Review – G.I. Joe (25th Anniversary) Cobra Air Trooper

The 2007 Cobra Air Trooper* shown in these photos (both of them, actually) is from the Cobra Legions Box Set*. That boxed set is a far better deal — especially now — than buying the figure carded, since the single figure is $15 to $25 while the box set of five figures seems to range online from $30 to $60.

A Fantastic Appearance

The jetpack and gas mask helmet of the Cobra Air Trooper* are what really draw me to this figure. As the yojoe.com entry tells us, the design of this action figure was based on an earlier Cobra Trooper, and in this joebattlelines.com review we can see both toys side-by-side. The newer figure is clearly the superior-looking toy, and I have to be more than a little amazed at just how long Hasbro used that classic Cobra Trooper action figure design.

And as if the gas mask helmet and jetpack weren’t enough to make the Cobra Air Trooper* incredible, Hasbro equipped the figure with a blaster that connects to the toy’s jetpack, giving it that “hey, my gun is ridiculously-powered” look that’s so very much fun.

1982’s JUMP

In the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero series of the eighties Hasbro released the JUMP jet pack toy (see yojoe.com). Surprisingly, Hasbro retooled that 1982 jetpack toy for this 2007 release, showing just how valuable old steel tooling can be when a toy company has a long-lasting brand that it can sell for decades. The Cobra Air Trooper review at OAFE touches on the specifics of the jetpack by saying:

“The original 1982 mold of that piece had a sight sticking off the side, but it was notoriously fragile and Hasbro chose not to include it this time.”

Accessories

The Cobra Air Trooper* may not have quite as many accessories as some of the other modern G.I. Joe action figures, but what the figure is equipped with is still more than it can realistically use at any one time.

• Gas Mask Helmet
  
• Regular helmet (see below)
  
• Webear (equipped in all pics, see yojoe.com for the basic body without the webgear)
  
• Knife
  
• JUMP jetpack
  
• Blaster rifle
  
• Rifle

That really is a lot of gear for one action figure. And the ability for the toy to swap helmets (much like we saw with the Cobra Alley-Viper a few days ago (review here)) means that you have more display options than if the toy was released with only a single hear or if Hasbro had simply made the gas mask its own head. That whole “swap helmets” trick is pretty sweet, and it’s cool to see the Marauder Kickstarter project using the same trick.

Closing Thoughts

The 2007 Cobra Air Trooper* is an excellent troop builder in the G.I. Joe 25th anniversary series. At its core the toy is a very basic Cobra soldier, but as with many of the modern G.I. Joe action figures the provided accessories dramatically change the look and feel of the toy.

As I already mentioned, getting this figure in the Cobra Legions Box Set* is a better option at this time if you’re price conscious, but no matter how you grab one it will be tough to have only one in your collection. The two shown in these pics were bought on eBay a few years ago, and I have a sealed copy of the box set that I’ll open one day so I can display three of these guys at once.

This is a great example of how Hasbro reuses materials to create new action figures, and it’s a fantastic example of why G.I. Joe fans instantly fell in love with the 25th Anniversary series back in 2007.