G.I. Joe Single Pack figures- Wave 2
It was pretty a widespread opinion throughout the Joe world recently that the first wave of Single Packed figures just did not sell very well in general. Whether this was a result of poor distribution (my guess), not-so-great figure choices, or what have you, a lot of folks were pretty certain we'd seen the last of single-packed figures.
Well, for a good portion of the American public, that appears to be true, simply because this second wave right now seems exceedingly hard to find. However, they are out there, and I have a set to prove it. But how does this set in general compare to the original wave?
Personally, I find myself quite a bit more enamored with this series. Hasbro is pulling mostly from the Valor Vs. Venom series of figures with these molds, and rather than go the route of the original series, and make only minor changes here and there, most of these figures are pretty drastically different than the ones that have been released already. Some for the better, a lot for the worse, but at least they're different, right?
Like I did the last time around, I am going to base these reviews on comparison shots. I have no real desire to go in depth with a series of nearly 10 straight-repaints, so hopefully this method will still get the point across.
First up is Alpine:
Differences: A somewhat duller shirt color (almost green), and an actual NICE color for his shorts. No more pink/maroon. A nice, solid, healthy brown.
Packaged Accessories: No climbing gear, first of...not even his rope. Comes with the M16/Shotgun combo that Ripper came with originally...SAW-Viper backpack and a pistol.
Comments: Not bad, really. I still prefer the Tiger Force version (if his skin color gets fixed... :/) and his mold still looks somewhat out of proportion. However, the color choices are nice changes from the original Wave 2 Alpine and almost resemble the original. Not bad.
Beachhead:
Differences: Darker, deeper green topshirt/mask. Pretty much the same color pants (even with the discolored top and bottom halves), and aricher, more weathered metallic look to his chestplate.
Packaged Accessories: M-4 Carbine that Duke originally came with, pistol, military backpack
Comments: A little nicer than the original, although not much change. Not bad for a couple bucks at Family Dollar, I suppose. Not sure he's especially desirable for non-completists, though.
Duke:
Differences: Top half seems the same as the original Wave 4 version, but with much lighter (err...puke green almost) pants and brown boots. It almost looks as if they were going for a match with version 1, although they didn't quite get it.
Packaged Accessories: Tele-Viper backpack, Burnout's shotgun, silenced pistol
Comments: Only minor differences, and they're all inferior. Skip it unless you're like me.
Heavy Duty:
Differences: Light green shirt w/ black straps. An almost tan trim. Tan and light brown legs. I'm not wild about the color scheme of the legs, but the colors match the Nullifier pretty well. I have to wonder if Hasbro considered this, since Heavy Duty originally came with Nullifier Spy Troops armor.
Packaged Accessories: M16/203 grenade launcher, pistol, military backpack
Comments: Interesting paint changes, although definitely not military oriented. While the pants match the original Nullifier, they don't match the Spy Troops armor very accurately. Changes are significant in color scheme, but not really for the better.
Scarlett:
Differences: Drastically different uniform color...deep, dark, very cool blue base uniform with light tan, almost white central trim(quite Glenda-esque). Red kneepads and shoulder pads...a very cool red color. The tan accents are nicely applied and mix well, giving her a pretty neat, "retro" look.
Packaged Accessories: Sword/Sheath and silenced Uzi
Comments: Eh, not bad. For some reason this figure is high on everyone's want list, perhaps because her tan accents make her look a little more...revealing than she should? I hope that's not the case. Her color pallet is nicely reminiscent of the Foreign "Glenda" figure, and is a very rich, blue hue. Not military, and almost super-hero-ish, but a very pleasing to the eye color. I like it quite a bit, and it's definitely my favorite Joe figure of the bunch (although Alpine comes in a close second).
Alley-Viper:
Differences: Bright, bright red instead of the rich, royal blue. Still has the yellow accents and gray pads, etc...
Packaged Accessories: Sand-Viper machine gun, Beachhead backpack, pistol. No knife for his sheath. :/
Comments: U.G.L.Y. Yeah, with all capital letters. This malformed, misproportioned mold should never be produced again, especially in blinding crimson. Ick.
B.A.T. v.4:
Differences: Seems based on the Wave 3 B.A.T., but in a much brighter red instead of "rust". Colored to match the ugly Alley-Viper above. Detachable hands are exact matches for the version 1, which makes them stand out quite a bit against the uber-bright red paint apps.
Packaged Accessories: Two hands, two BAT guns and his gastank backpack.
Comments: I'm a big fan of this mold, and I'm starting to love all of the different colors, really. While I've only bought a few of each of this mold B.A.T., I'm still getting a nice little group together. The bright red is a little offsetting at first, but I don't mind it in the end, and think this figure is pretty cool for those folks who like this mold.
"Desert CLAWS" :
Differences: Basically the reverse paint scheme compared to the original Sand Scorpion. What were browns are blacks, and what were blacks are browns. I dig the black logo. BTW, I'm comparing this to the Sand Scorpion he's SUPPOSED to be, and not to "Desert CLAWS". :/
Packaged Accessories: Firefly Backpack (w/ no cover), Neo-Viper AK-47 and submachine pistol
Comments: Some changes, and very cool changes, I think. A nice, dark colored figure...the black COBRA logo makes a huge difference, I think. He's obviously meant to be a Sand Scorpion repaint, not a Desert CLAWS, and I dig him in this environment. VvV haters will be glad he doesn't come with claws and a scorpion backpack, too. ;) Decent update to a decent figure.
Swamp Rat:
Differences: All good, in my book. Dark green instead of yellow/tan. Gray trim is pretty much the same, though. An all around deeper, richer, darker, more "swampy" look to him. Excellent!
Packaged Accessories: NONE of his normal gear. :( No knives for his sheaths, no cool helmet or cape...nada. Comes with military backpack, mini submachine gun and Blackout's sniper rifle (sans bipod).
Comments: No VvV accessories really stinks for this guy, because they pretty much make him who he is...but I can't ignore the sheer awesomeness of this new color scheme! I love the dark green/gray color combo, and the paleness of his skin against it. Fantastic paint app changes, and I'll be trying VERY hard to amass a small squad of these guys, even without their gear. Terrific addition, and by far the best single pack figure of this series.
That about covers it. I LOVE the design of these single packs...very small footprint makes for nicely cropped retail space, and they still manage to fit some cardart on there. The changes this time around are a lot more significant, which is very cool, even though I'd rather (as a completist) not necessarily have to track these down. At least they're pretty cheap. :)
I like that Hasbro made all of the COBRA figures in this wave troop builders, which will make fans happy (if they can find the figures in the first place). A pretty decent little series all in all, I'd say...a couple figures worth picking up even for non-completists, but nothing mindblowing in case folks can't find 'em. Nice and cheap, too!
