I’ll admit I didn’t see this one coming. The Club had some opportunities to think outside the box when it comes to representing their form of Tiger Force, and for the most part, they followed an established formula. Essentially they reproduced modern versions of vintage designs, or took some more current existing designs and melded them into the vintage Tiger Force aesthetic.
For Alpine they seemed to kind of go another way. Yes, I realize that there was a Tiger Force Alpine in the new sculpt era, but it was so drastically different than the typical Tiger Force deco that it’s tough to count it. For that reason, this figure feels like a big departure, and also feels like a repeat, since we just received our most recent FSS shipment a couple of short weeks ago.
Alpine is the exact same figure as the one we received in the FSS, but the Club went Tiger Force with him, integrating him with the rest of their offerings in a yellow and black stripe designation. His shorts are still somewhat red, and he really does not match the other Tiger Force version in anyway. However, it is a nice looking figure, and I appreciate the fact that they worked him in here alongside Bazooka.
It’s tough to complain about the figure, too, much, since it’s built upon the solid and fun Kwinn build. Unlike others, I don’t have an issue with him wearing shorts, and he wears the matching deco pretty well.
Accessories
Alpine comes with many of the same accessories as the FSS version, with his machine gun and submachine gun, as well as the ropes to swing over his chest.
This was an unexpected figure, but not a bad one. His place on the helicopter crew makes sense, and while he doesn’t fit the same mold as Frostbite and Skystriker, he looks as if he belongs. I just wish it wasn’t a figure that I just received a few short weeks ago.
Alpine
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
3.2
Summary
At its core, Alpine is a pretty fun figure with great parts selection and a nicely updated Tiger Force paint scheme. The only detraction really is that the same basic figure came out in the FSS only a month or so ago, and this seems like an expensive repaint so soon after the original. While the figure itself is nice, it’s tough to get excited about a repainted figure from last month that doesn’t quite impress as much as the original.
What can I say about the officer than I didn’t already say about the Iron Anvil itself? I may be one of the biggest Iron Anvil fans on the planet, and I thought the update done for the Convention set was pretty much perfect.
Considering the officer is the same structural formula with only some minor changes (gold shoulder pads and shin armor) I can’t find much to complain about here either.
The build for this figure is just terrific. Every once in a while you get a G.I. Joe figure that just feels right in your hand. He poses right, he balances right, and he just looks awesome. It actually happens less often than you might think.
Iron Anvil and Iron Anvil Officer fill both of those roles for me. The parts selection fits together seamlessly to provide the foundation for an armored, but flexible paratrooper for Destro, with a terrific paint scheme and great accessories. Both the regular Anvil and the Officer are fantastic.
Accessories
Beyond the minor paint adjustments, this is obviously where the figures really differ. While the regular Anvil comes with an Alley-Viper vest and Para-Viper harness, the Officer comes with a red repaint of the Retaliation Cobra Trooper parachute pack, which looks pretty fantastic, I might add. He also comes with the same submachine gun and knife, as well as the familiar blue Retaliation parachute.
Like his normal trooper counterpart, the Iron Anvil Officer is a great looking, fun figure, with a few color adjustments and cool accessory additions. As a Parachute figure this year, it was tough to get, with only a single figure being allowed per attendee, but the nice thing about that is he is so similar to the trooper, it doesn’t feel like a dramatic loss. That being said, I’m happy I have him, and will proudly place him at the head of my Iron Anvil squad.
Iron Anvil Officer
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
4.4
Summary
Using the same basic figure build as the standard Iron Anvil, this year’s parachute figure adds some gold deco, a parachute pack, and brings us an Iron Anvil Officer for the first time. I’m a huge fan of the Iron Anvil build, so naturally I love this build as well, and the added gold trim is a really nice touch. Unfortunately it’s a tough get for many folks out there because of its rarity, but if you have one, or can get one, it makes for a nice addition to your Iron Anvil roster. The nice thing, though, is that the changes are so minor, unless you’re a rabid completist, you can probably get along fine without it.
As one of my favorite late 80s Army Builders, I once was highly anticipating a modern version of the Iron Grenadier Elite Guard, but in all honesty, the variation we got a few years ago left me just a little bit cold. I wasn’t a big fan of the build, using mostly dated 25th Anniversary parts, and a somewhat strange metallic color scheme.
A few years later, I feel very similar.
Granted this new Annihilator has a pretty cool new shade of red and black rather than the purple and orange of previous versions, but the basic figure build is the exact same as it was with the Oktober Guard set, which does the figure no favors. It’s a somewhat skinny, outdated clutch of parts that doesn’t really protray the muscular bodysuit of the originals, though to be fair, I’m not sure the Annihilator was ever a popular enough troop builder to warrant its own new tooling.
The head is from Lamprey, with the body mostly from Strato-Viper (which was in turn cobbled together from other 25th Anniversary figures) and while it does help kind of blend this character in with the Strato-Viper, compared to figures using next generation parts, Annihilator suffers somewhat.
Accessories
Annihilator comes with the Strato-Viper vest, somewhat more ceremonial throwback than his plain uniform, his helicopter backpack, and submachine gun, all carried forward from the 2012 Convention Set.
The change in color scheme to red and black is the only noticable change (though one can’t help but also notice that we now only get two figures for the same price as three were only three years ago). Don’t get me wrong, I like this color scheme a lot more than the strange bronze/purple from 2012, but at the end of the day, we only get so many new toys in a given year, I just hate to see the same stuff again.
Annihilator
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
2.3
Summary
Annihilator was one of my favorite Iron Grenadier troopers in the 80s, and unfortunately the Collectors Club really hasn’t been able to capture the coolness of the 1989 original. It doesn’t help that the Annihilator was already released in a Convention 3 Pack a few years ago, which goes a great way towards reducing the appeal of this update, even though this newer version has somewhat more interesting Iron Grenadier themed colors. The older parts don’t really fit all that well, and the lack of a great range of motion in the elbows is a significant detraction as well. Not their best showing here.
Up to this point, the original Iron Anvil from 2005 has remained probably my favorite Convention figure to date. It hit that perfect sweet spot of a great 90’s figure that desperately needed a new paint job, and perfectly executing that new paint job. Sure, in a perfect world, it would have remained with Cobra and been painted blue and red rather than black, gray, and red, but beggars can’t be choosers, and the end result was still pretty spectacular.
So obviously it was with a mixture of excitement and trepidation that I awaited these new Iron Anvils… I’m happy to say at the end of the day, I’m quite pleased with the update.
Boss Fight Studio brought their incredible skills to the table for the new head sculpt for Iron Anvil, and you can really tell. Along with the great head sculpt, the figure itself uses Retaliation Snake Eyes arms on a Shock Trooper body, with Pursuit of Cobra Firefly legs, a terrific combination of pieces, managing to blend sleek with strong, and the figure stands as one of the best in this 2015 Convention Set. I really love the Shock Trooper torso for pretty much everything, and the Ninja Duel Snake Eyes arms have fantastic articulation and detailing. Leveraging the color scheme from the original Iron Anvil allowed for a great looking update here, going with mostly black and red, and just the right hints of gray and gold for trim. This version of the Iron Anvil is modern, but more than that, the color breaks are done just right and he comes across as a significantly effective modernization.
Accessories
The Pursuit of Cobra Alley-Viper vest provides the row of pouches that was unique to the ’94 Viper (and thus the Iron Anvil) and manages to be extremely successful doing so. Anvil also comes with the slim parachute pack, Annihilator submachine gun, and a great jagged knife, reminiscent of the Battle Corps original. The leg harness from a Para Viper polishes off the accessory compliment quite nicely.
As an Iron Grenadier Paratrooper, the Iron Anvil works really well with these various accessories (not to mention the Iron Anvil Officer as the parachute figure), but even without the parachute equipment, he is really well developed as a modern special ops looking trooper, too.
All of the right pieces came together in 2005 to produce one of the finest G.I. Joe sets ever made, in my opinion. So many great elements, of which the Iron Anvil was only one small piece. I don’t feel as strongly about this set of course, but the Iron Anvil figure is a beautiful modern era action figure, and one I’m extremely excited to own. Great stuff.
Iron Anvil
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
4.8
Summary
The original Iron Anvil represents everything I’ve ever wanted from the G.I. Joe Collectors Club. Taking established parts, adding better colors, and developing something new. I was such a fan of the 1994 Viper in spite of his purple and red color scheme, the fact that the Club took that fantastic base figure and made something amazing out of him rocked my world in 2005 and that Convention Set remains one of my all time favorites. Thankfully, when they elected to pull that Trooper forward into this year’s set, they also pulled out all the stops and created a spectacular formula for a nearly flawless update. Boss Fight and the Club worked together to give us one of the epitome’s of great Convention figures.
Just seeing this figure brings me back ten years… it seems like things were so much simpler back then. Not nearly as much convoluted history…no fierce dichotomy between o-ring purists and the modern era fans. Sure, there was a growing divide between “new sculpt” and “vintage” but by and large, anyone who loved the new sculpt also loved the vintage, and Conventions were a time to celebrate the legacy of the o-ring and see what cool stuff the Club could do with it.
It didn’t get much cooler than 2005.
One of my favorite army builders of all time as the ’94 Viper, and getting that figure in good colors was enough to sell me right there. Combine that with an awesome new Iron Grenadier using Night Viper parts… not to mention Mega Marines Gung Ho in better colors, PLUS a real live member of the Oktober Guard? Good stuff.
The Steel Brigade concept felt relatively fresh, with a new look at the idea as an International peace keeping force, and they introduced a new character by the name of General Mayhem. What a great set.
Flash forward ten years later and General Mayhem no longer feels quite so new, but his figure is still really nice.
Like Metalhead, we have Boss Fight Studio to thank for the great new head sculpt here, with gorgeously sculpted mutton chops, certainly designed with love by one of the bearded wonders at BFS. A close look at the head reveals a ton of great little detail work, and I’m surprised that they were able to take a cobbled together Gnawgahyde and transform it into this work of art. The torso belongs to SDCC Destro/Joe Colton, with arms from Ultimate Cobra Commander and legs from Rise of Cobra Destro. It’s an strange combination of parts that gives us a really great looking update to the Russian Iron Grenadier field commander.
Like most other figures in this set, the deco is black, red, gray, and a hint of gold, tributes to the Iron Grenadier faction. It’s not amazingly new or interesting, but exceptionally well executed.
Accessories
The most critical point of discussion with the accessories is obviously the new vest. Boss Fight Studio designed and sculpted this new secondary along with the head, and all of a sudden provided a wealth of opportunity to the Collectors Club and customizers. A good basic dress uniform secondary had not really been available until now, and thanks to this one small addition, there are numerous possibilities down the road.
Along with this, General Mayhem comes with Retaliation Lift Ticket’s flight helmet, which works remarkably well as a replacement for the Long Range helmet from the vintage days. He also has a submachine gun and rocket launcher.
There aren’t a lot of accessories here, but the ones that he comes with are pretty great and suit the character well.
General Mayhem is great. I love getting new characters introduced to the mythology, and while this isn’t truly a new character at this point, he’s a great addition to the Iron Grenadier story, and it’s pretty cool getting him in modern format.
General Mayhem
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
4.1
Summary
Although Mayhem wouldn’t top my list of characters that need modern updates, he fits into the modern mold very well, especially with his newly sculpted head and dress jacket. I’m glad the Club developed these two new pieces, and as expected, Boss Fight did great work on their side. The figure ends up coming together remarkably well, and while a year ago I would have never said I needed a modern General Mayhem, I find myself very pleased to have him.
