Looks - 3.5 out of 5: The figures have a nice sculpt and a good paint op. My main problem with their looks is that the basic GI-Joe body structure and articulation lends itself to weird proportions. With skinny legs and oversized shoulders the new Joes can look somewhat cartoony.
Also, the perfect outline of Beachhead's face through the mask is a little doofy.
The dragon's sculpt is good (you can even see his ears), but I would liked it to have some more color variation.
Articulation - 4.5 out of 5: These Joes have plenty of awesome articulation, all of which is actually useful and fun!
Swivel joints: Neck, upper arms
Ball-in-socket: Shoulders, hips
Hinged joints: Knees
Rubber band: Waist
It would have been nice for posing purposes to have ball-in-socket ankles too, but this articulation is great for nifty poses.
Accessories - 4 out of 5 The set comes with two rifles, two handguns, a komodo dragon and spy gear. The spy gear is pretty much worthless in purpose, though. On the product photos, Sandviper wears the spy gear. The problem is, the spy vest that comes with the figures has a huge Cobra symbol on the front, which makes it entirely worthless for concealing Sand's identity. Beachhead can also wear the spy gear, but he's not going to fool anybody with that GI-Joe symbol on his pants. Regardless, the spy vest is too large to look good anyway.
That doesn't matter too much, though, as the other accessories (especially the dragon) are awesome!
Coolness - 4 out of 5: The set also comes with a comic/poster... a nice touch (although neither Beachhead nor Sandviper are featured in the comic). The figures are fun to pose in battles against each other! Also, the vintage stands work well with these figures, so you can put them in great poses without worrying if they'll stand up well.
Most importantly, the set comes with the lizard. The coolest Joes back in the vintage days came with animals. And one of the coolest animals is the komono dragon. Therefore, since this set comes with a komodo dragon, it's as cool as a GI-Joe set can possibly get!
Overall - 4 out of 5: It's easy to see why this set is pretty hard to find. Good figures, cool dragon... I just wish the spy gear made sense.
EDIT (9/25/03): You know, many times a toy seems really cool at first but loses that coolness quickly, leaving me to ask myself, "Why the hell did I buy this?" I've decided to add another factor to my older reviews to reflect this...
Staying Power - 3.5 out of 5: These guys are still pretty fun, and I still have the Sand Viper on display. Their articulation really makes them versatile for display purposes.
Adjusted Overall - 3.9 out of 5
On with the pictures! Here's Beachhead!
Attached Files
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beachhead.jpg 35.86K
33 downloads
Edited by Tortle, 25 September 2003 - 12:18 PM.
