Toy Review: GI Joe - The Adventure Team

01/28/10

Adventure Team

By the end of Hasbro’s foray into the 8″ scale, they had two sub-lines being released concurrently with the last of the 2007 Sigma 6 figures; the “Combat Squad”, and the “Adventure Team”. Both shared the same design themes and characteristics of the original line, but branched off in different directions.

The Combat Squad was a set of figures that took Sigma 6’s military themes and tweaked them a bit, making the figures military roles more realistic and accessory assortments closer to what soldiers would carry in real life. The figures themselves still shared the same anime inspired look of the Sigma 6 line (were in fact repainted and retooled from them) and the packages they came in were exactly the same except for some variations in graphic design and the fact that the end caps were green.

The Adventure Team, on the other hand took the line off on a tangent that I didn’t expect; the Joes as treasure hunters.

It was pretty high concept and a pretty bold move considering that we hadn’t seen a diversification like this since the days of the 12″ers. Sure you had the occasional GI Joe member who had a day job (remember The Fridge?) or came from another agency on loan (i.e. Shockwave), but at the end of the day, most of us associated Joes with the military, soldiering. They were supposed to duke it out with Cobra in tanks and jets with red and blue blaster fire passing back and forth harmlessly between them. That was the deal. This whole Adventure Team idea smelled like another “Trukk not Munky” situation in the making.

That feeling was disspelled as soon as people started seeing photos of the toys. The line featured 2 well known characters and 1 completely new one (to the line anyway). Not only did the 3 figures fit in perfectly with the rest of the line, they were given some great accessories (including a secondary toy) and a new package design that not only fit in with the old idea, but took it in the same direction as the toys they came with.

The box itself is a marvel. It’s pretty big. Bigger than most of the stuff I buy. If you were lucky enough to see this in stores, I’m sure you stopped to give it a look, even if you weren’t a fan. It has the same end cap construction as the original Sigma 6 line, but instead of the “metal” boxes, they had beige “crates” on the ends. Once you had the toys out of the package, you could use these crates as storage for the figures and accessories. I can’t tell you how useful this idea was and how much I wish we’d see it duplicated in other lines. The crates are detailed with molded woodgrain and rivets, as well as an Adventure Team “A”.

There are various labels on the panels, touting various aspects of the toy. There’s the KUNG FU GRIP! sticker out front, the big GI JOE: ADVENTURE TEAM on the bottom, and printed shipping labels on the top. The whole thing was seamlessly done and should probably be used as an example of excellent marketing.

There’s a huge window in where the toys are posed in the middle of an action. Normally I hate this because it means a whole lot of twist ties and plastic to get through, and chances of limbs and accessories warping in the package. However, in this instance it’s so well done that it’s worth it. Snake Eyes being spooked by the cobra, the tiger jumping Storm Shadow, and Recondo wrestling with the Crocodile shows off the toy, it’s articulation and it’s accessories in the best possible way. With the sturdy construction of this bigger 8″ scale, there’s less chance of deformation.

In the back there is some of the best product photography I have ever seen. Seriously, these photos are just amazing and I wish I had the equipment to duplicate some of it. Next to that is a description of the “adventure” that particular team member has undertaken and a list of their equipment.

Once you have them out of the box, there’s even more goodness to be had. The backdrop is a separate piece of cardboard with an appropriate setting already printed on it. The artwork is an improvement on the later Sigma 6 figures which were tied into the cartoon. These are more of painted environments that are pretty nice display dioramas if you’re willing to take some time to mount them properly. It’s an excellent include for collectors.

The other include (aside from the instructions, which are always nice and easy to understand) is the “Adventure Guide”. This little 14 page booklet serves the same purpose as those old fold up catalogs you used to get as a kid in you’re Transformer boxes. The ones that displayed all the toys that were slated to come out and the ones you could never find in the store. Rather than just boring product shots, the Guide is done as a mock industry newsletter or magazine, with adverts for gear, classified ads, and articles featuring more amazing product photography.

What is sad though is that you realize that this was meant to be only the 1st wave of Adventure Team figures. 3 more were already on the drawing board; Shark hunting in the Great Barrier Reef, Scorpion fighting in Atacama in Chile and an African encounter with a Gorilla. Sadly, like Scarlett, Wet-Suit, Dusty, and Joe Colton never made it to production (though a couple of test shots were sold on eBay).

The first one I opened was the “Pyramid of Peril”. This was the one that smelled the most like an Indiana Jones movie, with Snake Eyes trying to swipe an ancient jewel from a booby trapped pyramid. It even had snakes, just like the Raiders of the Lost Ark.

The window give you a perfect view of the figure without having to peer around corners. If you’re an MOCer, than these will make you happy.

He comes with a pair of binoculars, a canteen, 2 flashlights, a “Fastshot blaster” (a shotgun in layman’s terms), a “Ruin-ripping sword (or machete), a “Raider zipline” (self-explanatory) with grappling hooks, goggles, hood, amulet (this line’s dog tags), necklace and belt (I’m not sure they’re removable), gemstone, sword booby trap, and the articulated giant king cobra.

That’s a lot of swag.

I love the play potential of this set. The zipline is really something since they’ve given you a generous length of string to use. I can set it up at my desk and it feels like Sky Commanders back in the day. You can even string it through his belt an have him climb the rope. Most of the gear can be carried by him via the Sigma 6 ports he’s got around his person, but he has to trade off the canteen with the binoculars or extra flashlight.

The booby trap was fun for a while. It works pretty well; stick the gemstone in the hole, set the swords, and if someone grabs it the swords scissor off their arm. The trigger isn’t really all that sensitive though, so you have to work at it if you want it to snap closed.

The snake is pretty nice. It’s got 5 joints along it’s length and one more at the jaw. The tongue flicks out when you slide the lever at the back of the hood. The lever’s ratchet joints are tight, so the tongue doesn’t so much as flick as it muchs as it snaps out slowly in spurts, but I doubt a kid would notice. I kind of wish he was taller though, so he could properly look Snake Eyes in the eye instead of the foot. He’s also kind of short for a “king” cobra.

About the only thing I don’t like about Snake Eyes is his paint/ color scheme. The drab green seems out of place on some one digging through tombs in Egypt. Not to mention that the black hood doesn’t seem to mesh with the rest of him. If they had colored the hood olive, or given him more black paint applications somewhere it might have improved his look.

I opened Storm Shadow and “Danger in the Jungle” in which he is supposed to capture a tiger whose been terrorizing an Indian town. Again, the package makes this set all that much harder to resist.

More than the other figures, Storm Shadow comes with the most accessories actually related to the story on the back. Sent to capture the tiger, he comes with several ways to trap him.

He comes with a “Gotcha” trap (like a bear trap), a “Tiger tamer collar and chain”, a “Grabber-stapper” (like a polearm with a big circle at the end), and a huge net. In addition, he has 2 “bush-blazing swords” (really 2 halves of a sword), a loop that clips to his back so he can carry the said sword, a GPS device that looks like a cellphone, goggles, and the requisite amulet.

The capture method I like most is the chain. It’s detachable from the collar, so you can use it like he would any other ninja chain weapon. It would go well with any of the other Storm Shadows I have in my collection. You can slide in the dagger end to the sheath on the back of the tiger’s collar and it doubles as a leash for the kitty.

The net is pretty good as well. It’s big enough to cover the cat, and is equipped with a drawstring so that he can pull it closed over him. it’s a nice play feature that I’m sure kids can get into more than I can.

The Grabber-stabber is something I will probably never use. It doesn’t really look like a ninja weapon that he’d normally carry and there’s really no way for him to carry it on his person unless he’s doing so with his hands.

The swords aren’t as nice as some of the ones that have come with previous figures. I’d have preferred a scimitar of some sort to go with the Indian theme, but at least you can split this one in two, sort of like the Power Sword from He-man. That clip thing plugs into his back so that you can use it as a sheath, though I wish they had given him a socket on his belt instead. One less thing to worry about losing in the long run.

There are a few quality control issues with this figure that the others don’t suffer from. It could be the white color of the plastic, but the paint applications on this figure are sloppy. The maroon of his armor in particular spills over and the register lines are all over the place. In addition, the tiger’s head falls off ALL THE TIME as you can see from the picture above. It’s not a big deal since it goes back on, but now I’m hesitant to get the Marvel Legends Savage Land boxset with Zabu. If the cat figure there shares the same problem as this it’s going to suck.

It’s also sad how the chest armor isn’t removable. It would have been nice to have another bare chested Storm Shadow sans the tattoo of the Shouri Crossbow version.

I don’t really know what to make of the GPS tracking system. It seems like something a ninja wouldn’t need. Snake Eyes never needed one.

I literally saved the best for last. I’d seen Recondo and the “Terror of the Swamp” set in reviews many times, but since there were only a few Sigma 6 figures that reached Philippine shores, I was never able to get one. This figure is really the reason I bought the set and he is totally worth it.

Recondo is the only new character in the bunch, not having a counterpart in any of the previous Sigma 6 assortments. I’m sure there’s a reused part here or there, but he feels totally new. There are no mismatched parts here.

You can see from the photo that the croc is HUGE, taking up a lot of the space in the window. It masses almost as much as he does.

He comes with a Croc-handler’s leash, a “Tranquilizer” gun, “Trail-cutter machete” and an “Outback knife”, a canteen, his hat, amulet, and this weird jack. He must be on his way to fix a blown tire back at the highway or something.

The two knives are awesome. Remember that great scene in the geektastic Crocodile Dundee where he says “thaht’s noht a noif…”? Well, Recondo has two of the damn things and can kick Paul Hogan’s Aussie butt.

The “Tanquilizer” gun looks nothing of the sort. It’s a bad ass rifle with all sorts of junk wrapped around it. It’s not one of the high tech ones that any of the normal Sigma 6 members would carry around, but it looks great on him.

Sadly it’s not a modular design like some of the older accessories. I’d love to have seen it built from one of those Switchfire pistols that come with all the Duke figures.

The Croc is probably my favorite among the animal accessories. Despite it’s lack of articulation (8 points total,and all swivels, most of them limited), he’s the best looking. His sculpt is nearest the actual living thing he’s supposed to be. The detail is great, with all the horny scales on back and the row of teeth.

He’s also got an action feature like the snake. If you stick Recondo’s hand (or your finger) into his mouth, the jaw snaps down on it. Ouch! It doesn’t actually hurt, but I had some fun surprising people who came to my desk to visit.

Frankly, Recondo is the best of the trio, outshining the other two without question. He shows the potential of the Sigma 6 and Adventure Team lines to be the best toys of their class. It’s a shame that we never saw the rest.

Sadly, these toys are hard to find, even online. I used to see them all the time for about $20-30 (back when I thought I might actually have a chance at having them shipped here), but locally, they never appeared in any quantity. The only ones I’ve ever seen were at specialty shops and it was usually Storm Shadow.

If you can find Recondo for Php 1500-2000, I’d say pick him up without hesitation. The play value of that set alone is worth the money. The other two I might recommend to a Sigma 6 fan, but the lower quality of those figures skews my perspective on their value.

Hopefully, Hasbro will come to their senses and use some of those production pieces they have an release a few more sometime in the future. I’ve tried the 3.75″ line, but they just don’t comprare in my book to these 8″ figures. While the smaller Joes are always hit and miss with a ton of figures that are awful and useless, there isn’t one Sigma 6 figure that I regret buying.

Not one.