This afternoon's haul.
No sign of Wave 1 figs or the vehicles.

I'm very pleased with POC Wave 1 .The wave is awesome ,the figures equally awesome ,well most of them .
Hasbro went with the ARAH / 25th style of packaging and I am glad they did so .

I discarded all of my ROC cards instead of collecting them like I did for 25th simply bcoz I hate the design .
Anyways ,I am back to collecting the cards .Each card features the regular file card on the back with a nice dio depicting the figure in action .The front artwork is as usual ,very nice with painted artwork representing the figure .

Now ,onto more juicy goodies .

Regardless of whether you are a hardcore GI Joe collector or a casual collector ,these 3 figures are a must have ; Alley Viper ,Beach Head and Firefly .Buy more than one if you have to because you won't regret it .
Now ,each of these guys looks cool ,comes with loads of weapons and accesories ,and is value for money since you are getting 2 figures for the price of 1 .

Allow me to elaborate further .Strip BH and FF off their helmet / alternate head and vest and you have the regular versions that at first glance ,bears resemblance to their ARAH / 25th selves .Gear them up and you get the armored ,no nonsense versions and they have no problems fighting an army .
Hasbro could have given us both sans the helmet and vest and collectors will still grab 'em but they went the extra mile and produce detailed helmets and vests .

(On a side note ,BH's helmet bears resemblance to Jin ROh / Kerberos while FF's alternate head borrow designs from Sil ,the creature from Species or Green Goblin ,Spidey's arch rival.)

As for Alley Viper ,attach his Resolute Helmet ,remove the shield and you get the urban assault trooper .
Equipped with his primary gear and AV is ready to take on a horde of angry rioteers .

Hence ,I like to refer to these 3 as having dual versions ;the Lite and the Heavy varieties .

On the other hand ,the team leaders of opposite factions ,Duke and CC are rather light in the accesories department .
Snow Job can be considered as a deluxe figure with mini playset due to the huge amount of accesories included plus the white cloth is actually a tent .He can store all his stuff by attaching them to the backpack .

Below I will offer my 2 cents on each figure .I will start with the least likeable figure and end the review with the best
figure .

REVIEW
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1) Cobra Commander

The Good
- comes with a new shiny face mask ,similar to Viper from Cobra 5 Pack .
- body armor repainted in crimson red .
- Cobra emblem on the staff also painted red .

The Bad
- it's a repainted CC from ROC .
- rather lacking in accesories .
- mini HISS not included .

Verdict
Buy only if you are a CC fan ,or like me, you are buying a case and ended up owning him .

2) Snake Eyes

The Good
- SE's face is painted ,well part of it anyway .ROC SE offerings should have been so .
- Timber features a gimmick ; press down the tail and its head move upwards in a barking fashion .

The Bad
- no knife or knife sheathe included .
- no leg articulation on Timber .

Verdict
I love the hybrid and ninja versions of Snake Eyes but not the commando .
This fig is definitely a step up from 25th Commando version and like the rest of wave 1 ,he fits the modern era
definition .While wave 1 SE is acceptable ,I can't say the same for wave 2 which features a Tornado Kick gimmick .
The gimmick works by raising one of his leg upwards and twisting his waist for several turns before releasing .
This results in SE doing his imitation of Ken or Ryu's helicopter kick .

3) Duke

The Good
- the paintjob is detailed and excellent ,with spots of mud covering his lower arms and his lower pants painted in
muddy colors to indicate Duke wading thru swamps .
- his backpack features real elastic bands so you can store his gun in between the straps .
- the belt and pouches cum harness is new and it fits nicely on him .

The Bad
- while you can store his torch inside the 'pack ,there's enuf unused space to probably store another gun .
- he comes with a pistol but there's no working holster and I cant find a gap to slot it in .

Verdict
Each Duke release keeps getting better and better beginning from the 25th series .As with BH ,SE and SS ,he's
packed at two per case .Somehow I feel he's gonna be a peg warmer .Duke sports muscular arms and the good
thing is they don't restrict his upper and lower arms movements' .

4) Snow Job

The Good
- this guy is jam packed with accesories and as shown in the pic below ,you can store them all around his
backpack .
- a bonus working tent is most welcome .

The Bad
- carrying all that stuff means he has some difficulty in standing .

Verdict
He's a must buy ,at least one for the amount of accesories and the portable tent .
Swap the head and you can troop build your Joe arctic team .
I hope Hasbro comes out with more of this playset function for upcoming figures .

5) Storm Shadow

The Good
- he can store almost all of his weapons within himself .(refer to the pic below)
- the chain for the grappling claws is made of steel .Plus you can attach his swords into them to make it a deadlier
weapon .
- the waist armor or whatchamacallit is not removable .
- all six swords (4 long ones and 2 shorts) are attacheable to form a dual bladed weapon .Hence you are getting 3
pairs of it .

The Bad
- i don't like his "Arabian" head sculpt .
- Hasbro reused ROC SS's torso ,arms and legs .The sneakers just don't fit him .
- his hands do not have a tight grip on the claws .

Verdict
Again ,a must buy for SE and SS collectors .Buy a few to fit your ninja team .His weapons are deadly ,and they
sure kick ass .I will be making some adjustments to this figure later .

6) Beach Head

The Good
- awesome all new helmet and vest .
- many weapons included .
- looks a lot better than his ARAH / 25th versions .

The Bad
- there are 2 knife sheathes but only 1 knife included .
- the wire that attaches to his left leg hinders his leg articulation and it keeps coming off .Gonna cut it off .
- just like Duke ,he carries a pistol but there's no holster .

Verdict
- Highly recommended .The vest is highly detailed ,there's many molded pouches ,ammo clips and even a binocular
(not removable) .I removed the filter and it looks a lot better on him .One thing bugs me though ;the inclusion of a
pair of flippers .BH is a land specialist .

7) Firefly

The Good
- awesome alternate futuristic head ,detailed heavy vest ,cool arm protectors .
- sonar mines are attacheable to his backpack .
- arm protectors can be stored behind his vest .

The Bad
- hmm ,I can't think of anything bad .well maybe the inclusion of some hand grenades ?heh...

Verdict
Seriously ,whether you're a Joe collector or not ,get one of this badboy .He fits well as a futuristic trooper .

8) Alley viper

The Good
- man ,another figure with more accesories than your fingers can count .
- this is a repaint of the 25th Defense Of Cobra Island 7 Pack version ,which never made it to Malaysia .
- alternate Resolute helmet and goggles !
- 2 knives included that fits into both sheathes ,something that Beach Head lacks .

The Bad
- well ,I would have preferred the helmet and shield painted in black or dark grey .And get rid of those tiger
stripes .

Verdict
This guy is a definite troop builder and once again ,is highly sought after by collectors .
Hasbro should have included 2 per case but instead ,is making him hard to find just like the 7 pack .
However ,Alley Viper makes a return in wave 2 ,so that's some good news .

9) Quick Kick

The Good
- obviously an updated version from the 25th DVD Pack .
- he's no longer bare footed and his shirt is removable .Same for the practise gloves .

The Bad
- I didn't own the 25th version so I don't have any comment .

Verdict
Just got him this afternoon and already ,I am liking him .
It's also nice of Hasbro to price him at RM39.90 unlike the previous Arctic Doc and Shippy .

10) Spirit

The Good
- modern quiver and bow ,plus he has a military look that suits him better than the Native American 25th Anni
version .
- his vest is a repaint of Pit Commando .

The Bad
- darker green similar to Duke's pants is more fitting for a jungle assault op .
- only one arrow is included while the rest are moulded on the quiver .

Verdict
As with Quick Kick ,I bought him at TRU today .Although Freedom is not included ,his accesories made up for it .

As requested by cranx ,here's some comparison shots of BH and FF .I included their 25th versions as well .





Filter is removed from BH's helmet

more pics ...



All accesories stored onto the backpack



Predator team - Blaine ,Dutch and Billy











AV uses the same torso ,upper arms and upper legs as 25th Wave 7 SE.



Using the alternate AV's helmet ,I can create another AV .Need to swap out the lower arms first but with this ,I can double my AVs .



This post has been edited by darkshadow: Aug 14 2010, 09:51 PM

wow, nice review there darkshadow. i need to get me another AV & FF la macam ni~

some of the best detailed pictures I have seen so far!
will read your review now. thanks again.

by the way, is my eyes playing tricks on me? the new beachhead looks short.

i like variation in height though.

Thanks guys .cranx, indeed Beach is shorter than FF.by about half a head.

Great review darkshadow.

Just to confirm, Quick Kick and Spirit is available here in TRU KL. No wave 1 figs or vehicles in TRU, but other department stores may start stocking them. I found wave 1 at an Isetan store here, got myself another AV.

possible to wait until clearance then 50% off?

Thanks bro.Good score with the AV.'how many case do you figure arrived at Isetan?
so did you bought Spirit?

No I didn't buy Spirit. Won't be buying anymore till next month

But I think probably a few cases, had two HISS tanks, Wolfhounds, Ghosthawks and the Doom Cycle.

i am itching for another HISS.though it'll be another BIB for a few years.
and you only got 1 AV?somebody beat you to the rest?

Only 1 case of figures were on the shelves. But it was missing one SS and SE, only 10 figures there. So I picked up the AV. Will check out other branches tomorrow

got poisoned by darkshadow's pictures..ended up with these 4 today

cheers for building up your AV squad..
damn,when will TRU get them in.no vehicles,no wave 1....sucks.

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Added on August 15, 2010, 9:33 pmcheers on your haul.
you picked up the good ones too.
where did you buy yours?

This post has been edited by darkshadow: Aug 15 2010, 09:33 PM

Oh! Now i know how to setup the tent!! Earlier i tot i had damaged the cloth when using a blade to open the bubble

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Added on August 15, 2010, 10:43 pmHehe.. i bought a Hisstank, SE, SS, Beachhead n Snowjob.. wasn't planning to get snowjob but got poisoned by darkshadow too

Now that I hv the figures in hand, must say that the quality of the sculpt, accesories and paint is really a step above! the level of detail (say, on SE's jacket) is astounding... on par with the best Star Wars figures! can't wait to get more... looking for firefly

This post has been edited by jediwalker: Aug 15 2010, 10:43 PM

Grats on the awesome haul mate.

Where'd you pick them up?

Yea this years' lineup is awesomely detailed and geared. And not just simply giving gears but gears that you can properly store on the figures, like Snowjob and Firefly.

This post has been edited by Odinn: Aug 15 2010, 10:49 PM

now that most of us Joe collectors ,hardcore or casual have picked up their figures ,you guys are satisfied with the POC line rite?

this is indeed a huge step up from the crappy ROC line.
and thank goodnes no more oversize lame missile launcher gimmick.

one more thing I wanna highlight is that the hips on each POC fig are tight ,unlike the wobbly leg issue faced by 25th and ROC line.

Aye the legs are tighter and don't wobble. And the only good things I like from ROC is CS SE and the Target exclusive SE other than that, decent but not must haves. And yes, no senseless launchers. Can't wait for wave 2 to hit here