GI Joe: Retaliation GI Joe Trooper

When pictures started showing up about the new GI Joe: Retaliation (RET) figures, this figure stood out among the Wave 1 figures. A GI Joe troop builder? Wow, that's pretty cool! 

 

And then the madness struck. The movie was to be delayed until next March. Hasbro wasn't going to ship any additional product until closer to the release date. GI Joe fans were stuck with the first shipment and I couldn't get to the store quick enough to get one of these troops.

Wess got one, I didn't. Rats.

So how did I get this guy and what do I think of him?

Check out my thoughts here!

Cobra's Command Staff

Cobra's Command Staff - from left to right
Xamot, Zartan, Tomax, Storm Shadow, Mjr Bludd, Voodoo, Mistress, Cobra Commander, Firefly, Destro, Baroness, Scrap Iron, Dr Mindbender, & Blackout

GI Joe:Retaliation Cobra Trooper

I was really planning on disliking this figure. I've seen pictures of it and was not very impressed. Something about it just really looked goofy. Yeah, the parachute looked great, but was it really worth it to buy this figure based on the parachute?

Wess beat this guy up pretty well in his review as well. Not a lot going for the guy.

Seriously, when you compare this figure to the 30th Cobra Trooper or Viper, the RET trooper comes up lacking.

Well, I saw one at a local Walmart and decided to give him a shot. Damn, this is one goofy figure, right?

I mean, just look at him with his big goofy helmet. C'mon, man! Just so dorky looking.

As I usually do and have done since i bought my first 3 3/4" GI Joe some 30 years ago, I opened him up in my car. That's like a tradition with me now. Yeah, I could have waited to get an in-package picture, but nope, can't do it. 

The parachute is really well done. When I got home, the first thing that I did was to fold up the chute and toss him up into the air. Good canopy and he floated to earth - kind of quickly for the scale. But it worked and I smiled like a little kid!

So is there any hope for the figure? That helmet, man, that helmet is just so big and awkward looking.

Well, take it off, you doofus!
And we have a winner.

This head sculpt is just so simple and yet so awesome. The crisp color of the goggle color, sharp detailing with the black paint. It just really looks cool.

There is still something a little bit off - the color of the web gear. Cobra blue, right? Yeah, I guess, but I would rather have darker web gear.

Without the web gear, the trooper continues to be surprising. The overall sculpt of the figure is very simple and yet it works. 

So who or what does this character become? Once a GI Joe figure enters my world, I can redefine it however I choose. yeah, officially, this a RET Cobra trooper, but not to me. There is something more to this figure.

He seems to become an individual character or maybe a specific type of viper, rather than just a plain Cobra trooper.

There is something about this figure and his "look". He's just cool. I never thought that I would say this about this figure.

I like him. He looks like a bad ass to me.

Maybe Firefly's high tech protege? 

Look at these two pictures - cool on the left, dork on the right. The helmet is no longer an issue for me with this figure. Into the parts bin.

I tried out a couple differnt types of web gear and I think I'm going more toward the very early web gear used with a Snake Eyes figure. Cool simplicity.

C'mon, check him out. Isn't he really just a pretty cool figure?

I still don't know where he falls in the ranks of the Cobra heirarchy, but I like him. Will I troop build him? Maybe. Just a few. I think that these guys could become a very specialized trype of Cobra trooper.

Yeah, the parachute is pretty fun and the web gear is well done. Even the odd rifle is nice. Excellent flat black on that one, Hasbro. Thanks for not making blue weapons on this guy.

The true "coolness" of the figure lies when all the gear has been stripped away and you have been left with just a slick simple figure.

If you want to bitch about the prices of the figures, don't. I don't want to hear it. Don't buy them. Save them for me.

GI Joe:Retaliation - Cobra Commander and Duke

Two iconic GI Joe characters - Cobra Commander and Duke. Multiple versions exist - from exceptional to downright ridiculous.

Cobra Commander, of course, leads the forces of Cobra in his mad quest to rule the world. Really? Wouldn't that involve a lot of paperwork?

Duke has long been considered a leader of the GI Joe team, especially in the Sunbow cartoons.

Of course, it was essential that both characters became an integral part of the new film, GI Joe: Retaliation. Channing Tatum reprising his role as Duke and somebody under this new mask of Cobra Commander.

So how did the toys do? Especially these figures from the first wave. If you are holding out for the second or third waves, tough luck. You have to wait 8 MONTHS!

Both figures suffer from the new limited articulation. It's really not that bad. Joe fans have been spoiled by the recent 30th anniversary figures.

Cobra Commander is very well done, I really like this new helmet design. It definitely brings to mind the classic battle helmet look of Cobra Commander.

The limited leg articulation is not so bad with CC. OK, so he can't crouch into a great firing position, but I mainly see him in the company of protective troops. The hands are just simple swivels; they don't have the extra pivots. Not too bad, he can still have a decent two-handed firing grip.

The accessories are not very impressive. The rifle that he comes with is pretty decent. He's got some sort of odd pistol as well. I don't have a picture of him with it because it is a loose fit in the holster and I've already lost it. It was kind of dumb, so - big deal.

His spring-loaded weapon is a staff with a giant cobra head that shoots an oversized "flame" projectile. Cool, but so what? Tossed into the parts bin.

Not counting the gear, I think that this Cobra Commander is well done. Just in the brief glimpses in the trailer, Hasbro seems to have captured the movie style of the helmet. I can't wait to see this "new" Cobra Commander on film on June 29th. Oh wait, make that March of 2013. I guess I do have to wait, not 8 months - NINE MONTHS!

Now I turn my direction toward everyone's favorite GI Joe boy scout, Duke. Channing Tatum's performance in the Rise of Cobra was less than impressive. He was just too different from other portrayals of Duke in other forms of media. I'm not saying he couldn't have pulled off a tougher Duke, but it just didn't work.

I won't even go into the whole triangle of Duke/Baroness/Rex nonsense. Duke is supposed to be a Sergeant. In RoC. he was a Captain. In RET, based on the info on the card, he is a 1st Lt. Busted for his lousy performance in RoC?

Let's look at the figure. I hope you don't have to scrub your eyes with bleach after looking at this mess. Check out that spring loaded weapon. Yeah, that's going to work. I had to take a quick picture because he kept falling over. Shoulder mounted and snapped into his "rifle". Makes perfect sense, right? I actually think that the missile launcher is pretty cool. There's a ripcord (isn't he dead?) that you can insert and then pull out for a rapid firing effect. Kind of cool, probably fun for the kids. But for this big kid, it's dumb!

So what about the figure? Yeah, so what about the figure. The over-sized melon is the biggest problem. His head is just too dang big. Okay, Hasbro has to go with an actor's likeness, I get it, but can it go on a more appropriately sized body?

And the body isn't much to work with, either. There are some interesting detailing, implications of body armor, but it is just so... blah.

Maybe there is some custom work ahead for this guy. No, there is some custom work ahead. At the very least, a head swap. Maybe even with a RoC Tatum head that is more in scale with his body.

Overall, Cobra Commander is a hit. The sculpt is great and I can get over the new articulation issues. Duke? I should have left him on the pegs. I could have been just fine waiting for him to be rereleased closer to the film in 8-9 months.

GI Joe:Retaliation - Battle Kata Roadblock

Yeah! Giant spring-loaded missile launcher things! Hot damn!

GI Joe: Retaliation (RET) figures have hit the market! Well, sort of. With the delay of the movie until March 2013, toy releases are quickly drying up. Hasbro stated that all remaining toy releases will be pushed back until closer to the release of the movie. Understandable, but that means us Joe fans are only stuck with the first wave. And what a first wave - some hits and some misses.

Let's take a look at this first version of RoadRock, I mean Roadblock, as played by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. He's got this monstrous spring-loaded launcher thing, much like the Rise of Cobra (ROC) figures. This one has a couple added features in that Roadblock can actually interact with the weapon via the battle kata thing that he has PERMANENTLY AFFIXED TO HIS RIGHT HAND! What?

Okay, I know the picture is blurry, but that huge thing threw my camera for a loop. It was like a car wreck. It couldn't turn away and not focus on it.

The weapon actually comes apart into two pieces for added battle-kata fun. Yeah, I don't care. It's still silly. Well, silly for this 49 year old kid. Wess likes to point out his age, so why not me too?

We're both a couple of big goofy kids who focus way too much of our time on plastic toys. hey, we could be drinking and carousing, right Wess?

See that thing down in Roadblock's right hand? Yeah, it's molded into his hand.

Hasbro? Can I get an extra hand if I don't want my Roadblock to permanently have this thing in his hand?

The sculpt on Roadblock is pretty damn cool. The likeness to the Rock is impressive. Arm musculature is detailed as well. A great job by the Hasbro design team. 

Hey, even this thing in his hand is sculpted well. Okay, yeah, I'm reaching here. So what's a solution for this problem? 

There is another version of Roadblock currently available. Well, maybe. Without any resupply from Hasbro, RET toys are going to dry up real quick.

There's a ninja dojo 3-pack with Roadblock, Beach Head, and Kamakura available. This version of Roadblock is less than desirable - at least to me.

The first problem is that the plastic used for RB's skin is two different tones. Can't they make him match?

And his head is loose. What the heck? And his goatee is barely visible. Can we get some consistency between the two RB's? 

Fortunately, the hands pop off easily enough to turn the single pack battle kata RB into a much better figure. I personally prefer the non-tiger-stripe camo RB.

He also comes with the vest that may have first appeared with Night Adder from ROC and later with Resolute RB.

So a quick hand swap and I get a decent version of RET Roadblock.

I like this guy! But I don't know what to do with my Resolute Roadblock and this Retaliation Roadblock. I like both figures and how can I incorporate this guy into my twisted GI Joe world? Don't know right now.

And what about the lack of extra leg articulation? Single jointed knees and no ankle articulation! Oh the horror! The absolute HORROR!

I really don't care that much. I still remember the articulation of the original o-ring figures and I'm not upset by this move from Hasbro. Some figures with the extra artic are actually a little more difficult to stand up due to the extra joints. Not this guy.

And besides... It's a frikkin' toy! get over it!

Retaliation Cobra and Joe Troopers

HASBLOWN has done it again!  I got the Cobra trooper AIRBORN!!! and the GI JOE Trooper.

         OK let's start here, the box says for 4yr and up. And that's if your 4yr old is stupid.

But I'm a 48yr old channeling a 10yr old.

The Cobra is cool looking, except in baby blue? And bright blue? Is your kid a crow? Attracted to colors? The Parachute and harness? EXCELLENT! Colors? Not so much.

Equipment? WTF? A paintball gun? Firing nerve gas filled Paintballs? Like in the movie "The ROCK"? (ok , so those weren't really paintballs, but you get the idea) The Figure, besides the off putting color, has single jointed knees. No ankles. A wrist so loose when I pulled the paintball gun off/out, the wrist popped out also.

        Now I was gonna say, okkk, when a 4yr old tries to vertically assualt something , the figure needs to be beefier. The the 48yr old in me says "Oh wait, Hasbro has made a ton of 12" working parachutes with fully articulated figures, and in 48 yrs, I don't remember any of mine getting maimed in a free fall streamering accident". But I can see this little guy loosing his evil UN blue helmet in a heartbeat, because oddly, it's removable. BTW, should he have at least 1 knife? I can see several uses for it, cutting the line when he's in a tree, killing folks silently, or when he runs out of poinsen paint balls.

       Multiples of this guy? Ehh, maybe one more for the chute. I can see uses there. To be fair, the chute is better thought out than the 2 BBI Spec War figs I have, who look great, but are stuck in perminant halo mode.   So the 10yr old in me says this is cool. But this time, my 10yr old self is a bit slow and that's why he says that. The 48yr old says.meh.

Gi Joe Trooper. YO MO(hawk)!!!

Now this is more like it. More. but not exactly ALL , like it.  I wanted to like this figure. Really, esp after the psuedo flame war friendly fire incident on the Facebook GI Joe Collectors page. My inner 10yr old loves it. Well, except for the BattleStar Galactica cape. I understand there is a running change to brown. Then it really will be a BSG cape. Or are they GI Hobbits? But I have to slow down. The figure is really good. Nice articulation. And when I opened it, the knives fell off and won't go back on. What's with Hasbro and all the knives on some figures, and no knife at all on others?

Seems to me a different mold, but I'm old and feeble minded. He is very close to being a VBSS SEAL.

Swap his head for a sockhead and bam. Well wait...there is the cowl on his neck. On mine it's BLUE. might be passable in brown. 

ANYWAY,,stock he comes with a wierd HALO, Dusty combo head. Hate it. Then There's the mohawk head. Love it. And if you get 2, paint the hair black, 2 different figures!   His weapons are cool, Halo-esq. 

I at first said COOL!!! Esp after I put the sniper rifle in his arms and he can almost use the scop with no modifications (I carve all my figures to hold their weapons ), Then I saw the G36 rifle with grenade launcher and it looked scale.  Until I took it out and it's some kind of bullpup g36 hybrid. But it looks cool! 

That's where his wonderfull equipment falls apart. He has this honking flat backpack, that looks ok, well, except for the big cobra blue halo looking gas helmet.  OH YES!!! It looks great on the Cobra HALO guy! (until it too goes missing on the jump...) But that's ok, it's gone now. there are the land mines. Which clearly weigh nothing and are totally safe to carry high up on the back by his head. And well, they'll be safe, because he doesn't dare show his back, EVER, he has an international BLAZE ORANGE entrenching tool on his back. And not a little folding one either. A half size one.  Rounding out his load, he has 4, count'em 4 pistols. 2 revolvers and 2 small semi-autos. Cobra gets a nice Glock, this guy gets Berreta-ish spy guns. And a shit load of magsthat will never fit ANY of the weapons he's hauling. Typical.... The 10yr old pretty much loves this figure. Warts and all. the 48yr old says "Hmm, this has potential."  I might squad build (I do 4 or 5 man squads) but not at 9 or 10 bucks each...I can go out and get old BBI SEALs and do almost this good cheaper.BTW, I think the cowl is part of his neck, I couldn't seem to remove it without hurting him.