Super 7 - October 2026 Figure Reveals

I've been saying that I need to do more posts like this just to keep track of the various Joe releases.  I did it during the Hasbro Pulse era.  But, I've been slack during the Super7 era.  Which is too bad because some of the fun details of each release are going to be lost to time...just like what has happened with all the community discussion during the early 2000's. 

Super7 has (finally!) announced their October 2026 wave of figures.  (So, these figures showed up in August.  Super7 said nothing.  So, I updated this draft post to a title of September Reveals.  Super7 still said nothing.  Now, we're in October.  Snake Eyes has been out for almost 2 months and 2 new Ninja Force figures have already hit retail.  Super 7 really dropped the PR ball on this wave.)  The wave includes a winter coat Baroness, winter coat Shipwreck, a SNAKE Armor and Flint.  Target will be getting an exclusive Tiger Force Jinx,  too.  This wave is an all cartoon wave as Baroness, Shipwreck and the SNAKE are all based on their cartoon outfits and Flint is in his cartoon coloring.  On some level, this is disappointing.  Not because these are bad figure choices.  But, because the last two comic figures have been excellent.  Flash and Deep Six were both excellent figures that filled major holes in the Joe line.  So, seeing a break in that line is unfortunate.  I do expect them to pick back up in future waves, though.

The figures themselves are pretty strong.  Super7's sculpting is improving.  And, the smooth textured figures from the earlier waves are looking more and more dated as their skillset grows.  The headsculpts are the most notable improvements.  Shipwreck is light years ahead of human heads from the first wave or two.  The colors are very nice.  And, the accessories...well...they're improving.  But, still have a long way to go.  

Super7 was planning to announce the figures and have them in stock the same day.  Which, they did.  However, the figures appeared in Asia ahead of the announcement and collectors got a full look at them about two months ahead of the planned release date.  This isn't bad.  But, it might get Super7 to go back to  their old model of announcing the figures a month or so ahead of their availability so that early markets don't spoil the surprise.

Shipwreck:

Shipwreck is the plum of the wave.  For as popular as he is, Shipwreck figures based on his sailor uniform are few and far between. You have the original, a weird Tiger Force figure from Brazil and the Flaming Moth figure.  That's it.  It's weird that it took Super7 almost two years to get to a character who was so integral to the cartoon.  But, by waiting, they delivered a figure that looks really nice. The peacoat is a great addition as it gives the figure some uniqueness while not detracting from the sailor motif.  He's got Polly and his anchor rope.  But, bafflingly, he doesn't include a pistol.  Even if he didn't use in the cartoon, Shipwreck should always include a old timey pirate inspired gun.

SNAKE:

The SNAKE is a weird choice.  It's not a collector favorite nor is it heavily associated with the cartoon or the comic.  This figure isn't an armor in which you insert another figure, though.  It is a figure.  And, that's a neat idea.  It's oversized and looks like a SNAKE.  It adds something you don't normally see in the line.  Hopefully, this is a precursor to oversized figures like the Monstro Viper, Bio Viper or even a Manimal appearing in the line.  But, as a release, it's an odd selection.

Baroness:

Like Shipwreck, it's weird that it's taken this long for Baroness to appear in the line.  But, again, the wait will give us much better  quality.  The winter coat works with the Baroness' colors.  Her head looks well  detailed and is a different approach to her countenance than we typically see.  She's a solid entry and has me regretting buying a pink Daina  figure since this Baroness fills the role of a winter themed villain much more effectively.

Tiger Force Jinx:

I don't care for Jinx.  Never have.  At first, the blurry photos made her look  strong enough. She's cast in black and orange with some green highlights.  She's a nice rendition of a Tiger Force version.  Then, I  noticed that, for some reason, Jinx includes Falcon's shotgun and backpack.  I don't know why, but that little detail now has me wanting the figure.  I've never done much with Jinx's character.  But, with this figure, I now have an evolution arc for her that I might explore.  Should I stumble upon her at a retail store, I'll pick one up.

(No promo image for her, yet.  But, she's been out for over two months.  You all know what she looks like.)

Comic #2 Snake Eyes:

Technically, this guy was announced In August.  He was a surprise.  And, within a week, was already being memory holed.  It's a decent rendition of the arctic Snake Eyes.  But, I think there's too much uninterrupted blue on him.  The figure also looks like it was sculpted early in the line and is very smooth.  It feels out of place and the comic packs seem like a dumping ground for some early figure designs that didn't fit into the regular carded wave of figures.  The upside is the weasel skull necklace.  But, if you're making Comic #2 in a collector themed release, why not Kwinn?!?  I'm hoping these bland comic packs are discontinued so they can focus on the main carded line.

Flint:

I'll have lots more to say about this figure at some point in the future.  We all knew Flint would show up in the line.  And, he's here.  He's  pretty much how you expected it to go.  He's got really nice sculpting and includes vintage inspired gear.  Flint's tough for me because he's my favorite figure and I've overly critical of anything that treads upon his original design without improving it.  So, we'll explore that in more detail at a future date.

In sum, this is a good wave of figures.  Only the SNAKE is really a loser.  Generally, fandom seems pretty excited about the entire wave.  It will be interesting to see who ends up getting the most use.  My money's on Shipwreck just because there are so few other options for the character.  All in all, though, Super7's evolution is continuing and the figures are delivering more and more.  I'm happy with the release cadence and remain optimistic about the line's future.

2020 Night Force Snake Armor - Black Major

I do not like the Snake armor.  I hated it as a kid and it has been completely and utterly irrelevant to me for over 40 years.  But, one of the things that helps us grow as people it to take another look at something we dislike and try to understand why we dislike and if the circumstances around that dislike warrant another evaluation of our opinion.  It's something good to do with political views, social conventions and even the people in and around your life.  So, when Black Major produced Snake Armors in 2020, I saw an opportunity to pick one up and see if my childhood bias against the toy held up.  In this case, I'm actually looking at a Night Force version of the Snake armor.  I'm not sure why there's a Night Force version.  But, it was cheap and included a Stormshadow repaint I wanted.  And, the base colors are Cobra enough that it solved my need for a sample of the Snake that would help determine if I've been wrong for the last 4 decades.

The Snake came out in 1983.  It was a cheap toy that was meant to fill the price gap between a figure and base vehicle.  At the time, Hasbro ensured Joe toys existed within price points so that G.I. Joe toys were a possibility for any level of gift giver.  And, because of this, my brothers and I got no less than 3 Snakes between birthdays and Christmas in the fall of 1983.  By that point, I was completely engrossed in G.I. Joe and they were the only toys I really played with. So, ostensibly, any Joe toy would have been an awesome addition to my toy room.  But, Snakes were not.  From the get go, I found them useless.  The last thing I wanted was a suit that limited articulation on my figures.  I could easily imagine some force shield that offered all the power of a Snake without limiting my ability to pose the figures any way I wanted.  But, the most damning aspect of the toy was that, in order to use it, it took a figure out of rotation.  Someone had to be inside the suit for the thing to work.

So, now we get the crux of the issue.  Pretty much anyone reading this would say, "What about the exoskeleton included with the Snake that allowed it to be set without a figure?!?".  Usually, this would be prefaced or ended with the word dummy.  (Or, your expletive of choice.)  But, we'll save that.  Because, you see, I didn't know about the exo skeleton piece.  In all three of our Snakes, that little part was tossed with the leftover sprues.  I'm not sure why.  Maybe it was the zeal of opening something new.  Or, I was just a moron who missed it.  But, I didn't know this part existed for a many years.  So, this is the part where you call me a dummy.  

But, to be fair, this was not the end of the Snake for me.  In time, certain Cobra figures got broken.  Even as a kid, I could not abide by figures with broken crotches or thumbs.  So, when a Cobra Officer was damaged, it made perfect sense for him to slide into the Snake as the operator.  This allowed me to use the Snake.  But, it also didn't cost me a figure since someone already broken was no longer considered part of my actual collection.  But, even with this addition of a figure, I found the Snake lacking.  Like the MANTA, the Snake didn't stay together all that well when you actually played with it.  And, the lack of poseability still killed it.  In short, the Snake couldn't manage to find a way into my adventures.

In 1984, I started buying the Joe comic.  In short order, I found a local comic book shop and started buying back issues of the Joe issues.   Eventually, I came across issue #19.  Here, Dr. Venom put Kwinn and Snake Eyes into the Snakes and had them attack the G.I. Joe Headquarters.  I had a few problems with this issue.  First, Dr. Venom kept referring the Hiss Tank being "Cobra blue".  As the Hiss was canonically black, I found this a glaring error.  Second, it didn't make sense to me that Kwinn and Snake Eyes would have their bodies controlled, but still have clear enough minds to shoot the locks on the suit.  Finally, it was self defeating to have these invincible suits who could be cracked open by a guy who somehow managed to get a remote controlled machine gun to fire manually.  The upside, though, was that the terrible suits were proven very ineffective.  And, in my mind, my dislike of Snakes as a toy and a concept were codified in the comic forever.

But, at its core, my dislike of the Snake went deeper.  Generally, I was not a fan of robots.  For some reason, I never got the robot bug.  This manifested itself in 1986 when I found the BAT a fairly lame toy and character.  BATs were fun for about 4 minutes before Sgt. Slaughter would slip behind them, shoot them in the back and watch them burst into flame...rendering them absolutely useless.  I was shocked to find my friends and even random kids at the store who LOVED BATs.  I didn't get the fascination with robots.  And, I still don't.  I see collectors going ga-ga over mechs and things and I simply don't understand the appeal.  But, to me, the humanity of the characters was a driving force in my play.  So, even in my days of playing with Star Wars figures, I rarely found the robots interesting.  Monsters and aliens could be given personality.  But, I just didn't click with robots.  And, to this day, I find anything that heavily features robots to be kind of boring.

The Black Major Snakes are very well done.  They are of high quality and display nicely.  The paint masks are crisp and the rainbow of colors allow even curmudgeons like myself to find something of interest.  Snake accessories tended to break on the vintage toys.  With the Black Major figures, the risk is still there.  But, the attachments fit snugly and work very well with the arms.  The parts fit together without falling apart.  And, even with the exo skeleton inside, the toy stands and functions just fine.  

There are tons of Black Major paint variants of Snakes available.  A few colors were even metallicized and you can get shining versions that look like Christmas ornaments if you are so inclined.  The original Snake had an interesting life.  Hasbro released the white version in 1983.  Then, in 1985, they repainted it into a blue version.  I have no idea why the Snake got this treatment when other, far better vehicles in the price point did not.  But, the blue Snake exists and is somewhat rare.  In Europe, Palitoy released a red Snake named the Escape Armor for the Red Shadows.  Of course, it's highly desirable and expensive.  Funskool finally released the Snake in the 1990's.  There are various hues, the most famous being a gray version.  Again, this is hard to find and you'll pay a premium for one.  So, for a crappy, crappy toy, there are tons of variants out there.  Yet, there are only two Flight Pods and one real coloring for the CLAW....

Black Major Snakes dried up pretty quickly.  While you can still find them, the initial assortment sold out far faster than I would have thought.  All this proves is that my take on the Snake is the minority opinion in the community and the design is generally well liked.  Less desirable colors of the Snake are still available in the $12 range.  But, some of the most desirable colors almost never appear for sale and will command a premium.  For me, it was easy to get one like this Night Force version because it was more about having one Snake to review than having the right colors.  If you're a Snake fan, that might not be the case.