Packaging
There's not a lot to say about it, really. It follows all the golden standards of G.I. Joe packaging, and I'm glad they allow you to see all his accessories and any figure defects, if any, inside the clamshell very clearly.
Sculpt
I couldn't be happier with the sculpt. The figure just looks fantastic. Every little detail was molded in, and it really did seem like the makers were putting in that much more extra care into each figure.
I'm particularly impressed with the webgear. It has little clasps, straps, pockets, holsters, magazines, and they're all finely detailed. My only problem with the webgear is that it restricts movement quite a bit, but I'll talk more about that a little later.
One of the more iconic things about Beachhead is his balaclava, which is normally green, and they pulled it off very well. Even though the color changed a little, I'm still satisfied with the way the head was sculpted. The expression is a little stoic, but Beachhead has been known to be a hard ass so it still kinda works out.
A couple more noteworthy things on the sculpt would be the bicep and the forearm. Over the bicep seems to be a little piece of armor. The forearm has a little bit of protective gear, as well. While they're not the most detailed or finely sculpted pieces, they definitely look really cool on the character.
On his left leg, there seems to be some sort of communicator. Why the wire connects to his boot is a mystery to me, but it looks pretty nifty.
Articulation
Before I enumerate the points of articulation, I guess it's best to say that this is probably the weakness of the figure. A lot of the webgear gets in the way and he's missing some joints that would've made the figure even better.
Okay, with that said, let's talk about what he does have - ball joint neck, rotating and tilting shoulder, single joint elbow, waist, standard Joe hip peg, double jointed knees, ankle swivel and tilt. I'm not sure if his chest moves because the webgear was too difficult to remove. I guess that wouldn't matter much since you probably wouldn't pose him without that very awesome looking accessory anyway.
The most disappointing omission would definitely have to be the wrist hinge that moves up and down. Although Beach's hands are sculpted in a way that would allow him to hold rifles properly, adding that hinge would have made him a lot more versatile. As it is, when he holds one of his MP7s or his pistol, he's got it at an angle, pointing downwards if his arm is fully extended. This could be because Beachhead was one of the first few POC figures; the wrist hinge could've been implemented in a later wave.
Paint
The most iconic color for the character has always been a bright shade of green. The more modern versions have toned down the green to make it more militarized, like a dull olive. The Pursuit of Cobra line takes that mentality a little further and mutes the green altogether to make it look almost gray. The iconic balaclava is now a very dark moss green, but it still manages to look different from Cobra's Firefly who wears similar head gear.
Beachhead's pants maintain the same jungle camo look although he's been labeled as the urban combat specialist in this line.
Paint apps on the figure are as clean as it can get, especially for a figure this small. I noticed no bleeding, no overlapping colors, no paint errors - not even on the eyes. Every miniscule detail has been painted to near perfection - the metal clasps on the webgear, the transition between camo and green armor, the buttons, even the red dots on the communicator on his leg - everything!
The accessories could've used a little more love, but I'm not really complaining. They're still good, save for the gas mask. If the gas mask had been painted with a little more detail other than a solid deep black, I would've given it more attention.
Accessories
What most people love about the Pursuit of Cobra line is the abundance of accessories that come with each figure. Low Light and Snake Eyes had a bunch, and Beachhead is no exception.
Beachhead comes with webgear (which is way too difficult to remove so I suggest you don't), a FN Scar rifle, an MP7 with no attachments, an MP7 with scope and silencer, one knife (though he has two sheaths), a pistol, a gas mask, a Bushmaster M175 bullpup assault rifle, flippers of unknown purpose (he looks goofy with them on), a sci-fi pulse rifle, and a stand.
Unfortunately, he can't carry all of them at one time, unlike Snake Eyes or even Low Light. In fact, he doesn't even have a holster for his pistol. You'll have to pick which guns you want to pose him with.
There are a few issues with some of the guns. He can hold the pistol and the MP7s perfectly, even though it's at some weird angle, like he's about to execute someone. He can hold the Bushmaster M175 at a very awkward angle due to the bullpup configuration.
What I'm most disappointed in is the way he holds the FN Scar, which I thought was his main weapon since that's what comes in his hands in the packaging. He can hold it okay but it's very difficult to keep it at a good position. If one hand holds the grip, the other hand can't grasp the foregrip. When one hand is on the foregrip, the other hand lets go of the grip. When you get it on, though, it looks good.
The only weapon he can really hold well is the pulse rifle.
His head and boots perfectly accommodate the gas mask and flippers respectively, even though they're both ugly as sin.
Overall -
The Pursuit of Cobra Beachhead action figure has it's weaknesses, which keep it from being the greatest G.I. Joe figure in the history of toys, but it's still a very intense looking figure that'll be great for display, with enough of a fun factor to make it worth a trip to the specialty toy store.
If I were to rate this toy, I'd give it a solid 9 out of 10.