GI Joe week is here! GI Joe the Rise of Cobra releases this Friday and all week here at Infinite Hollywood we're paying homage to it with great GI Joe news and reviews. I'm going to be delving into plenty about the new toys as well as some looks at my vast GI Joe collection. However, we start out today with one of the earlier GI Joe villains, Firefly.



Although Firefly is a Cobra loyalist, he's an independent contractor. That means he works for Cobra, but only indirectly. Firefly was first released in 1984 and remained a core member of the Cobra team ever since. I never had Firefly when I was young, but I definitely wanted him. A few years later I was able to score him and he's been a favorite of mine ever since.


This new version of Firefly is part of the Rise of Cobra toys, although the character of Firefly doesn't appear in the GI Joe movie. This figure is shipping as part of Toys R Us exclusive lineup of guys which thus far only includes Firefly and a repainted Barbecue, but other TRU exclusives are on their way.

Packaging:
The new GI Joe Rise of Cobra packaging is quite nice as I've said in previous reviews. It's still to me, not as good as the classic or modern GI Joe packages, but it's certainly more eye appealing in many ways. Take Firefly's package as an example. You can see just how much gear is packed into this figure just by looking at the package. The old "plastic coffin" packages often obscured just how much gear was in there.



The back of the package for Cobra characters does not include the thumbprint on the filecard. That's a minor thing, but it makes sense. Technically these are Joe dossiers, so they may not have the thumbprint of all their enemies. There is a small sticker on the front as well that indicates that this is a Toys R Us Exclusive. It reads: Headquarters for Heroes only at Toys R Us. Considering TRU is getting some of the cooler Joes, it's a nice way to let folks know. Although it doesn't actually say "exclusive".



Articulation:
Firefly has all the modern Joe articulation. He has a ball jointed head, ball shoulders, ball elbows or Hasbrows, swivel wrist, t-bar crotch ball jointed legs, double jointed hinge knees and ball jointed feet. His feet have somewhat impaired movement because of the design of his boots.



Still that's plenty of movement for a GI Joe. Joes were really the first highly articulated figures and they continue to be some of the best articulated figures on the market. Some folks think they should have some other areas of movement in different spots and I have heard some grumbling about Joe articulation through the years but for the most part they are really well articulated.

Sculpt:
Here's where things get interesting to me. Recently I had a debate with some folks on whether the new MOTUC Zodak was a repaint of Zodac. I contended that Zodak isn't a repaint. He's a new version of the figure because he's made up of different parts, even if those parts aren't necessarily new. I pointed to this figure as an example. Why?

Firefly has no new parts technically, but he is a NEW version of Firefly. His base body is now the base body of the Resolute Trooper, using comic pack Firefly parts and head. With a new assortment of gear, most of which is borrowed from previous Fireflys. So is this a new figure? To me it is. He's not simply the same Firefly repainted, as Version 17 was.


On the prowl...
This figure is referred to by some a "Resolute" Firefly because he looks a lot like Firefly did in that film. His jacket is slightly different, but if you want a nearly 100% accurate version you can simply add the Flak vest from the Pit Commando figure to this one and he's perfectly accurate to GI Joe: Resolute. Personally, I think he looks cooler here.



There is no doubt in my mind that the first release of Firefly was by in large, a picture perfect recreation of the classic figure. He was updated in all the necessary ways and this new one isn't superior to him if you are comparing them to the original. HOWEVER, this is one of my favorite versions of Firefly released in many years.

The original outfit was great, but this new look really changes things up and makes Firefly look even more like a cool saboteur/assassin. Of course maybe I'm feeling a bit of burnout since I've gotten a ton of Fireflys in the last few years, but I love that they did something new with him. He's very much Firefly, one look, you know it's him, but he also isn't just a mirror image of previous Firefly releases.



Accessories:
Boy does he come loaded to the gills with accessories. He doesn't come with his patented backpack that the last few releases have, but he does come with a different backpack, a satchel, D57-B rifle, knife, two gun clips, the big honkin' rocket launcher and a gas tank, explosive bomb, wire cutters, and a flashlight. Not to mention that his goggles and vest are removable.



That's 13 accessories not even including the stand! This guy is a walking accessory package if nothing else! I plan on picking up a few Fireflys I believe, because he's just so darned cool with all this junk. You could easily customize him into several different troopers.

Additional Notes:

Here's some food for thought with Firefly. He was first released in 1984 making him a pretty early Joe. It took nearly a decade for his second release which came in 1992 with some garish green colors and a completely different look. He got one more figure in 1993 which was a very similar repaint of his 92 counterpart. Then something happened...

Firefly got a arctic release in 1998 which was a repaint of his original figure. And then he got FOURTEEN more releases from 2000 on. He went nearly ten years without another release and then got fourteen in the span of a couple of years. He's already got two or three releases in the Rise of Cobra line. Firefly has become one of the most released Cobra figures in a few short years. So why buy this one?


Turning the tide on the Joes.
The reason to buy him is simple. This ain't your Daddy's Firefly. He's got all the cool accessories and tons of things that make him truly NEW. Even if he's made of a lot of reuse. Hasbro really knocked it out of the park with this figure and the only sad part is that he's not more widely available. Because he's a TRU exclusive, I have no doubt that a lot of folks are going to end up missing out on one of the best figures to come from the Rise of Cobra line.

Value:
$7.99 is what this guy regularly retails for at Toys R Us. That's not cheap by any means, but TRU ran a sale a few weeks back where you could buy 2 figures for $10. That's an incredible deal. I hear they are going to run it again. If you miss out on the special though, this guy is still probably worth the $7.99 you'd pay for him regularly.

Score Recap:
Packaging - 8
Sculpting - 8
Articulation - 8
Accessories - Vest, Goggles, Stand, Gun, Knife, Gun Clips, Bomb, Backpack, Wire Cutters, Flashlight, Missile Launcher
Value - 8
Overall - 8 out of 10

If you get this figure for $5 you can go ahead and crank this guy up to a 10 out of 10. If you pay the normal price for him, he's still a very solid, very high 8 out of 10. For a GI Joe toy who's not even in the movie, Firefly is probably one of the best Joes released in this line.


Be sure to tune in everyday this week for special GI Joe news, reviews and more as we celebrate GI Joe week here at Infinite Hollywood!