Before I can talk about the awesomeness of the accessories, I must foolishly admit that I lost one*. I opened Low-Light this weekend to discover that one of the bullets in his bullet tray was removable. That was awesome and dreadful! Sure that I would lose it, I placed it in its holder at the bottom of Low-Light’s backpack. Low-Light then stood vigil on my desk until I took him to the studio for his pics. I emptied the contents of his bag to find… no bullet. I have no idea where it went or what happened, but it’s a 1:18th scale bullet – I’m fairly certain I will never see it again. So my apologies for not being able to show you guys all his accessories.

* – I’ve also lost the antenna on his sat phone a couple times. It tends to shoot off like a missile if you bump it. If I could trade the carpet the antenna to get the bullet back, I most certainly would. The antenna is annoying, the bullet was cool.

Since I’m now buying DC Classics in even “huger” packaging (that strangely doesn’t net us bigger C&C’s – any DC fans remember when the package size was the stated limiting factor?), I always have to laugh at the cascade of accessories that come with some of these new Joes. Low-Light is no exception. He included:

Sniper Rifle Detachable Scope Detachable Bipod Silencer Spotter’s Scope (2 pcs) GPS Satellite Phone w/ Removable Handset

Goggles Knife Uzi Bullet Tray Bullet Rifle Case Backpack Stand

That’s sixteen accessories not counting the webgear and they crammed a poster in there for good measure. Could it get any better? Well, yes!

In addition to all that stuff fitting in the package, it all fits on the figure. The knife and scope have specific holsters, the rifle & scope also fit in the case (though the scope having two homes is odd, woulda been nice to have a spot for the silencer in the case), and everything else fits in his bag. Further, the case can peg to his back, the backpack can peg to the case, and the Satellite Phone can peg to the backpack. It’s a tough load, but there’s little doubt that Low-Light can take it. And if all that junk is on back is too much for ya, just do what I do and have Low-Light carry his rifle case.

The articulation and accessories combine really well too. That’s where all these pictures come from. I couldn’t stop snapping ‘em. I had to do little montages just to make this review manageable. He can be posed like he’s retrieving the rifle from its case. He can dig through his backpack. He can assemble his gun. He can hold the spotter’s scope to his eye(!). The only thing accessories that he can’t “use” properly are the phone he can’t hold to his ear and, again, he can’t look up enough to properly use his rifle.

Paint for the most part was pretty good. I didn’t notice the green slop on the grenades until I got these close up pics and I still have a hard time seeing them in person, so I’m not going to count that against him. There was a little slop here and there, but well within line for a figure of this size.

Overall, I’m going to go for the hyperbole here and say this might just be the best Joe figure ever. He’s got a great sculpt that’s faithful to the original design while still having enough updated elements to fit in with the modern figures. He’s got a mean head sculpt. There’s useful articulation all over with extra joints where necessary (except for that neck). He’s painted well. And then there’s that little matter of a ton of awesome accessories. If I gave out stars or ravens, Low-Light would undoubtedly break the bank.

At NYTF 2011, we saw more upcoming Joes that indicate Hasbro is moving back to updating the classic designs, if they’re all as good as Low-Light then this is going to be one of the best years for Joe collectors yet.