I don’t know whether it’s the fact that I’ve been restricted to buying non-O-ring Joes for the past couple months or what, but Wave 5 has pretty much knocked my socks off. Every figure seems to come packed full of character, sculpting and terrific color schemes, and I really see a lot of these updates kind of overshadowing their original incarnations.
As I’ve been known to do with these new releases, I’m going to start at the bottom and work my way up until I get to my favorite new figure of the bunch.
First at bat is Shipwreck. Let me say right off the bat that I really like this mold. Out of all of the Navy Seal figures and the dive-related molds that go along with them, this one is a little more versatile. I could see this suit being used under the water and on land both, being a cool multi-purpose wetsuit for the diver and the land warrior alike.
That being said, however, I really don’t think that this mold fits the Shipwreck character. It just doesn’t fit. Seeing as how the only real personality offered Shipwreck is through the cartoon, it would seem that he is not nearly disciplined or serious enough to make it through Navy S.E.A.L. training. It seems obvious to me that Hasbro just threw him in there because he was a water based character.
Still, the mold works even if not as Shipwreck. Put the dive masks on them, and these guys just look like a platoon of normal divers or a normal S.E.A.L. team. As this, they can be used well. I can almost see a squad of these guys crawling from the deep, seaweed and grime slipping off of their wetsuits as they discarded the scuba gear and continued on their night mission through the jungles. This figure matches that scenario perfectly.
The light gray and black highlights would not have accomplished this on their own, but thanks to a heavy application of paint wipes, this figure looks down right dirty. Which is just as it should! Combine that with the black straps, holsters and other trimmings, and this figure just screams "night assault". A fantastic paint job, which seems par for the course for Hasbro from 2000-2002.
The mold holds up well, coming out in 1994 (with the exception of the legs, which were originally the ’86 Wet Suit’s) and still holds strong. The knives, air supply, holsters and all the other stuff, really compliments the mold well and overall, this figure is really well suited to its environment.
Accessories for this figure are beyond great as well. He comes with a full compliment of scuba gear, machine guns, knives and the like. No matter what kind of weapons you’re partial to, this figure will come with one that you like.
Overall, this figure is a fantastic one. Again, I’m not sure if this is just giddiness after buying non-O-Ring figures for a couple months, but whatever the reason, this figure is still a nice one and I only hope all collectors can get one.
