Review – G.I. Joe Cobra Anti-Armor Trooper

“The motto of the Cobra Bazooka Trooper force is, ‘Simple gets the job done . . . with a bang.’ These basic infantry troopers are given the bare minimum in combat training, handed a rocket launcher and sent into the field to fire at anything that gets between them and their destination.”
— from the back of the card

One thing I really love about the modern day G.I. Joe action figure series is how Hasbro is digging under rocks when it comes time to select a character to add to the ranks. From the awesome Arctic Snake Eyes to the well-designed Para-Viper (who not only got reviewed here but was also important to my Airborne Captain America custom), Hasbro’s making me very happy with their character choices.

And the Cobra Anti-Armor Trooper, Code Name: Cobra Bazooka Trooper, is another excellent addition to the line. In his review at www.yojoe.com, reviewer Justin Bell writes:

“Sure, there are relatively minor design changes in this figure, but I really enjoy all of the changes, and this ends up being a very cool, understated figure. While everyone is raving about the Para-Viper, I can’t stop playing with this simple trooper update that takes some small changes and makes the figure even cooler. A great figure that will get overlooked by a lot of people.”

The Anti-Armor Trooper may be a simple design, with some great accessories, but I’m not so sure that it’s going to be overlooked by many people. After all, Cobra Troopers of all variety are great for those who love to build armies, and this guy has a cool enough look that he gets noticed. What, exactly, makes him get noticed? As with a lot of Cobra soldiers, it’s gotta be the . . .

Accessories

The Cobra Anti-Armor Trooper takes a basic Cobra body and, as with several of the figures in the modern G.I. Joe line, upgrades him with some simple accessories. This bad boy comes with:

• Helmet. While there are other Cobra soldiers with removable helmets, not a single one of them has this old school net-covered design. The paint job is excellent on my piece, without any blemishes or messy lines; definitely a better job than I could have done painting such a fine detail.

  

• Harness. The vinyl harness accessory fastens over the figure’s body with a simple snap system that’s hidden under a pouch on the figure’s left side. This harness cover’s the figure’s torso with long, vertical pouches that almost look like padded armor from a distance. The piece also includes a belt with pouches, straps to hold the piece in place (complete with painted buckles), and apparently what was originally going to be a holster for the figure’s pistol. (Justin Bell’s review discusses this “lost” feature that sounds pretty sweet.)

• RPG. Well, he couldn’t exactly be anti-armor without some sort of anti-armor weapon, now could he? It’s not exactly the sort of weapon you’d expect an advanced military force to use today, but it looks great and I much prefer this to a smaller, lighter-weight LAW launcher.

• Pistol and Knife. Not exactly all that exciting, but Hasbro doesn’t skimp when it comes to loading G.I. Joe figures with extras. (If only they’d take the same approach with Marvel Universe figures.)

But What About the Figure?

The basic Cobra Trooper body — seen here — has sculpted straps on the left leg that hold the knife sheath in place, a pouch on the right thigh, sculpted knee pads, and is otherwise pretty plain. It’s a good, simple design that makes a great base for specialty troopers. While new sculpts would be nice for each new troop type, I can understand that the economics of action figure manufacturing forces Hasbro to reuse where they can; but as long as they can cover the basic figure with cool accessories then I can forgive the reuse.

Closing Thoughts

He may be your typical army builder-type figure, but the Cobra Anti-Armor Trooper is a strong, attractive design that doesn’t look at all out of place with a collection of Cobra soldiers. The harness, more than any other component, breaks up the figure’s basic, simple design and makes it look as if Hasbro put a lot more work into the figure than they actually did. He’s not the greatest figure that has been released over the last year, but he looks good enough that most G.I. Joe fans will want at least one of them in their collection.

The real fanatics, obviously, will want a dozen of these guys. Personally, I’ll settle on one . . . for now. If these ever hit clearance, though, I’m gonna stock up.

For more photos and thoughts on this action figure take a look at this thread at hisstank.com and this review at ciscowong.wordpress.com.

Philip Reed wonders how long it’s going to take before someone grabs a few Cobra Troopers, Star Wars Clone Troopers, and melds them together to create crazy snake-themed stormtroopers.