Presenting the G.I. Joe sniper Low-Light from the G.I. Joe Night Marksmen 50th Anniversary Exclusive Action Figure 2-Pack [Featuring Low-Light vs. Night-Viper].
Low-Light is Staff Sergeant Cooper G. MacBride from Crosby, North Dakota and is a member of Slaughter’s Marauders – a group of G.I. Joes specifically selected by Sgt. Slaughter to become his personal shock-troopers (Why that group includes the G.I. Joe firefighter Barbecue is beyond me).
Low-Light has a very interesting relationship with the dark. He’s actually afraid of the dark – the “why” would depend upon whichever origin story you follow. One origin story suggests that Low Light is still afraid of the dark which is why he does not remove his night-vision goggles. Another origin story suggests he was abused by his father. The 50th Anniversary Low Light’s blister card suggests another origin “As a child in North Dakota, Low Light was afraid of the dark, timid with animals, and shy of loud noises, until one precarious wilderness expedition with his father. Low-Light somehow lost his way in the impenetrable darkness. He was found three weeks later with his flashlight, a .22 rifle, and a grin rom ear-to-ear. Ten years later, he was an instructor at the Army marksmanship program and a self-taught expert on image intensification.”
This particular Low-Light is a reissue of the very-hard-to-find G.I. Joe Pursuit of Cobra City Strike Low-Light . He came in a two-pack along with a Cobra: Night Viper.
PROS
FIRST: Accessories, accessories, accessories! The G.I. Joe 50th Anniversary Lowlight comes with a ton of accessories!
The 50th Anniversary G.I. Joe Low-Light’s main armament is a bolt-action, 7 round CheyTac Intervention M200 sniper rifle with an extending stock, optional suppressor and a removable scope. Fold the stock, remove the suppressor and the scope and you can store the entire thing in a rifle bag. You can also attach the scope to his hip which Low-Light can use as a substitute for binoculars.
Low-Light’s secondary weapon is an UZI submachine gun. It does not look like he carries any extra ammunition for the UZI anywhere.
Low-Light’s backpack can be used to store the suppressor and the UZI, along with a GPS Locator, an ammunition case, and a tripod-mounted spotting scope. You can mount a field telephone with removable antenna to the side of the backpack. The backpack can also be used to store an ammo case with a single removable .408 bullet.
The 50th Anniversary G.I. Joe Low-Light also comes with a knife, a removable flak-jacket and removable night-vision goggles. The flak-jacket is quite bulky and it hampers his articulation a lot. You can remove it with no effect to the over-all aesthetics of Low-Light and you can note that he’s actually already wearing body-armor so the flak-jacket is a bit superfluous. I actually prefer him this way.
SECOND: Unlike other G.I. Joes that come with a ton of accessories that you just keep in hiding, Low-Light can actually carry ALL of his accessories. You can even mix-and-match how you do this.
THIRD: Articulation. Low-Light is a lot more fun to pose without the flak jacket.
ARTICULATION:
Head is mounted on a ball joint on a neck hinge
Upper torso is also on a ball joint allowing it to swivel and tilt.
Ball jointed shoulders with bicep swivel
Single direction elbows, no forearm swivel.
360° wrists. Right wrist can cant up and down parallel to the wrist allowing you to bring his weapon’s stock closer to his shoulder. His left wrist can cant up and down perpendicular to the wrist allowing Low-Light to support his weapon.
Waist swivel
Ball jointed legs
Double jointed, single-direction knees
Boot/ankle tilt and swivel
CONS
FIRST: The G.I. Joe 50th Anniversary Low-Light is carrying too much gear. I think Hasbro seems to have forgotten that modern sniping is a two-person job and that most of the gear the Low-Light is lugging around is meant for a spotter. Or he’s got a really strong back. Low-Light does have difficulty standing with all his gear placed on his back.
SECOND: The CheyTac Intervention M200 sniper rifle can get frustrating to play with. If the scope doesn’t fall off, the stock will. One of the reasons why I prefer to remove Low-Light’s flak jacket is because the rifle stock keeps getting pushed askew by the jacket’s bulk. If you look really carefully at the stock of Low-Light’s rifle, you’ll see traces of blue-tack holding the stock in place. Further, there is always the possibility of the scope, the antenna of the radio and the bullet from the ammo case getting lost as these are really small pieces.
BUYER/COLLECTORS RECOMMENDATION: As mentioned, the Pursuit of Cobra City Strike Low-Light is really hard to find. A brand new one will set you back around $43 USD. So this is a fine opportunity to get one of the best G.I. Joe figures ever made IMHO, for half the price! The only difference between the two figures is that the POC Low-Light bears the G.I. Joe team movie logo on his left shoulder. The 50th Anniversary Low-Light bears a gold star outline. Plus he comes with a Cobra Night Viper. Great deal!