G.I. Joe Retaliation-Ultimate Storm Shadow

When I walked into Five Below the other day, on a tip from John over at the Clawful , I didn’t expect there to be many Joes. Maybe a couple Retaliation peg warmers, like the green suited Duke or the Roadblock with the unsightly deformity. I certainly did not expect the Ultimate line of Joes to be freshly stocked the way they were, and for the low price of 5 dollars to boot! These guys were going for big bucks on the bay and that’s not even factoring in the shipping costs. O.K. so they had Roadblock, Budo, Flint and most of the others from the line, big I knew for sure Storm Shadow wouldn’t be there. Stormie was going for bucu dollars online and I had already come to terms with the fact that I would probably never own one. If  I could pretend that  I was O.K. with not owning a Renegades Storm Shadow then I could do the same for the Ultimate version. BOP! Why did I walk into Five Below and find two Ultimate Storm Shadows hanging stealthily behind a Roadblock and Joe Colton figure! After the initial shock finally wore off, I chest bumped an old lady  standing next to me.I finally had an Ultimate Storm Shadow figure in my hands, and he was coming home with me.

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G.I. Joe Retaliation Ultimate-Cobra Commander

I wasn’t planning on adding this one to the collection but did anyways and C.C. has grown on me.I needed a hooded version anyways so what the heck.Oddly,though,this particular figure has a troublesome right arm joint that hinders full 360 degree movement,a problem I’ve never encountered before with any other action figure.

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G.I. Joe Retaliation-Budo (loose)

These next couple of days will be Joe-heavy as I’ve recently picked up some  G.I. goodness!Today we’ll be taking a look at Budo from the new wave of “Ultimate” Joes.When I think of Samurai,some favorites quickly come to mind.Soulcalibur’s  Mitsurugi,Samurai Jack and Budo top that list.As a kid,right around the time my love of collecting G.I. Joes began to dwindle,certain figures would pull me back in.There was Spearhead and Max,Repeater,Raptor and Road Pig!Then there was Budo!Now at the time G.I. Joe had it’s fair share of martial artists.Quick Kick,Snake Eyes,Jinx and Storm Shadow.But Budo was a friggin’ Samurai!Are you kidding me?!?!A Samurai?!?!How cool was he gonna look rocking his ceremonial head piece,Samurai sword in hand hanging off the side of my Rolling Thunder! I had to add him to my collection and eventually did.I loved my Budo figure as a kid!When I heard the news about a new ultimate version of Budo figure set to release in the fall,adding it to my collection was pretty much an automatic. I wasn’t about to wait for Budo to hit store pegs either so I hopped online and picked this baby up!Call me biased but imo,this figure truly is a masterpiece.A work of art if you will.The helmet alone looks like something you’d see in the Smithsonian.The Kimono is super detailed and while it takes away from the figures mobility,really pops!Just an amazing stand alone figure.Doubly  awesome is the fact that Budo is a Joe!

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Somewhere there is a poor reindeer wondering what the hell happened to his antlers

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