It’s taken me a long time to get back to Super7’s Sunbow cartoon-inspired series of GI JOE Ultimates figures. So long, in fact, that a new wave has arrived before I even got to spotlight any of the second wave here. The right thing to do would be to go through all of Wave 2 before tackling the new wave, but man I was just too excited for that. So, I’m jumping ahead to check out Scarlett from Wave 3 and then I will double back and hit some figures from Wave 2, and alternate like that until I’m all caught up. Savvy? Good, then let’s check out Scarlett!

Here she is in the very stylish Super7 Ultimates packaging with some minor changes from the last two waves. The slipcase is now more of a flat, satiny finish as opposed to the glossy premium stock. This change carries over to the box itself, where Scarlett’s dog tag under the window also looks flat and less premium. It’s not a huge departure, but it’s definitely a tiny step down from what we were getting. You do still get some nice printed weathering on the sleeve and some character art on the back panel of the box. I should also note that these are no longer coming in brown cardboard mailers, but rather just plastic wrap. On the plus side, the window shows off the goods as great as ever, and oh boy am I thrilled to see a Sunbow-styled Scarlett in my collection. I remember that as a kid, cartoon Scarlett was the cause of some pretty funny feelings down in my government issued undies and somehow Hasbro’s figure, as cool as it was, never reached those heights for me. So, let’s get her out and see what we’ve got!

Sunbow Scarlett’s outfit came pretty close to the original figure’s design, with a tan one-piece, gloves and high heeled boots along with green sleeves and leggings. The figure sports a fairly minimalist look when it comes to detail, and that’s in keeping with the cartoon style. She has her familiar red recoil pad on her right shoulder, some silver shuriken and edging on her gauntlets, a wide silver belt, and some sculpted pouches on her boots. I would have liked a little more definition in her caboose, but all in all I really like what we got here when it comes to the body and outfit.

You get three different head sculpts, and while there isn’t a huge difference between them, I think the one that came on the figure is the best. She has a pretty determined look with downturned eyebrows and mouth. This is probably the face she pulls when she catches Duke making out with Selina or other random Cobra slavegirls that he rescues. The eyes are printed very nicely, and while her hot pink lipstick doesn’t quite fill out the mouth sculpt, I still think it looks pretty good. The fiery red hair and ponytail are both pitch perfect, But now is about as good a time as any to point out the ugly seam running up the sides of her neck. Yeah, that’s a shame.

The second head is a bit of a smile and some less severe, more rounded eyebrows. This one is OK, but I don’t think it has as much personality as her battle face. The third is pretty close to the first but with the addition of a headset and I do like this one. I’ve heard some people argue that it’s too specific, as the headset is meant to be used while she’s flying a Skystriker, but I think it works for just battlefield communication. Suffice it to say the first head is the one that will be displayed on my figure most of the time and it’s the one I used for the bulk of the pictures in this review.

Unless you’re new to this line, you should know by now what to expect when it comes to articulation. Love it, hate it, or just accept it. But if this is your first rodeo with Ultimates, don’t expect anything as good as the Classified line. Rotating hinges is the name of the game and you get them in the shoulders, elbows, wrists, knees, and ankles. There’s a swivel in the waist and a ball joint under the chest. The hips and neck are ball jointed, and you get some lateral rockers in the ankles. I don’t mind this articulation so much, but I do wish you got better range in the elbows. Scarlett also comes with three pairs of hands: fists, karate chopping, and gun/accessory holding. Swapping the hands requires a little more force than I would like, but other than that it works just fine.

As for accessories, well it wouldn’t be Scarlett without her trademark crossbow and you get two to choose from, along with an assortment of arrows and a quiver with a shoulder strap. The first crossbow is a short pistol-type and is similar to the one released with the vintage RAH figure. It’s an excellent sculpt and has a deep groove so that you can load it with an arrow using the fletching to anchor it in place. It works pretty well for display on the shelf, but they will fall out if you move it around a lot. Her ammo includes three normal arrows, one bomb arrow, one arrow with a really broad point, and a grapple arrow with a yellow string attached. You can comfortably fit the three regular arrows and the bomb arrow into the quiver all at one time, but the broad tipped arrow is too big and the grapple arrow takes up most of the room. Otherwise the quiver works pretty well, but I might put some blue tack inside to help hold the arrows in place.

The other crossbow is more of a rifle design with a skeletal stock and a scope. This one had some serious warping in the plastic strings, but much to my surprise a little heat straightened them out immediately. I seem to recall Sunbow Scarlett’s crossbow being a bit in between the pistol version and this, but I definitely like this one a lot. It’s not going to be an easy choice as to which one to go with most of the time.

And for when Scarlett needs a little more firepower, she comes with an M16, and I’m not sure why because I don’t remember this being a thing in the cartoon and it definitely wasn’t included with the RAH figure. It is a pretty nice toon-ified version of the iconic infantry weapon, although the barrel is very prone to bending and I had to heat it up as well to get it even close to straight. And yes, it is a little irksome that Hasbro can deliver most of the weapons in their slightly smaller scale Classified line at half the price and have them come out straight most of the time, not to mention also have detachable magazines and occasional blast effect parts. To be honest, I will likely never display Scarlett with this weapon, and I would have much rather just gotten another one of the XMLR-3A Laser Rifles that most of the JOEs used in the cartoon and that came with Snake Eyes, Duke, and Flint.

Scarlett’s final accessory is a walkie-talkie, which seems to be a popular pack-in for most of the Ultimate JOEs. Not that I’m complaining, it’s a good accessory for infantry to have. This one looks pretty cool and retro with it’s boxy design and it’s classic design speaker. The left hand that can cradle her weapons can also hold the walkie pretty well, but the elbows won’t let it get too close to her face.

Scarlett was one of my most hotly anticipated figures in the Ultimates line and she didn’t disappoint. Yes, I had a few nitpicks here and there, but certainly nothing to diminish my happiness with her. She really captures the look and spirit of the cartoon and that’s something I’ve wanted ever since I was a kid. I’m very curious to see how Hasbro’s Scarlett do-over for the Classified line turns out as that one will be a lot closer to this classic look than the figure that shipped way back in that first assortment, which had something of a Fortnite flavor to her. In the meantime, when I next visit with GI JOE Ultimates, I’ll be flipping back to Wave 2, before coming back to this third wave.