Pursuit of Cobra Shock Trooper

During a quick stop at a local Walmart, I got lucky and found two Cobra Shock troopers from the Pursuit of Cobra line. It finally seems like the figures are making it out into retail.

As a Cobra troop builder, this figure is pretty cool. Loads of gear and decent sculpting. There does seem to be a mission overlap between the Shock Troopers and the Alley Vipers. Both seem to be a door-busting, head smacking assault troop, but what would be the mission need for two assault troops?

Perhaps the Shock Troopers could be the "pacification" level of assault, move in, bust some heads, kick ass, take names - that sort of thing. But if the local populace continues to be unruly and unaccepting of Cobra's kind "benevolence", then perhaps the Alley Vipers are called in for a more permanent type of control over those who fail to fall in line with Cobra's "security."

A great set of gear for these guys -

• Large machine gun
• Small machine gun
• Riot shield
• Pistol
• Shotgun
• Sledge Hammer
• Helmet w/ gas mask and goggles
• Radio
• some sort of two-handled attached stick thingy - electric prods for crowd control?

The goggles are pretty useless without the helmet, Best bet is to glue them to the helmet to avoid loss. The radio has a peg on the back, can't figure out where it goes.

The neck seems a bit long, especially without the web gear. I think a couple millimeters could have shaved out of the length of the neck and he would have been perfect. The flare of the hood at the base of the neck needs to stay above the web gear, but the neck length could have been just a little less. Minor point, still a damn cool figure!

Plus the troop has the enhanced wrist articulation. Hasbro really scored big with this new feature. Very nice!

He looks pretty cool all loaded up. More pictures soon when I have a little more time. I need to set up some "action" shots.

I highly recommend this troop. Build up an army of Shock Troopers to keep your local 3 3/4" toy population in line. Just don't go too crazy, I still want a few more!

Gi joe POC Skydive sucks

POC Skydive.
Meh. What a loser figure. I didn't even know he existed, but saw his lonely butt on the peg, so I got him.
Crap.
He's crap. weird working wing thing. Neat helmet with hoses and that's good. Because he's a sock head. Enough with the sock heads....He's heavily armed with, wait for it, he's packing a , pistol.
Airborne combat specialist? He better be, because once he hits the ground he's screwed.
The wing thing is neat , I guess. It's rocket powered they say...wheeee.
If it wasn't for the fact I have to have a new toy fix I would have saved 8 bucks.
Or if someone had posted a cool review like this, I would be 8 bucks richer.
Pass on it. Don't get it. Or if your name is Tom, I'll try to talk you into taking it...

G.I. Joe: Pursuit of Cobra Low-Light

A long-time fan favorite, Low-Light final gets an update in the Pursuit of Cobra line. Missed during the 25th Anniversary series, Low-Light has been requested by every GI Joe fan-boy out there - including me!
The original 1986 version was well done for the time and had a well-developed character based on his file card. He also played a key role in one particular episode of the animated series that looked at his character bio. We'll not discuss the black-haired version or the Dino-Hunters set. Low-Light prefers not to discuss those periods in his career.

This new version is an amazing update on the classic character, very similar yet skillfully redone. The attention to detail in this figure, as with most POC figures is stellar. And the gear that he comes with? Amazing! Using the BeachHead torso as a base and what appears to be new sculpt parts for the rest of him, he is an excellent figure.

Plus he has the new wrist articulation - up and down w/ swivel on right hand and side-to-side and swivel on left hand. Very cool!

When Low-Light gets you in his sights, pray to whatever god you believe in.

Night spotter? No, he's a sniper!

A quick run-down of the included gear-

• Sniper rifle with extending stock, removable silencer, bipod, and removable scope. (The scope can also store on his leg.)
• Spotter's scope w/ stand
• Radio with removable antenna and hand piece
• A partial box of bullets w/ one loose bullet. (A 1/18th scale bullet? That's crazy!)
• An Uzi
• A cellphone/GPS?
• Rifle case that can hold the rifle, stock, and scope.
• Backpack that can hold everything else!
• and the classic red goggles!

Low-Light can pretty much carry all his gear as well. He's loaded down, but he can handle it!

Oh yeah, he has a knife in a thigh scabbard also.

My main issue with Low-Light is his ability to easily hold his sniper rifle. It's kind of a tough pose and the bulk of the arms makes it difficult. I am also checking out several different sniper rifles to see how Low-Light can handle them.

Right now, this is one of the HOT GI Joe figures out there - tough to find, but he's out there! Get him soon!

I did attempt a 1/6th version of Low-Light that turned out pretty well - check it out for yourself right here!

Power Team Elite Battlefield Playset

Just a quick shout-out to Power Team Elite toys. This is the main chunk of the battlefield playset from PTE. There are loads of extras that come with this, figures, guns, extra gear, barrels, crates, even an ATV.

The figures are inferior to GI Joe figures and the guns are usually twisted and distorted and mostly trash-worthy. The rest of the stuff is great! The building is a great set piece that can be used in a variety of ways.

I have only seen this item, along with tons of other PTE toys at Big Lots and usually only at Christmas. Save your money, kids!

Cobra HISS Tank

Cobra's iconic battle tank gets a make-over for the Pursuit of Cobra line. The classic look of the HISS tank is basically preserved with angle of the treads and the jet black body. This thing is pretty surprising with it's size, especially being packed into a relatively small box.

The side profile highlights the sleek styling of the hull, reminiscent of a high tech flying craft. While it makes for a great toy, with loads of play value, a 1/1 scaled version would be a bit impractical - much like most GI Joe/Cobra vehicles. I think that it looks just fine all hunkered down and ready to fight.

A push of a button on the top allows for the main body to pop up for a higher firing elevation. Cool feature, but a couple grenades tossed in by some Joes will slow the HISS down a little!

The driver? Crap. Using the HISS driver head and Armored Cobra Commander's body and minimal paint apps, the driver is just weak. He is also molded with softer plastic and just doesn't have the feel of a single-carded GI Joe figure.

I redid the driver, using the helmet on a red Resolute Cobra trooper. Looks better to me!

I rarely saw the HISS tank at the regular big box retailer and when I did, I was hesitant, not wanting to pay that price. Apparently that was a sentiment shared by many Joe collectors. The big box chains were still suffering from the curse of Rise of Cobra toys, some stores carrying inventory long after the DVD of the movie had been released.

Secondary retail stores such as Ross, Marshall's, TJ Maxx, even Family Dollar, picked up inventory at a discounted rate and passed the savings along to Joe fans everywhere. Rise of Cobra figures and vehicles could be found at deep discounts. 25th anniversary figures were $3.00 - $4.00. Fun times for GI Joe fans!

I was fortunate enough to pick up this HISS tank and the new VAMP from Ross for the low price of $11.99 each. Plus there have been unreleased big box store exclusives that are only showing up at the retail discounters. I don't know what that means from the whole retail sales and profit model, but it's pretty dang cool for toy fans.

Oh yeah, it has a sheet-load of stickers, too! Definitely need the reading glasses for this mission!

update to bits and pieces

So silly me. 2 days of looking for the gray Airborne helmet.
And after totally inventorying every 1/18th scale figure ,vehicle and accessory,after cleaning up,under and on my desk, I gave up.
At the last thing I did, pick up the Walmart exclusive AT-ST, I noticed there were 2 figures in it.
I popped open the hatch, and TA DA!!! There were 2 crewmen, 1 with a stock helmet, and one with the Joe helmet on. Which reminds me, anyone have an AT-ST helmet they could toss my way?

MARS vs Joe

Just a thought.....a friend and I were talking about who is behind all the neat toys Joe gets, vs Destro and MARS. He has decided that Matt Tracker should be the guy. Trakker industries.
Sounds good to me. Course I know nothing about him.Some folks say STARK industries. I just can't get behind that. Besides, they support SHIELD. (What if, the Transformers, are actually time shifted or alternate universe product of Stark?)

On a side note: Where do bits and parts get off too?
I have an old vintage Spy island knit cap. It is in my bedroom. SOMEWHERE.
It has never left my bedroom. The joe it was on has never left my bedroom.
That didn't stop me from having to get ANOTHER vintage knit cap because the first one disappeared! So one day,I will have 2 vintage molded black caps.
Last night, I was trying to figure out who should fly which Skyhawk...I have 2 Airbornes, 2 gray Airbornes and 2 Lift Tickets. Well, I would have 2 gray Airbornes. I seem to have lost 1 head and helmet. I swapped heads with an ROC Shipwreck to take some snow pics. Both bodies were in the same box. The helmet never left the box. Where is it? We may never know.

GHOST HAWKS

So out of the Joe design plant, comes the Ghost Hawk mk1 mod1.
Ghost Hawk is an upgrade of the Sky Hawk. A good thing for the pilots of the Sky Hawk...
See, in the old days , budget constraints and macho-ness gave the Joes a vehicle that had no canopy glass. The Ghost Hawk mk1 mod1 attempted to fix the obvious flaw of the Sky Hawk by actually using armored glass in the canopy. This was welcome, even if it made the lil 'Hawk a tad nose heavy.

The Hawks are short legged, under powered,aerodynamically unsound, but no one fixed those problems. There have been several minor mission profile changes, but the Hawk is just not suited for military use. Fast forward, 2010, and the Ghost Hawk mk2 mod1 is now qualified for use.

The armored canopy has now become fully armored. To the extent that there is only a small window directly in the front. The belly twin laser cannons ( L-A-S-E-R?) are there, a chin mounted gun, a leg mounted 20mm chain gun, and a rocket pod. Minor upgrades. Considering the thing falls on it's face on take off, the armored cockpit is a blessing. Joe ERDL must have thought they could save weight by giving the Mk2 smaller engines and even smaller vertical stabilizers. Which is ok. Except IF it gets in the air, there are no lifting surfaces and no direction control.
This thing is like a super expensive ,noisy, hot air balloon.

Huh. Sometimes you get a toy and you have waited for it and it's gonna be sooo cool and if I had that toy this it what I'd do with it and if 1 is good, 2 has got to be better. Or 4.

So I have now, two green and 2 gray Ghost Hawks. WOO HOO!!!
My airspace is getting crowded! As toys, for middle aged 10yr olds, these thing are an easy 8 or 9. Just the design flaw of 1 seat stops a full 10. But you can have a ball whooshing! and hovering these things. As a 10 yr old? A solid 10!!!!! They are just totally cool! Made solid enough to not break, enough working features to be interesting and a generic enough mission profile to do ANYTHING!
And you can mix and match parts for unique looks.
I hate to say it, I still love this totally unrealistic lil bird!!!!!

So, wondering where to start, and thinking, Cobra Fury/Rage. And what does Cobra have against their Vipers. You look at this thing and you see feature creep all over it. But seems feature creep doesn't cover actually PROTECTING the crew. Open turret. Open slats for the other crew hatch.
As I said earlier somewhere else: Any half lit redneck with a decent scoped deer rifle stops the Fury/rage . Some debris in the way, this thing is stopped. Oh sure it's armed to the teeth. With weapons it can't use. Want to lug Ally Vipers into the ally? Can't do it, what ally is the size of a 4 lane? And if you do force Vipers onto the outside, they get picked off, or worse, you burn them off with the Sagger anti-tank missiles or whatever they are that are placed right in front of the hangers-on.Minigun in the nose? Flush with the battering ram front end? Huh? Pop out rocket pod. Doesn't pop out enough. Or does it rotate? BFGs on the open top turret...how do they work? won't matter, they won't work for long. Dual Gatling guns on turret? Can't rotate, can't elevate. Mine layer? must be for when the thing turns tail and runs. And I dunno bout that elevating turret deal either. Raise the Viper higher into the air to be a better target, and it will do it with bone jarring back wrenching ,deafening fierceness. If this was a M.A.R.S weapon, someone needs their money back.

But as a toy? No more effective than it would be as a real deal.
Too low profile. Nothing shoots (ok we really hate shooting things, not because they are dangerous, we grew up with dangerous, but because they LOOK stupid!) . But this is a toy, and a heavily missiled toy! So how bout 1 damn missile?!!! Troop carrier? Not so much. And I dunno bout that elevating turret deal either. It takes quite a bit of effort to POP that thing into place and it scares the dog when it POPS!, and tends to pop apart, and pop the Viper out of the turret.

I say, for play-ability, it's a 10 if you're 10, it's a 3 if you're middle aged. as a real vehicle? FAIL
Let me know if I'm right or wrong.
WessD COBRA!!!!

Resolute Cobra Troopers

I have no idea why Hasbro doesn't rerelease these guys. One of the best troop builder figures ever! Modded with Para-Viper goggles and NCM rifle from Marauder's.

Nearly middle aged, Wess? Yeah, sure, I guess so. If 48 is the middle, then I'm good until 96!
I'm a middle school teacher (have mercy on my soul) who still digs toys. Been married 25+ years to my lovely wife; have a 23 yr old son wrapping up his degree at Georgia Tech and a lovley 16 year old in 10th grade.
Once we get rolling, we'll talk mostly about GI Joe related stuff - toys, comics, animation, even the movie. And we'll throw in a few other toy bits here and there.

This is the beginning of what we hope is going to be entertaining and informative looks at toys (mostly GI Joe type stuff) by two nearly middle aged grown men with families and jobs. Me? I'm 46, southern, Irish married for 21 years with 2 kids. My son is grown and toy nut also. my daughter is 17 and not. Stay tuned, as Steve Jobs copied, "The journey is the reward."!