Review – G.I. Joe “Resolute” Cobra Trooper

“Failure is not an option in the Cobra army, so Cobra Troopers must either win every battle they fight — or die trying. Aggressive and overconfident, they will face any enemy, even the ninja commando Snake Eyes.”
— from the back of the card

So when the G.I. Joe Resolute action figures were first shown online, it was the Resolute Cobra Commander (reviewed here) that really caught my attention. With his cloak and greatcoat skirt, the figure looks great and more evil than we’ve ever seen Cobra Commander before. Unfortunately, the hunt for the Resolute Cobra Commander took so long that there was no way that he was going to live up to my expectations.

After that experience, I was a little worried that finally finding the Resolute Cobra Trooper was also going to lead to disappointment. Nope. He’s as awesome as I hoped he would be.

We’ve seen Cobra Troopers before. Like stormtroopers and clone troopers, Cobra loves to train soldiers for specialized activities . . . just look at all of the Vipers we’ve seen throughout the years. What we haven’t seen before, though, is a Cobra Trooper like this. That is, a Cobra soldier with a matte paint job, detailed gear, and a strong attempt at realism over cartoon villainy. As was pointed out in a review at www.kastorskorner.com, something else we’re seeing with this trooper is a host of new body parts; unlike some of the other Cobra soldiers on the market today, it looks like Hasbro went all out with sculpting new body parts. In that review, Bill writes:

“Like the other Resolute characters in this wave, most of the Trooper is an all-new sculpt, and features more of the real-world details like the others, such as knee and shoulder pads.”

Comparing the Resolute Cobra Trooper to the Cobra Anti-Armor Trooper (who I reviewed last week), we can see that the arms and legs are completely new — and I suspect the torso is, but I can’t get the Trooper’s vest off to verify — as is the head. That’s a step up for Hasbro, since they usually reuse as many parts as they can (which, I expect, is one of the reasons we’ve seen so many Cobra soldier variants in the modern G.I. Joe series).

While it’s nice that they sculpted new parts, I could have lived with a reuse of the Anti-Armor Trooper’s right thigh; at least then the Resolute Trooper would have a pouch on his pants. Fortunately, his vest and backpack may provide him with enough pouches that he won’t miss the thigh pouch (though I would, if I was in his shoes).

As Always, with G.I. Joe Action Figures, it’s the Accessories that Make the Toy

For the most part, I’ve been very impressed with the extras that Hasbro includes with their modern G.I. Joe action figures. A stand, usually a removable helmet, and a variety of weapons and other bits all combine to turn a decent action figure into a great action figure . . . and the Resolute Cobra Trooper continues that practice. While not nearly as nice as the decked out Cobra Para-Viper (reviewed here), the Resolute Trooper certainly doesn’t skimp on the accessories.

What’s he come with?

• Helmet — A removable helmet of a slightly new design. It’s fairly standard, but I really appreciate the fact that Hasbro has pretty much made removable helmets a standard for this series.

• Rifle — You can see just how large — and how great — this rifle looks in the photos above. The Resolute Cobra Trooper can’t quite hold the rifle in a shoulder-braced firing position, but he can brandish it threateningly. He looks good with the rifle.

• Submachine Gun — Or, as some call it, a machine gun. It looks to small to be a machine gun, though. He can hold this a lot better than he can the rifle; take a look at the below pic on the right. That looks great.

• Vest — Ah, the damned vest, the accessory that really adds to the look of the figure and the one accessory that I just can’t seem to remove from his body. A soft plastic component, like all of the G.I. Joe webgear, belts, harnesses, and other added bits, this vest is equipped with four pouches on the front and the paint job does a great job — with just black and gray paint — of highlighting the details, including the zipper on the front of the vest. I think it’s this sort of extra, more than anything, that really adds personality to the figures in this series.

• Backpack — A small, standard backpack that’s solid black. Looks nice, adds some detail to the figure, but really isn’t anything special or different from what we’ve seen before.

You can get a good look at all the accessories — removed — at this review at www.hisstank.com. I’ve no idea how he got that damned vest off of the figure.

Closing Thoughts

This is easily my favorite one of the Resolute action figures that I’ve seen so far. (Of course, there aren’t exactly all that many Resolute figures out there, so saying he’s my favorite of that sub-series really isn’t saying much.) He’s got a hardcore, modern military look, excellent sculpting and paint (even the eyes look good), and a ton of accessories that take him from good to great.

In his review at www.articulateddiscussion.com, Corey writes:

“They’re also exaggerated military characters, and most kids love the idea of military heroes as it is, so making them bigger, bolder, and more unique is just another step forward. Cobra Trooper meets all of these guidelines but also includes a veritable boatload of accessories and weapons that are a joy to attach, reattach, and beat up Duke with.”

All true. Especially the bit about the accessories.

Have I told you how much I love this guy’s accessories?

Philip Reed likes add-on accessories for G.I. Joe figures so much that he placed an order at www.marauderinc.com, a site dedicated to customized accessories for 3.75-inch action figures. Yay, more belts and gear!