Was trying not to get into this line, because I knew it would just be a money pit. Was holding out for the Alley Vipers, and was going to make a few of those my only purchases for this line, because they were always my favourite, but when I saw Destro I just had to get him. Destro is one of the few Joes I can actually vividly remember the day I bought the original, so he's a little special in that regard.
Quick little "review." I really like that they didn't mess with Destro's design too much. I'm also glad that the little circle I've been seeing on the top of his head in most reviews seems to be a molding error, and not part of a mask redesign. Neither of my Destros have it.
In terms of articulation, I've always hated hinged wrists, and I feel if you have them that a forearm swivel is a must. Unfortunately, these figures don't have a forearm swivel. Other than that, I think the articulation is pretty good. My Snake Eyes has an
incredibly loose ab crunch, however. Not really happy with how they've done his shoulders, either. They look like they're too low. It can be fudged to look alright in certain poses, but a standard, museum pose just looks off. I guess they made them like that so they could reuse the mold for figures like the red ninjas, and having lower shoulders allows for things like the shoulder pads to not get in the way of arm articulation. Kinda hope they make a v1 style Snake Eyes at some point, though, because I like the more commando/less ninja versions of Snake Eyes.
As for paint, mine are pretty clean. I might go in and highlight a few detail bits to give it more depth, but it's pretty good for factory paint. The all-black colour scheme of Snake Eyes, which works in concept, kinda just makes him look like a hunk of black plastic, so I feel like there needs to be something to break it up a little. PDD has a kind of sloppy app on his cape, but the leopard print app looks great.
On the subject of guns, I'm not really too excited about the Nerf guns, although I can see why they are doing it. The cartoon Joes, and the later figures, did have fantasy/laser guns, but there are some characters where the real-deal guns are almost a vital part of the character, like Snake Eyes and his uzi. Luckily, I had one in a parts box that I gave him. I gave Destro a stockless assault rifle, as he seems like someone that would shoot from the hip (bullets are cheap when you're an arms dealer). I also replaced his gold gun with an older revolver, because he seems like the kind of guy that would delight in using a no-nonsense, old style weapon to take out an enemy when he had the old super-villain upper hand. I gave his gold gun to PDD, because dual wielding gold pistols seems flashy, and fits what that version of the character has going on.
Overall, I really like the Destros, and the gold head of PDD definitely makes me hope they make a v2/Iron Grenadiers version at some point. However, Snake Eyes immediately made me feel buyer's remorse. I kinda bought him on impulse/instinct, because it's GI Joe. Buying Snake Eyes is a requirement, right? The fact I never really liked Snake Eyes to begin with coupled with the things I perceive as the figure's shortcomings kinda makes me very "Meh" on the figure. If someone was having a hard time finding Snake Eyes and had something like a Cobra Trooper they wanted to trade for it I wouldn't really have a problem accepting that trade. I personally think Cobra Troopers are cooler than Snake Eyes, and I know that's probably heresy in the GI Joe community.
