Toy Review: ROC Snarler Cycle

09/26/09

Snarler Cycle with

Beachhead & Rollbar

When I started this whole toy thing, I sold ALL of the GI Joe vehicles and figures I had brought with me to the Philippines. This included but was not limited to the Cobra Condor, the GI Joe Battle Bunker, and the Retaliator. I had a long internal discussion with myself: nostalgia vs. articulation. Articulation won out and the vintage stuff was sold to fund purchases in lines like Marvel Legends which were more fun to play with.

Then the 25th Anniversary Joes came out and everyone was saying how great the articulation was and that they fit in the old vehicles. Early shots showed up and they were in the same old cards with the same great gobs of accessories, each one unique and with a joint count that rivaled that of Toy Biz figure at the height of that company’s reign as action figure champion.

Insert massive facepalm here.

Now that the 25th Anniversary line has moved nicely into the new Rise of Cobra (ROC) movie line, Hasbro’s giving collectors yet another chance to get a centerpiece for their own personal armies. However, there are 2 things stopping me from plunking down a few grand on one of these babies.

1. I’m not made of money
2. Shelf space is a finite resource

That’s why the Snarler Cycle is such a nice little compromise. It’s one of these new “Alpha Class Vehicles” which isn’t too expensive and pretty small so it doesn’t take up a whole lot of space. Plus it comes with 2 figures instead of 1 like the rest of its wave. What a steal!

Locally, these were released last month at a price of about p1,000.00. Since regular ROC figures cost p450.00, that means you’re getting a vehicle for just p100.00! Of course, this is a small vehicle and the figures don’t have a ton of gear, but leave me to my delusions. If you’re looking at either the Sky Sweeper Jet or the Mantis Attach Sub, you’ll get a more substantial vehicle, but you’ll be missing out on the bad ass Beach Head figure, which is the real reason I got this.

Like I said, this version of Wayne Sneeden (*snicker*), is pretty damn nice. Since I missed the first round of figures from the 25th line, I don’t know if this is just a re-issue or not, but if you don’t have it, best you get it. He comes with some choice gear; his trademark sub-machine gun, that cool backpack with the attached crossbow, a pistol that fits into his thigh holster, and a vest that’s different from the Hall of Heroes Beachhead.

For the price, it’s pretty understandable Hasbro didn’t pile on the accessories here. He doesn’t even come with the requisite stand that all the other 25th/ROC figures I’ve seen have. The includes are more along the lines of the 25th Anniversary 2-packs, just what the soldiers would carry I guess.

Rollbar was just really icing on the cake. Though he’s certain to be a repaint, his inclusion in this set means he just adds value to it. He’s got about the same amount of gear as balaclava boy: helmet, backpack, rifle, and a pistol. It’s all nice looking and appropriate so I’ve got no complaints. If I were to venture a guess, I’d say he looks like an Airborne repaint. I know the rifle is the same as the one I saw in that figures bubble.

His paint scheme indicates that he’s the Hoke Colburn and Beachhead’s the Daisy Werthan (what? I can’t put a Driving Miss Daisy reference in my reviews?) in this relationship, but even away from the bike, Rollbar looks pretty good on his own. If you stood him up next to Scarlett, he could probably pass for the Sky Patrol version of Airborne (another figure I used to have *sob*). I think I’ll try and see what he looks like with the Cobra Paratrooper gear, just for kicks.

The bike itself is a bit of a disappointment really. Remember I said it was basically p100.00? Well it looks like it. But then that’s not really true either since I’ve got a few 1/18th scale Maisto bikes with diecast parts which I got on sale for p100.00 each and look pretty nice with one of these Joes on the saddle. This one just looks cheap. The plastic has a minimal amount of paint applications and looks awfully translucent. There aren’t a lot of sculpted details to it either and design wise, I think I’d prefer to get a RAM more than this. It just looks more like it belongs in a world where GI Joe would exist. The Snarler looks more like a weak attempt to mimic real world bikes.

Accesory wise, you don’t get much. The two guns are detachable, but really, who wants to display this with out the guns? The big one has another of the spring-loaded BFGs that every Joe comes with now. At least it looks more appropriate when there’s a vehicle to mount it on. I think there was a sticker sheet in the box, but I didn’t bother applying it anymore since I wasn’t sure I wanted to keep it.

So in the end, the reason to get this set is value. You get one great figure, one good figure, and one glorified stand for a pretty fair price. Considering the latest vehicle wave (the one including the Target exclusive SNAKE Armor with Viper) to arrive here was priced at p1,300.00 and include only 1 figure, and some glorified accessories, this set and the other two in its batch are pretty good bang for your piso.

The PROBLEM is that you can not find it anywhere. I was lucky enough to score mine on the day Toy Kingdom Podium was shelving them, and I know some guys were lucky enough to get them on the first day of the recent Cybertron Philippines and Toys R’ Us Hall of Heroes event in Robinsons Manila, but they’re almost as hard to find now as a Paris Pursuit Snake Eyes. Good luck people.