Follow up on Red Ninja

Sideshow Collectibles posted the GI Joe Red Ninja figures for sale today. Two versions are available. The Exclusive and the Production versions.

The red uniform is very detailed, and appears to be significantly different from the white uniform that came with Storm Shadow. While calling it "authentic" is problematic on several levels, it certainly has an authentic feel to it. He looks like a highly detailed stereotypical ninja. It makes me wish for an equally authentic looking shinobi shozoku in full scale for those days (Halloween, April Fools, December 5th) when I have to LARP. It looks comparable to the Sonny Chiba Hattori Hanzo action figure I got imported from Japan. I hope it looks this good when it arrives.

The Exclusive variant comes with an interchangeable head featuring this black, armored mask in addition to the red mask you see in the other pictures. Very intimidating.

He comes with a ton of accessories. His weapons include a ninjato long sword, a ninjato short sword, a tanto, a yari, a set of shuriken, a kusarigama, and a pair of sai. This means that if I went hog wild and bought three of these things (roughly $390) I could exactly recreate the infamous "Silent Interlude" comic book (GI Joe #21). In which Snake Eyes fends off three red ninja armed with a katana, a kusarigama, and a pair of sai. Very slick, Sideshow, and I'm reasonable sure that was intentional.

Again, the announcement of this figure was something of a disappointment to fans of the line. But standing alone as a ninja figure, the prototypes are awesome and come with great accessories. I for one am excited and placed my order. (BTW, I only ordered the one.)

However, like everyone else, I'm waiting for the ladies in this line. I need a Scarlet to go with my Snake Eyes. I would probably buy a Baroness. And I would be interested in a Jinx. So get with it Sideshow!