Before I begin, I think it's fair to say the G.I. Joe Club requested that no one share what the first round of FSS figures were until everyone got theirs, so it wouldn't ruin the "surprise". But the figures were leaked the very day they came out, and Brian Savage even sent out an email factitiously stating:
"It only took 2 hours for one web site to get a member to crack about what the first two figures were...let's see if we can stretch that to at least a day next month!" While this review was written after the information had already become public knowledge, it wasn’t planned that way. I simply got these a day after some other people got theirs. I am also of the mindset that as an adult collector that does not work for Fun Publications, I do not think it is fun; nor do I abide by any childish notions of playing a "keep it a secret" game from other
paying members/customers who want to know what their money bought them in real time. In fact, I find that request offensive and patronizing. It's bad enough we get that nonesense for the JoeCon attendee items, but you won't see that here. We aren't in kindergarten; therefore we will not be playing those types of immature games...
Moving on:
Up first is Jinx, who is a repainted Resolute Scarlett body, and resized Valor vs. Venom Jinx head. She comes with a display stand, sword, sword sheath, two arm blades, blindfold [headband], micro uzi, grappling hook with string, and nunchuks.
Jinx was one of only five FSS figures I actually cared about, and I was really looking forward to her. Unfortunately she's a mess. At almost $30.00 per figure when factoring in shipping---and not including the inevitable inflation on the secondary markets, Jinx is a very expensive disappointment, and one whose flaws should have been taken care of prior to approval. Every aspect of her presentation from figure, art, and filecard are wrong, and that is wholly unacceptable at premium high-end pricing.
Jinx's most glaring flaw is her giraffe-like neck:
The revised VvV head was a great idea, but it was still too small, and coupled with a neck that's almost 2.5 times the length of a normal neck, Jinx looks freakishly disproportionate. In a grand display of irony, the VvV head (which was too small back in the day) was enlarged to be more realistic, but it’s now the neck that ruins the aesthetic of the figure, so despite the best efforts, Jinx still looks like a freak regardless if this is the VvV or Retaliation eras.
Thankfully she wasn't a total wash. The head on the SDCC Jinx works much better and the size difference tends to compensate for the longer neck. The neck is still a tad too long, but the SDCC head can make the entire figure workable without any drastic changes; though the skin-tone does not match up. But for you purists out there, if you're bothered by the long neck but still want to keep the original FSS head, you'll have to hollow out the head socket and hope it can be deepened enough to make the head sit lower on the neck---a project I will be undertaking soon...
The FSS head does work well on the SDCC body, if you wanted to swap it out that way:
The mistakes continue, as next up, her card art portrait is incorrect (showing her with long hair free flowing instead of tied back in a ponytail like the actual figure):
This is a sheer act of laziness and cost cutting, because her portrait could have been revised to correctly match the actual figure prior to her release, but it wasn’t. Furthermore, there are even two versions of her potrait: on the front of the card she has the blindfold photoshopped on, while on the small filecard pic on the back she is shown without the blindfold. So they used a deceptive portrait twice, knowing it was not representing the actual product we were getting---but not changing the art regardless to match the real item. I guess if you wanted to be really anal retentive, you could claim the card art was false advertisement since there is no standard disclaimer on it that says "Product and color may vary." <_<
Even the text in her file card is ironically wrong, as it says "To compensate for her diminutive statue, she also excels in infiltration and covert ops".
Huh?
"Diminutive statue"? Really?! The Resolute Scarlett body she's using was
taller than all of the other male Resolute figures except Roadblock, and with her freakish neck, she's one of the top ten tallest figures in the modern line, so that diminutive comment is ridiculous even if it was meant in fiction, because despite that, the actual physical figure is not small.
The most frustrating aspect of this figure was the wasted potential. On paper she was a great idea. And it's always cool to see new female figures, but not when they fall short of expectations. For the non-discriminating collector she'll work okay for a display piece or whatever else, but for those with an eye for detail and aesthetics, you might have a hard time overcoming her flaws, and if so, the more you think about it, the more it will tick you off you paid this much money for something that could have easily been tweaked to look a hundred times better than what she ended up looking like in her final form.
On the plus side, I'm glad the Club used the Resolute Scarlett body, as that was too good of a sculpt not to use again---even if the legs and torso were too long. The colors are also great and they really help bring out the sculpting details on her bodysuit. It was also nice getting the aborted weapons that were supposed to go with the City Strike Scarlett repaint. But in the totality of the circumstances, the poor execution and planning of the figure is a major flaw, and I would have preferred City Strike Scarlett instead.
Final Score: C-/D+
Next up is Dice--- a kitbash of Temple Guardian Snake Eyes, and parts from a few Storm Shadows. He comes with a display stand, mask, battle ax, double bladed bo staff, two throwing stars, and two claws.
For the record, I dislike ninjas. I also dislike hokey, stupid ninjas with a lame kiddie theme. And that’s where Dice falls into. He’s a stupid name-themed ninja that serves no other purpose than being… You know what? Who cares. You either like or dislike Dice, and that's that.
Aside from my personal dislike of ninjas, as a figure, Dice is okay. He has a good likeness to his original counterpart, and the fact he has a removable mask is also very cool. (He uses a repainted RoC Aqua-Viper Officer head.)
Dice is also well proportioned, so we don't have any major issues about his physical form aesthetics. But speaking of aesthetics, like the BBTS exclusive 7-pack Zandar, Dice is almost too close to the original, and that in turn has made him look very dated, and even boring. Sure, I get it. This is a continuation of sorts of the 25th line, but in my opinion he would have been better served as being a revamp to make him a little more modern. But then again, there are probably a hundred other characters I would have rather had over Dice, so it's a moot point in the grand scheme of things.
Final Score: B
Overall from a personal stand point, I was very let down by the first offering of the FSS. Jinx was a mess, and I didn't care about Dice. Both figures also use the softer, mushier plastic, so it's hard to keep weapons in their hands, and Jinx's legs were really wobbly. But to be fair in a meta sense, Dice is the superior figure from this assortment, and if you like his character, he’ll make a good addition to your collection. As for Jinx, well, that's for you to decide. At the very least, she's good for customs.
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