[TAO's Note: I can't believe it, but we've finally reached Clark's final review of GI Joe week! Storm Shadow (Arctic Assault) may be last, but he's certainly not least (or is he?). Read on to see if this GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra figure from Hasbro allows Clark to end on a good note, or if he's just another toy in the crowd.]
Name: Storm Shadow (Arctic Assault)
Line: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Released: Summer 2009
Price: Retail $7.99-$8.99, Online: $7.94-$12.99
Sponsor Listings: Past Generation Toys-$9.95
This version of Storm Shadow has a uniquely nice sculpt. The proportions are a bit more “comic book” than they are realistic, but it works well for an action figure. At first glance you might assume that he shares the same head with the first ROC Storm Shadow released, but we actually get a new head sculpt with this version, it really gives the impression of a head under fabric and looks pretty close to the pictures I’ve seen of the actor in costume. The muscles of his arms and torso are well defined, but not too exaggerated, Storm Shadow comes across looking strong and fast. The cuts in Storm Shadow also look good. You heard right, each cut you see on Storm Shadow is not just paint, but a part of the sculpt. The forearms have what look like leather wrappings, these look quite good with straps and strings sculpted on. He hands and legs are the only parts that are shared with the previously released ROC Storm Shadows, and they are just as good here as they’ve been before.
Sculpt Score: 8 / 10
What gives this Storm Shadow a better paint score than other versions are the cuts in his skin. Each cut is a deep red in the crevasse, and then thins out on the surface of the skin. This gives us a nice allusion of injuries sustained, and look more realistic than most battle damage I’ve seen in this scale. The head is cast in flesh-toned plastic, but still the mask and then the skin showing are painted on, and his eyes are rather piercing. The forearm wrappings are not a pure white, I’m not sure if they’re supposed to look dirty or bloody, but I like the effect and it helps to really see the details put in them. My Storm Shadow does have a spot on his butt where the paint was rubbed off. I can’t tell what happened, but it looks like the plastic was shaved off at the factory after it was painted. Luckily I don’t have Storm Shadow showing off his butt when posed on the shelf.
Paint Score: 8 / 10
Storm Shadow has a great range of motion with all of his joints. The ball-jointed neck works particularly well compared to other figures. Although he has the same legs as the previous Storm Shadow, it seems much easier to get him into unique fighting poses. Not only do the joints have a good range of motion, but they are plenty stiff and hold their position. The lower joint on his right knee is very tight for some reason. This is not really a big deal because he still has the same posing potential, but I thought I should point it out anyway. Other than that one joint, Storm Shadow is very fun and easy to pose.
Articulation Score: 8 / 10
I really can’t explain it, but there is just something inherently fun about this figure. It might be the shirtless and scarred up look, I’m not sure, but I really like this version of Storm Shadow. He comes with the same two swords and scabbards as the previous two versions, these just have black handles instead of white. I don’t really know what that backpack is of his, the two blades are retractable and pop out with the push of a button. It is not a jet pack, I think it is just some sort of back pack with blades. I’m don’t know, I don’t really have a use for it though and a jet pack would have been better. The gauntlets look kind of cool, but I wish they had not put the retractable blade in the left one. The blade is not even long enough the go out past the hand. If both gauntlets were simple with no action feature then they would look better overall. Otherwise you still get Storm Shadow with his two swords and a staff. He looks good and poses well, Storm Shadow Arctic Assault is a fun figure.
Fun Score: 9 / 10
Storm Shadow offers just enough new aspects to be worthy of a purchase, but he is not a “must buy” by any means. I passed him over on the pegs twice, but when a Target near me lowered the price to $6.99 I decided to take a chance, and I’m glad I did. You don’t get any new gear with Storm Shadow, well…at least not any new gear that is worth anything to me. What you do get is a unique version of a classic character, so this Storm Shadow is not a complete ripoff.
Value Score: 7 / 10
8 / 10 - Well sculpted muscles and good proportions.
8 / 10 - The blood in the cuts look very nice, and the rest of the figure is clean.
8 / 10 - Standard ROC articulation, with a very good ball joint neck.
9 / 10 - This Storm Shadow is different enough from others to be a lot of fun.
7 / 10 - Probably the Storm Shadow most will pass over, but if on sale give him a try.
80 / 100 - This is a Great Toy
I really can’t explain it (although I tried in the previous 800 words) but I just really like this version of Storm Shadow. Let me take this opportunity to point out that this is an example of what I like about the ROC toys so far. I no longer know what I’m going to find when looking at the toy section, it is fun seeing what is new and takes me back to when I was a kid looking at G.I. Joes at the Skaggs/Albertsons in my neighborhood. We now have had three Storm Shadows, and each is different from the next with a unique body and head sculpt. These are not simple repaints over and over, these different Storm Shadows each make sense. Maybe as time goes on we’ll get more figures that are boring, but from what I’ve seen we have at least a few more months of new and exciting figures coming from Hasbro.
-Clark
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