Okay, I made all that up and the gif is taken out of context, but it might as well have been true.
Flint's first 25th Anniversary figure was accurate to his original figure from the 80s. Except for the arms. Instead of short sleeves and gloves, he got 'Duked': cursed with a pair of duke fail-arms.
Hasbro seems to be phasing out those terrible arms, and they decided to give Flint better arms. Ones with short sleeves and gloves, ones he deserves. Rather than release the 'corrected' Flint in his regular colours, they put him in his Tiger Force uniform. ("Corrected" Flint, v1 costume with fixed arms, is coming out in the upcoming GI Joe 5-Pack.)
You can find out more/what I think about Tiger Force by reading my rantpost.
Flint has Duke's body and legs, and they work well. The shirt has the right look, as do the legs and boots. They don't look out-of-place like the duke arms did. The colours are accurate to the Tiger Force Flint figure from the 80s, which is great in terms of accuracy. Too bad the colour of the shirt is so hideous.
Flint has a great head. And I'm not quoting Lady Jaye. His facial expression might seem a little odd and his eyes might give the impression that he's constantly looking up, but to me it looks like his eyes are facing forward as he marches into battle, not taking any crap and slapping chicks' asses.
His head also has a terrific range of motion. Other 25th heads, though ball-jointed, can really only turn left and right, since the vertical motion range is negligible. But not Our Man Flint: he can actually look up and down. A welcome change.
What about the main attraction: the arms? I have to say I'm impressed. These arms look great and are actually functional. The short sleeves and gloved hands make Flint LOOK like Flint, and the wrist watch is a nice touch. Some people think the arms look a little too bulky. Really, the arm's aren't that bad. Don't get me wrong, I don't think all duke-armed characters should have these arms, but these arms fit some of them. They look nice on Rock N Roll, where beefy arms make sense since he's a weight lifter, and they work on Flint since they're not implausibly huge. After all, Flint's all about picking up chicks, so it's not hard to imagine him flexing his muscles for display.
If you're worried about the hands, don't be. Gone is the useless fist (though I guess Flint could use it for Donkey Punch action), and the left hand has the best trigger finger the line has ever seen. I'm not sure if Flint is a lefty, but this hand is so great that now, he's a lefty to me.
The articulation is a little better than what you'd expect from the 25th line, what with the great range of motion of the head and the new arms, which Flint can use to actually wield his SPAS-12.
Tiger Force Flint comes with the same gear as the previous 25th Flint release: shotgun shell harness with belt, sidearm, and SPAS-12 shotgun. The harness is moulded in green and the shells have gold paint on one of their ends. Only one of the two ends are painted, so you might want to touch up the paint yourself.
Not only that, but the whole harness assembly doesn't seem too secure. 25th Snake-Eyes' webgear stays in place, but Flint's straps WILL move. You'll find yourself constantly pulling it down into place. If it moves up too far, it looks like he should have a parachute attached to it. Don't get me wrong, the shotgun shell suspenders are buckets of badass, but they could have been better had they had a bit more paint and if they were more secure.
Both of Flint's guns are moulded in green. The sidearm fits incredibly well into his left hand. Again, this trigger finger is amazing.
It might be a case of the 'just mines,' but I'm having a really hard time getting Flint's sidearm into his thigh holster. The gun seems to be a bit too big and is an extremely tight fit.
Thanks to his new arms, Flint can hold his shotgun with both hands. It still doesn't look quite natural, but it's better than duke arms BY FAR.
I really don't like the fact that the guns aren't in a realistic colour, but I understand that they're moulded in green for accuracy to the original figure (and maybe to look more jungle-camo). I can accept that. Besides, even in green, the SPAS-12 is still one badass boomstick.
I'm really impressed by this figure. The lack of duke arms, the range of motion of the head, the badass gear, the outstanding left hand, and the fact that it's Flint. My only complaint is that it's Tiger Force Flint. The ugly colours and stupidity of Tiger Force bog this figure down for me.
Is 25th Anniversary Tiger Force Flint worth the purchase? No. If you already have a Flint figure, you don't need this guy, unless if you're a big fan of Tiger Force, or if you want to collect Tiger Force 25ths, or something. I bought this figure to repaint him in V1 Flint colours, but since that's that GI Joe 5-Pack coming out, I really don't have to.
All things considered, this is nonetheless well done figure, and smeg-awful colours aside, this is how Flint should have been done in the first place.
SUMMARY:
25th Anniversary TIGER FORCE FLINT
ACCESSORIES:
- SPAS-12 combat shotgun
- sidearm
- shotgun shell webgear
- figure stand
PROS:
- fixed arms
- head had better range of motion than most
- badass equipment
- stands on its own even though he's mainly a repaint
- left trigger finger is fantastic
CONS:
- colours are ugly
- arms seem a little bulky (not excessively so)
- strange facial expression
RATING:
3 ON 5
"DO NOT WANT"
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