Review & pics by: Fred Meyer
 
Comic Pack: Issue #2

  Review & pics by Fred Meyer
 

Comic pack #2 carded

Issue two of comic pack series is out and with it comes one of the most requested comic figures of the entire comic series: Kwinn the tracker.  Of course, this is a three-pack so Hasbro has given us two other figures to round out the pack and allow fans to recreate scenes from their favorite comic.  How do these figures measure up?  Read on….

Scarlet:

Scarlet frontScarlet back

Scarlett's comic appearance

The 1982 version of Scarlet was always one of my favorite figures despite the fact that her head sculpt didn’t match any of her various incarnations.  Shorthaired and rather homely, Scarlet just wasn’t Scarlet from the neck up.  The head sculpt on this figure is a VAST improvement over previous designs; in fact, this is my favorite Scarlet head yet!  From her red ponytail to her feminine features, this is the Scarlet head that I’ve wanted for many years.   I even like the slightly determined expression on her face—it’s in keeping with the martial arts demonstration shown in issue 2.

Scarlet closeup 

Proportions are what hurt the Scarlet figure.  Simply put the body and the head are on two different scales and the result is a “pin-headed” Scarlet.  The Jinx body is simply too large to be used effectively with a head that is more in scale with the Spy Troops Lady Jaye figure.  Some of the disproportionate nature can be rationalized if consider her martial arts gei to be padded.  Once look at her giant hands, however, and even this explanation falters.  Don’t get me wrong—I do like this figure but this is in no danger of becoming the definitive Scarlet; that honor belongs to the figure in the comic pack #9. 

Scarlet gear

Snake Eyes:

Snake Eyes frontSnake Eyes back

Snake Eyes comic appearance

There are times that I grow tired of this mold—however this is not one of those.  The original Snake Eyes mold is still the standard by which all others are measured.   After all, if this figure had not have captured the attention of millions of children in the 80’s we may never have seen another take on the mute commando.   The mold, while not 100% comics accurate to issue 2, isn’t bad and captures the feel of the story material well.   The olive pants and the tan gloves are a marked departure from his usual monochrome garb but they work well on this amalgamation of old school parts, bringing together a nice Snake Eyes figure.  One thing to note is that the detailing on the head sculpt isn’t as sharp as it is on my original Snake Eyes figure.  It would seem that the mold has dulled with time.

Snake Eyes closeup

My one real complaint about this figure is that the fact that he came with weapons packaged in his hands.  Why should this be considered important?  Simple: combined with the softer plastic used for the hands the weapon has warped the plastic so that Snake Eyes can’t hold his signature Uzi.  The hands are simply too open to hold anything without extra support.  I’ve heard that this can be fixed by insert the hands into a cup of steaming hot water and letting the plastic reset itself.   It’s an easy fix but honestly it’s something that shouldn’t have to be done.  Also, poor Timber has mutated yet again.  I think it’s safe to assume that the original Timber mold has been lost, as his recent incarnations as Dusty’s coyote and as Order have really left me nostalgic for the original mold.  Hopefully Hasbro will come up with a new wolf mold in the GvC series, as it’s really nice to see Snake Eyes with his wolf companion.

Snake Eyes gear

Kwinn:

Kwinn frontKwinn back

Kwinn's first comic appearance

Let’s just be honest here—this is the figure that is going to be driving most people to buy this pack.  Aside from the completionists that simply have to have “one of everything”, Kwinn is biggest draws to this entire line.   After all these years I finally have a Kwinn figure in my hands.  He’s not perfect, but he’s pretty darned nice!   First off, I give all sorts of accolades to Hasbro for making his skull necklace removable.  It wasn’t until after I shot the pics for this review that I flipped back through the issue and remembered the last panel with Snake Eyes wearing the skull necklace.   Thanks to Hasbro’s foresight, this scene can be recreated. 

Kwinn closeup

Kwinn's comic appearance

Kwinn relies heavily on the Big Ben mold that saw a lot of use in the relaunch of GIJoe.  It’s not a bad fit and, after flipping through issue #2, it makes a lot of sense.  The mold has the ammo belts and the heavy jacket as well as cargo pants and boots.  Hasbro worked around the lack of fur collar by adding this detail onto the head itself.  As a result, Kwinn can turn his head side to side and not be restricted by his collar.  Granted it looks a bit odd when the head is turned to the side, but I’d rather have the head movement than have the collar fixed to his torso.  This does limit the Kwinn head as far as it’s uses in customs of Kwinn, but I’m sure that customisers will easily find a way around this.  Maybe I’m just a fan boy at heart, but I really like this figure.  I like this figure a lot!

Kwinn gear

Aside from a few QC issues with the soft plastic used in the hands my love for this comic series continues to grow.  I don’t know just how long the line will be able to keep producing consecutive issues of the classic series but I’ll keep buying them.   For the $9.99 price point, you simply can’t go wrong with these figures and getting a reprint of a classic Marvel issue is always a plus.  My hope is that, once the original team has been given the updates they deserve, Hasbro will switch over to doing key issues of the Marvel series such as “Silent Interlude”, “Shakedown”, “the Capture of Cobra Commander”, etc and even some of the more notable Devil’s Due issues.  I’d personally love to see a DD issue #25 set with balaclava Cobra Commander, new armor Serpentor and new armor Overlord.  Find these sets and buy them—you’ll be glad you did.

Kwinn & Big Ben comp

Scarlet comparison

Snake Eyes comparison

Kwinn & Snake Eyes

Snake Eyes & Scarlet

The trio in action!

 

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