Storm Shadow (2007 Cobra Legions)
The beginning of the 25th anniversary series held a lot of promise. Sure, the first multi pack releases had their share of construction and articulation issues, but the availability of small GI Joes on store shelves again was cause for excitement. When the initial offerings performed so well that a second set of Cobras were released, I was ecstatic.
At the time, I was into army building in a pretty big way. I had sunk quite a bit of money into buying up Vipers from the Valor vs Venom series (the purple, python patrol and blue versions) and I had also succumbed to the lure of the Toys R Us exclusive Cobra trooper six pack. Seeing a new pack of troopers in the new super articulated style was exciting.
In hindsight, the excitement should have been tempered a bit, as only three of the five figures were troopers. The other two, a repainted Cobra Commander and Storm Shadow, while interesting, would languish in my packs long after the troopers were removed. It’s only now that I’ve really taken a second look at the Storm Shadow. I like what I see.
In terms of all the Stormy designs that have been released in the last decade or so, this one falls somewhere along the lines of the Valor vs. Venom outfit, first infamously released as an Action Attack figure, but later refitted as a normal figure. The cobra symbols on the mask and the dragons on the legs are a good match for the old version.
I’m in favor of changing up a character’s look from time to time, to keep things fresh. I think this stems from my youth as an avid 1980s Marvel Comics reader, a time when many of the major heroes were temporarily given new and different outfits. Who says Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow always have to wear their respective black and white duds? Why can’t a ninja add a little flair to his white pajamas from time to time, and why can’t a badass commando put on a pair of neon colored goggles or green camo pants if he feels so inclined?
With many of the 80s and 90s figures getting rehashes in the current construction style, I’d like to see a few more of the GI Joe vs Cobra, Spy Troops and Valor vs. Venom designs get their due.
And interestingly, Rob, my opinions of this figure have changed almost in the exact opposite way. I, too, bought the Cobra Legions pack for the various Cobra Troopers it came with. But Storm Shadow, initially, I thought was pretty cool. However, looking back on him, I find him a bit disappointing. I was really excited by the deco mirroring the amazing VvV Storm Shadow. But honestly, over time, the lack of the sculpted detail (or at least some additional colors) caused him to fall out of my favor. The reason for me that the dragons worked on the original VvV version was that they were textured so it looked like scales and had a pretty detailed head for the time. Here, the stuff on the legs to me now just looks like red paint. All the accents in red just left me a little cold and without sculpting to aid it, the stuff on the legs looks more like a circle of flames to me than it does a dragon. I appreciate that they tried to do that design in modern style constructions, but being a relic of the early relaunch, he kinda suffers from Hasbro not having the budget to do him up right.
Yeah, this one hasn’t been removed from my 5 pack either. Not a fan of that era, but this figures fails on its own terms.The 25th stuff is begining to look dated if you at them objectively.
So in 2007 Hasbro thought they needed to homage something that came out four years before?
I have the Stormshadow this guy is based on. Its terrible with its star wars gimmick and hard plastic tabbard. Give me this one any day.
I still really like this figure. It is a nice break from the constant white on white/off-white/light gray variations of the 25th anniversary Storm Shadow figures.
Well, there was one good thing to come out of this SS–it provided many a customizer with available fodder.
A good tribute to the VvV Stormy!
for a great many years VvV was my favorite design for Storm Shadow and the 25th tribute was a huge geek-out for me… the last few years I’m not as crazy about either… But I want an update to it in the new articlation with the details sculpted so I can fall in love with it again.
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