Cheap Exclusives!

As the holiday season rolls around, we find older waves of toys at the more popular stores going on clearance and sometimes even on massive discounts.  So that's what happened at Toys 'R' Us with the G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra figures.  They got slashed from the usual retail of S$18.90 (about US$13.50) to S$12.90 (about US$9.20).

Then some new stock comes in and these new Joes also get the same clearance prices!

Enter Toys 'R' Us exclusive Bench Press! Woot!

Will he be as buff as his name suggests?

Find out after the jump! :)

Like:  Bench Press is a bigger sculpt than the regular-sized Joe, apparently sharing the same body as Heavy Duty.  I can't be sure cuz I don't own a Heavy Duty--he wasn't one of my favorites in the movie so I was and still am pretty lukewarm about getting him.  But variety is the spice of life, even in the make belief life of 3.75" action figures, so he makes for good variation from the regular-sized Joes.

Like: the whole T-shirt and Camo look, just like how the single-packed General Hawk is.  It would be awesome to have a whole squad of them just in vests and slacks, looking like there were interrupted during down-time and having to kickin' ass at a moment's notice.

Like: The awesome tattoo of a belt of ammo around his left forearm above. Also gotta love how the right hand fits the shotgun grip with the trigger finger in the trigger guard.

Dislike: That his bulkier frame means less poseability.  His points of articulation are all there, but like any be-muscled bodybuilder (is there any other?) his flexibility is impaired because of the sheer size of his muscles.

 
Dislike: That his card art shows him with a menacing look on his face but the figure itself is all neutral to smiley, even.  Don't get me wrong, the paint on his face and all is well done, but I thought he could've used more emotion there.

RATINGS

Aesthetics: 9.3/10 - I like Bench Press' look a lot.  So far, the movie line has only one Joe bruiser in Heavy Duty.  And we all know how every 'Duty figure has eyes painted on that make him look possesed.  I'm also not a fan of Heavy Duty's hair style--very un-military/Joe like.  So Bench Press proves to be a great alternative.  The lower torso and legs are sculpted in green and the camouflage is painted on well, no sloppiness.

His upper body is sculpted in the dark grey of the t-shirt and painted on the arms, neck and face. The head, face, hair and beard I have no complaints about, but it's the flesh tones around the t-shirt sleeves that gets a little sloppy with some minor over painting.  But it's minor, and the forearm ammo tattoo more than makes up for it by really catching the eye.

Poseability: 8.8/10 - BP loses points in upper body flexibility.  The large chest gets in the way of his large arms and the large biceps get in the way of the elbows.  But his legs are actually as flexible as I've seen on a Joe, so too his head, so that's a plus.  Also, They've given him the right set of accessories that he doesn't suffer from, for example not being able to put 2 hands on a machine gun.  In his case, they gave Bench Press an Arnie-style shotgun that he can use one-handed like in Terminator 2.  The hatchet he comes with is also refreshing because he's a big strong guy who could use an axe. Brutally. It fits. Yeah. :)

Fun: 9.5/10 - He can wield his BFG! Oh, yes he can! By the handles!  With the strap over his head! And stand up! (with the figure stand) I know the other Joes who have BFGs can also mount them on their shoulders etc, but they all look like they shouldn't be strong enough to lift 'em.  Others just simply aren't large enough and the BFG looks weird on them.  And besides they don;t have a reason to have one.  This guy does.  Why? 'cuz he's an Infantry Combat Specialist.  Says so on his packaging.  And he's got the muscles to prove he can lug around a BFG all day just in case he meets Cobra Commander (or if he runs out of shotgun shells and gets tired of hacking Cobra Troopers with his hatchet.)  Bench Press with his BFG looks like he can take on a frickin' tank.  Now that's fun. ;)

Value: 9/10 - I'd say this figure is slightly under value at the retail of S$18.90.  But at the price I got him for (S$12.90), I was considering picking up a second one of him, just 'cuz he's a TRU exclusive!  Bench Press comes with a jungle hat, shotgun, hatchet, chainsaw, backpack, figure stand, and BFG.  That's right, folks, a CHAINSAW.  Which other Joe figure has that?  This guy will never worry about running out of ammo (cuz that shotgun of his doesn't have much and he'll run out sooner rather than later anyway).  He's just gotta make sure he's got some spare diesel on him in case the chainsaw runs out.  And he's gotta worry about increasing oil prices too.  Unless he sticks with the hatchet. :P

Overall: 9.2 - Come to think of it, Bench Press has got Arnie's shotgun and pecs, Bruce Campbell's chainsaw, and Jesse Ventura's jungle hat from Predator! (I think he was wearing one in the movie...)  AND he looks like Chuck Norris. That makes him like at least 4 action figures in one.

Ok, I don't see how this can be a bad action figure at all now. ;P