As an illustrator I can see the flaws in the design. The issue is, who ever designed this sculpt didn't follow standard-human facial proportions. It's ok to exaggerate proportions, it's just they chose the wrong facial features to exaggerate. I think they were going for Sunbow, animated movie version like they did more successfully in Sgt Slaughter. The digital render doesn't look that bad and I somewhat sure that if you remove the paint apps, the sculpt itself will resemble that digital render. The problem is in fact the paint apps. The sculpt was a difficult design in that it didn't allow for ANY imperfection in the paint apps. They had to be perfect or the design would fail. The paint apps I have seen so far have been barely passable to what-were-you-smoking-when-you-did-this. The bright blue eyes are fail. The digital render did not have bright blue eyes. Then there are the lips. The digital render did NOT have red-ish lipstick. If you look on the bottom lip in the render, you can see that it was supposed to be a faint salmon color. The digital render also didn't show quite a large cleft in his chin as the figure has. Then there's the beret. The beret is utter fail. Why they didn't just repaint one of the THREE berets they already made is insane. The problem with beret is the mountainous peak they gave it in the front. It's odd how yours doesn't look that bad, but most of the others look terrible. A part of me thinks it could just be the low millimeter lens distorting the image....but....*sigh* I don't know. As far as Hasbro "listening to customer complaints" I cannot back that statement up. I think they were listening when things were financially stable. The moment they suffered a bad financial quarter, they immediately lowered the production quality of figures and packaging. IN my experience, once a large company lowers quality to save money, they never...ever....return to the same level of quality as before. So, we either have to be satisfied with the level of quality we're getting...or we can witness the premature end of the Classified line. If the board of directors feels that it would be more profitable just to start a new line...they'll do it. We aren't necessarily promised to receive the figures they've made digital renders of or named dropped. They could just as easily close it all down and plan out a new series.
I can appreciate everything you’re saying. I think there was an error of interpretation here when the sculpt approvals went back and forth. I don’t believe it’s the face paint apps. Could they be improved? Sure. But in hand you can tell something went wrong on the sculpt. I hope Hasbro improves. This line is a money maker for them.
I have my fingers crossed for a retro release with a better head sculpt. I could keep one figure as Falcon and the use the other for a custom with a different head and accessories.
Awesome review. I still have mine on preorder just experience it my self. But out of 63 or 64 figures we've had in the entire line we've had about 2 bad head sculpts, Flint (Not the worst the best) and now Falcon, but i think the fanbase should have protested the digital render when they revealed it, rather than complaining when the product shots were shown.
@Sal Collects in hand it's not *terrible* but definitely not great and it just doesn't look like what the showed in the render. Lmk your thoughts once in hand
Good honest review of Team America Gary "The Actor" Johnston I mean Lt. Falcon. I brought one knowing I could change the head, I was going to have to change the weapons anyway. So I'm keeping my preorder. Maybe its the cynic in me, but thanks for the laugh about hasbro listens to the fans I LOL'ed.
Still keeping my preorders, in fact I'm going to buy alot of falcons. As a customizer there is so much right with the rest of the figure. I also have multiple heads to to swap out on him. I don't know what I'll do with the heads but the rest of the figure will be re-used multiple customs, including a Vietnam Snake Eyes. I was going to use Tiger Force Recondo but i think I'm going to wait for falcon now.
This is what I mean 100% The figure is awesome but the face. This is a solid solid figure to customize so it’s worth it to me but to others probably not. Just trying to save someone the disappointment.
It is a great basis for most of the LRRP Vietnam characters, Snake-Eyes [Classified]. It looks similar to what I built 4" versions of Dickie Saperstein, 'Snakes, and Wade Collins from. ('cept I swapped out a Gung-Ho thigh for those M-79 slugs for Saperstein) BaldyLockz has that great head and hat, it just needs the snapshot of Snake-Eyes' sister in the band. Same hat needs a bend and a chevron pin holding up the brim for Dickie. Sunglasses for Dickie and a Tamiya clear Smoke paint optical illusion for Snake-Eyes. Hit me up if you _do_ want a 'recipe' for Ramon Escobado and/or Tommy Arashikage, lol.
If Hasbro was halfway decent, they'd let anyone mail in for a free replacement, new head sculpt. Then I kept watching, laughing along and lost it at 12:03 😅🤣
Falcon is only Duke's half-brother in the cartoon. He was never created to be originally. The original story has nothing to do with that. The file card, comics and original concept was a completely different character from that version.
Falcon and Cover Girl have two of the most ugly face sculpts thus far on this toy line, in my opinion. I agree that the body sculpts on both are amazing but their faces are horrible. I will get them when they are on clearance. Great job as always 👍👏
@@BaldyLockz thanks for the heads up on the head after your review I went and got a new Falcon head and two female heads to go with my two extra Baroness to act as her guards and a hooded cobra commander head thanks for the tip.
Great review. I canceled my pre-order cause I was never a big fan of Falcon, and Im not a completeist. I may get him if he is on clearance. Really like your content.
Hey man thanks for the review to say this is ugly would be a understatement but the cover girl wasnt exactly a work of art either . I cancel my preorder maybe ill buy it later on clearance somewhere .
I get that. The customizing doesn’t bother me but I want others to know it’s not a “wait and see in hand” situation. It’s just as bad as what we’ve seen. Wait for clearance.
Great recap of the cartoon, but in other (superior) media, Duke and Falcon aren't related at all. I'm getting him, but I've got a custom head in the pipe.
Yup, I had a section where I mentioned that and compared it to Duke and Scarlet in the cartoon vs Snake Eyes and Scarlet in the comic…I was rambling and it didn’t fit
It's not a great head sculpt. On top of that, the face printing doesn't help it. There's too much weathering and weird coloured lips that hurt this head sculpt. But you're right, one bad head sculpt out of 64 isn't bad. It also looks better in person. I think where most people went wrong as fans is that lots of people expected young Don Johnson, but they gave us older, grizzled Lt. Falcon from the comics that was no relation to Duke. I never really liked the Duke's younger half brother thing and that character never acted like someone fit to become a Green Beret much less a GI Joe. This figure looks the part. He's not pretty but he gets the job done.
They may have done this on purpose if they make a new one for NF falcon so we have to but two to get the right head for regular falcon.. I think covergirls sculpt sucks too.
Appreciate the review! Matt Damon . . . Matt Damon . . . Matt Damon (love the puppet strings too)! Canceled pre order for Falcon and Covergirl. Used the money towards Cobra Viper and Zartan Master of Disguise I missed out on!
@@BaldyLockz not at all. I just got into Classified end of November 22; so depend on reviews to know where to spend my money; because a lot are no longer avail for retail (especially in Canada)!
@@BaldyLockz I watch all reviews just to see what each person opines. Please do your own reviews. Every voice sometimes adds something no one else may have stated.
@@raypaz2947 I was just telling my wife yesterday I might start a channel because of your very statement! Even reviewing so called back catalouge and vintage just adds to the collective visual knowledge bank for people to make informed decisions. I have a large and various collection I just need to really sit down and research the nuts and bolts of making these kind of videos.
I realize this is an old video, but I recently threw an extra Grunt head on there and it works pretty well. The original Falcon head is deep in a bin...
I actually like the sculpt even though Ill admit it isnt the best. I just think the way they painted it was alittle off. Lips are too dark and shiney, and the eyebrows are a little thick. Maybe the eyes themselves are alittle off, I just havent figured out ghe right way to describe it.
Great Review, I think I’ll get him just because of all the fuss . Not everyone is good looking and that real life lol . I’m a new subscriber now to your channel… see you soon on Monday night with Punk .
whoever decided and approved that box design should be fired - then getting that kind of a figure and its a good thing there is no missing accessories - cool review
Here's my issue with the sculpt. You look at him and you're not seeing soldier. You're seeing pretty boy, a bit effeminate. It's just wrong. They got it wrong. They need a do-over and they need it quick. This may become an item to hold onto because it's obvious this run will be cut short and replaced by something better. Has to be.
The sculpt isn’t terrible…. But it ‘s definitely terrible for Falcon! I did see online somewhere that someone repainted his lips and it “helped” some… I stuck with the preorder… until distribution gets better, I’ll preorder. Great job with his story.. seems like a lot of ppl don’t know the history of classified figures and how it may affect the sculpt of a figure.
I'm definitely skipping this figure, even on clearance. At this point I'd be buying just to see the #64 on the box. Curious if you are into what valaverse has been doing with Action Force?
I strongly agree with Baldylocks about the feedback and the future of the line. I just hope someday Hasbro reissues Major Bludd, because I love the figure but I haven't been able to get one... The few that got in my area are now sold for crazy prices
Hi, thanks for the review. I found your channel only recently, but I left you a follow and a like. At first I was not sure, if I will buy Falcon, but I think, that I will pick him up. The head sculpt is not really good, but until there is a solution for the problem, I will use the head of Flint. I think, he will look good with the head of Flint. That's a decent head. Looking forward, to watch more of your videos. Keep up the great work. Greetings from Vienna Austria
You would think that Hasbro quality control would have noticed this. I have Falcon, and comparing it with the rest of my Classified figures it’s just plain bad. He looks like he’s had too much plastic surgery. How did they get this so wrong when they have knocked the rest of the line’s face sculpts out of the park (Rock N Roll is phenomenal)
That’s a solid question. We’re always bound to get one that’s not great but this was such a miss. I agree it looks like he’s addicted to plastic surgery haha
You could have killed Duke. After they killed Prime we were demanding they kill Duke also. Prime WAS transformers. They handed off GI joe to Flint and then Sgt Slaughter, but PRIME? He was ALWAYS the leader of the autobots. If you had NOT killed Prime, you could have killed Duke and it would have been impactful. NEVER kill PRime. Now that I got it out my system, I am hoping these will be so popular that we get additional versions. Maybe a resculpt on Scarlet, Duke ( make him look older) and Flacon for a Cobra La set. You can ever redo Roadblock and take off the soul patch ( Its not my fault they already did too many Roadblocks the wrong way). Make him a delux and he comes with I " I was once a man" Cobra commander snake that wraps around his body. Give us a "spores" Cobra commander as well. Give ma another dusty head while youre at it. The molds look liek KO face sculpts. Not as sharp as the original. Someone made a yoututbe short where they replaced his head with a Dusty head, but Im not that type of collector.
With the way it’s going and the success of this line i think we’ll see most of what you mentioned. I’m really curious to see how they handle a rerelease of Falcon. I bet it’s a whole new head sculpt
MicroMark modeling catalog sells a great silicone duplicating putty, it comes in two jars, one purple, one white, you can pinch an equal amount from each, mix it with hands until the color swirls disappear, and you can press a handmade mold around something like an action figure head, and if you work in resin, or air-drying clay or epoxy putty (my favorite) you can copy things like that. Provided, one is also skilled enough at repainting such pieces. It's slightly less expensive than buying 3D printed copies (and way cheaper than your own 3D printer?) The mold putty cures in about 15-20 minutes, and is stretchy enough that you can pop the piece back out of it, (especially if you leave something like a head, still attached to the neck) then you can custom carve (I use a Dremel) the peg-hole out of the underside of the head.
4:29 yeah... why are his lips so wide? He sort of resembles the 6" Marvel Masterpiece figure of Mortimer Toynbee, aka Toad. You said it, ugly first. But the uniform is great, the ascot, the Franchini Spas-12 with foldable stock, and the radio backpack with sheath for his knife is dead-on accurate from the original 1980s run. 12:00 Where is that bag from? Is it another 3D print, or is it from the Spider-Man storyline after he leaves the Venom Symbiote with Reed Richards and they send him home web-swinging in a F4 uniform, barefoot, and a paper bag mask? 13:31 Awww, maann! I thought I was original with the 4" figures, making a female Steel Brigade figure. Most of my favorite local vendors of used toys get the treatment, the honor. Several of my custom figures bear a close likeness to them, because where would the rest of my personal line of other homespun figures be without them?
No idea why that happened with his lips. It looks unnatural. Good call on the lookalikes. The bag head is from Boombastic Bag Man he’s part of the Spider-Man Retro line. And I’ll take all the Steel Brigade/Corps I can get
I just caught your review and I have to say as I have stated to other reviewers that I understand your stance on Lt. Falcon but whoever said a soldier has to be pretty? It seems like everyone expects their Joes to look like a bunch of G. Q. cover boys. To me Falcon looks like he belongs down in the mud and the blood with the grunts fighting the good fight against Cobra. I am proud to have this figure in my collection whether anyone else agrees or not Thanks for the content and I'm out.
@toddbryan759 its actually not that at all. It doesn't look "human" if you know what I mean. The features (even for a toy) are completely off. His mouth doesn't line up with his eyes and the forehead is exaggerated. It's just not in line with the other figures. I have no issues with a non attractive character, look at Scrap Iron. Just the features are all over the place with this one.
@@BaldyLockz I’m going to keep my preorder then wait for it to go on clearance to open for display. Thanks for the great review. Please do all reviews. It doesn’t matter if others have already reviewed it or you are reviewing an older figure. It will be interesting. Thanks
I just got my cover girl fig in the mail and she’s awesome I heard there is some people saying they got there’s and her arms are loose of in some cases completely off all the joints on mine are completely tight she’s a great looking fig and comes with great accessories…..im not a completist (I have like 30 and I just pre ordered shipwreck,R&R ,scrap iron and copperhead) she is the only one from this wave I got
@@BaldyLockz I just hope its not true about the cash grab thing with hasbro. Hopefully they will address lots of these QC issues on a future stream because I really like the line but I have noticed a decline in quality with some figures.
