I very happily got my HasbroToyShop package today which included the Snarler Cycle with Beachhead & Rollbar and Accelerator Suit Duke. I'll review both.
The Snarler Cycle itself is a neat little cycle which appears to be the Arashikage cycle with an added sidecar...and in fact, the sticker sheet includes two Arashikage clan logos if you wish to make it as such! The main difference between the Snarler and the Arashikage is the Snarler's front end has a more traditional wheel/long handlebar/single headlamp setup. The sidecar includes a missile launcher. And for collectors who hate stickering vehicles, this is the vehicle for you, as it only included 6.
The Snarler Cycle comes with not one but TWO figures...who also happen to be fully outfitted with backpacks and weaponry (but still no figure stands!) Which once again begs the question...Hasbro, why couldn't you throw in a lousy pistol or rifle with the $40 Night Raven or the $25 Steel Crusher, but you can throw in TWO figures AND full accessories PLUS a vehicle on a $15 cycle?
The two figures are Beachhead and Rollbar. Beachhead is a straight repaint of the first (2007) single pack 25th anniversary Beachhead. This Beachhead has a black shirt and balaclava instead of a green one, and a light green vest and green camo pants. The backpack, pistol, submachine gun, and crossbow are all the same as the 25th Beachhead.
Rollbar is a straight repaint of 25th Airborne, which is a good and bad thing...good because Airborne was one of the best 25th figures (in my opinion anyway) and bad because he's such a straight repaint even the head is the same, though I'm sure customizers will quickly take care of that. Rollbar is recolored in light and dark gray camo, and comes with the same backpack, pistol, helmet, and carbine as Airborne. The only goofy thing about this figure is that the factory scrunched his rappelling gear up very close to his crotch so he could easily sit on the motorcycle or in the sidecar.
If you decide to add these two characters into your Joeverse, Beachhead is of course the easier of the two due to the fact that he's masked. You'll probably want to try and fit him in too, because he's a nice looking figure. Rollbar could easily be customized, and is still a very nice looking figure...I just wish they'd given him a slightly different head from Airborne.
Bottom line? You get two fully outfitted, nice looking figures PLUS a neat little vehicle for less than the price of two ROC figures at full retail. Can't beat that!
As for Accelerator Suit Duke, whether you want him or not of course depends on whether or not you despise the Accelerator suits. This is the exact same mold as Accelerator Suit Ripcord, just with darker (and I think nicer-looking) colors and a different head. The two figures come with the same gun, but Duke comes with the gauntlets that were used in the movie, which really makes for a nicer looking figure I think. Why they couldn't throw those in with Ripcord is beyond me, because they fit the same on him and look just as good. The only other difference I could find was the visor on Duke's helmet is glossy black instead of satin, which I also think looks nicer.
There was one thing I didn't like about this figure, and five minutes after opening him I'd already corrected it. For some reason, they painted the neck flesh color. Not only does it look kind of odd when you put the helmet on the figure, it doesn't match Ripcord whose neck is painted glossy black. I was so put off by this I quickly grabbed a gloss black paint marker and went to work on that neck, which greatly approved Duke's appearance IMO.
Bottom line on this figure? If you like the Accelerator Suits, get him. If you don't, well, don't get him unless you want to give him the M60 treatment for "ruining" GI Joe
Pictures of these guys, along with comparison shots between Duke, Ripcord, the Beachheads, and Airborne/Hit & Run/Rollbar are all available for viewing in my collection album on photobucket. Mainly because I still don't quite know how to get pics to work in the boards, so if someone could help me out there I'd appreciate it
And sorry that the quality isn't the best, my apt doesn't have the best lighting & I'm using the cruddy camera on my 1st gen iPhone.
http://s635.photobucket.com/albums/uu71/olyeller01/GI%20Joe%20Collection/
