I remember when Sigma 6 first started making it's run and we got Sea Ops Duke in the first series of Soldier figures that were released...I remember the slight outcry that we would get yet another Duke figure instead of someone like Torpedo or Wet Suit, and it was just the start of the Duke frenzy that would follow over the next year. I definitely see where Hasbro is coming from, re-introducing well known characters in several different facets over the assortments...it only makes sense. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't love seeing reused molds being used as new characters instead of the "same old same old". Because let's face it...this figure, essentially, is just Sea Ops Duke, only with a new coat of paint and a somewhat different head. Yet because of these minor changes, you have yourself some new life in action figure form.

Wet Suit was first sneakily introduced during the San Diego ComicCon last year. The JoeCon had come and gone, and there was no sign of Wet Suit, yet once ComicCon hit, we saw him and Hi-Tech both for the first time, alongside the already revealed Firefly and Shipwreck. At first it was tough to tell just how much of the figure was new, but when great forum member Spirit shared some pictures with us, it was obvious just how much of a new figure this was. A newly tooled head sculpt was evident, and it was a great one...but he also comes with a wealth of fantastic accessories as well.

First of all, let's talk about that head sculpt. Wet Suit immediately has almost a "surfer dude" look about him, with those strands of curly hair coming out from underneath the skullcap. That skullcap is very nicely designed as well, with nicely sculpted seams through it. He has the trademark animated features on his face, but the sculpt itself is very, very nice.

The rest of the figure is the traditional Sea Ops Duke mold, with a normal Sigma Suit. It's actually somewhat of a departure from some of the other Soldier figures like Shipwreck and Hi-Tech, who don't appear to be wearing Sigma Suits quite as much. Wet Suit's uniform is very much the Sigma Suit design, and it does look very good. However, instead of the black base and colored trim, Hasbro reverses it with an orange/red base and black trim. At first I was a bit concerned that it might be too bright...but that worry ended up being unfounded as in person, the color is a perfect shade of orange. It is pretty vibrant and pretty bright, but by no means too bright. The suit is also quite reminiscent of the dive suits used in the classic Joe cartoon as well, which a terrific homage. Overall the figure looks great.

Now with a figure that is mostly reused parts, accessories become pretty critical...they can make or break a re-issue, because they represent the "new" in the figure. Well, in the accessory department, Hasbro knocks it out of the park.

First of all, the undersea helmet is extremely well detailed in this case...a huge improvement over the simple goggles/airmask that Sea Ops Duke came with. It's an over-the-head helmet/mask combination with a couple of great airhoses connecting to the tank on his back, and is quite an elaborate setup which works very well and looks great. Speaking of his airtank, it is extremely nicely built as well. It's a somewhat large air tank, but offers up a lot of versatility with removable thrusters, handles and tons of detailing built into it. It can be worn easily on the divers' back, but also doubles as a little transport and it works flawlessly. It's a great compliment to the mini-sub that Sea Ops Duke comes with, but is different enough to really stand on it's own. A great item.

Lastly, he comes with a large, underwater mine of sorts that actually "explodes"...it's the requisite spring-loaded action accessory that thankfully doesn't take too much away from the figure and his core accessories.

He's got a new sculpt spear gun, which is cool enough, and of course the trusty water flippers. All of these accessories come together very nicely and give you an excellent underwater trooper who, even though he uses a lot of the same parts, ends up as a very nice, different figure with a new head sculpt and new accessories.

While some folks may initially think of this as just another shameless Sea Ops Duke repaint, it is so much more. A newly tooled (and fantastic looking ) head sculpt, great new accessories...this is absolutely a worthwhile purchase, especially at the Soldier price point. A great addition to the Sigma 6 team.