2022 Stinger - Quick Hit

I don't really have the chutzpah to do a full profile on this Stinger release.  But, I thought I'd drop a quick hit that shows the packaging, contents and finished product from this new release.

In short, this Stinger is fine.  The colors are cool.  The sculpting is fine.  But, the plastic is incredibly soft.  As a toy, this thing would not hold up.  I nearly broke the steering wheel trying to get it into the slot on the dashboard.  The doors are very soft and are going to rip if they are taken on and off too many times.  As a display thing on a shelf, it won't be an issue.  But, this won't hold up to play.  And, I suspect the soft plastic will age poorly and lead to brittle doors just like the Sears Dreadnok Stinger from the '80's.

You'll note that the Stinger features reduced plastic packaging.  It worked just fine and isn't really an issue.  It was nice to have to toss all those plastic baggies that used to be in the box.  Speaking of the box, you'll note that they used the photography and artwork from the 1984 Stinger.  The jeep on the back is the 1984 version and the figure that appears is the 1984 Stinger Driver.  They didn't even update the photography for the toy that was actually produced.  This is odd as the Hasbro Star Wars team has said they can't create box photography using figures that are either not currently shipping or have shipped in the recent past.  I guess that didn't come over to the Joe team, though.

For $25, this thing would be OK.  At $40 shipped, that's a lot.  I have a feeling we're going to have a chance at some cheaper options for this guy in coming weeks.  But, we'll see where the remaining stock ends up.  Despite my blase feelings about this release, I'd buy at least one more if I found them at a discount retailers.  Maybe even 2 if the price was right.  So, I'm the real sucker in this deal.