After two years of questionable marketing decisions by Hasbro, and not trusting they will actually release this here in the U.S. despite their assurances, I bit the bullet and bought PoC Ashiko with Cycle Armor when I saw it was hitting stores in the Asian market. This was one of the few things next to the Steel Brigade Troopers that I wanted very badly, and I didn’t want it to slip away a second time if Hasbro again cancelled it.
(Special thanks to member Cmderinchief for letting me know these were out!)
Ashiko:Ashiko is a repainted 25th Snake Eyes (V-34)/Wraith body, with a RoC Flash/Skydive head. His only new aspects, are new body armor and a dedicated motorcycle helmet. The colors are silver and black, and can easily match with the Accelerator Suits if you choose to use them---or stand alone if you don’t. He’s a motorcycle stunt driver
and an Arashikage ninja. (And a real Asian ninja at that! With the exception of Jinx and Storm Shadow, all the other G.I. Joe team ninjas throughout the various lines have all been Caucasians.) The whole ninja angle really threw me, but I guess being a mecha-driving ninja is cooler than being just a normal one!
Ashiko’s name is also worthy of note. His given name is N. Kaeru. The most common meaning of Kaeru in Japanese is “frog”. But it can also mean “to change” or “alter”. I think we know which meaning he’s supposed to have here!
On the flip side however, his codename is a bit of a mystery. An "ashiko" is an African drum. Read into that any way you want, 'cause I have no idea what the significance is.
Like many other PoC figures, Ashiko comes with a slew (pun intended) of weapons, basically making him a mini weapon accessory pack:
Body Armor
Gauntlets
Helmet
G-36
M-17 Bushmaster
MK-16 Mod 0 SCAR-L
M.A.C. M-10 x2
Pistol
Knife w/ sheath
Sword w/sheath
Armored Battle Suit:
Cycle Mode:
(Legs inside:)
(Legs outside:)
Size comparison:
Box:Here is the packaging. Unfortunately one side of the mailing box was crushed in the mail, and the damage transferred inside to the toy box as well. Thankfully Ashiko and the cycle weren’t damaged, but fold-out the diorama scene was ruined:
Ashiko and his suit are definitely inspired by 80's anime mecha, most notably the “Cyclone Ride Armor” from
Robotech/“M.O.S.P.E.A.D.A.” (Military Operation Soldier Protection Emergency Aviation Dive Armor) from
Genesis Climber MOSPEADA, or the “Motorslaves” from
Bubblegum Crisis.
This is the Americanized G.I. Joe version. In-fiction the Cycle Armor is basically a transformable Accelerator Suit that has stealth characteristics in motorcycle mode, and in battlesuit mode it has flight capabilities. Its payload consists of two weapons on each arm/side. The types are not listed, so they can pretty be anything you want---machine guns, lasers, missile launcher, you name it. There is a short ammo belt sculpted on each gun pod which could be a .50 caliber machine gun belt, or even a 20mm grenade launcher belt. But again, it’s pretty ambiguous, so go with whatever works for you.
In-reality, to assemble the armored suit, you need to take apart the entire cycle, and reassemble it on Ashiko’s person, so this does not have the smooth transformation of a Transformer. Furthermore, a great deal of your enjoyment and satisfaction will be dependent on how tight or loose the figure’s joints are; as well as how well the pegs fit in the attachment holes on the armor parts. To use an example, it’s very much like how well your Alley-Viper’s grappling gun attaches to his backpack, or how well your Jungle-Viper’s backpack stays on. Depending on the strength or weakness of the figure and vehicle, you can have a unit that’s very flimsy and falls apart, or one that’s relatively stable and playable. Mine is fairly playable, though Ashiko’s legs could be tighter in the crotch.
(This could be a common and annoying problem with a loose crotch and legs:)
I do need to clarify what I mean by “playable”. In this term, I define
playability as being able to assemble the unit and handle it. But
articulation is a whole different story. You really can’t move around the body, arms, or legs in any great range of motion
per se, because parts will invariably fall off. It does have bendable knees and feet, so Ashiko can perform prostration and penance to the Pink Lamp (inside joke for those in the know):
...But anything else is problematic. The legs are the biggest issue for the above explanation, and if you look at the below pic, you can see there was no reinforcement built on or around the groin to keep the legs stable or the suit from flopping from the waist, or slipping into the splits:
(Also, in-fiction, his crotch is vulnerable to enemy fire, unless he has armored pants or something.)
In addition, because of the thickness of the armor around the legs and pressing into the groin, Ashiko can’t stand straight when in the armor, as his legs are always set in a straddled position.
The next issue is the gun arms. The suit’s arms are only held in place by one peg that attaches to Ashiko’s arms, and they are wobbly and are the first things that will pop off if you move his arms too much. (Actually, he really can’t move his arms that well, because his chest armor blocks a lot of movement.)
My final concern is the chest armor. Look at the pic below:
See that yellow strap? That’s a rubber piece that attaches from the backpack assembly to the front armor/chest plate. The frontal cycle armor attaches to the two pegs on Ashiko’s normal body armor, and those yellow straps clip on to the front of the armor to keep it in place and on his chest in suit mode. Unfortunately the clips are just “press-on”, so it can detatch from the chest plate very easily. Furthermore, the yellow straps are made of soft rubber, so if they rip or corrode, odds are likely the chest armor won’t stay on. So right off the bat, we have some issues that limit the functionality of the figure in armored suit mode.
In a nutshell, this is simply not made to stay together long-term in suit mode, and is more of a display piece when transformed.
(The motorcycle mode is completely different. As with Legos, almost all the parts connect redundantly, so the cycle is
very stable for play. As an added bonus, it has dual working kickstands, and the tires are real rubber.)
No, it’s nowhere even close to the high-end Toyami transformable Robotech/MOSPEADA Cyclones. Those are $200.00 each. This is $15.00. But for G.I. Joe at a G.I. Joe price point, it does the job well despite the flaws. And to be fair, a lot of thought went into this design, and a lot of parts had to be custom designed with the figure in mind. So at the price point, we’re still getting a great deal. Sure, if this was the cost of a Supreme or Ultimate class Transformer; or $200.00, we’d probably have a more refined transformation and a more stable toy that locks tight and stays tight, but this is what it is.
One final note, for those really anal about proper sticker placement, there are only eight stickers to be put on, but six of them need to be trimmed to fit correctly in the spots they are designated to be placed at. Thankfully the edges of these are really wide, so you can trim them down without cutting the actual detail off.
Overall; regardless of the distractions or concerns, I really like this unit and I think it’s pretty cool. (If they do come out here, I'll buy five more.) Granted I’m biased in that regard, because I love battle armor, mecha, and Robotech, and this is a slice of that tailor made exclusively for G.I. Joe. It’s not for everyone and it’s not perfect, but it does bring something brand new ‘Joe universe both in concept and execution. And that my friends, is worth more than yet another uninspired Vomit Character peg warming, or another AWE Striker or Snow Cat repaint...
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