STORM SHADOW v.47 (2013)

G.I. JOE : RETALIATION

Retaliation Week Continues!  I’ve got another hot-off-the-presses G.I. Joe: Retaliation action figure to review.  Today We’ve got Storm Shadow, the Cobra organization’s premiere ninja.  This figure was included in a 3-pack labelled “Cobra Invasion Team” along with Firefly and a Cobra Paratrooper.  I picked this up at my local Toys R Us last weekend after I got a hot tip from my pal Glen that they were in stock.  He also told me that the Joe KRE-O sets were now 25% off.  I had bought the whole series of KRE-Os  already but with proof of purchase Toys R Us was willing to honor the price drop since it was within 14 days of my purchase.  I ended up getting over $50 back in store credit which almost completely covered the cost of the two new 3-packs.  Score!  It was pretty cool of Toys R Us to do that for me, especially because I had thrown out my receipt.  Luckily they were able to look it up on their records and match the transaction to my credit card.  The lady that had to punch in all the UPCs manually to adjust the charges didn’t seem to thrilled about the process, which ended up taking 10 minutes, but I very much appreciated it. 

So was I excited to get my hands on 6 new Retaliation figures purchased at retail?  Hell yes!  I love getting stuff in the mail but finding it at the store is so immediate and it feels like a little victory.  It’s like the difference between hearing your favorite song on the radio unexpectedly as opposed to playing it on your ipod.   So did these 6 figures warrant the excitement?  Meh, I’m still undecided, they’re kind of a mixed bag for me.

There are a ton of re-used parts in these sets, and the character selection is far from mind-blowing.  I’ll touch on the good and bad points of the other figures in reviews throughout the week but for now let’s focus on Storm Shadow.  This is the fourth Retaliation Storm Shadow to be released and the movie isn’t even out yet.  It just goes to show you how things have changed since I was a kid.  Back then, even the most popular characters only got remade every few years.  Nowadays it seems like I have to buy a new Storm Shadow every few weeks.  The first two Storm Shadow figures that came out in wave 1 (1 carded and 1 in a 3-pack) were awesome.  They were actually the same figure just painted differently but they were both really cool looking.  The single packed Storm Shadow actually made my top 12 toys of 2012 list.  Sadly I think it’s safe to say that these two most recent Storm Shadow figures won’t be making my 2013 list.  The latest single carded Stormy really suffers in the articulation department but I’ll talk about that in an upcoming review.  This 3-pack version moves alright, he just looks stupid.

This guy doesn’t look ninja to me and he doesn’t look military.  He looks like a douche-bag in a track suit.

We’ve gotten so many great ninja sculpts lately that this figure is a huge step backwards.  He might not have seemed so bad had he been released a couple of years ago but compared to the red ninjas and the early Retaliation Storm Shadows we’ve gotten recently, this guy looks like a chump.  He’s pretty much solid white with a bit of gray on his sides and a gray mouth piece.  The all-white look is pretty boring considering the lack of detail in the sculpt but I wish they had at least kept him solid white.  The grey spot on the face is just weird looking.

One thing this figure has going for him is his weapons.  His backpack is reminiscent of the one that came with the very first Storm Shadow figure back in 1984.  It sits angled on his back and his two swords can be stored inside.  The pack acts as a quiver for his arrows, most of which are just sculpted into the pack, but there is one individual arrow included.  The way this Storm Shadow’s hands are shaped allows him to hold his bow and arrow fairly realistically.  But that’s about the only positive thing I have to say here.  If you’re in the market for a wicked cool Storm Shadow figure don’t bother with this one.  Save up $200 and pick up the upcoming Storm Shadow from Hot Toys.  3 out of 10.