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Review and photos by David Yeh

Salty sea dog Shipwreck (v12) is back again in this comic pack packaged with a brand new Copperhead (v4), driver of the Cobra Water Moccasin. Before you say it, let me echo your sentiments. Why another Shipwreck? I know, I'm not exactly a fan of rehashing a figure that didn't need to be rehashed either. You have to admit though that the life vest does look pretty cool. But is it enough?

Let's start by looking more closely at Copperhead. Though the upper torso and arms belong to Roadblock (v16), the head (not a removable helmet) and legs are all new, which means this is one big Cobra goon standing nearly an entire head taller than Shipwreck. Copperhead is sculpted beautifully; taking the original design and making him even cooler than ever before. Every detail you remembered about him from days past is all here.

Copperhead is without his ship at the moment but he does come with some weapons at least, one of which fits into his holster. Paint is spot on like the vintage colors with some added weathering on the legs which is an incredibly nice touch. One thing I would have liked Hasbro to address however are the tubes on Copperhead's helmet. Realistically they should be black instead of the same color as the helmet. But with all things considered, this is still a fantastic treatment of Copperhead, even if his knees only sport one joint instead of two.

Shipwreck (v12) on the other hand is hardly new. It's the exact same figure we just seen on the single pack but with different colors and a life preserver. I'm not a huge fan of the new colors that Shipwreck is sporting though it's mostly the dark blue hat that distracts me than his white shirt. But if you're like me, then you're going to use the life vest accessory on the v11 Shipwreck.

My main problem with this Shipwreck (and with v11) is that his right hand is still sculpted into a fist. These are G.I.Joe figures and the ability to hold the included accessories should be job priority number one. Punching out the enemy should be number two. A new fist for v12 Shipwreck would have made this set even more attractive I imagine.

Also packed with Shipwreck is his pet parrot Polly, a pistol, and a hook with rope accessory. Both figures also come with their respective file cards, display stands, and a sticker for the mail-away Doc figure.

The included comic book written by Larry Hama is titled "Security Shield", placing Shipwreck as the only protection of the U.S.S. Flagg against Copperhead, who is driving the Cobra Moray Hydrofoil.

As a comic pack, giving us Copperhead was a great thing and even if we don't need another Shipwreck, at least he does come with the bird so for the kids who missed the previous version, this is a nice substitute. And besides, this is an extremely good value for two figures, accessories, and a comic book. It's worth it just for Copperhead alone.

Archive entries:
Copperhead (v4)
Shipwreck (v12)
Issue 5

Editor's Note:
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More action shots:

Images from the collection of: David Yeh
Additional image from the collection of: Phillip Donnelly

Figures courtesy of BigBadToyStore — get your G.I. Joes and much more at BigBadToyStore!