There seems to be a theme running with this small wave of Soldier figures...an emphasis over special features and spring-loaded weaponry, and a more "adventurous" tone. Spirit does come with a nice number of additional accessories to spice him up, however most of them aren't very useful militarily, and are obviously designed with a more exploratory message in mind.

Obviously the focal point of Spirit's accessory compliment is his massive spring-loaded crossbow which fires the included "javelin". This crossbow is obnoxiously huge, and I'm not sure what the fascination is with weapons of this type (since Storm Shadow came with one as well), but I can see how kids might be into this. One neat aspect of this crossbow is that the spring-loaded function is tied to the twin supports, so when you load the javelin in, it looks like the crossbow is cocked back and ready to fire, which is kind of cool.

Without a doubt, the coolest accessory combination with this figure is the new rubber vest with twin knife sheaths. I really like the design and the function of this vest, it works remarkably well.

Permenantly attached to each side, the two western-style sheaths fit in with Spirit's design asthetic, but serve a great purpose as well. They house twin knives that are both unique, and both look amazingly well detailed. I especially like the one with the sharper curve to it, that has a very appealing design and looks like it could do some damage. I was happy to see that both knives are different, and both of them are also different from the knife the original Spirit came with as well.

The snare is the last accessory he comes with, and it's a little bit strange, but still has its own uses. I was happy to see that the loop on the end is easily adjustible, and it tightens automatically as you yank on the string, which is a great feature. The snare design is effective enough, and it fits on the user's hand with no issues. I'm not sure exactly how useful this weapon would be in a combat situation, but I could see kids having some fun with it, to be sure. It makes for a neat capture device as the string stretches out surprisingly long and can loop around full size COBRA's very easily.

The snake is a little disappointing, as I was kind of hoping for some sort of bendy/poseable reptile that perhaps I could give to COBRA Commander as pets. As it is, it's a pretty standard hard rubber snake that is nicely detailed but ultimately isn't all that versatile.

Definitely more adventure based, this "Tomb Raider" style Spirit figure still has some fun elements and looks pretty cool in this new Covert Ops role. I don't mind the covering of the arm tatoos, I love the vest, sheaths, and knives. There isn't much suitable purpose to be had with the crossbow or the snare, but their play functions could prove appealing to the younger crowd. When all's said and done, I'm relatively content with this figure. It doesn't knock my socks off, it doesn't do anything incredible that I can't live without, but I'm not disappointed that I spent ten bucks on it. I can give it a moderate recommendation, though if given the choice of adding another Sky BAT to my army, or perhaps picking up Firefly, I'd say put this one on the backburner. If you do end up with it in your collection, though, I don't think you'll be too disappointed.

Is that wishy washy enough for you? ;)