I wanted to like retro RnR a lot, given that the first version required a lot of painting and de-tattooing to make him look acceptable. But alas, Hasbro has managed to f#$% him up to the point that I'll have to make a hybrid of the two figures to get something better.
On the plus side, the coloring of the retro's darker greyish-green fatigues works. His straps and pouches are dark green (instead of brown on the first classified release), and the boots are a browner brown rather than reddish brown, also better. It's classic colors, and they fit my image of the character. And that's about where the plusses stop.
The head is a mixed bag. First of all, it took a long time to realize that it wasn't the same head sculpt. The beard is different... bushier... and while it might be closer to the head of the '82 figure, I don't think it looks better. While they gave him brown eyebrows in a nod to the '82 figure, they made them incredibly dark, nearly black, so that he looks truly unnatural. It is exacerbated by the skin tone being much more red-pink than the first release. The face printing in general is very dark and almost makes him look like he's wearing makeup.
And then you get to the real issue, and that's the neck. Rather than just use what worked on the first figure, they swapped the neck barbell to the shortest possible option, making him look like he basically has no neck. He's worse than Alpine. I kept looking at both RnR's side-by-side, and it finally hit me that the retro version was significantly shorter, and that's why. He's neckless. (it also looks like the torso is a bit shorter, although I can't tell if it's my camera angle or if something is truly different)
So fans are left with the option of hoping they have a spare Ollie's Dusty to donate a neck barbell... or swapping the head/neck entirely with the other version, but then the head/neck skin won't match the arms. So do you then swap the arms too and hope you can paint-match the sleeves with the fatigues? Whisky. Tango. Foxtrot.
Do the designers not have functional eyeballs? I normally give them a pass for small things. I know they have budgets, schedules, and foreign factories to deal with... and I understand that not everything works out according to plan. But for the love of pete, the stumpy neck is unforgivable, especially when they already got it right once.
Necks in general are my #1 gripe about the line, even more than floppy weapons and backpacks that won't stay on. Why are they unable to make a figure that doesn't look like a giraffe or a fire hydrant? It's mind-boggling. But hasbro's gonna hasbro. I'm sure we'll get a "maximum" version three years down the line that corrects all of these things and then royally screws up something new. This is the way.