Ultimate Storm Shadow

Presenting the Ultimate Storm Shadow from the GI Joe Retaliation line.

Now off-hand that's really a big packaging boast - to go claim that it's "the Ultimate." Reminds me of the much celebrated POC Snake-Eyes Ninja Commando which had so much gear and stuff. Snake Eyes was near perfect... ultimate... then I just had to comment: "Where's Timber?" I'm pretty sure that somewhere out there, a Hasbro Toy maker started building a voodoo doll of me.

And let's face it, other than the new hand-grips and foot articulation (Which we've seen before thanks to the Retaliation Ninja Showdown Set), what could Hasbro possibly give Storm Shadow that would be an improvement over the previous Storm Shadows? Especially with the presence of the Desert Battle Storm Shadow which I absolutely love and is nigh perfect!

So yeah: Ultimate Storm Shadow? Let's see.

GI Joe Retaliation Lady Jaye

Presenting Lady Jaye from the GI Joe Retaliation Toy Line.

As if you did not know it, Lady Jaye was played by Adrianne Palicki in the GI Joe Retaliation movie. I have to admit that I am not a fan of Friday Night Lights (Which, ironically, never airs on a Friday), nor of Andrianne's quite feeble attempt at being Wonder Woman (Totally miscast. Jamie Alexander - Sif - would have made a better Wonder Woman); but I am a fan of Legion where she played the lead character, Charlie, who gave birth to the savior of mankind. 

To the uninitiated (whaaatttt???), Lady Jaye is the covert operations specialist of the GI Joe Team. There are several Cobra's who are her counterparts, including the Dreadnok Zarana (Both of which prefer not to use complex disguises and instead get along with astounding character changes).

GI Joe Retaliation Firefly with Power-Up Blast Board

Presenting Firefly with his Power-Up Blast Board from the GI Joe Retaliation toy line.

I have to say that I'm not really fond of Luges - especially motorized ones. I think that they border on the reckless and irresponsible and that they're road hazards.

But that's just me.

The Cobra Saboteur Firefly finally makes an appearance in the upcoming GI Joe Retaliation movie where he is portrayed by Ray Stevenson - you may remember him from Marvel's Punisher: War Zone (2008) and from Thor where he played - get this, Volstagg.

So immediately you can see that his toy version LOOKS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING LIKE RAY STEVENSON!!!! If anything he looks a lot like Zartan. He doesn't even sport an unkempt beard that Ray sports as Firefly in the GI Joe Retaliation movie.

Major bummer.

GI Joe Retaliation Ninja Dojo Set feat Kamakura, Roadblock and Beachhead

Presenting Kamakura, Roadblock and Beachhead from the GI Joe Retaliation Ninja Dojo set.

Of these three characters, only Roadblock is available individually from the Retaliation line. I'm not really a fan of the individual Roadblock, so I decided to pick up the Ninja Dojo set instead.

As with the GI Joe Retaliation Ninja Showdown set, the Ninja Dojo set comes chock full of accessories which is definitely a plus to the set and a definite reason to pick it up. We'll go into this in greater detail later, but the Ninja Dojo set comes with some of the best - and probably some of the most fan favorite - accessories from the 25th Anniversary GI Joe series.

GI Joe Retaliation: Zartan

Presenting the Cobra shape-shifting mercenary, Zartan from the GI Joe Retaliation line.

I remember being totally in awe back when I was a kid and had a 1984 released Zartan figure. The figure action changed color in the sunlight (yeah we were a generation that was easier to please)! Even Zartan's body-armor had thermal sensitive stickers that changed color depending upon the temperature, and he came with a swamp skier that also changed color in the sunlight.

Oh happy days.

Unfortunately his 25th anniversary figure - which came with a scaled down version of the Swamp-Skier - does not change color.

He was probably toxic.

There was also a really, really cool version of Zartan released in the Pursuit of Cobra line which I have not reviewed, but can be glimpsed here.

GI Joe Retaliation Trooper

Presenting the GI Joe Retaliation Trooper.

Today is the 11th Anniversary of the 9-11 tragedy so I thought it would be nice to review such an iconic figure today.

The GI Joe Retaliation Trooper is the current chase figure thanks to it's troop building value - and the fact that, if rumors are true - there's only one GI Joe Trooper in each of the currently dispatched Hasbro Boxes.

I'm personally not sure if he's rarer than the Red Ninja... Just occurred to me that I have a Red Ninja somewhere and I've totally forgotten about him... anyway, personal experience indicates to me that he is rarer than the Retaliation Cobra Red Ninja.

I actually found this particular GI Joe Trooper in - of all places - a bookstore.

G.I. Joe Retaliation Cobra HISS Tank

Presenting the new G.I. Joe Retaliation Cobra HISS Tank!

It is still unknown as to whether or not this latest incarnation of Cobra HISS Tanks (Technically H.I.S.S. Tanks or High-Speed Sentry Tanks - the original H.I.S.S. Tanks had a maximum speed of 120kph) will make it into the actual Retaliation movie and this is not the version that transforms into Shockwave (SDCC 2012 Exclusive) - else the main cannon would be very different.

The Retaliation COBRA Hiss Tank  is technically therefore the Mark VI version of the HISS Tank as - while it has some similarities - it is markedly different from the Mark V version of the HISS Tank that was released as a part of the G.I. Joe Pursuit of Cobra Toyline.

G.I. Joe Retaliation Ninja Showdown Set

Storm Shadow and his Red Ninja anxiously awaited the arrival of Snake Eyes

Presenting the Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow and the Red Ninja from the GI Joe Retaliation Ninja Showdown Set.

I actually had the opportunity to purchase the individual G.I. Joe Retaliation Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow and Red Ninja when I chanced upon this three pack. I noted that the three pack looked like the better deal because both the individual Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow were just painted in their base black and white colors respectively. They were kinda...plain and typical. At the very least the two in the Retaliation Ninja Showdown Set gave me more... color... variety if you will.

Another advantage of the G.I. Joe Retaliation Ninja Showdown set over the individual Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow figures was that the set was chock full of accessories. I  would not be stuck with just a pair of "Sky Commander" Zipline rip-offs (Though I have to say that the Zipline comes with 7 feet of string and THAT is impressive for an action-figure), but weapons and accessories that I could use for other purposes and figures.

So I picked up the set instead - and the Red Ninja - but only because people were scalping them.