1998. I wasn't really collecting many Joe figures at the time and wasn't really impressed by her. The original is a straight repaint of Jinx and this new figure from the Club is a repaint of a modern version of Jinx as well. Makes sense to me. I'm kind of on the fence on Vypra. While it's another ninja; she's a female Cobra ninja, so that's cool. Balancing on the fence for right now with Vypra.

Hit&Run is another one of the 2013 Club set that will be in FSS 3.0. Apparently there has been a bit of controversy regarding the green camo face paint that should or should not cover Hit & Run's face. Personally, I don't really care. The green face of the original and the 25th version were good enough, but I want a Hit&Run that isn't defined by a look from the past. If there's a hint of green smeared on his face, that's fine. As long as the Club doesn't do a solid green face like the original or the 25th version, I'll be pleased.

Looks like the Club went with popular opinion and Hit&Run is getting a green face. Sigh... That's still okay by me, he's another keeper.

Repeater is up, fresh from his appearance in the 2013 Con set. I liked his original version back in 1988. The Con set version uses the Retaliation Roadblock body as the base, which is great because this adds another big dude to the line-up. He comes with an M-249 SAW and not the stedi-cam machine gun like the Con set Night Force version and that's fine with me. There are plenty of BFG's in the GI Joe line that would work just fine for Repeater. Everything doesn't have to be a retread of the vintage line. I'm impressed, he stays.

 Slice is another ninja - sigh. His partner Dice came out in FSS 1.0 and I wasn't on board back then. The original version was pretty decent, but I'm not so impressed by the concept of the character. Since I don't have Dice, I'll probably let Slice go.

Big Ben is a cool addition to FSS 3.0. The original was a great figure and the Club did a great job with Big Ben. Looks like he's been officially recognized as a member of Action Force as well. He's a keeper.

The Crimson Guard Immortal is another addition to FSS 3.0. I wasn't very impressed by the original and was never really impressed with much of the Crimson Guard offerings anyway. I think the figure looks pretty well done, but it's another troop builder in an expensive series of figures. He'll be on the to-go list and I think I've already got someone lined up for him.

Bombstrike is the last of the Stall siblings to be released. Based on the concept design, she seems a bit angry to me. Her brothers, Black Out and Barrel Roll, were released in FSS 1.0. Missed both of them, but Bombsrike will be a keeper. I liked her original version and am looking forward to adding her to my team. I created a custom of Black Out prior to the Club's offering. They stole my idea, they stole my idea!! No they didn't, how easy was it to make a Black Out custom anyway?

Number 13? Who knows? I've heard rumors that there will be much more effort put into number 13 than Grand Slam from FSS 2.0.

The question remains - Yes? or No?