BOB SHARE

Stalking Recondo
In the jungles of Congo,
Once you had hair,
Now youre a baldo.

Jesse Recondo,
You look more like Gung-Ho,
I say youre Edward Norton,
Chubbier, with a mustachio...

I knew my major in Creative Writing would come to goood use some day.  Yup.

Like all the rest of these figures getting a push in the Pursuit of Cobra Jungle theme (excepting Duke), I really have no connection or love whatsoever for the character.  Except for my masterpiece of a poem up there. :P Thats why Im not bothered that he looks more like Gung-Ho or should have hair etc.  Im kinda neutral about the Recondo character.

But enter a hint of a Predator theme and tons of references toward the original cult classic and BAM!  Suddenly Im all in.  So there was no hesitation when I saw this guy on the pegs in a local store, heck, there was no hesitation once I saw the solicitation pics of him online!  I was going to get him come hell or high water!

Why?  Four Words:

Jesse "The Body" Ventura.


Its not that I actually liked the guy or his character during his wrestling days.  I mean, what kinda of a man wears a feather boa, bandanna, and tights?  Well nowadays, most everyone but when I was a kid, it was strange to say the least.

I kinda of liked him a little bit better when he first took over as governor of Minnesota--I was headed up there for college and most people seemed to like him then, especially when he had a nice bald head and returned them tax money at the end of the year.  Or something like that.

But then Minnesotans started to turn on him when things got heavy and he started to go a little crazy.  It was kinda not cool to say you liked The Governor back then.  So I didnt.  And he grew out his hair, or what was left of it.

But it was really these two classic quotable quotes from Predator which just made Recondo come alive and revive the Blain character in the Ventura of old:

"I aint got time to bleed."

"This stuffll make you a goddamn a sexual tyrannosaurus.  Just like me."

How can you that not catch your attention?  And really, the poor guy, for all his tough talking, didnt really get a good shot off at the Predator before the guy put a hole in his chest the size of, well, his chest.  But like Billy Sole (POC Spirit: Iron Knife), Blain has been immortalized in 3.75 inch scale plastic and will forever live on in our playrooms/on our display shelves.

And was it a good immortalization?  Well, I aint got time for jibber-jabber so jump on over!


Ok so I lied.  Here I am with more jibber-jabber.  And jibber-jabber is totally Mr. T, not Jesse Ventura.  Hey, but Mr.T wrestled for a bit in the WWE and maybe even Jesse himself, so theres a valid connection! 

Jibber-Jabber!

Like: His head sculpt.  He looks like Jesse Ventura, Gung-Ho, and Edward Norton all rolled into one!  Maybe theyre hinting that Ed could come in and play the character in GI Joe 2?  I mean, why else would he give up playing the Hulk, right?  Riiiight....

Like: That he can carry all his stuff, and I mean all his stuff, on him at one go.  I really love it when a figure can do that, never mind that some of the equipment he comes with may be weird (see backpack below).
Like: His really nicely tooled and paint vest.  Its got a nice white collar, a padded left shoulder areas to prop his sniper rifle up against, pockets, and even a cell phone!  The paint is great to, with most of it quite sharp.  The vest also comes off easily with two pegs and holes on each side, and has two small holes to peg his axes on.  That is truly sweet!
Like: His hat and his mask.  Its a mask!  That fits perfectly by snapping into his ear holes with two really tiny pegs.  It fits firmly, tighter than the hat, which falls off rather easily (probably due to the lack of texture of his head.)

But both have awesome detail: the hat with its one edge folded up ala an army ranger, and the mask because it looks so tiki and tribal and is perfect for a jungle themed figure.  The mask is the stuff you kinda look for in figures to give it that extra X-factor.  And it delivers here! 

Like: The two bear traps of death.  These are articulated so that they can clamp shut.  And can be pegged on to his pack, with space for one of them to be attached to tha packs zip-line of destruction: attach the trap, pull the string and set it down, depress the huge ol red button and zip! Recondo relels the poor schmuck that steps in it in.  The strength of the retraction is so great it always breaks apart and unhinges the trap.

Dislike: The really weird and un-jungle-like backpack.  The solar panels make me laugh.  Just like Venturas feather boas and fancy-schmancy sunglasses of old, they really feel out of place on a figure that supposed to be all equipped for the jungle.  Solar panels?  Really?  Lol.
Dislike: That he has a tiny additional peg at the side of his backpack that his other bear trap can peg onto, but the peg is either slightly too large or slightly blocked by some sculpted detail on the pack.  So the trap tends to fall off pretty easily.  This is one of those situations that I love that they have a peg there but am disappointed it doesnt work right.

RATINGS
Aesthetics: 9/10 - This guy fits in perfectly with the other guys hes meant to fit in with: Duke and Spirit.  While Dukes clothed in deep jungle green and Spirits workin the light greens, Recondos taken the browns with hints of yellow.  Having the three of them together is really a sight.  Gone are the days when these three characters would mean three different heads on three of the same bodies.


Poseability: 9/10 - Say what you like about the bear traps and the backpack gimmick, but they add to his poseability, even if he does look kinda stupid trying to snare an animal barely two feet away from him.  The other PoAs are standard modern Joe, with him being ale to not only look down well, but tilt his head as well.

Fun: 10/10 - It cant get more fun than the sexual tyrannosaurus who aint got time to bleed. Just imagine him saying it as he chews on his tobacco.  There you go.  Or just click on the earlier link above.  Thatll do it.
I cant say how much fun Recondo turned out because of the number of pegs, slots, holes he has to carry stuff. (Thats not even counting those he uses to express his mastodonic sexuality.)  And as more accessories with similar pegs etc. are released with the new figures, youll be able to mix and match his equipment, making him even more of a beast of an equipment carrier. For example: POC Fireflys forearm armor has similar pegs to Recondos axes.  Hopefully more figures will have these and soon!


Value: 9/10 - No doubt one of the best value for money figures of the line.  Sometimes figures come with lots of guns.  Some come with tons of gear.  While this guy might not have it all like say the ROC Pit Commando, what he has is unique--a tiki mask, the hat, the vest, the backpack (solar panels and all), and the bear traps.  Theres no doubt theyll be re-used in some form or other, but for now, its nice to have some new stuff to fiddle with that functions (read: plays) well at that.

Overall: 9.25/10 - Quite possibly the best Joe from the Pursuit of Cobra line, which is in itself already excellent. Whether or not he looks like what Recondo in the comics or the cartoons looks like, I really dont mind because this guy works, Recondo the Body Ventura works perfectly as a toy and as a possible character from the movies to come (except for that one small peg on the backpack for the bear trap, but thats minor.)

From the overall look, to the paint apps, to the accessories, to the playability (he can carry it all and still strike a pose!), I cant help but be impressed by how impressed I am by this guy.  Just looking at the axes pegged on his vest gives me a tingly feeling that warms my heart--I think my gigantic prehistoric lizard is emerging...figuratively speaking, of course...Aaah...

Yes folks, not because hes the one movie G.I. Joe figure Id get if I could only buy one more toy before my time was up, but because of his awesome coat that lets him do this:

Can you say Matrix? Trinity? Morpheus? (All in a Keanu voice) Ok, so Neo might not have pulled this move off as "The One" (too easy for him) but Snake Eyes sure can on his fabulous coat tails.

To be honest, I wasnt expecting much from Paris Pursuit Snake Eyes because Id heard his caot gets in the way of his poseability. But guess what? Its not all bad news, especially if youre like me and love to pose figures mid-flight/kick/jump/dive/lunge etc. Just look at Snake Eyes sweet ass flying kick!

They also gave this guy a wedge shaped slit in the back of the coat to allow more maneuverability of his legs. Good move!

Another wonderful thing about these PP Snake Eyes is that he comes with a bunch of accessories, but none of them is the gargantuan unwieldy available in all colours of the rainbow big frickin gun.

He does though come with Timber, 2 guns, a sword and sheathe (that can plug into his back), a bayonet, and a stand.

A pity that Timber has no articulation and can only thus be considered an accessory. He is though, a repaint and hence unique in his own way I guess. Wouldve been awesome if even just his head could turn.

No matter, I had tons of fun with PP SE. His only problem is that he cant kneel cuz of the coat, otherwise hed be perfect. And while the Ninja Commando Snake Eyes does have a BFG with less accessories, he doesnt suffer from knee problems. But he does have the sculpted lips from the movie costume which can be oh, so lame. This is where Paris Pursuit Snake beats Ninja Commando hands down. I guess the best solution, like my cousin Byron recommended, would be to take the PP head and swap with the Ninja Commandos, if thats what one prefers.

Oh, and the detail on the rest of Snake Eyes is also really nice. Like this pouch here.

The down side is that unlike PP Shadow, besides the sheathe for the katana, he doesnt have anywhere to holster his weapons.

Its a pity because I like with his sword in hand more than the machine gun or pistol, which have to be lying on the ground somewhere if he takes up the blades.






































But I just cant get over the awesomeness of the coat! Its like DCSH Superman having a long cape that helps him balance better and do all sorts of taking off and landing poses.

Who needs wire fu when you gots the coat-tail fu? :)
























Lets rate him!

Aesthetics: 9.4/10 - Nice detail all over, plus points for the blank mask and long coat, sleeves, pants and all--Nicely creased at the parts that need to be and just thick enough around the limbs to seem like hes wearing layers. But I guess blacks not really my colour, or perhaps the black they used (LOL) makes it hard to make out all the little details.

Poseability: 9.4/10 - Yeah the coat gets him here. Otherwise hed be really a lot nearer full marks. Go tto give it to Hasbro, though. They didnt cut corners and gave him a full 22 points like Stormie. :)

Fun: 9.5/10 - All together now--COAT TAILS! Ok Ill stop. But really, realizing that he could balance without his feet on the ground made me laugh out loud. Ill put him in a fight with PP Stormie real soon. Pics to come!!!

Value: 9.2/10 - Takes a hit from Timber being only a repaint with no articulation. Dont get me wrong, the wolf is cool and the gang and all, but Id rather have had more guns and/or places to put em.

Overall: 9.38 - Great figure, get it if you like the lipless mask on Snake Eyes. But I suspect the perfect Snake Eyes can only be found from a combination of more than one of his various versions.

And Check out this fight scene between Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes! (Sort of ;P)