Review – G.I. Joe Scarlett (in pilot outfit)

“Scarlett first learned martial arts from her father and three brothers, who are martial arts instructors. She began her training at age nine and was awarded a black belt by age 15. She is a naturally gifted pilot who has flown in some of the most advanced military aircraft in the world and is one of the G.I. Joe team’s helicopter pilots.”
— from the back of the card

I told you guys how to win a free G.I. Joe toy from Past Generation Toys . . . and then I went and won a free G.I. Joe toy. Well, my free toy arrived last week and it’s time to pop open the packaging and see what I got.

Scarlett, as she’s identified on the card, comes decked out in flight gear and is hereafter known as Scarlett (in pilot outfit) and anyone who disagrees with me can call her whatever they like. I’ve seen this Scarlett on pegs for many months now and have passed her by several times, even when I saw her for $4 at Target. She looked okay in the pack, and online reviews at Yo Joe! and Pop Culture Zoo made her sound okay, but there was nothing particularly exciting about the figure that made me want to grab her. All descriptions of the action figure basically told me that this was a fairly average figure that was a combination of repaint and new accessories. Not exactly enough to get me excited, even if I didn’t have a modern era Scarlett in my collection.

She hasn’t exactly been a character that I’ve ever cared about.

Scarlett has fairly typical articulation for a G.I. Joe action figure from 2008 and, when completely decked out in her gear, actually looks and feels pretty good when you start playing with her. Her arms feel a little thin and weak in comparison to the rest of her body — especially her torso and legs — but as you look closer at her you come to realize that the arm’s are actually pretty good; the main torso and the legs feel beefier because of the costuming and there isn’t really any sort of scale issues with the figure. Sure, Scarlett has thinner arms than other figures in the line but she is intended to be a thin, acrobatic martial artist woman and not a big bruiser. A few guys online have complained about how thin she looks but after playing with the figure for a little while I can say that the body proportions don’t feel wrong to me.

One Vital Accessory

Scarlett comes packed with a small number of accessories — including a helmet, backpack, pistol, her crossbow gun, and a stand — but it is the vinyl flight suit piece that really makes this figure look as good as it does. Which isn’t exactly surprising if you’ve ever looked closely at several different modern era G.I. Joe action figures; the designers at Hasbro have really mastered the art of adding depth and detail to a character through vinyl accessories and Scarlett is an excellent example of this sort of trick.

Don’t believe me? Well, just take a look at the first photo of the toy (above) and compare that to the Scarlett photo with the flight suit removed (below). I think the photos clearly show how much detail and interest the accessory adds to the figure.

The other accessories are okay — the helmet sucks a little, since the visor is locked in place, but it’s usable — but they’re nothing compared to the vinyl flight gear. As good as the Hasbro designers have gotten with using these types of accessories to improve a figure’s look I’m still waiting for them to start layering vinyl accessories for a really involved design. It’s only a matter of time.

Closing Thoughts

There’s not a lot to say. I would have never purchased this action figure so winning Scarlett from Past Generation Toys was a real treat because it’s not until I held the toy that I really appreciated the work that went into the figure. Where Hasbro could have just pumped out a cheap repaint they put some actual time and money into the figure and gave us a cool new accessory. An accessory that I’m betting we’ll see again, since this piece has to work with a few other action figures in Hasbro’s collection. If they ever wanted to make a S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot for their Marvel Universe line, for example, I’m betting this piece would come in handy.

Scarlett (in pilot outfit) isn’t the best G.I. Joe action figure in my collection but if you need a pilot for one of your vehicles, and can find her for $5 or less, she’s worth grabbing. After having held her I can say that if I’d had the chance to play with her before I saw her in the stores I would have grabbed one on clearance. But if I’d missed her I wouldn’t have been sad; she’s an okay toy that’s elevated to an average level of fun by one accessory.

Philip Reed now wonders if he should track down a second one of these and try to create that female S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot custom figure. Or is it better to throw the idea out there and wait for Hasbro to create a really good one?