Cobra Diver (2008)
I loved the Sunbow homage figures. The animated universe, especially the first mini-series, had so many interesting filler and background characters populating the show. It’s only natural, since the animated mini-series was limited to the first two years of the action figure line. The Cobra troops in particular needed a bit of fleshing out. The Cobra Diver’s first claim to fame was during the battle for heavy water. The figure even handily came with a container of the substance that could be snapped onto the MASS Device toy. Pretty neat.
The design of the diver is simple but effective. This is one reuse of the Torpedo mold that makes sense, and I liked the mold and the design so much that picked up a few of these guys even though I’m not usually an army builder. My favorite aspect of the figure is the laser pistol, which has that early animated GI Joe feel of military adventure meets sci-fi. The figure on the whole, like other elements of the MASS Device mini-series, has always brought to my mind the style of the 60s Jonny Quest cartoon. Some of it also really feels like a bridge between the Adventure Team era of the 70s and what the Real American Hero cartoon would become later in the 80s with the advent of the daily animated series.
Cobra Diver–
You’ve been down too long in the midnight sea…
That is a cool pistol!
So, they’re not called “Eels” anymore? It is a nice looking figure.
These guys are less elite than the Eels, according to the file card. Sounds like a retcon to me.
I like the look of this figure, and that reminds me of how I still need to complete my MASS device.
What i thought was funny with the first miniseries was that characters like Sparks and Colonel Sharpe were created as there werent enough Joes to go around and by the time the ’87 movie came out, the animators struggled to put everyone in
Any chance of getting a cobra space trooper?
The 60’s Johny Quest was a truly groundbreaking series. It can only be a good thing if influenced the Sunbow material.
@Clutch
My little brother loved the 1997 reboot of it when he was about 6?7?
Jonny Quest also gave us one of the greatest Adult swim shows ever: Venture Bros!
I can see this figure being used to make a diver Destro figure (hint, hint, Hasbro; G.I. Joe Collectors Club).
Nice figure. This is one repaint I don’t mind at all!
One of my favorites of the 25th line!
This figure reminds me of the Air Commando figure the Air Devil. Only difference is they went from soaring the skies to swimming the seas.
I would’ve liked a o-ring Cobra navy 6-pack with this guy in it. The Collector’s club had concepts for ARAH o-ring vintage style diver along with Hydro-Viper repaints, but they’ll probably never be made.
They predate the EELS. Oddly the Order of Battle and issue uses artwork that sort of resembles the divers more than EELS.
They appear again after MASS Device, in Spell of the Siren, IIRC. (Oddly Baroness’s scuba gear in that episode is based on the EEL, totally different from her MASS wetsuit)
Excellent figure!