SDCC 11 Zarana (classic)

Monkeywrench

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Mar 14, 2011
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When Joe fans heard that Zarana was going to be the 2011 exclusive at SDCC, there was mixed emotions. Many fans were happy to get another Dreadnok and female figure since Hasbro states that they don't sell. Those same fans were very worried after what happened with the 2010 Sgt Slaughter exclusive. The good news is that Hasbro learned from there mistake and at least made the easier figure to obtain the classic one. People were already planning on how to obtain Zarana. Many fans joined the Collectors Club hoping that they would be able to get a large shipment like they did with Slaughter. Joe fans asked, begged and pre ordered by the hundreds on eBay all hoping to obtain this classic figure.

Well Zaranagate is in it's final stages. Many more orders were placed with HTS then with Slaughter. The club didn't get any figures but e tailers like BBTS had plenty of copies, of course at a over 100% mark up ;) . I have orders pending with HTS and maybe another one coming, however I was able to get a Zarana without all the drama.

Z comes on a classic "25th" style cardback that looks awesome. Even though I'm a loose collector, it was hard not to keep her MOC. On the back of the card is a picture directly out of the Marvel comic series, issue #71 to be exact. She has a decent File card that mentions her brother Zartan as much as her. She comes with a 2 peg Cobra stand, a gold knife, a black rifle similar to Rippers and her classic Black rifle with a attached spur.

Zarana isn't completely accurate to her 1986 figure but it's damn close. The biggest change is her lack of holster around her chest and her yellow mohawk. I actually really dig her yellow mohawk until I look at her card art and notice how much better she would look with it being pink. I really like her head sculpt. She looks kind brute but she is a biker chick after all. She has blue eye makeup, pink earrings, pink lipstick and some mean looking eye brows.

My figure is very loose, however she is still very poseable. I do find it more difficult for her to hold her gun in her left hand rather then her right. I would like to be able to compare her in person to the Cold Slither variant but I doubt I will ever have the chance.

Overall, I'm satisfied with this figure. Is she worth the $30-$50 pre orders? Or the $15 "retail" or the who knows how much secondary market? In my opinion... NO. However, it's too late, I've already paid the steep price for her :) She's a favorite of mine since I was a kid, I love Noks and of course I'm a sucker for arah/classic figures.

8 out of 10


 

Charade

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Apr 12, 2011
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She does look a lot like Pink. Much improved head sculpt compared to ARAH.

Waiting for the inevitably "Zarana kicks the other 'Noks' butts" pics....
 

Goldbug

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Mar 15, 2011
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She does look a lot like Pink. Much improved head sculpt compared to ARAH.

Waiting for the inevitably "Zarana kicks the other 'Noks' butts" pics....
Hehe I always said Pink would make a good Zarana for the movie. Who knows if she could actually act? Probably wouldn't make a difference though.

Now you need a pink motorcycle for her MW. :D
 

K-Tiger

All solutions are final.
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Zarana is a double for sure.

Double bagger and double raincoats
 

danielgogeta

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smiles for your comic at the end of the review. I want to pick up a zarana thats affordable...even the sdcc starscream..but to no avail :(
 

Monkeywrench

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Mar 14, 2011
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She does look a lot like Pink. Much improved head sculpt compared to ARAH.

Waiting for the inevitably "Zarana kicks the other 'Noks' butts" pics....

I agree. I was going to do some but I was in a hurry and didn't have time.


Bwahahahaha... Frickin' awesome review MW! I laughed so frickin' hard.

Thanks bro.

Hehe I always said Pink would make a good Zarana for the movie. Who knows if she could actually act? Probably wouldn't make a difference though.

Now you need a pink motorcycle for her MW. :D

With the state of the current movie franchise.... it wouldn't matter. I do need some bikes for my Noks, maybe a Harley with Pink highlights? I'll consult with Eddie :D

great review brother. pics are great. Thanks for lining her up with the other noks for a great size reference. Thats something I really wanted to see

Thanks bro. I also like it in reviews when people do comparsion shots. In the rare occasions that I do reviews, I always do that.
 

G.I.*EDDIE

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is it me, or does her a$$ look bigger than the protos?...

i like that they gave her almost like a pearl or irridecent lipstick
 

Mandingo Rex

★★★★★
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I actually dislike the pearl lipstick... I'm going to be repainting mine's hair and lips, if not taking off the eyeshadow paint too... Also, I'll be adding a holster.

She's growing on me the more I see her... I need to get in my other 2 so I can pick the opener. The one I got from my eBay pre-order guy ended up really scratched and swirly on the card...

Did yours seem to have blue weathering on the kneepads and boots? To me, it looks more like paint rubbed off really, than intentional "wear".

I dislike the hair being blond, the general makeup, the lack of the holster, and the floating kneepads, but those are things I can mostly fix. The head sculpt looks much better over time, I just think the paint didn't work out too well on her.
 

G.I.*EDDIE

gobbles a LOT of cock
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Mar 14, 2011
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Did yours seem to have blue weathering on the kneepads and boots? To me, it looks more like paint rubbed off really, than intentional "wear".

i don't know if mine did...i didnt notice it...i'll have to get a better look when i open one from BBTS (if they ever come)
 

Monkeywrench

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Mar 14, 2011
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Zarana is a double for sure.

Double bagger and double raincoats

Get a few drinks in me and I would :D


*HAHAHAHAHAHA* :D

Good review man.

Thanks

smiles for your comic at the end of the review. I want to pick up a zarana thats affordable...even the sdcc starscream..but to no avail :(

Thanks. I was going to do a longer one but I was pressed for time.

is it me, or does her a$$ look bigger than the protos?...

i like that they gave her almost like a pearl or irridecent lipstick

Maybe.... To be honest I didn't look at the protos very well
 

Monkeywrench

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Mar 14, 2011
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I actually dislike the pearl lipstick... I'm going to be repainting mine's hair and lips, if not taking off the eyeshadow paint too... Also, I'll be adding a holster.

She's growing on me the more I see her... I need to get in my other 2 so I can pick the opener. The one I got from my eBay pre-order guy ended up really scratched and swirly on the card...

Did yours seem to have blue weathering on the kneepads and boots? To me, it looks more like paint rubbed off really, than intentional "wear".

I dislike the hair being blond, the general makeup, the lack of the holster, and the floating kneepads, but those are things I can mostly fix. The head sculpt looks much better over time, I just think the paint didn't work out too well on her.

The Holster and Hair should have been added by hasbro. Mine does have the "weathering" but I agree, it looks more like poor paint rather then "weathering". She's an expensive figure to "fix" lol

i don't know if mine did...i didnt notice it...i'll have to get a better look when i open one from BBTS (if they ever come)


Don't worry it's coming, they took away my HTS order :mad:
 

Meddatron

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Apr 19, 2011
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Mine has same weathering. Its even on her arm armor. I too think it looks like paint rub. But i love the figure. I was gonna swap the SDS Torso with the SDCC one but decided i would rather have multiple outfits of her.
 

Mandingo Rex

★★★★★
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I bought the SDS kit too. I will probably make my own Zarana (in addition to fixing the SDCC pink version) just to see how it turns out. Although I've considered mixing parts from a spare Z, if I wind up with the 3rd... Still not sure what I'm gonna do about that. Those legs are pretty spot-on, save for the boots needing the fur tops, and the arms are pretty great, too.
 

G.I.*EDDIE

gobbles a LOT of cock
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Mar 14, 2011
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ya know, i've never really had a problem with the hair...liked it actually...but dang if it doesnt look WAY better painted...think you just convinced me MR
 

Mandingo Rex

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It's the shoulder holster, yep. I just cut off the straps and painted the holster. You can't tell in the pic but I painted flat Tamiya red directly on the dark gray holster and it was almost a perfect match.

I also added that blue-gray weathering to match the kneepads. There's a blemish on the mold kind of on the side of her boob that I glued it to hide, so it worked out perfectly. It barely hinders arm movement, although she does lose a little. I could've put it farther forward and down, but it looked better where I put it.

Besides the hair, I also painted her lips and earrings pink as I didn't like the pearl look.
 

Mandingo Rex

★★★★★
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Mar 14, 2011
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It's the shoulder holster, yep. I just cut off the straps and painted the holster. You can't tell in the pic but I painted flat Tamiya red directly on the dark gray holster and it was almost a perfect match.

I also added that blue-gray weathering to match the kneepads. There's a blemish on the mold kind of on the side of her boob that I glued it to hide, so it worked out perfectly. It barely hinders arm movement, although she does lose a little. I could've put it farther forward and down, but it looked better where I put it.

Besides the hair, I also painted her lips and earrings pink as I didn't like the pearl look.
 

darkwise

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Feb 28, 2012
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lol, the makeout pics were just classic. I never realized how much smaller she was than the 'Noks, as I kept her in the shell.
 

Mandingo Rex

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I still have a second Z in pink if anyone wants her. The exterior bubble (the collector case) got a little damaged, but the interior card is pretty minty.
 

darkwise

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Mandingo, I have a bunch of my boys at og13.com looking for her (Flint specifically). What do you want for her, and I can have him (or whoever) contact you!
 

Mandingo Rex

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I got her from BBTS when the preorders originally went up, and the only reason I didn't cancel the preorder was because the fuckers upped their second batch of Zaranas at $40 or $45 each (It was $29.99). The outer case got damaged in the shipping box because they used no padding (go figure).

If they wanna do $30 plus shipping (roughly $10-12 max I imagine if it's with a tracking # and in a box with padding), I'm not trying to make anything off her, I was just trying to keep BBTS from scalping another $10-15 off her.

If they want, I'll also paint up her hair to match with the pink mohawk if they want an opener. If not, she's fine in her card for them to open when they get her. I still have the paint matched in a small jar for her hair in case someone else wanted me to match it for them.

It's about as close a match as you can find:
 

danielgogeta

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Mar 26, 2011
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Really cool sexy review :)

I am still looking for that cold slither version :p an affordable one that is..
 

darkwise

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I got her from BBTS when the preorders originally went up, and the only reason I didn't cancel the preorder was because the fuckers upped their second batch of Zaranas at $40 or $45 each (It was $29.99). The outer case got damaged in the shipping box because they used no padding (go figure).

If they wanna do $30 plus shipping (roughly $10-12 max I imagine if it's with a tracking # and in a box with padding), I'm not trying to make anything off her, I was just trying to keep BBTS from scalping another $10-15 off her.

If they want, I'll also paint up her hair to match with the pink mohawk if they want an opener. If not, she's fine in her card for them to open when they get her. I still have the paint matched in a small jar for her hair in case someone else wanted me to match it for them.

It's about as close a match as you can find:

Thanks for ALL of the information on this. I am copying and pasting it and will give it directly to Flint (Flint071 here, Flint at og13.com). I will direct him to contact you here if interested. If he is not, I will create a new thread over on my site, and see if we can get this thing out of your hands!
 

darkwise

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By the way... which outer case is damaged? The actual shell attached to the card, or did they ship it in a 2nd clamshell, and that was damaged?

Thanks again.
 

Mandingo Rex

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The outer SDCC clamshell. The one that Hasbro made and sold on HTS for awhile, that has the Cobra/Joe logos embossed on them. It also has the SDCC 2011 logo on the clamshell. The regular 25th-style card, to my knowledge, has zero damage to it. I never opened the outer shell, it still has the clear tape on the edges.

http://forums.yojoe.com/toys-1982-1998/80594-official-gi-joe-clamshell.html

Like that. (Also, did anyone else notice that YoJoe's forum forwarded to something else?)