Valor Vs. Venom Wave 6 - Frostbite
Toy
name: Frostbite
Assortment: Valor vs. Venom
Wave 6
Price: MSRP $7.99
Availability: November/December,
2004
I'm
not sure when it happened, but somewhere along the line, Frostbite became G.I.
Joe's default arctic specialist...it must have happened around the same time
that he shaved his beard. Actually, upon further inspection, Frostbite has always
been one of the main Joe arctic specialists, and even as a clean shaven one
now, he works pretty well, and this version is a decent enough update, although
not really amazing.
A lot of people will probably appreciate this figure being in this wave, too, since the Ice Sabre (and Quickstrike, for that matter) are becoming harder and harder to find...now at least folks can get the drivers that come with them, although unfortunately, in the case of the Ice Sabre and Frostbite, the main draw is really the vehicle (as it should be).
Figure Mold
I can't quite get a handle on this version of Frostbite, really. He looks to be in a very animated style, with smooth cartoon-like sculpting, somewhat funky proportions and just a generally fun mold. He still manages to fit in with other figures, even in this exaggerated style, which is what is really important.
His head sculpt is a nice one, with a great smooth snowcap, goggles and a wrap around, faceless mask. He suffers from the same proportion problems that a lot of the long-legged/short torso figures do, but not to quite the extreme that they do. His torso is sculpted almost super-hero-like with a smooth overlapping jacket, with nicely adorned buttons, and a great chestpad, which doesn't seem to serve any real purpose, but still looks darn cool.
His arms are encased in a puffy parka, which makes terrific sense, and the fur covering his collar and other parts of the figure is colored well and sculpted to near-perfection. His legs are sculpted in a similar baggy material and it all blends together nicely. His uniform is very "space-age", but still fits in and looks cool...that's what really matters.
Even the layered turtle neck underneath his jacket looks fantastic...just a neat little touch that looks very realistic, yet is only a minor touch. It makes a big difference.
Paint Applications/Color Choices
The color choices here are better than the original Frostbite, I think as well...where the figure that came with the Ice Sabre was basically just light blue/white and not much else going on, this one has some great white color, abundant dark gray trim (especially on the excellently sculpted rib-pads), nice gray accents, and terrific arctic camouflage. These slight color changes really make the figure come to life a lot more than it did originally, even though that previous figure was pretty cool as it was. I'm still amazed at how nicely the fur is colored on his neck and his arms, and it all fits together into a terrific all around arctic figure...much better than his Ice Sabre counterpart.
Accessories
Frostbite shines in this category as well, coming with a very cool G.I. Joe snowboard! While not military-authentic or all that realistic, it is FUN, which is what really matters. Making Frostbite ski down a mountain on his missile-launching snowboard is just too fun for words, and it brings me back to days of my childhood, playing with Snow Job and his skis in my sandbox. A great accessory!
Not only this, but Frostbite also comes with a sniper rifle and very nicely sculpted paintball gun...this is something that would seem very strange ordinarily, but once you see Valor Vs. Venom and get an idea of how it's used in the movie, it makes sense...and I'm a big sucker for media-authentic figures and accessories. I approve.
Final Comments
Improved in just about any way possible compared to the other version. It's really too bad that the Ice Sabre itself is so hard to find, though, because it is an awesome vehicle, and this Frostbite still looks great piloting it!
Even by himself, though, he's a great figure and one you should definitely consider adding to your arctic ranks whether or not you have the Ice Sabre. Consider the fact that he comes with the absolutely fantastic Snow Wolf, and you have a sure bet.
Ratings (out of 10)
Character: 6.5
Mold : 7
Paint Apps: 8.5
Value: 7
Overall score (not an average): 7.5
