Hasbro continues to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of its 3.75″ toy line with a second series of single carded figures. This time around we get classic characters Lady Jaye, Beachhead, Serpentor, Buzzer, and a Cobra Trooper. This line seems to be going strong with a lot of fan support and some uncharacteristic ‘love’ from Hasbro. You can almost sense that they actually care about the quality of these figures, and how well they are received by the collector community. How odd. Anywho, plenty of pics and uber-insightful toy commentary when you expand the post.

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BEACHHEAD

It’s tough not to love this figure. First of all, it’s freakin’ Beachhead! GI Joe’s tough-as-nails Alabama-born Ranger. He gets the standard 25th Anniversary articulation, right down to the double-jointed knees and swivel wrists. He’s pretty well decked with gear, too. Beachhead comes with a removable vest, a backpack, a cross-bow (which fits niftily into his backpack), a pistol with holster, and a combat rifle. Check the pics:

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LADY JAYE

Oh, yes. It’s hard not to associate this character with her sultry, raspy-voiced, cartoon incarnation, but I think Hasbro was reaching more towards the classic comic version of the character with this figure. Her facial features are far too ‘marmish’, in my opinion. That isn’t to say that she’s a bad looking figure. She doesn’t have the exotic, European features that I associate with Lady Jay. And she’s missing wrist swivels, which makes it tough for her to get into any really convincing spear-holding poses. Oh well, still not a bad little toy:

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BUZZER

Hasbro’s first Dreadnok in the 25th series is a slam dunk. Buzzer easily rivals Beachhead for my favorite among this bunch. From head to toe, his sculpt is fantastic, and he’s just an excellent representation of the character. And with his custom chainsaw in hand, he can strike quite the pose. You don’t wanna pass this one up!

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SERPENTOR

Okay, well, if there’s a stinker in the bunch, it’s Serpentor. One would think that golden-snake-themed-armor-clad-uber-emperor would make an imposing action figure, but he came a little… um… befuddled. You see, Serpentor doesn’t bare a grim visage of diabolical determination like you’d expect. Rather, his face sculpt came out looking a little frightened and confused. Add onto that that the goldish plastic he’s molded in just looks ‘wrong’ and his man-skirt completely restricts his hip movement, and you’ve got yourself a figure that really underachieves.

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COBRA ENEMY

This is just a subtly repainted re-release of the Cobra Officer from the first series. Well, actually, that figure was a re-release of the Cobra Trooper in the 5-pack. So, I guess that makes this guy a re-re-release. I understand the reasoning. These guys are meant to be army builders, so Hasbro is plugging one in each series to give fans the chance to stock up on legions of henchmen. But, I’m not into owning more than one of the same figure, so I passed on this version.

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The gang’s all here:

Tags: 25th Anniversary, Beachhead, Buzzer, Cobra Enemy, GI Joe, Lady Jaye, Serpentor

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