Rise of Cobra      Pursuit of Cobra

Cobra Trooper (25th Anniversary)

Height: 10cm to top of head, 10.3cm to top of helmet.

Articulation: 24 total points of articulation: ball-jointed neck; 5 points in each arm- universal joint shoulder, universal joint elbow, swivel wrists; mid-torso ball-joint; 6 points of articulation in each leg- universal joint hip, double-jointed knee, universal joint ankle.

Colors: Molded dark blue and black. Painted black, dark blue, fleshtone, silver, and brown.

Accessories: Sniper rifle, dagger, stand.

Release Data: Released in fall 2007 at a suggested retail price of US$4.99. This figure is still widely available as of this writing.

Gallery: 7 pictures.

Author: RAC
 
I do not usually buy GI Joe figures this small. I never got into GI Joe as a kid- my parents weren't comfortable with the show for whatever reason, and so I never really got acquainted with the characters on any level higher than "Hey, Cobra Commander sounds a lot like Starscream!" So the 3-3/4" Joes I owned amounted to the 30th Anniversary Action Pilot- because he emulated one of the 12" figures I later grew to enjoy- and Energon Kicker, if that can be said to count. (I think he can, because the construction is identical. But I leave that one up to you.) But two days ago I bought a Cobra Trooper. For one thing, it's been a while since I saw an action figure with a $5 pricetag that wasn't on clearance, and for another, I feel a need to support highly articulated figures. And Hasbro's getting pretty good with those lately.

The Figure

The head is technically on a shallow ball-joint, but the shape of the socket prevents any movement along the vertical axis. The shape of the back of the head also strikes me as in some way odd, but I can't quite put my finger on why. The removable helmet covers it nicely, though. Under the helmet, the Trooper is extremely bald. I wish the helmet was a little more securely attached, but anything further would undoubtedly change the look of the head or the helmet. The shape of the helmet is pretty leverage-friendly, though, so you may have to hunt it from time to time.

The shoulders and elbows are universal joints, the same swivel-and-hinge combo that revolutionized the Star Wars line. The torso joint, another Clone #42 holdover, gives some tilt back from the upright position and slighly more forward range. This would allow for some nice skulky positions if the Trooper could look up just a little more. As it is, you could... pose him taking a really good punch to the gut, I guess? The removable harness is pretty nice, and it doesn't interfere with the torso joint at all. There's also a hexagonal socket in the back for attaching a backpack, even though the figure doesn't include one. A nice touch, and it'll make customization easier for those so inclined, I'm sure.

The hips are also universal joints, joined here by a metal shaft. The range is pretty good, and there are screws in the thighs to reinforce the whole assembly. The knees are double-jointed, which is to my knowledge a first for Hasbro at this scale! They feel sturdier than the Microman equivalent by a fair margin. The left thigh features mounting brackets for the dagger, cleverly molded so as to match the straps on the leg. The ankles are universal joints as well, and have an excellent range. He can lean very far forward and point his toes with ease. Overall, it's a few joints up on most other Hasbro figures in this scale, and I'd love to see the hips in particular cross over to Star Wars and the upcoming Indiana Jones lines.

Sculpt and Deco

Not surprisingly, the overall color scheme is pretty low-key. The silver highlights stand out against the blue-black color scheme, and the applications are all pretty clean despite being really, really tiny. Just about all the snaps and buckles on the uniform are silver, as are the rank tabs on the collar, and detail that small would be pretty easy to screw up. The buckles on the leg strap are the roughest part of the whole deal, and they're still plenty presentable.

The sculpt is similarly good, since you have to have well-defined buckles and snaps to paint, after all! The only area that strikes me as odd is the absence of seams on the uniform shirt. There's one that ends slightly above the Cobra logo on the torso- I guess so the emblem wouldn't look odd- but it's somehow strange to think that Cobra's infantry would be wearing polo shirts.

Articulation gets 8/10
Sculpt and Deco get 8/10

 
Accessories

-Sniper Rifle

According to some Google work I did in preparation for the review, this is a Dragunov SVD sniper rifle. The stock has been changed, I think because the real SVD's stock is joined to the handgrip. This could make it quite hard for the figure to hold the rifle properly at this scale. As it is, the hand isn't molded with a trigger-finger extended, so technically he can never fire the rifle. This is probably one reason GI Joe has been so successful in repelling Cobra over the years. The short stock also means that he can't quite shoulder the rifle, though you can still get some decent two-handed poses that look about right.

-Dagger

A pretty simple knife. The hilt's scalloped, and the blade is totally featureless, which is expected and acceptible at this scale. It probably helps it stay in the leg-clamps as well. And it does stay there, as well as in either hand, without trouble.

-Stand

A lightly-detailed black rectangle with a sculpted Cobra logo, and a printed name. Apparently this character's official name is "Cobra (The Enemy)," though everyone seems to refer to him simply as Cobra Trooper. It only has one peg- two would've been nice, so I could anchor the figure to the plate firmly if I wished. But it works well enough as it is.

Accessories get 8/10

Closing Remarks

Ah, well-executed cannon-fodder figures. This is the best-articulated Hasbro figure in this scale, and I'm hoping a few of these new joints will work their way back into the rest of Hasbro's small figures. Modern Microman still beats this articulation in a few places- the waist and the neck, mainly- but it's most definitely a strong second. Among Hasbro's offerings this figure is State of the Art, in the larger context of 3-3/4"-4" figures as a whole, it's Excellent. Either way, if you haven't bought GI Joe: RAH figures in a long time- or ever- it's worth grabbing one or two, particularly at $5 apiece.

-RAC, 12/09/2007