Tag Archives: Cobra Trooper

#3169: Cobra Officer

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

COBRA OFFICER

G.I. JOE: CLASSIFIED SERIES (HASBRO)

Sometimes, you need a good army, made up of good army builders. But you can’t only have the base-level grunts. No, you’ve got to have some internal structure of ranks. Otherwise, it all just falls apart. It’s a false economy, I tell ya! But it’s okay, because Cobra, having a background in being a pyramid scheme started by a used car salesman, has plenty of levels. So, you don’t just have the Cobra Infantry, you also have the Cobra Officers!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Cobra Officer is figure 37 in the G.I. Joe: Classified Series line-up. He’s the last of the three figures in the second 2022 assortment for the line.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and he has 37 points of articulation.  Like Spirit, the Cobra Officer is a mix of old and new parts.  Unsurprisingly, he’s using a number of pieces from the Cobra Trooper/Cobra Infantry mold, though it’s perhaps not as much as you might expect at first glance.  The pelvis, upper arms and upper legs are the same, but he gets new pieces for just about everything else.  The general gist of the sculpt is to keep things overall visually consistent with the prior mold, but making adjustments to make him ever so slightly more vintage in how things are set-up.  The gloves and boots are now more standard pieces, rather than the more  sci-fi looking ones of the prior sculpt, the torso armor is a little cleaner and sleeker, looking more like the tunic sported like the original figure.  The new head still keeps the full mask under the helmet, but the face mask portion is now a more standard cloth piece, again keeping him a little more in-line with the original figures, especially when the helmet is in place.  He also gets a slightly more streamlined version of the webgear from the last figure, a new helmet (also a bit more streamlined) now with rank at the front, and he also gets the arm band piece from the Cobra Island Trooper, just to more fully sell that extra bit of rank.  I like that it all assembles to something that’s still consistent with what they’ve already released, while still going for something just a little more classically inspired, keeping with that slow trend of the line as it moves forward.  The figure’s color work sticks pretty close to the standard Infantry release, with the expected changes for the new sculpt elements.  All of the application is pretty sharp and clean, and the eyes get the printed set-up, which continues to really work for these figures.  The Officer is packed with a small pistol, a short rifle (with removable magazine), a long rifle (with removable magazine and scope), a knife, and a holster that goes on his back to hold the long rifle.  All of the weapons are all new, and the long rifle even gets some additional paint work.

 

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve enjoyed seeing the incremental changes that Hasbro’s been making to the Cobra Trooper look over the course of these figures.  I didn’t think much of the Officer when he was first announced, but after seeing all of the changes they made to go more classic, I was certainly interested.  He’s a figure that’s definitely going to get overshadowed by his wave-mates, but that doesn’t make him a bad figure at all, and I honestly think he’s an improvement even on the basic Infantyman.  And hey, it’s always nice to diversify your army a bit, right?

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure for review.  If you’re looking for toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#2712: Cobra Infantry

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

COBRA INFANTRY

G.I. JOE: CLASSIFIED SERIES (HASBRO)

G.I. Joe: Classified Series had something of a jumpstart last year, somewhat stunted by the fact that, like, more than half of the line at this point has been exclusives.  Several key pieces of the franchise, in fact, have been exclusives, and notably, that’s been two of the line’s three army builders.  I looked at the Cobra Trooper last fall (thanks to the small miracle that allowed me to actual get my hands on one), and now I’m taking a look at another one.  How about that?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Cobra Infantry is figure 24 in the G.I. Joe: Classified Series line-up, technically from the third “wave” of standard release figures for the line, although Hasbro’s kind of moving away from actual assortments, in favor of single releases in solid cases.  Also, hey, there’s some novelty to a standard release figure, isn’t there?  It’s…been a while.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and he has 37 points of articulation.  Structurally, the Cobra Infantry figure is the same figure as the Target-exclusive Cobra Trooper.  Given the relative rarity of that release, a pretty straight re-use makes quite a bit of sense.  It helps that it was a very impressive sculpt the first time I looked at it, which means I really don’t mind seeing it again.  As I discussed in the prior review, it’s a good summation of a number of the Cobra Trooper designs from over the years, and there’s just a lot of really great small detail worked in.  The first change of note from the Trooper to the Infantry is on the paint scheme.  This release is, per Hasbro, a little more animation inspired, which largely seems to have translated to having more blue than the previous release.  Upon the prototype’s reveal, a lot of fans speculated that this extra blue meant that Hasbro was simply cutting paint apps from the prior release, but in-hand this is very definitely not the case.  It’s easy to miss at first glance, but the paint scheme this time around is actually a fair bit more complex, with a lot more variations within the various colors, especially the blues.  It’s quite impressive to behold in hand.  Additionally, the skin tone has been slightly darkened on this guy, giving him a bit of variance when compared to the other release.  The other change-up between the two figures is the accessory selection.  The Target Trooper had a lot of extras, while this one dials it down ever so slightly.  He gets the removable helmet, the standard rifle, the two pistols, and the knife.  While this lacks the customizability angle of the prior figure, it keeps everything you could classify as “standard”, making this one a but more ideal for actually army building.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Between the two of us, Max and I were able to snag a single Target Trooper.  Max was kind enough to loan it to me for the purposes of reviewing, but that meant I didn’t actually have one for my personal set-up.  Fortunately, I was pretty sure this guy was coming, even before he was announced, and once he was shown off, I knew it was just the waiting game.  Honestly, I’m glad I waited.  As I said when I reviewed the other version, he’s nice, but I don’t know that he was quite worth all the fuss.  This one’s a bit more paired down, but keeps the stuff I really liked from the last release, and if I’m totally honest, I find myself far preferring the color scheme on this release anyway.  Ultimately, he’s pretty solid, and hopefully he proves a little bit easier to army build.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2569: Cobra Trooper

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

COBRA TROOPER

G.I. JOE: CLASSIFIED SERIES (HASBRO)

So, how ’bout that new G.I. Joe line?  Aren’t you all really glad that everything from it’s so easy to get at regular pricing and not getting scalped at the first chance pretty much everywhere?  Oh, right, that’s…that’s just how it is in my dreams.  The real world is far more sad and painful.  What a shame.  Well, despite the relative insanity that is this line and its distribution, here’s another new review, of one of those insanely hard to get items, nonetheless.  Please don’t hurt me.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Cobra Trooper is figure 12 in the Classified Series line-up, making him numerically the last of the “Special Missions: Cobra Island” singles.  As with that whole sub-line, he’s a Target exclusive, but as Pulse Con confirmed, there’s a slightly tweaked version of this guy coming out in the main line in a few months.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and he has 37 points of articulation.  Like a lot of the figures coming out of this line, the Cobra Trooper’s design has its roots in the v1 figure design.  That said, this one works in a lot more modernized elements, and even grabs from a few later incarnations (the v3 from ’06 comes to mind, given the full balaclava under the helmet).  The final assembled product feels very v1-esque, but there’s a lot of layers going on there.  As with pretty much everything from the line so far, it’s a truly impressive sculpt, with a ton of detail work and careful thought being put into how it all assembles.  I really dig how much work goes into stuff like the mask, most of which is never going to be seen when it’s under the helmet.  This is definitely one of the line’s most impressive sculpts (though I think Beach Head still edges him out in my book).  The paint work is about what you’d expect from Cobra forces.  There’s a lot of blue and black, with just a hint of red.  This version in particular has more black than usual, which doesn’t look bad, but is certainly different.  This particular version of the Cobra Trooper has quite the accessory selection, with the removable helmet, a set of goggles, a removable arm band to give him a higher rank, standard and sniper rifles, two pistols, and a knife.  Everything can actually be stored on the figure at once, which is quite impressive, especially since it doesn’t require him to be holding one of the rifles like most Joes fall back on.  I dig the customization angle that all of these parts give the figure for sure, though I myself am drawn to a rather “standard” trooper set up.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been able to pull some favors to get the rest of the Target-exclusive stuff for this line, but this Trooper in particular has been pretty much a ghost around here since before these figures dropped.  This one’s actually not mine, and is instead Max’s.  He was able to procure one through some of his connections, and even offered to let me have it outright, but I was content just to get to do the review.  He’s a fun figure, but one that I see a lot of people hyping up way too much and ultimately being let-down by.  I’m planning to wait for the standard release myself, but it was nice to get a little preview of how that version should turn out.