So I am going to preface this review with some thoughts about reviews in general as this topic especially applies to the current GI Joe Pursuit of Cobra line. I do not review every figure out there, nor will I ever. That is not an affront to anyone, simply put I cannot afford to. I get no gifts of the figures I review, nor do I get any kind of real advertising kickback from Internet shops. What little I scrounge from my Project Wonderful ads goes right back into promoting the web comic on the main page. In other words my toy budget comes straight out of my pocket. I collect a multitude of lines and have a broad range of interests, I also have 3 daughters, a real life, and everyday expenses. This is something I do in my spare time.  

Of late I have tried to explain why some part of a wave has been excluded from the review. Most often the reality is I haven’t the money nor the storage space to put these extra figures that really don’t interest me in the slightest. I only mention this because recently some reviews of mine have been met with some comments about “What about [insert name]” I try to be kind about it but I also try to make sure I don’t say I am reviewing an entire wave (The exception is boxed sets of course).  

So please I ask that everyone understand while I hit a great and broad section of the 1:18th scale figures I can never and will never try to hit them all. Mostly what you will see is what I am interested in and occasionally what I am surprised by when I see it in person. I mean no offence but I have gotten the impression from recent e-mails that people think I do this for different reasons than what I do. I can’t speak for the motivations of other and why they review what they review, how they acquire it or anything else. I can only account for me and I am saying bluntly I am a collector first, the reviews are mainly my thoughts on what is out there and what I have gotten recently (and not so recently when I step back and tackle some retro reviews) in my collection. Hopefully some of them inform others of something they may not have thought of or maybe cause readers to look at something in a completely different way than before. Thank you for your understanding.  

On to some more GI Joe POC.  

So I was really confused when Wave 2 started showing up in September, and I wasn’t really prepared for it. I had just gotten my wave 1 selections out of the way and thought I would have a bit of break until October, but alas such is not the case. The exact same thing happened to the Star Wars Vintage line and I felt a bit scrambled to catch up. As such my reviews fell behind unexpectedly because I was going at a pace that would keep me locked until October, instead I have had to shuffle the things around and well here we are in relation to these reviews.  

So right off the bat I am going to say that Recondo gave me zero interest. I liked his Gatling gun and the sat-com, but the figure left me cold, part of the problem was the hunch back syndrome the other is the figures purposeful resemblance to Jessie Ventura in the movie Predator. Predator is a great movie and I would love to have 1:18th scale figures from it, but I don’t want GI Joe imitations, I would like to have the real deal. I am not sure if that idea can be translated well as I am sure some reading this are like “It’s close enough” or “It’s a cool homage” but I don’t feel the same way, sorry.  

Dusty on the other hand just did nothing for me as a figure. He was bland, which a desert trooper should be I suppose, but he was in fact too bland IMO. Tornado Kick Snake Eyes was another one that had great accessories but the figure was well beyond something I would like, went down that road with Prince of Persia Storm Shadow already and I just didn’t have the desire for a repeat.  

But what I did get from this wave has some merit, and unfortunately what worked for me kind of illustrates the “hit and miss” nature of this new incarnation of GI Joe. While there are great things in this line there are many “HUH!?” moments as well beginning with the Master of Disguise Zartan.  

Now just my opinion but Zartan is one of those rare figures that got it so right the first try, I don’t think it can ever be topped. The closest was the second version from the 25th anniversary line, but it fell a bit short. When I saw this one in the box I thought maybe they hit it, at least close. He looked like he had all the elements but at the same time looked like an individual as well. When I opened him though something changed.  

In hand the jewel loses a ton of luster, and I am hard pressed to explain why exactly. Without his hood he kind of looks like Wolverine Origins Movie Deadpool, but not exactly like him, just a resemblance. I know part of the issue is he was originally intended as the Zartan we see outside the Joe base in the Rise of Cobra movie, but he had a new head when Hasbro broke away from the character likenesses. Another part of it is I know he is a desert figure, and he defiantly looks it out of the box, which in turn makes him somewhat bland.  

I was going to try to remedy this by putting on his vest under the hood, well guess what, the vest makes his chest too big for the hood to drape over properly. Yeah that is another strike. I already know the disguise is supposed to be for an unproduced figure called Sandstorm, and ultimately I think that becomes an inadvertent hit against the figure. I mean why not just release that character instead of making a disguise for him, it makes no sense. I also saw a couple of pictures online of this same Zartan with some weird disks painted on his body. For whatever reason I thought they might be hologram projectors or something, oddly mine does not have these disk shapes on his chest. I have no clue whatsoever why this is or where I saw the pictures of the one with the disks and why mine is different. Anyway just stating it for the record.  

One thing I do really like is the short swords/long knives on the belt, it’s a cool usage but sometimes gets in the way of the hood/vest. That is probably my one major plus for this figure.  

And don’t even begin to ask me why he is packing Raptor’s bird around, but it is a nifty accessory to give to the bird man (seems to be a reoccurring theme with GI Joe of late).  

But a huge surprise to me was Arctic Destro. I had had pretty well not given this figure a thought due to the stupid back pack and the fact they added red along his sleeves, it’s odd to have a two tone winter coat. But when I saw him in the store I admit my feelings changed a bit. First off the stupid squirt cannon is in the trash somewhere and I am fairly certain I can find usage for those ice parts, but not with Destro himself.  

What I had left was his ice picks (which make perfect sense), his hot glue gun (yeah another lame-o looking gun, not a surprise in this line at this point) and the ice fishing drill that he can use to make holes. I know someone is going to bark at me cause it’s a “core sampler” but really, let’s have some fun with these TOYS people.  

Anyway the weathering is a bit overdone but it’s nice to see at the same time. I think one tone of color on the jacket would have been plenty but for whatever reason someone in Hasbro believes Destro needs to have red on him at all times.  

But what is really significant about this figure is I was majorly burned out on Destro not so long ago, the endless releases through GI Joe vs. Cobra (anyone remember the Kabuki mask version) to Valor vs. Venom (Otherwise known as the “New Sculpt era”) were a mixed bag. While some were impressive at first they suddenly lost their luster (The VvV giraffe neck grey uniformed one is a great example). Also the re-releases in the 25th line (slightly improving with each release) quickly wore on me, once I got the “vac-chromed version” I called it quits on the character. Only one of my children getting me ROC Destro for my birthday was the exception. Still I had really and honestly decided long ago “NO MORE DESTRO!” Love the guy but at the same time I hated how overused he had become.  

This one though does bring something new to the table. At the minimum he is a nice alternate climate version. But also he does what I think “New sculpt” attempted to do but failed miserably at, give us new takes on the characters that were different while still retaining their basic fundamentals. To me the ability to make me want another Destro figure is a huge leap for Hasbro, but doesn’t mean I am giving them a full break LOL.  

Last up is the best up, Jungle Viper. OK so everyone has already talked about how the gun is from pre WW2 that was originally an anti-armor weapon later used for personnel blah, blah, and how the figure appears to be influence by Night Viper from 1989, the eyes have no pupils and it’s creepy, ect. So instead of bore you I am going to passingly recall all that stuff and move on to some more interesting tidbits.  

First off is there is apparently a QC issue similar to the Alley Viper with the gun not staying in. This time it’s the whole backpack though. I discovered this while talking to Alexx at Joebattlines about his review. At that time I got my second Jungle Viper and, like his, the backpack that holds the digital camo suit in place would fall out very easily. However, I never had this problem with the first Jungle Viper I got. Also he made me realize I had put the gun together wrong for the above photos, sorry.  

And while I think this figure is actually cooler than the Alley Viper, I notice I have seen it much more often than the Alley Viper as well. Personally I think this might be because, to me, these guys would operate as loners. They will perch very far away from a target and at best you might have two who coordinate to form a crossfire. Really that is why I only bought two of them, I cannot see a use for too many more. In the stores I have seen around twenty or so of these at different locations where as I have seen a total of four Alley Vipers (and purchased 3 of them). But I am thinking that many more might be thinking as I am and that is why the Jungle Viper, though a cooler figure, might be so much easier to find than the Alley Viper. It’s a hunch but I have yet to hear a better explanation.  

As I stated in the first review of some of the POC figures, this line appears to be hit and miss. While some great designs are coming out of it, some heavy losers are as well. Add to the fact the rumor mill on the message boards is that this line might not last (being replaced by an animated line for the Hub show Renegades) and you begin to see why there might not be a ton of heart put into this line. It might be just me but a good chunk of this line looks as if it is just keeping GI Joe on the shelf and not trying to capture imaginations as they did long ago, then again I am an old fart so what do I know ;-).