Steel Brigade

The Steel Brigade trooper must have his fans at Hasbro. The Pit Commando got his helmet as an accessory and the VAMP repaint had one as a driver. This version is more in the classic mail-away colors.

Appearance:

Much like the original, the new version of the Steel Brigade trooper is amalgam of a number of body parts put together to form a serviceable generic trooper. Much I like I said with the Viper, this is more of a combat troop than his green shirt cousin.

A light blue turtle neck, khakis and some Doc Martens and you have the basic outfit this figure is wearing. The sweater has some pouches and stuff on the arms, but not large ones. It reminds me a bit of what British Commandos would wear in good WWII films. The hands are outfitted with tactical gloves. They do not, however, sport the newer style wrist articulation.

There is one slight downside to the light color. There’s a wash used on the arms to draw out the detail a bit. This wash is lighter/non-existent up at the shoulders. Where the wash is missing, it really looks blue plasticy.

Like most modern soldiers, SB is wearing tactical vest. I almost didn’t realize this is the same one that the Cobra Shock Trooper has. The rescue handle is a bit of a give away along with the peg hole for the walkie talkie. (Which I really wish he come with.) The different paints scheme here looks good, and gives the piece more of a field combat look instead of the tactical urban look of the Shock Trooper. The added piece here is a sash with a silver painted grenade to kind of echo the look of the vintage figure.

Where the left leg sports some rather standard clip pouches, the right leg is a bit of an oddity. There is a mid calf knife sheath and a holster on this leg. However, he doesn’t come with weapons for either of them. The holster is odd as it has a recessed area on the front for a scope or some sort of other attachment. (After a little research, these are reused from the Snake Eyes where his legs came from.)

On to the most important part, his head. The helmet here is a I believe a direct reuse of the Rise of Cobra one from the Pit Commando. This time however, they went the extra mile added some paint. It really makes a huge difference. Under the helmet is a Beachhead head. Oddly, the neck is flesh tone all the way up to the head, really giving it a funny mask look. The turtleneck is achieved with a separate piece, which has to be one of the oddest GI Joe pieces ever. Without the head to neck ratio of this figure is all out of whack.

Fun:

One thing this figure doesn’t skimp on is accessories. Keeping with the vintage theme, SB has a green “Duke” style pack and Airborne rifle. The pack is petty much the vintage pack in green with a smaller peg. Personally, I would have rather have seen the 25th Airborne’s pack used here. It was a bit of more detailed update.  The rifle is Airborne’s, just minus the paint.

His second rifle is a reuse, as well. This one came with Beachhead. (Although, it has probably been used elsewhere.) It’s not bad, just kind of a generic machine gun.

Now for the heavy weapons. One of the things he comes with is a tripod mounted 50 cal. This particular gun came with Roadblock. When it came with him, it included an ammo belt which makes sense. The tripod is okay, but the handle is a little close in.

The last weapon he comes with is a bazooka. Not as detailed as some of the other weapons, it’s still pretty cool. Even though it is full assembled in the package, it breaks down into two pieces.  Along with the main part is a back pack. The pack stores 4 shells that fit into the open end of the weapon.

Much, like Renegades Duke, I had a moment of panic with his knee pads. This time when I was taking Steely out of the blister. The left one popped off. This made me realize that he shares these knee pads with Duke.

Overall:

Yeah, he’s a good figure. I hadn’t realized until recently how many folks hold the vintage one in a special place in their hearts.  Combine that with a solid combat soldier and you have a figure that isn’t going to hang around on the pegs long. I suspect their folks that will want to Army build this guy to add to the hunt.

Engineernerd Score: 95/100

 

Tags: 30th Anniversary, GI Joe, Hasbro, Steel Brigade

Category: Featured, GI Joe, Toy Reviews