Tag Archives: Cobra

#3338: Cobra B.A.T.

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

COBRA B.A.T.

G.I. JOE: ULTIMATES (SUPER 7)

When G.I. Joe was adapted to animation in 1983, the standards for cartoons wouldn’t allow for any actual on-screen injuries.  This made for a rather difficult time on a show that was depicting warfare, as it meant that the Joes could never do much to Cobra’s human forces.  There was a lot of bad aim and parachuting to safety.  Thankfully, by the show’s second season, Cobra’s forces had gained the Battle Android Troopers, whose robotic nature made them exempt from the censors.  As such, they got a fair bit of play in the show following their introduction, and that makes them a pretty natural choice for Super 7’s first Ultimates army builder.

THE FIGRUE ITSELF

The Cobra B.A.T. is the third of the four figures that make up the first assortment of G.I. Joe: Ultimates (the fourth being Cobra Commander, who I opted not to pick up).  Thus far, all of the assortments are a 50/50 split between Joes and Cobras, and this guy is obviously from the latter grouping.  The figure stands 7 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  The B.A.T.’s articulation is honestly better than I’d expected.  His elbows in particular are the best of the three figures I’ve looked at so far, and and the neck joint is on par with Snake Eyes.  He lacks the mid-torso joint, for design reasons, but he does alright even without it.  We got a preview of most of the B.A.T. sculpt on the exclusive comic version late last year.  It’s a really clean offering, which just really, really works.  It’s true to the animation models, while also sticking to the V1 figure’s look.  The head sculpt is unique to this release, and it’s appropriately sleek and polished.  The whole sculpt is just really well put together, which is honestly impressive given how cobbled together the B.A.T. design actually is, when you really get down to it.  The only drawback to my figure is that the glue on the softer rubber parts on the bandolier and holster doesn’t quite hold the way it’s supposed to.  Thankfully, those are both very easily fixed.  The B.A.T.’s paint work is quite striking.  The mix of bright red and yellow with black and silver really gives hims some serious pop.  The application is largely pretty clean; there are some messier spots on the shoulders and belt, and one spot of black on his right forearm, but he’s otherwise solid.  The B.A.T. is quite well accessorized, featuring three sets of standard hands (in fists, trigger grip, and open gesture), drill, claw, and gun hand attachments, a back pack for the hand attachments, a pistol, a rifle, an alternate damaged head, a decapitated neck stump, a damaged left arm piece, and an effect piece for his chest.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When these figures were announced, the Classified B.A.T. still hadn’t been confirmed, so I was totally in for this one.  Then the Classified figure was announced and released before this guy finally came along.  At that point, I was planning to pass on this one, and focus purely on the Joes, but…well, as you can see, I caved.  I could blame Max, who got one first and let me mess with it, but I was honestly always a lost cause on this one.  Snake Eyes remains my favorite of the three, but this guy’s still really, really nice.  I continue to really enjoy this line.

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.

#3304: Cobra Viper

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

COBRA VIPER

G.I. JOE: 25TH ANNIVERSARY (HASBRO)

“Vipers are the backbone of the Cobra Legions. They are highly motivated, superbly trained and formidably equipped. All Vipers are issued a combination assault rifle/grenade launcher; the rifle part of which can function as a short burst assault weapon, a sustained fire cover support weapon, or a long range sniper rifle with an advanced light-intensification night vision telescopic sight with a built-in range-finder. Multi-layer body armor and wraparound acrylic/composite helmets with built-in RTO gear are standard issue.”

Back in 2016, more than two years before “The Day of the Vipers,” a day which will forever haunt me, I wrote my first Viper review, which is thus far the only one of my Cobra Viper reviews not to be shoe-horned into the ever-growing day.  Since today’s offering is more a take-off of that review than of the ones that followed, I guess I’ll dispense with the “Day of the Vipers” pleasantries.  For today’s Viper, we go back to 2009.  Hasbro’s 25th Anniversary line was winding down in preparation for the tie-ins for Rise of Cobra, and Hasbro was going back and doing some slight tweaks to earlier figures from the line.  The online-exclusive “Hall of Heroes” sub-line was used to put out ten figures, all either tweaked or re-releases of tweaked figures that had thus far been multi-pack exclusives.  And, hey, the line had a Viper!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Cobra Viper was figure 6 of 10 in the “Hall of Heroes” sub-line of G.I. Joe: 25th Anniversary.  This marked the 22nd version of the Viper, the seventh under the 25th Anniversary banner.  He’s just a minor tweak on the version 20 figure, which was released as part of a Cobra five-pack earlier the same year.  The figure stands a little under 4 inches tall and he has 20 points of articulation.  Most of this figure’s sculpt is shared with the first 25th release, which is overall a decent starting point.  The only real drawbacks to the sculpt are the head and hands, which are, notably, the parts that are changed out for this release.  The new head takes a page out of the line’s updated Cobra Commander, who added a proper chromed faceplate.  In order facilitate this set-up, the faceplate is a separate head piece, with the helmet/goggles sitting atop it.  It makes the head just a touch larger (and thus slightly better proportioned to the body), as well as making the goggles a fixed part of the helmet sculpt.  They sit just a little wide for my taste, and the underlying head seems just a little too pointy at the chin.  In general, I was always a little bit more fond of the prior head in terms of appearance, but in terms of function, this one was certainly an improvement.  Speaking of improvements, the hands are an unquestioned one; the prior mold had some really awful hand sculpts that made it difficult for him to hold his weapon.  The new ones fix that, giving him a much more secure hold on things.  In terms of paint, the Viper gets the expected change to the face, which is now vac metallized, instead of flat silver, as well as some additional silver on the goggles, and an additional red insignia on the left arm.  Beyond that, the colors are a little bit shifted from the first release, but the application is mostly pretty consistent.  The Viper is packed with his signature rifle (molded in a darker silver than the first release), his back pack, and a display stand molded in a fancy gold.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I skipped this style of Viper at first because I was already invested in the previous look and I didn’t want to inter mingle the two styles.  It was only later that I decided to go more for the one of every style approach for Vipers.  Not too long after I got most of the other Vipers, a small 25th Anniversary collection came through All Time, which happened to have this guy in it.  I was all gung-ho on Vipers, and he was one I didn’t have, so into my collection he went.  The adjusted hands are definitely an improvement, as is the paint.  The head, I remain iffy on, but I like it more now than I did when they first dropped.  And, hey, it’s another Viper!

#3283: Python Patrol Viper

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

PYTHON PATROL VIPER

G.I. JOE: CLASSIFIED SERIES (HASBRO)

Alright, for the ninth entry in this truly maddening concept that is the “Day of the Vipers”….hang on, wait, that was, like, five years ago, wasn’t it?  Well, maybe the Day of the Vipers just keeps going and going and going…you know, not unlike the Energizer Bunny.  Or an exceptionally bad joke that I refuse to let die.  It’s definitely one of those things.  The point here is that I’ve got another Viper to review.  So, I’m gonna do that.  Has to be done.  In 1989, Hasbro repainted a bunch of their Cobra troops in a rather garish new color scheme and dubbed the whole group “The Python Patrol”, who were like the regular troops but “pythonized.”  I’m not even kidding.  “Pythonizing” is used on the file cards and everything.  Though they’re a pretty easy justification for a repaint in more modern lines, they only really surface every so often, probably due to how garish the aforementioned color scheme is.  Classified has decided to tap into the Python Patrol for their latest round of Target-exclusives, and, surprising no one, I have the Viper.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Python Patrol Cobra Viper is figure 42 in the G.I. Joe: Classified Series line-up.  As mentioned in the intro, all of the Python Patrol stuff is Target-exclusive.  The Viper is the second of them, after the B.A.T., although they both hit pretty much in tandem, alongside the Tiger Force Outback figure.  The figure stands roughly 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 35 points of articulation.  Like the three-pack from last year, this guy is built from the same selection of parts as the initial Cobra Island Viper.  It’s a pretty solid selection of parts, and it keeps all the Vipers consistent across the board.  It also makes perfect sense for the Python Patrol figure to be a straight repaint, because all of the other Python Patrol Vipers have been, too.  The main change-up here is the paint, which makes the expected shift to grey, yellow, black, and red.  The layout of the colors works out pretty well with the newer mold; some of the details wind up shuffled around a bit, but the overall look reads very similar to the original.  The actual application isn’t quite as strong as previous Vipers, unfortunately.  On mine, there’s quite a bit of slop, especially on the yellows.  It’s not the worst I’ve seen from Hasbro, but it’s on the lower end for more recent figures.  This figure’s accessory selection is largely the same as the standard Viper, but there are some changes, and none of them are particularly good.  He’s got the goggles, the rifle with the removable magazine, the pistol, the arm guards, and the back pack.  So, on a positive note, the arms guards here are the easiest to remove of all of the uses of this mold so far, which is a definite plus.  Unfortunately, the goggles are the worst fit thus far, and they simply do not want to stay on unless you really jam them on, far past where it really feels safe.  I definitely worry about them breaking over time.  Also, while all other uses of the mold have included the bandana, this is the first one to leave it out.  Given that he’s a total repaint, and retailing above the cost of the original, it feels almost insulting to leave the piece out, especially when even the three-pack made sure that all three Vipers got it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I had mixed feelings about this guy from the start.  On one hand, I wasn’t thrilled about this one being another Target exclusive, but on the other, I feel like he’s kind of the perfect choice, since it’s not like Python Patrol is anyone’s primary look.  Certainly not mine.  That said, I do sure like my Vipers, in all the various colors, so I put in my pre-order when they dropped, and played the waiting game.  I was half expecting the order to get cancelled, but it just showed up at my door one day.  Of the five Vipers we’ve gotten in the line, he’s the weakest.  He’s not bad, mind you, but his execution definitely feels a bit lacking.  Still, it’s another Viper, and I won’t complain about that.

#3254: Cobra Viper Officer & Vipers

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

COBRA VIPER OFFICER & VIPERS

G.I. JOE: CLASSIFIED SERIES (HASBRO)

Does this count as the eighth entry in the Day of the Vipers if that day actually wrapped up four years ago?  Eh, I’m gonna count it.  I love me a continuing bit.  So, for Part 8 of the exceedingly long Day of the Vipers, we’re jumping to the far-flung year of 2022.  Woooo.  The future is now.  After revamping the brand and moving to a 6 inch scale in 2020, Hasbro added an updated Cobra Viper to the line in the form of a rather impossibly hard to find Target exclusive, which hit in early 2021.  It was decidedly not so much fun for the fanbase.  To make it decidedly more fun for the fanbase, Hasbro decided to follow-up the initial Viper with a whole pack of Vipers.  I am much excite.  Very much excite.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

The Cobra Viper Officer and Vipers three-pack is a stand alone release for G.I. Joe: Classified Series, and is numbered 47 in the line-up, fitting the continuing trend of absolutely nothing in the Classified Series going un-numbered.  It’s still kind of amusing to see it on such a large-boxed item, though.  The pack includes the Officer and two rank and file Vipers.  All three are built on the same sculpt as the Target-release Viper, with the Officer receiving a complete paint overhaul and the two Vipers getting some minor tweaks.  Of note, all three uses of the mold have a slightly different composition on the plastic for the goggles, so they fit a little bit better than the first release.

The Cobra Viper Officer is actually a rather new concept, since the Vipers have classically been seen as the lowest on the totem pole, meaning their commanders would just really be any other Cobra officer.  When the Viper molds were re-purposed to be a Cobra Officer and a Cobra Trooper in 1998, Hasbro added a little bit of ranking with the colors, but not officially applied to Vipers proper.  Our first taste of the concept for Vipers originated in 2006’s Viper Pit set, which amongst its six Vipers included one with a golden face plate, albeit with no denotation of any added rank.  In 2014’s 50th Anniversary line, we got our first proper Viper Officer, who got not just the changed face plate, but a whole new color scheme as well.  That figure seems to have served as the primary inspiration for the figure seen here, though they do both seem to take at least a page out of the 1998 Cobra Officer’s book in terms of coloring.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 35 points of articulation.  Since the sculpt is the same as the first release, the main change-up here is the colors.  This guy pretty much just copies the 50th color scheme, translating the officer to primarily light grey, with some red accenting, as well as the expected gold for the visor.  The application is generally pretty clean, though there’s some fuzziness on some of the change-overs, as well as a bit of slop at the edges of the forearms.  The depth of detail on the paint is also a little more involved than on the prior figure, with things like the lenses of his goggles getting their own coloring as well, which gives him a little extra polish.  The Officer gets the same scarf used on the Target figure, as well as a backpack in an updated color scheme, and a unique pistol, which even has a port at the front for effects pieces.

Backing up the Viper Officer, there are two lower tier Vipers.  By design, they’re meant to be interwoven with the Target-exclusive release, allowing those who already got some of those to not have to start over from square one.  Exactly how well that works is up to some debate, though.  There are a few little changes, not just from that release to this one, but also between the two figures in the pack together here, as well.  As with the Officer, these guys share their construction with the standard Viper, with their color scheme being the differentiating thing.  These two are very similar to the standard Viper, but the reds and blues are both shifted to be a little less saturated and just a touch darker.  It’s nothing major, and something that can be easily missed when not comparing the releases side by side.  But, if you’re some sort of weirdo that has to have every possible version, well, I guess you’ll see it.  The application is largely consistent with the prior release, but there’s the extra detailing again on the goggle lenses, to match up with the Officer.  I really like it.  While the standard Viper, as well as all prior Vipers from the brand up to this point, stuck with a consistently lighter skin tone, this set adds in just a little bit of diversity to the Cobra ranks, with one of the two Vipers sporting a noticeably darker pigment to his neck and forearms.  The other Viper is *supposed* to be lighter skinned, but, well, that’s not exactly how it worked out.  The neck is the intended color, but the forearms are the same darker brown as the other guy, meaning his skin tone doesn’t match.  I at first thought it was a fluke on my set, but after checking out a few additional sets, it appears this is an across the board issue for this release.  It’s not the end of the world, since the forearm bracer’s totally hide the issue, but it’s frustrating that you don’t get the option to go sans-bracers, since that’s kind of my preferred look.  Both rank and file Vipers are packed with the scarf, the back pack (with slightly tweaked colors), and the same sidearm as the Target Viper.

In addition to the parts that are clearly tied in with each of the specific figures in the set, there are also a selection of accessories that can go with any of the three.  There are two of the rifle included with the Target Viper, three different styles of more realistic assault rifle, a silencer, and nine different blast effects, which can be fitted onto all but the standard Viper sidearms.  The extras here are really great, because they do a great job of selling the army building potential, given how many options there are here with weaponry.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Have I mentioned that I really like Vipers?  Because I do.  I was not thrilled about the first one being a Target release, since it made doing any sort of army building pretty much impossible.  By a stroke of luck, I got two of those, but I was certainly not counting on getting any more.  I was very happy when this set was announced, and I like being able to just get a squad in one swoop.  The Officer’s a fun concept, and I like his uniqueness.  The two standards are just different enough to be different.  I do like the new colors and the improved paint apps, as well as all the cool new goodies.  I’m not thrilled about the mix-up on the one Viper’s forearms, and I’m curious to see how that pans out in the long run, and if Hasbro chooses to address it in any way.  I’m not expecting it, but I’m curious.  As it stands, that’s my one flaw on a set I otherwise really, really like.

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

#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.

#3167: Storm Shadow

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

STORM SHADOW

G.I. JOE: CLASSIFIED SERIES (HASBRO)

Okay, how long has it been since I reviewed G.I. Joe? Probably a while. I feel like it’s been a while. Has it been a while? It’s probably been a while. I could check. But, I kind of don’t want to. I get lazy like that. Anyway, the point is I’m going to review some more G.I. Joe today. At the beginning of the line, Classified Series kicked off with a deluxe version of G.I.Joe’s main ninja guy Snake Eyes. The first version of his nemesis, Cobra’s equivalent, Storm Shadow, was a was A) a wonky variant and B) an exclusive. The second version was based on the movie and the less said about that, the better. Three years into the line, we’re finally getting a proper version of Storm Shadow. I am looking at that figure today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Storm Shadow is figure 35 in the line-up of Hasbro’s G.I. Joe: Classified Series.  He’s numerically the first figure in the second assortment of the line for 2022, and picks up right from the last assortment’s Alley Viper on the numbering.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and he has 37 points of articulation.  The overall set-up of the articulation is the same as the rest of the line, but with the added caveat of adding the pinless construction, which works especially well with the bare-armed look that this figure has.  The sculpt is all-new, and is clearly based on Storm Shadow’s V1 release.  It’s his classic look, and the one we’ve all been waiting for, so it’s logical.  As we’ve been seeing more and more as the line moves forward, Storm Shadow’s new design adheres quite closely to the old.  There are some slight adjustments, and a few modernizations and extra details added for the larger scaling, but he really is just a straight upgrade to the original look, rather than a re-imagining like the earlier figures in the line.  The biggest change to this design is the presence of a hood (something that became a lot more common place for the character after the V1 figure), and even that is completely removable, should you want him to be more spot-on with his reference.  The sculpt is a very nice one.  It’s sleek where it needs to be, functional where it needs to be, and has a lot of texturing and small detail work going on, which really makes it nice and visually interesting.  The proportions are quite nicely balanced, and I really like how naturally his clothing hangs on his body; it actually looks like there’s a person beneath all of that ninja gear.  Storm Shadow’s color work is generally pretty solid.  There’s a lot of molded colors, and not a huge amount of accenting, but what’s there is cleanly applied.  The eyes are printed, which looks really good on this figure.  Storm Shadow is packed with two different versions of his hood (up and down), two swords, a bow (which is different from the Arctic version), an arrow, and a quiver (with sheaths for the swords).  The swords, bow, and the arrows (both the loose one and the ones sculpted into the quiver) all get some paint apps, which is always nice to see.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This figure’s been pretty much inevitable since the line launched, but he definitely took his sweet time getting to us. The arctic version was a nice way of tiding us over until the real thing, but he was at best just a place holder. Still, with him being as good a figure as he was, there was certainly some worry that this one might not fully measure up. Well, thankfully, he not only measures up, he manages to blow that release out of the water, and showcase how much Hasbro can up their own game even in a short span of time.

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.

#3038: Alley Viper

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

ALLEY VIPER

G.I. JOE: CLASSIFIED SERIES (HASBRO)

Introduced into the vintage line rather surprisingly late into its run in 1989, the Alley Viper has nevertheless become a memorable piece of the franchise.  Perhaps it’s the utter absurdity of the neon orange and blue camo on a supposedly urban-setting specializing trooper, which somehow manages to make even the most fervent of anti-neon Joe fans make an exception for this one.  Who knows.  What I do know is that this particular Viper-variant has certainly faired better than the rest of its ’89 compatriots, with a subsequent 14 variations on its design over the years, including today’s focus, the trooper’s introduction into the Classified Series.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Alley Viper is figure 34 in the G.I. Joe: Classified Series line-up, released in the newest assortment of the line, alongside yesterday’s B.A.T. and a reissue of Gung-Ho.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 37 points of articulation.  Structurally, the Alley Viper uses the Duke body as a starting point.  It’s definitely Hasbro’s favorite starting point for the line, which is sensible, since it’s a basic set of tactical gear.  For the most part, it’s really just the legs that are re-used, with pretty much everything else being all new.  Like yesterday’s B.A.T., the design on the Alley Viper is decidedly a lot closer to the original V1 figure than some of the line’s earlier offerings.  This one does update some of the details for some more modernization and a slightly more real world tactical feel.  All of the major design elements from the original figure are present, and in the same spots, with some additional details to help fill in the larger canvas, which is certainly cool.  I really dig the moving visor, which is one of the original figure’s coolest features, and works out much the same on this one as well.  There’s also just a ton of detail work going into the sculpt, which gives him a nice feeling of depth to his design.  The color work on the Alley Viper is one of his most distinctive features.  He’s bright orange and blue.  That’s kind of the point, and it’s kind of an important one.  This figure sticks to that, and it’s super silly, and goofy, and gaudy, and I absolutely love how it turned out.  The V1 Alley Viper included the visor, shield, backpack, and a submachine gun, all of which are present on this release.  He also adds a pistol and two knives for his holsters, plus a larger rifle.  Additionally, the backpack, which on the V1 release had a gun worked into the mold, actually sports a third fully removable rifle, complete with a grappling hook, again throwing back to the V1 version.  It’s a really fun selection of extras.  The two main guns both have removable magazines, and while the new shield doesn’t have the window at the top for him to look through, he does get a really cool decal showing some sort of wire frame readout.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ll admit, I don’t have much personal attachment to the Alley Viper.  It’s outside my main focus for the vintage line, and the early ’00s line, which served to get me into things, was when they were really downplaying the design’s funky colors, which does sort of hamper its staying power.  My favorite Alley Viper is the Resolute one, which honestly barely even counts as an Alley Viper.  So, when these guys were first previewed hiding up at the top of that back-of-the-box illustration, I wasn’t jumping up and down for them or anything.  When they were finally confirmed, they were of course in tandem with the B.A.T.s, which did sort of steal the thunder a bit.  That said, I did really like the look of him, and I wasn’t going to pass up on getting at least one of them.  While he’s not competition for the B.A.T., he’s still a really, really good figure in his own right.  It’s honestly a fantastic update to the original, and I can definitely dig it.

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.

#2849: Major Bludd

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

MAJOR BLUDD

G.I. JOE: CLASSIFIED SERIES (HASBRO)

We’ve had something of a hiatus from G.I. Joe reviews around these parts, mostly because there hasn’t actually been all that much to review, surprisingly.  We’ve got a lot just now hitting and also on the horizon, but since I reviewed Zartan back in May, there’s only actually been one true addition to Classified Series, and, surprising very few people, it was an exclusive.  This time around, it’s another member of the Cobra forces, Major Bludd.  First added to the line in 1983, Major Bludd gave the Cobra side some variety in ranks, as one of the first actual face characters for them, as well as one of the very few to truly fit into the overall Cobra ranking structure, unlike Destro, who was more an outside contractor.  Bludd is often a character that gets no respect, and you know what?  That’s appropriate.  He hasn’t earned it.  No respect for Sebastian.  I shan’t allow it.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Major Bludd is figure 27 in the G.I. Joe: Classified Series line-up, and is part of the Target-exclusive “Cobra Island” sub-line of figures.  Unlike other Target-exclusives from this line, Major Bludd is the only new figure from his round, as he initially shipped with restocks of Firefly and the Viper.  His initial stock disappeared as quickly as anything else in the line, but there was a pretty decent push for solid restock cases, which made him *slightly* more available for about a week or so.  That was kinda nice.  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 37 points of articulation.  Major Bludd’s design is generally a pretty straight forward updating of his original V1 design, with that little bit of the Classified sci-fi upgrading to help fill in some of the gaps from making it too bland at the larger scale.  Structurally, the core of Major Bludd’s build is shared with the Cobra Trooper.  It’s a pretty sensible choice, since he’s kind of the highest ranking grunt, and has classically had some design elements in common with them.  He gets a new head, right arm, torso overlay, belt, and boots in an effort to change him up.  Ultimately, it ends up working pretty well.  Bludd’s original head was a little nondescript, but this one is very descript.  He’s grizzled and angry.  His eyepatch is no longer just a standard patch, but is now this more armored, squared off looking thing, which appears to be mounted to his eye in some fashion.  The face is scarred beneath the patch, and the expression on the face is definitely not a pleasant one.  The helmet is, for the second time on a Major Bludd, a removable piece.  It sits securely in place, which is nice, and it adds a slightly more severe shape to the design than the original.  Perhaps the star piece of the new sculpt is the right arm.  Bludd’s V1 figure had an arm that lacked the usual articulation, but which sported vaguely cybernetic details, which weren’t mentioned in his bio, and were ultimately left off of all updates until 25th.  This time, he leans hard into those details, with an all-new appendage that is clearly a robotic replacement.  It’s a very cool design, which immediately reads as different from the rest of him.  It’s very cool.  Quite frankly, it’s too cool for Major Bludd.  He doesn’t deserve it.  But he gets it anyway.  Oh well.  Bludd’s paint work is largely very brown.  True to the character, but not terribly exciting.  The face gets some very strong detailing, though, so that’s cool.  Bludd gets a decent enough accessory selection, which includes the previously mentioned removable helmet, as well as a necklace of dogtags (a detail lifted from the V1 figure), an update on the V1 rocket launcher, two rockets, an update on the V1 backpack, and a very large revolver.  Despite not being V1-homaged, the revolver is probably my favorite piece.  But, again, it’s probably too cool for Bludd.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m not the world’s biggest Bludd fan by any stretch, and I certainly wasn’t jumping up and down for this figure.  Originally, he was brought up to some retailers as a standard release, at which point I would have just gotten him the usual way.  But, then he was suddenly a Target exclusive, and orders were being cancelled, and he was harder to get.  And that’s a lot of work for Bludd.  And is he really worth that?  I certainly didn’t think so.

FYI, there’s gonna be some Post-Jess talk here.

Three days after Jess’s passing, I was staying with my friends Tim and Jill, and I woke up one morning with a sudden urge to go to a Target.  No idea why.  I’ve pretty much entirely given up hunting these days, but I was feeling it for some reason.  Tim, Cheyenne, and Christian obliged, and off we went for a quick little trip.  The toy aisle was predictably barren, but I again felt an urge, this time to walk over to the “collectibles” section, which was a total mess.  I happened to pick up one of the NECA figures, and spotted the corner of a Classified box behind it, which turned out to be this guy.  I wasn’t actively searching for him in the slightest, but there he was, so I bought him.  Like the Disney+ Legends, he helped me navigate that first week without Jess, even if in a small way.  And, if I’m entirely honest, I almost feel like finding him was somehow her looking out for me.  I know it’s cheesy and hokey, and probably a very reductive way of looking at it all, but it makes my days a little brighter to think that some part of her is still out there, even if it’s only in my own mind.

#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.

#2692: Cobra Viper

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

COBRA VIPER

G.I. JOE: CLASSIFIED SERIES (HASBRO)

Alright, so, for my seventh entry in my crazy, insane “Day of the Vipers”–wait a minute! It’s not 2018 anymore, is it?  I…I already made it through the Day of the Vipers, didn’t I?  Right.  Sorry.  The “Day of the Vipers”, it did things to me, you guys.  I still haven’t fully recovered.  When I last left off with the Vipers, it was 2003, and the Joe line had just done a re-brand into it’s Spy Troops incarnation.  That line would lead into Valor Vs Venom, which got its own brand new Viper mold.  After VvV, the 3 3/4 inch line went on another hiatus at mainline retail, and moved to Direct To Consumer markets, until returning in 2007 with the 25th Anniversary line.  The Viper would gain an additional seven figures from that line (the first of which I reviewed here back in 2016), and then another revamp in the Pursuit of Cobra/30th Anniversary style.  The 3 3/4 inch line again went into hiatus following the franchise’s 50th anniversary, but Joes have returned once more, now in a 6 inch scale, and with an all-new Viper figure to boot.  What could possibly go wrong?  Yeah, about that…

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Cobra Viper is the other half of the second “Special Misions: Cobra Island” assortment of G.I. Joe: Classified Series.  He’s officially figure 22 in the line, the highest numbered figure so far in the line-up.  He follows the trend set by the Cobra Trooper of standard Cobra army builders being exclusives, which isn’t very cool.  Hopefully he’ll also get a second release in the main line, just like the standard trooper, because as of now, he’s even harder to find than that one was. The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 35 points of articulation.  The Viper’s design is unquestionably an update on his V1 design.  Most Vipers since the ’00s have worked from this same reference material, so there’s been a lot of smaller tweaks to it over the years.  This one follows suit, with its own handful of tweaks, but does honestly stick closer to the original design than a lot of the Classified figures so far.  Most of the tweaks are of the rather minor variety, changing up some of the specifics of design, to modernize and somewhat utilitarianize the look, while still kind of hitting the same ending mark.  Things like the ribbed section of the shoulders on the original figure have now been adjusted to be straps holing things in place.  Same end result visually, but a more practical rational for it, and one that fits a bit more with the aesthetics of the line.  The biggest change to the character’s visual is on the arms; rather than the tightly rolled up sleeves of the original figure, this one’s arms are almost entirely covered in the default set-up.  The changes that cause this are two-fold.  Firstly, the new add-on pieces for the wrist guards are designed with removing them in mind, so they wrap solidly all around the arm, rather than leaving most of the forearm exposed like the original design.  Secondly, the sleeves come much further down the arms than the original, almost exactly meeting the guards.  This bit is caused by the figure’s only re-use; namely, he has the upper torso and arms of the Duke figure.  It’s not the worst choice of re-use, even if the sleeves aren’t quite right; it changes things a little bit, and removing the guards entirely helps to sort of simulate the old look in its own way as well.  He also gets Duke’s holster for his leg, giving the Viper a side-arm he doesn’t classically have.  The rest of the figure’s sculpt, apart from the arms, is all-new.  It’s a pretty solid sculpt, with quite a bit going on, and quite a few layers.  The helmet is a very clean piece; its shape is slightly sharper and more stylized than the classic helmet, but it fits well with the rest of the figure’s design.  Much like the 25th Anniversary figure, this one’s goggles are a separate piece, and much like that figure, there is some difficulty keeping them in place.  With a little bit of doing, you can get it to sit a little bit more securely, but I’ve heard that it’s prone to breakage, so I was quite careful.  Even so, mine’s started to split a bit at the back, so I don’t foresee it holding out terribly longer.  Ultimately, the removable goggles are an intriguing idea, but much like the 25th, I’m hoping Hasbro uses later releases to offer up a version with the goggles attached directly to the helmet.  The goggles are an interesting experiment, but they always seem to introduce extra problems, and honestly, how many people are really looking to display the Viper without the goggles?  It winds up as the one really annoying feature on an otherwise enjoyable figure.  The paint work on this figure is pretty decent.  It follows the usual set-up for the color scheme on a Viper, with a touch of extra red detailing worked in.  The flesh tone on the arms is a little sloppy around the edges, and misses the mark, as well as having a spot in the middle of one arm.  These parts aren’t really meant for being seen, I suppose, so it’s not the *worst* possible place for issues to occur.  The Viper’s accessory selection includes the previously mentioned goggles, a removable bandana piece, a back pack, Duke’s pistol (to match the holster), and a rifle with a removable clip.  The rifle’s not quite the distinctive silhouette of the classic Viper weapon, but it’s not an awful looking update either, and is a cool looking gun on its own merits.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Readers of the site may have *slightly* picked up on the fact that I’m quite a fan of the Vipers.  I’ve been anxiously awaiting their addition to Classified, and I was…less than pleased about the Target exclusive move.  Nevertheless, I was determined not to miss this one, but also not to pay scalper pricing.  I wound up stalking Target’s site for a couple of hours the day these dropped, and was actually able to get one pre-ordered in the less than 5 minutes they were actually in stock.  It wasn’t fun.  What also wasn’t fun was his delivery getting pushed back three separate times, all the while people were finding them in-store, and the aftermarket price was skyrocketing.  Fortunately, they actually came through, and he actually arrived, but Target *really* needs to work on that pre-order system…or maybe just not carry quite so many exclusives?  I don’t know.  It just seems like a bad set-up.  At least the actual figure turned out pretty nicely.  The goggles are annoying, but otherwise, I really like him.  And I’d really like to be able to have a few more of them, so maybe a mainline release?

*The classic Viper rifle above was actually given to me, along with a few other classic Joe-esque designs, by Mark2Designs, whose work is quite impressive, and can be seen on his Instagram page!