Review – The Corps Attack Fighter

Line: The Corps * Manufacturer: Lanard * Year: 2008 * Ages: 3+

Lanard’s The Corps series of 3.75″ toys (see The Corps! Collector’s Website for information on the line) has been around since the eighties, when it was created to capitalize on the success of Hasbro’s G.I. Joe 3.75″ series. Since that time the series has earned a place in the hearts of some collectors and, over the years, Lanard has managed to turn it from a direct knockoff series to something that’s almost all its own. I emphasize the word almost because of toys like the Attack Fighter which, while it’s a neat toy and has great play value for the money, looks like it was released to act as a low-cost alternative to the Cobra Firebat (reviewed here).

Packaging

The Attack Fighter, like many toys in Lanard’s The Corps line, is packaged in an open box with the vehicle and action figure held in with wires. When at the store, this allows you to actually touch the toy — and test the figure’s joints — which is great, since you can get a feel for the toy before you spend any money. This is also bad, since every child in the nation has an opportunity to get the pieces sticky, break something, or just wear out the joints on the figure. Before buying any toy in the line it’s a good idea to get as hands-on as you can, just to make sure that the pieces are in good condition. Luckily for me, since this was the only Attack Fighter in the store, the vehicle and figure were both in excellent shape.

Attack Fighter

A bright red, sleek fighter craft, the “Attack Fighter” is just slightly longer than the Cobra Firebat and basically the same width as the Firebat (when the Firebat’s wings are collapsed). But rather than spend a lot of time comparing the two toys (don’t worry, I’ll get to the comparisons), let’s take a little time to look at the Attack Fighter on its own.

A short, one-man combat fighter, the Corps Attack Fighter is identified as a Marauders vehicle, which makes it one of the bad guys’ fighter jets. The dome cockpit opens to allow an action figure to sit inside while four missiles under the jet’s wings are removable (I’d like to note, though, that the missiles seat into the hardpoints very well and even when shaking and moving the toy a lot the missiles stay firmly connected to the toy). The details are minimal, with sculpted guns, wing flaps, and engine details enhanced by three of pre-applied stickers (the wing markings and one sticker in the cockpit to represent the jet’s control panels). The toy feels quite durable and, other than a lack of landing gear, actually looks pretty good (especially considering its price; the Attack Fighter and action figure costs less than a single G.I. Joe action figure). All in all, this is a pretty neat jet.

Vulture

Victor “Vulture” Rockov is the villainous pilot included with the Attack Fighter (I really wish the jet had a more exciting name; Lanard employees, please name the vehicles!) and he’s pretty much like any other action figure in the series. Basic, G.I. Joe-style articulation and construction (eighties figures, complete with the screw in the back, though it’s not identical), Vulture looks like he would fit right at home with the Cobra pilot, Wild Weasel.

The figure’s body looks okay, with various pouches and hoses sculpted into the torso, arms, and legs, while the joints are appropriately stiff and work quite well. The face and head, though, are fairly weak points in terms of sculpting and design, and unfortunately the work really detracts from the figure’s overall appearance. If Vulture had been sculpted with the goggles down, and air mask over his face, he would have looked a lot better. Still, for the price this is a great buy and G.I. Joe fans who love customizing figures will find some very useful parts (the legs are really nice).

There’s not a lot to say about the paint job. It’s adequate, but not spectacular.

Now that we’ve looked at the toy, let’s take a look at it next to the Cobra Firebat.

Vulture vs. A.V.A.C.

As you can see in the image at left, Vulture and A.V.A.C. are almost exactly the same size, with Vulture just a hair taller and bulkier than the Cobra Firebat pilot. Looking closely at the arm and leg joints you can see the major differences between the two figures (in terms of articulation) and you can actually see that Vulture has more sculpted details than A.V.A.C. (Notice the wrinkles in the gloves and the pouches on the Vulture figure.) Overall, other than the head, Vulture’s a better-looking toy than A.V.A.C., which really surprised me when I started looking at the two figures side-by-side.

Attack Fighter vs. Firebat

Right off, I wanna say that the Firebat is absolutely the cooler of the two toys. The Firebat has a better visual style, better detailing, more removable missiles/bombs, and a great feature with the folding wings. Hell, the Firebat even has landing gear.

That out of the way, though, the two have a lot of similarities. Looking at the image at right, you can see that they’re both one-man aircraft, they each have opening cockpits, and both are stylized fighter jets not really like something you see in real life. But where the Firebat wins in style, the Attack Fighter wins in value for the dollar: You can buy three Attack Fighters for the price of one Firebat (Cobra may want to have a talk with Destro about what they’re paying for weapons).

Looking at the image at left, you can see the underside of the two aircraft. Both have twin cannons mounted up front (but where the Attack Fighter’s are sculpted into the body and painted the same red as the rest of the jet, the Firebat’s are separate pieces that are permanently mounted to the vehicle) and removable missiles/bombs. This photo also shows how close the vehicles are in size, with the Attack Fighter looking beefier and less lean than the Firebat.

Closing Thoughts

Even though the Attack Fighter is a cheaper — looking, quality, and price — toy than the Firebat, I think the two compare quite favorably. I mean, comparing the action figures, the A.V.A.C. figure, while really neat looking with his futuristic suit and great helmet, doesn’t have quite the level of neat details as Vulture does. And when you compare the actual vehicles, the Firebat is a better toy with fantastic style and just a few more bells and whistles that put it over the top.

But when you’re looking at price tags, the Attack Fighter wins hands down. If you wanna buy a red combat jet for a young child, you won’t lose if you choose The Corps over G.I. Joe.

Philip Reed has to say that while most of The Corps toys aren’t as cool as G.I. Joe toys, he can certainly see where — if he were young and had a very limited allowance — the price tag on Corps toys would win out almost every time over G.I. Joe toys. After all, you can buy six Corps figures for the price of one G.I. Joe figure! Lanard definitely knows what they’re doing.