When Combat Squad Wave 2 was first shown, by far my least favorite looking figure was "Sgt. Boulder". The overall figure just looked somewhat bland and blah, without much excitement and much interest. Now that I have this figure in hand, I'm finding more issues that I have with it than even when I saw it originally.

From a conceptual standpoint, it's obvious that this figure used Alpine for an inspiration, and early lists of this assortment even had Alpine listed as one of the figures. His colors are slightly reminiscent of the Valor Vs. Venom version of that character. I was a fan of Alpine, mostly due to his characterization in the cartoon, but this figure just doesn't seem to have any life or energy behind it. Using Heavy Duty's head sculpt sort of works, though it is VERY unique. I would have loved to see this head sculpt used for a different ethnicity or race and see how that turned out, but as it is, this figure looks a bit too much like Heavy Duty to work seamlessly as a new character.

One way Hasbro tried to get around that, I think, is giving the figure Shipwreck's short, stocky body. I do kind of like that choice quite a bit from a concept point of view, but in execution the results are a bit mixed. His head does look a bit oversized for that short body, though I do think the sculpting of the figure works remarkably well for a mountain climber. The quilted shirt and oversized boots all fit that situation pretty well and I like the Recondo hands quite a bit more than I thought I would.

So the parts choices leave me a bit "eh", though I am happier with them than I thought I would be. From a color perspective, though, the figure just seems kind of dull. A bland tan mixed with black and brown just doesn't really jump off the pegs or the shelves. A dark climbing harness of some kind would break up the monotony really nicely, though I'm in no rush to donate the one that came with my Flint. ;) I do think that would be a cool way to give the figure a bit more style, though, without costing too much extra cash.

As I said, the head sculpt is the Inferno Heavy Duty, which in some ways is nice, because it's a much nicer head sculpt than the original (and thankfully doesn't have the permanent band aid on his nose) but on the other hand it does end up looking a LOT like a shorter, squatter Heavy Duty in different clothes. The white Joe logo on his chest is nice, but besides that the rest of the figure is surprisingly monochrome. Big swatches of all one color just leaves a somewhat bland taste in my mouth, all told.

From a weapons perspective, Sgt. Boulder actually does pretty darn well. It's amazing how versatile the Sigma 6 weapons are when you stand back and look at it. Hasbro pulled several rehashed weapons from several different figures and you end up with a terrific, very sensible assortment of mountain climbing gear and versatile accessories, suiting a mountain climber perfectly. Arctic Duke's pick axe, Night Ops Snake Eyes' grappling hook, and Camo Long Range's binoculars all work perfectly together and give you a very cook weapons allotment for this Mountain Scout. The knife and sheath from Snake Eyes v.1 only tops it all off.

As for his primary weapon, Gung Ho's heavy machine gun doesn't seem very mountain climber friendly, or very suitable for a "scout", but it is a nice gun, and again, I love it when multiple color paint apps are used on the weapons to add a touch of realism and depth.

All in all, this figure leaves me very wishy washy. The concept is great, the weapons are cool, but the colors and the execution are a bit iffy. I really have a hard time giving this figure a full endorsement, but there's lots to offer for folks looking for weapons or new characters for their ranks. If you only have the cash for two new Combat Squad guys, get Torpedo and Recondo...if you only have money for one, stick with Recondo. ;)