When I first saw the newest and final figure to be revealed all I did was sit there for about ten minuets going "hmmm". And that's about all I can do now. Hmmm, Major Storm. On their site, Master Collector boasts about this mold only being released once. Hmmm, Major Storm. I might be off here but, I believe the reason this figure was only released once might be because he looks like my elderly neighbor that wears black socks pulled to his knees along with shorts. Who wants a figure of their uncle? He was never a fan favorite to begin with and the only people that really find him necessary are completist. Now with the weird camo pattern I think even completist will have a hard time convincing themselves to pick this figure up.

They have also included his original weapons, gee thanks, that helmet is nice. It almost makes him look like the funny kid that no one wanted to talk to in school. "I have to wear this or else my head will leak!" Honestly can't say that I'm a big fan of those types of guns either, those guns are always too big and look ridiculous whenever fixated in the hands of a Joe.

About the best part of the figure is the blurb about the General that's on Major Storm's (hmmm) filecard. It mentions that the General was sabotaged and will be out of commission for about a year, leading many in the Joe community to believe that Hasbro might be bringing the vehicle back for a late 2004 release. That makes it seem like Hasbro is hard at work searching for old molds to release and it might be that the year the General is going to be "repaired" is actually the time they need to track down all the missing pieces. That almost makes up for this figure, if it's true. Hmmm, Major Storm...more like Major Disappointment! HA! Oh I am too good.

[Matt: I dunno...the helmet, it's too big for him. It makes him look clownish.]

Lt. Falcon

Good move on Master Collector's part, Falcon is really a favorite in many people's collections. However I don't know if this new camo pattern will keep him in such high regards. Although many see Falcon as just a Flint clone, being so similar in looks, Falcon is usually a must have for a collection. The fact that Falcon and Flint seem so much alike makes me wonder if someone at Master Collector was thinking of the wrong character when asking Hasbro for a mold that they wanted to team up with Lady Jaye.

Again I don't know if this Falcon seems like the "must have" type. The new camo pattern that plagues the Falcon and Lady Jaye figures look like the under-detailed figures of the 1999 Stars and Stripes box set that sat on Toys R Us shelves for quite some time. And the Stars and Stripes set only cost $30.00 when it came out! (Oops, I am giving you a sneak preview of what I think about the price.) But I mean that strictly about the camo pattern, the rest of the figure looks highly detailed.

The weapons are a plus. He's armed to the teeth and the teeth are black! Wait what I meant was the weapons are black and that's a much-welcomed thing by Joe fans. Our request when it comes to weapons is keep 'em black and keep 'em coming! And that's just was Master Collector did with most of these figures. They also tried to match Falcon's original weapons with the backpack-knife-antenna combo. Although not the exact weapon molds, they look just right with this figure. I say even despite the off setting camouflage Lt. Falcon is still a really nice figure.

[Matt: Looks like he has Swiss fatigues on.]

Lady Jaye

Above you just read my comments about what I think is wrong with the paint scheme of these two figures, but what I think is right with both is the weapon choices. They not only gave Lady Jaye all of her original weapons (in black no less!) they threw in another gun for good measure! Who can argue with that? Lifeline might but he's not here so, Yay! Honestly though I could care less about the figure itself, I would much rather have the original or even the one released with Snake Eyes and Stormshadow in the 1997 three pack. That 1997 figure had a really weird face but both her outfit and weapons were black. Anyone with a 1997 and an original Lady Jaye could make the perfect figure by switching the heads. Look at that, I would rather talk about customs than this figure. All in all Lady Jaye, I could live without her.

I almost forgot to mention my favorite part about this figure. Her filecard art! I fell in love with it the moment I saw it! I want Flint dead! I personally would like to thank the artist for such a wonderful picture. And on that note, it seems as though the art for Major Storm, Lt. Falcon, Lady Jaye and the Air Viper were all done by the same person who does the art for the all the GIJoe figures in stores now. Whereas the art for Cobra Commander, Swamp Viper, Black Dragon Trooper and Black Dragon all look like they were drawn with a right-handed person's left hand. It kind of makes me think that the ones with the card art that looks like the art that's out now might be released in stores. Which would be another good reason to pass this set up.

[Matt: Again looks Swiss. No problems really. Very European.]

Black Dragon

Over all, the mold is okay, sucks that he's got one of the "no back screw" bodies. Seems like they could have found a better color for the details that were done in gold and yellow. I don't think two-tone would have been a bad idea for this figure since he's suppose to be such a mysterious character. I like the background story to an extent, I am a big Cobra fan and I like that they're who GIJoe fights but GIJoe is suppose to fight all terrorism and Cobra isn't the only terrorist organization out there. Also it's nice to see Cobra Commander getting along with others. Even though this might be just what was mentioned in issue 17 of GIJoe (DD) about Cobra Commander hooking up with people of the same interest and then stabbing them in the back. I think it said that he would recruit from the ranks of other terrorist organizations or something along those lines and that might just be what the Commander's trying to do here. And if he can destroy GIJoe in the process then so be it.

All in all Black Dragon looks good to me. The name is kind of corny, sort of like the title to a really bad 80's martial arts movie or something. But he looks like a ninja and I loves me some ninjas! (ninja?, ninji?) Weapons are good, but again a lame color, I would have like black or even silver/gray over the gold. I think Master Collector only had two choices when it came to weapon color though and they didn't want to give everyone the same colored weapons.

[Matt: I just don't like that outfit at all. What? What is that blue on his chest? Is that flowers or something? I don't understand the black/yellow/blue.]

Black Dragon Troopers

What would an organization be without troopers? And what would a convention set be without army builders? The answer to both is LAME. But I really don't think the Black Dragon Trooper himself is lame. Maybe just a bit misunderstood. This figure made good out of what was once a very boring figure. Although the Ferret is very near and dear to my heart being in my collection since I was young, he was never really used that much in play. The gold has got to be the worst thing from the Ferret's original outfit and that's one of the thing's that they have kept the same! I do have to say that the gold is way better than the yellow on Black Dragon himself. There is even a blurb on the filecards about the Black Dragon Troopers now wearing Cobra outfits, and I personally would like to see what BD Troops wore before joining Cobra. I've seen gold look good on figures before and this just isn’t it to me.

They did manage to throw in four black guns and a black backpack for each BD Trooper, which is a very good thing. Although four may be a bit overkill (I like my figures to be able to hold all their accessories at once and not have to have a storage locker to keep their extra's in) but that's me just stretching to find something wrong. So all in all, I like it but I don't know if I want five of these guys.

[Matt: Super dumb. What are they thinking?]

Cobra Commander

Looks like the big "C" got some respect this year as one of the convention exclusives. But another Cobra Commander figure, I need not. Especially one with a paint scheme so close to the original release of this mold. I do like this mold of the figure but like I said I have one with almost an identical paint scheme (But don't think I'm not going to change my Talking Battle Commander's yellow details to red now). So I'd have to say thumbs down. They gave him a rifle and a knife. The knife I like, but I see Cobra Commander as more a pistol man. That way you don't see it right away and he can spring it on you when you least suspect it. The knife is fitting with his whole "stab you in the back" persona. But the rifle is too "look at me betray you" for me. He has an army to do the straightforward stuff for him. A golf club would have also been a nice accessory for him. Show his softer side, a man that likes the finer things in life.

[Matt: I would like it if the colors were different. They should have used dark blue for the cape.]

Swamp Vipers

I'd have to admit that I even like this mold when he was hard to look at without sunglasses on. Sure pink and yellow isn't too menacing but I guess I just saw the potential in this figure's mold. A potential that Master Collector has some how found a way to barely avoid. Personally I think the new Swamp Vipers look too much like the Lampreys that came with the Man-O-War in 2000. And I didn't like that color combo then either. I do however like the fact that Copperhead has someone to directly boss around now. I think Copperhead should have taken Cobra Commander's place in this set, but I am sure that his mold is probably "lost" like many of the other RAH molds.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, black weapons keeps a fan as a fan. Well I don't think I actually said that before but I will from now on. (I won't) Three black guns and a black backpack was a good choice by Master Collector. And between the five of these guys and the five Black Dragon Troopers you get enough black guns to replace all the stupid ones in the set and still some left over. Hey Master Collector, don't think I didn't notice the little bits of red that you used to match these guys with the commander, good job! All in all I like the figure though I don't agree with the colors chosen.

[Matt: The boots make it look really stupid.]

Air Vipers

This is my favorite figure out of all of these and he's not even in the box set! The air viper is a long over due character to the Joe universe. Rumors were speculated as to what the letters in A.V.A.C. meant and most of the rumors involved the words "Air" and "Viper" which has now been confirmed by the Air Viper's filecard. Bravo Master Collector, this was one of the best parts of this year’s set, making it official what A.V.A.C. stood for. I think the Vapor mold was one of Hasbro’s best and this version is a bit better since the helmet matches the rest of the figure, where as Vapor's helmet was silver and the rest of his outfit was dark gray. They also changed the whole wearing your undies outside of your pants deal that Vapor had going on.

He doesn't come with anything but the silver parachute that will be used in the figure drop. Well you win some, you lose some. I'm sure one of the Swamp Vipers will lend him a gun. I really dig this figure and think he should have been one of the troop builders in the main set.

The filecard for Cobra Commander mentioned the Air Vipers piloting the Flight Pods. If that is the surprise vehicle that is included with the set that would be rawesome! Trouble Bubbles are one of the best RAH vehicles ever produced and they should still be on shelves, they should be able to be bought by boxes of 15! If Master Collector/Hasbro has gone as far as to mention them on the filecards then I sure hope they take it that last step and give the fans what they want. But seeing as how last years box art featured the H.I.S.S. tank we might be in store for some sort of raft as the exclusive vehicle this year.

[Matt: Bold superhero colors - should be really tuned down then it would be cool. Keep the copper color but make the accent a really dark green. I think someone really screwed up.]

I believe most of my thoughts so far had been negative so I guess I'm not really feeling this set. Surprisingly enough I think the figures that I want the most out of this would be the Falcon, Lady Jaye and Air Viper. The rest I could really do without.

Also I wanted to mention how silly the box art is on this set. Last years Crimson Strike Force team's box art was very nice, very "what are you going to do about it" where as this years just makes me laugh every time I see it. What if that's really what happened when you infiltrated Cobra Island? You get Cobra Commander standing on the beach with an oddly contorted Black Dragon and the troops popping out like puppets from behind various scenery! I think it would have looked better with absolutely no Cobras or Black Dragon troops at all. Maybe do one of those things with just the floating heads of the bad guys really big at the top by the mountain. Kind of like movie posters when the faces are just floating there. I would have bought into that.

I don't think this set will be as sought after as last years set. But I don't think Master Collector will learn their lesson because I think most of these will sell. They just won't see the after market value mark up like the Crimson Strike Team set. I don't want anyone attacking me about this later but I say it's safe to say that you can pass on this set and be able to pick up whatever pieces you like later on for a reasonable price. But keep in mind that if these sets don't sell well, Master Collector might not continue to do exclusives for us whiney bastards.

So to put an end to this review I have to say that I won't be picking up the set, but mainly because of the price, not the figures themselves. I mean if Hasbro (I know this isn't Hasbro giving us this set it's Master Collector) can give us the B.A.T. six pack for $15.00 dollars then why isn't this set itself closer to $40.00 and the admission to the show the thing that cost extra?

[I forgot to ask Matt what he thought about it as a whole. I don't think it would have been nice though.]