Low Light (Pursuit of Cobra)
Low Light is one of those GI Joe characters I know light about, but is still cool enough to warrant buying. I tend to lean more towards the realistic characters, and every Special Forces and SWAT team has a sniper right? I’m sorry, according to his card he’s a “Night Spotter.” Apparently, night spotters need tricked out sniper rifles with flash suppressors.
Appearance:
Low Light has that realistic look that has made the Pursuit of Cobra figures so darn fun. There’s nothing cartoony here at all. He’s very much the typical soldier in grey jumpsuit with a tactical vest.
Starting from the top, he’s got a nicely done knit cap covering his blond hair. The face is pretty much the average Joe type face. Plain enough to be anybody, not so plain it looks like nobody.
The tactical vest is pretty impressive. Two sculpted grenades and a ton of pockets. I’m shocked with how well all of the silver clips look on the pockets. The vest plays homage to his original figure with a red shoulder cushion.
The arms feature a couple of unique features. There are some very angular shoulder pads, one of which has a crisp Joe logo painted on it. The forearms also have some unique padding. I’m assuming this is for leaning on for extended periods of time. I would think a right elbow pad would work better, but that is just me.
The legs also follow a similar pattern. Grey modern combat gear. My favorite detail? The zippers at the bottom of each leg. (Any nostalgia I’m feeling for parachute pants is purely coincidental.)
Unlike most of the Joes, Low Light gets a working knife sheath instead of a holster on his right leg. Looks right, not too oversize. The left leg however, has something fairly unique. There is a place to hold the scope from his rifle in case he needs to spy on something quickly.
Fun:
I originally wasn’t going to keep this figure. However, as readers may have realized, I’m an accessory junkie. And boy, does Low Light come with a bunch of gear.
As you can see from the picture above, that’s a ton of stuff. It’s pretty much everything a sniper would need for setting up a nest. The really cool part? He can actually carry it all. In the picture to the right, Low Light has everything on him, except the display stand. I will say he is a little unstable like this but it can be done.
(Note, yes I did use a small rubber band to close the pack. I just didn’t want to work the tabs on the pack in and out just for one picture. It would work without the band, I was just saving time and wear and tear on the pack.)
As you can see the back pack and rifle case work together. The rifle case has a peg and peg hole. The pack just has a peg, but can be worn without the case. (I actually think these pegs are bit long, but it’s really minor.) The top of the pack and back open up with a little storage space inside.
The rifle case is pretty nifty. It looks like a case you could go to Gander Mountain and buy. The inside has been customized to hold the rifle and scope. I really wish instead of the scope they had made this a spot for the silencer since he can carry the scope on his leg.
Speaking of the rifle, it’s pretty nice. The scope plugs in the top. There is a silencer/flash suppressor that plugs on the end. There’s even a retracting stock. The stock doesn’t really want to stay well attached on mine due to the thin nature of the extensions.
My only real complaint about the rifle? I can’t get him in a good firing position with it. I really think without the vest he might be able to do it, but I just can’t quite make it work. And it’s too bad, because he even has the extra joint in his left wrist.
For ammo for that rifle he has a small box of bullets. It looks like a small half empty plastic case with brass looking bullets filling one end. The kicker? One of the bullets is removable. Yes, it is very small. And yes, it is a very cool accessory. A lid for the box would have been nice, but understandable it is not here.
Of course, he needs support equipment as well. and he’s got plenty of it.
The most complex piece he has is a field radio thing. It’s carried on the side of the pack and composed of three pieces: a hand set, the body and an antenna. The handset is a small piece that plugs in the side of the unit when not in use. Nifty, but I can’t make him hold it in a usable position. The body is nice. It would actually make a neat oscilloscope for a tech bench. The silver painted details are nicely painted. The antenna actually worries me more than the single bullet. It’s kind of easily knocked out and being black will blend into an shadow it rolls into.
To compliment the field radio is a spotter scope and a GPS. I had assumed the GPS was a cell phone at first which made no sense with the field radio. Then I realized it was a hand held GPS with a red screen. It’s pretty nondescript and could be any number of handheld tech gadgets. Paint it green and white and you could have Coleco Football. I’m assuming the spotting scope is suppose to be a night vision version with a red lens. The tripod comes off the bottom for easy storage.
The goggles work in both an up and down position. I can’t imagine wearing this type of protective eye wear at night, though. Finishing out his personal gear is a black knife and an uzi.
Overall:
There’s a ton of stuff in the blister on this card. And as I’ve said before, I buy GI Joe figure based on their gear. It doesn’t hurt that there is a pretty nice modern Army figure here, as well. For a Joe team member I wasn’t a fan of before, I am impressed and really glad I picked him up.
Engineernerd Score: 97/100
In fairness, I probably wouldn’t have picked him up at all if I hadn’t heard the “What’s on Joe Mind?” podcast talking about him. Here is one of their hosts’, ChuckDawg1999, video review of Low Light:
Category: Featured, GI Joe, Toy Reviews
Most impressive figure, indeed. I am very impressed that he can actually carry all of his stuff on him. Great review!
It really is pretty impressive. It would have made more sense if the tripod could clip on to the rifle case, but that’s really minor. If I could have posed him standing with his eye in the scope, he would have scored 99 or 100.
Great review! He was actually one of my favorites from way back so I was totally stoked when I heard he was being brought out in the new POC style. The accessories are awesome and Hasbro went the extra mile what with the new articulation but it fell a little flat with execution.
Low Light has always been one of my favorite Joes. I had the G1 figure as a kid and pretty much counted all of his appearances on the ARAH series. Complex Joe with a cool backstory. This figure is an awesome representation– enough to make me want to start buying GI Joes again!
Great post!