Hello everyone,
November 19, 2012 I
posted here about a new Kickstarter project. Falcone (a Yojoe board member) was planning making Shooter, a black female character Hasbro never made. Also, to reduce is development cost he was also planning making few more female troopers out of the same mold. The beauty of this project was to make them factory quality (in China) in the o-ring vintage format. Each fig was $10 and shipping was $1 extra for non-US resident. Eight months later, I now have five of these figs in hands. Why only five out of the
8 produced? First, I wasn't sure about quality. Second, I wasn't sure that project would be successful. We just have to think about the OSC project
. Anyway, lets review these:
Family picture:
Originality of the idea: 10/10
For sure, this idea is 100% original. And, making these in the o-ring format is great news!
Paint quality: 10/10
I have to say, the paint application is really well done (factory done). Face are really well painted with eyes on the spot. Colours are also a great idea: Arctic theme, Shadow (Black), Action force (Quarrel), etc.
Variety: 9/10
White skin, black skin, brunette, blond, red head, etc. You will fill all your fantasies
. Also, each fig come with two heads: With and without helmet. More variations could have been done (short sleeves, different torso, different head), but for a first project this is more than we could expect.
Articulations: 8/10
You will find about the same articulations than the regular vintage GI Joe (swivel arms, shoulders, knees, waist). Except this is not a ball joint head. So, this figure will only turn is head left-right. A ball joint head would have give this fig the two missing points out of 10... In addition, but not necessary, this fig has swivel wrist. This give her better grip on accessories, but wasn't a must have. Finally, joints are tights and legs are standing right (without any spring that spread them apart).
Part compatibility: 7/10
No feet holes: this a not a major issue since the fig stand really well alone. Also, the back hole is too large to put a backpack. This a not a major issue either since we can put filler (like hold-it) to make a backpack feel tighter in her back. Right now, I didn't try to unassemble her to see if I can take her arms, legs, torso to fit on another figs (see below why).
Overall look: 3/10
I have to say, this a the major disappointment for me. The first thing you would think when someone make a vintage o-ring fig is that fig will be compatible with o-ring size fig. But, it's not. These figs are really 4 inches size, not 3 and 3/4 inches size. A picture will say everything:
These figs are more size compatible with new 25th anniversary fig, but... why? Still a mystery for me. They were not sold as 4 inches figs (while they are now sold as 4'' on Falcone's website) and the word vintage was use when talking about Shooter, Amber, etc. That's a big turn off for me. And, each part is taller: legs, torso, arms, etc. So, this is not a problem with 1 part. The fig itself is proportional with itself.
Also, arms are a little bit skinny and her waist too big. These mistakes can be tolerable since we talk about a single individual making all of this. But the size difference is... too big!!
Accessories: 1/10
Each fig comes with an unusable and useless weapon. I didn't even picture it. It's already in the garbage can. When stores like Marauder already exist, I don't even see the point for fans to compete one against others to do the same thing. The market is not really big and expertise, time and funding are rare. So, making a weapon was and still is a bad idea, IMHO.
Final conclusion:By themselves, these look very well, very professional and a very good start for a one man project. For a $10 project fig, this is well done. But, displayed with other regular vintage GI Joe, these look off.
If you missed the original Kickstarter project and want one now, you may
contact Falcone.
Do you like it? Will you buy one? Why?
His visor is cool, but nothing extraordinary. 
