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Post by Jad on Sept 16, 2005 23:04:22 GMT -5
I managed to find them today. Only one missing was the white ninja (storm shadow?). Not knowing for sure if I'd be happy with them, I went ahead and picked up heavy duty and snake eyes. Man i'm not dissapointed at all. They are both super well made figures and I really am excited about this line now. If you enjoy well articulated figures then this is a line you can appreciate. Honestly I'm not really unhappy about the price point. I think the fine detail and nice collection of accessories with each figure more than justifies the price. Atleast it does for me.
Personally I love toy guns, so I'll probably pick up the large nerf gun later this weekend. I did check it out when I was there. Looks like it might be fun.
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Post by Quiller-Bee on Sept 17, 2005 21:40:56 GMT -5
Well, I finally have Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow and Spirit Iron Knife in my possession. I almost went ahead and picked up Duke and Heavy Duty as well, but I decided to hold off and see how well I liked the three I initially chose before snapping up all five.
Since detailed reviews have already been taken care of, I'm just going to elaborate a little on my personal feelings regarding S6.
Having waited for G.I. Joe: Sigma Six since the figures were first revealed, I can honestly say that I'm not the least bit disappointed in any of the three I selected. While nothing quite tops Xevoz, Hasbro did a damn fine job on the Sigma Six line. These are quality toys, and have proved to be well worth the wait. Between the chiseled, highly-stylized sculpts, good amount of articulation, solid construction, and awesome weapons and accessories, these figures have instantly claimed their spot as some of my all-time favorite toys. (If only the Star Wars: Force Battlers had been this cool . . . . )
One more thing: Storm Shadow could very well be the best ninja action figure ever released . . . definitely the best I've ever seen.
It probably goes without saying, but I'll definitely be picking up Duke and Heavy Duty within the next day or two. Meanwhile, I can't wait to see more from this line.
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Post by misterd on Sept 19, 2005 21:27:26 GMT -5
Heavy Duty Review
I was going to review Spirit Iron-Knife, but it seems Heavy Duty isn't getting much play, so I'll tackle him next.
Heavy Duty is a big figure. Without a ruler, I would say he stands about an inch taller and an inch wider than Snake Eyes. The sculpt is appropriately muscular, and I like his scowling face the best of the three we've seen. A nice detail is the band aid (or is it a nasal strip?) over his nose. He also comes with the S6 dogtag (note - these slip off the head rather easily so be careful - I'm looking for HD's right now).
"Power gauntlets" are molded over the backs of his hands, and his boots have a fairly heavy duty design to them as well. The gloves are black and silver with neon green knuckles, the boots green with black soles and silver straps. His left wrist carries the standard black Joe wrist com.
His torso has the same basic design S6 body armor (complete with peg holes), colored dark gray or black with dark green sides
His arms are mostly bare save for the aforementioned gloves and small black/gray shoulder pads. The muscles are well sculpted, and an extra joint is included - a pivot between the bicep and shoulder, typically seen in Marvel Legends toys. This seems to add just a little extra flexibility, probably to help him carry the BFG. I doubt most other lines would have made the effort.
HD comes with olive green cloth pants. Due to his large size these fit better than Spirit's pants do. The pants are held up by an elastic black belt with a plastic snap buckle, and a hidden snap button in his fly.The pants have 4 pockets stitched into them. Only the top pockets open, but I don't know any accessories except perhaps Snake Eyes' ammo clip that can fit into them. There are also buckle straps around the cuff of the pant legs to keep them in place.
His accessories are a mixed bag, depending on your preferences. He doesn't come with very much more than his BFG, but that alone is rather impressive.
Let's start with the small stuff. He comes with the standard S6 locker, which is large enough to hold the foam packing which holds the loose accessories. Unfortunately, his main accessories are just too damn big to put all of them in the locker along with the foam. The package is the right size to hold inserts, which is pretty nice right there.
He has two options for head gear - an orange bandana, or goggles. My bandana was a bit loose and easily slipped off, but some superglue around the inside helped keep it secure (obviously don't put it on his head until the glue dries, unless you want it to be a permanant accessory).
The goggles are the same as Duke's - translucent green with painted black trim. Ear protectors clip over the ears hold the goggles on his head, and the fit works better than the bandana. A small comlink sticks out from the left ear piece.
The main accessory is of course his BFG, which comes in several pieces. The backpack/powerpack is essentially a green cylinder with black plactic straps. A silver buckle secures the pack on the figure. There are no pegs for the peg holes. There are also several places on the pack which can serve as handles, should you wish to have HD carrying the pack instead.
The top of the pack flips open, to allow you to insert one of two different power containers. On the side of the pack, under this lid is a window, behind which is a window that reads "empty." When one of the power cores is loaded, the empty sign is pushed down, and the core's own sticker is displayed (either Plasma or Pulse). The lid then closes securely over the power core, and the brightly colored chamber core is displayed.
The two power cores share the same basic design, but the energy chambers differ. The pulse core has two 1cm wide, ice blue chambers, while the plasma core has a single 2cm diameter neon green chamber.
The BFG itself is huge. Mostly gray and black, with a green missile launcher beneath, green shield/handle, and red buttons. A removable ammo belt hangs from the bottom, and the loose end can be connected to the backpack (the pegs that hold the belt are covered by black panels).
HD can hold the gun relatively well, though I find it too darn heavy for him to actually raise it up and keep it up. He holds it by a rear verticle handle (which swings up and down), and a top horizontal behind the blast shield which may also be raised up and down.
Turning a black knob winds up the cannon. Press the red button beneath, and the chain gun spins around quickly for about 5 seconds. The first time I did this it made me a bit giddy, and I can see kids having a blast with it.
The missile launcher beneath the BFG is removable (I just discovered this) and is attached with the same sliding mechanism as many of Duke's weapons, so there may be some nice customization possibilities here. The launcher only holds 1 missile at a time but there are two missiles to choose from - one blue and one green, matching the power cores.
The only drawback to these accessories is that most of them are tied up in the BFG that he has few customization options besides bandana/goggles and pants/no pants. The different missiles and power cores are nice, but I can't help but think we would have been better served with one of each, and some attachments with unique functions.
Overall a very sweet figure, sure to be the darling of fans who love big guns. The fact that he doesn't come with much and looks the most like a typical soldier (Duke looks more like a cop), makes me think he'll be the shelf warmer of the bunch, but he deserves much better. My only complaint is that I can't find his damned dog tag!
UPDATE: *Whew!* Spotted the glint of the missing dogtag under my desk. Just in time too. It's garbage night, and my next step was to go digging through the cans. Glad I decided to finish the review before I made like a raccoon!
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Post by Jad on Sept 20, 2005 11:01:16 GMT -5
Y'know I was having trouble getting his gun to work at first too. But I figured out how to position it so it not only looks cool, but you can make use of his snap in place elbow joints. If you position his hand on the back of the gun and bring it to about center with his waist, then you can position his upper hand to hold the gun. Once in this position you can have him hold it perfectly. He can even lower the gun a little, if you don't want him in a shooting stance. It looks awsome, and I believe this is the way it's intended to be used. At first I kept trying to have him hold the gun further to his side, but this looks much more natural and works great.
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Post by Quiller-Bee on Sept 20, 2005 21:16:03 GMT -5
Great review for Heavy Duty there, misterd.
I went ahead and bought Duke and Heavy Duty a couple of days ago. Just as I was with Snakes, Stormy and Spirit, I'm very pleased with both Duke and HD. Honestly, I don't feel that there's a weak offering in the entire bunch.
As for HD's bandanna, I stuck a little poster putty inside the top, which took care of the problem of the bandanna falling off. Mine is displayed wearing both his bandanna and his goggles, which doesn't seem to be an option without some method of securing the bandanna in place.
As of now, I'm officially on board with this line for the long haul, and I hope it proves to be a success.
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Post by Jad on Sept 20, 2005 21:59:32 GMT -5
As of now, I'm officially on board with this line for the long haul, and I hope it proves to be a success. I believe I can safely agree with that statement, despite the fact that I only own 2 of the figures. I guess a lot of the old school joe fans aren't very pleased with the sigma offerings. Go figure. Personally the fact that they call them crap really just lends it self to the fact that they are letting nostalgia run their opinion. You might not particularly like the design style, but to say they are just crappy toys is a very narrow view point. I myself have never been much into Joes, or atleast the main story line. When I was a kid we had a small collection, and usually just mixed them in with our Star Wars adventures. To me these Sigma figures are just a bunch of kick ass action heroes. But that's just me.
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Post by Quiller-Bee on Sept 20, 2005 22:40:58 GMT -5
From a few reactions I've seen, I'm starting to think that I'm in the minority in terms of being an old-school Joe fan who really likes the new Sigma 6 line.
I loved the Marvel comics when I was a boy, and I liked the 3 3/4" figures as well. Still, if I'd had a choice between a 3 3/4" Snake Eyes or a Sigma 6-style Snake Eyes "back in the day", you can bet that I would have gone for the S6-type figure.
As an adult collector, I'm more impressed by innovative concepts, POA's, and unique sculpts than lame figures of characters that I like. (Which is one reason why I like Xevoz so much, and would pass up any single "well known" 3 3/4" G.I. Joe or Star Wars character for a "generic" Xevoz "non-character" any day of the week.) That being the case, the old 3 3/4" figures do absolutely nothing for me anymore, and I've not purchased a G.I. Joe toy since I was a kid. (Same thing with Star Wars) Simply put, the bar has been raised since the days of the old "Real American Hero" line. IMO, Sigma 6 is a win-win situation, as it's a great marriage of characters that I love to toy styles and concepts that appeal to me as an adult.
Like Xevoz, I know that I would have loved Sigma Six as a kid, as they're much cooler and better quality toys than almost any that existed when I was growing up.
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Post by Jad on Sept 21, 2005 11:07:28 GMT -5
Like Xevoz, I know that I would have loved Sigma Six as a kid, as they're much cooler and better quality toys than almost any that existed when I was growing up. Wurd! They're hella high quality. Probably some of the most impressive toys I've seen Hasbro produce since the start of Xevoz.
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Post by DVD on Sept 22, 2005 9:41:13 GMT -5
Wow, it's been a while, eh?
Anywho, the Sigma Six figures rock. Picked up Snake Eyes and didn't regret the $15 price tag one bit. A day later I picked up Duke, Spirit, and Storm Shadow(HD wasn't there, nor was the Ninja Cycle), and they all rock. If you guys haven't seen the Wave 2 figures, take a look at alteredstatesmag.com . Long Range, Tunnel Rat, Kamakura, Cobra Commander, Ninja BAT, Armored Snake Eyes, Ninja Showdown 2pack(give you 2 guesses who's in this one), and a repaint of the Ninja Cycle for Storm Shadow.
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Post by Jad on Sept 22, 2005 11:02:19 GMT -5
Where are they on that web site? I wasn't able to find any of them.
*edit* wait never mind, I found them. Hell yes those kick ass. I can't wait for that dude with the big ass sniper rifle, thats gonna rock!
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Post by Your_Number1_Fan on Sept 22, 2005 11:25:26 GMT -5
aww misterd you show me up on those reviews. *jab jab* they're hella good though so keep them coming.
My version of Snake Eyes doesn't have the pegs on his swords. But i've developed a way to make them stable on his back useing the dagger to wrap around the two other swords.. this might not make since, but it works pretty nicely.
I've since picked up Heavy Duty and the Bike. Both are great assets to the line. Heavy Duty is a great figure, but I still feel he would be better with another gun accessory. or a big knife, etc.
Long Range will be in the second wave. He is the figure that got me hooked on the series. keeping my fingers crossed that he will be as good in person as he looks online.
Your Number1 Fan
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Post by misterd on Sept 22, 2005 21:00:47 GMT -5
Not too thrilled with SE vs SS two pack, unless it is heavily discounted, or has more to offer than what we've seen. Essentially its just a repaint of the two toys, with no new accessories. SE has black white armor with bare hands and black Spirit pants, while SS has gray arms, a black sash, and some white trim on his shin guards. The only accessories we've seen have been redecos of SS's equipment. To me, that does not translate to a $30 package. $20 maybe, but not $30.
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Post by benreilly on Sept 22, 2005 21:03:22 GMT -5
guys can i ask a question about snake eyes? does his 2 long swords connect to become one weapon (long staff) like with the knife? i've seen pictures of the knife and the long sword connected, but none of the two long swords together. thnx guys more power to xevolution!
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Post by misterd on Sept 22, 2005 21:16:31 GMT -5
Yes they do benreilly. I completely missed this feature when I first reviewed the figure, as both swords have "male" handles, with the female end in the dagger. When I looked at the unpainted weapons with the ninja cycle, I noticed the pegs in the sword are actually removable, and may be placed in either sword or dagger. This allows you to combine 2 swords, 2 daggers, or a sword and dagger.
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Post by benreilly on Sept 22, 2005 21:29:49 GMT -5
wow! thank you very much bro misterd! that really helps. that question was bugging me since i first saw the reviews! can't wait to pick him up here in the overseas. hopefully we get them soon. great review btw!
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