I pre-ordered this and Amazon keeps pushing my ship date back. I am one of those 82-88 Joe collectors, as that was what I had back when I was a kid. I never read the IDW comic, so for me this character is brand new. I am sucker for all things "ninja" so, I had to have him regardless. Now, I am not going to sugar coat it. Hasbro straight up kicked us in the tenders with this one. In terms of the figure itself, it's good. Pin-less design, and 50% new sculpt. In terms of accessories....holy-snazz-ballz, they completely did us dry. The two Katana are repaints of Movie-Version Storm Shadow, as is the worthless back-pack-sheath-thing. The double Yari staff and its break-out form, are from Movie-Version Akiko. Then you get the Uzi, knife and pistol from Snake Eyes, without the suppressor (or a holster or sheath.) So this was Hasbro doing two things. 1) Punishing the collectors/consumers for NOT buying the Snake Eyes Origins figures. They were going to force those accessories on those collectors. 2) Saving money by not having to mold/design any new weapons/accessories. For a "Deluxe" grade figure, we deserved at least ONE new weapon. Like perhaps his three section nunchuck staff that he originally came with. Personally, if they were going to re-hash previous weapons from the Snake Eyes Origins movie, I would rather have had a repaint of Snake Eye's sword. It comes with a sheath and would have looked amazing with a matching repaint. Besides, he only needs one sword...and a gun. If they were going to give us a pistol, why give us the one that requires a suppressor? You can't attach blast effects (unless you get Valaverse's pack.) That knife is just going to get lost. Also, the re-use of standard Classified Storm Shadow body, pelvis and feet are fine; that's all part and parcel of the whole GIJOE gig. However, to save themselves all this money by not having to create a signature weapon or accessory and also ditching plastic in the packaging, you'd think some of those savings would be passed down. Uh-uh. No, instead they raised the price. When you compare "deluxe" to say, Doctor Mindbender, Zartan Master of Disguise, Snake Eyes and Timber Wolf Ver 1, or even the Viper Three Pack, this Kamakura doesn't come close to the mark. This was and is an over-priced figure; no question about it. Sadly, this fits with their new fiscal model at Hasbro. It's as if they are punishing us for their financial woes. :( The good news is, having seen the future releases coming, there is less hood-winking going on. So, I have some hope. :)
Cool figure.. A must have. Great review 🙂 and the package looks good.
Thanks for watching!
I pre-ordered this and Amazon keeps pushing my ship date back. I am one of those 82-88 Joe collectors, as that was what I had back when I was a kid. I never read the IDW comic, so for me this character is brand new. I am sucker for all things "ninja" so, I had to have him regardless.
Now, I am not going to sugar coat it. Hasbro straight up kicked us in the tenders with this one. In terms of the figure itself, it's good. Pin-less design, and 50% new sculpt. In terms of accessories....holy-snazz-ballz, they completely did us dry. The two Katana are repaints of Movie-Version Storm Shadow, as is the worthless back-pack-sheath-thing. The double Yari staff and its break-out form, are from Movie-Version Akiko. Then you get the Uzi, knife and pistol from Snake Eyes, without the suppressor (or a holster or sheath.) So this was Hasbro doing two things.
1) Punishing the collectors/consumers for NOT buying the Snake Eyes Origins figures. They were going to force those accessories on those collectors.
2) Saving money by not having to mold/design any new weapons/accessories.
For a "Deluxe" grade figure, we deserved at least ONE new weapon. Like perhaps his three section nunchuck staff that he originally came with. Personally, if they were going to re-hash previous weapons from the Snake Eyes Origins movie, I would rather have had a repaint of Snake Eye's sword. It comes with a sheath and would have looked amazing with a matching repaint. Besides, he only needs one sword...and a gun. If they were going to give us a pistol, why give us the one that requires a suppressor? You can't attach blast effects (unless you get Valaverse's pack.) That knife is just going to get lost. Also, the re-use of standard Classified Storm Shadow body, pelvis and feet are fine; that's all part and parcel of the whole GIJOE gig. However, to save themselves all this money by not having to create a signature weapon or accessory and also ditching plastic in the packaging, you'd think some of those savings would be passed down. Uh-uh. No, instead they raised the price. When you compare "deluxe" to say, Doctor Mindbender, Zartan Master of Disguise, Snake Eyes and Timber Wolf Ver 1, or even the Viper Three Pack, this Kamakura doesn't come close to the mark. This was and is an over-priced figure; no question about it. Sadly, this fits with their new fiscal model at Hasbro. It's as if they are punishing us for their financial woes. :(
The good news is, having seen the future releases coming, there is less hood-winking going on. So, I have some hope. :)
A hasblo shill boy