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Gung-Ho
VS Destro
GI
Joe : A Real American Hero
Series : GI Joe VS Cobra - Wave 1 |
Available
: 2002
Price I Paid : 7.99 |
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The new GI Joe line has been launched,
and this time there is no O-Ring within them. This is only
temporary, as reports indicate the return of the O-ring with
new sculpts shortly after the first sets of the new
Joes have been shipped out, but here is a review of one of
the sets of this new line, Gung Ho and (or should that be
VS.) Destro. Read on to see what I thought about these
decently good figures.
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Sculpting
: Well, as you can see in the pics,
there is no O-ring. I don't think Gung Ho is too happy with
that, nor is Destro, looking at his face (more on that in
a moment). However, the rest of the sculpt on these
figures is truly impressive. Though the Joes of the mid 80s
and early 90s had great sculpting in their own right, these
really raise the bar. Gung Ho's uniform really comes to life
with all the pockets and TWO holsters, one for a gun and one
for a knife. I am a little upset though there is no Tatoo
bearing on his chest (darn painted on Tshirt!). And what is
up with Destro's face? His body is nice (even if no red is
found) but the face mask with the ears exposed dosn't bother
me too much...except it looks like the Terminator went through
the press at Cyberdyne systems!! So even though the sculpting
has improved sooo much, Hasbro, you don't need to go crazy
with it!! If I were grading just Gung Ho, I would give a 10...but
with Destro, I have to come down a notch and a half for the
face alone.
Sculpting - 8.5
Articulation : One could say that without the O-ring, there is slightly
less posability in the new Joe figures. That is true, but
they do retain all the other posability that they are known
for. Ball-and-Socket shoulders, swivel arm battle-grip (I
love saying that), knee joints, and ball-and-socket necks.
The necks are different in that that they can bend down and
up a little further, and can turn around 360 degrees, allowing
for some great head poses that the first Joes in 1982 did
not have, and improved slowly through the 80s and 90s. To
replace the O-ring, we get a standard straight leg up and
down for the upper leg, and right to left torso joint. Both
Gung Ho and Destro seem to have straight down molds on their
legs, so when they sit they seem to fit in most veichles.
However, try to straddle them on a bike needing and O-ring
joint, and you have to stretch a little to get them on, if
you are lucky. This lack of posability hurts them a bit.
Articulation - 7.5
Accessories : Both Gung Ho and Destro have
a good set of accessories, from a backpack each to a gun or
two each. Plus, there is a portable phone included (we just
don't know who gets it since it doesn't say on the package
- maybe that's what they are fighting about, phone privlages).
Destro is pretty straightforward, he holds his stuff well,
but Gung Ho stands out, for all the right, and wrong reasons.
He has a great rifle...that he can barely hold in his hand.
He has a knife that fits in a sheath perfectly at his ankle.
And he has a huge grey revolver, that even though it fits
in his holster at his hip, seems WAY too big for him. Still,
weapons that can be stored with a character do help, so they
don't get as lost too easily.
Accessories - 7
Painting and Design: The painting on these new Joes is superior to any small figure
line Hasbro currently puts out (cough - Star Wars - cough).
The look on Gung Ho is rich with a lot of military green and
brown, with even the right for the boots and straps all over
him. My biggest gripe is that this is Gung Ho - he should
have a TATOO on his chest, why cover it up!!! Other than that,
he is cool. As stated above, why does Destro, who's uniform
looks good, have no RED in it!!! Or for that fact, a face
that the Terminator would even say is ugly. I can see that
Hasbro was going for more detail, but sometimes less is more.
The biggest improvement in design with these particular figures
is the sheaths and holsters on Gung Ho which can hold actual
stuff. That is cool...but Destro's constipated Terminator
face still hurts this rating.
Painting and Design - 7
Overall
Overall, these are really fun figures. With a packaging of
a Joe and Cobra, you get something great for kids and collectors
alike - one good guy and one bad guy. The scuplts look really
good, and the only flaw with that new sculpt is the lack of
the O-ring. One other flaw in this set that hurt several of
the other categories was Destro's face. Over on the Toybuzz
Board it was referred to several things I can't
mention on this family based website ;) But Gung Ho is the
stand out figure of this set, even with a certain body painting
MIA. If you see this set for $8 or less at retail, grab
it for Gung Ho - otherwise, you can wait on it.
Overall Rating : 7.5
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