Vault Review: G.I. Joe Arctic Threat Doc & Shipwreck

I was at Toys R Us the other day when the Toy Gods smiled down upon me. Noisy found a TRU Exclusive Batman, but, as usual, they had nothing I had gone there for (still can’t find that Arcee). Since they were resetting I walked around hoping for a surprise. I found it in the G.I. Joe aisle. The neon colors of Arctic Threat Doc caught my eye. Arctic Threat Doc and Shipwreck had appeared to fill the empty Joe pegs, and with snow on the ground I had to buy them. When I got home, these brave Joes ventured outside to see to the environment they were destined for…

G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra
Shockblast & Night Creeper

JoeWeek is wrapping up her at ItsAllTrue.Net. We're skipping our usual Saturday figure request for this week so we can get caught up on Joe reviews. We were going to have the Crimson Neo-Viper and Doctor today, but our local Wal-Mart brought a nice treat today, the "Offscreen" ROC 2pk of Shockblast and Night Creeper! See, even when you're trying to get caught up, you still have to buy new stuff. It never ends.

ItsAllTrueReview: G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra Crimson Hydra

Buying Joes isn't just about picking up a lot of individual figures, it's about vehicles and playsets too. While some of my fondest memories of playing with Joes are vehicle-based, I'd been avoiding buying any ROC vehicles. There are a couple of reasons for this. One, my adult sensibilities kick in and remind me that space is at a commodity. And two, almost all of my Joe purchases are guided by a bit of nostalgia. One or the other of those has kept me from making vehicle purchases so far. The ROC Night Raven, though awesome, has nowhere to go right now. The Ice Dagger, though awesome, is no Snow Cat. Finally, though, one of the vehicles was able to convince me to overlook space and nostalgia concerns: the Crimson Hydra.

Mister Rant says “Do I really have to rant about Joes? Fine.”

Since its Joe week here, I’ve got three Joe mini-rants to share...

1. I get that kids enjoy firing missile launchers, but can we make them a little more sensical? There are a couple of good ones like the Ice Viper’s (best one ever) or Sgt. Stone’s which looks like a remote control missile launcher. But then there are strange ones that make no sense at all. A missile launcher you hold with one hand like a revolver? I’m sure that wouldn’t rip your arm off. Or how about Helix’s absurd satellite dish missile. Is that for when you need great reception, only way over there? Then there’s the Para-Viper’s strange helicopter-thing that he can’t hold onto correctly without being cut to ribbons. Hope Cobra has a good health plan. Don’t even get me started on the suction cup that Duke can hang from. What kid hasn’t wished for one of those?

ItsAllTrueReview: G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra Helix & the Pit Commando

JoeWeek keeps on rolling! In the bevy of movie Joes, two in particular caught a lot of folks attention, one for being unique and the other for being generic: Helix, a new Joe created as an unlockable character for the video game, and the Pit Commando, an army building Joe that comes packaged with 13 accessories including multiple guns, different headgear, and still more accessories.