REVIEW: GI Joe Rise of Cobra - Jungle Assault Ripcord

Produced By Hasbro | Released 2009

Military pilot Wallace ''Ripcord'' Weems is the bets friend of Conrad ''Duke'' Hause. He uses a HB-41 heat-burst rocket launcher to stop attacking Jungle-Vipers when the team encounters a mysterious building hidden in the jungle.

Packaging Shots

Jungle Assault Ripcord

Jungle Assault Ripcord was one of the later Rise of Cobra action figures, released at a point where Hasbro had begun spinning-off from the movie plot to introduce the ''Location-Action'' themed name prefixes (in this case ''Jungle Assault'' Ripcord) that would become a core of the Pursuit of Cobra toy line.

Ripcord's body sculpt is pretty good, overall. The sculpt has some great folds and cloth detailing, with his uniform further featuring pocket, cuffs and more to give it a pretty detailed look. From what I can gather, he's kitbashed from a couple of previous releases (Dusty, a couple of Dukes and an earlier Ripcord are all in there) but unlike the Marvel Universe figures, the pieces used are included because they work, rather than just because they were at hand. 

The figure includes a removable vest, set with a number of very cool details. There's an assortment of pouches and straps and even a holster, although sadly the pistol within is cast as part of the vest and can't be removed. Still though, it adds a lot to the figure and makes him appear equipped for action without being encumbered. There's also a removable belt, which includes additional storage pouches, a second holstered-pistol and a grenade.

One slight oddity becomes apparent when you examine his hands: they're sculpted with a bend to the wrist, meaning when a weapon is placed in his hand it projects at an odd angle. This is clearly to allow him to grip a two-handed weapon (such as a rifle) and it can be worked around by re-angling his elbow joint but it does mean he can at times look odd when holding some of his included weaponry. The hands are also sculpted with extended trigger fingers, which looks fine when he's holding a firearm but odd when he holds the machete.

Articulation is tight but perfectly workable. The figure's joints can easily support the weight of it (as you can see above) and he's a very poseable figure. As pointed out in the most-recent Atomic Martians vidcast, it's utterly baffling why Hasbro don't use this same level of production on the rest of their toys, as it's way beyond what they're doing with their other lines.

The paint app is pretty good, overall. The brown and black camouflage works well (although I'm not sure how jungle-ish it is) with a nice, subtle green tone in there, too and facial details are cleanly picked-out. The vest has some quite heavy apps to its green strapping and in a couple of places they're not as accurate as they could be, but overall it's a nicely applied paint job.

Extras

Jungle Assault Ripcord comes armed with a machete, two assault rifles, a long-stock pistol and an oversized rocket launcher.

Of the included firearms, the only one that really looks good in his hands is the ammo-drum assault rifle. The squarer rifle and pistol don't sit very well in his right hand (thanks to its odd angle) and the missile launcher is cast from a very toy-like, bright green plastic. On the plus-side though it can be balanced (with some effort) on his shoulder.

Ripcord also comes with a bush hat. I've avoided photographing him with the hat in place too much, as it tends to be quite difficult to get to stay on his head and look good and - out of the pack - is simply too small to sit properly on his head.

You Will Respect The Hat.

With a bit of stretching it's possible to get it to give enough to be placed upon his head but it's not an accessory I'm a big fan of. It does however at least give him a different look to the other toys and is suitable for the jungle theme.

Ripcord also comes with his own stand.

Final Thoughts

Jungle Assault Ripcord is a fairly solid addition to the line. I like that it's a more lifelike Ripcord than, say, the Delta-6 Accelerator Suit or Reactive Impact Armor Ripcords and the figure sits well alongside the more realistic Pursuit of Cobra figures.

The problem is he just lacks that extra little bit of accessory detail or definition to really make him pop. The weaponry he comes with is all-but useless, he has no extra pockets/storage space to carry it and he doesn't even come with a backpack, an accessory I think would have really set him off.

Also, the brown and black camo looks more like something he should be wearing in the desert and I really don't get ''Jungle Assault'' from this figure. And I know the bush hat is standard issue jungle gear but it - along with the vest - really makes him look more like Fishing Trip Ripcord.

Minor quibbles aside, Jungle Assault Ripcord is a pretty good figure. It's just that with a little bit of work and thought he could have been a so much more.

Scores

Sculpt	B+
Paint	B+
Articulation	B
Production Quality	B
Final Score	B

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