Crimson Strike Team Baroness

By KansasBrawler

I’ve mentioned a couple of times already that 2009 was the first time I was able to go to Joe Con. Before that, I’d always admired their impressive figure sets from afar. However, the 2009 set was controversial for a couple of reason. First of all, it was the first time the GIJCC went with the modern style of figures. Secondly, the GIJCC went back and referenced their first 3 ¾” Joe Con set, the Crimson Strike Team. People were pretty miffed about the switch to modern style figures and they were oddly pretty pissed about the set being the Crimson Strike Team again. Had it been vintage-style figures, I would have understood the anger, but since it was modern-style figures, I just don’t get it. Yes, it wasn’t as strong a set as I would have liked, but at the same time, there’s a lot of good stuff to see with the modern Crimson Strike Team set. I’ve reviewed a few Joe Con sets on this site before, so you know the drill here. I’m starting out with the weakest figure of the set and in this case, it’s the Baroness.

While I’ve always been more about Cobras, for some reason, I’ve never been that keen on Baroness. If I had to chalk it up to anything, it’s probably because she never had a figure while I was getting Joes. My brother and I were both too young to have ever gotten Baroness while classic Joe females like Lady Jaye and Scarlett were readily available to us. As such, I just never latched on to Baroness the way some Joe fans have. Crimson Strike Team Baroness uses the same molds as the first 25th Anniversary Baroness from the neck down and the head comes from the second modern Baroness figure. Her bodysuit is nicely detailed, but even by 2009, this mold was awfully dated. The legs and arms are awfully skinny, even for a female figure and the torso still has a bit of an awkward hunch. Plus, Baroness is awfully bow-legged. It leaves the figure looking rather awkward. I passed on the second 25th Anniversary Baroness, so I never had a figure with this head sculpt. This head is objectively better than the first modern Baroness figure’s just by virtue of not having the wind-swept hair. I’ve seen a lot of reviewers take shots at her glasses, but I like them. They’re small and look rather sleek and fashionable, two things I tend to associate with the Baroness’s sense of style. The face is still appropriately feminine but there’s enough edge to her face that you can tell she’s not a good person. Overall, she’s not the world’s greatest figure and she has her share of problems, however, at least switching up the head gives me a little something different, so I don’t mind her. I also get that the GIJCC was pretty limited in their parts choices since there was only one mold they could use for her body if they wanted to create Baroness. You can’t have the Crimson Strike Team without Baroness, so if that’s all you’ve got, you kind of have to accept it even if it’s not the best piece out there. Though I’m still not wild about Baroness’ overall physical design, the GIJCC made her look really great through some incredible paint work. The GIJCC took their design cues from their original Crimson Strike Team Baroness. That means she’s got black boots, a red body suit and a lot of silver trim. The red and black look good together, but where things get impressive is the silver. There’s a lot of piping on this mold, and it’s all painted silver and it’s all applied incredibly neatly. There is literally no silver slop on my copy of the figure and that’s impressive. Even Hasbro didn’t do her belt as neatly as the GIJCC did. I’ve always been impressed by the GIJCC’s paint team and this figure is a perfect example of why their product commands premium prices. Up on the face, we also see neat paint work with Baroness’s skin tone and gold glasses. I’ll admit, I’m not wild about the overly tan skin, but beyond that, I really can’t criticize the paint team for any of their work on this figure.

Baroness’s gear is fairly simple, but I really do like how the GIJCC equipped this figure. I do miss the Baroness backpack Hasbro tooled up for this figure, but I’m okay with it being gone. Baroness’s two weapons are both great pieces. Her primary weapon is the same rifle the first modern Baroness figure came with. It’s a great modern assault rifle and I think it fits with Baroness’s character pretty well. Her other weapon is the Uzi that 25th Anniversary Snake Eyes came with. It’s an all right piece, but it looks just a little oversized in Baroness’s hands. Plus, I just think it’s a little boring as a piece. The rest of the Crimson Strike Team figures came with one weapon their original release did and a second weapon they didn’t. However, the weapons for the other figures were just a bit more interesting than the Uzi that Baroness got. I’m just a little bored by the weapon for some reason and am not sure how well it fits with Baroness as a character.

Baroness is a fairly weak figure, I have to admit. She’s awfully dated, but the paint work is still pretty great. It really helps make her a decent figure. She’s still a bit weak because her base figure is so dated, but I at least got something new out of it in the form of the head from the second modern Baroness that I passed on before.