Action Figure Review: Crimson Shadow Infantry from Action Force by Valaverse

 

   The weekend before last there was an Action Force drop on Valaverse's website, offering up three new figures and two new weapons packs. I scooped up most of the new releases (I skipped the Maritime Corps) and they arrived in the mail very quickly. Today I'm excited to check out my favorite of the new releases, the Crimson Shadow Infantry. Crimson Shadow Technologies has been around since the beginning of Valaverse's Action Force and seems to be their take on the Red Shadows, the enemy unit lead by Baron Ironblood of Palitoy's vintage Action Force line that eventually becomes Cobra (Baron Ironblood becomes Cobra Commander in the "Battle Action Force" comic strip. In Valaverse's Action Force, Crimson Shadow Technologies is a weapons development group that grows into a massive private security force. This guy is also just a really cool looking troop figure with lots of nice accessories. Whether you're only collecting Action Force, mixing this guy with all of the other excellent 1/12th scale military lines available right now, or using him for some other purpose, there's a lot to love here. Let's check out the Crimson Shadow Infantry after the break...

The Facts:

Height: 6 3/8ths inches

Articulation: Swivel/ hinge ankles, calve 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 base, hinged neck, and a ball jointed head.

Accessories: 2 swappable heads, 8 swappable hands, vest, helmet, nightvision attachment, pistol w/ suppressor, SMG, 4 magazines, 3 canister grenades, 3 baseball grenades, 2 grenade pouches, and display stand. 

Non Scalper Price: $30 dollars

The Positives:

* When I was a kid we had this military surplus store about 45 minutes from our house that a friend and I would always beg our parents to take us to when we wanted to buy canteens, camouflage pants, ammo boxes, dog tags, or other items that we couldn't just go to Walmart and pick up. My mom didn't like it, probably because it was the kind of place where if you asked to see the special hardware they'd pull the window shades and open up a secret wall panel or something, but we were nuts about it. One of the things they had was two or three aisles of camouflage pants and shirts in every camo scheme you could think of. I guess as 7th graders, we figures there had to be a legit reason for each shade, like purple or neon green camo, but most of it was probably just to look cool. All that's to say that this guy is sporting some really cool looking camouflage. I love the red, black and grey pattern. It's unique and eye-catching, but it's also subdued enough that you could see it blending in in some places, especially at night. Action Forces uses a lot of base bodies and so I think we've seen these parts before, but they still look great. I love the kneepads, the bloused boots, and the overall camo pattern and color scheme.

* To really finish this guy off just pop on his tactical vest. These vests are so easy to put on now, especially compared to the series 1 figures. Valaverse really does keep subtly improving their figures. This guy is wearing a fairly light black vest with MOLLE straps and multiple pouches on the front. The pouches aren't removable, though the top three do allow him to hold additional magazines for his weapon. 

* The Crimson Shadow Infantry is a troop builder figure, so two different generic heads are included. Only the eyes are visible as everything else is covered by a balaclava. This isn't a shapeless skintight, balaclava, though, as there are some folds and wrinkles on it. There's also clearly what looks like mesh material of some kind at the mouth, which has to make wearing this much more comfortable.

* Both portraits look the same except for the skin tone. The first portrait has a lighter skin tone while the second has a darker skin tone. That's a nice way to allow army builders to change up their ranks a bit more. 

* On both biceps of the uniform, the trooper is sporting the stylized star logo of Crimson Shadow Technologies. 

*  The helmet is nothing new, a take on the Ops-Core Future Assault Shell Technology Helmet, or FAST helmets used by a number of special forces groups, but it has been painted to match the Crimson Shadow Infantry uniform. It's a smaller helmet that fits tightly on the head with an attachment port on the front and two holes on each side. 

* The night vision goggles are the new style, meaning they have four lenses and they're hinged, so they can swivel up and down on the helmet. I like the blue lenses on this set, making them standout from everything else on the figure.

* The quality of the most recent Action Force figures seems even better than before. All of the Action Force figures I've picked up so far have largely had the same articulation style though we have been getting some differently designed joints lately, particularly the new styled neck. There's an excellent range of motion here and everything was nice and smooth right out of the package. These are sturdy, well made made action figures that are a lot of fun to pose and mess around with. If you dig the tactical aesthetic of these guys, you'll love this one.

* The Crimson Shadow Infantry also has the full complement of swappable hands: Pistol grips,  cradling hands (also good for holding the grenades, though you might need some sticky tack), fists, and standard grips. Everything swaps easily, so no concerns about broken pegs and no need to use a hairdryer, at least on my end. These are really solid pegs and very easy to swap.

* Night Ops Senshi came with what looked to me like a Sig Sauer MCX Rattler, a short barreled variant of the Sig MCX, but the Crimson Infantry seems to have the MCX Rattler Canebrake, a design with the suppressor. It's a nice sculpt with some differences from the previous versions of this weapon.

* Not only does the magazine come out but you also have four magazines total. That's a lot of lead!

* The three additional magazines fit right into the pouches across the vest. They stay in place securely but aren't hard to get out, either. 

* The pistol looks like a TTI with a reflex sight on top and a light or laser underneath. It's a cool sculpt. Plus, you have a removable suppressor.

* The belt has a holster for the pistol and a separate holder for the suppressor.

* Let's  talk about grenades. It was pretty rare for any 1/18th scaled G.I. Joe figures to come with grenades back in the day and it's still not that common, even in the Classified Series (though Plan B's Special Forces line had them, as did NECA's Resident Evil figures). Action Force is now including them as separate accessories on some figures but this is the first time I've seen these in person. Three M67 or M68 styled fragmentation grenades. How cool, right? They're pretty cool for being such small accessories.

* How about three more grenades? I'm assuming these are smoke grenades and you get three of them in with the figure. 

* The pouch on the Crimson Shadow Infantry's left leg can securely hold all three fragmentation grenades. They might take a bit to get out but they stay in there tightly. 

* And those smoke grenades? They go in the pouches on the Crimson Shadow Infantry's right hip.

* 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:


* You want a complaint? OK, I got one: The pistol and suppressor are a bit tough to get out of the holster and pouch. The pistol is blocked a bit by the vest while the suppressor just doesn't have anywhere to get a grip when getting it out. 

   The Crimson Shadow Infantry is awesome. I'm not sure there's anything technically new here (some of the other series 5 figures have the grenades, pouches, weapons, and night vision goggles), but I don't know if all of these cool things come together as well on any other figure as they come together on on this guy. The red, black, and grey camouflage just sells this guy and there's a ton of accessories here to mess around with. If you're like me and came of age in the era of Mission: Impossible, Metal Gear Solid, Tom Clancy books and video games, Counterstrike,  Syphon Filter, and other stuff of the sort, you probably dig messing around with an Epic figure like this and creating killer loadouts. 


This is the first Crimson Shadow Infantry figure I've reviewed. For more Action Force reviews check out the following:

Blowback (Sniper DLX)

The Bone Collector

The Bone Collector v2
Col. Siege
Desert Rat
Duster
Eclipse
Eclipse (Warpath)
Garrison Cavalry
Gemini

Kerak 
Kill-Switch
Night Ops Senshi
Pandora
Pandora Upgrade Gear

Prototype Armaments
Scarabs

Sgt. Slaughter

Steel Brigade
SWARM Trooper

Urban Combat Republic Guard

Urban Gear Set
Weapons Pack Alpha

Weapons Pack Bravo 
Weapons Pack Charlie