Last year I posted about both an official and unofficial revival of Action Force, with figures released in homage to my favourite toy line of the 1980s. This week I received three fresh new figures created by Black Major Nation, an independent toy manufacturer named after one of the villains of the original toy line.
The figures are another version of Red Jackal, a Cobra style trooper in a Red Shadows style uniform and a Cobra Eel Trooper from the classic G.I.Joe line but done in the colour scheme of a Kraken from vintage Action Force.
Red Jackal is basically a repaint of "Destro", one of the key members of Cobra, the terrorist organisation that fought against G.I.Joe. Back in the 1980s, Destro had a repaint and was released as Red Jackal in the UK. This makes the toy very collectible now for American collectors who have all the G.I.Joe figures released in America.
Unlike the Red Jackal I blogged about last year, this one is a multi-jointed "o-ring" figure, like the original one in the 80s. (It's called an o-ring figure because the legs are attached to the rest of the body using a rubber band inside the figure - that's the O.)
Red Jackal comes with two alternate heads - one would turn him into Red Laser and the other is a Cobra Commander hooded head with an anachronistic AF Enemy logo on his hood.
The Cobra Trooper is OK. It would fit in with some Enemy troops fine.
The Kraken Eel is, well, crackin'. The colour scheme is perfect.
I really like this figure although the accessories are a little bit fiddly. They don't fit together very securely and the peg on the back-pack is quite loose in the hole in the figures back where it's meant to attach. As a display piece it's great; as a play figure, bits would quickly get lost.
Shortly after I blogged about the figures last year I acquired some figures from a different independent manufacturer, Lady Jaye Toys. They released some "Shadow Troopers" in a variety of weird colour schemes. I decided to just get the classic Red Shadows they released in tribute to the original range.
Again, these are o-ring figures. They come with two different weapons - a reproduction of the bazooka that was shipped with the vintage figures, and a machine gun.
If I had one criticism of these figures, it's that the heads are two small when compared with the vintage figures. However, they come with optional different heads, including one to create a Black Major if you want one.
I have acquired a few vintage Action Force items recently as well, so will share those on the blog at some point.
No comments:
Post a Comment