The first shipment from G.I. Joe FSS 5 is heading to subscribers!

It’s that time again– when subscribers to the G.I. Joe Collector’s Club Figure Subscription Service eagerly start checking their mailboxes and front porches on a daily basis.  That’s right Joe fans, G.I. Joe FSS 5 shipment 1 is on its way and, thanks to Alyosha of both Broken Arrow Toys and the newly-formed Chicken Fried Toys, we’ve got images of this first shipment!

For those of you who wish to remain “unspoiled” in this age of information overload, turn back now.  We’re going to highlight just exactly who is in this first shipment.

Here’s the obligatory spoiler space for G.I. Joe FSS 5 shipment 1.

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Okay, still here?  Good, because here goes!

G.I. Joe FSS 5 shipment includes Charbroil and the Battle Corps Cobra Viper! So, let’s break them down a bit.

Charbroil:

At first glance, this is EXACTLY what fans expected after the initial Charbroil preview dropped last year.  It’s essentially the Joe Con 2013 Nocturnal Fire Charbroil in his classic 1988 color scheme.  Fans have been hoping for classic decos of the figures from that set since it was first released and Charbroil is the last of the crew to get the original color scheme treatment.  However, there is one small change…

Remember how excited Joe fans were when the head sculpt for the Nocturnal Fire Charbroil was revealed?  Well, it would seem that the Club wanted to go a different route this time around as Charbroil is now sporting the balaclava head from the 2008 Cobra Para-Viper.

I won’t lie– this is a bit disappointing as the Nocturnal Fire head was darned near perfect.  Plus, it gave some much needed personality to a figure that is typically displayed masked.  Now, Charbroil is just another “masked Joe trooper” and that makes this Joe fan a bit sad.

Battle Corps Cobra Viper

The Club is nothing if not efficient when it comes to newly-tooled parts.  It’s pretty much a safe bet that if the folks on Cattle Barron Drive spend the money to create a new head sculpt then that head sculpt is going to see multiple uses.  Case in point: the Joe Con 2015 Iron Anvil figure.  Back in 2005, the Club repainted the end-of-the-line 1994 Battle Corps Cobra Viper and used it to create the amazing Iron Grenadier Iron Anvil Paratroopers.  Ten years later they were updated to the generation 3 construction for the Joe Con set in Springfield and many fans speculated that it was a pretty safe bet that the Battle Corps Cobra Viper would follow shortly thereafter.

My only regret with this release is that it’s a troop builder in an FSS release.  This means that fans are going to spend an arm and a leg to try and snag multiples of this particular trooper, either at Club prices or the higher secondary market mark-up.  Personally, I might have held this release for a future convention set– but that’s just my opinion.

There you have it– the first shipment of G.I. Joe FSS 5.  Hopefully my order will be arriving at JBL HQ soon so that Chris and I can get started on the reviews!

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