G.I. Joe: Retaliation Cyber Ninja

G.I. Joe Retaliation product continues to roll out from Hasbro as the release date for the movie finally approaches. Today we take a look at the new Cobra Cyber Ninja figure or as I like to refer to him, the Tron Ninja. Is he worth adding to your G.I. Joe collection? Read on and find out.

Check out hi-res images for this figure in our GALLERY below.




Packaging - The packaging is the same generic packaging used for all of Hasbro’s G.I. Joe Retaliation figures, the yellow and brown colors with movie images of Roadblock and Snake-Eyes at the top and a image of the figure on the right side. The back has a brief bio about the character and images of the figure showing off its different accessories. On the right side are some small images of other figures being released in this wave.

Something I notice immediately is the lack of detailed filecard for this new character. I am used to receiving these with G.I. Joe figures. I am sure ditching the cards was another cost-cutting maneuver by Hasbro, but they are sorely missed when you are trying to introduce a new character like this. I am guessing this guy doesn’t actually show up in the movie so having some kind of backstory on him would have been nice. In my world, I will make him a henchmen for Cobra Mercenary Wraith.



Sculpt - The figure is another kitbash of previously released figures. The head is from the Crimson Horsemen which was the driver for the 30th Anniversary Crimson HISS tank. I have to say the head looked better on the Horseman, but I guess it does the job here. It’s just that it looks a little big and clunky for someone who is supposed to be a ninja. The body comes from a Rise of Cobra Elite Viper while the legs are incorporated from a wave 1 retaliation Storm Shadow.



Articulation - The articulation for this figure is very nice which is good since he’s supposed to be a ninja. He definitely has a lot more articulation than Wraith. The head is attached on a ball-joint so he can look left and right. He doesn’t have much in the way of up or down movement which is a little disappointing although probably realistic with that big clunky helmet on. He has ball-hinged joints at the shoulders, swivel-hinged joints at the elbows, swivel wrists and torso as well as double-jointed knees and ankle rockers.



Paint - The majority of the figure is covered in black metallic paint with gray washes to give him a very armored look. The head uses just a plain gray paint. The webgear covering the torso also uses a flat gray with some blue neon striping. The same neon blue is also used for the Cobra symbol on his chest as well as some lines painted on his arms and legs giving him a circuit breaker kind of look to him or as I hinted above, a Tron look. The figure really looks good with the Wraith figure if you own that one. They have very similar paint schemes.



Accessories - The figure has a decent amount of accessories. He has a backpack which you can use with the accompanying zipline as well as a double-sword sheath. You have to decide which you want him to wear, the backpack or sword sheath, since you can’t attach them to the figure at the same time. The figure also comes with a rifle and two pistols. He holds all of his accessories pretty well in either hand. There is no place to store the rifle or pistols unless he is holding them in his hand. Well you could put the pistols in the backpack, but if he’s wearing the backpack then he has no place to hold his swords.



Fun - Because the figure is pretty posable, you can get him in some pretty cool battle poses to fight Snake-Eyes and the other Joes. I would like to have seen something come with the figure allowing him to demonstrate more of a hacking ability, like maybe a dataspike a la Robocop or something. He is after all a “Cyber” ninja.



Overall - I would like to have seen a sleeker looking head used for this character. Maybe a repainted Wraith head would have worked better, but other than that I think it is a pretty cool looking figure. I like the idea of Cobra having a hi-tech cyber type army at its disposal and this one will probably look good with the upcoming Data Viper figure, so if you want to beef up your Cobra’s cyber division then I think you definitely will want to get this one.

Score: 3 1/2 out of 5