I keep on wondering just how far Hasbro can take this Sigma 6 body style and mold before it stops being interesting or effective. Yet, they do manage to add just enough tweaks and flair to each figure to make it different, even if the figure's body itself is mostly the same. Even though figures like Tunnel Rat, Kamakura, Heavy Duty, and Sea Ops Duke are all essentially the same mold-wise, with varying height and bulkiness as well as some slight body changes and accessories, the figures all manage to look different and interesting, yet still hold together a nice theme throughout that gives them a real "team" appearence. Long Range continues this tradition flawlessly.

First of all, I must admit that this figure pretty much blew me away from day one. Immediately upon walking in the sales floor at the convention that first day during the "sneak preview" this is the figure that stood out amongst all others. The only Commando Wave 2 figure they had on display (COBRA Commander and Snake Eyes would appear shortly thereafter at the San Diego Comic Con) he really made a terrific impression, not only on me, but on pretty much every other Joe fan I spoke with. The small ponytail, the trenchcoat and the sniper rifle all came together to give you an exceptional figure that fit the Sigma 6 style perfectly, and now that I have Long Range in hand, he continues to impress.

First of all, as I said above, the figure is essentially the same body type that we've seen, and Long Range uses that medium build body that's been used for Spirit, Duke, etc... it works fine for him, and he blends in really nicely with the rest of the Sigma 6 team. This figure doesn't have a whole lot of tweaks, but his boots are tooled to kind of look like cowboy-type boots, which really fits his southwestern heritage. Besides that minor change, most of the figure is pretty much the same, however adding that awesome knee-length trenchcoat really separates this figure from the rest, and it's the stuff like this that Hasbro does that really makes these figures look cool and different.

Long Range's head sculpt is quite distinctive, with the previously mentioned tight, short ponytail and thin scar running over his eye. It gives him a lot of character and immediately gives him an almost battle-hardened appearence. Other nice touches like the long, angled sideburns and the determined grimace bring a lot of life to the figure, and these small additions give him some great personality.

As with every Sigma 6 figure to date, the construction and articulation here are top knotch, both of which are a hallmark of almost every G.I. Joe toy produced since the 60's. His joints are tight and flexible, although as with every Sigma 6 figure, I do sort of wish there was either a double-joint in some spots, or a joint that at least moved a little more. The elbows and knees do not have quite the range of motion you would hope for, but still with all of the different articulation joints and movement points, the figure has some terrific possible poses.

The colors used here are very muted, which works as well, especially for a sniper position. Black and a flat gray uniform gives him some nice life without making the figure too bright, and as such, he works great in this capacity. The long coat helps cover up colors as well and give him a great subdued appearence. All in all, he has all of the great trappings of the other Sigma 6 figures, and yet has even more life due to his over the top accessories and cloth goods.

Being a "Commando" figure, you knew Long Range was going to be pretty stacked with accessories. Well, actually, that's not entirely the case, but even though he doesn't have a huge number of accessories, what he has are brutally effective and brilliantly designed.

As always, I will more fully cover the weaponry in the "tech specs" section, but I still need to at least touch on it here because it's such an important part of what makes this (and pretty much any Sigma 6 figure) great. When you break it right down, it doesn't seem like Long Range comes with much...merely a sniper rifle, knife, and sawed off shotgun. But once you get an idea of exactly what is involved with these weapons, you can gain a much better appreciation for them. The sniper rifle alone is an engineering marvel, with over half a dozen different componants that snap in, twist together or otherwise plug in to create an absolutely incredible looking large-scale sniper rifle. I mean this weapon is bigger than Long Range himself! The rifle, once assembled, also has a scope with a flip-up lens, a folding bipod, and a real "recoil" action that is amazingly effective. There is an optional "long range" barrel or silencer/flash supressor, and no matter which of the two barrels you choose, you get a great looking effect. For obvious reasons, this rifle is really the focus point of his accessory compliment, and honestly, I think everyone would have been thrilled if that had been all he came with. However, Long Range needs some close-quarter gear, too, and he gets it...some really nice looking stuff, too.

He has a pretty nasty looking serated blade, which almost makes you cringe when you think what he could be doing with it behind enemy lines...the finger guard adds a nice touch to it as well. His shotgun is the coup de grace, however. Sliding easily into a nice little sheath inside his trenchcoat, this destructive looking toy can be easily be whipped out and unleashed against whomever might be unlucky enough to be in front of him at that particular time. The short pistol-grip and small double-barrels look like they could cause all sorts of pain to COBRA Troopers and B.A.T.s alike, and I love the fact that he has this little close-range backup. This little shotgun even has a fold-down barrel to simulate loading two shells inside! As if these features weren't all cool enough, his coat also has two stiched "holsters" if you will underneath each side, and his two backup weapons slide in there with ease.

It should be noted as well that early shipments of Long Range come with a small "skull" keychain attached to his shotgun...a little indication that he is the resident vehicle driver of Sigma 6. The figures coming with this keychain will be small in number, perhaps 1000-1500, and then the figure will be shipped without it. This is a limited edition variant, and if you like the keychain, you should pick up the figure sooner rather than later, because later shipments will not have it included.

Over all, Long Range is a fantastic figure, and one of my favorites already. I love the design and execution of the cloth trenchcoat and awesome buckles, the weapons are all perfect, and the figure itself comes across flawlessly. An awesome addition to the Sigma 6 team and the Sigma 6 line.