fighting for freedom over land and air
I scored a set of GI Joe wave 7 at my local Wal-Mart tonight. (Yay late-night toy runs and knowing when your local store stocks toys!) I'm impressed to say the least.
Let's start with the bad- the Viper really isn't all that great. The goggles slide off too easily, and I was disappointed about that until I realized he looked better without them. Then, I was bothered by the weird angle his hands were at, but since it helps him hold his weapon better, I let that go.
What really sucks about this guy is the fact that the hands pop off at the point-of-articulation between the elbow and the wrist. Every time I try to get a new pose out of this guy, the friggin' hands come loose. That's really annoying, especially on a figure I would have liked to have bought five of. As it stands, I'll be hard pressed to buy two since these things are $7 a whack at Wal-Mart and Target, with TRU undoubtedly waiting to raise their price. Severely disappointing, but maybe I just got a bad one.
The good- Snake Eyes is a phenomenal figure, and that's not bias since this particular battle gear is the version I had back in the day. All his classic accessories are there (except the weird long blow gun), and Hasbro completed the black ops look by adding some night vision goggles, and you would swear that they were part of the original 1989 design since they go with the gear so well. The butterfly knives on the chest are removable this time, but I don't think I'll bother, so I left the rubber band on them. SE holds his rifle a little more convincingly than his predecessor as well. I haven't looked closely enough to see if he shares parts with any earlier figure, but it doesn't look like it to me.
Spirit is also pretty keen, at least in my opinion. The paint on the eyes is a little funky, but not as bad as early carded samples made him look. I don't think he hold his weapon like a toy should, but it's more authentic this way for the rifle's design. I haven't found a good pose with him aiming it. The accessories are pretty neat too. The backpack stores two extra clips for the rifle, which is a pretty neat trick. This package also includes Freedom, Spirit's pet eagle. Much like Polly and Shipwreck, the bird doesn't clip onto the shoulder, but it does fit on his lower arm pretty well. Probably my second favorite from wave 7.
The rest of them are just there, really. The HISS Driver looks great and fits in the Target HISS pretty well. Wild Bill uses Ace's body, so he's frackin' huge and not likely to fit in any of your ARAH helicopters. There's no way his giant Texan ass is going to fit in your old Dragonfly. But, he looks awesome.
Duke has a jetpack and an American flag. It comes from the opening of the animated GI Joe movie from 1986, and honestly, it's neat. The card art is what sold me on it, but when I opened it, I was like "awww yeah." This is the retooled Duke with a hole in his back for the jetpack, and while I'd like to have a Duke in the true tan shirt with that feature, I'm not spending $7 on a wave 4 version. I guess this will be good enough.
Now, Hasbro, please issue an Alpine figure, Firebat, and Moray Hydrofoil (in Cobra colors) so I can recreate the opening of the GI Joe movie. Oh yeah, and totally fix the Viper. He is a pile of suck, as the hipsters say.
Let's start with the bad- the Viper really isn't all that great. The goggles slide off too easily, and I was disappointed about that until I realized he looked better without them. Then, I was bothered by the weird angle his hands were at, but since it helps him hold his weapon better, I let that go.
What really sucks about this guy is the fact that the hands pop off at the point-of-articulation between the elbow and the wrist. Every time I try to get a new pose out of this guy, the friggin' hands come loose. That's really annoying, especially on a figure I would have liked to have bought five of. As it stands, I'll be hard pressed to buy two since these things are $7 a whack at Wal-Mart and Target, with TRU undoubtedly waiting to raise their price. Severely disappointing, but maybe I just got a bad one.
The good- Snake Eyes is a phenomenal figure, and that's not bias since this particular battle gear is the version I had back in the day. All his classic accessories are there (except the weird long blow gun), and Hasbro completed the black ops look by adding some night vision goggles, and you would swear that they were part of the original 1989 design since they go with the gear so well. The butterfly knives on the chest are removable this time, but I don't think I'll bother, so I left the rubber band on them. SE holds his rifle a little more convincingly than his predecessor as well. I haven't looked closely enough to see if he shares parts with any earlier figure, but it doesn't look like it to me.
Spirit is also pretty keen, at least in my opinion. The paint on the eyes is a little funky, but not as bad as early carded samples made him look. I don't think he hold his weapon like a toy should, but it's more authentic this way for the rifle's design. I haven't found a good pose with him aiming it. The accessories are pretty neat too. The backpack stores two extra clips for the rifle, which is a pretty neat trick. This package also includes Freedom, Spirit's pet eagle. Much like Polly and Shipwreck, the bird doesn't clip onto the shoulder, but it does fit on his lower arm pretty well. Probably my second favorite from wave 7.
The rest of them are just there, really. The HISS Driver looks great and fits in the Target HISS pretty well. Wild Bill uses Ace's body, so he's frackin' huge and not likely to fit in any of your ARAH helicopters. There's no way his giant Texan ass is going to fit in your old Dragonfly. But, he looks awesome.
Duke has a jetpack and an American flag. It comes from the opening of the animated GI Joe movie from 1986, and honestly, it's neat. The card art is what sold me on it, but when I opened it, I was like "awww yeah." This is the retooled Duke with a hole in his back for the jetpack, and while I'd like to have a Duke in the true tan shirt with that feature, I'm not spending $7 on a wave 4 version. I guess this will be good enough.
Now, Hasbro, please issue an Alpine figure, Firebat, and Moray Hydrofoil (in Cobra colors) so I can recreate the opening of the GI Joe movie. Oh yeah, and totally fix the Viper. He is a pile of suck, as the hipsters say.
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