Wednesday, January 29, 2025

Wrapping Up 2024: Col. Siege from Action Force by Valaverse

 

   I didn't review as many Action Force figures as I thought in 2024, but I've still got a couple reviews planned as I only recently received a shipment of figures and accessories from series 5, which was released near the end of 2024, along with one or two items that are just now shipping at the beginning of 2025. Today I'm checking out the figure from series 5 that I was most looking forward to: Col. Siege! Col. Siege has decades of military experience and helps recruit new talent to Action Force, but do you know why I really wanted him? He reminds me of Col. John "Hannibal" Smith from The A-Team. Heck yeah! I love The A-Team and imagining Col. Siege as Hannibal-like cigar chewing mastermind who can get the job done in a variety of unorthodox ways. He's a cool figure and I'm excited to add him to my 1/12th scale forces. Let's check out Col. Siege after the break...





The Facts:

Height: 6 3/8ths inches

Articulation: Swivel/ hinge ankles, boot swivels, double hinged knees, swivel thighs, ball jointed drop down hips, ball jointed waist, balljointed mid-torso, butterfly pecs, swivel/hinge shoulders, bicep swivels, double hinged elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, balljointed neck, and a ball jointed head.

Accessories: 2 swappable portraits, 9 swappable hands, cigar, rifle, 2 revolvers, and a display stand.

Non-Scalper Price: $30 dollars






The Positives:

* When it comes to 1/12th scale military figures, Col. Siege might be a bit plain but that's part of the appeal. He looks pretty casual and there are quite a few new parts here. Like most other 1/12th scale lines these days, Valaverse's Action Force works from a library of shared parts, so it's cool when we see quite a few different elements. The light jacket is new to me, as is this shirt (though the series 5 Sidewinder also uses the torso). The light blue looks good and it's sporting the Action Force logo. It's just a simple look but I really like it. The holsters are removable, I believe, though I think you'd have to heat and pop the waist to take it off, and I just didn't feel the need to do it. The coolness of the more casual military look makes me think of General Joseph Colton (the original G.I. Joe) or Col. Hannibal Smith, and it stands out because of it's plainness. 



* Col. Siege is mature for sure, with grey hair, but he's not behind the times. He sports a short, trendy haircut (I've sported this on occasion) and a short grey circle beard. He's got piercing blue eyes, too. I don't think Valaverse's portraits are as good as Hasbro's on the G.I. Joe: Classified Series most of the time due to the lack of face printing, but they still fit in well and are comparable to most others lines on the market available at a lower end price point. 


* Col. Siege comes with two portraits, the second of which depicts him chomping on a stogie. Think that's a Macanudo? The cigar is actually a separate piece, so be careful! It's tiny and can come out. There's no real reason to remove it as it leaves a weird hole in his mouth, but it looks pretty cool so why take it out. I'm no fan of smoking in real life but darn if it doesn't look cool on a grizzled old vet. You know that Hasbro would never release a figure smoking like this. It is fun with Valaverse as they know their audience is adults and they release stuff like smoking heads, bloody variants, and alternate hands flipping the bird. 




* Most Action Force figures share the same articulation style, so there's not much new to report here. The joints and range of motion are excellent and everything is pretty smooth right out of the package. The knees are a bit tight, but just a little movement made them work like a charm. These are sturdy, well made made action figures that are a lot of fun to pose and mess around with, whether you're putting them in battle poses or "movie poster" style just-looking-cool poses. 




* The good Colonel comes with nine swappable hands, eight of which are the basic Action Force quartet: Pistol grips, fists, an open palm for holding rifles in two handed poses, and standard grips. Everything swaps easily with no problems at all. 






* The ninth hand is pretty unique: He's holding a cigar. I love when we get something unqiue like this, as it makes each figure feel more special. 








* Col. Siege comes with what looks like a Winchester rifle with a loop, maybe an 1892? It's kind of a classic of Westerns, though Siege has trimmed down the stock for a more compact weapon. These things come chambered for some pretty powerful calibers (.45 Colt, .357 Magnum, .44 Remington Magnum), so this thing definitely has some kick and packs a heck of a punch. I haven't seen this in any of the accessory sets yet, which means it's a unique accessory for the Colonel. Very cool. 




* Col. Siege must prefer accuracy and power more than speed because he also comes with a pair of Chiappa Rhino revolvers. These are the shorter barrel models and they look fantastic. Valaverse really does the best job with handling realistic firearms in the 1/12th scale and these things are gorgeous. 









* The holsters easily hold both Rhinos nice and securely. They look great, too. 



* Valaverse has switched up the stands for Action Force a bit with series 5. Now we get a dusty looking bit of ground with rocks and the Action Force logo stamped into the ground. There are more pegs here, allowing for more options, and you still have a place to display the file card, too, if that's your thing. They're excellent stands and take up about the same amount of space as the previous designs. 




The Negatives:

* One of the things that does seems to pop up a lot on Action Force figures is the weird positioning of the shoulder. It seems to sit a bit too high and it looks odd here, where the top of the jacket meets the shoulder. I know it allows for maximum movement and doesn't look bad on figures wearing vests, but it looks a bit off here. 

*Note*: There is a production error variant where the earliest Col. Siege figures had blue pectoral hinges that stood out at the shoulder. Mine was fine but Valaverse is correcting these if you got one by sending out replacement torsos.


   Col. Siege was my most anticipated figure from series 5 and I do really like him quite a bit. He's a Great figure with some cool weapons and the nifty fine cigar chomping portrait and cigar holding hand. He's very unique among the collection of 1/2th scale military figures I own. He seems a bit light compared to most other Valaverse figures, but still not too bad. Valaverse has also worked to lower the price on their figures, coming in at $29.99, a couple bucks less than when they first debuted a few years back. That's pretty impressive! I made a custom B.A. Baracus a couple years back using a Mattel Mr. T and a Valaverse body, so this guy will go with him nicely. 


This is the first figure of Col. Siege I've reviewed. For more Action Force reviews check out the following:







1 comment:

  1. I canceled a bunch of Valaverse preorders. I may need to rethink that. This guy looks fantastic.

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