Here is another figure review that belongs to Dominusdjinn (ghad..all I do now is review his stuff). He wasn't able to get just one but 3 of these lovely critters.
The Wonderful - I really don't aim to get all these wierd looking Rise of Cobra vipers, basically because they have odd looking heads and bulky body armor. However the elite viper is different; it has a conservatively designed head, a believable body armor, battle axe and realistic/current weaponry. I also love the nice drybrushing applied to achieve the metal body armor look :)
The Sad - its again given this oversized pencil launcher that you cant have him pose for long.
The Recommedation - Among all the sci-fi Cobra movie troopers you can collect, this for me is a definite buy. Two submachine guns, a gun in a holster, a backbreaking battle axe, drybrushed body armour and a backpack fills his accessory line. A Good buy indeed.
A generous 8.5 of 10. Gather them now!
Rise of Cobra - Elite Viper
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Rise of Cobra - Cobra Gunship Review
Dominusdjinns stuff is on a roll, this time his brother's Rise of Cobra Gunship!
The Design - The Cobra gunship is a rotor-less aircraft. I am quite disappointed with the size and scale of the vehicle, comparing it to the one depicted on the Rise of Cobra movie. It lacks the troop carrying capacity as shown in the feature. The size really sucks big time.
I like the fish-like design though it would have been a realistic touch to have turbines or a visible engine of sorts for its mobility. The grey color gives it a prototype feel.
The Features - The Cobra gunship carries some unique product features that gives it more value and playability:
- The Cockpit has room for one figure, and it seems Hasbro cut some design costs by having it swivel sideways rather than the conventional top. One feature that I do like is the pipes or hoses that the figure has on its harness can attach to slots found within the cockpit, somewhat like some breathing apparatus or life support.
- A bomb hatch that can deploy 3 tiny red bombs.
- Engine covers with hinges that reveal detailed engine ports.
- Launching missiles on the sides
- Working landing gear
The Figure - Firefly looks definitely cooler with the flight harness it has! The helmet is similar to the vintage gyro viper (which i believe it was its original intended release than Firefly) with variants of red or grey. Firefly has a basic grey mold, nothing we are not used to, less the camo.
The Recommedation - although its size and scale is an issue, it becomes a definite buy for the collectors who would love to collect all the figures and vehicles in the ROC movie. For me, I would settle for Firefly alone.
My rating is 5.5 out of 10. Release a bigger vehicle Hasbro!
Rise of Cobra - Anthony "Flash" Gambello Review
Here is my own figure review on Rise of Cobra's Flash:
The Great - The figure itself looks like an entirely complete mold. Its body armor is unique too, with the shoulder armor and pelvis guard. A better improved revamp on the good old Flash figure we used to know. The red and black scheme isnt bad at all, its something getting used to, though many might view him more an adversary than a real joe.
The Excellent - the figure comes with a wonderfully designed and unique helmet for Flash. It has little fancy details running over its head, with a transparent googles incorporated to the helmet's design. Aside from the fancy helmet, the figure also carries a large laser gun and a moderately sized laser rifle. Even the overgrown missile launcher isn't as bad as I initially thought.
The Lame - with all its nice and crafty new accessories, what compensates over this lovely red and black figure is the use of thread for its laser accessory, connected to the rear of its back. They could have spent more on sturdier and longer rubber tubing than resorting to a poorly designed weapon. 
The Recommendation - The updated Flash is a remarkable figure for me, even if it has a sadomasochistic rubber mask under the well designed helmet. The colors are neat, comes with laser weapons we never seen before and yes it suits the figure as a modern day high-tech joe trooper. Despite the rope accessory, the figure is accurate to the figure found on the Rise of Cobra Video game.
My personal score is 9 out of 10. Flash is a smash!
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 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.
Rise of Cobra Scarlett (both versions)
Scarlett is played by Rachel Nichols in Rise of Cobra. She's portrayed as both a genius and a very competent soldier. There are currently two versions of Scarlett available for the Rise of Cobra toyline: Desert Ambush and Undercover.
The Desert Ambush Scarlett is how she looked during the first act ofthe movie (Desert Ambush), wearing her Reactive Impact Armor although it's puzzling as to why Hasbro didn't just call the figure Reactive Impact Armor Scarlett instead (the other figures wearing the Reactive Impact Armor are called by that name). Since Scarlett is a female and obviously has different anatomy from the two other Reactive Impact Armor figures, this is an all new sculpt. The proportions are very good as opposed to the Duke & Ripcord Reactive Impact Armor figures which are very thin.
Undercover Scarlett... at first people were wonder how she can be undercover when she's just wearing her normal Joecamo uniform. Well after seeing the movie, it becomes apparent. This is the invisible camoflage suit Scarlett wore during the Attack on the Pit. Hasbro could not explicitly state "Invisible Camoflage Suit" without giving away some spoilers. Although this should be the same uniform as Cover Girl's, Scarlett is a completely new sculpt. The sculpt shares elements with Cover Girl but they are two distinctly different figures.
So far the Rise of Cobra toyline has been hit or miss with the facial likenesses of the actors. Mostly misses with the females. Scarlett is no exception. The Undercover version with the ponytail is just atrocious... not Baroness atrocious, just atrocious. The Desert Ambush is slightly better but still not enough Rachel Nichols in there to be recognizable.
The Desert Ambush figure is painted much like the other Reactive Impact Armor figures: dry brushed slate on the armor plates... but with one difference, the back plates are also drybrushed. The Undercover version is painted in the Joecamo pattern used in the movie and is a lighter gray hue than Cover Girl's bluish uniform. One strange paint application on the undercover version though is the use of orange plastic for the head then painting the skin, leaving the hair as the base color of the plastic. It has a very bad effect on the figure making it very toy-like.
Desert Ambush Scarlett comes with the laser crossbow and the standard Joe pistol. The figure also comes with a harness and grappling hook with giant spring loaded launcher to simulate her drop from the Howler dropship. Undercover Scarlett comes with the standard Joe issue FN2000 and silenced pistol. Undercover Scarlett also has a backpack which can hold her wakizashi (short sword) and crossbow. The backpack is sculpted with a coiled rope on one side much like Beach Head's. Undercover Scarlett's giant spring loaded launcher is in the shape of a giant spring loaded crossbow.
Aside from the lack of facial likenesses, these two figures are must haves.
- JM
Cobra Commander (Rise of Cobra)
Certainly the most drastic departure from source material in terms of design is Cobra Commander in Rise of Cobra as protrayed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Thhe figure represents the character Rex Lewis as Cobra Commander, a look which only appeared in the last few minutes of the movie.
Movie Cobra Commander has a black coat over a silver chest plate (and segmented spinal armor at the back) and black pants over pointy-toe dress shoes. The most eyecatching part of the movie design for Cobra Commander is the clear facemask over his burned face.
Cobra Commander comes with the hitech hypodermic syringe he uses in the movie to inject nanomites, the nanomite killswitch device, and a new mold of the classic hairdryer gun. The hairdryer gun no longer has the peg but the two other accessories do have pegs to attach to the Commander's thighs... no holsters, they just plug into his thighs. Cobra Commander also comes with a pet cobra sculpted poised ready to strike. Cobra Commander's giant spring loaded launcher comes in the form of a giant spring loaded nanomite syringe.
If this wasn't Cobra Commander, I wouldn't have bought him. I'd rather use the Rex Lewis figure as my Cobra Commander representation for my movie figure collection since that's how he looks for almost the entire movie anyway.
- JM
DragonHawk XH-1 with Wild Bill (RoC) Review
Friday, August 14, 2009
Ahh yes, the DragonHawk. When images of this first showed up, everyone was excited to see a modern update on the classic Dragonfly. Now that people have it in their hands, many were... disappointed.
The DragonHawk is designed after the AH64 Apache helicopter with some features of the RAH66 Comanche and of course, given the classic GIJoe flair. The sculpting is very detailed and really reminds one of the classic vehicles of the early Joe line. The DragonHawk is equipped with a turreted six-barrelled Gatling gun system under the nose (rotates left to right but not up and down) and a nose-mounted sensor suite for target acquisition and night vision systems (non-movable).
The vehicle is molded in Army green plastic, again harkening back to the classic Joe line. The rotor blades, wheels, and hydraulics are molded in black plastic, while the canopy is tinted green. The decals are all very detailed and realistic with the all too familiar "NO STEP" and "BEWARE OF BLAST" warnings, again, another throwback to the classic era.
The DragonHawk has one action feature: Like the Comanche, the DragonHawk carries its weapons internally and has a weapons bay on each side of the fuselage. The missiles are mounted on the weapon bay doors which slide out sideways. The internal weapon bay is fitted with AG202 missiles. Each door holds two missiles. Unfortunately, the DragonHawk's stub wings are not fitted with weapon pylons unlike the classic Dragonfly or the Apache. Pulling on the base of the tail slides out the weapon bays. Pressing on the button behind each weapon bay fires the missiles.
Sounds pretty cool so far, right? Now comes the biggest drawback of all, its size. The RoC DragonHawk is tiny! On its own she's a beautiful helo. But when placed alongside her older sisters, especially the Delta class gunship Wildfire (Night Attack Chopper), it immediately becomes apparent that the RoC DragonHawk is out of scale. She's dwarfed even by the very slim Dragonfly from 1982. The toy is very light and small and feels very much like the classic SkyHawk (GhostHAWK to you newer fans) and the 1994 Razorblade. The RoC DragonHawk is 1:35 in scale instead of the 1:18 scale of GIJoe.
The DragonHawk includes the pilot Wild Bill. Yes, the fourth Gen3 Wild Bill figure (single pack 25th, comic pack in cartoon colors, SRO 3pack). Many fans say that this is Resolute Wild Bill but this is NOT. Resolute Wild Bill is colored very much like the classic & 25th figure in an Army green flight suit with a brown vest. This figure is in an olive drab (almost gray) flight suit with a new black flight vest.
Wild Bill has a new enlarged head and new enlarged shins. The figure uses the unmodified Ace body without the cowboy belt buckle, buttpack, and cowboy holsters for the twin revolvers Wild Bill is known to carry.
Wild Bill comes with no accessories other than the tan cowboy hat (another new mold, not the Air Cavalry hat of the previous G3 versions) and the black flight vest. No guns. No stand.
In the US, these are $25 and people are already complaining. Here inthe Philippines, they are ₱2,000.00 or $41.60. Whoah. For a vehicle this size, I don't think so. The scale issue alone is a dealbreaker for me.
- JM
