Overview

One of the finest mail-in concepts ever was Agent Faces in Crimson Guard Disguise because you can cash in your Flag & Battle points for a troop builder, if you don't mind the removable helmet. We don't.

One figure, a file card, a helmet, and a halfway decent shotgun. Not bad for basically nothing.

Figure

It's a mix of old and new molds-- and the end result is a great figure.

Agent Faces is a master of disguise like Zartan, but in this case, his disguise is fancy red pants and a helmet. We guess it more or less works.

The figure is a mishmash of the 1980's Crimson Guard figure and a brand new head with a brand new helmet. The new deco is arguably better and is less likely to rub off, as the Cobra logo was once prone to do. This figure was also used as the basis for future Crimson Guard releases, like the 2004 Operation Crimson Sabotage figures and the (currently) unreleased six packs from Toys "R" Us.

As you can see, Faces does not have the "Crimson Division" patch like on the OCS version of the trooper. Aside from that these are very similar figures, and with the helmets on there's not a whole heck of a lot of difference.

The head itself is molded in flesh color and has hair that's painted black. Our sample had some knicks in the hair prior to it being opened, so be sure to watch for this sort of thing as additional rub is inevitable as the helmet comes on and off during play and/or display. The face sculpt is decidedly old-school, with the not quite fully formed ears, somewhat hard plastic, and good-but-not-perfect facial features. It's sure to please many (but not all, it seems) old fans. It also looks vaguely like Dante from Clerks. Maybe it's just the beard and hair.

Accessories

Not a lot. But what's here is good.

The shotgun was previously packed in some gift sets, with Destro on more than one occasion, and of course, Operation Crimson Sabotage. The helmet was packed with OCS and will be packed with the upcoming six packs. The helmet was newly sculpted for this release, but the gun has been used for a few years.

Packaging

A mail-in bag. Nothing fancy, but fancier than could be expected.

It's pretty good-- the figure has his name printed on the bag (fancy!) and the Joe logo is printed on the file card. It's more than we'd expect, and we're pleased Hasbro went the extra mile (or maybe 23 yards) to make something just a little bit better.

Fin

We meant to send off for a few of these but didn't. We're sorry we didn't. Faces is a great Joe figure, a great army builder, a great update of an old Cobra trooper, and potentially great custom fodder too. We love mail-in figures and this one was inspired-- good job, Hasbro! We'd buy more if you offered it again. But maybe next you can do Duke as a Cobra Trooper. We'll take 20 if we can leave the mask and helmet on.

Text and photos by Adam Pawlus
Review posted on March 4 2005
Sample purchased in February 2005 on eBay for $10