BARONESS v.9 (2007)

G. I. JOE

I try to keep this blog as diverse as I can, reviewing figures from various toy lines in order to keep everybody interested.  The truth of the matter is though, that my G.I. Joe collection dwarfs every other collection in my toy box and so more often than not you’re gonna get G.I. Joe reviews.   Even as far as Joe reviews go, I try to shake things up by reviewing figures from the various eras of the brand, the Real American Hero figures from the 80s, the new sculpt “Joe vs Cobra” figures of the early 2000s, and the modern day/25th anniversary style figures.  You need only look at my checklists (found under the blog banner) to see that I’ve been reviewing modern style Joes more than the others.  There are a couple of reasons for that.  One: Only my modern Joes are currently on display right beside my computer desk practically begging to be reviewed.  Two:  The size of my modern Joe collection easily eclipses my vintage collection.  Vintage reviews must be rationed out.  My new sculpt era collection is quite vast as well but many of them are doubles and triples because I was a habitual army builder back then.  To break it down even further, I find that I end up reviewing very recent modern figures much more so than the early modern figures of 2007 and 2008.  If you find me focusing too much of my attention on any one era feel free to call me on it and suggest a figure for me to review.  Today I’m going all the way back to 2007; to the humble beginnings of the modern G.I. Joe toy line to review the Baroness. 

I’m a big fan of the modern style Joes.  Some might think it blasphemy for me to say that I don’t miss the O-Rings but I don’t.  I loved playing with those old toys and I still love hauling out my bin of vintage Joes to revisit them.  But as an adult collector I like my toys more detailed, more durable, and more realistically proportioned.  When the uber-detailed Spawn toys started coming out in the early 90s, after the demise of the vintage Joe line, I used to imagine a line of Joe figures coming out in that scale, sculpted with gritty realism.  I would have loved to have seen Joe figures that detailed but on the flip side, Spawn toys were so stiff and I didn’t want Joes that couldn’t move; their posability is a big part of what makes them great.  When the 25th anniversary line launched in 2007 I felt like I was getting the best of both worlds.  The figures were much more intricately detailed yet still highly articulated, and they only increased in size by a quarter of an inch, keeping them affordable, collectable, and displayable. 

The 25th anniversary line was originally planned to feature the top 25 Joes and Cobras in this new format.  The series launched with two 5-packs, a Joe themed one and a Cobra themed one.  I talked about the Joe pack in my Gung-Ho review.  The Cobra Battle Pack contained Cobra Commander, Storm Shadow, a Cobra Trooper, Destro, and the Baroness.  A nice selection but not all of those figures have held up in the years gone by.  While I liked the Storm Shadow and Trooper quite a bit at the time, vastly improved versions have since been released.  I still think the Destro is awesome.  The Cobra Commander was definitely lacking and the Baroness was a real let down.

To this day I don’t think Hasbro has managed to produce a Baroness figure superior to the 1984 original.  The coke bottle glasses version of the new sculpt era was a fail and subsequent modern versions, including those based on Sienna Miller from the Rise of Cobra movie have all been disappointments.  I know I said that the modern line was an improvement over the original in part because of their realistic proportions but that is not the case with this figure.  I think Hasbro was trying make her curvy but only succeeded in making it look like she has scoliosis.  None of her limbs rest naturally and her head is hunched forward.  It’s a shame because there are elements of this figure that I like.  The wind blown hair is cool and there is plenty of nice details in the costume.  I had planned on being much harsher on this figure but now that I’m really looking at it for the first time in years I don’t hate it as much as I thought I did.

For accessories she came with a submachine gun, a display base, a long dagger, and a backpack with a Cobra logo, reminiscent of her vintage backpack.  I also have her displayed with a briefcase which was probably intended for Destro.  The case is pretty cool.  it opens up and has lots of sculpted details inside and a removable pistol.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While it’s not as bad as I remember it being, it’s by no means great and sadly this is still my go-to Baroness for my display shelf.  Slightly better versions have been released since but none have been good enough for me to bother shelling out my cash.  But finally, a very nice looking Baroness figure is being released as part of the San-Diego Con set this year.  The Baroness with leashed Ravage was my main reason for buying the SDCC exclusive set this year.  Finally I’ll be able to tuck this lackluster figure away to the back of the shelf once my SDCC set arrives.  The Baroness is a great character but this is not a great figure.  5 out of 10.

STEVE ROGERS

MARVEL UNIVERSE

I’m a little late with this one.  On July 1, Canada Day, I reviewed a Canadian super hero.  On July 4 I had planned on reviewing an American themed super hero for my many American readers.  Unfortunately it was sweltering hot and that lead to an impromptu barbecue and that led to some impromptu beer drinking and so basically I just didn’t get around to it.  So while I may be a bit late, I did already have a figure all picked out to review so I’m gonna go ahead and do it anyway.

The obvious choice for a 4^th of July review would be Captain America in all of his red, white, and blue glory.  However I’ve already covered Captain America, his protégé Patriot, and even his one-time replacement, U.S.Agent.  Luckily my collection is vast and I was able to find an American themed action figure without repeating myself.  This is Steve Rogers.  “But isn’t Steve Rogers Captain America?” I’m sure you’re thinking.  And yes, he is…most of the time. 

A couple of years back there was a Marvel event storyline titled “Civil War”.  The basic premise was that after some sloppy super heroing by the New Warriors which resulted in civilian casualties, the politicians demanded that all super heroes be registered and sanctioned by the U.S. government.  Iron Man supported the bill and led the charge with like-minded superheroes.  Captain American did not support the bill and led the opposition.  Things got ugly for a while and the story ultimately ended with Captain America, Steve Rogers, getting assassinated.  America was without a Captain and the country’s morale was at an all-time low.

The powers-that-be needed someone to don the shield in order to give the country hope.  Conveniently Cap’s old WWII partner, Bucky Barnes, had recently been revived and rehabilitated and was looking for something to do.  Enter Captain America 2.0.  Actually he was probably more like Captain America 8.0 when you consider how many guys have taken that name at one point or another but never mind that. 

Bucky Cap was a worthy successor to Steve.  During his tenure as the Captain I found myself enjoying the comic book more than ever.  I found Bucky, with his tortured past and rough around the edges demeanor, to be more interesting to read about.  This was all thanks to the brilliant writing of Ed Brubaker who brought a teen sidekick that nobody cared about back from the dead some 40 years after his death and transformed him into one of the most 3-dimensinal Marvel heroes on the news stands.  I knew Steve would eventually return to resume the mantle of Captain America, as that’s the way comics go, but I was in no rush to see him come back. 

Well after a couple of  years Steve did return, during the Dark Reign/Siege storyline.  I figured that Steve would immediately put the costume back on and Bucky would revert back to side-kick status.  To my surprise, this did not happen.  Bucky remained Captain America while Steve became…well, just Steve.  The former Cap became the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and opted to wear the more subdued costume you see here.  During this period Steve was relinquished to a supporting role in titles like Iron man, Avengers, and even Captain America though he did receive his own 4 issue mini-series under the banner Steve Rogers: Super Soldier.

Steve’s new costume was simple but I liked it.  It was a nice blend of functional military and super hero flair.  When this figure was first announced I wasn’t sure if I should pick it up.  Sure I liked the look but I knew it would be fleeting.  It’s kind of like Spider-Man’s Iron Spider suit or Wolverine’s X-Force get-up.  Do I really need an action figure of an outfit that a character only wore for a minute?  When the figure is as cool as this one the answer is yes.  Not only is this a great figure on its own but it’s probably the only chance I’ll have at an unmasked Captain America.  I could just to pop this noggin off and plop it onto one of my Cap figures for a quick and easy unmasked custom. 

The sculpt is great, the colors are great, and I’m actually really glad they made a figure of this look even though it only lasted for a split second of Steve Roger’s history.  I’m glad that Marvel found a use for this costume, giving it to Nick Fury Jr., once Steve no longer needed it.  If you’re wondering why Steve no longer needed it, it’s because Bucky got killed during “Fear Itself” and so Steve became Captain America once more.  Bucky got better (again) and decided to revert back to being the Winter Soldier. Yay! A happy ending.  9 out of 10.

Happy belated 4^th of July!!

SAGA FROG (Guarl)

BEAST SAGA

You might be thinking, “Didn’t I just read a frog action figure review on this blog the other day?”  and yes, you did.  I recently reviewed  Horny Toad from the 80s toy line Battle Beasts.  When I took ol’ Horny out of my Battle Beast display case in order to snap some pictures for the review I also grabbed the 2013 Beast Saga frog figure that you see here so that I could take some comparison shots.  I took some solo shots of the Beast Saga frog while he was out since I knew I’d be needing them eventually for his own review.  I had initially planned on waiting a while before reviewing him because I didn’t want to bore people with multiple frog reviews.

 

However in the past week or so I’ve received multiple comments on my Beast Saga reviews from a new reader to the blog, “Mechagodz”.  I’ve been quite happy to respond to his queries and strike up small Beast Saga related conversations as I sometimes feel that I’m alone in my love for this property.  He’s been educating me on a few things since he has actually watched some of the anime episodes.  I got curious and tracked down what I believe was the first episode and I watched it last night.

Now had I reviewed this frog figure a day earlier, before I had any outside influences I would have told you about the original back story that I had conceived for him.  Saga Frog is a prince in the Lake Kingdom, heir to the royal throne.  He’s lived a sheltered life because his parents have kept him housed in their underwater castle for his own safety.  Saga Frog wanted more.  He wanted to go on daring adventures, like the ones he read about in Horny Toad’s memoirs.  However it was peace time and daring adventures were few and far between.  When the Beast Wars started up again with Saga Shark‘s rise, the Froggy prince went against his parent’s wishes and took up arms, following Saga Lion into battle on the side of good.  He keeps his royal heritage a secret from his teammates as he doesn’t want to be perceived as “soft”.  He fights extra valiantly every day to prove his worth as a soldier to his brothers-in-arms and to himself.

That’s what I would have said.  But after seeing the cartoon last night it’s a little tougher to associate my fabricated backstory to this figure.  In the premiere episode Raioga (Saga Lion) is shrouded in a cloak, hiding amongst the common beast peasants in the village.  He is actually the King or at least someone of importance.  He pigs out in the market, helps an old warthog pull his wagon up a hill, and then gets his boot shined by a young clown fish.  During the shoe shining a gang of these frogs show up and start harassing the disguised King.  The frogs are all identical looking but different voice actors provide a variety of characterizations.  Raioga kicks their asses and demands to see their leader.  They take him to a pub where Saga Croc and his squad of frog henchmen are making themselves at home and tormenting the pub owner.  Raioga reveals his true identity and kicks some more ass.  It was odd seeing the guy I’ve come to know as Saga Frog portrayed as one of many evil henchmen.  It’s actually quite similar to the characterization of Horny Toad from the Transformers episode he appeared in.  The cartoon was fun to watch but I’m reluctant to watch more because I kind of enjoy creating personalities for these figures myself.

Whether you see him as a good guy or a bad guy this is a fantastic figure.  The sculpt is one of the best in the line.  It’s well detailed with fun little nods to the species such as the frog feet shoulder pads, but it’s not cheesy or over the top.  I love the paint aps on this figure as well.  The almost neon green looks great against the dull gray and the orange highlights add just the right amount of color.  The gold used on the eyes and helmet elevate the figure even further.  I think the gold emblem on his head reminded me of a crown which is why I gave him ties to royalty in “my universe”.  I have gotten a few duds from the Beast Saga collection but this figure reminds me why I was so excited about this line in the first place.  10 out of 10.

PUCK

MARVEL

Hey gang, I just wanted to throw up a very quick toy review as an excuse to wish everybody a Happy Canada Day.  For those of you who don’t know, I live on the east coast of Canada in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  Today is Canada’s birthday and we celebrate it much the same way that the Americans celebrate the 4th of July a couple of days later.  We drink beer, go to concerts, and watch fireworks.  I’m actually not indulging in any beers tonight as I’ve been punishing my liver for the last 3 days and I have to work in the morning.  I am however going to a free concert on the waterfront before the fireworks display.  The headliner tonight is Tokyo Police Club, an excellent Canadian band that I strongly recommend you check out on youtube or whatever.

Last year I reviewed Guardian on Canada Day.  It seemed fitting since he is the leader of Canada’s one and only super team ALPHA FLIGHT.  The team is littered with silly stereotypes, from the leader being draped in our flag to their strong man being a sasquatch, but none are sillier than Puck, the midget who dresses like a hockey puck.  In order to fight bad guys this dwarf basically just rolls around a lot.  It’s kind of ridiculous but you gotta love him.  

This figure was produced by Toy Biz and was actually just included with the Snowbird figure (one of Puck’s Alpha Flight teammates) as an add-on along with some Canadian woodland critters. Because of his small stature Toy Biz knew that they couldn’t possibly package him on his own and charge full price; If only Hasbro had got that same memo.  I can’t talk much about this toy now since I gotta leave for the concert in 5 minutes but I will go into more detail at a later date when I review the recently released Marvel Universe version of the character.  Until then, thanks for reading and…

HAPPY CANADA DAY EVERYBODY!!

COBRA MORTAL v.2

G. I. JOE

A couple of weeks ago I reviewed the Cobra S.A.W. Viper which was included in the 2013 Joe Con box set.  SAW Viper was decent but I still have 10 more figures to review from that set so I figured that I had better get to it.  There was lots to get excited about in the 2013 set but I have to say that it was this figure that peaked my interest the most; Cobra Mortal.

I’ve loved G.I. Joe since the toy line was reimagined in the 3 ¾” scale back in 1982.  I was on board from the very beginning back when I was just 4 years old.  My passion for Joe continued until about 1989, when I would have been 11.  Not only was I growing up, getting more interested in girls, skateboarding, and music, but the brand seemed to be growing down, catering to a younger audience with its neon colors and abundance of gimmicks.  Me and Joe sadly grew apart but my love of the characters from my youth never waned.

By the time the brand was gearing up for revival in 2002 I was ready for it.  After a 13 year separation I was chomping at the bit for new Joes.  I was 24 with my own place and disposable income.  The adult oriented action figure market was alive and well and I had grown bored of buying Star Wars figures.  My credit card and I jumped into the new sculpt era with reckless abandon.   Toy collecting as a young man was totally different than when I was a kid.  Not only could I buy whatever I wanted whenever I wanted but I knew what was coming out.  As a kid I only discovered that there were new Joe figures out by finding them in the SEARS wishbook or by spotting them on the shelves.  By 2002 I had Toyfare magazine and a little invention called the internet to assist me in my collecting.  I developed a daily habit of visiting GeneralsJoes.com to get the latest G.I. news and reviews.  It opened up my eyes to the online Joe community, news sites, online stores, customizing, and message boards.  The internet educated me on all kinds of things I didn’t know about Joe before, such as the existence of figures that were only ever released in foreign markets.  The 2 foreign figures I was most intrigued by were Brazil’s Cobra De Aco and Argentina’s Cobra Mortal.  De Aco consisted of a chromed Snake Eyes head on a repainted Flash body while Mortal was a complete version 1 Snake Eyes figure repainted an ungodly mishmash of red and chrome.  Both figures became popular with collectors in this new international online market so the prices were way out of my league.   Sadly, I just figured that I’d never get to add De Aco or Mortal to my collection.

Argentinean version

But in 2006 the Collector’s Club convention set was titled Cobra’s Most Wanted: Mercenaries and it featured the first ever official American release of Cobra Mortal, which was an exact reproduction of the Argentinean version, a 1982 Snake Eyes painted red and chrome.  I really wanted one but  back then the 15 figure Con set included just 3 unique figures, and 2 sets of 6 identical figures; not enough diversity for my hard earned cash.

A mere year later the 25th anniversary Joes came out and I focused all of my Joe collecting attention on the new style of figure, making O-ring style figures released even just 1 year early pretty much redundant in my eyes.  For the 2011 convention the Collector’s Club released a modern style box set called Special Mission : Brazil II which featured the first ever official American release of Cobra De Aco.  I wish I had ordered that set but I didn’t.  Luckily Vanessa bought me the De Aco as a present and he was far and away the figure that I wanted most from the set.

Venezuelan version as seen in the international figure archive

Now that the Club had provided me with a De Aco and a bunch of other modern versions of vintage international characters like Quarrel and TNT I hoped that a modern style Cobra Mortal would soon follow, and it did.  Only it wasn’t the red and chrome version I expected.  Instead,  in the 2013 box set they opted to reproduce the hella-rare Venezuelan version of Cobra Mortal which originally consisted of a chrome  1982 Snake Eyes head on an all white body with a Cobra logo on the chest.  While the red and chrome version is better known to collectors, I appreciate that the Club didn’t want to repeat themselves by giving us an updated version of the look they already gave us in 2006.

I’m still hoping to get a modern red and chrome version down the road but I think I actually prefer the all-white Venezuelan look for the character.  When the Club first revealed pictures of the figure I was sold.  As much as I wanted Spearhead, Repeater and the other characters from the set it was Cobra Mortal that sealed the deal for me.

So now that I have the figure in hand how does it hold up?  I quite like it.  They used the head, torso, and arms of Snake Eyes version 54, arguably the best Snake Eyes figure of all time so that’s a good start.  They didn’t vac-metal his head as they did on De Aco which I think was a good choice.  Cobra De Aco is one of my favorite pieces in my collection and the chrome head gives him a unique look.  Too many chrome headed characters would detract from that.  The turtle neck commando sweater with all the sculpted ridges looks just as good in white as it did in black.  The removable web gear, satchel, and many of the other accessories come from a different Snake Eyes figure but they work well with this body too.  Where this figure goes off the rails a bit is in the legs.  His upper legs come from Snake Eyes version 28 while the lower legs come from a 2007 Cobra Commander.  It’s a weird pairing that doesn’t quite work.  It’s not horrible but it’s not great.  I’m glad that the club took a chance on a new look instead of giving us a straight Snake Eyes repaint.  I suppose the slender lower legs give him a classier  more tailored look which suits his description as a Venezuelan crime lord.  The two halves just don’t gel well together.  Complete Snake Eyes legs probably would have been the better way to go.  My Mortal seems to have one leg longer than the other which gives him a gimpy stance.

This figure isn’t perfect but I feel he deserves more than the 2 stars he received over at GeneralJoes.  I think this is a fantastic new character to add to my collection who I think would have opened up all kind of new play scenarios if I actually stilled played with these things.  Cobra Mortal remains one of the highlights of the 2013 Convention set.  9 out of 10.