Found the whole wave today here in Colorado. A quick mini-review:


Baroness - not bad. I'll probably just head swap her with my black one, though.

Flint - pretty good -- I still don't like the head and the upper arms are too skinny for such "ripped" forearms, but he'll make good fodder.

Roadblock- I'm gonna head swap him with my custom RB (from the comic pack) and paint his vest more of an olive green -- since we now have our first shot of neon in the 25A line

Python Officer - I'm not gonna Army-build this one, but I think I can make him some type of vehicle driver.

Bludd - biggest disappointment of the wave, maybe of the line. Looks great in the package, sucks balls when opened. We all knew the elbow was missing on the right arm. But the swivel wrist & "2-fingered" glove is lame. Worst of all - the helmet is glued on. We went through all that waiting so they could get the head sculpt right, and they screw us. I may not salvage anything from this figure and just use my custom figure as-is. I'll rip off the helmet and see if there is any merit in sculpting some hair - then at least I can save the head. But otherwise, Bludd is a major no-go. I didn't mind in the least that they used the Zartan body. But unfortunately, the Zartan body is the only good thing about this figure.

CC w/ crystals - no thanks. Seriously, this was a worthless re-paint just for a tube of pink stuff. Left it on the peg.

Snake Eyes - surprisingly, the best in a long time. If he weren't so environment-specific, I'd say this is the best 25A figure so far. Sculpting is amazing, he's fun to play with right out of the package and he comes with some decent stuff. I'm going to get multiples for customs and start playing in the snow more often

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This is is just insane on Hasbro's part. I saw wave 7 finally and only half the wave at Targt. All Wal-Mart stores here are actually getting refresh cases of the 5-pack single packed figures. That Target that had wave 7, no restock and it's now going on 2 weeks with empty pegs.

It's actually becoming more about finding the figures than actually collecting them. It sucks.

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The Bludd FIGURE is garbage, pure and simple. A complete screw up by Hasbro, absolutely horrible.

OTOH his hand cannon, backpack, and ID tags kick all kinds of ass.



I'll put the gear towards the custom Bludd I have to make. Whoever made the decision that Zartan's mold should be used for the Major should be fired, this is the biggest screw up in the line. Push him back 2 waves to "get him right" and they couldn't have done it any more wrong.

OK, so the shop I get my Joes from didn't bring in enough of wave 7 so now there are alot of people here (like me) still waiting for their pre-orders.

But I did get wave 8. And wave 8 sucks!

First of all, the character selection consists entirely of previously released characters. Remember that Major Bludd was supposed to be part of the lineup from wave 6.

Now, breaking it down by figure:

• The Cobra Commander - Sort of like a combination between the Battle Pack & Senior Rank figures. Nothing new except for the MASS crystals. I didn't even take the figure out of the card.
  
• The Baroness - Seems like new tooling. But the MASS Device colors don't really do anything for me. I left her MOC too.
  
• Major Bludd - ARGH! The worst figure. Very disappointing. I can understand the arm homage but the Devil's Due/Sigma 6 hybrid Zartan mold just doesn't work for Bludd. The dog tags seem to keep riding up his neck. And why glue the helmet onto the head? The preproduction prototype already had a removable helmet. Is this how they "fixed" the figure for two waves? And those rockets keep falling off his backpack or the gun!
  
• Python Officer- This was to be expected. But it would have worked better if the entire Patrol was released as a set. Right now, I still prefer the Night Watch. Another figure I didn't take out of the package.
  
• Roadblock - Again, another disappointment. He has painted shirt sleeves but nothing sculpted on. The vest doesn't fit too well and is colored in a strange lime green different from the original figure. And that head/face of the Battle Pack figure just doesn't scream Roadblock.
  
• Tiger Flint - Everything about Flint was fixed on this figure: neck, arms, gloves. Now if only it was done in the classic colors! Just like Python Patrol, Tiger Force only works if you have the entire set!
  
• Snowy Snakes - I like this one. A very good update to the 2004 Comic Pack version. But with Snow Job as the only other Arctic Trooper around, this figure won't see much use from me right now.
  
• Viper - THE BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT OF ALL. I was really expecting to troop build this one. Everything is just wrong with this figure. The goggles don't stay in place, the vest doesn't fit right, the joints don't bend/rotate well, the weird positioning of the hands, the immovable ankles... heck the entire figure has this rough, unpolished look and feel to it. I guess I'll just keep on buying those loose Battle Pack Troopers instead.

Overall, I'd say skip this wave or just get them later on.

- JM

this was the 1st wave I didn't want all the figures.I never did buy CC, the python trooper, or roadblock.Baroness is still in package but I will open her sometime,same with flint but I probobly won't open. I think the snake eyes figure is great, too bad the coat wasn't a different color but he's a great figure and his legs would be great for other customs.
I like the bludd figure besides the dogtags are bad and the helmet isn't removable.I don't mind the arm at all really and I like the zartan mold, he's one of my favorite figures though bludd should've had his own mold.But this wave ain't nothing to brag about beside snake eyes and baroness.

Some photos:

















The Viper is just so horrible, the photos speak for themselves.















This is what Roadblock should have come with: the M240B just like the 1986 version!









Those rockets wouldn't stay on the backpack for more than 3seconds!

















Notice that Flint has completely new arms. They are NOT retooled from Shipwreck.

















See the L & R stamped on the snowshoes? That's also a new Uzi, BTW.

- JM

My wife went to Walmart out here in Chicago and got me a Baroness, A Roadblock, a Flint, a Major Bludd, a Viper and a Hiss Driver.

My rockets are still in the backpack...i didn't even know they came out. I also didn't know Major Bludd has 3 fingers. Great figures though

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The Cobra Commander & Python Trooper both have fixed crotches too.

- JM

Seeing that Roadblock out of the package really points out what a teeny tiny little pin head he has, that's why mine is still in the package.

As for the good Major's two fingers and thumb, take a look at the ARAH Major Bludd and you'll see it there too. Combine that with the no joints in the elbow, and you get my belief that it's a prosthetic arm. And I still believe that, one arm to go with one eye, a true merc.

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nice pictures showing the difference in the new flint arms. in person do they just look close to how shipwreck's were designed or are they the same, just flesh colored plastic?

kinda hard to tell from the pics

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Different sculpts entirely. If you look at Shipwreck's arms, the plastic seam runs between the two large forearm muscles (between the flexor carpi ulnaris & the extensors); while in Flint's arms, the seam crosses the lower muscle (flexor carpi ulnaris) in the right arm and the upper muscle (extensor carpi ulnaris) in the left arm.

Also if you look at Flint's elbow, it makes more of a shperical shape in his forearm than Shipwreck's.

- JM