G.I. Joe Renegades: Firefly

Presenting the Firefly from the G.I. Joe Renegades cartoon line shown here trying to sell you a brand new celphone (Detonator) - or he'll kill you (Eh! He's crazy so he'll probably kill you anyway).



Renegades Firefly in the new G.I. Joe Cartoons literally is crazy. He's a pyromaniac - which, if you follow popular psychology, will tell you that he's also a rapist and a bed-wetter - who covers himself completely to hide the hideous burn scars that cover his body (What do we say about those who play with fire?). So far he's only appeared in one Renegades episode where he eludes both Snake Eyes and Duke and comes to blows with, of all people (enjoy the irony), Barbecue in a crashing helicopter. Roadblock got Barbecue out before the chopper could crash leaving Renegades Firefly presumed dead - for now.



Renegades Firefly the Cobra Saboteur's blister card reads his name and place of birth as both unknown and reads "Firefly is a saboteur hired by Cobra to perform acts of sabotage and destruction. He has a high opinion of himself and his skills - and he's not wrong. He's an expert with explosives, all kinds of weapons, martial arts combat and infiltration. He works alone, he hides his identity, and the only kind of trouble he likes is the kind he himself causes."

The blister card goes on to read that Renegades Firefly is equipped with a Plasma pulse mortar launcher as his primary weapon. And that he brings with him a Demolitions pack, mobile detonation device, incendiary mine with container, assault rifle, fuel canister, machete and an axe. But as you can see here, don't expect to find the mortar launcher, demolitions pack, incendiary mine with container, fuel canister nor the axe. Missing pieces seems to be a sickness of this G.I. Joe Renegades series. Though to be fair, they decided to throw in an M79 single-shot grenade launcher - which fits nicely with the grenades strapped to his wrist - and a strange artillery shell - sans the cannon that launches it.


What's to like about Renegades Firefly?


As with the new Renegades Cobra Commander, Snake Eyes and Duke  Renegades Firefly comes with the much beloved new wrist joints that provide for greater pose-ability in general.

This comes in quite handy when drawing his machete and in using his grenade launcher. You can actually picture him coming up nice and close and firing a solid slug with that launcher straight into someone's chest.

I'm also quite fond of just how menacing Renegades Firefly looks. He definitely does not look happy. Though I'm not sure why he chose to leave his nose exposed. If it's really cold, Renegades Firefly may end up freezing it off. And it's quite a tempting target. 

Which brings us to the unknown Artillery Shell. What the hell are we supposed to do with this Hasbro? To their credit, Renegades Firefly is a saboteur. Which means that he makes do with what he has at hand. So the scenario of him either sabotaging Joe ammunition or throwing an artillery shell is not quite far-fetched. 

What don't we like about Renegades Firefly?

Aside from the fact that I'm not a fan of Anime renditions of popular characters and the expected lack of equipment, Renegades Firefly has a problem with his overcoat. It's hard enough that it limits his flexibility. Worse it's only held in place by one tab on his left side so most of the time, while posing him, it will pop open.

The articulation also unfortunately does not allow Renegades Firefly to look down the barrel of his rifle - i's a very cool looking rifle by the way (For which he does not carry spare clips - though he has a bandoleer. Chance are he has to load that clip bullet by bullet).

It would also be great if Renegades Firefly had a back-up weapon other than a machete which is a weird weapon for an arsonist to have. Speaking of which, he carries only what looks like C4 sticks on his left side, but that's about it in terms of subtle explosives. Everything else he has is loud and noisy. A back-pack full of explosives similar to that from the 25th edition Firefly would have been great..

This particular Renegades Firefly is the last of a set of four that I purchased as a group that included Renegades Cobra Commander, Snake Eyes and Duke. The set of four cost PhP 2,400 (Roughly US$13.95 plus shipping.)