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09-03-2010, 04:25 AM | #1 |
Cobra Viper
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Australia
Posts: 169
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Firefly:I'll put this out here right from the getgo- I'm an o-ring fan. It's not an issue so much with the movement as the aesthetic of the figure. With o-ring designed figures, the figures can be posed in a way where they look like they're more organically sculpted. With the more modern articulation though, the figures can look like they've been rather disemboweled.
So it is with great pleasure that I can say that Firefly manages to overcome this problem nicely. Rather than just having the base figure exposed, the figure has been fitted with a removeable flight vest and helmet. The vest clips together with a dual plug design on the left underside of the vest. There are some nice details sculpted onto the figure. The base figure is fitted with a grey balaclava (very reminiscent of the style worn by Beach Head), pants and tunic with black gloves and boots, with a black knife and sheath sculpted onto the right boot, a black equipment pounch scuplted onto the left thigh and a black holster sculpted onto the right thigh. The last of these is something I'm critical of. Rather than being a functional holster with a sidearm accessory supplied or a solidly sculpted holstered sidearm; the holster has been sculpted as empty and half filled in, which is areguably the one detractor to this figure. In terms of accessories he comes with a helmet and flight jacket. The helmet is a sold red colour with a silver visor, however there is also a variant of the figurew who comes with a black helmet. The helmet is a nice fit to the point where it looks like it could have been the actual sculpted head. The flight jacket is an interesting touch. Several pouches and air filters are sculpted onto it as well as three hoses- 1 connecting to the helmet and the other 2 connecting to the gunship cockpit. THe jacket is a mixed back. While it's fairly easy to get off but undoing the plugs on the left underside and having the right arm point straight up. However the problem is putting it back on. The plugs do not easily connect due to the sculpt of the figures abdomen and the gap between it and the left underside of the jacket. In terms of the poseability, the figure is all you'd expect from a modern sculpted 3.75" Joe figure. Double knee joints, double ankle joints at the ankle, traditional hip leg movement, upper abdomen joint, wrist joint, ball jointed head and the revised douple elbow joint. Furthermore, even though the poseability of the figure is excellent, the flight jacket masks the way modern Joe sculpts look when they're posed in a twisted manner giving it a much better look than how modern Joes can look with some poses. However the jacket does limit the figure's range of movement, but not to the point of it being unrealistic. The hose connecting the flight helmet ot the jacket though can cause some movement issues. All in all it's a nice little figure. However the issues with the holster, jacket and top hose really do detract from the figure. 7/10 Cobra Gunship: The Gunship has been an interesting surprise. Make no mistake, the Gunship is horredously out of scale and should have definitely been an Echo Class vehicle in scale and this does show to a large extent. This is also where a large portion of the detractors with it lie. The cockpit, rather than being large enough to properly sea the pilot, is at about half scale, and has the pilot sitting with their legs outstretched rather than bent. To make matters worse, if the figure is not properly positioned sitting down, the cockpit hatch will not properly close. This in turn is reflected by the cargo/passenger area. Contrary to the several figures it should have been able to fit standing if it was in scale; the vehicle can only fit 2 seated figures in the passenger section. To slightly compensate for this, there are 2 foot posts on the drop down access door to it, allowing you to pose Cobra figures on the outside of it, holding their weapons. The Gunship is a solid gloss grey colour, with black cockpit, missile launchers, nose turret, passenger seats, hand grips on the underside and landing gear. The landing gear folds up to sort of retract, the launchers slide out sideways about half an inch, the turret turns, the cockpit opens, as well as the passenger compartment and engine covers. Colourwise, I'm slightly critical. While I recognise that the paint job was never going to be super detailed, there is absolutely no kind of colour difference to the engine section- just molded parts that are the exact same shade of grey as the external shell. It reaks of laziness in the toy design. The other MAJOR letdown is the way the vehicle is packaged. Half the fun of the old Joe vehicles was that they were part toy and part model kit. Now admittedly the tail section needs to be attached to the rest of the body, but still, it takes a huge amount of fun out of the vehicle. However it's not all bad. The red missiles it comes with have a good firing range of over a metre - triggered by a read button on the underside of each launcher - while there is also a bombing feature. A fairly well concealed sliding panel opens at the top, allowing you to load it with the 3 red bombs it comes with. A nearby button, opens an angled bombing door, releasing the bombs. The cockpit interaction with the figure is nice too. The 2 lower hoses on the flight jacket are designed to plug into a hole on each of the side consoles, allowing you to completely plug the figure into the cockpit. The Gunship is also equipped with 3 hand grips on the underside, which allow for great interactions with figures like Para-vipers for example- allowing it to drop more than just bombs. 6/10 Overall: I'm in two minds. The Gunship and Firefly are decent enough, however there are flaws which take it out of the "must have category". The issues with the sculpted holster and functionality of the flight jacket let the figure down to a large extent. Likewise the scale, colour detailing and preassemby, all let the vehicle down. In short, if you see it on clearance, pick it up as it's a decent enough set. However don't feel you have to rush out and buy it. Moderately recommended. 6/10 |
09-03-2010, 04:28 AM | #2 |
Cobra Viper
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Australia
Posts: 169
|
Sorry, missed the other review when I went trawling through the boards to see if one had been done. Feel free to disregard.
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09-03-2010, 05:08 AM | #3 |
Crimson Guard
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: new york
Posts: 1,048
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are these just now reaching Australia or something?
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09-03-2010, 05:12 AM | #4 |
Cobra Viper
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Australia
Posts: 169
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No they were here in 2009, but right now single carded figures are on clearance at $3 down from $18, Alpha class Vehicles are down from $36 to $6 and Bravo class vehicles are down from $65 to $10.
Considering the clearance prices, they were simply too well priced to pass up. |
09-03-2010, 06:07 AM | #5 |
Monster Maker
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Vancouver, WA.
Posts: 2,061
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Yeah, clearance was the only reason I picked up the gunship and at $6 I still felt ripped off. There could have been so much they could have done with it but it looked realy rushed. I wonder what kind of time scale the toy crew had to work in.
__________________
Personal sculpting blog: http://monster-zer0.blogspot.com/ Hisstank threads I've started about sculpting... General Sculpting http://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-jo...ut-sculpt.html RTV mold http://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-jo...-tutorial.html The last thing you will hear is the cracking of your vertebrae, One... By... One! |
09-03-2010, 06:39 AM | #6 |
Banned
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Georgia
Posts: 1,698
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This thing looked lame in the movie, and I thought it couldn't possibly be any worse. Then I saw the vehicle in TRU, and I couldn't help but wonder if the studio designers and toy designers went out drinking and didn't cover all the details of this thing.
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09-03-2010, 06:53 AM | #7 |
Cobra Soldier
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Crete
Posts: 70
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An excellent, concise, well thought out and entertaining review sir.
I can't wait to read more reviews from you! Thanks for the insight. |
09-03-2010, 06:59 AM | #8 |
Ex-Pharisee
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: 742 Evergreen Terrace
Posts: 12,216
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Wow. I can't imagine paying $18 for and RoC figure! I'm glad that you are finally seeing them at clearance prices!
I honestly liked this thing. It has it's flaws, but it's an interesting addition to the world of Joe nonetheless, IMO.
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Feedback thread: http://www.hisstank.com/forum/buy-se...lyguy-1-a.html Jesus is my Lord and Savior!!! Www.startswithamousetravel.com Last edited by fireflyguy; 09-03-2010 at 07:10 AM.. |
09-03-2010, 07:14 AM | #9 |
Cobra Viper
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Australia
Posts: 169
|
I actually liked the design in the movie, and really the potential for it to have been done well was defintiely there- what was actually done right is proof of that. What I keep coming back to was the scale of it let it down from the getgo.
The other problem too is the move to preassembled vehicles. Had there been things like even a different coloured panel on each of the engines to sort out the detailing and possibly make for a larger vehicle in a bravo sized box. There's been so much reinvention of the wheel in some cases with the JOE line in general sadly, where the wheel was working fine as things stood. |
09-03-2010, 07:18 AM | #10 |
Cobra Viper
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Australia
Posts: 169
|
Quote:
The fact that it cost less to freight them to Canada than Alaska doesn't seem to have come into it here. Gotta love Hasbro's dodgy pricing policy. |
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