One & Done - DICE

    "I'm a back-breaker, a face-stomper and bone-breaker!  Don't mess with me, or I'll mess you up!" - Dice, 1992.

COBRA BO-STAFF NINJA - DICE

    When Storm Shadow defected to the G.I. Joe Team somewhere around 1988, he left some big shoes to fill!  Unfortunately, Cobra did not have a immediate successor in their "Ninja Dept."  It wasn't until 1992 that Cobra was able to counter the ninja duo of Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes with a duo of their own - Slice and Dice!  Dice, the Bo-Staff Ninja, took a bit of a backseat to his more high-profile Swordsman partner, but he was still an important piece of the puzzle.

    Dice's file card claims that he was once a Cobra Night Creeper, but apparently his level of evil was so high that they kicked him out.  He is painted as a violent thug where pressure points and eye-gouging are just some of his many specialties.  His primary weapon is obviously his bo-staff which he utilizes with great speed and strength.  Lastly, it also mentions that Dice is "most troublesome" when he pilots the Cobra Rat...?  Why on Earth would he want to spend any amount of time behind the wheel of that piece of junk is anyone's guess...?

    Dice's ninja uniform is primarily made up of purple and black, with silver highlights.  He has muscular, bare arms and wears a "Dice Clan" mask over his face.  He had three accessories - a silver double-bladed bo-staff, a silver battle axe and a black foot-stand.  As a Ninja Force figure, Dice would not be complete without his "ninja action" gimmick, which was called "the Flying Dragon".

    When I made my return to collecting in 1993, most of the 1992 Ninja Force wave was impossible to find - with Dice seemingly most elusive!  I found an ad in a magazine claiming to have the carded figure for a very, sweet deal.  So I rolled the "dice" and ordered 2 of them.  One to open, one to leave in the package.  When they arrived they were both in absolute perfect shape!!!  In fact, the condition was so perfect, I couldn't bring myself to open either one of them.  So they stayed carded, remaining in their shipping box for many, many years till I eventually sold them.

    Looking at Dice... I really thought this was a cool figure!  I love the color scheme, I like the sinister look of the mask, and I like the fact that he's more of the "muscle" in the Slice and Dice team.  Having an evil ninja duo was a great idea on Hasbro's behalf.  I also like that one has former ties to Storm Shadow's ninja clan, while the other has former ties to the Night Creepers.  With backgrounds like that, these two guys probably have information on their side they are not supposed to know, which could make them even more dangerous!

    Downfalls of the figure are obviously in the spring-action moves!  I don't need these.  Give me a normal O-ring figure and I would be happy!  Also it would have been great to get some weapons storage like how the card art shows his axe on his belt.  That would have been a nice touch!  Lastly, bo-staffs don't have blades, that is a different style of weapon.  So I wish he had an actual bo-staff!

    Otherwise, there isn't much to be unhappy about with this figure!  I think as far as a rating goes, I'm going to have to smack Dice with a sweet rating of 4 out of 5 Dice from a Yahtzee Game!!!  

    While Slice got a total of 3 figures in the toyline, this was the only figure Dice got.  Dice got robbed on another front too...  Hasbro took this cool figure and dumped on it by using the mold to create 1993's "not really red" Red Ninja.  Wow!  That's sad!!!

    So what are your thoughts on Dice?  Was he the REAL star of the show in your collection?  Did he re-join the Night Creepers?  Was he a much nicer guy than his file card lets on?  Let me know in the comments below...

More of the "what-what" on Dice...

--- Hasbro did a great job with the figure, but Marvel dropped the ball on both Slice and Dice.  While they appeared superior to the bumbling Red Ninjas, they seemed quite inferior to the Joe's Ninja Force.

---  His file card information is a little fragmented.  It says he wears a "Dice Clan face mask".  If there is a Dice Clan, why isn't that mentioned in the paragraph part of the file card?  Why was he with the Night Creepers?  Where are the others from the Dice Clan?  It also says he has ammo pouches.  Why?  He has no firearms and it does not state that he is qualified with them.  So does he just carry random ammo for other Cobra Troops?  

---  I DID end up getting a loose Dice figure for a short amount of time.  My Aunt was moving and sent some of her grandson's old toys he did not want, my way.  Dice was in there!!!  This was weird!  I had NO IDEA that a Dice figure had been sitting at my Aunt's house for several years.  Unfortunately, this was when I was seriously phasing out my collection, and he did not stay with me long.  Ugh, I wish I handled that stage of life differently!

--- Apparently there will be Slice and Dice Classified figures in the near future!  Awesome!