PERSONAL COLLECTION #2: 2006 Wave 4 STORM SHADOW

This was the second 8-inch Sigma 6 action figure that I purchased: Storm Shadow.

I've been fond of ninjas ever since my younger days. I still remember buying ninja magazines, and the times when I and my childhood friends would play dress-up ninjas at night, tresspassing (lols) on neighbors' premises mainly to see whether we would be noticed.

So it was also the same with my action figures when I learned all about GI Joes way back in 1986. Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes figures were instantly - and at the top - of my GI Joe wish list (though my first 3.75" GI Joe figure was Sci-Fi, because these figures were hard to come by back then).

And, 21 years later, these two figures were once again the priority figures to start my 8" S6 collection.

It was by pure luck that I came across this figure in the toys section of a department store, and in my opinion it was a good decision on my part to have bought this on impulse. Why? Because at the time of writing, this figure has practically vanished from the shelves. And the only two pieces I have seen on separate hobby shops have now been overpriced to more than US$50 each. Gotta love those greedy capitalists.

Again, the body sculpt is exaggerated to anime-like proportions, as one may have noticed in the pic above -- bowling ball deltoids and triangular triceps on those oversized arms. And those hands. Those big hands. They remind me of Mr. Bean's hands. Or baller hands. ;p But those oversized limbs are, I think, what gives this figure its character, along with those feudal Samurai-like pants and black bandaged forearms.

As for the weapons, this figure comes with a lot of them. A Samurai sword and its scabbard, Ninja BAT swords, nunchaku with flip-out blades, mace chains (pictured at left), foot claws, climbing suction cups, a grappling hook, and a spring-loaded bola launcher (well, that's what they were calling 'em so I'll just go along with it).

I just wish that they included some sort of strap for the scabbard, and perhaps something to allow Stormy to carry all these stuff around -- I bet he'd have a hard time creeping through enemy territory with a nunchuk in one hand, mace chain wrapped around his neck, and the Samurai scabbard in his mouth - especially with that facemask he has on. And then there's those big suction cups, foot claws, and bola launcher.

I can't say that I'm a fan of those Ninja BAT swords, though. They should've left that to those BATS, and gave Storm Shadow another sword. Much like on the first 3.75" Storm Shadow figure, where he had two swords, and a backpack to keep those and the nunchuks in place. As for the bola launcher, it was a nice looking but useless weapon in my opinion. Just like those giant suction cups.

Overall, I think this is a very decent figure to have in one's S6 collection.

PERSONAL COLLECTION #1: GI JOE Sigma 6 8" NightOps Snake Eyes

After so much deliberation, I finally gave in and purchased my very first 8-inch G.I. Joe figure, late last February. Feeling traumatized all these years for having sold my 60+-piece 3.75" GI Joe figs -- which was a stupidly desperate decision on my part -- I had promised myself that I would never get into another Joe collection.

And so I find myself wandering off to a hobby shop in a mall close to where I live, and finding this on the pegs. NightOps Snake Eyes. I initially resisted the urge to get this, since I was still in my Tamiya Mini4WD phase and I had already burned a lot of cash for those little buggers. After admitting to myself that the local Mini4WD scene has been, to put it nicely, "so-so", with the lack of any nearby tracks to test my car setups and race events that always contradict with my work schedule, I decided to get this one. Just this one. Shyeeahhhh riiiight.

What drew me into buying this - aside from the reason that Snake Eyes had always been my favorite character in the JoeVerse - was its 27 points of articulation (did I count that correctly?). And while 3.75" purists and 6" purists might be bashing this line due to it's size, I thought it was a cool concept -- not that I abhor 3.75" nowadays (hey, it's all good to me -- 2.5", 3.75", 6", 8", even 12" or bigger! As long as I like the figure, I'll definitely be getting it), but if I were to look for and buy back each and every one of those figures I sold, I would have to subsist on noodles, handwashing my laundry, and no cellphone service for a year or so.

What I had to get used to, was how these figures were sculpted. The Sigma 6 line has a distinct anime-like style, so one will see angled muscles and bowling ball shoulders as the norm. Another thing I noticed was how Snake Eyes seemed to be anorexic compared to his 3.75" versions where he was somewhat muscular.

For his accessories, he comes with two grenades, a mini-whipstar, a webgear that doubles as a sword sheath at the back, grappling hook, a sword which has a retractable blade underneath the handle, and cool NV goggles.

Disappointingly, his main weapon is a spring-loaded rocket launcher whose barrel can be tilted 90 degrees either left or right. On the outset, I thought that its sideways-firing capability was silly until I remembered that there's already an actual 'bendable' weapon designed for and used by SWAT and special forces.

So what's my verdict? For it's price (Soldier class, which is about US$7.00) and the fact that this is my first Sigma 6 toy, this is a very respectable product.

ALL DONE!

Took a picture of the two hard-to-find Lt. Stone figures, which were to be sent to a friend in Bedford, PA. I had to remove the batteries since the shipping couriers nowadays are being very careful - to the point of being paranoid, IMO - ever since that 9/11 thing happened.

So I finally got down to resealing them in clear tape and wrapping them in bubblewrap, only to find out from the local DHL outlet that they need to OPEN THE PACKAGE FOR INSPECTION.

And since I found out that it would cost me more to ship them over to Pennsylvania in their original, bulky boxes, I finally conceded and had to undo everything I've done with my packaging job. Luckily, I found a box to fit those Lt. Stones in, and finally got them shipped over to Amy in Bedford.

I now await the items she's traded for those Lt. Stones.

You know what? I forgot to get a Lt. Stone figure for my own.