It seems that roughly every ten years there is a knockoff G.I.Joe line that will give us some good female action figures. Back around late 80s, Olmec gave us Agent Telepathy in the Bronze Bombers line. In 2000, Lanard released the Wow Action Girls line which featured a ton of sport and career themed females. In 2010 Greenbrier released S.T.O.P. vs S.C.U.M. including the Dreadnok-looking Lady Lead. And finally in 2020, Greenbrier again gives us the Final Faction line and Specialist Shift. Greenbrier International is the in-house branding arm of Dollar Tree, so you'll see this company name on a lot of products there. I think these figures are very impressive considering they only cost a dollar. The sculpts are lovely, the designs are fun, the paint application is pretty good, and the plastic quality is decent. But the very best part of these toys is the hunt. There is rarely any notice before people start posting finds online. And Dollar Trees are pretty much everywhere. Let's check out Shift below!
Five points of articulation. It's pretty much what you would expect at this price point.
Shift's only accessory is a backpack with double-sword-scabbard.
The swords are removable.
The Final Faction line includes multiple accessory assortments. I picked up this one because I thought the wings would look awesome on her. Unfortunately none of them seem to work for the female body. For starters, she only has a single peg hole in her back and all the extra back accessories require two, which I assume the male characters have.
A surprising level of depth to these figures is added by way of an animated series on YouTube. There's currently only one 9-minute episode and then a series of short clips (showing the 3D renderings of the toys in turnaround). While it's not going to win an Emmy, it's more media than you'd expect for a dollar-store toy.
Time for some Group and Comparison Pics!
Here is Shift with two semi-recent off-brand Joes, Blindside from True Heroes and Snakebite from the Corps.
And with two vintage Joes, Quarrel and Cover Girl.
Cheers!
The swords are removable from the holder! I discovered by accident and was so excited!
ReplyDeleteExactly bro! :D
DeleteI like her, will have to keep an eye peeled
ReplyDeleteGood looking figure for a buck.
ReplyDeleteLittle late, but that accessories pack is for the mecha unit not the humans...
ReplyDeleteThere is a dude with wings for accessories, they're probably interchangeable, but I haven't snagged any of the humans yet, just the robot and aliens.
The borrowed pack fits! But you gotta bend her hair a bit to fit it under
DeleteVery cool review and amazing classic style figure! If I can improve you: The swords are removable from this little backpack :) Cheers! :)
ReplyDeletePlease fix the error about the info on her swords, they ARE removable from the scabbard.
ReplyDelete