[Jester]

Hasbro's posted digital renders of a Crimson Viper repaint and a new figure: OG13 Infantry Trooper Grunt. The former is everything that's come before but now all-over red. The latter is a great example of the oddly hit-and-miss character of this line, with a straightforward scaling up of the original figure's BDU-trousers-and-commando-sweater outfit (right down to the green front panels on his boots), some fairly sensible "modernization" in the form of the plate carrier taking the place of the original's ALICE harness, and some really stupid/naff bits. After skipping Snake Eyes, Stalker, Breaker and Rock 'n Roll, the goddamned holo-communicator that someone on the design team must really have a hard-on for makes an unwelcome reappearance, and the seeming practicality of the plate carrier is somewhat spoiled by the fact that it appears to be loaded with nothing but pistol mags. Flint also gets a Steel Brigade Corps helmet and Snowjob's XMLR-3A laser rifle, so Sunbow kids can play "Greenshirts" with him, a scaled-up version of his original backpack, a knife and a Browning pistol.

I really want to love this figure whole-heartedly, but so many little design choices just drive me crazy. I mean, why has everything about his design been modernized to some extent, except for his backpack, which, if anything, looks even more old-fashioned than the original, with some very clearly-defined leather belt-style straps and buckles holding it closed where the original design was much more vague. Why does he not have any rifle-sized mag pouches? Why didn't they included a version of the classic OG13 helmet, if they were going to go so hard retro with the backpack? Why does that stupid communication device keep randomly popping up on some Joes but not on others? Is someone getting paid royalties every time it's used? Arggggggh...