Cobra Commander (2012 Retaliation)
As much as I liked the Pursuit of Cobra line, I found its versions of Cobra Commander to be lacking. The Pursuit of Cobra relied too much on the movie look, which didn’t work for me; even the third wave version’s addition of the classic helmet didn’t impress. In fact, I haven’t found a Commander figure that has really struck me since before the 25th anniversary series. Don’t misunderstand, I liked a few of that line’s Commanders, but in the end, they were simply old designs updated with new construction. I’d say the last exciting new version of the Commander for me came in the Sigma 6 line.
This new Retaliation movie version, though it only shares some similarities with what we’ve seen of the new movie’s Cobra Commander, brings a fresh look to the character, and a welcome one at that. It’s also available in two flavors.
If you read this blog regularly, you know of my predilection for vivid color. The Commander does not fail on this account, as he’s outfitted in the brightest of blue. The all black version is nice, but the solid color causes some of the details to blend in too much.
For instance, I hadn’t noticed the armour on the right arm, a very cool little added detail, until I got the blue version.
Even more interesting to me is the uniform design, from the snake motif helmet to the battle-ready uniform. It’s good to see the Commander looking regal and ready for action at the same time. It’s the exact sort of look I expect to see from a man who can be at once vain and maniacal. I’m so glad he got away from the first movie’s look. You just can’t expect to conquer the world if you’re wearing dress slacks and sensible shoes.
You know what I just realized?
Take away the articulation in the knees and feet, but have the torso joint as-is, and you have what the New Sculpt Era could have been.
Also, world of advice to those who got the Amazon.com premiere pack: if you don’t know what to do with the extra sub-machine guns that come with Snake Eyes and Cobra Commander, just give them to an old vehicle driver or someone who could use it.
The blue and black work nicely on this movie figure. The helmet is both retro and modern enough to bring the character into live action without any major glitches. It’s a solid offering overall and cool enough to make me want to see the finished product onscreen next March.
Like the Trooper yesterday, I’m not sure if we’ll ever see this figure in the UK which is a real shame as I like the look. It puts me in mind of the IDW Krake version of Cobra Commander.
it arrived!
I like this design for all the reasons you mentioned. As for the blue variant, not seeing him around here much.
I like it.
He look alikes I.D.W. Kraken.
I’ve been looking everywhere for this vesion. I do have the all black version, but I want this one too.
I really like this blue version of the figure, it’s tragic it’s the harder to find of the two versions. This IS a bright and very rich shade of blue, it’s awesome.
Yeah, all I found is the black version and it’s kind of shocking how much good mold detail has been lost just due to the paint job. I’ve been looking it over because I’m thinking of getting a friend of mine to repaint it to make Interrogator because the helmet really reminds me of that figure (I have cool-looking Cobra Commanders coming out of my ears, but no new version of one of my favorite late-era figures). When I was pouring over the figure trying to plan out what things get repainted what color, I was picking up on all sorts of details that are just lost because my version is all black. I really kind of wonder why it was released this way when so much great detail is lost because of it.