Zartan: G.I. Joe Classified Series
In today’s review we’ll be checking out the new GI Joe Classified Series Zartan figure. Unfortunately, this particular Zartan does not include the colour changing effect that was promoted on various websites (Walmart, Big Bad Toy Store, EB Games). This feature was removed mid production when Hasbro was unable to successfully develop colour changing plastic for this scale of figure. Zartan was released as part of Wave 3, along with the Cobra Trooper, and re-painted versions of Scarlet and Roadblock. Wave 3 is starting to hit shelves at Canadian retailers, and I’ll take an in-depth look at a few of the figures as they’re in-hand.
Zartan - The MASTER OF DISGUISE is the 23rd figure released in the Classified series. He’s the first member of the Dreadnoks ( a Cobra sub-team ) to get the Classified treatment, and looks to be a faithful update of the vintage 1984 ARAH figure. The box art was created by comic book artist Tony Daniel and features amazing designs on both the front and side panel. Zartan himself has the same familiar avalanche of articulation that Hasbro has perfected in the past fifteen plus years in their 6” figures. He comes with several accessories, including a knife, pistol, backpack, mask, monkey paw, and a snakes head. Zartan has a brown and black colour scheme with some snakeskin details on his hood, gloves, knife sheathe.
The hood fits on with his ears to hold it in place along with his scarf. The monkey paw and cobra head can either fit on his belt or onto the back. His backpack opens up to fit the disguise mask inside, and can also hold his pistol and knife on the sides. The mask is very similar to the 1984 accessory, but the eyes on this one are less detailed and painted white. His belt holds the knife sheathe and seems to be glued to his waist in one spot on the back of the figure. The Chest armour is pretty much a mix of black and a dark grey with flexible shoulder pads that move well when you move his arms. His pants are dark brown with black pads and boots. Zartan's knife and pistol feature a place for the one finger to fit into. His pistol is a nice upgrade of the 1984 version. Zartan appears to be leading a charge of more faithful representations of vintage character designs. With cherished characters like Lady Jay, Flint, and Cobra Viper to follow in the next wave, Hasbro seems to have pulled back on trying to reinvent the whee. By choosing to enhance and modernize vintage character designs, rather than change them drastically, Hasbro has made a wise (and safe) choice for the future of the Classified line.
At this point Zartan has taken the top spot of my favourite figure in this series. He has a great paint scheme, cool weapons, and sweet armour - I cant wait to see if I can find a motorcycle for him or get a 3d printed Swamp Skier made up. Zartan is currently in brick and mortar stores, and possibly still available online. I purchased mine from Toysnowman out of Montreal: https://www.facebook.com/Toysnowman Thanks for checking out this review and stay tuned for more reviews and action figure retrospectives!
Figure features:
6 inches scale
G.I. Joe Classified Series #23
Package artwork by Tony Daniel
Multiple points of articulation
Figure Accessory's
Removable hood
Backpack
Mask
Pistol
Knife
monkey paw
cobra head
GI Joe Classified Series Zartan does not include the colour changing effect see link https://toy-wizards.com/2021/02/09/g-i-joe-classified-reminder-no-color-change-on-zartan/
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