The Baroness

So hey, Sideshow toys fairly expensive Baroness 12 inch figure has been released.

I bought it. This is actually only the second 12 inch Baroness figure ever, and the first one doesn't really count because it was the SDCC exclusive 12-inch Sarah Palin Baroness that Hasbro made for the Rise of Cobra movie. This new Sideshow version (bought from Sideshow directly to get the second bonus head) is based on the original Real American Hero toys/cartoons/comic books. That's the more iconic version of the character.

And of course I've been interested in collecting good 1:6 scale GI Joe cobra characters. Well, sorta. I've only got 3. Because I've never been interested in the Major Blud look and I'm not a fan of the Sideshow Destro design. Also, it turns out Cobra Vipers are hella expensive on ebay.

But Baroness... if you're trying to create a patchwork Cobra 1:6 scale collection you need a Baroness. Which is probably why I did buy the Rise of Cobra one when I found it on sale at a comic book store. So now I own both Baroness 12 inch figures...

Let's compare:

Boxes: The boxes are quite different. The Rise of Cobra box is nicer, but it's also a SDCC Exclusive so they probably classed things up for that reason. The Sideshow box looks like it's designed to be disposed of. Very utilitarian.

Rise of Cobra Baroness:

Not many accessories with the Rise of Cobra Baroness. She also doesn't really look like a GI Joe villain. She looks like a generic "lady in leather coat" character from a low budget action movie. And she's designed to wear that coat always, because underneath is a sleeveless faux leather leotard. It's odd that in the promo print included with the box the character has sleeves on her leather jumpsuit, so that's the implied design, but in practice I guess sleeves under a leather jacket was too much for Hasbro. 

As for the head sculpt, this looks ALOT like they just rescaled the sculpt from the 4 inch figure. Because that looked like Sarah Palin and this really looks like Sarah Palin. 

And while I'm glad the hair is sculpted, I'm not at all happy with the design they went with for the hair. Because it's clearly designed for one pose and one pose only. Turn the head even a little and it looks ridiculous.

You'll notice I'm holding the figure up in that picture. That's because there's no stand and the figure isn't the greatest at standing up by itself. I blame the ridiculous heeled shoes they included. They look like Monster High's ridiculous heeled shoes, but are probably less practical. Also, the leather trench coat design is ridiculous. Why would a coat break up into sections like that over the legs? To provide leg mobility? Then you would just wear a leather jacket, not a trench coat. I don't know why this bothers me so much, but it does.

Sideshow Baroness: 

Meanwhile the Sideshow Baroness stands up quite nicely. The figure is covered in a shiny black body stocking which nicely simulates the look of the black leather catsuit you always assumed the Baroness was wearing. But they also included armored plating for the chest, legs and arms, which means this figure looks exactly like the art on the original figure's filecard.

And oddly, since this is depicting a cartoon version and not a live action version, the head sculpt looks more realistic than it's Rise of Cobra counterpart. Especially with how they sculpted the hair. And the glasses? Totally removable. And there's even a second head sculpt in case you want that wind swept look to her hair.

There's even a second pair of more traditional looking glasses that the Baroness is sometimes depicted wearing, so you can make her wear the style you prefer. Because people have fetishes about that kind of crap. You also get 8 alternate hands to make the poses seem more realistic/awesome. 

There's a few more accessories that come with the figure although not many more than the Rise of Cobra figure. The sideshow firearms are more detailed and look more realistic though. And there's a stand included to hold the figure up. And the interior box art is also very pretty.