Alternate heads for Space Force Red and Space Force Blue weren't enough, Amazo Toys also gave us alternates for the Russian Space Agency. And since the Americans got presidents, the Russians logically get Vladimir Putin as their Commander. Somehow, this head looks more like Mike Pence than the Mike Pence head did. And certainly nothing like Dobby the House-Elf. For whatever reason, I think of Putin as being bald, but this hair is accurate. His expression is best described as "tired dad whose kids demand he watch them go off the diving board."
The second head is a big ol' lie. A whole series of lies! For one thing, it's quite blatantly just John Wick. The prototype even had the same cuts on his face, though those didn't make the final product - possibly because that would have been too trademark-infringy. They changed the name and expect us to believe this is supposed to be Gregori Rasputin, Undead Prophet. And you already know the stories we hear about Rasputin are lies. But still, as far as legacies go, one could do worse then being known to history as a nigh-immortal fuckmachine. In fact, tell those same stories about me when I die. The real Rasputin famously had long, dirty hair and a scraggly beard, but since this is John Wick and not Rasputin, he's got John Wick hair and a John Wick beard.
The first unlocked head is something pretty neat, and a total departure from everything we've had so far: it's a Russian Robot! This spaceworthy automaton has a metal head that looks like it's forged from steel, with a distinct seam around the jawline and a thin slit mouth, then a single round red eye in the center of the face. There are rivets on the scalp and conical structures on the sides that serve as ears. The notion of a mechanical crewman fits right in with the silly sci-fi vibe of this line, and we love him.
Next, we got Josef Stalin, the Resurrected Communist Leader. For some reason, Amazo has chosen to make his hair a dirty blonde, rather than its natural dark brown. Were they afraid he was going to sue? To purge them? Like, he's pretty famously known for his dark hair, why's this figure look sepia-toned? Anyway, mentions of Josef Stalin always make me think of three things: how different the second half of the 20th century would be if Winston Churchill hadn't pissed Stalin off and made him an enemy by trying to shut him out of the peace process, that line in Daria about wanting to fit his name on his luggage tags, and the piece about how WWII is just a series of bad storytelling cliches. Because if you can't laugh at the brutal dictator, who can you laugh at?
And finally, the last unlock is a special one, because it gets its own separate accessory. It's Corporal Danko, which means nothing to us, but is clearly just Arnold Schwarzenegger. The reason is revealed in a piece of promo art Amazo put out back in 2018, in which Danko is quoted as saying "Soviet way is more economical. And brutal." A search on that line reveals (the first half of it) is from the forgettable 1988 movie Red Heat, where Arnie played... Captain Ivan Danko. Guess he got a promotion! The stump of a cigar pokes out the corner of his mouth, and he wears a removable red beret. The beret is bagged with the rest of the accessories, and it looks pretty nice on the plain agent head, as well (as you can see in the "articulation" photo in the review). Get enough of these guys and you can give one a hat and declare him an officer.
Four things...