G.I. Joe Classified Series Courtney ‘Cover Girl’ Krieger review (No. 59)
Cover Girl had a memorable debut in the G.I. Joe comic book series from Larry Hama and Mike Vosburg. She came out swinging rolling out the Wolverine and getting thrown in the midst of a tense standoff with a squad of HISS Tanks with fellow new Joes Torpedo and Tripwire. Ever since she’s been a favorite of mine.
While the Hasbro team wasn’t quite ready to roll out vehicles when her name came up for the Classified Series — something that now seems viable following SDCC — we did get the second Joe female relatively soon (after Scarlet and Lady Jaye naturally). There’s been some…frustration (?) over some aspects of Cover Girl.
Let’s see if they’re warranted with her debut although likely not final entry in the Classified Series line.
Packaging: Hedvig Häggman-Sund provided the package art for Cover Girl. This is another very anime take similar to Zarana’s setup. It’s a playful design although seeming a bit too whimsical for a character who needs more respect as a Joe bada$$.
Hasbro has made some changes to the Joe website so the bios are no longer available. You can still get to a G.I. Joe page that breaks down character specialties. Cover Girl’s skill chart breaks down to a full Level 4 in tanker and mechanical engineering, she scored a 3 in weapons development and a 1 in light weapons. All those scores check out.
Cover Girl’s backstory is one of the best of entire mythos. She was a legit fashion model who got bored of gracing magazine covers and became one of the Joes more prolific gear heads right alongside Clutch and Steeler. How cool is that?
Likeness: From the neck down, Cover Girl is fantastic with a very faithful take on her original 1983 figure with some welcome new flourishes to modernize her look slightly.
Her strongly detailed leather jacket has a slight fur trim. This mimics the original look, which had her collar over her jacket. The collar is intact and just rests underneath the jacket this time. Cover Girl’s sleeves are slightly rolled up to show she’s ready for action and she’s now rocking gloves to aid in handling the Wolverine.
She’s got a double belt with great detail and prominent silver buckles. Her holster is intact from the original figure. Cover Girl’s first figure had what seemed like a remote control/data pad on her left leg. Hasbro went the extra mile this time and made it a removable data pad with a readout of the Wolverine. That is a very cool, unexpected touch. And if you want to go fully retro, you can ditch the holster as she’s got a more RAH style belt underneath.
Finally, she’s using Lady Jaye legs and boots, which had a solid amount of texturing. Since they’re one-tone it’s easier to miss the reuse here.
Oh right, there is one area I “forgot.” Hasbro’s sculptors seemed to be aiming for a European model look for Cover Girl with high cheekbones, a slender nose and somewhat pouty expression.
The render hits that model appearance but the figure itself fails to properly convey that look and it just doesn’t come together well at all. The hair sculpt is nice and maybe it’s worth transplanting that onto some other superior head sculpts?
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Paint: Hasbro has usually been pretty good with the Classified Series paint jobs.
There’s some sloppy overspray on the fur of her jacket while some areas on the left collar is missing the white applications entirely. This is by far the biggest offender with her paintwork, which is otherwise very well executed.
The tampo on her jacket left sleeve is clean and even has a bit more detail of the wolverine in another nice touch.
Scale: Cover Girl was a model so having some extra height wouldn’t be the craziest thing, but she’s the same height as Lady Jaye meaning she’s looking up to most of the dudes.
I’m loving filling out the 83 roster with her and Gung-Ho. Torpedo, Snow-Job and Tripwire are on the review pile and Airborne and Wild Bill are locked in for next year. And Ace whenever we get the all-clear for a HasLab Skystriker.
Articulation: Hasbro has completely won the game on highly articulated six-inch figures.
Cover Girl is a big improvement on early female figures like Baroness and Scarlett and can hit some terrific poses for a vehicle driver.
Cover Girl has:
- head
- neck
- shoulders (butterfly)
- elbow (double-jointed)
- wrist
- wrist hinge
- mid-torso
- torso
- waist
- hips (ball-jointed)
- drop down hips
- knees (double-jointed)
- ankles
Accessories: Cover Girl has a solid amount of accessories.
She comes with a shotgun. It’s got very good detailing and two tones.
This is a sensible weapon for Cover Girl who just needs to push Cobras back far enough for the Wolverine’s range. She also has a smaller handgun when it’s time for more up close and personal action. I love the work here as well as it features a silver barrel with black accents.
Next up is a wrench. This is a fun accessory and plays up Cover Girl’s engineering background. I love the idea of Cover Girl rolling her sleeves up and getting grimy with motor oil fixing a broken-down Dragonfly or helping Clutch with the VAMP.
Or just clocking some Cobras with it. This fits in her hip holster to ensure that she can carry all of her accessories.
She also has a data pad with the Wolverine LED. Maybe she’s controlling it via remote control?
As always, you can store her gear in the footlocker, but Cover Girl is one of those helpful figures that has spots for all her accessories.
Worth It? Cover Girl was originally going for $24.99. That was a lot for a character who needs a head swap. Thankfully, I was able to get her on clearance for $12.49.
Rating: 7 out of 10
Cover Girl suffers from a really bad head sculpt. Once that’s replaced with the Marvel Legends Black Widow short hair portrait, she’s going to shoot up the list as my favorite female Joe figures.
Where to Get It? Cover Girl is available on Amazon and Entertainment Earth