Joe Con 2016: Drop Zone & Black Vulture unveiled

Two new reveals from the Joe Con 2016 have dropped tonight!  Almost the entire set has now been revealed as fans can feast their eyes on Sky Patrol Drop Zone and the Cobra Black Vulture!

Drop Zone:

Joe Con 2016 Sky Patrol Drop Zone

SKY PATROL WEAPONS SPECIALIST:
DROP ZONE

– 25th Anniversary Modern Style/Fully Poseable Action Figure
– Highly Requested Member of 1990’s Sky Patrol Team
– Includes removable Helmet and Vest, Assault Rifle, Sub Machine Gun,
Glider backpack with moveable wings, and G.I. Joe Logo Stand.

Drop Zone rapidly became one of my favorite Sky Patrol members when I reviewed the 1990 vintage figure about 10 years ago.  The original used the body of the 1986 Strato-Viper and to recreate that look for Joe 2016 the Club went to the renamed 25th Anniversary Air Viper body.  This build should have worked– except for the fact that the Air Viper body is thin.  Like crazy thin.  Almost “we need to have an intervention and force you to eat a meat loaf” thin.  As a result, and it could just be the effect of the Club’s over-reliance on Photoshop to create their mock-up, this figure just looked gangly– as if Gollum decided to join the Air Force and become a member of an aerial team.  I won’t lie– the Sky Patrol figures were the reason that I signed up for my Homefront Heroes set and I’m not really feeling the love on this one.  There’s also no mention of a new head sculpt which means we’ve only had, to the best of my knowledge, TWO new heads in this entire set so far.  It makes you wonder where the budget is going this time around?

Black Vulture:

Joe Con 2016 Black Vulture

COBRA NIGHT VULTURE COMMANDER:
COBRA BLACK VULTURE

– 25th Anniversary Modern Style/Fully Poseable Action Figure
– Based on Brazilian Exclusive “Abutre Negro” Character.
– Includes Sub Machine Gun, Combat Knife, Glider backpack
with pop-out wings, removable rockets x 2,
and Cobra Logo Stand.

Hmmm…. the Club certainly tried to update the 1990 Brazilian Abutre Negro figure.  The color scheme is certainly there although the Club devianted from their usual “strict adherence to the original design” policy and varied up the legs from the original.  While the Accelerator Suit torso sort of simulates the pronounced Cobra sigil of the original it also modernizes it a bit.  From the neck down, the figure isn’t all that bad.  However, and please may this be another Photoshop slip-up, what is the deal with the neck?!  It’s like he needs to be named Girafa Negro because something just isn’t sitting right on those shoulders!  Hopefully this one looks better in person.  Otherwise…. yeah.

How do they stack up against their vintage counterparts?  Well, you be the judge!

dropzonecomp

blackvulturecomp As of now, only Static Line remains unseen.  Hopefully he’s pretty spectacular as I’m not really feeling the high altitude excitement here– especially with the lack of new tooling displayed thus far.

To register for Joe Con 2016, head on over to the REGISTRATION PAGE ASAP!

Otherwise keep your eyes peeled to JBL for more Joe Con 2016 news!

2 thoughts on “Joe Con 2016: Drop Zone & Black Vulture unveiled

  1. Can you add a past vs present comparison pic for dropzone? Those are great. Thank you.

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