Resolute Scarlett

By KansasBrawler

I know Hasbro always takes a lot of grief from fans (myself included) for so vehemently sticking behind their “girl figures don’t sell” line when we question their decisions to make sought-after female characters like Zarana and Jinx convention exclusives. Unfortunately, for me, Resolute Scarlett does kind of prove their point. I really wanted to like this figure. Scarlett is a great, strong female character, but the execution in one key spot was just so off that I have a lot of trouble liking her. I’m not sure I would have bought this particular figure if she’d been released on her own. She came in a seven-pack, so I have her in my collection and I’m glad for it, but until the Eaglehawk arrived, she was living in a box with the rest of the Joes I didn’t like enough to want on display in my limited space.

I should have been a sucker for this figure. Hasbro used the unreleased City Strike Scarlett’s body and that’s a really cool mold and I love getting previously cancelled tooling in whatever form I can get it. From the neck down, this is a really great figure. Scarlett’s original uniform has always looked a little bit dated to me. While a tan and gray spandex number might have worked back in 1982, the look hasn’t aged well. However, the Resolute designers managed to take the spirit and colors of her original costume and applied it to something that looks a lot more tactical. It’s still not exactly a real-world look, but it looks far more functional than it used to. Basically, this time around, Scarlett is wearing a padded jumpsuit. It’s pretty sleek and streamlined, but it’s clear that it’s also more protective than standard cloth. Over the top of it, she’s wearing shoulder armor, kneepads and some chest armor. The look makes a degree of sense considering it was initially designed for to transition between Rise of Cobra and Pursuit of Cobra. That said, it does do a great job looking like the animation model for Scarlett. It’s a good look, however, there are a few weird aesthetic choices. The real head scratcher for me is the belt she’s wearing. Unlike a Liefeldian belt, it does clearly connect to her padded suit, but it’s still an odd way to wear a belt. It snaps on to the front of her uniform and stretches around. While it’s just a little strange to my way of thinking, it does help break up what would be an otherwise kind of boring figure since without it from just below her sternum to her midthighs would be devoid of any additional detailing. To help sell the Scarlett look a little more, she’s still wearing the pad strapped over her right shoulder and carries a small knife up near her neck on the left side. While she’s not carrying around as many weapons on her person as she did back in the day, she’s still got some nice nods to just how kitted out Scarlett originally was. Unfortunately, as great as the body is, from the neck up, Scarlett has some pretty severe problems. Her face sculpt isn’t that bad, but they molded her hair as a separate piece, it was attached at the factory just a bit too high. Judging by photos from other reviews, this was done incorrectly across the board, not just on my particular sample of Scarlett. It really throws off the look of Scarlett’s face with such an unusually high hairline. Surprisingly, the high hair doesn’t look as bad in profile, but it’s a shame I can’t have Scarlett looking at me head on without making me cringe a little. I’ll admit, that’s part of why she’s in the Eaglehawk crew. She’s riding in one of the two seats that doesn’t have a gun with it, so when I see her, she’s in profile where the high hair issues are minimized. Resolute Scarlett’s still a solid figure, but both she and Resolute Baroness suffered from bad hair placement. What’s really a shame is that Scarlett basically uses all new parts, so an all new figure looks pretty off. Parts of her legs and arms are kind of shared with Agent Helix, but considering they were all modified to some degree, I’m counting them as all new molds. I’ve softened on her head sculpt since I’ve gotten her and it’s not as bad as I remember, but just looking at the photos I took of her a few years ago when I got her, it’s still clear that there’s something just a little off when you look at her head on.

Even though they took a pretty big step in making Scarlett’s original look more functional, they decided to keep the same colors she rocked back in the day and that’s a good choice on their part. The bluish gray is a great color for a military-esque body suit and the tan flak vest, boots and gloves work well against it. It’s a classy look for her and it successfully references Scarlett’s original look but it still looks natural enough that I can accept its use here. To help break things up a little more the straps and pouches all get a darker shade of gray used on them while and the kneepads and armor are a lighter gray. The hip pouches add a little more color to the mix by throwing a little green on her while her shoulder pad is red just like it was back in the day. My favorite little detail is the Resolute Joe logo tampographed on her left arm. While it’s not a great as the Pursuit of Cobra logo, it’s still a nice design and works very well for the Joe team. Despite my problems with the hairline, the paint on Scarlett’s head sculpt is also well-executed. That makes the issues with the head sculpt as a whole just a little more problematic since this is a technically sound figure, but one mistake throws off the look enough for me that it’s kind of hard to like.

Finally, we have to talk about Scarlett’s gear. The Resolute set wasn’t terribly generous to her, but what she got was really great. Both her weapons are new and I really like them. Starting off traditionally, Scarlett has a crossbow. That’s a great call since Scarlett has always been identified by her crossbow. She’s the only Joe I ever recall using that kind of weapon. However, the crossbows they’ve usually given her have been pretty lame. The 1982 version was good enough for its time but looks pretty dated anymore, and the flimsy one they gave her in the 25th Anniversary line will fall apart at just the slightest glance. This one, though, is built solidly and looks really impressive in her hands. This is what a military crossbow should be in my opinion. I know it’s not as compact and maneuverable as her old one would be, but this thing definitely looks like it has some stopping power and that’s what you want. Plus, it’s a lot quieter than a gun so Scarlett can drop people left and right without drawing any attention. Her second accessory is more of a direct nod to her actions in the Resolute cartoon. During Duke’s duel with Zartan, Scarlett saved his life with a well-placed shot from her sniper rifle. While Scarlett’s never been a sniper before, considering you need a bit steadier hand to be accurate with a crossbow to begin with, it makes sense that those skills would cross-apply nicely to sniper training. It’s a nicely-designed piece and I really appreciate that they went as far as having her carrying the extra ammunition for it on the rifle’s butt. It’s a great real-world reference and it looks very appropriate here.

I’ve softened quite a bit on my negative opinion of Resolute Scarlett in the few years I’ve had her. Initially, I was very disappointed in her, but really, if you can display her in profile, she looks a lot better. The body design is solid and really, if it weren’t for the too-high hairline she’d be perfect. I’d initially thought the flaw was in her face sculpt, but it wasn’t quite as bad as I’d initially felt it was. She’s still definitely the weakest figure in the Joe Resolute set, but she’s also not nearly as bad as some of the bad 25th Anniversary Joes.