GI Joe Sigma 6: Cobra Iron Grenadier

When Hasbro took the GI Joe franchise a new direction with Sigma 6 I was turned off like a lot of other fans. However once I allowed myself to experience a figure hands on I started to change my mind. Growing up with the 3 3/4" scale it was hard to accept the larger scale, but I started to realize that Hasbro hadn't turned their back on the iconic franchise. Hasbro was simply trying to breath new life into a stagnant brand and while it may not have been as successful as they wanted, it still yielded some cool toys.

One of which was the Iron Grenadier and it quickly became one of my favorites. Different from the ARAH version, yet similar, this was a fun toy that came with some pretty cool weapons and accessories.

I will point out these are some old pictures that were buried on my old laptop. I've since sold the figure in an effort to downsize my overall toy collection. 

Like with most of the Sigma 6 figures, there are ports (or holes ) on the figure that allow accessories such as armor to be attached. In this case you have a backpack of sorts that contain the red hoses that travel across the figure. I'm not sure if that supposed to be some kind of breathing apparatus or what, but it sure does look cool! The straps on his thighs are elastic, something else Hasbro tried with this series...using materials other than plastic.

The head sculpt is great in my opinion. You've got a stylized gray helmet with a Cobra logo off set to the right. The face is basically a large black mask with round, sharp red eyes. Combine the eyes with the red hoses and the Iron Grenadier has a very intimidating look.

These faceless troopers came pretty well armed. A large rifle with a removable yellow tipped projectile along with a removable magazine that held two additional projectiles. This magazine could also be attached to the rifle itself, basically making the figure self-contained when it came to the accessories.

Overall I thought the designers did a great job with this army builder character. Great design meets articulation. Had I had more space to designate to GI Joe in general, I would've made space for Sigma 6 as most of the figures I owned I really enjoyed. I've often wondered if Hasbro would ever go down this path again since the Joe brand is essentially dead right now (at least outside of the official GI Joe club), but let's just say I'm not holding my breath.

GI Joe Sigma 6: Zartan

I was really shocked and against the move Hasbro took with the GI Joe franchise when the Sigma 6 toy line was launched...however I purchased a few figures I started to enjoy the overized, stylized version and their many accessories. I recently came across pictures of Zartan that I once owned, the pictures dating back several years more than likely. Instead of just deleting them because they weren't up to my current standards, I decided to go ahead and share them.

While some of the classic Joe and Cobra characters were given a new look in the Sigma 6 series, Zartan for the most part kept his classic look. The classic colors, the outfit including the hood are all straight out of the comics, cartoon and the original A Real American Hero toyline.

Zartan came packaged with a few weapons and accessories: a crossbow with a quiver and an extra arrow plus a machine gun. These weapons could be attached using the various ports found all over the figure. 

The quiver had an elastic strap that would easily allow it to be placed around the shoulder of the figure. The crossbow was a real working weapon that would fire either arrow. The machine gun looked the best in my opinon when attached to his wrist. The gun had two removeable clips and red painted knives on the back for upclose combat.

Once all of Zartans weapons were attached tot he figure, he looked like a one man army. I don't recall ever seeing any version of this character so heavily armed. When I still owned this figure, I only displayed him w/ his crossbow however as that seemed like a more natural weapon for him.

Great figure, decent amount of articulation with some good accessories. Zartan came packaged in the early waves of figures with the big plastic weapon storage "lockers". The mold would later be repainted purple and neon green as Toxic Zartan. A wild deco, but an equally fun figure, even if that version lacked many of these accessories.

GI Joe Sigma 6: Lockdown

Around 2005, Hasbro decided to take a different route with the G.I. Joe brand. Gone was the traditional 3 3/4" scale, replaced with a new look 8 inch scale. It was a pretty drastic departure from what most collectors were familiar with. A lot of collectors would have a hard time embracing or even accepting the new look Joes, but I was intrigued by this new series of toys.

At the start of the line I found the toy's packaging to be almost as impressive as the toys themselves. The top and bottom of the packaging were large pieces of plastic that when removed, could be assembled to form a foot locker of sorts to store the figure's gear and accessories. After awhile Hasbro introduced a lower price point who's packaging lacked some of these frills. Lockdown was one of the Soldier assortment as they were called. While the packaging may have been simpler, the toys still packed the same punch.

The Soldier assortment still came with a good amount of gear. As you can see here, Lockdown comes with a removable helmet, gun, hand cuffs, a belt, a SWAT shield and a battering ram. I particularly liked this figure due to his similarities to the A Real American Hero character, Shockwave.

For larger sculpted figures, I was surprised at the level of detail and articulation the figures featured. While they didn't feature modern ball joint type articulation, you could get some good poses out of these figures...assuming you had an ounce of creativity.

     

I personally liked this new direction of GI Joe. The art style was different, but I like different. There was a brief animated series that accompanied the line, but I don't think Lockdown every made an appearance. If he had I imagine he would have looked exactly like his figure.

In addition to the accessories I've already mentioned, check out his metal dog tags. Small touch, but a very cool little accessory.

Lockdown's right hand is actually spring loaded. What I mean by that is his four fingers have a spring that runs behind the knuckle area. This allows him to grip and hold his weapons and accessories in a tight manner. When nothing is in his hands, he effectively has a balled up fist.

The Sigma 6 toys had a lot of play value. Granted the series was focused on the figures and not the vehicles and play sets, the toys were fun. Isn't that what toys aren't meant to be? Yes it was a big departure from the norm, but it seems like that is what must happen from time to time to the GI Joe brand to keep it alive.

This was written in the early months of 2015. The future of the GI Joe brand is up in the air. I hear rumors of a 3rd live action movie...which would help, but military themed toys just aren't as relevant to today's kids as they were in the 60's or even the 80's. As much as I love GI Joe, unless the brand takes another chance and mixes it up a little, I don't see it coming back anytime soon...and that is something that makes this long time fan / collector a little sad.