You guys are in luck, because Ol Yeller came across something that is pretty...freaking...new today. I was just in TRU yesterday and noticed that the pegs were running low on single pack Joes, so I went back today hoping that they stocked em up with some new wave stuff overnight (I was hoping for City Strike Snake Eyes, of course). No luck on that...but they did have the new Joe and Cobra troop-builder 5 packs. The Joe pack contains Dial-Tone, Zartan, Law & Order, Footloose, & Repeater while the Cobra pack contains the MARS Trooper, MARS Officer, Neo-Viper, Elite-Viper, and Duke in "Infiltrator Gear." The Joes are all in desert camo, the Cobras mostly black. I'll review both packs.
I'll start with the Joe pack.
Dial-Tone - an all new take on an old character. Easily the biggest disappointment when the set was revealed, because we heard we were getting Dial-Tone...only to get THIS Dial-Tone instead of our beloved 80's one. Obviously intended to be based on Resolute DT, this DT is clearly RoC Cover Girl's body with Agent Helix's head with plain brown hair. She comes with one of the bullpup rifles, a pistol, and a laptop. While decent-looking, there's two main problems with this figure I see. 1. It's not 80's Dial-Tone. 2. On my figure the paint app for her hair did not extend to the hair that hangs down below her hair and ears, so her hair is flesh-colored on the inside and looks pretty crappy. C'mon Hasbro!
Zartan - a desert-colored repaint of the Zartan figure. Comes with the same accessories, minus the cool knives and sword. Does make a pretty decent desert-camo MP (with brown hair this time) but otherwise a pretty MEH figure just like the RoC Zartan.
Law & Order - now we're getting somewhere. Law is a Zartan repaint with a different head. Sorry, I know the head's been used before, but I don't remember whose it is and I don't feel like digging through my Joes to find it. Law comes equipped with a bullpup rifle, the same night stick as Alley Viper, Pit Commando's riot helmet (painted black, with "MP" on it), a freaking HUGE riot shield (way bigger than Pit Commando's), and Order the dog, of course, who is supposed to be (I guess) a German Shepherd. Likes? His accessories are pretty cool, and it's nice to get another canine that's not a variant of Junkyard. Dislikes? Law doesn't look beefy enough without a vest (easily changed with some extra Pit Commando gear) and the spikes on Order's collar aren't painted. Which is easily changed, but is annoying when the Junkyard variant's collar spikes in the Cobra pack ARE painted.
Footloose - Footloose is a Sgt. Stone repaint. I THINK his head is 25th Breaker's head minus the whiskers and plus a mustache, but I'm not sure. He LOOKS a lot like the classic figure from a physical standpoint, anyway. Footloose has some pretty decent gear too, as he too has Pit Commando's riot helmet (with a new Joe eagle logo on it), Pit Commando's vest, and Pit Commando's badass assault rifle. You know, the same one outfitted with the double mag, foregrip, and Surefire light? I like Footloose and his gear...but I definitely would have preferred him in green.
Repeater - Repeater also closely resembles his original counterpart with one big change...Repeater is now black. Dunno why...I guess GI Joe now has affirmative action. Repeater is ALSO a Sgt. Stone repaint. He's outfitted with Stone's vest, Shockwave's cap, and a BIG FREAKING GUN that is really, really awesome. Black and silver with three grips (pistol, on top, and on the side) and an ammo belt that can be pulled completely through the weapon, this is one awesome gun that looks like it could really do some damage. The gun is almost as long as the figure...when stood on end it reaches up to Repeater's ear. Likes? The big freaking gun, of course. Dislikes? The cap doesn't stay on his head well, making it easy to lose, and of course the BFG, though awesome, is difficult to pose ol' Repeater with.
Overall this isn't a bad pack, but it isn't great either. While we technically get four "new" characters that we haven't seen in either RoC or 25th style, they are some straight up, totally rehashed repaints. I could have done without the Zartan, Dial-Tone is an absolute disappointment, Law needs more gear (though what he does have is pretty cool), and Footloose and Repeater are pretty decent...but how much better (and how much more sense would it have made) for Hasbro to release ALL FOUR of the new characters in single pack form in their classic colors...and classic sex, in the case of Dial Tone? Or at least in a five/seven pack...
Bottom line on this pack depends on if you can live without Footloose and Repeater (and L&O to a lesser extent) and if you dig the Joes in their desert camo. At $19.99 US it's not a bad value at $4 per figure IF YOU CAN LIVE WITH A BUNCH OF BLATANT REPAINTS. And if the sets had been any higher than $19.99 I wouldn't have bought them.