Every year I forget that G.I. Joe Day is celebrated February 1st, apparently to celebrate the initial release of the 12 inch doll line in 1964, until Hasbro starts pelting us with awesome reveals. Hasbro celebrated again this year with massive delivery of tasty render reveals. Some might be old news to people following factory leaks, but they all had something interesting for this Joe fan and I wanted to write about them.
We got name-only reveals of these three Retro figures fairly recently and I’ve seen factory leaks of the figures in various states of readiness, so it was nice to see what they are supposed to look like. Flint looks extra classic and while I’ve always liked the original Classified version, this one might replace him on the shelf. I hope that ball and socket mid-torso is a little better than recent efforts with that joint because they have kind of sucked lately in terms of range of motion. The Tele-Viper’s reference to the cartoon words on the goggles is fun, but I’m mostly here for the flesh tone arms. I much prefer this to painting the arms black like they did on the original figure. I wish they had just picked one skin tone, I don’t care which, or sculpted the arms to look like long sleeves on that original release. Cover Girl is super fun because it really leans into the Sunbow of it all. It was nice to see in-hand pics from Jeremy Kimberlin that showed that you can swap the hair between portraits and the heads both work on the first Cover Girl. I was kind of hoping that we’d get this version of Cover Girl with a Wolverine, but I guess that’s not happening.
They continued with the M.A.S.S. Device themed figures we saw started with Snake-Eyes and the Polar Bear set with these Divers and a cartoon-inspired Breaker. I’ve been wanting to see the Torpedo body repainted as a Joe Diver for a while now, so this one was particularly exciting for me. The only thing I wish they did differently was to re-do the goggles to be more like the mask in the show and give it translucent plastic so you can see the face underneath. Breaker looks like a great update on the original Classified figure. I wonder how easy it would be to make a green version. I feel like I’m seeing a lot of Rock N Roll in the body here. It might just be worth it to wait, as I’m sure Hasbro wouldn’t let the perfect repaint opportunity pass them by. I’m wondering if Hasbro would go as far as building a M.A.S.S. device itself? It would be extremely large, so I’m thinking no. Still, I’d like a place to display those elements.
The Slice and Dice two-pack looks like a lot of fun. I wasn’t really around for Ninja Force the first time around, so I don’t have a lot of attachment to it, but these two feature heavily in the latter days of the Hama comic run, so I’m interested. The weapons look fantastic, though I’m thinking there are so many and I’m not seeing storage for everything. Hopefully there are some loops on the backs of the belts and straps that we cannot see right now. I don’t know the name of the tri-pointed things on the bottom right hand of the render, but I wonder if the figures will be able to hold them with the handles having the separator in the middle like that. I do miss the mesh on Slice’s mask, but I think I’m going to use the new, more ornate one anyway. I also like the hat and cloak combo that I assume goes with Dice. I am a little concerned that Dice’s skirt pieces might look awkward in some poses or hinder articulation a bit.
The A.W.E. Striker was teased recently as well, but it’s great to see what they have planned especially since Gridiron and Fanshobby are making their own versions as well. Options are nice to have. I’m curious what the price will be on this vehicle, as it reads as smaller than the VAMP, so I’m hoping under $100. I do like the third seat and taller roll cage, though I heard on The Full Force podcast that that part is removeable to get a more traditional A.W.E. Striker look. I like the neckerchief options for the driver and the visor and coffee mug additional parts make me laugh. Will there be a cupholder on the dash? My one initial reservation is that I wish it had the more sci-fi looking gun on the top over the M2 re-use.
Finally, the highlight for me on this stream was the S.N.A.K.E. armor. It looked massive in the initial render, so I was curious how big it would actually be. Fan Raynstroyke noticed that the flame effects were Torch re-uses and whipped up a quick size comparison that makes me wonder if a figure will actually be able to sit in the thing. The renders might be sized up or down, so I’m really not certain. I could see them being able to if they kneel or sit cross-legged in there. I suppose it depends how deep that torso is. When Lenny posted it online he did post a little Russian Nesting Doll gif with it, and it makes me wonder if the arms and legs are separate from the central pod and that piece can attach to the larger legs. Maybe there will also be smaller legs at some point? I’m also really curious about the cost on this bad-boy.
The social media posts indicated that there will be a G.I. Joe Fanstream sometime this month, so hopefully it’s sooner rather than later and we can see some physical models of some of this stuff. I’m probably in for all of this, what are you getting?
Source: Fwoosh
