Cobra BAT (2008 DVD Battles)
The Battle Android Troopers’ first appearance in the GI Joe cartoon was at the same time amazing and disappointing to me. While I liked the concept of robotic troops for Cobra, and thought both the toon and figure designs were just plain 80s Joe cool, I didn’t much care for their being trounced single-handedly by Sgt. Slaughter. At the time, I was a huge wrestling fan, but Sarge didn’t impress me. His presence in the cartoon was annoying to me, being too shouty and overpowered, but I still found the mini-series itself to be enjoyable.
The DVD battle packs were a nice way to fill a few holes in the 25th lineup, while offering some homages to the on-screen versions of the characters. The original BAT (both in ’86 and ’08) was a great figure, and the slight repaint here puts a cool Sunbow spin on the mold. The colors are more vibrant, and the red visor looks fantastic. There’s just something a little more intimidating about the red vs. chrome. I’m also not a huge fan of black washes on action figures, so the flat silver gets my vote for a nicer presentation as well. Your mileage may vary. The missile launcher accessory even works for me.
Wow, you learn something new every day. Having never seen that set before, I’d never realized that’s where the springloaded version of the H.E.A.T. Viper bazooka first appeared. It does work surprisingly well with the cartoon-styled B.A.T.
A successful, subtle repaint. But I’m a BAT fan anyway. Never thought to give them giant rocket launchers; that’s something I’ll be changing!
Huge Bat fan here as well! I’ve got almost every version except for this one, the 86 original and the arctic camo bat. My older brother threw my original bat into the fireplace in the winter of ’88. Damn his eyes! I tried throwing his dinobot swoop into the fireplace and missed, hitting the bricks and breaking his arm off instead.
I have felt guilty about it ever since and recently bought another swoop to prepare the swoop I broke. I tried to give it to my brother as a present. He didn’t remember the incident, didn’t remember even getting swoop four Christmas and suggested that I keep it. Oh well, I have a complete swoop! Still no 86 cobra bat though. His remains remain in a fireplace in Rocky Mt. North Carolina.