| Cobra Desert Assault Squad; Cobra plays in the sandbox | |
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| Topic Started: Jan 9 2010, 06:06 PM (32 Views) | |
| 138 Scourge | Jan 9 2010, 06:06 PM Post #1 |
Kung-Fu Billionaire
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I'd wanted these for awhile, and since BBTS wanted to sell 'em cheap, who was I to refuse? This was a simple enough idea. Gather together some Cobra troopbuilders, come up with a themed repaint scheme, go to town with 'em. It works out pretty well, allowing for logical alternate colorschemes and accessories for these figures, and just generally making for neat sub-teams. The Desert set is largely Cobra Troopers and Crimson Guardsmen, apparently put under Major Bludd's leadership. Hey, if Major Bludd's a mercenary, how can he have a rank? Wouldn't that imply being under a formal command structure? Anyway: Major Bludd: Instead of being essentially a Zartan repaint with a new head and arm, this guy is that head and arm stuck on a Hiss Driver body and given a Trooper's arm and new legs. Since the colors are still basically the same as the previous version of Bludd, though, he looks largely the same. The same head, distinctive armored-up arm, and rocket pistol carry over to this figure, as well as the ammo backpack. The biggest addition to this Bludd is a scarf that fits in with the "Desert" scheme and covers his nose and mouth. The scarf can be removed, and he's still got the dogtags underneath it. Bludd's all right as something that came with the other six guys here, but individually, he's no big deal if you've already got one. Also, the legs have a tendency to want to stay together, making posing this figure on the display stand trickier. No idea if the rockets stay in the backpack better this time, because they come rubber-banded in and they'll likely stay that way. As before, it's neat that they come out, but also completely unnecessary. He gets a "C", nothing really that wrong with this toy, but if you've got the original, then no big deal. Crimson Guardsmen: In this case, there's a reason that their uniform is a different color, but it's kinda funny that "Crimson" Guard agents are dressed in desert khaki. Especially when the bio card references the "red uniform hanging in the closet". Moving on. Both of the CG's in this set are repaints of the comic-packed Guardsmen, the ones with the removable helmets, with the same backpack and weapons. These clearly aren't in the "Fred" series of troopers, since they're repainted to have brown hair in this incarnation. The molds are still in good shape, there's no trouble posing these guys and they still hold their weapons just fine. In-package, one of the guardsmen is packaged sans helmet, and that lil' trick does make the two CGs seem more like two different toys. Great job on these, they get the "A". Solid mold in good-looking new colors. Cobra Trooper Explosives Specialist: A repainted Cobra Trooper with some new equipment and the legs off the 25th Viper. He gets Tripwire's minesweeper and mine-toting backpack, and Ripper's rifle with the huge bayonet on it. Fantastic-looking figure, no issues with the molding, and the new accessories really help make this troopbuilder look like an individual character. Oh, that and the fact that he's one of two black guys in all of Cobra (this dude and Night Adder). With all the rereleases of the Cobra Troopers, and the number of times they've been involved in troopbuilder packs, I'm just surprised Hasbro never decided "Y'know, they don't ALL have to have white skin". Anyway. Great toy, I give this one an "A" as well. Shows what a new color scheme and playing mix-and-match parts can do to produce a new toy. Cobra Trooper: Flamethrower Specialist And now, the guy who has the very worst job in the Cobra ranks. He goes out to the desert, puts on this huge hot suit, and shoots fire at things. The bio says that the desert heat makes his fire even more effective, and that may be so, but good lord, the poor guy. Another case of "Creative mix-and-match works well", this guy's just the Viper head on Barbecue's body, armed with Torch's flamethrower. With the desert colors thrown on, you get a really good-looking toy. The one downside is this guy's near-inability to hold on to the sniper rifle that also comes with him. The right hand can close enough to loosely grip it, but with the left, it's just not happening. Minor flaw, but still: B just for that. Cobra Officer: Desert Specialist Officer Straight-up Cobra Officer repaint, but equipped with Comic-pack Firefly's backpack. It's a minor touch, but it makes the figure. I'm endlessly amused by the tiny, non-weapon accessories like this. Things like the lil' gascan and explosives, and especially the lil' flashlight. Anyway, that piece of equipment really makes what is otherwise kind of a "nothing special" figure. The only other flaw with this guy is the molding around the legs and crotch have kinda worn, his legs just sorta flop around. Still, with the figure stand he can keep a pose well. The accessories bring a "C" figure back up to a "B" here, I'd say. Cobra Trooper: Hostile Environment Specialist I love this. One of my favorites in this set. This is a "Sgt. Flash" repaint body and a Cobra Trooper head with the "Air Trooper" helmet being repurposed as a gas mask kinda thing. Add in Barbecue's backpack with a "Biohazard" sticker slapped on it to repurpose it as a tank of poison with sprayer, and you got some magic. The hose is a little irritating because it doesn't always want to stay attached at one end or another, but overall it behaves. "A" for looking imposing and impressive, and for being just so damn clever in it's construction and accessories. So overall. Overall this is a fantastic set. Really, I was looking forward to the Arctic set more out of the pair, but somehow I was really fascinated by this one. The cleverness in putting all of these figures together is really impressive, making a pack of beige repaints into interesting and really neat-looking characters. It's gotta get high marks just for making beige interesting. I'll give the set an A overall. The worst thing you can say about any of the figures here is that they don't quite hit the heights that the real winners do. I'm really impressed with this crew, and recommend 'em, especially if they're still on sale at BBTS. Great stuff. Up next: Arctic Assault Squad. At some point. |
| COBRA wants you, and I know you want COBRA! | |
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| Dominic Guglieme | Jan 12 2010, 03:24 PM Post #2 |
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the human MICROscope!!
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Glad you like the set. This is not the only time Bludd has shared a body with Flash. The video pack Bludd does as well. (But, it still has Zartan's legs.) Bludd's rank could be read one of two ways. It could simply be an honorific/self-title. Or, he could have earned it as a member of an organized military that he later left. (It is not unusual for ranking officers to retain titles after they leave.) Other black troopers (toy only): -Burnout (Dreaknok) -black trooper from the 2003 infantry set (many consider this to be Lt. Claymore) -black (possibly South Asian) Crimson Guard from the Crimson HISS set in 2004. I do agree with Scourge. This is a great set. Idiomatically, it answers for many of my complainsts about the earlier "Night Watch" troops. I liked that set, but the fact that guys with dedicated functions all had exactly the same uniform, kind of bugged. me. The only sets I can think of that are on this level are the TrU Crimson Guard sets, (assuming one does not have plenty of single carded or comic-pack CGs), or the Cobra Island Defense team. Either way, this is a fantastic set. Dom -does not have the Arctic set. |
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11:43 PM Jul 31
