City Strike Iron Grenadier

by KansasBrawler

Ah, the phenomenon of the phantom wave…it’s unfortunate that so many good toy lines release things late in their shelf cycle and consequently some really good figures don’t saturate the market as well as they should. The Joe line has been dealing with that problem since Rise of Cobra. While I won’t equate the Nano-Viper and Kamakura with the denizens the Pursuit of Cobra phantom wave, they were still good figures that were hard to find because the line was busy shifting gears to the next thing. The Pursuit of Cobra phantom wave was pretty darn cool and if it weren’t for my older brother being willing to hunt for me in Ohio along with my Kansas hunting, I would not have the highlights from the Pursuit of Cobra phantom wave. I’ve got to say, the last wave of Pursuit of Cobra was great, and I’m starting off with my favorite—the Iron Grenadier.

I’ve loved the Iron Grenadiers and Destro since I first laid eyes on that subteam in 1989. The PoC Iron Grenadier takes a very different approach to it, but it’s one that I find myself really liking. This is clearly an Iron Grenadier on duty out on the battlefield as opposed to the rather ceremonial guard vibe that the Iron Grenadiers traditionally have. I’ll admit, as a kid, I had a hard time using an Iron Grenadier on the main battlefield because they just looked so fancy. They still saw plenty of action as the last line of defense for Destro before either being captured by the Joe team or being forced to flee, but I always did wish their look lent itself more towards seeing heavy combat. The Iron Grenadier, like most of the members of the PoC phantom wave, is made up of entirely reused parts, but it really works well here. His head comes from the 25th Anniversary Iron Grenadier while the rest of the body, from head to toe comes from PoC City Strike Destro. Yes, I know City Strike shares his body with Arctic Assault Destro, but I never picked up that pegwarmer so my first experience with it was when it was all reused as the City Strike version. I really like City Strike Destro and Destro’s soldiers wearing the same uniform as their boss in the field really appeals to me. The body is nice and bulky and really fits well with this heavy-gunner role this Iron Grenadier has been assigned. There’s some nice padding on his arms, some bulkiness in his legs that also get some additional armor in the form of the same clip-on shin guards City Strike Destro had and a very bulky and detailed vest with a large additional pad over his left shoulder. This is a very intimidating look for the Iron Grenadiers and I really love it. I can just see Destro dropping in a squad of three or four of these guys into a heavily-contested urban area with orders to just create chaos. While I’m here, I’ll also stop and say how much I love his vest. Every time I look at it, I see another piece of detailing that I’d not noticed before (or at least hadn’t noticed in quite a while). From the back handle that can be used to pull a wounded Iron Grenadier out of a firefight to some of the scuffs on the armor that show it’s been involved in a firefight but hasn’t slowed the Iron Grenadier down any, this thing is just packed with detail. I also really like that the Iron Grenadier’s head looks pretty nice gazing over the slightly high collar. He looks fine looking straight ahead, but when he’s got his head turned, it still looks natural. Sometimes vests can look a little awkward if their collars are high and the figure isn’t looking head on, but the Iron Grenadier’s vest doesn’t suffer from that issue. It also really doesn’t restrict his torso articulation, which is a great thing. He’s still got pretty full range of motion for a guy in a thick vest, though really, considering what it’s designed to deal with, I don’t think I would have faulted Hasbro any if he’d lost some of his torso movement to it.

The Iron Grenadier also breaks from tradition by having a much more mission-oriented looking uniform in regards to paint scheme. The main body is done in gray with a dark gray and light gray urban camo color scheme. When this phantom figure was rereleased during the first 30th Anniversary wave, they released him without the camo scheme and I’ve got to say, I really do think the figure suffered from that. I realize it was a cost-cutting measure, but this figure looks really sharp in urban camo but looks just a little unfinished without it, though full disclosure, had my brother not found this one and mailed it to me as a birthday present, I would have snapped up the 30th Anniversary one without a second thought. I’m not sure what I think about the use of red on the padding and vest, though. From an urban camo standpoint, I understand it. It does look like it would blend in decently with red brick buildings, but from an aesthetic standpoint, it seems like a pretty big break from the rest of the figure’s color scheme. It’s definitely grown on me since I’ve had the figure, but at the same time, I still catch myself looking at it a little funny with the red there. However, the black trim does help break up the red and looks nice. I realize that since the relaunch Hasbro hasn’t really done much with the whole idea of the Iron Grenadiers as a separate faction, but I really do wish it was a nice gold Destro logo on his chest as opposed to the Cobra symbol. The paint work on the head also does a good job of bringing out some details that weren’t as visible in its original release. Hasbro really put their design budget to good use on this version, pouring the money that didn’t get used to sculpt any new pieces (or accessories) and really going all out on the paint job. The Iron Grenadier’s gear may all be cast offs, but it’s still really good stuff. First, he gets the Para-Vipers rifle with bayonet. It’s a nice looking piece, but let’s be fair, I doubt it’s shown up in the hands of any Iron Grenadier because his main weapon is just so cool. City Strike Destro was originally supposed to come with two different heavy machine guns, the Vulcan cannon came with and this one that saw release with the Iron Grenadier. The Iron Grenadier looks really great with this weapon and I do love that the design team built the gun in such a way that the included Roadblock backpack can be slung under the gun and then you have a fully contained heavy machine gun. I like it as a heavy machine gun, but it looks so high tech, I wish it didn’t have the belt of bullet with it since it reminds me of a man-portable version of a railgun. Yes, it doesn’t exist in our world in this form yet, but let’s be fair, if anyone could shrink down a railgun to equip his heavy assault troopers with it, it would be Destro. The heavy machine gun is nicely detailed with all sorts of switches and displays built in. This is one high tech machine gun and it looks really nice in the hands of an Iron Grenadier. He also comes with a second backpack (originally released with Heavy Duty but with the “HD” removed) that was also supposed to come with City Strike Destro and it works exclusively with his Vulcan cannon’s ammo belt, so I just passed it over to him where it belongs. I’m glad Hasbro was able to get these missing accessories out and I really like the Destro came with a Vulcan while his troopers have more of a standard-issue heavy machine gun.

The PoC Iron Grenadier is a great figure. The paint detailing is excellent and really makes this figure stand out. Reusing City Strike Destro’s gear makes sense from a financial standpoint on Hasbro’s part, but also is understandable “in universe” so to speak. I can see Destro having his Iron Grenadiers out in the field in this gear six to eight months before he geared up in it just to make sure everything works well and will keep him safe. It’s a heck of a way to product test, but the product demo video M.A.R.S. Industries could put together just by dropping a pair of these Iron Grenadiers into the field would likely be impressive. I’m glad we’ve finally got an Iron Grenadier that looks like it can do some damage. I like that the standard Iron Grenadier is an elite trooper and relatively fancy-looking, but this is an Iron Grenadier I can field an army of. Fancy uniforms are meant elite troopers, but this Iron Grenadier is equipped nicely and it’s designed to be functional and is not worried about looking cool while doing it. Trying to field an army of standard Iron Grenadiers is akin in my mind to having an army of nothing but Crimson Guards. The uniform just isn’t what you’d expect anyone to be wearing in the midst of combat. That’s a dress uniform, but this Iron Grenadier is wearing his BDUs and heavy armor. It’s clear he’s off to combat and I’m loving it.