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.
Next in line are the infamous Crimson Guard Commanders, Tomax and Xamot. Ever since their debut in 1985, I have been a huge fan of these two Corsican Brothers and I think they are two of the few characters that really transcended both the comic and the cartoon universes to become very cool characters in both. I am thrilled that they got their due in 2002, so now I can retire the older ones with no more fear of breakage. But, I am a little disappointed at Hasbro’s treatment of them here, and would have liked to have seen them in different shades than their original colors.
These molds, as they were in 1985 are really, really fantastic. They exemplify the Cobra order with an awesome combination of regality and deep, muted tones. This was Hasbro at their absolute best, constantly putting out terrific characters with amazing molds and wonderful personalities. Thankfully these traits translated very well to the 2002 line and the filecards were done very nicely, too.
Even though these colors pretty much perfectly match those of the original twins back in 1985, it still carries over very well to the new century. The colors maintain the great look, but are more muted than the originals, fitting in better with the new series, but holding over their classic looks.
Something humorous to mention as well...apparently whoever decided to name Ranger Sidetrack, and to change Lifeline's real name also decided to slap a scar on Tomax's cheek! :) It is only painted on, no mold change, and at some point, I may try to scrape it off, but I just found that funny. Still, this is a really cool 2 pack to have, especially if you don't have the originals, or are afraid to break them.
Also thankfully, Hasbro maintained the Twins’ trademark machine pistols and their very cool zipline. Their whole package translates well from 1985 and really, they probably would have scored higher if they had been modified even a little bit from their original incarnations.
