Impatience got the better of me on this one. I put my pre-order in with no issue last month, so I should have just waited for this set to arrive from Target like a smart little collector, but this is my most wanted vehicle in my current favorite line. I always loved and coveted the vintage RAM Cycle and the original 13 Joes are some of my favorites, so I paid extra to have this shipped from over seas. Let’s take a look!
The box is similar to what we saw with The Baroness and her bike and features some nice artwork on the front that wraps around to the side and a map of the infamous Cobra Island on the back. The other side has those little symbols that are supposed to tell you a little the character’s abilities, but I don’t see Breaker up on the website yet, so I’m not sure what they are supposed to mean.
The RAM Cycle captures the vibe of the original without being an exact copy. It has a bit of a fuller body than the original bike that feels more substantial and has a good amount of paneling and engine detailing sculpted in. One detail from the original that I wish they kept was the way the front fairings were a bit wider and swept over and covered the handlebars. I like the translucent plastic piece for the tail light and kind of wish the front had a translucent white plastic headlight.
Between the super-articulated figure, ball and socket handlebars, and foot pegs, Breaker can be seated on the bike securely and easily. I do wish they had the back foot rests near the back wheel for a more aggressive driving pose with the rider crouched down. While I think the Gatling Cannon sidecar would have interfered with that, a peg on the other side would have been nice.
The wheels spin freely and turning the handlebars turns the front wheel. The kick-stand stabilizes the bike, but you really only need it if the sidecar is off. The sidecar pegs in securely with two pretty substantial pegs. It can split apart and the Gatling Cannon can be removed and wielded by Breaker. The cannon has a swiveling barrel, though it doesn’t spin freely. The blast effect from Black Widow can fit in the barrel hole, but the hole isn’t quite deep enough and it’s really a bit too dinky of a blast effect for a Gatling gun anyway. I would have liked a new blast effect for this.
Breaker also comes with a removeable helmet with built in headset and sunglasses. The helmet fits on his head snugly and is nicely proportioned. The sunglasses have a gradient paint job that gives the impression of polarized lenses and the helmet has a bunch of tecno-greeblie details. According to Hasbro, his communication gear is all in the helmet, that’s why he doesn’t carry a pack. While I really like the helmet, and love to see removeable helmets in the line, I do kind of miss the pack. It could have been cool to include some kind of mini-satellite or some more tech gear in a pack.
Breaker doesn’t come with any weapons aside from the gun on the RAM Cycle. That is in keeping with his original figure, but I personally would have given him a sidearm and combat knife. The other accessory that I would have like to have seen is an alternate head with the bubble gum bubble, similar to Jubilee or Boom Boom from the Marvel Legends line. Breaker is mostly re-use from previous figures in the line and I’m pretty sure he uses the Beachead torso, the Duke arms, and Firefly legs. The head, boots, helmet, and overlay are new.
I think the combo of parts works great for Breaker and as more standard military uniform and I finally noticed between Breaker and the new commando Snake Eyes that the collar on this torso is kind of a modernized take on that sort of sweater-neck collar most of the original 13 figures had. The portrait has a great regular guy feel and looks good with or without the helmet.
The overlays do a lot to make the silhouettes different enough, but for me I think they need to branch out and add more new parts to their library soon or this could start to get stale. I’d especially like to see some new arms with the sleeves rolled all the way up to the bicep for a Viper re-do and future figures like Rock ‘N Roll.
The articulation is pretty familiar due to the re-use, though the mid-torso crunch is hindered by the overlay. You can get some crunch (about a click forward or back), but the ball and socket waist here is doing most of that work on this figure so even with the hindrance, it’s not completely stiff. Breaker has:
- Swivel/hinge shoulders, wrists, hips, and ankles
- Hinged mid-torso crunch, butterfly pecs, and neck
- Swivel biceps, thighs, and boots
- Ball and socket head and neck
- Double hinged knees
- Drop-down hip hinges
The paint is solid, if not overly flashy. I do like having a lot of the old decals represented here in tampo form, they feel like quite an upgrade to the poorly applied stickers that were on most of the RAM Cycles I ever got my hands on as a kid. The engine on the bike has some good metallic paints here and there and what is applied is very clean.
Breaker is mostly military green, but the polarized glasses do provide a nice pop of color and plus, I really want these original guys to be mostly green, so it works for me. A wash on the uniform or some dirty drybrushing on the boots would have been nice, but I’m not expecting that from mass market at this point.
I would have liked a couple more accessories for Breaker, including a pack, a Gatling Cannon blast effect, an alternate bubble-gum chewing head, and some personal weapons, but overall I’m very happy with this set. He’s a ton of fun to play with and the bike is a great addition that adds variety to the Joe shelf and works great with all of the figures. Both bike and figure feel a lot more like what I was wanting from this line with a more ARAH feel with some modern touches. Now I just need a VAMP with Clutch and I’ll have my most wanted Joe vehicles.
