Review – G.I. Joe Toxic Zartan (8-inch)

Another one of the action figures that came after the G.I. Joe: Sigma 6 (Amazon.com search*) name change, this Toxic Zartan* action figure is basically a repaint of the Zartan action figure I reviewed a few days ago (review here). But even though it’s a repaint with a minor change and new accessories, it’s still another example of just why I never should have ignored the Sigma 6 series.

Packaging

Part of the “Soldier” line, Toxic Zartan* doesn’t come with the incredible weapon case and, as you can see, the package doesn’t say “Sigma 6” at all. It’s functional and shows off the figure nicely, but after the amazing weapon case packaging I just can’t be overwhelmed or excited by this card design.

A New Hand

The Toxic Zartan* uses the same mold as the Sigma 6 Zartan (review here) . . . except for the right hand which is a “Kung Fu Grip” hand. I should spend some time writing about this hand design in a later post, but all you really need to know is that a spring in the hand has the figure “grab” whatever you can fit in his hand. It’s a very simple gimmick and a fun nod to the seventies G.I. Joe toys.

Translucent Green Arms

The above photo should give you a good idea of how the Toxic Zartan* takes his “toxic” nature and has fun with it. The forearms and hands of the figure are cast from a translucent green plastic — not crystal clear, but a bit cloudy — while the upper arms use a green spray pattern to try and represent where these toxic parts of his body blend with the fleshy bits.

It’s a silly gimmick, but it’s a fun gimmick and looks pretty neat.

Accessories

After the hand and translucent body parts, the other big change to the Toxic Zartan* is in his selection of gear. There’s a lot of fun here and it’s clear to me that the designers had a great time working on this toy.

• Bio-Sludge Backpack – The backpack is a squirt gun mechanism! Submerge the backpack in water, press the button, and you can fill the pack with water and then plug in the sword, staff, or gun. I have not tried this feature and likely never will; I don’t want to risk getting the toy all wet. Yeah, I’m no fun.
  
• Toxo-Blaster – A fantastic sculpt! The only problem I had was getting the hose to fasten nicely, but a blast from the hairdryer softened the plastic enough that the hose slipped right on. As with Inferno (review here) I wish the hose was an inch or two longer.

• Sword – Now that’s one nasty-looking bladed weapon! I’m not sure how useful the sword would really be — it looks pretty heavy to me — but it looks so cool that I can say I don’t care about anything except to say “neat!” I’ll be displaying Toxic Zartan* with his rifle, but I do kinda wish I could find a way to hang the sword from his back.
  
• Staff – This, for me, is the weakest of the accessories in the set. It plugs into the hose — as does the sword — and gives you another tool to use if you use the squirt gun feature.
  
• Knives – Three different knives plug into ports on the body to give the figure some needed hand-to-hand power if he drops his sword. I especially like that he can wear the knives on his forearms.
  

Green and Purple!

Toxic Zartan* has a color design you’ll either love or hate. I personally find it very fun — the classic Zartan colors used in the basic figure are great (review here), but it’s nice to see that Hasbro went a little crazy and made us an outlandish and ridiculous color scheme for the figure. The blue pants are a little strange — I kept thinking I was catching a weird light or something when photographing the toy — and I would have been happier if the pants had also been purple. I know, “Hulk Smash” and all.

Closing Thoughts

I know there are some who prefer their G.I. Joe toys to be more military and less crazy, but I think the Toxic Zartan* is an excellent addition to the Sigma 6 series and I’m happy I was able to get one at a reasonable price. It’s a repaint, but the dramatic change in colors combined with all new accessories makes it a repaint I recommend if you decide to start collecting the Sigma 6 8-inch action figures.