GI Joe Retro Stalker review

Stalker has always been one of my favorite GI Joes. Larry Hama kept Stalker as an integral part of the team throughout his run on the comics. It was cool seeing a black guy in the early 80s as a key member of anything. While a six-inch version is heavily rumored to be slotted for the 6″ Classified Series line, I have no intention of dumping my GI Joe 25th anniversary and beyond 3 3/4″ figures.

That line had a decent enough Stalker figure, but this GI Joe Retro version is a significant enough improvement to warrant the upgrade.

Package: To avoid any potential PC problems, Stalker has been lightly rebranded Lonzo ‘Stalker’ Wilkinson. The package is nearly an exact replica of the original figure save for the eyesore layout of the weapons above him as opposed to his right side. It takes up a lot more of the package and the large amount of red space isn’t nearly as appealing. At least we can see the figure and accessories clearly.

On his original bio, Stalker was revealed to be a warlord of a street gang before enlisting. Maybe that’s playing into stereotypes, but it kinda feels more like a deal where Stalker decided to make a life change for the better.

Anyway, this bio is far more generic and doesn’t really talk about Stalker at all.

Likeness: Stalker’s original figure was a camo repaint of the blank Grunt body with a very 80s head sculpt. Hasbro didn’t reinvent the wheel and took that same tactic. Stalker reuses the body from the Retro Grunt. It’s got much more texturing.

His head sculpt is much improved. It definitely gives him the look of Hawk’s second-in-command. Stalker’s got a focused expression like he’s ready to lead the Joes into battle with The Oktober Guard.

To have more of the classic look, Stalker’s harness includes a sheath for the knife although the grenade isn’t removable.

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Scale: The Original 13 Joes didn’t have any major discrepancy in height largely since they (save Scarlett) used the same mold with some alternate parts. Gung-Ho would be the first Joe taller than the others and he’s appropriately taller than Stalker.

Stalker looks somewhat out of place with the early era Original 13 figures like Breaker, Snake Eyes and Scarlett who need updates. He looks just fine compared to the relatively recent figures like Zap.

He’s about the same height as Cobra Commander although I wish Kwinn were a bit taller.

Paint: Stalker’s 25th anniversary figure started this odd trend with lighter camouflage.

The Retro Stalker has more of a classic color scheme with a darker green section and a stronger light green base. There wasn’t any issue with the head sculpt paint.

Articulation: Stalker’s got great articulation. I wish Hasbro could tighten the overall feel of the figure a bit.

Thankfully, his ankle articulation is strong enough to hold running poses without the need of the stand. He can crouch pretty well and the side to side tilting articulation of the torso is solid.

Also, while the sculpting is excellent, Hasbro needs to make the harness section tighter so it doesn’t ride up with every movement.

Stalker has:

• neck
• ball-jointed shoulders
• elbows
• wrists
• wrist hinge (up and down)
• torso
• waist
• hips
• thighs
• knees (double-jointed)
• boot swivel
• ankles

Accessories: Stalker comes with two submachine guns. One is similar to the 25th anniversary gun, but there’s some noticeable differences.

This gun is made out of a very malleable plastic and has some trouble staying in his hand.

The other submachine gun has a bit more heft, but is still intended to not have any issue going into his hands. I like the second one more as it seems more formidable.

He also has a smaller pistol that works in either hand and can be placed in the holster.

One of my favorite aspects of the accessories is his knife can actually slide into the sheath on his harness and be used, which was a very nice touch.

Finally, he comes with a Sgt. Stalker stand.

Worth it? Paying $12.93 for 3 3/34 GI Joes is weird to me since it’s a lot more than the $3.14 I used to spend on these guys. After I walked 10 miles to school in the snow or something like that.

It’s hard to rectify that price considering the Classified Series figures are $19.99. While the value is questionable at least the figure is solid.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Where to get it? The Retro Joe line is exclusive to Walmart for retail price. They’ve done a great job of keeping the figures in stock and on the website. You can also get him from Amazon for a higher price.

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