Low-Light, as a character, has always been on my radar for some weird reason. In the 80's cartoon, he was C-list, at best. The character has minor cameo roles even in the comics. I don't know why I've always known he was the sniper of the outfit, like it was buried deep in my subconscious. It's not like I owned any Low-Light action figures before. Maybe being a bad-ass sniper who likes the dark a lot really makes an impression on a young boy.
Enough about my creepiness. Now, on to the G.I. Joe Pursuit of Cobra Low-Light action figure.
More often than not, a figure with a generous number of accessories is highly regarded. While this still remains true for Low-Light, this figure's greatest asset is also is its downfall.
Packaging
G.I. Joe packaging has remained fairly standard over the years and is still pretty much the benchmark for clamshell carded figures. Thankfully, the Pursuit of Cobra line maintains the same level of quality. With a clear plastic shell with nothing obscuring your view, you can see every little accessory and detail of the figure, making sure you know what you're in for.
Details at the back of the card are still pretty much spot on - you have the figure number, the G.I. Joe spiel, and his character card.
Sculpt
I can confidently say that the Pursuit of Cobra line is a whole level above other Hasbro figures of the same scale. Yes, Marvel Universe figures included. The PoC bad boys are molded with precision and attention to fine detail. None of these figures were rushed off the production line, by the look of their molds.
The Pursuit of Cobra theme is pretty awesome. They took beloved G.I. Joes and gave them more realistic militarized looks while maintaining that familiarity about each Joe. Let's face it, the characters and the figures have always been great, but the designs left much to be desired. Hasbro took that and dumped it on its ugly head. All the uniforms, the equipment, the accessories and even the guns were updated and made more real. Hell, Low-Light comes with the M200 Intervention, the spotter scope and the CheyTac weather computer system.
Let's start with his face and head. Low-Light has always looked the way the figure looks - kinda deep set, with a serious look on his face. The figure's face mold is a perfect representation of the character. He's wearing a skullcap, which is molded on with a nice texture sculpted into it. Also, he has some goggles, which can be worn on his head or in front of his eyes, with a nice rubbery band around it.
His webgear is quite simply a work of art. Low-Light's got that familiar red shoulder guard, which has some nice texture, for the butt stock of his rifle. He has sculpted in pockets, grenades, straps, locks, all magnificently molded in.
The entire uniform just looks incredible, with all those creases and pads and textured straps. His arms have padding, which are a bit cumbersome but they look awesome. The pants have kneepads and holsters for his knife and scope. His boots' laces are sculpted in, too. Low-Light is built goddamned well.
It's like one of their sculptor designers randomly stood on a table the day they were going to make Low-Light and gave a rousing speech that inspired all the workers. Everyone shouted "HURAH!" and got to work.
Paint
While some people may say that the paint on Low-Light is a bit bland, being all gray, with solid shades of black and red, I would like to argue that while the colors are simple, the application detail is not. Check out how his webgear is painted. Sure, it's all gray, but look at those silver links and grenades. How clean is that?!
All of his paint apps are flawlessly clean, even down to his ridiculously small accessories. And even though everything is pretty much a solid color with no wash, nothing looks too flat. It's just amazing all around.
Articulation
Another fantastic innovation for this G.I. Joe line is the articulation, particularly at his wrists. His right wrist, with the trigger finger hand, tilts upward and downward, to make for a lot more gun poses. His left wrist, with an open hand that can cup most any of his accessories, moves inward and outward. Such a simple change made a ton of difference; made for a bunch of fantastic gun poses.
The webgear restricts chest and neck movement. However, it is removable and without it, those joints can move freely. His shoulder twists and swivels. His elbows bend about 80 degrees. The neck rotates and so does his chest and waist. The legs are general pegged G.I. Joe joints at the hip, with double jointed knees and ankles that twist and bend downward and slightly upward, which makes for great kneeling poses.
My one big disappointment in the figure is his inability to look straight up, which would have enabled him to lie prone on the ground with sniper rifle in hand. If you were to pose him like that with the current articulation, he'd look like he was reading something on the ground.
Accessories
This is where we get down and dirty. Low-Light comes with a buttload of accessories. Some of them are so intricate, it's borderline insane.
Let's list them down for you:
- M200 Intervention, gun body
- M200 Intervention bipod
- M200 Intervention suppressor
- M200 Intervention scope
- M200 Intervention spotter scope
- M200 Intervention weather analyzer computer (it looks like a cellphone)
- An M200 Intervention case
- A backpack
- A knife
- A radio, with a detachable mouthpiece and antenna (good luck not losing it)
- A case of bullets
- A single removable bullet (I KNOW RIGHT)
- An Uzi
- Goggles
- A stand
Okay, wow. Right? Just wow. There's a bunch of them, and really, he's got enough shit for two G.I. Joes. He's got the full equipment of a sniper spotter.
The radio is pretty nifty, because it has a detachable mouthpiece and antenna, which will likely need to be glued on because it keeps falling off. It fits right on the side of his backpack; I thought was a really nice touch.
The bullet case is a nice diorama piece and I bet it'd look great next to his open sniper case. However, what the hell is that bullet for? I mean, sure, I am mindblowingly grateful to Hasbro for having gone the extra mile and a half just to produce something that intricate and detailed but it serves no real purpose. Sure you can pose Low-Light holding it, that's pretty much it. Plus, he'd be holding it like a hotdog.
The upper right pic right there is presumably the CheyTac weather computer system that is used to operate the M200 Intervention to guide the shooter for more accurate shots. It can gauge adjustments for wind speed and distance, the type of round the gun is loaded with, the air temperature, the distance of the target and even compensates for the rotation of the Earth. That'd be an awesome accessory to have if he had a spotter. Time to buy a random cannon fodder G.I. Joe fig, I guess.
His Uzi is pretty standard for G.I. Joes; it's the one that comes with Snake Eyes, too. It fits perfectly in his trigger finger hand, though the angle is a bit off.
The knife has a holster on his thigh and the scope fits perfectly on the opposite leg. It can also fit in the bag.
Also, as mentioned earlier, the rubbery goggles fit on his face or on his head. I prefer to put them on his head. Just looks cooler that way.
Most of his stuff fits perfectly in his bag, which obviously opens and closes and is locked by a couple pegs. In his bag, I have his bullets, his uzi, his CheyTac weather computer, the bipod and silencer. Why the bipod and silencer are in there will be explained in a bit.
The radio fits right on its side. The backpack fits snugly on his back by plugging in the peg into the hole found between his shoulder blades. If you choose to put the sniper rifle case on his back, the backpack can still be attached to the hole on the sniper case, so technically, Low-Light can carry everything.
Unfortunately, when Low-Light does that, he gets too heavy and falls backwards, even when his feet are firmly pegged into the stands.
Let's get to what is supposedly the crowning glory of this so-far amazing action figure, the M200 Intervention.
The shoulder stock folds in and out, just like the real thing. It comes with a suppressor, a bipod and a scope. While the potential for this weapon is great, the execution kinda falls apart.
While amazing, this rifle is plagued with problems. The scope literally pops out of the body on its own. Its pegs must be too big for the holes. Now that can still be fixed by some glue or by making the holes a little bigger, but really, you shouldn't have to.
Another big failure of the weapon is the bipod. It just won't attach to the gun. I can't even say it keeps falling off, because it won't attach in the first place. The fix for that is a little trickier. Thankfully, the silencer fits perfectly and the folding stock works great. Unfortunately, the bipod and scope problems are enough to put me off from using this gun. It is snugly inside its case, while the rest of it is in Low-Light's backpack.
Right now, I've got him carrying the Marauders' .50 Cal Barrett, which just looks freaking amazing on him. It's also a remarkably good thing that Marauders are coming out with the M200 Intervention in series 6, which comes with a CM901 with holographic scope, an AA12 shotgun, a Vector-type submachine gun and a Type 95, just to name a few. That series is set to come out by the end of April, 2012. I'm excited!
Verdict
I honestly think I just got a lemon in the sniper rifle department. No other review says it sucks the way it sucked for me. Taking that into consideration, I would have to say the G.I. Joe Pursuit of Cobra Low-Light action figure is in a class of its own. The sheer amount of detail is spectacular and thought that went into this figure is just impressive and I surely appreciate Hasbro for that.
In the Philippines, you can still find Low-Light in toy shops like Great Toys in Waltermart and Greenhills. He goes for Php 1000 to Php 1400. Get it, it's worth it.