I’d love to have more G.I. Joe reviews here at ItsAllTrue, but they tend to get put on the backburner after the various other toylines I collect and review. Still, I’d like to get relatively caught up on Joes reviews, so let’s cross one off the list today: Renegades Storm Shadow!
First off, I feel lucky to just own this figure. Mostly for reasons I’ll cover in the next few paragraphs, but also because I’ve seen it once. I wasn’t paying a lot of attention to Joes last year because they weren’t showing up at stores. I was similarly lucky and ran across a Low-Light and did snag a Crazylegs when I found him a few times for like a week back in the Fall. That was pretty much it – no Rock Viper, no Jungle Bat, no City Strike Destro, so on and so forth. I did have a shot at the Desert Battle Snake Eyes (which is essentially the ideal counterpart to the Storm Shadow featured here), but didn’t snag him. I’m kicking myself for that now. Repeatedly.
My wife, heeding my ranting about Joe-vailability and my absolutely need for the Techno-Viper, Lifeline, Sci-Fi, and the rest of the Wave 4 gang, picked me up a Wave 3/4 mix case for Christmas (She’s awesome like that! Thank you, Honey!). I thought I had things sewn up after that, but then I came across this Storm Shadow that I hadn’t really paid attention to previously (I have not seen even the littlest bit of Renegades). I was blown away. Though, my wife made sure to point out that I was so fascinated by this Storm Shadow that I couldn’t stop talking about missing the Snake Eyes – collectors are
This will sound blasphemous I’m sure, but I wasn’t a big Storm Shadow fan for the longest time. As a wee tot, I was never really into the villains. I didn’t have a favorite Decepticon. The vast majority of my MOTU favorites were heroes. I had Cobra figures for my Joes to fight, but I’m hard pressed to remember many beyond Armored CC, Serpentor, and the vehicle drivers. I can rattle off a laundry list of favorite Joes like nobody’s business however.
But, you know who isn’t really all that high on my fave Joes list? Snake Eyes. I don’t know why, but I just never picked up on that love. So, as you can imagine, not caring much about villains and not being all that invested in Snake Eyes didn’t really make Storm Shadow a big name in my book. Now, this will sound even more blasphemous, all that changed when Rise of Cobra came out. That movie does have its flaws, but I loved the movie version of Storm Shadow for the most part. I had to have the unmasked movie Storm Shadow and with him I gained a new appreciation for the Cobra Ninja.
It was with that appreciation that I picked up this Storm Shadow. Yeah, the package says Renegades and you do get the red sash and Renegades head, but those are just kinda extras I ended up overlooking. It’s cool that this figure can be that version if so needed, but I bought him for what amounts to “30th Anniversary” goodness. In fact, the first pic above is the only one of the thirty that will feature his Renegades look. Oops.
What really makes this figure standout is that he’s basically the quintessential ninja figure. He’s got a great sculpt. The ‘classic’ head is sharp; the ninja costume has great detailing right down to the straps around his knuckles and toes. The hands are a little funky on the palms, but the fingers are designed to hold almost all of his gear realistically. The sculpt just makes this figure look fantastic and then the articulation comes along and makes him a ton of fun. Ball-joints at the neck, torso, shoulders, elbows, wrists (with one angled sideways – pretty cool), hips, and ankles and then double hinges at the knee. He moves great – the only thing I’d like to see is some swivels in the legs or those awesome new ankles (like Renegades Scarlet), but I don’t want to knock this figure because I enjoy him a lot even without those.
There is one area where I kinda do need to knock the figure though: paint. He’s almost entirely white – this shoulda been easy! But the paint on the exposed faces quite reaches the sculpted edges on either hands, the hands are so sloppy that I’m tempted to just strip the paint and have him wear “white gloves”, and the buckle on the black bandolier was messy to boot. I know that 4″ figures tend to be messier than my beloved 6″, but with so little paint, it was imperative Hasbro get this one right and that’s not the case on mine, the one that I actually found. The Cobra and Arashikago Clan tampos were both clean at least, and the exposed eyes don’t look too bad, but those hands bug me.
The other bright spot here is the gear. I can think of a few more accessories he could use, but Hasbro covered most of the bases here. Let’s see if I can get all this in. In addition to the two heads, the red sash, the black bandolier & belt, there’s also the backpack, two swords, two sais, two daggers, two ninja stars, two spiked kubotans, the fan, nunchuks, a long bow, an arrow, a dart pack w/ a removable dart, and the ever present stand. Whew!
Overall, I just can’t say it enough, this is a fantastic figure! Hasbro needs to get this figure back in the case mixes post-Retaliation! I don’t normally say a company “owes” its fans anything, but in this case they do – they need to step up and get this figure more widely distributed when the chance arises. They made him so well that he’s a must own.
If that’s not a ringing endorsement, then how about this. I’m already ready for Hasbro to get some more mileage out of this sculpt too. I’ll buy it in red, teal, and black – and that’s without new heads. I might not pick them all up, but new heads would open up possibilities for hooded Storm Shadow decos, more Snake Eyes (yay!), and other ninja-based figures too (still waiting on that Nunchuk, Hasbro!). To take it a step further, this guy so completely blows away his 25th figure that I can’t help but wonder if the post-Retaliation line should just not worry about the figures they didn’t get into the 25th line and start over. This figure sets the bar that high. Continue to the Page 2 Gallery!
Thanks for the review and pics bonanza! This version of Stormy has been eluding me since last year and I fear I shall not succeed in adding this gem to my collection anytime soon. It truly looks to be THE definite Storm Shadow! Congrats to everyone who’s found one!
I was really lucky – even at an out-of-town Walmart to boot. He really needs a reissue (and I’d like to see Snake Eyes get one too).
Loved that Karate Kid pic… On Ben’s defense Web balls solve everything
The Indy pic had me laughing so bad my ribs hurt!
I was happy when I thought of using Indy! And yeah, hopefully Scarlet Spidey can come out of that unscathed…
Great pics and story line. Big G.I. Joe fan as a kid and had them all, but couldn’t get into the new stuff because I’m DCUC & ML heavy. The Low Light single bullet gag killed me. CONTINUITY!!!
I’m always humbled when you guys remember things from one review to the next – sometimes I don’t! 🙂
There’s so much Marvel & DC product that yeah… too much money. It’s been rough for me too because I’m not trying not to open stuff if I can’t review it soon (Low-Light’s bullet, case in point). I’ve still got that case of Joes my wife bought me on my desk, all the figures still in package… I’m almost ready to start cracking them open though.
excellent photogasm there my man. clearly, storm shadow is a fun fig to play with.
i will say, i never really understand why gi joe morphed into the storm shadow and snake eyes show, but i always preferred SS to SE… to me, he’s been the more intriguing character.
Snake-Eyes is the Wolverine of GIJ:RAH. He’s the troubled, mysterious loner who kicks so much ass it isn’t even funny. Storm Shadow is the even more troubled ‘brother’ who fights him, then joins him, then fights him (I think it went that way). The only thing missing was SS having the hots for Scarlett who, as we remember, was deeply in love with SE.
That’s what I got. 🙂
except the cartoon had her jonesing for Duke.
Yeah? OK, so there’s a Yellow Card on the field for me? See, I’m an Old School GI Joe fan, the proper real GI Joe, and the RAH line and cartoon never really caught me (except for the insanely swank vehicles. MAN there was some sweet stuff put out!) but I WAS very invested with the Marvel comic. That’s where my information/disinformation sources from.
I’m sure I’m unwittingly in a nerd war between the comic fans and the cartoon fans now. 🙂
Thanks, DR! I wasn’t planning on a big 30 photo shoot, so yeah, he’s definitely a fun figure.
I’m on the cartoon side of things. Not opposed to the comics, but Duke gets Scarlett and Snake Eyes gets… Timber. 😛
so storm shadow is kind of sabretooth? i’m strangely alright with it…
Did Sabretooth ever turn Face and then back to Heel? How about accused for a heinous act that eventually he was cleared of? I dunno. All I know is you could probably have a huge war if all the Snake Eyes figures made to date went to battle against all the Wolverine figures, dig? 🙂
yes, ‘tooth did that… not sure about the heinous act, but i believe he was, yes. so yeah…
as for battling the snake eyae and the wolverinae, not one table could hold all that awesomeness.
Sabretooth was accused of many heinous acts. It’s just that he actually did them all.
except AoA Creed never turned Heel again.
Being that I’ve loved SS since my beloved V2 fig, I’m absolutly loving this review! I still haven’t found this version yet (not that I look for joes too often, mind you), but am now going to need to hunt him down. This clearly is the best version of SS to date.
Easily the best version. There are some real gems in the POC/30th stuff!
Wish i could find this figure in stores and not only on ebay. He looks pretty great!
That’s exactly how I feel about the Snake Eyes!
I ended up buying a Wave 3/4 case as well so I could have Storm Shadow. However, I can’t bring myself to open him 🙁
Why?!
[sees second pic]
cool, he’s practically two…figures…in…0.0!!!!
YOU HAVE A FULL MCC????? [JEALOUS!]
I think I still have (most of) the middle section downstairs in what I salvaged from storage??
oh, and Stormy looks cool. We still haven’t seen too many Joes up here after the ROC fiasco. le sigh….
btw, Who’s the blue camo guy? (18/30 pic)
I have two MCCs! One, the shell that survived The Great Flood™ and then a later one I bought to replace it. The Joe vehicles were almost entirely on the floor – the Defiant, the General, the Rolling Thunder… still bums me out!
The blue camo guy is Sgt. Manleh if I recall. He was a JoeCon 2009 exclusive, a 25th update on an old Brazilian figure.
I know I lost the Defiant, not sure about the General?
I discovered a Classic HISS tank and some long silver escape pod(?) thingy in dad’s hayloft among other things like Metroplex/SixShooter(?) and a ton of 90s comics before his namesake sold the property. I thought he had burned them all a long time ago.
sometimes, it’s best not to dwell on these things.
ok, Hunter Knight posted a pic of some of his Joes which included the front of the General, so my mind got jogged. I didn’t have that, either, but we’re both in agreement that we need a re-release of the Terror Drome!
I NEVER buy cases of figures, but I bought the case with Storm Shadow, because I knew I’d never find him at retail. Heck, around here, it’s Arctic Destro and Renegades Cobra Commander and Firefly pretty much nonstop. I have little hope for any kind of a refresh until Retaliation stuff starts hitting.
On the plus side, the case also comes with some good army builders and most of the Renegades guys I never got around to buying, so I don’t regret it.
Arctic Destro has moved on that great limbo somewhere, but Renegades Cobra Commander is indeed everywhere. I hate that guy!
The case worked for me because I got the other version of Steel Brigade, two Zombie Vipers, and most of the single figs I wanted.
my local Target has FIVE Renegade CCs on EIGHT PEGS. they haven’t restocked in MONTHS, but have reset TWICE. @_@
is there any chance he will get a re-release with the movie right around the corner?
The movie is the only thing making me wonder, but ideally Hasbro will make sure this version of SS doesn’t stay shortpacked at some point.
This dude is great but the second you drop that removable spike in a carpet your heart will stop.
Oh yeah. I would only swap out his weapons on the linoleum and even then I freaked out when I dropped the throwing stars!
I was full prepared to post “Excellent review with great pics, but I need another Storm Shadow like I need another joint immobilised by arthritis.” But having read the review and looked at the pictures, I must reconsider and instead post:
Excellent review with outstanding pics, and man, that is one of the sweetest Storm Shadow figures ever made. I hope they re-release it so I can get a crack at it sometime!
Nah, he’s made by Hasbro and I live outside the USA. It’ll never happen.
It’s a shame Joes don’t have a more international presence like years past – I love all those old international Joes.
I’ve pretty much given up hope of snagging this dude unless they rerelease in future assortments. No clue why they’d make such a figure so shortpacked.
Awesome and hilarious pics as usual.
Thanks!
I don’t know either. The Wave 3/4 mixed case I bought has ALL the Wv3 figures except him repacked. If he’d been included, he’d be a lot easier to get right now as that wave seems to be showing up decently across the WMs here.
They must’ve done quite a bit of tooling on him, so why not maximise the money they could squeeze out of him by giving him a wider release? It’s a nifty toy, and a lot of people would buy it. It’d be one thing if the line was dying out (which I don’t see happening any time soon), or noticeably different in style (like with Star Wars, how the Clone Wars figures look markedly different from the Vintage figures), but this guy would blend seamlessy into any future waves they’d care to put out. Baffling.
I almost dare not type this, but I fear Hasbro may soon be quoting “logistics” as their reason for this behaviour, instead of their usual “we don’t want to give up trade secrets by discussing this matter.”
I did love Renegades (best Joe fiction in years. Years!), but one of the biggest flaws the series had was the dopey design of Storm Shadow. I was all set to take an automatic pass on a figure of that design, but then Hasbro went and included parts to make a classic version. I guess it’s a moot point, since I’ve little hope of finding one.
I haven’t paid much attention to the show (I’m just too busy for much TV anymore… sigh), but I do find the exposed hair head to be “dopey”, which is why I took almost no pictures of it.
I think it’s pretty telling that Shout! Factory isn’t even using the Storm Shadow character model from the show on the upcoming DVD art:
http://toynewsi.com/news.php?catid=9&itemid=18427
I totally love this figure, The only way hasbro can make me buy another SS is put him in a multi pack that I am forced to buy (Well they did that for retaliation, beside the point).
But seriously my fav 1:18th fig of the year, great one.
Nice review! love the pics. i had a mobile command center, it was a pretty darn cool playset. it kinda came out a little too late for me because i don’t think i appreciated it as much as i did say, castle grayskull to MOTU or the technodrome to tmnt i think i still have most of it anyway, so many parts & pieces to lose!
i can’t decide if i want/need this ss or not. he certainly is great. i fear that i may have seen him and didn’t know what awesomeness i saw.
This review makes me sad, because I’ll probably never get to own this figure. I just managed to convince myself I didn’t need it, and now I read this review. Thanks! Ha ha.