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.

Shockwave is one of my all-time favorite G.I. Joes. I was excited earlier in the year when the Resolute 2pks snuck a 25th Anniversary Shockwave into the line. He’s called Shockblast these days, but I’m not sure why. A few years back the Transformers character Shockwave had to go by Shockblast because of trademark issues, but those have to be resolved since Hasbro has been able to start calling him Shockwave again. For some reason, and maybe because they share the name, the Joe Shockwave is still forced to live out his days as Shockblast. But not in my house. The toy is officially called Shockblast, but will be officially referred to as Shockwave in this review.

I have to be honest. I know of Night Creeper, but that’s about it. My initial childhood interest in Joes only spans from 86-89 so I just missed this guy the first time around. Since buying him, I’ve read up and discovered they are sort of CIA Ninjas, so that’s cool. I definitely like the Urban Camo version over the classic purple scheme that’s in the Cobra Island 7pk.

The theme of these Joe “Offscreen” 2pk is that the action could have happened between the included characters, but it just didn’t make it into the film. Both Shockwave and the Night Creeper are urban warriors, so the filecards seem to hint at Night Creeper causing havoc during the missile strike and Shockwave having to maintain order. Cool enough.

Shockwave is a Night Force repaint of the 25th Anniversary Shockwave that came out earlier this year. Both Shockwaves are built around a Cobra Trooper’s torso and arms, SnowJob’s upper legs, and then a new head, calves, and feet. His hat, technically an accessory, was molded to the classic figure, but is also a new piece on the new figures. That’s cool. Shockwave does have a camo pattern, but it blends out in most of my photos. If you pick up the figure, it will be darker on the one you buy. I did have some paint slop on the grenades and all the figures seemed to be looking up, but I was able to find a good clean one from the three my Wal-Mart had to choose from.

The Night Creeper is mostly a repaint of his recent release in the 7pk, but features Snake Eyes arms instead of Flint’s arms. The Snake Eyes arms look pretty good here, but I’m not sure why they did the change since the other arms look more “correct”. The harness and new head, taken from the 7pk version are good pieces. Even though I don’t have a connection to the Night Creeper, I like the figure enough for what it is.

I have a confession. Even though I like the Night Creeper, I’m giving Shockwave his backpack. There’s really no doubt that the backpack belongs to the Creeper, but it also has the three prongs to hold Shockwave’s knife (just like the classic toy). I was excited when I bought it and sad to learn the backpack wasn’t his. The backpack doesn’t hold the knife that well, but it stays in there and I’m keeping it on him anyway. Night Force Shockwave has all of the accessories that the previous Shockwave had but also gets a rifle and knife this time around. The rifle still isn’t his classic one, but it will do. The other cool pieces, the hat, helmet, gas mask, and two guns are still here. He’s one of the more versatile figures in the line, so that’s a good notch on his belt. The belt, though, is still the same crappy one from the 25th figure. I just don’t like it. It’s too loose and too thin, and it just sits on him awkwardly. I’m going to snip it and glue it tighter on the figure when I have some time. Shockwave has two holsters for his handguns, and with the stolen backpack can store his knife too.

The Night Creeper did have his backpack (and the sword fits in there great), his sword, and an awesome crossbow. The crossbow has some great paint apps, it’s a nice piece unto itself. Even with his backpack lost to him, the Night Creeper can tuck his sword into the straps of his harness, so technically, both figures can store almost all their accessories. Nice touch there.

I don’t love Night Force Shockwave as much as the regular one, but it’s still a cool figure to have. Also, it represents another 25th figure masquerading as part of the ROC line and I wish Hasbro would do more of that. The Night Creeper is another solid 25th figure, even though the color sheme he’s loosely mimicking is from 2004. I like the blue camo and can really buy into him being an enemy of Shockwave going forward.

Overall, it’s a nice 2pk with decent figures and plenty of accessories. I forgot to mention it includes Joe and Cobra logo stickers and an Arashikage temporary tattoo. I have to get my money’s worth, so tomorrow I’ll be a member of the Arashikage Clan for the day. Oh yeah.

Check out our previous JoeWeek ROC reviews!

• General Hawk & Paris Pursuit Baroness
• Crimson Hydra & the Aero-Viper
• Flash & the Para-Viper
• Helix & the Pit Commando
• Arctic Assault Snake Eyes & the Viper Commando
• Barbecue & Ice Viper
• Shipwreck & Sgt. Stone