GI Joe:Retaliation - Cobra Commander and Duke

Two iconic GI Joe characters - Cobra Commander and Duke. Multiple versions exist - from exceptional to downright ridiculous.

Cobra Commander, of course, leads the forces of Cobra in his mad quest to rule the world. Really? Wouldn't that involve a lot of paperwork?

Duke has long been considered a leader of the GI Joe team, especially in the Sunbow cartoons.

Of course, it was essential that both characters became an integral part of the new film, GI Joe: Retaliation. Channing Tatum reprising his role as Duke and somebody under this new mask of Cobra Commander.

So how did the toys do? Especially these figures from the first wave. If you are holding out for the second or third waves, tough luck. You have to wait 8 MONTHS!

Both figures suffer from the new limited articulation. It's really not that bad. Joe fans have been spoiled by the recent 30th anniversary figures.

Cobra Commander is very well done, I really like this new helmet design. It definitely brings to mind the classic battle helmet look of Cobra Commander.

The limited leg articulation is not so bad with CC. OK, so he can't crouch into a great firing position, but I mainly see him in the company of protective troops. The hands are just simple swivels; they don't have the extra pivots. Not too bad, he can still have a decent two-handed firing grip.

The accessories are not very impressive. The rifle that he comes with is pretty decent. He's got some sort of odd pistol as well. I don't have a picture of him with it because it is a loose fit in the holster and I've already lost it. It was kind of dumb, so - big deal.

His spring-loaded weapon is a staff with a giant cobra head that shoots an oversized "flame" projectile. Cool, but so what? Tossed into the parts bin.

Not counting the gear, I think that this Cobra Commander is well done. Just in the brief glimpses in the trailer, Hasbro seems to have captured the movie style of the helmet. I can't wait to see this "new" Cobra Commander on film on June 29th. Oh wait, make that March of 2013. I guess I do have to wait, not 8 months - NINE MONTHS!

Now I turn my direction toward everyone's favorite GI Joe boy scout, Duke. Channing Tatum's performance in the Rise of Cobra was less than impressive. He was just too different from other portrayals of Duke in other forms of media. I'm not saying he couldn't have pulled off a tougher Duke, but it just didn't work.

I won't even go into the whole triangle of Duke/Baroness/Rex nonsense. Duke is supposed to be a Sergeant. In RoC. he was a Captain. In RET, based on the info on the card, he is a 1st Lt. Busted for his lousy performance in RoC?

Let's look at the figure. I hope you don't have to scrub your eyes with bleach after looking at this mess. Check out that spring loaded weapon. Yeah, that's going to work. I had to take a quick picture because he kept falling over. Shoulder mounted and snapped into his "rifle". Makes perfect sense, right? I actually think that the missile launcher is pretty cool. There's a ripcord (isn't he dead?) that you can insert and then pull out for a rapid firing effect. Kind of cool, probably fun for the kids. But for this big kid, it's dumb!

So what about the figure? Yeah, so what about the figure. The over-sized melon is the biggest problem. His head is just too dang big. Okay, Hasbro has to go with an actor's likeness, I get it, but can it go on a more appropriately sized body?

And the body isn't much to work with, either. There are some interesting detailing, implications of body armor, but it is just so... blah.

Maybe there is some custom work ahead for this guy. No, there is some custom work ahead. At the very least, a head swap. Maybe even with a RoC Tatum head that is more in scale with his body.

Overall, Cobra Commander is a hit. The sculpt is great and I can get over the new articulation issues. Duke? I should have left him on the pegs. I could have been just fine waiting for him to be rereleased closer to the film in 8-9 months.