Cobra Slice (2002)
Since 1984, there have been ninjas of some sort in GI Joe. I suppose they’ll always be a part of whatever the current line is doing, regardless of focus or scale. Sgt. Savage is the only post-80’s small scale Joe line I can think of that didn’t have a ninja or at least a figure with ninja like qualities. Even GI Joe Extreme had one.
Cobra Slice was part of the filler packs of vintage styled figures in the GI Joe vs. Cobra line. He came packaged with Sure Fire, another repainted 90’s figure. Slice gets a bit of a change up in uniform, and one that I think suits him. The addition of color at least brings some interest to a mold that never excited me much.
Quite a bit of detail that was lost in the solid red and orange of his previous versions is brought out. The contrasting grey and the white details give him a little more individuality and to me help him stand out more as a named character. The solidly colored versions seemed to me more like nameless ninja troopers. The colors here even come close to Slash, another new sculpt era ninja.
The weapon choices are a disappointment. I don’t know why Hasbro continued to use the large curved sword that was included. It was one of the ugliest sword designs of all the old Ninja Force weapons.
I have this, and of course like many who do, hate how they kept the action feature–it would’ve been great if they had retooled the Ninja Force torsos so that you could actually separate them.
I agree. I never hated Ninja Force for being ninjas, but for the glued together torsos and action features that affected their construction.
I actually like V1 of this character. This version looks good and I agree with Acer when it comes to the “action” feature. I display Slice & Dice along with a V2 Firefly and the red ninjas (like in the comic) along with the Mortal Kombat Figures which are just great.
In my Joe-world The MK characters are a secret society of Ninja Masters which most believe to be a myth. The only ones who know about them are select members of the Arashikage clan.
The white gloves make him look ready for traffic patrol. Mostly, I just think the head is poorly sculpted. Dice came out all right, but Slice seems lazy.
Nice colors!