G.I. Joe:Renegades - Tunnel Rat & Ripcord

G.I. Joe: Renegades - a brief shining star in the G.I. Joe mythos. An all too short animated series on the Hub network that was not given the chance for its full potential. Who knows what caused it's downfall? Perhaps a sudden need to ramp up the next G.I. Joe movie caused Hasbro to quickly change direction with this series.

Whatever the case, Hasbro did release some action figures to support the series, even though it has been on hiatus for months and probably out of the mind of the kids that watched it. Not the Joe fans, of course!

Hasbro released five Joe figures based on the primary characters from Renegades - Duke, Scarlett, Snake Eyes, Ripcord, and Tunnel Rat. Two guest stars - Airtight and Law & Order were also released, but they could have easily been a part of the 30th Anniversary figures.

Some of the more prominent Joe characters were not released - primarily Roadblock, Lady Jaye, and Flint. I'll bet that they could have been awesome.

So enough with the sad tales of the Renegade history. Let's take a look at two of the Renegade figures - Tunnel Rat and Ripcord.

Tunnel Rat turned out to be not only a great recreation of the renegade version, but also a great reboot of the character. An excellent head sculpt and great uniform detail really makes this figure stand out.

The waist piece, supposed to be a part of his overalls, gives the impression of being able to pull up the front of his overalls. Very well done, but it does limit his ability to sit.

The head sculpt is really well done and captures his animated character well enough and also allows him to fit right in with other Joe figures.

Tunnel Rat comes with a wide assortment of gear. The little bomb disposal robot is pretty cool, but the uniform color is a little bit much.
I think that is supposed to be a frying pan that fits on a little heating unit. Cool? The tiny multi-tool, while neat, is probably one of those pieces that can be easily lost.
I would give him an 8.5 out of 10, decent figure, just not quite top tier.
Ripcord apparently was designed with the concept of the Rise of Cobra movie version. For the movie, the character of Ripcord changed races from the original o-ring version. I wasn't overly disturbed by this situation like some Joe fans out there in the Interwebs.

As far as the figure goes, Hasbro did a decent job with Ripcord. Not exceptional, but decent. He has a good head sculpt. Wait, wasn't he supposed to have hair? The web gear is a bit bulky and makes it a little tough for him to sit down.

Ripcord is still supposed to be a paratrooper and his gear reflects that specialty. A parachute pack and a helmet help prep him for parachute jumps. But wouldn't a high altitude jump need a little more covering on exposed skin?
And a light blue pistol and pulse rifle. Yuck. C'mon, Hasbro, leave these colors back in the 90's!
While not an over the top, exceptional figure, Ripcord is a nice figure. He fills out the ranks of the Renegades and is a nice addition to the Joe team. Sorry, he is much better that the ROC Ripcord!

Hasbro was off to a good start with the Renegades figures. I am certainly glad that Hasbro still supported Renegades enough to give G.I. Joe fans a few figures to add to there collections.
The next few figures based on Renegade characters really took off! Stay tuned!