2005 Major Barrage

Posted on August 7, 2023 by mwnekoman

2005 Major Barrage

The “New Sculpt” era of Joes is not remembered by a whole lot of people. I attribute that mostly to botched marketing, which also led to them not really reaching kids all that much. It’s sad that I preface most posts on these figures like this, but the 2000‘s were a lamentable time, especially for GI Joe. Now for a shock statement: Major Barrage is the best sculpt from this era, and if 1/18 scale Joe ever comes back, they should be based on this figure’s design.

As you may or may not know, Major Barrage is not constructed like a normal figure from the time. While most New Sculpt figures roughly copy the design of the post-‘85 ARAH figures, Major Barrage experiments with construction changes more similar to the 25th Anniversary figures that would debut two years later. Notably, he has a ball-jointed head that connects at the top of the neck rather than inside the torso, swivel wrists, and his elbow-joints are on swivel-disks, the same as the 25th figures.

The thing about this is that he really hits the best of both worlds with this design, being a small figure that’s fun (and easy) to play with, while also featuring some modernizations that make him a little more pleasing aesthetically. 25th (“Modern Era”) figures looked nice once they hit their stride around Rise of Cobra, but always suffered from being gangly and fiddly, not really fun to play with. Likewise, the New Sculpt figures were more play friendly thanks to them just parroting ARAH construction, but they also adapted that construction is often weird ways. Once the 1/12 fad flies over, I hope Joe goes to being something like this, maybe just with the waist-joint used on the Marauder’s Gun Runners figures.

So the figure is really nice and well made in my opinion, easily the best from his era, but Major Barrage himself doesn’t really click with me that much. Overall, his character design is really, really boring, just being some ratty lookin’ dude in camo pants and a tanktop. He has the same energy as some low-tier vehicle driver like Wild-Card, only with the added blandness of being a tough guy nerd’s self-insert character (for clarity, I don’t know that he is, but he looks like one). He has a file card that describes how how he’s the baddest dude since Big Brawler, but honestly, I can’t really care about his character just for the fact that GI Joe hasn’t had a good piece of media since Double Trouble in 1991.

For accessories you get a vest and two, pump-action shotguns. Yeah that’s right, Major Barrage is so badass he rocks two PUMP-ACTION shotguns akimbo, doing some John Woo movie stuff! I guess this dude’s so cool he racks the slide with his teeth. A shotgun could make sense if he’s in a vehicle, since he’s supposed to be an Artillery Commander. Jokes aside, the figure makes good use of the shotguns thanks to his swivel-wrists. I just find guns akimbo to be very dated and corny now, but we like corn here, so that’s alright.

Major Barrage doesn’t show up for auction so much, but BiN’s on eBay have sold between $20 for a complete figure and $30 for a carded figure. Likely, he probably just goes for that much since the figure isn’t the easiest to find anymore, and because the DTC packaging looks pretty good for carded collectors. I don’t think this figure should cost that much, but it’s worth noting that he is probably the best figure from his era, so maybe it’s not too crazy.

2005 Major Barrage Links:

2005 Zarana

Posted on June 5, 2023 by mwnekoman

2005 Zarana

I didn’t plan on writing about a Zarana figure again anytime soon, after all, I just wrote about ‘86 Zarana not all that long ago, and that post still reflects my feelings really well, both on the character and her sculpt. This Zarana however, is a comic-pack figure, and those are melting so fast, I wanted to take at least of few extra photos of mine while she still looks okay.

V1 Zarana has always been relatively cheap and common, and this figure’s updated head sculpt arguably looks worse than the original’s. Relative to your other options, I don’t mind it very much, but it doesn’t look great. In the 3-pack, the main appeal was Cobra Commander and Zartan, while Zarana was just kind of a toss-in. Still, this wasn’t a terrible comic-pack, in fact, it was a pretty good one overall. Besides the ugly head, Zarana’s main flaw is just that she wasn’t really as needed as a new Zartan and Battle Armor Cobra Commander. Despite that, this sculpt still seems a lot more fresh than most of what they put out with the comic-packs.

Overall, the colors are a lot more desaturated and toned-down compared to early comic-packs. Zarana’s pink shirt and bluejeans look really dull now, but that’s not horrible, just different. Bright colors seem more suited to Zarana since she’s really a terrorist punk, but not a commando, so dulling her down is mildly counterintuitive. The duller colors used on these Dreadnoks would’ve translated better onto some of the prior comic-pack releases such as the First 13 guys, but like with many lines of GI Joe toys, Hasbro learned about a year too late.

Fortunately for me my figure seems to be aging well, though I know for others she’s discoloring badly. I recently audited my comic-pack figures and found myself to be lucky that not so many of my figures are discoloring or developing torso-cracks. Of course, it’s probably just a matter of time before she turns; my Thrasher looked okay until maybe just a year or two ago, but now he’s quickly joined the ranks of Scrap Iron and the JvC Alley Vipers.

Something I do find to hate about this Zarana though, is her loose grip in her right hand. She’s packaged holding her cutter by it’s stock, so virtually every copy of this figure has a really loose grip on her right hand. I tried fixing it a little with hot water, but that’s fiddly and it didn’t improve much after my first attempt. I find myself endlessly irritated that the figure was negatively impacted by packaging I immediately threw away.

She comes with both of ‘86 Zarana’s parts, a backpack and her cutter, so that’s really nice. Both parts are also rendered in nice black plastic, which I like a lot. Not because black is the best color, but because Zarana has a fairly nice and seldom seen backpack. In red, it doesn’t look swell with too many other figures, but this black one could go well with quite a few. Also, it’s nice they brought her cutter back, but it still sucks and I never use it.

A mint complete ‘05 Zarana seems to run around $20. Sealed in her 3-pack, you can get one around $60. Back when the whole set barely ran $15, there really wasn’t a lot to lose, but for that much money these figures are a waste of time. Looking around, I don’t see too many Zarana’s discoloring badly, but they have the possibility of doing so at any time. She was okay as a pack-in, especially if you normally didn’t feel inclined to bother with a V1 Zarana and her crappy glued torso. For $20, there’s a lot of better figures you could get, especially ones that aren’t made of sus plastic.

2005 Zarana Links:

Forgotten Figures

Joe A Day

Half the Battle

2005 Cobra Night Watch Trooper

Posted on November 29, 2022 by mwnekoman

2005 Cobra Night Watch Trooper

Uncharacteristically for a 2000‘s GI Joe item, the entire Cobra Night Watch set is an example of a good idea with mostly good execution. In a time pretty long before TBM, Hasbro put out a set of Cobra Troopers and Officers in unique colors to represent a niche role. It’s something collectors wanted enough to make the aforementioned bootlegs extremely viable, though for whatever reason, Hasbro really only every touched the idea with this set.

Seventeen years later, I feel these are still holding up very well, even with so many excellent TBM Troopers floating around. That could always change, as the biceps on mine are a slightly different hue from the forearms. At the moment, that doesn’t bother me too much, though I’d absolutely hate for these to suddenly join the ranks of spontaneously discolored 2000‘s figures. Other than that bit of paranoia, they’re still a set of figures with great decos that maintain most of the classic Trooper sculpt, which is enough for me to like ‘em a lot.

In their original six-pack, you got four troopers and two different Squad Leaders, AKA: Cobra Officers. Of the Troopers, most were the same although one switches the normal Caucasian skin-tone for African, just like the other army-builder sets before this. Because I acquired my set piecemeal, I never got the black one since someone routinely bid-sniped me on every single auction I’ve ever tried for. I figured one day my patience would pay off and I’d complete my set, but instead everyone randomly became a toy collector and prices doubled.

Overall, the figures have a nice paint scheme. There’s camo on the pants and helmet, extra color on parts of the webgear, additional Cobra and Night Watch markings on their helmets and biceps. They did a good job of bringing out the little details on the sculpt, and it’s right at the perfect amount of paint before they’d start to look busy. If anything, the markings on the sides of the helmet might have been a bit too much, but it always feels a little unfair to fault a toy for having too much paint.

Like many of the Cobras from their time period, they feature V1 Roadblock’s arms and waist in lieu of the ‘83 Cobra’s. It makes them look a little chunky, but I don’t mind it much. The original lower arms were apparently still floating around, since Hasbro used them for the comic-pack Trooper, though this guy replaced them for Roadblock’s entire arm. Looking back, I sort of find it weird Hasbro switched the arms around for every Cobra Trooper they released back then (the Infantry Forces used Thunder’s arms), you’d think they would have settled on one replacement like they did with all the Viper repaints from back then.

Their accessories aren’t great, but they work. Included is the super generic ‘03 Overkill knife and Sand Viper’s G36 rifle, which was also the gun for nearly every other Joe and Cobra released between ‘03 and ‘05. Thanks to the pliable thumbs, the figures can at least use this gear, but it really does not do them justice. Then again, I suppose I should just give them credit for including guns at all, as Hasbro could’ve tossed in a bunch of ninja weapons like they did with the Shadow Guard.

Night Watch Troopers go between $10 and $20, with the accessories not playing a huge factor in that value. Even if you buy them in lots or the complete set, they tend to always average around $20 each, so when you occasionally get them for less, you’re doing good. These have always been pretty popular, so that’s not really surprising. $20 still feels like a lot for an ‘05 figure to me, but that’s in line with what a bootleg Cobra will cost you, so it makes sense.

2005 Cobra Night Watch Trooper Links:

2005 Firefly

Posted on June 13, 2022 by mwnekoman

2005 Firefly

The 2000‘s comic 3-packs were pretty notorious for their poor execution. This Firefly, however, has always been considered an exception to that, by most. It stands out, as for years most of these figures saturated clearance isles and were things nobody wanted from the aftermarket. There’s some reasons why this Firefly is a step above the standard fair for these releases, though, I also imagine he’s popular just because he’s Firefly.

Probably the worst thing about this figure was that he came stuffed in a pack with Scrap-Iron and Serpentor. Really, that shouldn’t be a bad thing, but it should be obvious that Firefly is way more popular than his packmates. A problem with multi-packs, is that the strongest figures rarely as often help oddities sell as it is that the oddities drag down those strong figures. Generally, Serpentor is not so popular, and there’s pretty much never been anyone with a desire for play-doh Scrap-Iron. I was able to get the whole set MOSC years after it came out for near retail price.

A recurring trait that ruins many of these figures was their ridiculously small heads. Firefly is nice, because for some reason his head is only somewhat small. He also has a really tight head-sculpt with a pronounced expression under his mask. It looks intense and has a bit more character than his first sculpt. It’s certainly one of the few cases where this head is a decent alternative to the vintage head it replaced, which usually was not the case with these releases.

His colors are fairly strong. Hasbro had done pretty much anything you could possibly want from the Firefly mold up to this point, so returning him back to his original grays was a good choice for a send-off. Another thing I like about this figure, is that it’s much easier to see a lot of his nice sculpted details in comparison to V1 Firefly. In contrast to his light gray tones, he features a lot of black and silver on his various straps and holsters, which does well to highlight those details.

For parts, you get all of ‘84 Firefly’s gear, just now in black. That includes his KEDR-B submachine gun, his backpack with tool tray, and his tiny walkie-talkie. That’s not too special for Firefly, but it’s another thing that strengthens the quality of this release regardless. I was always much more fond of the olive color used for the original parts, but the full roster of gear in black looks okay. It’s weird how Firefly’s gun is somewhat married to the character, I guess KEDR’s might’ve been a little rare until they were fully produced in ‘94. Though in a Joe-fan’s mind, you’d think this would be a decent sidearm for all of your HISS Drivers and Motor Vipers, ignoring the suppressor.

Somewhat of an oddity that this figure made me realize, is that most people take horribly boring photos of Firefly. That includes myself, as most of my photos to this point are ones of Firefly standing around in the dark. It seems with others if Firefly isn’t in the dark, he’s being used almost interchangeably with an army builder or some mook. It’s just something odd to me, as you’d think the beloved Cobra saboteur would be in a lot of places doing exciting things, but most of us just seem to show him standing around. It doesn’t have much to do with this figure, just something I noticed I’d like to work on, personally.

Comic pack Firefly goes for about $18 loose and complete, and from $50 to $70 sealed. It’s a nice figure, so in the current market I can understand why he’s developed some value. The people paying $70 for sealed sets however, are certifiably nuts. It will be funny once the bubble bursts and “I paid a lot for that!” becomes a common catchphrase. Paying huge premiums for common, junk comic-pack figures is about is absurd as it gets, especially when you consider that many of these figures are yellowing in package, or now feature cracking chests. It’s very telling of the market insanity that people would pay so much for figures this shoddy.

2005 Firefly Links:

2005 Serpentor

Posted on June 1, 2021 by mwnekoman

2005 Serpentor

The 2000‘s comic packs did a lot more wrong than they did right, but that was not always the case, such as with the #49 set. The reason this set’s so nice, is because you got arguably the best o-ring Firefly, and excellent update to Serpentor, and a hastily degrading Scrap-Iron who’s easy enough to sit aside.

I’m sort of ambivalent to Serpentor as a character. He’s unnecessary as a concept, and as I feel GI Joe relies so heavily on Cobra Commander as a central character in the plot, it’s a bad idea to try and replace him. Regardless, both the cartoon and the comics tried pretty hard to make the character appealing, so I have some interest in him for that. The Arise Serpentor, Arise mini-series was one of the more fun Sunbow storylines, likewise, I associate him a lot with the Cobra Civil War from the comics, which was another highlight. Put another way, the character is corny and irritating, but also a decent plot device you can associate with some of GI Joe’s better stories.

Unlike many of his comic portrayals, this Serpentor comes in bright shades of green and yellow, with yellow paint making up a lot of his details. Like with many comic-pack figures, he features a new head with a scowling face. I dislike how small it is, but it looks alright with his helmet on. The head can be put aside, and it leaves you with a fun, brightly colored repaint. The end result is a figure that retains the overall look of Serpentor while still providing something new and interesting, which is exactly what this figure needed to be.

For me and likely others too, one of the biggest appeals of this figure is that it’s one of the few Serpentor figures that’s decently easy to get and keep in good shape. The original ‘86 Serpentor has the infamous gold-plastic-syndrome plastic, which means the figure is overly fragile and virtually a ticking time-bomb, especially now that most of them are about 35-years old. The only other release of the character before the ME stuff was the ‘02 ARAHC repaint, which is virtually an unreleased figure. And then there’s this one, which was available for years with unsold overstock of these sets, available at or below retail price. Essentially, this one wins by default.

On that note, it’s sort of weird there isn’t more Serpentor toys. Even after the shift to 25th Anniversary style construction, there was two haphazard attempts at the character, before he was to be put away once again. He’s iconic enough that you’d think he’d be around a little more often, but alas, such is not the case. Joe fans rarely even seem to complain about his absence, which mildly gives me the impression there’s still more disdain for this character than there is fondness.

As for his parts, you get about everything you could hope for. Included is his cowl/backpack, a removable helmet, his tiny little knife, and a nice yellow cape. Something extra to make him a bit more interesting would’ve been nice, but I guess you get that in the form of the helmet. He’s really a figure where all of his parts are unique to him and can’t be switched with anything else, lest you worsen the figure’s look. With that in mind, it’s nice he’s one of the few vintage sculpts to retain most of his original parts.

For the longest time, this whole set Serpentor was included in was cheap and common. I got mine sealed, years after the fact from Amazon for something like $10, which was probably stock from when they managed online sales for TRU. Right now, anything can for random and absurd prices, but generally this set’s never been worth more than $30, sealed. With the current state of both Joe prices and inflation, that’s still a pretty good price for what you get.

2005 Serpentor Links:

2005 Storm Shadow (Comic Pack)

Posted on February 9, 2021 by mwnekoman

2005 Storm Shadow (Comic Pack)

In modern times, I have mixed feelings about the 2000‘s comic pack figures. Most of them were not very good, and they had all the negative hallmarks you’d expect from a post-’94 figure. Yet, compared to now, most of these sets seem like dreams. 3 figures with accessories and a comic for something like $10? In a world where AWE Strikers run $25 at retail, I really miss the ability to get that kind of value in a GI Joe item.

Storm Shadow here is an especially nice offering from the line, as it’s the closest thing Hasbro’s ever given us to a V1 Storm Shadow reissue. I think people have a tendency to overstate the degradation of vintage plastic, but discoloring happens on a much more regular basis, to the point that I think for some figures it’s inevitable. I don’t mind it so much anymore, but it’s nice having a stark white Storm Shadow, who’s also a little more safe to play with.

For the most part, the entire vintage mold is intact, save for the biceps, which were switched for ‘91 Dusty’s. The size of those muscles doesn’t really blend well with the early-80‘s sculpting, but overall I’d say it looks good, and I like the more comic-accurate appearance. It’s not better than ‘84 Storm Shadow’s look, but it’s an okay alternative, and introduces some nice variety if you already have a few version of the mold.

Paint applications are very similar to the ‘84 figure here, but done in style of all of the 2000‘s Joes with a smaller, more intricate Cobra symbol, and peachy-skin. The skin tone really drives me nuts here, particularly because this would be such a good alternative to the ‘84 figure were it not for this. It’s also kind of weird for a Japanese guy to be such a peachy-reddish tone, as I don’t know of any Asians that would tan this color.

His parts are okay. The excellent kit from the original Storm Shadow, which was kept with the ‘97 release, is unfortunately gone here and replaced by a new-sculpt sword and scabbard. It works as something different, but I think these parts pale in comparison to the original selection. The softly sculpted details on the scabbard/backpack look especially out of place, which was a common problem when Hasbro paired new accessories with old sculpts.

Overall, he’s not the best comic-pack era figure, but he’s certainly decent and is made better for being a solid alternative to ‘84 Storm Shadow. 16 (almost 17) years since his release, the figures are holding up pretty well (unlike contemporaries such as Scrap-Iron), which is nice, seeing as how I can play with this figure without the fear of damaging an overpriced original. Nowadays, I see sporadic auctions for this figure that go for well more than $20, but there’s no consistent pattern to the pricing, and examples sold carded or in lots are often going for less than ones sold by themselves. I chalk that up to nooby tomfoolery, and I don’t think anyone should pay more than $10 for this figure.

2005 Storm Shadow Links:

Half the Battle

Joe a Day

2005 Scrap Iron (Comic Pack)

Posted on April 27, 2020 by mwnekoman

2005 Scrap Iron (Comic Pack)

During the 2005 Comic Pack line, it was a rare day when you saw a set that featured three good figures. More of the time, you’d get one or two good figures, and one figure that was completely unnecessary. Such was the case with this Scrap Iron, who’s easily the worst release of the character, but also has an egregious flaw that’s not come to light until recent years.

The truth is, I do not now, and never have really hated this figure. Objectively, it’s a barebones repaint in neon colors with bad accessories, though it does still have some appeal. If you like brightly colored repaints, it’s pretty fun seeing the Scrap Iron mold rendered in ridiculously bright colors that are similar to the Cobra Soldados. It’s curious and stands out particularly well, so there’s some novel appeal if you like that.

The mold is a full repaint of the Urban Division Scrap Iron from 2004, which was already a great version of Scrap Iron and a solid recreation of his original tooling. With that being the case, it really makes me think this slot would’ve been better used on some other repaint besides a Scrap Iron. Plenty of good ARAH molds got overlooked in this era for a figure like this one, who seems unnecessary. In it’s own right, this repaint is passable, but it reflects how Hasbro rarely made the best choices during this time.

The last nail in the coffin for this figure is the yellowing. In 2020, it’s more often you see these badly discolored than you do in mint condition, and that’s very disheartening for a figure that’s barely fifteen years old. Even MOC examples are turning green at an alarming rate, while the Serpentor and Firefly packed beside him remain pristine. It points me to think that this figure yellowing is a foregone conclusion, and one’s that haven’t will eventually. Here’s a montage of sealed examples I found on eBay, just from a recent search:

gi joe scrap iron comic pack hasbro 2005 valor vs venom

Other figures from the early 2000‘s are having similar issues (Spy Troops CC, Alley Viper, ect), but it appears most pronounced in this guy. Truthfully, it’s a relief that a boring figure like this one is what must be doomed to discolor, rather than a better release from the same period. Still, it speaks to me that the quality of 2000‘s plastic formulas may not be as good as we thought when these figures were new.

Parts are a pretty big issue with this figure. He includes the 1992 Destro pistol, the Shockwave pistol, and the bazooka with the muzzle from 1991 Zap. I guess you didn’t see that Zap bazooka everyday, so it wasn’t typical, though it feels far from natural with Scrap Iron. The Destro pistol is a good part, but it played itself out in the 2000‘s and was far too generic. Then you get the Shockwave pistol, which really is just a terrible and oversized part. Overall, a generic selection of mediocre parts.

These Scrap-Irons aren’t worth a lot. Typically they go for around $5 on the seldom occasion you find one apart from the Firefly and Serpentor he came with. With the other two, you can still get them for as little as $15. If you can’t get this guy as a freebie with Firefly and Serpentor, there’s really no reason to bother. Even if you like the look of the figure, there’s no guarantee it won’t just spontaneously discolor at a given moment, which erodes what little appeal this figure had in the first place.

2005 Scrap Iron (Comic Pack) Links:

Yo Joe

Joe A Day

2005 Frostbite (Valor vs Venom)

Posted on February 10, 2020 by mwnekoman

2005 Frostbite

Normally, I might’ve not thought to write about a figure this odd from the New-Sculpt era, but, a brief and sudden snowstorm gave me an opportunity to explore him for a bit to take some snow photos before the snow melted. In hindsight, the so called “New-Sculpt” era comes off as an obscure footnote, paling in comparison to the size and scale of GI Joe in the 1980‘s. Yet, toys like this one were of good quality, and were I given the option to do so, I would use this construction for a revival of the GI Joe brand.

The New-Sculpt style of figures was flawed, but in ways I think it would be ideal if Hasbro went back to this construction style.Ultimately, this was a modern take on the classic o-ring construction, which meant that the figures had similar function and playability. Compared to the 25th/Modern style figures, these were much less fiddly and were functionally more consistent. The later construction cemented GI Joe as a collector’s line, which has ultimately lead us to the current moment. While articulation and functioning-gear gimmicks like removable pistols and vests are good, it’s imperative that the toys retain the overall function and play pattern that made them popular at the line’s peak moments.

As for Frostbite, the design lacks character in certain regards, but overall is a good quality figure from this period in time. The proportions are quite good, and the sculpt has the right amount of detail as well. The main problem with the figure is that he’s generic and lacks the character of V1 Frostbite. Looking at his head sculpt which lacks his distinctive beard, you could just as well say he’s some Viper as much as he is Frostbite. Touching back on my earlier point, I feel like this figure represents a problem with the era, in how it demonstrates this style of construction at it’s best; while also demonstrating the line’s overall lack of character and identity.

The accessories are a bit curious, but in general I’d consider them fun. He includes a snowboard, missiles for the snowboard, a riffle, a gauntlet communicator, and a paintball gun, oddly. Most of these parts seem pretty standard, although nice overall. As the first instance of this paintball gun, I feel like it’s inclusion is worth commenting on. It’s a fairly nice part, but why does he have it? What does he do with it? I can’t really think of anything besides just that paintball was popular at the time. The rest of his parts are decent, the snowboard in particular is quite good. Besides being able to mount the missiles on it, it has adjustable foot mounts that add extra playability to the piece. The fact that the parts are fun and relatively unique to the figure does a lot to elevate him over many of his contemporaries.

There’s a variant of this figure for whatever it’s worth in the form of the 2008 single-card release. Like all of those figures, slight changes were made to the paint colors, such as his goggles, skin, and most noticeably the camouflage on his legs. It’s pretty insignificant, and of course the 2005 release is objectively better for including parts, though, it is very interesting to see how much a figure can change between production runs that are only a few years apart.

New-Sculpt figures aren’t valued by collectors, and this is reflected in the price of figures like Frostbite. If you hunt, you can get a complete Frostbite for a handful of dollars, but, it does seem that that would require some hunting now. Like with many figures from the Valor vs Venom line, only a handful ever seem to be on the market at any given time. If you wanted to represent this period in you collection with the best it had to offer, Frostbite’s a figure worth tracking down.

Gi joe frostbite valor vs venom 2005 2004 Snow Wolf Cobra vvv vintage hasbro

2005 Frostbite Links:

Yo Joe

Joebattlelines

General Joes

Forgotten Figures: Rarities – Unproduced 2002 – 2005 New Sculpt Figures

2005 Lonzo R Wilkinson

Posted on September 17, 2019 by mwnekoman

2005 Lonzo R Wilkinson

The Comic Packs from the mid 2000‘s really got a lot wrong, which is probably why they floundered so hard at retail. Many of the set’s and especially the early sets were an endless sea of deep green and yellow, which made for a boring and tired retail line. This early impression one might have of the line really overshadowed the great figures that came from it later, such as Lonzo R. Wilkinson.

And, if you have even a cursory knowledge of the Marvel comics you’ll know Lonzo here is Stalker, but from when he was a soldier in Vietnam instead of a GI Joe member. It was a great issue of the comics and the perfect inspiration for a comic pack set, as the included Tommy Arashikage and CLASSIFIED figures are also quite good. It’s unique, interesting and new, while avoiding a concept that’s too niche to make for fun figures.

The part combination used for Lonzo is pretty solid, with a few issues that are emblematic of the era. The figure makes use of Duke’s torso, Tunnel Rat’s upper arms, Gungo Ho’s lower arms, Roadblock’s waist, General Hawk’s legs, and the older comic pack Stalker’s head. The General Hawk legs are the weak link in this recipe, and like many of the 2000‘s ARAH sculpts, the head on Stalker is very, very small. The colors and uniform look good enough that this would be one of my favorite Stalkers were it not for these issues, but they can still be overlooked.

The colors are pretty nice on this release too. They’re vivid and rich, but without relying on the obnoxious amount if neon comic colors that prior figures had opted for. While the green color is very rich and bright, the brown-yellow trim is muted and looks reasonable.

For accessories, you get the comic-pack era M-16 sculpt, and a SAW Viper backpack. The M-16 is a good sculpt, and very nice that they took the time to include a period appropriate gun with the figure. The backpack is pretty dumb though. Was there nothing else they could have included that might’ve looked a little more standard for a Vietnam War soldier?

The comic packs are now unfortunately hard to find, I’ve learned this from experience while trying to fill gaps in my collection. Lonzo on his own seems to float around $15? They pop up so infrequently it’s honestly hard to tell, but this figure and his entire set was fairly popular without being too common, so that sounds about right to me.

GI Joe marvel issue #26 stalker snake eyes storm shadow classified lonzo r wilkinson tommy arashikage

2005 Lonzo R Wilkinson Links:

Yo Joe

Joe a Day

GeneralsJoes

2005 Range Viper

Posted on September 9, 2019 by mwnekoman

2005 Range Viper

It’s probably a fair statement to say that relatively few people miss the “New Sculpt” era and construction from 2002 to ‘06, but that doesn’t mean some genuinely good toys weren’t made during the period. Hasbro’s Direct to Consumer line did a great job of showing what the style was capable of, and the Range Viper is fine example of that.

The DTC Range Viper changes up the original design in a pretty nice and significant way. Lots of folks used to have a harsher view on the vintage figure’s sculpt, and while I’m probably a bigger fan of that design, this one’s good too. By reusing most of the Valor vs Venom Swamp Rat’s body, the new Range Viper wears what’s more of a wet-suit than the original. It’s different enough that I don’t think the figure really has to be better than the original to maintain a unique appeal.

The helmet is one of the figure’s main attractions. Removable helmets for Cobras haven’t always worked out for Hasbro, like the mail-away Agent Faces helmet that looked large and a little goofy with the figures it was included with. Perhaps one could say the Range Viper’s head is a little small as a consequence of the helmet, but overall the proportions are pretty decent on both the head and the mask. I like a lot of the new helmet design, and overall I think the skull face looks a lot more intimidating on this figure than the original.

While his parts are just recycled bits from the New Sculpt era, I like what they chose for him pretty well. You get a pair of knives to fill the holsters that are a leftover from the Swamp Rat, an MP5K, and a Dragunov SVU. While none of these parts are new, I’m a big fan of the Dragunov SVU and really liked it’s inclusion here. The cool thing about the SVU is that it’s a more modern, bullpup configuration variant of the classic Dragunov. It was originally used by Russia in 1994, so there’s a few figures that could be smartly equipped with it, if you like gun-nerd type stuff.

Thinking about the era this figure was from and my relationship with it really is telling about some of Hasbro’s missteps. When most of the early New Sculpt lines came out, I was still in Hasbro’s primary demographic, but I didn’t buy many of the figures then. Most of my collection of figures like this guy were bought on clearance years after their original releases. I had interest, but Hasbro’s lack of a coherent media push and ideas like Sigma 6 kept me from really engaging the line with anymore than passing glances. It’s a topic I could make an entire rant about on it’s own, but as for what’s prevalent to this Range Viper: I personally think if this figure had been apart of the Robot Rebellion line, and that had an anime/cartoon airing somewhere like Toonami, the brand would be vastly in a better position today.

DTC Range Vipers were popular in their heyday, and it shows with how common they remain in the current market. You find them carded more often than not, and they range from as low as $6 to $9 in that condition. It’s a great army builder and cool interpretation of the Range Viper, so for anyone interested in the style it’s still a worthy addition.

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