Rise of Cobra - Crimson Hydra Review

CRIMSON HYDRA REVIEW:

The Design - The Crimson Hydra has a basic stealth design based from the current F117A stealth fighter, in a much smaller scale. The details are quite good even in this smaller scale.

• It has working landing gears and unlike its larger counterpart the ROC nightraven, the Crimson Hydra has rolling wheels.
• Has an opening cockpit, although the cockpit windshield is partially painted, making it a wee bit off than usual. From the looks of it, the pilot might suffer from limited visibility.

• Has a detachable gun that can fit on both front flanks via plastic slot.
• And it has sounds and effects...yahoo! :|
  

The Features - the Hydra packs some gimmicks from its sleeves aside from its adaptation of the stealth design.

• The main hull can open its midsection to reveal two hidden missile bays that can launch spring-loaded missiles.
• Tail fin can be moved back further behind the Crimson Hydra
• Wings can be extended sideways by pulling them, making the Hydra more aerodynamic and visually aesthetic.
• A small one-man drone can be detached from below the Hydra, whose capsule-like body has wings that enable the craft to fly limited distances and approach its target.

The Pilot - The Hydra is manned by a single pilot. The driver has a unique helmet with a mickey mouse design protrusions from each side of the helmet. The head looks decent, and unique. The arms are standard of ROC vipers, and has a detachable flight gear. The whole driver is best looking black and grey, but with gold highlights on its helmet and arms, which would be better to been silver or another shade of grey.



The Recommendation:

The whole vehicle is but a reissue, which means Hasbro draining our wallets for an old mold

(That jet was originally made for the Spy Troops line back in 2003. It was then repainted for the Valor vs Venom line in 2004. It was originally named the Sky Sweeper Jet. - quoted from JM)

The design for that pilot is from 1989's Aero Viper, the original pilot to the Condor. with a different paint job and figure. The uniqueness value is already down one point. Hydra being red is a nice touch, however the painted windshield doesn't look too good for me. The hidden missile feature is a bit cheezy, however it does give the Hydra a better playability factor. Scale is off, however it is understandable if you have to factor in costs and price points.

The figure (guess its a stratoviper) looks really decent even with the mickey ears. Bad point to the gold colors on its helmet and arms unless Hasbro intended him to be an Iron Grenadier. The capsule pod really rocks, and its black and red color scheme is commendable.

My points are:

Toy Design - 7.0

Toy Features - 7.5

Action Figure - 6.0

Average is 6.83. Not bad for a reissue.

Special Thanks to Dominusdjinn for lending his Crimson Hydra for review.