I was a fan of the ’80s GI Joe figures when I was a kid, but never owned many figures or followed the post-’86 route, so when Classified started, I delved into the ARAH line And all the action figures I’ve missed over the years (thanks to 3DJoes.com and YoJoe.com). One of them is Tiger Force, and the one character that stands out to me is the concept character Sabertooth, which is a redraw of Firefly as a new character. He ended up in a slightly different paint job called “Wreckage” and I was hoping we’d finally get him to appear in Confidential, so I was super excited when this figure was announced. Let’s take a look!
The box reminds me of some old character boxes, with a large painting on the front and a small window for the driver, except instead of a painting on the front, there’s a 3D rendered scene. I did really like this scene, it gave me the feeling that the Tigers encountered a village destroyed by Cobras, or that the burning house could be some incognito Cobra base that the Joes had just raided. The profile portrait captures his tense face well.
Set includes a figure, Tiger Claw ATV, a backpack, a rifle, a pistol, a knife, a silencer, a magazine, two explosives, a large gun, a remote-controlled detonator, a helmet, two one missile and two missiles.
The knife has a shiny silver paint on the blade and fits in a wrist sheath.
The pistol is cast from brown plastic and has a small pin that holds the silencer in place. The pistol fits perfectly in the hand and the holster fits perfectly in the leg.
The suppressor can also be attached to a rifle with a detachable magazine, and when the suppressor is opened, you can use the standard explosive effect.
The remote control, like the other accessories, comes from Firefly, but there it comes with a small remote control car, so it’s a bit lonely here without it. I think it’s just a distal detonator. I really wish there was a place on my backpack or belt to store this damn thing.
The backpack fits perfectly and has a peg to secure the rifle and two pegs for inserting mines.
The helmet is reused from Clutch, but it fits better on Wreckage’s Balaclava’s head than on Clutch. The Tiger Mouth paint is perfect as it matches the livery of the Tiger Force vehicle, and while I do like how it fits in with the vehicle, I prefer the look of the Wreckage without it.
The Tiger Paw itself is a recent Cobra Ferret respray, quite bulky, and has some elastic shock absorbers on the tires. The tires did appear unusually slick to me, as I tend to think ATVs have much thicker tread. I do find that I miss the ability for the front wheel to turn as I think it adds a nice touch of reality to the pose. The vehicle is well equipped with a small two-barreled cannon in the front, a larger detachable cannon and two missiles. The red two-barreled cannon can rotate and lift.
There’s some nice paintwork with a transition from white to orange and yellow, and there’s a neat little detail on the turning yolk that suggests a guidance system or possibly weapons aiming.
The missiles are attached to small extenders, placing them outside the wheelbase. The extender can also be removed if you wish. I have to say, I don’t quite understand how these missiles work, with two heads and no rocket ends, but it would be cool to show the explosion effect they fire. The missiles are cast from a fairly soft plastic, and when I took pictures I noticed they were a little bent. To be fair, the temperature was around 86 degrees this afternoon when I took the photo.
The larger gun is attached to a clip that attaches to a pole on the back of the ATV, allowing the weapon to be raised and rotated and moved to any pole. It does seem small when I compare it to the retro version of the cannon which is almost as long as the entire car. The weapon also uses softer plastic that doesn’t hold its shape when exposed to high temperatures. It can be detached from the clip holding it to the vehicle and wielded by the character. In this case, smaller sizes work better.
The figure is a redraw of the recent Firefly and perfectly fits the character. The body has a nice jumpsuit feel, with a neat ribbed turtleneck underneath the shirt. He has a pair of sharp eyes under his hood. My Firefly had a little gap in the waist and was wobbly, but this one is a little tighter.
The paint sets this guy apart, and I do like the scheme they chose here, even though it doesn’t quite match any version of Wreck or Sabretooth we’ve seen. The most recent version has more of a battle cat camo look with a green jumpsuit and orange stripes, which isn’t really what I’m looking for. The Sabertooth concept photo is more of a brown jumpsuit with orange stripes, which suits my needs better. So I don’t get what I want, but they don’t do anything I don’t want to do, and I generally like what they do. What I really like is the saber-toothed tiger pattern emblazoned on the balaclava as a nice reference to his origins. He also has some striking eyes with some dark circles around them, which makes him look nervous. I do have to admit that the Battle Cat camo might have allowed him to tie in better with the existing Tiger Force figures.
The articulation is very consistent with the Special Forces Classification Standards and all the movements are quite good. I found myself wishing the butterfly pecs had more cross-body movement. The waist ball joint could use a little more tilt, and as always, I found myself lamenting the loss of the hinge neck. The wreckage includes:
- Rotate/articulate shoulders, wrists, hips and ankles
- Ball head, lower neck and waist
- Rotating biceps, thighs and boots
- Double hinged knees and elbows
- Mid-torso and butterfly chest hinges
Overall, I’m very happy with this set. The character itself is my favorite way to repaint it, it creates a new character, and the idea of good guy Firefly really appeals to me. The color scheme of the Tiger Force vehicle livery is so interesting that I’m excited to own another vehicle in this style, although I’m nitpicky about the lack of steering wheels and the smaller cannon.
While most Tiger Force characters are redraws of regular figures, this character only appears as a Tiger Force character, so it makes me wonder what a non-Tiger Force version would be like. Unfortunately, this number is a bit difficult to grasp. Pre-orders were not announced in time, and they quickly sold out at Target and Hasbro Pulse. This is a bit surprising since most classified items these days stay up for a few days. These Tiger Force exclusives are usually easy to find in stores as well, but as far as I know this one isn’t available locally, while the two-pack Tiger Force Roadblock and Tripwire are in abundance. Between this game and Once Upon a Time Cobra Commander, it feels like the line is a bit of a throwback to the early days, when character models were more difficult to obtain.
