Zombie Initiative Steel Brigade Commander

by KansasBrawler

The way figure sets of any size work, there’s always one weak figure. It doesn’t matter if it’s a figure three pack at retail or a fifteen figure set like the G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club does every year for Joe Con, there’s always one figure that, for whatever reason, manages to get the short end of the stick. This immutable law of the action-figure collecting universe was readily apparent with the Zombie Initiative’s Steel Brigade Commander. I really wanted to like this figure. I love the Steel Brigade and I always thought the 1992 gold-headed variant looked pretty awesome. However, the Steel Brigade Commander just kind of falls short on just about every level for me, and that’s a shame. There was a lot of potential here, but in my opinion, that potential just wasn’t realized.

The Steel Brigade Commander is a bit of a mishmash of the two Steel Brigade figures that were released during the 30th Anniversary line. His arms are shared with the Pursuit of Cobra Shock Trooper, which is what the 30th Anniversary re-issue of the Pursuit of Cobra Steel Brigade Trooper had. The rest of his body comes from the wonderful Pursuit of Cobra Desert Battle Snake Eyes II, which the running change variant 30th Anniversary Steel Brigade Trooper had. The parts do work pretty well together, but parts of me wish they had just used the entire Desert Battle Snake Eyes II mold. The Steel Brigade Commander is a little different from the Steel Brigade Trooper I have, but it doesn’t feel different enough. I like the cohesiveness that comes from the Steel Brigade Commander not looking all that different from the troopers he leads, but at the same time, I shouldn’t feel like I’ve already got one figure in an expensive fifteen figure set. I’m happy that the GIJCC was able to get us the Steel Brigade Commander that showed up in Hasbro’s concept case a few years back and while I liked it when I first saw it, now that I have it in hand, he’s a little underwhelming. Parts of me wish that the GIJCC had made a little more regal-looking version like they did when the originated the Steel Brigade Commander character in the M.A.R.S. Invades Con Set souvenir figure pack. I think it would have just felt a little more successful to me if it felt a bit more like something I haven’t already had in my collection for a couple years. The head comes from Pursuit of Cobra Beachhead, which is fine. It’s a great, generic head for the Steel Brigade to have on underneath their fancy helmets. Over the Desert Battle Snake Eyes II torso, he’s also wearing the Shock Trooper vest and a Duke bandolier. These parts do a great job of replicating the original Steel Brigade torso. I liked them back when I first got the figure in 2011 and I still like them now, but again, I think that’s part of my problem. There really wasn’t any new ground broken with this Steel Brigade Commander. Yes, had the Steel Brigade Commander come out at retail, I probably would have picked it up, but I also wouldn’t have had to spend $25 dollars to get it.

I think what really negatively impacts my view of the Steel Brigade Commander is his color scheme. I like the blue and green look, but what they did here feels way too flat. The dark blue looks very good on his legs and arms. However, the black doesn’t really stand out that well against it. I don’t think they needed to use the light blue that the Steel Brigade had, but something a couple shades lighter might have allowed the black to stand out a little better and lend some depth the figure’s look. However, where theh real problem lies is his flat green vest. Te green is slightly too bright and all the details on the vest get kind of lost in the sea of green. Even a simple wash would have helped bring out the details and made it look better. The green is also used on his balaclava and it seems equally flat there. While I have some problems with the paintwork on his body, I do have to admit that I love the gold command helmet. The good is vibrant, but it isn’t too bright. The black visor stands out very well against the gold and I really love the dark blue detailing on the sides of the helmet. It just comes together really well. It looks and feels like a more advanced version of the standard Steel Brigade Trooper and it fits the command role well. Overall, the figure just looks kind of cartoony and not in a good way. It looks like he jumped right off an under-detailed animation cell. Considering how the GIJCC has made its mark in the Joe collecting world with its incredibly detailed paint apps, this just seems a bit of a step back.

The one area where Steel Brigade Commander doesn’t fall short is in his gear. This is an excellently-equipped figure and I think the GIJCC made great choices for his arsenal. The Steel Brigade Commander brings a wide variety of weaponry to the field. As a nod to the original Steel Brigade figures, he’s got the 25th Airborne rifle with a bayonet. It’s probably my favorite piece in his gear set because it’s a great weapon and a nice nod to the classic figure at the same time. However, for a little more modern (and possibly longer range) weapon, he’s got the same rifle that the Rise of Cobra Paris Pursuit Snake Eyes came with. This is another great gun and I can see it packing a little more of a punch than the Airborne rifle and has a slightly longer effective targeting range. It makes sense for him to carry something a little better at long-range engagement since he’s squaring off against a horde of Cobra zombies. Of course, every team of zombie hunters needs a guy carrying a shotgun. The Steel Brigade Commander is carrying the great assault shotgun that came with 30th Renegades Law and I absolutely love this piece. The forward grip combined with the slightly shortened barrel makes it look like a great closequarters weapon and I can see that degree of maneuverability being useful when dealing with a zombie horde in a tight spot. His final weapon is the great rocket launcher that came with the 30th Anniversary Viper. I think this is probably the best rocket launcher the Hasbro folks have ever designed. It’s large, but it can be held in a realistic way and I love that the rocket can be removed from it. The rocket launcher and the Airborne rifle are his only two weapons that also get some attention from the paint team. The Airborne rifle’s bayonet is painted silver to add a little bit of realism to the weapon. Meanwhile, the removable rocket is painted yellow with “Z+” tampoed on the side. In the comic, the serum the Joes use to cure the zombies is aerosolized and fired from the rocket launcher. It’s a great nod to the set’s theme of trying to cure innocent civilians (and some luckless Steel Brigade Troopers who share their last names with all of the modern companions from Doctor Who) rather than just slaughter the zombies. The paint work on the rocket is a little touchy, with some spots of missed coverage that were there when I opened it. Again, it’s not a super big deal, but in my limited experience with Joe Con sets, they’re usually pretty good at avoiding paint flaws like that so it’s a little surprising to see. Filling out his weapons load, the Steel Brigade Commander also carries the silenced pistol and boot knife that have been used in conjunction with this mold since it was first used for the Desert Battle Snake Eyes II figure. His final accessory is the classic backpack with the molded in shovel. It’s molded in green plastic to match his vest and the shovel gets painted silver. It’s a good look, but the gold paint they used concerns me just a little bit. I’ve had this figure for a while now and every time I pick him up and touch the shovel, I feel that the paint is still a bit tacky. It hasn’t ever rubbed off on my fingers, but it’s still a bit odd and it makes me worried that one of these times, when I pick him up and forget about it, that I am going to pull some paint off.

On paper, the Steel Brigade Commander should be a good figure. I really like the look of the Pursuit of Cobra/30th Anniversary Steel Brigade Trooper. However, his somewhat underwhelming paint scheme really hurts him a bit. Add in the fact that this figure has only minor differences from something that was readily available in a mass market release, and I feel just a little disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad I have him in my collection. It’s nice to have a Steel Brigade Commander that looks like the 1992 version I remember more from my childhood than the classic tan and green version since even though I didn’t order it, I remember the ads for him, but he still kind of leaves me wanting more. After all, the GIJCC created the Steel Brigade Commander. Considering how much guff they get for being so self-referential sometimes, I kind of wish they’d actually been a bit more self-referential and taken a page from their own design book and giving us a more regal Steel Brigade Commander. It would have helped make the Steel Brigade Commander stand out a little bit better and made it feel like I was getting something new.