G.I. Joe Trooper (Retaliation)

March 6, 2013 | By More


IMG03870-20130223-2030

 

Well, after last year’s delay of the upcoming G.I. Joe: Retaliation movie, it seems that Hasbro action figures are finally hitting the pegs where I live.

 

IMG03879-20130223-2248There are quite a few interesting characters in this the first wave of action figures, but probably the one you would not want to miss is the G.I. Joe Trooper I’m reviewing today, even though at this point it is still uncertain if this is a character design that will actually be on the movie.

 

The phrase “Five minutes into the future” is thrown around quite freely whenever there is talk about the design philosophy behind some of the G.I. Joe characters, but this Trooper is pretty much the embodiment of that statement.

 

The basic figure seems to be a completely new mold and the amount of detail sculpted on each piece is quite impressive. The uniform doesn’t really look anything like current military fatigues, although it has a pretty uncanny resemblance to the uniform Kenner gave to their vintage Endor Rebel Trooper.

 

The  Joe Trooper wears a black rubber utility vest, also insanely detailed, that helps in bulking up the torso area and provides a place to hang down a couple of functional knife sheaths.

 

IMG03868-20130223-2025Even though Hasbro’s new thing is cutting back on articulation for some of the characters, the G.I. Joe Trooper is not one of them and he sports quite a load of joints:

 

• Ball jointed neck.

• Pegged hinge shoulders.

• Pegged hinge elbows.

• Pegged hinge wrists.

• Floating torso.

• Ball jointed hips (T-Bar).

• Double hinged knees.

• Pegged hinge ankles.

• Rocker feet.

 

IMG03869-20130223-2027All of the joints work perfectly, with the torso being somewhat impaired by the utility vest. Even though I have never been a fan of the rocker feet articulation, I have to admit that the implementation of said type of joint works rather nicely on the Trooper.

 

There are very few paint applications on this figure, but what little there is, is neatly applied. There is a rather visible difference between the color of the different materials used for the trooper, though, with the harder plastic pieces being a shade or two darker than the rubber limbs.

 

But leaving articulation and coloring aside, what really makes this a great figure to have is the number of accessories it comes with.

 

IMG03871-20130223-2033Starting with an alternate bare head, a gas mask, a precision rifle, an assault rifle, a grenade launcher, four pistols (a pair of each), a couple of knives, a rubber cloak, a backpack and that which is probably the most important piece of gear in any soldier’s field kit, a bright orange shovel. And the Joe Trooper can carry pretty much all of this equipment on himself.

 

All of this gear fits in IMG03876-20130223-2101the Trooper hands firmly enough and other than the shovel all of these pieces are molded either in gray or tan plastic. The default helmeted head and the gas mask have their visors painted in metallic colors, which looks kind of Halo-ish on the helmet, but the overall result is nice.

 

So, if you are only getting one figure from this line, the G.I. Joe Trooper would certainly be a good choice, but if you are getting a couple of figures, make the second one also a Trooper so you can display him the alternate head on.

 IMG03866-20130223-2021

Errex Score: 99/100

 IMG03872-20130223-2054

Be Sociable, Share!

Tags: , , ,

Category: Featured, GI Joe, Other Film, Toy Reviews

About the Author ()

I've been collecting action figures since the original Kenner Star Wars days. Nowadays, I still collect pretty much anything that catches my eye.

Comments (2)

Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed

Sites That Link to this Post

  1. March Review Round-Up (March 1st-31st) 295 Links!! « It'sAllTrue.Net | September 20, 2013
  1. Tom says:

    I just got a pair of these myself last week and was blown away! Great articulation, nice clean design,staggering amount of gear,oh and he can carry all his gear AT THE SAME TIME. If I had a quibble it would only be that the alternate head is a little too “individual” you just wouldn’t have a platoon of guys with that particular haircut, just doesn’t really scream “green shirt” I kind of feel like I’ll have to give one a name and make him a squad leader, then the rest will just have to wear the Halo-lite heads. Great figure, love it and glad I finally found a couple, and if I see a couple more, might get them as well.