BEACH HEAD

Beach Head has a straight forward presentation when you find him on the shelf. He is well placed in the package, so you get a real feel for how he looks on the shelf. He also has his filecard on the back so you can read it without opening the figure. His filecard is written decently. Opening the figure, you have some fasteners to untangle. He comes out of the package with a little effort, but it doesn't take too much time. Right away you want to wonder what's up with this version of BeachHead. Sure he has to take his mask off sometimes, but you tend to expect characters to keep a certain look once that look has been established. He should have came with a cloth mask. The outfit is ok for Beach Head, buthe has a molded on shirt. This doesn't look right. I give him 6 Cobras. There's just no reason that character continuity wasn't followed. Like I've said before, if Hasbro wants a whole new character, they should just make a new character. A name shouldn't be attached to something thrown together. Play value for kids is all that keeps this one from going lower.

COBRA COMMANDER

Cobra Commander has a nice presentation in the package when you find him on the shelf. The pose Hasbro has him in along with the placement of his weapons have a nice appearance. He definitely stands out when you see him on the shelf. He also has his filecard on the back so you can read it without opening the figure. His filecard is written decently. Opening the figure, you have multiple fasteners to untangle. This takes a little time, and the clear rubber bands are easier to just cut loose than trying to unravel. Some people like to try and save these for other uses, so I thought it was worth mentioning. First thing you'll notice is all his Cobra logos. It's a little over kill with so many. It's fine to think that the commander would have a couple of more logos than the soldiers, but he's got them everywhere. There's one on each shoulder, one on the chest, one on the back, one on the belt, one on the hood, then a big Serpentor like staff that's a Cobra. One on the chest and one on the hood would be sufficient really. The "keep it simple stupid" train of thought needs to be reintroduced to Hasbro. The outfit is much better than the other current 12" figures. He's actually wearing an outfit. Again it's nothing you'd hope for, but it works. It's almost like this is another battle armor version of Cobra Commander. He has holsters on either side of hold his gear, and also a boot sheath to hold his knife. These are nice extras. His mask has a "too tight" appearance. It should have a more free flowing look. It appears that the commander is wearing lycra or is suffering from lack of circulation. I give him 7 Cobras. Above all, for what is presently on the shelf, this is a decent figure. I see a large amount of play with this figure when it comes to kids. As for the collector, he's a nice addition to anyone's collection. He looks just fine posed on a shelf, or even in a diorama scene. I'd suggest you to track down the original hall of fame figure if you can and do some customizing to have a "definitive" Cobra Commander however. You could swap the heads and outfit so that you'd have the newer style body with the old style outfit and head. It would just look 100 times better and more of what Hasbro should have put out.

COBRA MORAY

Cobra Moray has a nice presentation in the package when you find him on the shelf. He is well placed in the package and you get a good look at what you are buying. He also has his filecard on the back so you can read it without opening the figure. His filecard is written well. Opening the figure, you have multiple fasteners to untangle. This takes a little time. He comes out easily once all fasteners are removed. This figure looks really nice. He looks like a Cobra scuba guy as he should. There's nothing here to make you wonder what Hasbro was thinking. You do tend to wonder what happened to the scuba tank, but it's easy to get over and I can see kids pretending that he just has a new more advance underwater breathing unit. I give him 10 Cobras. He works really well. There are some very minot things people might be able to pick out, but nothing really. Someone might say he should have black hands instead of flesh color. Some might even get stuck on the idea that he has no scuba tank. Whatever, he's still a great figure and any troubles found with him is nitpicking

DUKE

Duke has a decent presentation in the package when you find him on the shelf. He is slightly crammed into the package, so you don't get a real feel for how he looks on the shelf. He also has his filecard on the back so you can read it without opening the figure. His filecard is written decently. Opening the figure, you have some fasteners to untangle. He comes out of the package with a little effort, but it doesn't take too much time. When you open him up, the main thing that caught my eye is his odd grin. He almost has that weird grin that the original mail away 3 3/4" Duke figure had. Next you see that crazy arm. He also has that new logo as a tattoo on his arm. The missile launching feature is a major down side to this figure. It would have been fine if he had some kind of weird wrist gauntlet so it could be removed, but this arm is made for this figure. His other hand is also the old style hands. No Gung Ho grip here. The outfit isn't too bad, for what there is of one. It is rather, um, green though. I give Duke 3 Cobras. He score low for that arm and even a better outfit wouldn't make any difference. This is an ok figure though. I do actually see some fun play with this figure when it comes to kids. As for the collector, he's a must if you have to have all G.I.Joe items, but definitely one to pass on if you don't have to get it all.

DUSTY

Dusty has a nice presentation in the package when you find him on the shelf. You get a basic idea of what you are getting, but all the articles of clothing cover up some of it. He definately stands out when you see him on the shelf. He also has his filecard on the back so you can read it without opening the figure. His filecard is written decently. Opening the figure, you have multiple fasteners to untangle. This takes a little time. He comes out easily once all fasteners are removed. He's a nice figure. It's a little odd to have him in his desert gear since all you have is shorts, but a figure like this with the gear he comes with, you can buy other outfits from other lines to make Dusty look how you want him to. The gun that he comes with is pretty neat. It is futuristic and unrealistic, but it seems to work fine for this figure. He also has that new logo as a tattoo on his arm. I give him 8 1/2 Cobras. He gets some marks off since he doesn't come with an outfit like you'd hope for. But as I said, he's a nice figure. I see a many hours of play with this figure when it comes to kids. As for the collector, he's a nice addition to anyone's collection.

FIREFLY

Firefly might throw you off when you see him in the package on the shelf. He's slightly crammed into the pack and his gear looks odd. He definately stands out when you see him on the shelf, but that's not so much of a good thing. He also has his filecard on the back so you can read it without opening the figure. His filecard is written decently. Opening the figure, you have some fasteners to untangle. He comes out of the package with a little effort, but it doesn't take too much time. He's a little intimidating when you have him in the package. You can't figure out what you're going to do with this figure that has a weird looking vest and tons of suction cups. He has a Cobra tattoo also. Once you open him up and see how nice he is, you real quickly realize that he can be made into something great. I give him 8 Cobras. He could have been better, but he gets marks off since the buyer has to do some foot work to make him what Hasbro should have made him. He should have had a better outfit. Once you have this figure open, he's actually a nice figure though. I see a some fun of play with this figure when it comes to kids. As for the collector, he's a great base figure to create a great Firefly. You can get an urban camo outfit and with a little more work, he's perfect.

GRUNT

Grunt looks nice the package when you find him on the shelf. The net cover that he's packed with covers up much of the figure and accessories. He definitely stands out when you see him on the shelf. He also has his filecard on the back so you can read it without opening the figure. His filecard is written decently. Opening the figure, you have multiple fasteners to untangle. This takes a little time. He comes out easily once all fasteners are removed. The head sculpt looks nice and looks like Grunt. He also has that new logo as a tattoo on his arm. He has a weird gun packed, but it works fine for this figure. His outfit is fine really and doesn't exactly need a new one. You can find one more military like however and dress him like his original outfit. I give Grunt 8 Cobras. This is a nice figure but like all of these wave 1 figures, he should have a better outfit. I see a large amount of play with this figure when it comes to kids. As for the collector, he's a nice addition to anyone's collection.

HEAVY DUTY

Heavy Duty looks nice when you find him on the shelf. The net cover that he's packed with covers up much of the figure and accessories. He definitely stands out when you see him on the shelf. He also has his filecard on the back so you can read it without opening the figure. His filecard is written decently. Opening the figure, you have multiple fasteners to untangle. This takes a little time. He comes out easily once all fasteners are removed. The figure it's self is a nice start to make a great Heavy Duty from. He still suffers from looking like Roadblock without quite being Roadblock. This isn't really Heavy Duty as I like him. He's more of a figure that I see kids liking. I give him 6 Cobras. This is a fun figure, but should have had better accessories and a better outfit. I see a large amount of play with this figure when it comes to kids. As for the collector, he's a nice addition to anyone's collection.

NUNCHUK

Nunchuk looks great in the package when you find him on the shelf. The whole presentation of this figure is perfect. He definately stands out when you see him on the shelf. He also has his filecard on the back so you can read it without opening the figure. His filecard is written decently. Opening the figure, you have some fasteners to untangle. He comes out of the package with a little effort, but it doesn't take too much time. His head sculpt complete with the long hair and cloth headband is great. His wrist gauntlet with communications is really cool. He has a chest harness that holds his sword and gun. There's also places for his detachable throwing stars and nunchuks! This is a great figure. I see a many hours of play with this figure when it comes to kids. He's definitely a must for collectors too.

RECONDO

Recondo has a decent presentation in the package when you find him on the shelf. He is well placed in the package so you get a real feel for how he looks on the shelf. He also has his filecard on the back so you can read it without opening the figure. His filecard is written decently. Opening the figure, you have some fasteners to untangle. He comes out of the package with a little effort, but it doesn't take too much time. Huh? This is what you think when you see him. Some fans just accepted the change and even are saying they like it. Well this fan feels he looks like he said forget being a tracker, forget the jungle, he's gonna grab him a gun and kill something. Like some redneck hunter out for his next deer kill. He doesn't look like Recondo. He's just one of those figures that'll work, but he should have been different. I give Recondo 6 1/2 Cobras. At least give him his hat. Let's just say the moustache had to go, the hat isn't something that should have. This is just shear lack of research, or someone at Hasbro just deciding they wanted to change whatever they wanted. He's not one of the best, but he is one a kid probably would like. Some of the kids out there wouldn't worry about who he is, and probably will never see anything about the history of this character. I wonder though if Hasbro will bother to stick to their new character continuity? I doubt it.

TUNNEL RAT

Tunnel Rat has a nice presentation in the package when you find him on the shelf. Everything is displayed in the package so you get a real feel for how he looks on the shelf. He also has his filecard on the back so you can read it without opening the figure. His filecard is written well. Opening the figure, you have some fasteners to untangle. He comes out of the package with a little effort, but it doesn't take too much time. This figure has everything about keeping character continuity. It's times like this when you wonder why Hasbro does something odd with other characters in changing their looks. There's certain staples to keep once a character is established. The 12" Tunnel Rat does this well. A complaint is that Hasbro has changed the hands. There is no Gung Ho grip. This hand style worked well with the G.I.Joe 12" line. I give Tunnel Rat 9 1/2 Cobras. The half mark is taken off because he doesn't have the Gung Ho grip. There's a lot of controversy surrounding this hand style among the 12" figure colloctors. Many wanted the Kung Fu grip back. Personally I think it's less attractive and less functional. If anything, give the Kung Fu grip to the 12" collectors by having it on the regular 12" figures, then keep the Gung Ho grip on the G.I.Joe vs Cobra line.