SKY B.A.T.

G.I. JOE: SIGMA 6 (HASBRO)

“COBRA Sky B.A.T. troops convert to different modes for multiple attack capabilities. Smart technology gives them the ability to automatically make the conversions themselves. Vertical Assault Packs attach to their backs and interface with their central processors to achieve complex aerial maneuvers. Armed with concussion bombs stored on their wings, they can launch devastating attacks from the air. In ground assault mode, their arms convert to powerful grenade launchers. With the addition of ionic gas canisters, they can enhance their strength and move at accelerated speed. To combat this robotic force, the Sigma 6 team has developed specialized weapons designed to disable computerized systems.”

I don’t discuss Sigma 6 enough here on the site.  In fact, I think most websites don’t discuss Sigma 6 enough.  Most people don’t discuss Sigma 6 enough.  It’s just a whole thing, honestly.  Whatever the case, the line was genuinely a delight, and an inventive refresh to the franchise.  I kind of miss it, in some ways.  In my brief rundown of the line, I’ve thus far only focused on the Joes side of things, but today, I’m moving over to the Cobra side.  In order to keep things a bit more Saturday morning friendly, the majority of the Cobra forces for the Sigma 6 reboot were variants of the B.A.T., and today, I’m taking a look at the Sky B.A.T.!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Sky B.A.T. was part of the first Soldier wave of the 2006 Sigma 6 line-up, which was the second Soldier wave overall, after the line’s end of 2005 debut.  This assortment was a pretty small one, since it was really more of a revision, so it was just the Sky B.A.T. and a variant of Storm Shadow.  This was the second B.A.T. in the line, following the Ninja B.A.T. in the 2005 Solider wave.  Though titled as a Sky B.A.T. officially, this figure was designed to served not only as a Sky B.A.T., but also as a standard issue B.A.T. as seen in the tie-in cartoon.  The figure stands about 8 inches tall and he has 25 points of articulation.  While the Joes were largely built around very similar structures and the more uniform Sigma suit design, the Cobra offerings were a bit different, and that’s especially evident with the Sky B.A.T.  His articulation layout is pretty similar to the Joes, though the shoulders and mid-torso are a little more unique here.  While the sculpts for this line generally went just a touch more realistic than the show designs (though still quite stylized), the Sky B.A.T. is one of the figures that stuck the closest to the animation models.  It translated really well, and made for a particularly cool looking toy.  The only real downside to this figure is the the arm canisters.  They’re articulated, and they’re cool in theory, but the plastic used of them is unfortunately prone to becoming very brittle over time, making them likely to shatter at the joints…as happened with one of mine.  They can at the very least be removed (carefully, of course), so if one breaks, you’re at least not stuck with an imbalanced figure.  The Sky B.A.T.’s color scheme is pretty classic Cobra fare, with lots of blues and reds.  It generally works well, although it’s another victim of time not being the kindest, since the torso yellows a little bit faster than the other blue plastic.  Thankfully, it’s pretty minor, and the overall appearance is still pretty consistent.  The Sky B.A.T. is packed with a pretty impressive wing pack, complete with articulated wings, and four removable missiles.  He also includes a rifle, which is a fun piece, which has a launching missile on the lower section.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I always wanted one of these when they were new, but I wasn’t ever able to track one down at retail.  I had a particularly good run of finding Sigma 6 figures back in 2018, and this guy was part of it, picked up from the New Jersey-based House of Fun, along with a few others.  He’s really one of the line’s star pieces, and I’m glad I was able to finally get one.  It’s a cool robot.  It’s a cool G.I. Joe toy.  It’s just a cool action figure.  Small issues with longevity of the figure aside, he’s a total win.