Figure Review – Spirit Iron-Knife (PoC TRU Exclusive)
Toys R Us has gotten some great GI Joe exclusives over the years. From Night Force to the 3 ¾ inch relaunch in ’97 to the re-release of the Mobile Command Center to RoC Firefly, Barbecue, Bench-Press, and the Sting Raider, shopping at TRU has long been a necessity for hardcore Joe fans. The list of TRU exclusives continues into the Pursuit of Cobra line with a pair of new figures, who also happen to be some longtime fan-favorites: Quick Kick and Spirit Iron-Knife.
Spirit’s newest version makes him look much less like a stereotypical Native American than his 25th Anniversary version. The new version is very much the badass jungle warrior. He comes dressed in a light green sleeveless shirt, with long green, baggy BDU pants that stretch to the ankles. The pants have that same odd dotted camouflage pattern on them that was on the Resolute Roadblock figure included with the Wal-Mart exclusive RoC Outpost Defender. Strangely enough, Spirit has ONE kneepad, painted black. There are also green wristpads and elbow pads as well as light gray fingerless gloves. The elbowpads have designs on them…the right one has a tribal design and the left one has a red, Native American-style eagle design. Completing the wardrobe is a large gray vest, which is loaded with pockets and includes a small, non-removable black pistol on the bottom left side.
The figure’s head is finely detailed. Spirit’s face definitely looks like he is of Native American heritage, and he has a stern, intense face. Spirit has long, black hair that is held out of his eyes with a green headband, MUCH better than the pigtails on the 25th version. There is also green camo/war paint under his eyes. Trust me, it’s the detail, sculpting, and paint apps on the head that really make this figure one to behold.
Spirit, like most of the PoC figures, comes loaded with gear. Somewhat stereotypically, Spirit does come with a compound bow, quiver with arrows, and a tomahawk. He also has an M-16 with underslung shotgun and a large machete for chopping through jungles. Also included are two small, bright green snakes that closely resemble bamboo vipers. There are a few interesting notes about the gear, particularly one of the arrows. This arrow (which snaps onto the back of the quiver) is removable. Not only does it have an actual, tiny nock on its rear (in case you feel inclined to string the bow with thread), the arrowhead will actually fit into the backpack holes on 25th/RoC/PoC/ figures so Spirit can shoot them in the back.
As for the rest of the gear, the compound bow is very nicely detailed, and the machete looks sufficiently nasty. The M-16/shotgun combination is nicely detailed, but to me it just seems a little too big. I much prefer the M-4/shotgun combo that Marauder Gun Runners has available. Trust me, the weapon included with Spirit is very nice, but I just like the size of the M-4 and I think it would be a much less unwieldy weapon to use in the jungle.
This Spirit is a great figure, like pretty much every other PoC figure. I do have a few complaints, like just about every other figure out there. I’m not a big fan of the “dot” camo on the pants, I find the single kneepad very odd, and I wish the green and gray on the figure were darker shades. The bamboo vipers are somewhat odd accessories, and I’m also going to trade the included M-16/shotgun with a Marauder M-4/shotgun. These complaints are minimal however, and the figure is still plenty badass.
Overall, PoC Spirit is an awesome figure. This figure really brings the character of Spirit into the 21st century. The figure also bears more than a passing resemblance to Sonny Landham’s character Billy Sole from
Predator. Give Spirit a different camo scheme, black facepaint instead of green, and a tied-up bush hat, and you’d have a Billy figure. Seriously, just check out the resemblance, especially the weapon choice:
I can just see Hawk requesting Spirit to “fi-uhnd me a wayuh out of this
hole.”
So, for all the reasons listed above and more, PoC Spirit is a must-have figure. He’s pretty hard to find at TRU right now, though Internet prices aren’t unreasonable at around $15. However, I would advise waiting, as just about every TRU exclusive has shown up in numbers eventually. The initial wave of PoC has been pretty fantastic, and these first two TRU exclusives, particularly this one, leave me unable to wait for more!
