Cobra Paratrooper (2008)
The DVD battle packs gave us some very popular characters that didn’t make the single-carded releases. Guys like Dusty and Alpine were welcome additions to the modern line, and their nostalgia factor was quite high with me, thanks to their original figures and memorable Sunbow appearances.
The sets also produced more interesting accessories based on the cartoon series. In the Best of the 80s set, from which this figure originates, we got a very well done TV camera, based on a Sunbow episode, as well as a very cool replica of a Cobra laser rifle from the cartoon.
The basic trooper mold from the 25th Anniversary line received several key upgrades with this figure. Most notably, the previously bald head was replaced by a new mold with a crew cut hairstyle. I could be mistaken, but I think this same head sculpt showed up as the Resolute Trooper and even as the most recent modern versions of the blue shirt. They certainly look very similar, and the same also goes for the helmet. Unfortunately, the arms weren’t retrofitted for this release. However, the aforementioned later troopers are nicely articulated.
He cool. Leg bayonet nice touch.
It’s interesting to think that Cobra would just have generic Troopers strap on a parachute as “Paratroopers”, not Air Viper or ParaViper. In that sense, the early 25th figures were more like the early ’80s, before everyone became a Viper of some sort. Creative approach to a figure, but still a weak base to work from.
Funny thing is, had Hasbro slapped 6 of the 2004 TRU infantry troopers into a pack with an AVAC parachute and a similarly designed rifle, collectors wouldn’t have been able to buy enough of them.
Actually, these are the same Cobra troopers that served as paratroopers for Cobra, at the beginning of G.I. Joe The Movie. Together with the Crimson Guards, whom I always thought of as the troopers who guard all of the Cobra bases.
This is a cool figure. Not on most people’s list but still fills a cartoon hole.