25th Anniversary GI Joe 5-Pack
Hasbro kicked off it’s new collector-friendly, superarticulated, 3 3/4″ GI Joe toy line with two box set 5-packs of classic characters from the original 1980s toy line. The first of these two sets features the GI Joes Duke, Scarlett, Snake-Eyes, Gung Ho, and Roadblock. Each box set comes with a battery operated speaker insert that plays the first couple of verses from the 80s cartoon theme song. Pretty nifty! Expand the post for pics and reviews.
DUKE
The proud, dutiful leader of the GI Joes kicks off this box set, and does so admirably. This figure is a spot-on representation of Duke, from his blonde-haired, blue-eyed, all-American boy-next-door looks to his chiseled jaw, steely look of determination, and grenade-laden bandolier. He’s everything I’ve always wanted in a GI Joe! Duke gets what is to be the standard 25th Anniversary articulation - ball-jointed head, double-disk shoulders, a swivel-hinge elbow, a mid-torso swivel-hinge, ball jointed hips, double hinge knees, swivel-hinge ankles, and wrist swivels. Wow! That’s a lot of articulation for a four inch tall figure! Nice work, Hasbro! His only failing was that the range of motion in his elbows and crotch was limited by his sculpt. I did a little dremeling and x-acto whittling to free up those POAs.
SCARLETT
Hot damn! I always wanted Scarlett as a kid, but missed out on her in the original line. So, I was pretty psyched to have her included in this boxed set. Scarlett gets slightly different articulation than the Duke ’standard’. It would seem females in this line won’t be getting double-hinge knees, rather they’ll get the single hinge swivel type joint that Hasbro is fond of. That’s okay. At this size, it works fine. Scarlett is a pretty nice little figure. She’s not super feminine in her sculpt, and she’s a bit hunch-backed by the way her mid-torso joint fits together, but all in all, she’s a great figure and an excellent addition to the team!
SNAKE-EYES
The super-cool mute ninja/commando of the Joe team was a shoe-in for this boxed set. Hasbro opted to include the goggle-clad ‘commando’ version of the character, complete with uzi, bag of explosives, and ninja sword. He has the same artic model as Duke, but doesn’t suffer the same range of motion problems. Snake-Eyes really shines as the best figure in this set.
GUNG HO
Okay, here’s where things take a downhill slide. Kind of. Gung Ho is cool and all, and the sculpt is pretty good - from the neck down. He has a little boy chubby face! Come on, Hasbro! This is the big, buff tough-as-nails, gumbo-eatin’, gator-wrasslin’, hero from the bayou! Why is he baby-faced? In addition, the early releases of Gung Ho (like mine…) have a factory error. He’s assembled with two right upper arms. So, if you look closely at his left arm in the pics, you’ll see that the tricep is where the bicep should be. Oh well… That’s Hasbro quality control for you…
ROADBLOCK
Roadblock wraps up this set. Not unlike Gung Ho, he suffers from ‘little boy head’ syndrome. In his case it’s a little less noticeable if you just keep his army helmet on, but if you pose him hatless, he’s nothing short of laughable. Roadblock also lacks double-hinged knees. He just gets a single joint there. Not sure why. Maybe Hasbro just thought the big fella’ shouldn’t be that poseable. Hmmm. He also has preformed hands to hold his big chain gun that make it impossible for him to hold any other weapons. But that’s not a big deal, since he looks pretty darn cool with his big green gun and there’s really no reason to display him without it!
GROUP SHOT
Tags: 25th anniversary, duke, gi joe, gung ho, roadblock, scarlett, snake-eyes
I finally got my G.I. Joe 25th Anniversary Joe pack, and Roadblock’s right-arm elbow won’t bend (unless I want to break the arm off). Since you did not mention that in your review, I’m going to assume that’s a defect specific to the set I bought. I’ll have to contact Hasbro.
By the by, you didn’t mention how frustrating getting the figures out of the packaging is.
- Brian
yeah, sounds like you just got a bum roadblock. mine was fine. he’s being re-released as a single carded figure, so you could just buy that one and then replace him with your busted one and return it.
and it’s funny that you mention the packaging. i thought the point of the five packs was that you could put them back in the shell to display them. but they’re so impossible to get back in there the right way that i just ditched the plastic insert and kept only the cardboard box.
I got a Cobra Commander today that is the same way. The left arm won’t bend at the elbow. It feels like I’m going to snap his forearm off whenever I try to bend it.