4 replies to this topic

[Ridureyu]

Yes, I got MORE of them. Are you really surprised by this point? I loved my old Joe figures as a kid, but for some reason the new series went completely under my radar until just recently. Of course I'd respond like this! Anyway, it's toy review fun time.
Tunnel Rat is best-known for his amusing little introduction in the G.I. Joe movie. Like Jinx, he was technically only a one-shot, but something about his desperate loserness made him loveable. Tunnel Rat was a short, greasy little guy whose first impression involved chewing gum while in formation and calling Beachhead "Sweetheart." His specialty was crawling around in teeny-tiny passages, and for some reason he hugged Big Lob a lot. Yet, despite this, Tunnel Rat actually did more useful things than most of the new characters in the movie - if not for him, nobody would've gotten into Cobra-La for the final battle, for one thing. Also, he's "Trinidadian Chinese with branches of Irish, Spanish, and Indian thrown in" according to his original filecard. Tunnel Rat, my friends, is the Melting Pot of America.
The Electric EEL is the newest in a long line of very cool underwater Cobra Troopers - my favorite was the yellow-and-blue razor sharp Cobra Eel from 1992. This guy's special gimmick is that he's been infused with eel DNA, and thus can produce massive electric shocks at will, can breathe underwater, and has gigantic claws. Also, he seems to be translucent.



Sculpt:

Tunnel Rat: The first thing that anybody notices about Tunnel Rat is that he's short. By short, I mean shorter than Jinx - this guy is a veritable midget! With that in mind, he's actually in scale with everybody else. Tunnel Rat's outfit looks like one that coule conceivably be worn by a military guy who defuses bombs and crawls around in mine shafts - if you're a little creative. He is more realistically-dressed than most Joes, though. I like his sculpt. Tunnel Rat looks like the crazy little guy from the movie, and pays some homage to his older sculpts - did you know that he was originally patterned to look like Larry Hama? (You know, that guy who wrote the comic books and filecards)

Electric EEL: I may be in the minority for saying this, but I love the EEL. I really love the EEL. I really, really love the EEL. I know that it's definitely one of the strangest-looking of the venomized troops, but it's also insanely cool. The outfit is slightly multipurpose - is this an undersea warrior, radioactive trooper, or just plain weird sci-fi dude? The colors actually work in their own way, making the EEL a unique type of Cobra soldier. Believe me, this guy stands out in a crowd. As a bit of a nice touch, the giant eel claws are removeable, and the figure has normal hands beneath them - althbough they harm the clawed look a tiny bit, this also gives you the option to use the EEL as a non-mutant trooper if you so desire. Overall, I like the attention to detail on this character's sculpt.


Paint Job:

Tunnel Rat: Tunnel Rat's outfit is pretty ordinary, but his paint job is good - specifically, I noticed that his skin was painted in the right tone. He's not white, black, or specifically asian - he actually looks like the greyish mulatto that he is - it's a realistic touch! Tunnel Rat is awesome.

Electric EEL: Electric EEL is also awesome. This figure just explodes at you right out of the package - I can't explain it, but the see-through neon yellow is the best thing possible for this figure, and the extra painted details don't take anything away from its sculpt.


Articulation:

Normal Joe articulation for both of them.


Accessories:

Tunnel Rat: Tunnel Rat comes with goggles, a backpack, belt loops, a sniper rifle, a pistol, and one of those redundant communicator-things. ANother pistol is always a good touch, and his rifle is unique, but the goggles don't seem quite right somehow. I think they're too big, and don't fit properly, but they're workable. The belt loops might as well just be a part of the sculpt, but they don't seem to have any specific use.

Electric EEL: The EEL comes with both claws, a trident that's hard for any figure to hold properly, a really unique gun, and a backpack that lights up when you push a button (thus illuminating the whole figure). The only drawback with the backpack is that it makes him back-heavy and usually causes him to tip over, but making the figure glow is a fun touch.


Pricing: At $4.99, you can't beat this set!


GOtGM (1-10): 2. Joe standard.


Overall: 4.7 out of 5. What can I say? I really like this set - both figures are weird, but they're really good additions to the toyline.


Images:

Tunnel Rat:

http://yojoe.com/act...unnelrat6.shtml
http://generalsjoes..../tunnelrat.html

Electric E.E.L.:

http://yojoe.com/act...ectriceel.shtml
http://generalsjoes....lectriceel.html

[Tortle]

My favorite Joes are those with some sort of mask on their face. My favorite GI-Joe when I was a kid was Mutt, not only because of the dog, but also because of his awesome mask. I love to think of the masked Joes as cyborgs or something. For some reason, I just don't dig normal "human" Joes.

So naturally, I think the EEL looks incredibly awesome! I haven't bought a new Joe in quite a while, but I'll probably pick this dude up. I couldn't give a flip for Tunnel Rat, so maybe he'll go in the Toys for Tots bin this year.

[Ridureyu]

Would you believe that Tunnel Rat's actually shorter than Jinx?

And I agree with you about the EEL and having a mask - most of my old Joes were like that. Again, the old Cobra eel (with the red visor and blades on his body) was my favorite.

But then, the Street Fighter figures weren't too shabby, either.

[Rokk]

Eel is a sweet looking figure. He looks rather Microman-ish. He might be the first GI Joe figure I'll purchase in a long time. The Tunnel Rat figure is pretty lame. Of course, I've never been a particularly big fan of the boring human looking Joes.

[Ridureyu]

The human-loking Joes need to either have a ton of personality or some other really unique feature (examples: Stalker, Coil Crusher, Headman) to really count.


The Street Fighter figures, while severely lacking in the accuracy department, at least had personality.