Pursuit of Cobra
Shock Troopers
It’s been awhile since I first started with the G.I. Joe: Pursuit of Cobra (PoC) line, but since then I’ve collected quite a few figures. During the Thor Movie toyline launch (I know I’ve mentioned this in the past 4 reviews, but I got a butt load of toys on that day), I lined up for one of the sets of PoC figures that included the following:
This was great since I missed the last distribution event where the PoC line was introduced to the market, and because I wanted at least 3 of the “army builder” bad guys. I’d already gotten 3 Jungle Vipers and 1 Shock Trooper from a buddy at PinoyToyKolektors and with the set I got from another collector that included a second Storm Shadow, Duke, Alley Viper and Shock Trooper, I was done with the riot troops as well. Awesome.
As with the PoC Snake Eyes (Wave 3), the packaging of these figures is very nice. The cards are relatively small and simple, no odd shapes or overly crazy angles. The figures and accessories are all packed in securely with a minimum amount of tape and rubber bands and the volume of the bubble is just enough to protect the toy.
What does that mean to a collector? Easy display and storage if you’re a “Mint on Card” guy, and easy to get the figure out for us openers. Best of both worlds.
Once you’ve opened it, there are all kinds of goodies inside.
He has a total of 12 items in his inventory; a riot shield, a flak vest, a helmet, a gas mask, goggles, a radio, a sledgehammer, some weird nunchucks/baton thing, an assault rifle (an HK416 - thanks @dorkimusprime!), a sub-machine gun (Heckler & Koch MP5K), what looks like a taser, and a shotgun (Franchi SPAS-12).
That’s a lot of gear.
This is great since most Cobra troops are inherently “army builders”. Like the Pit Commando, the gear here is perfect for giving a group of similar figures different silhouettes.
The figure it self is pretty great looking, with a balaclava clad head that looks better than either the PoC Beachhead or the Firefly. He looks pretty odd with the flak vest off, his neck being slightly long, but if you put it on, it looks great. The vest is detailed with all sorts of beautiful wrinkles, straps, and pockets that really add to the percieved value of the toy.
On the back of the figure’s vest, there’s a small hole where you can plug the radio into. This is great since small pieces like this are bound to be lost if you can’t store them on the figure.
Sadly, that’s the only nod to storage that Hasbro gave us with this figure. There are no accommodations for any of the other gear he comes with. No pegs, no straps, no hooks. You’d think they’d at least come up with a back pack that would hold the sledge hammer and the “SANBAT” (shock-and-neutralize electroshock batons), but no such luck.
I particular get annoyed that there’s no holster for the taser pistol. It would have been great if he could store that in a shoulder holster, put it right under his left arm on the vest. A simple peg and hole could have allowed the MP5K to be hooked on his jacket as well on the small of his back.
However, the great things about this figure really outweigh those little matters. Things like the wrist articulation which he shares with the PoC Snake Eyes (Wave 3) figure. Instead of a simple wrist swivel, there’s a swivel-hinge there. And instead of an in and out movement, the hinge allows an up and down swing which is great for shouldering the rifle!
The other four weapons are just as great, giving you a ton of display options for your little “elite tactical assault unit.”
The MP5k seems to be a great choice of weapon, being a shortened version that is suited to the cornering one would expect in an urban environment.
The SPAS-12 shotgun is great for the guy you have on point, though I do wish it had a working stock (or at least had it folded out permanently). I’m pretty sure it’s a reissued piece from a previous figure, but it’s a great include.
The SANBAT nunchucks are a little odd as a weapon and are one of the things that I wish he could just store on his person, but the sledgehammer is great for your door kicker.
The last accessory is the “high-impact ballistic body shield”. It’s an amazing little clear plastic riot shield with the Cobra logo on the front. Frankly, it sells this figure by itself.
The shield fits perfectly on to the left arm of the figure, and together with the nice lower body and arm articulation, you can get it to cover a significant amount of real estate on the guy. That’s good, since I doubt a lot of city dwellers would welcome the arrival of these riot troops in their streets. They’ll stop fruit, empty cans, rocks, even the occasional GI Joe laser blasts (as if those guys could EVER hit anything).
Even though I love this figure, I have to wonder why they decided to give them to Cobra. Cobra’s already got the awesome Alley Viper for urban assaults, so whey give them another grunt? Maybe Alley Vipers are too expensive to train and equip? Evil Organizations have budgets too, I guess. Being an HR Professional in Cobra must be a bitch.
I think this particular figure would have been better as a Joe grunt, some guys to give Beachhead someone to yell at. They’d be a sight better than the Joe Troopers in the Firefly set.
Plus they’d make an excellent Shockwave when Hasbro inevitably decides to issue a repaint.
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