Review on GI joe 7-pack Invasion in Cobra Island

Here is a continuation of Dominusdjinn's collection of newly acquired Invasion of Cobra Island seven action figure packs:

RECONDO

The Good - reissuing a real classic which used to have limited articulation during the early 80's seems to be getting popular, in this case with Recondo. The Figure boasts a new head mold and a splendid detachable cap to boot. His jungle oufit blends neatly and yes for me he is suitable for the invasion to Cobra Island.




The Great - Hasbro paid extra attention to little details on this figure, everything to the mustache. Stuff like the wrapped rifle, backpack clips and strap buckles are wonderfully depicted and based from the original vintage figure. A good tribute for an original and well designed character.

The Sucky - yes you can easily identify a combo of recyclable parts. go hasbro :|

Recommendation - If you are a vintage lover, you would love this figure for all the nostalgia it holds. If your an ROC collector, well you might think twice since your looking at a figure whose specialization was popular nearly 3 decades ago, and might not blend well with the current state-of-the-art military look. For what its worth Recondo is still a genuine and classic military trooper.

A firm 6.5 out of 10. Get me some gnats Recondo!


OUTBACK

The Good - its a good thing that they reissued Outback in a color that apart from the original outfit that went with the CLAW and FLAK cannon vehicle pack.




The Bad - he still for me too short of a fella I imagined him to be in a scale in comparison with the other 1:18 GI joe figures.

Recommendation - Well it wont hurt to get this variation of Outback, which I recall similar to the Nightforce version. Of course the white shirt survivalist is the most popular version that we old collectors remember, and this grey shirt is a new taste for me. To be realistic, a white shirt isnt advised when traveling through a Cobra jungle.

A 7.0 out of 10 in my book. Survive the attack Outback!


CHUCKLES

The Nice - At last an undercover, deep inflitration agent joins the 25th joe line! I was waiting for a figure that would be a good spy to boot, and Chuckles was good choice!



The Good - A good new head mold, a single side webgear with holster, cool shirt and a M.A.Rs briefcase adds to the delight for this classic figure.

The Recommendation - Chuckes is one of those mix-match figures, but since they worked hard to improve the quality through detail, I will let this one slide. Chuckles is a good and neat figure to have, and suits well with the invasion theme.

A nice swell grade of 7.0 will suit him. Dig your hawain shirt dude!


ZAP

The Underestimated - People would think whats so special having a greenshirt with a bazooka? You will know its just one of those Frankenstein mixes with maybe Bazooka's head tossed in. Well that was the initial response for Zap, it would be an ordinary joe. I stand corrected when I saw the head mold, the unique green color of his outfit, and his new webgear. He isnt just an ordinary joe with a bazooka, he's zap and he's ready to bring some serious pounding to Cobra!




The Expected - yes its a rehash of parts from re-hasbro. Nicely done I got to admit, at least they didnt use some common Flash or greenshirt helmet, or Bazooka's ordinance or it will be too cheezy to get the pack. Well yeah he is the only greenshirt thats enlisted for the invasion (though they could had made a Repeater or Recoil rather than this classic member of the original 13).

The Verdict - Get the figure. he is cool and photos dont do him justice. If he doesnt suit the 7pack, he is much suitable for your office desk or bedroom cabinet.



Realization gave me enlightenment so I give the figure a sturdy 7.5 out of 10.



WETSUIT:

The Great - its a diver figure thats two steps away from the generic Torpedo figure. Thank you hasbro for giving it a new backpack, diving gear and head. Speaking of heads, his face kinda looks like the resolute duke, making me wonder if the figure was intended for Wetsuit or some SRO diver Duke that was gone and scrapped.



The Lame - it still have the standard accessory Torpedo clones have, the timeless harpoon.

The Recommendation - Wetsuit is one of my favorites when I was a kid. It had a different color, quite bright but yet still military. So even if it came with the standard diver gear and figure, its still wetsuit in my book.

A Cool 8.0 in my book.

RIPCORD:

The Cool - A H.A.L.O trooper! Bravo Hasbro. It has all the nice details I can remember from the original classic 80's figure, plus the articulation and increased detail. Love the camo, painted facemask and the details on the webgear.

The Not so Cool - in all the things to forget, a hole for the oxygen hose to connect to...bummer.

The Ugly - I remember that Ripcord to be a dashing boyfriend of Cindy the comics known for his bravado and charm. And lo and behold he looks like old fart Red Star...maybe theyre related in a way. And Ripcords just blonde. Plus the gun...I always loved the vintage one versus this current one (its no pit commando accessory right?)

The Verdict - Overall you have a vintage accurate classic re-edition and may I say an improvement. All except for that old-grunt face. Display him with the headgear on or better yet just replace the head altogether.

Its a 7.0 out of 10 for me. It could have been a 8.0 but Redstar's head isn't right...




HIT & RUN


The Excellent - now this is an old time favorite that appeared at the latter half of the 80's golden age of GI joe characters. Youre looking at a very good adaptation of the classic figure hit and run, with all the paint and camo details. The big improvement is found underneath the recolored Airborne helmet is a good-looking neat figure. Armed with his trusty old gun with his backpack and yes the overused grappling hook is a well composed action figure.



The Good - good in the sense even if Hit&Run is made out of frankenstien parts and accessories, its is consistent with the basic look of the classic figure.

The Lacking - I used to remember that this character lugs around a big bag where you can attach and wind up the grappling hook. It would have been swell if Hasbro incorporated that.

The Verdict - Hit&Run is nice sturdy figure. Nicely done, composed, designed and painted from parts and accessories from nearly four 25th figures. Not bad. I forgive you Hasbro.

Points go for an 8.5 out of 10. Add 0.5 if it ever came with the bag.

Review: Cobra 7 pack Invasion of COBRA Island

Dominusdjinn just pasted by my place last night to show off his new acquisition: The Invasion of COBRA Island Seven-packs. We had fun opening the sets and setting them loose, so I decided to take some shots of this elusive collection and to come out with a review. So here it goes:


DR. MINDBENDER

The Great - The doctor's back meaner than ever before. His physical attributes has improved, better looking abdominals and pecs, better looking head, detailed webgear and new set of arms. Years certainly passed compared to the original vintage series. He also has an impressive looking cape to match.

The Not so Great - In proportion to his body, the recolored crimson guard legs look puny against his muscular torso. This makes him those stereotype body builders that forget workout their lower limbs. The choice of accessories too is quite disappointing, since he is still armed with that original cattle prong he is so known to have (and honestly I dont know what it is).

The Sucky - they could have chosen a better figure version to base Dr. Mindbender updated 25th series release. Sure the outfit is iconic, but Hasbro should had thought twice how a demented dentist turned insane mastermind would dress up for today's modern battle.

The Recommendation: If you plan to army build, your stuck with this repetitive figure in your collection. For the 1st set it would be fine, then the 2nd set you could probably trade it off to someone else, and the 3rd set you would probably customize. By the Nth set you would be screaming how to get rid of him. They could had released a non-unique figure for his set.

My personal rating is 6/10. Not too shabby for the evil doctor.

COBRA LAMPREY

The Great - For me this is great revamp of the older Cobra driver of the COBRA MORAY. The outfit is updated, you have a nifty helmet that has a removable face plate, tubes behind the helmet gives it a realistic touch, and has a modern look all in all.

The Good - The figure doesn't look too much like its 80's counterpart and Hasbro has successfully updated the figure to a considerable realistic dimension, even if it has to balance with some of those advanced gear like the helmet, breathing apparatus and its unidentified weapon.



The Not so Bad - Hasbro giving out aquatic troopers is quite nice, and this is the only 25th figure that I observed that didn't have have swim gear and fins to match. Maybe because of its amphibious functions, the Lamprey is what I see a versatile trooper, though its choice of bright colors over it dull grey does makes it a wee bit off.

The Recommendation - The Lamprey has some recycled parts from existing figures, which now Hasbro is pretty popular giving us new figs by just introducing a recolored collection of assorted body parts. For the Lamprey it does has little effect, and because of its fancy accessories it does look acceptable in an average collector's standards.

A good fair 6.5 for me. I just hope if ever the MORAY is released, the Lamprey gets a better paint job.


COBRA AIR VIPER

The Good - The Air Viper is a handsome figure of COBRA colors and gear. For a viper suited for aerial missions, this figure punches a good hit of what an organized and well funded enemy pilot would look like. I love the little paint details and its color composition for this Cobra figure.



The Sucky - For all the innovations done on the 25th line, Hasbro could had worked its legs a little to give that holster on his chest gear some purpose rather than being some rubbery prop. Now you cant figure out how to handle the handgun when you dont need it, and there's no nifty place to hide it. And what's the name? Air viper? Isnt it supposed to be Stratoviper? Did the license expire again?

The Recommendation - For display purposes, here is a vintage accurate figure for your collection. Yes it might be too tall for your vintage night raven, but the Air Viper a good display pilot to stand right next to it.

A nice 7.5 / 1o in my book.


THE NIGHT CREEPER

The Great - Finally an Iron Grenadier addition to Destro's combat guild! I am glad to see that we have a good old ninja figure close to our heart apart from all the COBRA ninja figures that has been on the market. The figure is nicely painted with its preppy purple and crimsonness, all with the camo detail marks to boot.

The Better - The painted crossbow really rocks! I love the little accessories that come with painted flavor. A unique chest armor not found on other figures is also good.

The Lacking - more weapons could have worked out. For all the intricate painting, the backpack seems to0 bland. Plus looking at the ankles, the figure seems to suffer some limited articulation. Shucks! Say bye-bye to cool ninja dramatic poses with this fella.



The Recommendation - though its color combo is quite questionable for this ninja to exercise subterfuge when its all bright with maroon and its limited poseability, the Creeper is still a nice addition to COBRA armies, ahem...DESTRO armies I mean. Overall it is a cool figure to have, though the ROC two-pack version is much better buy with its green color scheme.

My personal rating is 6.5/10.


THE RANGE VIPER

The Best - I feel in love with this figure the 1st time I saw it. Being a COBRA unit really rocks if you're a Range viper, having a kick-ass grenade launcher, a heavy machine gun and a scary mask makes it all worth it. You might find some recycled parts but hey it blends in pretty nicely.




The Good - well a unique head mold would do, but yes Hasbro is guilty to have Beachheads skull right underneath that menacing mask of his. Again it would have been swell to have a unique head, but hey I cant complain, at least its not just another Firefly or Stormshadow recolored head.



The Recommendation - he is too me one of the factors that make the seven pack set worth getting. Not only you get a mean Cobra figure with a lot of firepower, but you also get a quality figure with overall good blend of aesthetic design. One might debate that yellow accessories can give you away in the heat of battle, it works well for the Range Viper. I just hope this figure does show up in single packs in the not so distant future.

A 9.0 out of 10. And don't ask me why...its so obvious.



COBRA B.A.T


The Overlooked - What another BAT? We already had the single pack one, the Hall of Heroes version, the DVD pack one and even the Black Resolute version, so whats new with this? The HOH has the battle damaged version, and this version doesn't have a backpack of interchangeable gear, but hey for a fraction of the price the HOH version demands, this little robot is an affordable alternate. You have the little spores in the canister, the replacement head and chest plate, a machine gun and the purple plant that comes with this figure. Quite a haul for a package price.



The Recommendation - You can never get enough of BATS in your collection whatever it may be, battledamaged or not it is still quite a find and a good substitute over those sold pricey by toy hoarders. I like the sense yes it has it all less the backpack of goodies. Its not *B.A.D to get another BAT.



A good 7.5 in my book, could have been a solid 8.0 if it came with the backpack and weapons.

* - Battle Android Destroyed


THE ALLEY VIPER

The BEST -This to my observation and I guess everyone who has the set agree the best figure in the whole pack. The array of weapons it came with, its attention to the bright yet vintage urban camo, its improved detachable helmet, riot shield with hidden nightstick and almost all new body parts makes the Alley Viper a very desirable asset into any Gi joe collection.



The Improvement - the only improvement I can spot would be the lousy snap-on of the grappling gun to the backpack, which is too loose to hold. A minor setback though for a figure so awesome to describe.

The Recommendation - Keep one and in all your luck get more! I just hope it comes out in urban grey and blue too!

9.5/10 in my Joe bible.

Comic Feature: Rise of COBRA Snake Trax ATV

GI Joe PIT - Mobile Headquarters Review

For past two decades of GI Joe, there was a difference of classifying vehicles and playsets. Currently Hasbro has released the combination of the latter, both a large playset and a vehicle. During the late 80's, the Toy giant made a big gamble with enormous playsets such as the USS Flagg, Cobra Terrordrome, Defiant Space Complex to name a few. This time, it made a descendant of the 1988 Mobile Command Center, the mobile headquarters known as the GIJOE PIT!

PACKAGING:

The toy come in a huge box with very heavy contents and what I can say well condensed. Sheer volume wasnt the only problem, but also its weight.

The box comes with a very graphic box showing the new brand image that Hasbro has prepared for all of its Rise of Cobra merchandise.

Parts were well secured by wire fasteners, and all accessories tightly bagged. All items seem very secure, and enough to withstand rough shipping oversees.

Large parts, composing the main hull of the box, large plate parts are held secure inside a cardboard enclosure.

Other smaller parts are found within the large parts, carefully bagged and sealed. You can notice rigid quality control here, but just to be cautious, make sure all of the parts are there before leaving the store.






ASSEMBLY & CONSTRUCTION

The PIT requires some assembly but not too difficult compared to items you have to glue and paint. Moderate effort is required however just like almost all GIjoe vehicles, they employ snap-on assembly and construction. Fairly good supervision is called for 5 to 6 year-olds, since there are tiny parts that can be easily misplaced and lost.

Plastic quality is good, employing quite a good mix of rigid hard ABS plastic and the new flexible plastic-rubber materials. The joints and hinged have been properly designed for rough play and made so to even at this point survive assembly. It came from a long line compared to its 80's counterparts.

The toy contains quite a huge amount of moving and collapse-able parts, which is essential to its design for it to properly transform.

TOY FEATURES:

Transformation - Excellent transformation. I recall looking at it like some weird roving bathtub in military colors but I was wrong. The whole thing transforms quite well, though care should be employed for it to transform back from base mode to vehicle mode. The elevator if not carefully folded can simply obstruct the entire hull, making it impossible to lock the top hull in place. Care is needed still even if the PIT is designed for rough play.

Vehicle Mode - The vehicle mode has good structural integrity, very compact and solid. What can be disappointing is only one of a pair of wheels of each side actually work, the other are just dummies. Probably a hint just to cut down manufacturing and mass production cost. The titan rolls good despite of these false wheels. Two drivers can fit into the armored cockpit. Hawk figure is included.

Base Mode - The Pits transformation to base mode is excellent, boasting with tons of play from its different product features. The whole vehicle folds out to reveal a military base, involving little effort. There are so many gimmicks employed to improve its play factor, everything from sounds to hidden panels and accessories. Hours of play and possibilities can be expected from this bad boy :)

• Collapse-able Wall Panels - as a featured in the movie, mole pods drill through the PIT's side wall. The two part wall panel can be easily detached and attached with snap-tabs. The panels however can be easily overlooked in vehicle mode, so it becames a real bother to open the craft to re-attach the panels in place.

• Command Console Sounds - the Pit's command console carries its own sound unit, with three varied points of activation and a number of sound effects and phrases that is popular in GI Joe lore. Its powered by three penlight batteries, and has its own power switch if the voice box becomes to annoying to bear.

• Hidden Accessory bays and panels - the PIT has a number of places to store weapons and accessories for its 3 3/4 inch figures. Its middle section has a main bay that can open up for both personnel and equipment, while a smaller hatch next to the command console can hold tiny accessories such as helmets to table tennis paddles

• Level Elevator - can be used for personnel and equipment, which runs from the top level right beneath the platform, down to the ceiling of the 1st level (I guess joes have jump down the ground floor for exercise). The elevator platform itself is made out of the flexible rubber material, making it more durable for play.

• Folding Level Bridge - the PIT has a folding bridge (a smaller counterpart of the vehicle Bridgelayer) which can accomedate small vehicles into the top platform. The bridge can also be extended for farther distances.

• Jail Cell/Escape Route - The main vertical stem is hollow to allow prisoners to be dropped from the top level and land into a prison cell below. The feature can also be used as an escape route of sorts. Prison cell door can be detached so that figures can left unharmed :)

• Personnel Quarters - folding left bridge turns into a sleeping/resting quarter for figures. Comes with cabinets, beds and shelves.

• Medical Bay - the rear part of the base becomes a folding medical bay. Care is needed to first unfold this part before opening the main halves or else it can break. The bed could have been part of the structure instead of being loose. This could have saved a lot of parts that can be misplaced or lost during setup or play.

• Detachable Ramps and Stairs - again it can be a pro or a con. For someone who likes setting up with loose stuff its fine however for a collector that does not want the possibility for missing pieces this can be a handicap. It could have been better that Hasbro incorporated folding ramps and staircases but again it could have cut some costs here and there for it to achieve an affordable price point.

• Interchangeable Weapon sets and gun slots - there are slots where detachable weapons and ordinance can be attached to the hull or main structure. The older waves of figures dont have these featured in their spring-loaded weapons, however we might be seeing these things coming in the new line, very similar to the gimmick employed on the DTC (direct-to-consumer line).

• Foot pegs and slots - the whole base is riddled with foot pegs and slots. One can see that the softer flexible material can be quite unstable holding the figures via the foot pegs , while the harder dark green material has a better hold.

• Decal Sheets - Five large sheets of decals and a manual spread just to indicate their placements was a nightmare. Its hard to keep track of all the numbering, and its quite a feat to have the whole thing ready with decals in an hour or two. I had to choose not to place the others since some of them tend to cover plastic details. And it is a good thing Hasbro was able to place in extra sets just in case you tear or lost them accidentally.

• Cardboard Accessories - the cardboard props are good substitutes but not as durable. I can sense Hasbro really wants to put a lot of features in this baby to expand the market for large vehicles and playsets, however it has production costs to contend with, hence the result. There are cargo boxes, stand-in equipment, supply slots and a table tennis table in a cardboard format, really cute and attractive however doesn't last long because of the cheap quality. If Hasbro would redo this feature they could have spent more on cardboard quality or even better sturdier substitutes.

THE VERDICT:



Looking at these factors:

Toy Packaging - 7.5
Toy Assembly - 8.5
Play Features - 9.5

Average is : 8.5 out of 10




Overall Hasbro did another bold move re-introducing these large playsets for GIjoe and I hope it does great so that i can retool and reissue the massive 80's sets. They made sure that its loaded with all the features one can really enjoy at an affordable pricepoint. I dare not touch on affordability since it is relative per region and depends on distributor pricing.

My recommendation: If you can afford this baby go on and splurge :)

review by Daniel Enriquez

Rise of Cobra

I finally figured out what's wrong with Rise of Cobra. One thing. Just one thing that ruined the entire movie and it's expanded universe.

It's not military.

The RoC Joes are more of a superhero team than military.

Think about this, it's not the sci fi that ruined it. Joe has always had sci fi elements in it. TransFormers 1 was very sci fi but the realistic military aspect kept things in check. Same with Stargate. Or any other number of movies, comics, and video games. You can even move into superpower territory and still be military (Team 7). It's not the Sigma suits either. Armored exoskeletons are cool as long as they are done in the military perspective (HALO). It's not the nanomites either. Nanomites can also be cool if done in a military setting (Metal Gear Solid).

Making the Joes a more realistic military force (being international works) instead of a team of superheroes would have made this movie more enjoyable.

Joes are soldiers. You can't change that. Take the military out of Joe and you get Sigma 6 (I'm too young to remember Adventure Team). This is the big difference with the TF movie and the Joe movie. With the TF movie, despite the ShardFormer designs, they still Transformers. Robots in disguise. But the Joes in the movie? Not so Modern Army anymore. Being military is what makes Joe... a Joe. Surprisingly, Channing Tatum's Duke in the movie was the best and most true-to-source character in the entire movie. Among all the Joes (and even the Cobras) he was the only one who was acting like a soldier. A Real American Hero.

- JM

August 7 Umagang Kay Ganda TV Appearance

As founder of ToySoldier 1:18, I'd like to congratulate the entire group for a successful TV appearance this morning's Umagang Kay Ganda on ABS CBN.

Good job, everyone!

- JM

Welcome to Toy Soldier 1:18

Founded in April 2004, TS118 is the Philippines' only local online community that focuses on 1:18 scale action figures, usually military in theme. While primarily, but not necessarily confined only to collecting the widely popular GI Joe 3 3/4 inch toy line, members also collect other brands that fall into similar scale such as BBI Elite Forces, Forces of Valor, 21st Century XD, Star Wars, DCIH & Marvel Universe among many others.