Hasbro’s Classified GI JOE line continues to fire on all cylinders and churn out some absolutely fantastic figures. Sure, Cobra seems to be getting the most attention, but when the figures are this great, I’m not going to complain. Today, I’m checking out the Crimson Guard Commanders: Tomax and Xamot!

It’s incomprehensible to me why Hasbro didn’t release these guys in a two-pack. I would have been really pissed if I was able to get one and had to hunt for the other. But, as luck would have it, the online distribution for the Twins was plentiful and I was able to get the pair without any troubles. Although, I found it a little vexing that Xamot did arrive a few days before Tomax. I think it would have been cool if they mirrored the boxes to match the figures, but I can understand why they wouldn’t want to redesign the box for just one release. Anyway, it’s hard for me to put my finger on why I was so infatuated with The Crimson Twins back in the day. Maybe it was because I was introduced to them in the Sunbow cartoon before I actually got the figures, but I remember endlessly bugging my parents about them, and when I finally got them, they were the main actors involved in every single Cobra mission for a long while. I just dig everything about them!

And boy did Hasbro hit a homerun with these Classified versions! I’ve commented many times about how Hasbro has maneuvered Classified to be more and more in line with the original character designs, and in this case, they unswervingly followed the vintage Real American Hero figure aesthetics when crafting these modern 6-inch versions. Naturally, the figures are mirror images of each other, with Tomax having the shoulder and neck guard on his right side, and the red sash on his right shoulder. For his brother, these are switched up to the left shoulder… and so on. The symmetrical parts of the figure are mostly identical, but you do get sheathed daggers on each figure’s opposite hip and leg. The uniforms are deep blue, which looks great with the crimson sash and accents on the legs and belt. A lot of the silver is cast in silver plastic, and while this is pretty light plastic, it looks fine and matches the silver on the boots and thigh guards quite well. The bodies contain the usual Classified points of articulation, and the shoulder armor is flexible so as not to inhibit the range of motion in those shoulders.

I expected Hasbro to just mirror the head sculpts as well, but there are some subtle differences, which make for a very nice surprise. Indeed, most of the mirrored effect is found in the way they part their hair. The key difference is the jagged scar sculpted onto Xamot’s left cheek. I haven’t gone back to look, but I am clearly misremembering that it was Tomax that had the scar on his right cheek. Whatever the case, the portraits here are excellent, and I really dig their evil smirks.

Each Twin comes with a pair of matched Kris (serpentine bladed) Daggers, with one sheathed on the hip and the other on the leg. These have black hilts with painted silver blades and round pommels. The twins have dual gun hands, but they can hold the daggers fairly well, especially if you tuck the guard between two of the fingers. Generally speaking, the cutlery doesn’t impress me all that much in the Classified line. Knives and daggers are pretty small at this scale, and there’s only so much you can do with them. That having been said, I love these!

Instead of the oversized blaster pistols included with the vintage figures, each Classified Twin also comes with a sub-machine gun, which is the biggest departure from the originals. These are cast in black plastic, and have removable magazines and silencers. I’d argue that Hasbro should have given us both options, but even though they didn’t, I’m still happy with these more realisitc weapons. They look great wielding them! Alas, we didn’t get the Skyhook included with the original figures, and that does seem like a rather big omission.

Classified has been blowing me away with each and every release lately, and the Crimson Guard Commanders are yet another example of that. These figures are exactly what I’m looking for in this line: 6-inch scale versions of the RAH designs, and boy do they deliver on that! The articulation gives them pretty much everything they need to show off their circus-style acrobatics, and while I would have liked to see the RAH weapons included as a bonus, I’m not going to complain about their omission. It would have been a shame to have these guys and not have some Crimson Guard for them to command, but thankfully Hasbro made sure their troops shipped at the same time as they did, and I’ll be checking them out next week!