G.I. Joe Classified Series Zarana review
Initially, I thought giving Zartan twin siblings was a weird way to add to the Dreadnoks ranks. It didn’t take long for Zarana and Zandar to quickly establish themselves not just as worthy members of Zartan’s crew, but also Cobra itself.
Legendary G.I. Joe comic scribe Larry Hama positioned Zarana as a close confidant of Cobra Commander alongside Cesspool, Road Pig and Slice & Dice. It was a different era for the Cobra High Command.
While I’m a little annoyed Zarana cut the line ahead of Buzzer, Torch and Ripper, there’s no doubt she was deserving of getting a Classified Series figure within the first 50 — variants notwithstanding.
Let’s see if Zarana was worth such early entry into the line or if she should be back in the swamps.
Packaging: Marcus Williams (Tuskegee Heirs) provides the artwork for Zarana. I always dig Williams’ art though it’s harder to appreciate his style in this smaller window format. It would have been cool for the Dreadnoks to get a separate logo instead of the standard Cobra logo.
And by this point, Hasbro needs a new rear package image with the latest characters
Zarana is one of the few newer additions to have a bio on the Joe website!
Her bio states: Zarana is the sister of Zartan and wields the family’s dangerous talent for deception and disguise. She works like a method actress to assume any identity to conduct missions of infiltration, sabotage and espionage.
Her very essence is a calculated play to make people underestimate her. the stories she weaves around her false identities are so intricate and her ability to lie is so effortless she can outwit any known technological method of truth detection.
On the skill chart code, Zarana earned 3s in mercenary, infiltration and disguise and a 2 in bladed weapons.
Likeness: Hasbro experimented with some very different takes on the Real American Hero designs to start the Classified Series line. Now they’re largely updating the RAH designs.
That strategy has problem to be a winning one for Hasbro and it’s implemented especially well with Zarana.
This is such a great update of Zarana’s classic outfit. Her layered shoulder pads now have straps underneath to show how they’re connected. Her pink top is less tattered shirt and is now a cut up leather jacket complete with zipper and studded pad on the right side.
The leather strap connecting the left side of the jacket is very well detailed right down to the buckle.
Her elbow length arm bands are now underneath forearm armor that also has texturing. The gloves are a separate piece as well. A chain connects to her belt.
Zarana’s pants are just as detailed with rips on either leg showing her pink leggings. It’s such a modern punk look. Her slotted kneepads lead into angular leather boots with brown straps around the feet. The boots even have sculpted flames at the tips in a nice touch.
Her head sculpt is fantastic as well. Zarana isn’t a demure character so her intense, angry expression is fitting for her. She’s got a cool hairstyle with several layers, close shaven sides and a mini-mullet.
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Paint: Hasbro typically nails the paint job on this line. Zarana’s hair is very well executed with the various shades of pink, oranges and yellows. There’s subtle makeup around her eyes and cheeks giving her a superbly polished look.
There’s a lot of minor details like the zippers and buckles that require precise work. That’s all handled extraordinarily well with the exception being some of the brown around her gloves.
Scale: Zarana was portrayed shorter than Zartan and the same height as her twin, Zandar.
She’s about the same height as The Baroness and she’s shorter than Zartan.
Articulation: Hasbro has won the game on highly articulated six-inch figures at affordable (enough) costs.
Zarana is incredibly fun to pose as an agent of mass chaos like her fellow.
Zarana 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: Zarana is loaded with accessories showing the tremendous love the Joe brand team has put into the line.
First up is her dagger, which fits into her side sheath easily enough. It’s got a detailed black hilt that contrasts sharply with the silver blade.
She’s also got a larger machete with a complex hilt. The cool thing with this is the blade has a red gradient to it showing that Zarana heated it up before battle — the easier to have it go through machinery in true marauding Dreadnoks fashion.
Next up is her backpack rig, which contains a slot for Zarana to place the machete to heat the blade. That’s a neat upgrade to her basic backpack.
Zarana had a weaponized weed wacker in the original RAH line. To update it, Hasbro basically made her weapon more of a power saw add-on to her machine gun. As is becoming the norm, the gun has a removable clip.
Her last accessory is very cool as Hasbro gave us an additional display option with a swappable hair piece for more of a retro RAH hairstyle. That is such an unexpected bonus and shows why the Classified Series line keeps killing it.
Worth It? Zarana is part of the newer price point of $24.99. I was able to take advantage of my local comic bookstore, Third Eye Comics, having a 30% off sale, which took her down to under $20. Now she’s 50% off making for one of the best Classified Series values.
Even at the regular price, it feels like the Classified Series works to include more accessories beyond a set of swappable hands to justify it.
Rating: 10 out of 10
Zarana is another winner in the Classified Series. I love the colors, the slight tweak to her outfit and the accessories. She’s tied with Ripper as my favorite Dreadnok figure so far.
Where to Get It? Zarana is available right now on Amazon
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