Hasbro 2015 Two Packs

GI Joe is not dead! Yet...
Hasbro attended the 2015 JoeCon in Springfield recently and shared their plans for new product this year. I didn't go, but have seen the Hasbro press release images and thought that I would toss out my opinion on each set. 

First up is Classic Clash: Storm Shadow vs. Spirit. This pairing of characters was brought about by their interactions during one of the animated mini series. The Weather Dominator series, I believe. 
While this version of Storm Shadow is based on his v2 figure, I'm not really sure what the design idea for Spirit is. Originality? That's a switch. It looks like Spirit is using at least the upper torso of Retaliation Flint. I think it works great. 
There's a high probability that I'll pick up this set. I'm more interested in Spirit than Stormy. Once you have this Stormy, you don't need anymore.

Next up is Marine Devastation: Gung Ho vs. Cobra Shadow Guard. The Cobra Shadow Guard is just a black Crimson Guard figure. I like the concept of the CG's but haven't really liked any of the modern updates. This guy may wind up as custom material.
Gung Ho looks damn awesome. Sure, he's got that baby blue uniform, but he still looks pretty dang cool. There's been some concern that Hasbro used the Rock/Roadblock body with GH; I don't think so. I think this may be a new body. Looks awesome! Although, I would agree with other opinions and wish he was done in greens rather than the baby blues.

Next is Swamp Steam: Blowtorch vs. Croc Master. No thanks. I wasn't overly impressed with the modern Croc Master. And another Blowtorch? Seriously? but, ooh... it's the unreleased more military paint deco! Who gives a crap? Since when have flame projection weapons been a part of the military?
This is a complete pass.
But what about that red alligator?!?! Nope...

**EDIT**

When I first posted, I forgot to add this set - Hunt for Cobra Commander: Cobra Commander and Shipwreck. Don't know about this one. Let's start with the highlight - Shipwreck. I like the look of the "uniform" he's wearing. Looks like great custom potential. I really don't need another Shipwreck.

Now how about that sassy Cobra Commander? Red cape, red shoes, red gloves, and a red hood. Well, ain't he pretty? I'm thinking I might just buy one of these sets for the custom potential of Shipwreck and the comedy potential with sassy red Co-Co.

Last up is the Troop Build-Up: Steel Brigade vs. Iron Grenadier. This is a strong possibility. Both are some pretty decent troop builders. I like the Steel Brigade much more than the Iron Grenadier, primarily because the IG is more of a "heavy weapons" type of soldier, while the SB seems to be a much more light infantry type of soldier.
I've got quite a few SB's, maybe six or seven, and only two or three IG's. If I get a couple of these sets, I'll be pleased. I'm thinking a little bit of custom work for the SB's; I really like the uniform colors. I'm not quite sure what I would do with the IG's, they are just so big and bulky. 

Not a bad bunch of figures for the two-packs this year. Two definite sets, two maybe, and one nope.

Only time will tell what lies beyond 2015. 

Contest Winner!

Back in January, I posted an entry about a "thing" that I put together out of parts from an old Robotix construction set. I decided to have a contest and have someone help me figure out a purpose behind the nefarious device.

I promoted it on various Facebook GI Joe related pages and even Tweeted about the contest. Finally, after many delays (and much laziness on my part), I have a winner!
James Verigin of Penticton, BC is the winner!

Here's his entry:
"Destro and CC needed to find a way to transport troops faster and more stealthier so He tracked down left over components from the Philadelphia experiment and had Mindbender reverse engineer it. After its completion and seeing it tested, Chuckles and Agent Faces posed as cobra Troops, alerted joeHQ, only to be captured. Now it's a race against time to save the 2 Joes and stop Cobra from this Teleportation type device."

I like the idea of the Philadelphia Experiment as being part of the back story of the device. Loved that movie. Such a weird movie and kinda' maybe sorta' based on a real life experiment. James and I are still working out the story to fill it out some more. His idea will be central to the tech behind the "thing" that I made.
James won and he chose one Cobra Blueshirt and Storm Shadow from the "Dollar General" sets of figures.

They safely arrived and Storm Shadow proceeded to beat up the Cobra soldier!
Thanks, James, for your winning entry!

Ultimate Storm Shadow

I think I have previously expressed a feeling of weariness of both Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes. There have been so many different versions of these two characters. I'm just kind of tired of all the different versions. SS & SE overdose, I suppose.

The PoC Snake Eyes (version 54) figure pretty much ended my need for any more Snake Eyes figures. Practically flawless. Just an amazing figure. I've still got one MOC because the packaging as well as the figure is just amazing. Now the Retaliation Snake Eyes figure was pretty damn cool as well. This version kicked a whole lot of other Snake Eyes version ass. Still not as good as version 54 though.

I was able to pick up the Renegades version of Storm Shadow, originally tough to find at retail. I was pretty much set and content with this version as my default version of Snake Eyes.

This particular version of Storm Shadow is the most recent version to be released. At the tale end of the Retaliation line, several exceptional "Ultimate" figures came out - barely at regular retail. I only saw some of this particular wave at either Rite-Aid or Walgreens. Seriously...

I never really had a strong interest in picking up this version because I was just kind of over Storm Shadow. But a simple trade recently changed my mind. I had randomly stopped by 5 Below one day, well after the infamous release of the $5.00 figures, including the Night Viper, and was able to pick up one last Night Viper. Didn't really want him, but I knew I had a nice trade item in hand.

I posted the Night Viper on a GI Joe Facebook page, just commenting on my good fortune, and someone wondered if I was interested in a trade for the Ninja Viper with this Storm Shadow.

Thankfully, I did the trade and I'm glad I did. This version of Storm Shadow is excellent and is now my default Stormy. Very reminiscent of the original Storm Shadow figure from way back in 1984 and that amazing appearance in GI Joe #21. The Renegades version can still work at times. Sometimes it's cold out and a ninja might need some long sleeves once in a while.

And that weird-ass jet-pack thing that he came with? I think it's in the trash now, not even the spare parts box. One of the dumbest, weirdest backpack things ever.

Bottom line - this is a damn fine Storm Shadow figure. 

Ultimate Storm Shadow

Has anybody else out there thought that this blog died? Besides me? Just been busy as crap lately. Enough whining, let's get to a new review. 

I'm actually quite sick and tired of Storm Shadow. Don't get me wrong, I'm kinda tired of Snake Eyes as well. They are both so over exposed. But they are prime characters in the GI Joe mythos, so they are tough to avoid. 

I never really cared about picking up Ultimate Storm Shadow until an odd unique opportunity arose. I had recently picked up a Night Viper from 5 Below and posted the find on a Facebook page. I got a message from someone wondering if I would trade for Stormy. 

What the hell, why not? Looked like a decent enough figure and I really didn't need the Night Viper. 

I've got to say that I'm pleased with this figure. Not bad, very good actually. Very much a traditional Storm Shadow based on the original o-ring figure. 

He's loaded with weapons, probably the same as the Renegades version.

I'm guessing that there really isn't much new about this figure. The head sculpt is probably from some other figure. I don't know, but it works, so who cares? There's also an unmasked Stormy head from Retaliation which works just fine. 

I like this head sculpt but have always preferred Stormy to be masked so I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this head. 

Oh yeah, one more thing...

What the hell is this supposed to be? Some sort of non-backpack flying thing that spins him around like a crazy ninja. WTH? Whatever. I really don't care. Maybe I'll find a use for it as background crap. Or it will get tossed. It's kinda stupid. 

In general, I'm pleased with this version of Storm Shadow. If I had never got him, I would be just fine, but he's a welcome addition to my collection. 

I'm content with using either this guy or Renegades Stormy as my default version. You know, when it's cold, he needs to roll those sleeves down. 

Random stuff - part whatever

A few weeks ago, I managed to get a few minutes to take some various pictures of some various figures in my weird collections. I just thought that I would post a few and just share some random comments.

This is such a damn cool update of Bossk. Hasbro really scored big with him. The only issue would be the wish for better hip articulation, but he's really just fine the way he is. Maybe some wrist artic might have helped a little? The overall sculpting is just really well done.

Look at that face! Such a charming gentleman as he rips out your throat!

Storm Shadow from one of the Retaliation 3 packs. At this point, I was so tired of the multiple versions of Stormy. Plus this costume is just weird. But this is really a damn fine figure. Awesome articulation: wrists, double knee joints, pivot feet, all the bells and whistles for a modern Joe figure. But does he have to be Storm Shadow? The Renegades version has become my default version, so this guy is going to be... someone else. Don't know yet, just too cool of a figure to keep stored away.

This is probably the best figure that Playmates produced in the entire run of their various Star Trek lines from the 1990's. Sure, they did some decent aliens, but Species 8472 was probably the best sculpted figure from the line. The attention to detail is incredible. Okay, not much articulation, but it's pretty damn cool.

One of the recent Hulk figures from the Marvel Universe series. A non Avengers movie Hulk that looks a whole lot better than the movie version of the Hulk.

The Hulk from the "Planet Hulk" story line from Marvel. Apparently, the good guys were tired of Hulk's shit and sent him out into space. He landed on some primeval planet and he kicked copious amounts of ass. I guess. He looks pretty damn cool, that's all I care about.

Tartarus from the Halo series. I don't know which Halo game he is from, all I know is that he's a damn cool figure. I think he's a little large when compared to Joe figures, but who cares, he works well enough. I picked him up at Ross a few years ago, maybe for $4.99 or $5.99? Didn't matter, decent price, bought him anyway.

These two guys - viper what-evers from the Rise of Cobra series. There is some potential here because the helmets are just so oddly cool. Weird organic-ish armor. There's some custom potential here maybe? We'll see.

Speaking of custom potential, I salvaged a Neo-Viper's head from the Rise of Cobra line. While there were some significant figures from this line, the Neo-Viper was sort of odd. The vest was bulky and the hands were just odd in their construction. But that helmet - so damn cool.

The helmet works pretty well on money-bags Destro's torso. Maybe an armored HEAT or SAW viper? Sure, why not?

This is supposed to be Zartan from the Retaliation line. He looks more like Zartan from Renegades. Hasbro dropped the ball on Zartan from Retaliation. Well, what were they supposed to do? make a figure of Jonathan Pryce? Sure, why not?

Even with the limited articulation of this figure, he's still pretty cool in a creepy sort of way. With all the shady, sketchy characters that Cobra attracts, I'm sure that this guy can be somebody else besides Zartan. He looks like an assassin so... I don't know, I'll have to think on it for a while.

Okay, here's a weirdo for you. Years and years ago, Hasbro had a Star Wars club exclusive cantina band member. He came with a bunch of assorted instruments so if you bought a bunch, you could make the whole band. And sure, they were going to be valuable one day, right? Yeah, whatever. I dug out one and decided to chop him up. I drilled out the neck and trimmed the wrists so everything would work with this Storm Shadow body from Rise of Cobra. So who is he... or what is he? Inter-dimensional traveler or stranded alien stuck on Earth working for Cobra. Sure, why not?

Drednoks - over-rated and I'm tired of them. I really dig the straight up conflict between GI Joe and Cobra and just got tired of the Drednoks. For the longest time, I only had the original three in their modern forms. Monkeywrench was a late add-on through a Walmart exclusive set back in the RoC days and I never was really interested enough in the 'Noks for the BBTS set.

I was messing around one day and randomly tried Buzzer's head on an extra Doctor Rex body. I've used a bunch of them as Cobra's demented research staff. The head sculpt actually looks pretty good on the body. So my back story is that Buzzer survived Cobra's Drednok purge and was eventually recruited into Dr. Mindbender's team of scientists. Hell, he's got a college degree, doesn't he? After a couple spins in the brainwave modification unit, Buzzer's violent tendencies were suppressed and his creepy brilliance in behavioral sciences was allowed to flourish.

Serpentor - sigh... What a weird character. But you've got to take the weird shit with the military stuff. The sci-fi element has always been a cool part of the GI Joe/Cobra conflict. But I like the concept of Serpentor, so how can I spin him? I like the idea of Serpentor being a figurehead of Cobra, sort of the public face of Cobra. He's the primary spokesman in his loud, outlandish costume. He harangues the audience of the United Nations worse than any other dictatorial whack-job. But he can not rebel against Cobra Commander. After that first "incident," Cobra Commander had Mindbender recreate Serpentor to be genetically unable to rebel against CC. He is helpless before Cobra Commander and, ultimately, supremely loyal to him. 

Gizmo from Gremlins such because he's cool.