G.I. Joe Classified Series (1:12)

[nacho]

Kneepads are practical, and I understand including them when they "modern update" character decos... although I think they ruin the nostalgia-factor aesthetics to a degree. Same with the plate carriers and other tactical vests... practical but too "COD:Modern Warfare" for my taste. But the shin guards... ooof. My joes do not play gay sports like soccer. Get that nonsense out of here.

 

[ThunderDan19]

My largest victim... er project, Dusty. I had upgraded his web gear a long while back, but wasn’t fully satisfied, as he still seemed under protected and under accessorized for a combat-ready desert trooper. I also recently watched a video that listed him as one of the worst figs of the line, so I decided that, now that I have an abundance of kit available, not my Dusty. He needed to be fixed.

Ironically, the armor kit is not from the new batch. It’s from the old batch I was gifted a while back. The color better matched Dusty’s other gear than any of the new. Just needed a quick sharpie swipe to remove the Union Jack, as my boy D is all American! I also added a battle belt (from the new kit) so Dusty finally has a secondary weapon and added some additional supplies as well.

Overall, I‘m quite happy with the result, so much so, that I‘ve lost whatever interest I had in v.2.

Oh yeah, I also got Hydro-Viper and Dawn this evening and was able to free them both from their packages. Dawn joined SE’s ninja commando squad and HV just gets a spot at the edge of the “underwater” scene, awaiting his future date with Deep Six. I’ll be on the lookout for a primary weapon for him since H’bro decided he still doesn’t need one.

As for Dawn’s backstory - in my world she was recruited by Jinx and Scarlett into the new Arashikage as a probie in the Joe team after a combat tour in the USAF followed by a stint in one of the three letter agencies. She had already earned several black belts prior to joining the clan, gaining proficiency while in the employment of Uncle Sam as well as in her spare time. SE and SS took her to the next level adding lethality to her resume.

In training, Dawn showed outstanding skill at ambush, particularly at night, where she seemed to appear out of nowhere to surprise her opponents and win battles before they could even react. She possesses superior night vision and stealth, earning her the nickname Pansa (Panther). She decided she liked the Spanish version better and took Pantera as her codename once she was fully accepted onto the Joe team. Storm Shadow still calls her by her Japanese name.

 

[nacho]

View attachment 17786

My largest victim... er project, Dusty. I had upgraded his web gear a long while back, but wasn’t fully satisfied, as he still seemed under protected and under accessorized for a combat-ready desert trooper. I also recently watched a video that listed him as one of the worst figs of the line, so I decided that, now that I have an abundance of kit available, not my Dusty. He needed to be fixed.

Ironically, the armor kit is not from the new batch. It’s from the old batch I was gifted a while back. The color better matched Dusty’s other gear than any of the new. Just needed a quick sharpie swipe to remove the Union Jack, as my boy D is all American! I also added a battle belt (from the new kit) so Dusty finally has a secondary weapon and added some additional supplies as well.

Overall, I‘m quite happy with the result, so much so, that I‘ve lost whatever interest I had in v.2.

Oh yeah, I also got Hydro-Viper and Dawn this evening and was able to free them both from their packages. Dawn joined SE’s ninja commando squad and HV just gets a spot at the edge of the “underwater” scene, awaiting his future date with Deep Six. I’ll be on the lookout for a primary weapon for him since H’bro decided he still doesn’t need one.

As for Dawn’s backstory - in my world she was recruited by Jinx and Scarlett into the new Arashikage as a probie in the Joe team after a combat tour in the USAF followed by a stint in one of the three letter agencies. She had already earned several black belts prior to joining the clan, gaining proficiency while in the employment of Uncle Sam as well as in her spare time. SE and SS took her to the next level adding lethality to her resume.

In training, Dawn showed outstanding skill at ambush, particularly at night, where she seemed to appear out of nowhere to surprise her opponents and win battles before they could even react. She possesses superior night vision and stealth, earning her the nickname Pansa (Panther). She decided she liked the Spanish version better and took Pantera as her codename once she was fully accepted onto the Joe team. Storm Shadow still calls her by her Japanese name.

Yeah, the base Dusty figure was pretty meh. If only he'd had some kneepads!

However, I modified mine substantially too. He got the gridiron kit with a much better helmet, helmet skirt, gun, and backpack. I also redid the paint on his face (using a clean tigerforce Dusty head) and the camo on his body to have larger/darker blotches... more like the vintage figure. And I dyed his boots, belt, and webgear black, because that's correct.

With all my mods, he's one of my favorites, but the base figure was a total miss... as if they hadn't discovered google and only had a vague memory of what the character was supposed to look like.

In my head, I don't have an elaborate new backstory for Dawn... just that in my world, SE's memories are no longer in her brain, but she has residual muscle memory of all the ninja stuff, so she's basically a high-grade arashikage student. And she doesn't go by SE... just Dawn. At some point, I might give her a new codename, but honestly, I'm hoping that Hama does that officially. I think it cheapens her existence to make her just a girl-derivative of SE rather than a valid individual character. That seems like something Hama would address eventually.

 

[ThunderDan19]

Yeah, I am surprised he hasn’t, considering how long she has been around already, and how often she is featured. I like her a whole lot better now that I’ve given mine an actual identity, rather than just as “girl SE.”

How weird would it be to have all the memories of an older dude who has all that trauma on top of all the normal women’s hormonal chemistry? And now with the whole leftover implanted trigger… Yeesh, poor thing! C’mon, Larry. Help a girl out!

 

[ThunderDan19]

Woo. That's ugly. The original proportions were not great and these new ones are worse. Hard pass.

Hasbro G.I. Joe Classified Series Sgt Slaughter and the Triple T Vehicle

Listen up, maggots. It's snake stompin' season, and I'm here to announce the perfect addition to the G.I. Joe Classified Series ? ME, Sgt Slaughter and the Tr

toynewsi.com

 

[nacho]

HAHAHAHAHAHA, that is so fugly.

I wasn't buying one no matter what, b/c stupid concept, but if I were a big fan of the original, I'd be pissed. That was clearly done by the same half-wit that designed the fugly AWE Striker.

 

[ThunderDan19]

Latest buzz:

https://toynewsi.com/278-64978

https://toynewsi.com/278-64981

I'm interested in neither. I know it's true-ish to the original, but Psych-Out's headset makes him look like Lobot with hair. Add the "Psionic" tech that must be pared against the DIRE tech (which I also have no use for) and he is an easy pass. And I wasn't paying $100 for oversized SNAKE armor when it was the original color, so a repaint for likely even more was never going to happen.

Great that we are getting lots of offerings lately. Unfortunately, I have little to no interest in much of it.

In other news, I drilled out the blast effect holes in the Despoiler to allow me to use the blue laser effects from the Rattler. It looks great and is a way better fit than the dorsal turret on the Rattler in my opinion. I just used regular colored blast effects there to match the missile and nose gun. Win win!

I'm debating drilling out the engine nozzle holes on the Despoiler to introduce the rocket blast effects I have leftover from HD/MH, but I'm afraid they may be too underwhelming to justify the permanent mods. Right now I have it supported on a cell phone stand with ground blast effects below the engines, so that will have to do until I commit or not.