Crimson Horseman (2011)
I always found the classic HISS driver to be an odd duck, even when I was a kid. He spent all of his days inside the HISS canopy and only came out when Destro would want to drive and kick him out. Here was a guy in red among an entire army of blue. He looked too thin and I couldn’t get past that huge head. Oh and he wore thigh high boots. Yikes.
So I wasn’t too excited about the HISS drivers in the 25th anniversary line, especially considering their reuse of Flash/Tripwire parts. When the Pursuit of Cobra HISS was released, its driver used different parts to update the look, but the end result was still bland and unimpressive to me.
The Crimson Horseman concept intrigues me. We’ve seen Crimson Guard vehicles before, but very few specific drivers, outside of the 2003 KB Toys exclusive CG Immortal tank driver. So now we get not only a new cobra troop, but a driver as well. I’m glad to see something other than a straight CG trooper piloting a vehicle.
According to the filecard, the Crimson Guard are Destro’s private army. Say what? Wow, Hasbro starts to put some detail back in the filecards and then they get this basic part of Joe history wrong. Mistake aside, the rest of the story on these guys is pretty dull and uninspiring. Maybe it’s best to just ignore the filecards; after all I’ve been doing it since the Rise of Cobra line.
The best part of the figure is definitely the new head. Though I do wonder how emblems on face shields work. Are they one way decals or can the guy just not see anything? I was excited for the figure from seeing photos of it, but now that I have it in hand I’m rather ambivalent. The Firefly mold is decent enough, and the red highlights give it some nice color, but the desert Snake Eyes vest looks too short and out of place.
Nice new mold!
“Mr. Horseman, I knew the original HISS Driver. I played with the HISS Driver. And you Sir, are no HISS Driver.”
That said, I like the red on this guy and he makes a nice addition to the Cobra forces in general, particularly on the CG side of things. Too bad they messed up his bio. I would go with the visor being a one way deal, otherwise he wouldn’t last a minute in the field.
It’s good the Rock is playing Roadblock and man Bruce Willis is Gen.Colsten but my faitovre guy is Stalker. And where are the Dreadnoks? I will see the movie and buy it if it’s as good as the first. I’m still disapointed theres no Stalker.
Seems like a neat head sculpt obscured by a bad placed big logo. The bulk of the vest makes him look half-dressed.
I almost desperately want one, but I have no use for the Crimson Hiss Tank. Pity.
I wonder if Hasbro will take this figure and all the TRU CG 5-packs that didn’t sell and recreate a Firefly & the Crimson Guard pack for the days of old. And now that you’ve pointed out the short vest, it does look odd. He needs a pistol belt.
OOF. The Crimson Guard is Destro’s private army? That’s inexcuseable Hasbro. I had a co-host on our podcast once call Tomax and Xamot Dreadnoks and he had his podcasting privileges revoked. This is a similar infraction by a company who should know better!