Review – G.I. Joe (Basic Assortment) Cobra Commander
Released mainly through the Dollar General chain of stores, the “basic assortment” of G.I. Joe action figures (Amazon.com search*) included this blue-suited Cobra Commander* that is a repaint of a black-suited version (see yojoe.com) that was part of the same line, just released earlier in the run.
We’ve looked at parts of this figure before at battlegrip.com — G.I. Joe Resolute Cobra Commander review here, 2008 Cobra Commander review here — but for the full parts mix that Hasbro used to cobble together this Frankenstein-like action figure we turn to the yojoe.com entry which states:
Cobra Commander (version 50) was created using the head of Cobra Commander (v25) (2007), the torso and waist of Crimson Guard (v9) (2008), the arms of Cobra Commander (v48) (2011), the upper legs of Cobra Commander (v24) (2007), and the lower legs and feet of Cobra Commander (v39) (2009).
1984 Hooded Cobra Commander
The very first time that I ever saw a hooded Cobra Commander action figure was the summer of 1984 when a friend received one in the mail. I was fascinated by the toy since all I’d see to that point was the standard “plate face” version of the figure. But as yojoe.com explains to us, the hooded version of the action figure was a mail order-only toy, meaning that young me had zero chance of finding one in stores. Not that I wasn’t looking at the time . . .
Not Too Tough to Find
Over the weekend I started checking various Dollar General stores to search for the figures I had missed. Fortunately, this Cobra Commander* has turned up in almost every one of the stores I’ve checked — yesterday, in Nashville, I spotted two on the pegs — but they’re all this blue version. I’m not finding the black version of the figure anywhere! Aw. Sad. But I’ll keep looking!
The “Gold” Colors Are Odd
The belt/webgear piece and sword coloring is just a little off, more of an ugly yellow than an actual gold. I think the toy would have looked better if these had been gray, but I can’t fault Hasbro for taking a chance on things and really varying things up and making this look different from the earlier-released black version of the action figure. Still, if I’ve got one complaint with the toy it’s the color chosen for these accessories. Well, that and how warped the scabbard is. But that’s something I blame on the packaging design and not the Hasbro toy designers.
Closing Thoughts
Cobra Commander* is a fairly good basic figure and a smart use of existing action figure parts to make a new toy. Tapping into the Crimson Guard action figure was a neat trick, but as I mentioned in my Crimson Guard review that torso looks a little thin and weird. The webgear helps hide some of that, though, and for a basic Cobra Commander action figure you can buy today this one’s tough to beat.
But grab one now if you want it. I expect these to become scarce as G.I. Joe leaves store shelves.
Glad to see that some of the waves are still available on the store pegs. When I visited the states last year there was unfortunately nothing to be found there in the DGs I visited. I think this figure could be one of the lesser ones from the assortment, the Shipwreck, Storm Shadow and Cobra Trooper all came out very strongly though based on newer tooling.