Cobra Commander (2012 Retaliation HISS Driver)
That’s a mouthful, huh? I wanted to be able to differentiate from the other Cobra Commander figures released as part of the Retaliation line. I was actually surprised to see the Commander as a driver figure. It’s kind of an oddity, considering that named command level Cobras have usually been paired with smaller vehicles, like Serpentor and Overlord in the Real American Hero line.
A lot has been said about the second movie line’s reduced articulation driver figures. It all seems counter to the legacy of GI Joe as America’s moveable action man. I suppose you could technically still call it moveable, but five points of articulation just can’t compare to 15 or 18 or more. It was a bummer. What stung even more was the revelation that some of these drivers were sculpted with full articulation. I recall seeing photos of prototypes of Clutch and the Fangboat driver at JoeCon. It was such a sad thing to see what could have been.
Having said all that, this is an amazing figure to look at. Sure, it can’t assume basic poses that most other Joes can manage, but boy is it detailed. The Commander is decked out in what can best be described as a modern take on his 1987 battle armor. I’ve always been a fan of that design, probably because it carries off something of a comic book villain look. This new figure gives me the same sort of vibe, albeit with more than a little movie Iron Man influence. Seeing photos of it before the film was released, I wondered if the Commander might appear in this outfit. Whatever the case, the suit is full of detail, with panels and controls, and some pretty hefty leg armor. Aside from the chest, the Commander is less heavily armored on his top half. It’s an impressively powerful looking vision of the character.
Regardless of articulation, any action figure with a forearm mounted machine gun is aces in my book.
Nice, these 5 PoA figures can’t be all that hated, I’ve been searching for them in Joe groups for ages, but haven’t had any luck in getting them. I’d like to see them repainted and rereleased in an Action Force box set, or most likely I’d love to make my own if and when I can get my hands on the figures.
I still like to think the keypad on his other forearm is so he can wage a twitter war with Destro
I agree with Kansas. Despite his limited articulation, the sculpt is great. I have this figure and for some reason, I can’t part with it. His head would make a great INCINERATOR from the vintage line.
All the Retaliation drivers had great sculpts. Like Orniphus says, for being a hated “5-PoA” waste of plastic these guys aren’t particularly easy or cheap to find… If he was full-articulation he’d be a customizer’s dream.
I always thought this was supposed to be Ninja Cobra Commander (based on the rumors prior to the movie). Then when he showed up with 5 poa, I thought that was just about as flexible as a Ninja Cobra Commander could get.
Nice head sculpt!
For all the hate the 5-POA figures got, I really think they do fine standing on a shelf like most adults are displaying them. And for kids, they’re much less floppy than the 25th fully articulated figures can be. I think my disappointment was the exclusivity of the sculpts; we didn’t get articulated versions of any of the drivers. That was less of an issue when the vehicle pack-in figure was Iron Man clone #7.
Of course the limited articulation was a bit of a letdown when I bought the HISS but the figure looks great. It’s a better looking armor than the 1987 version which I’ve never been a fan of since it looks like Liberace’s take on Darth Vader’s suit. The only thing that bothers me however is the fact that The Ol’ Commander doesn’t have his own driver which seems a bit odd being that he’s supposed to be Cobra’s supreme leader. But then again, Maybe he just wants to race that blue HISS.
The design in interesting, the detail is neat…the fact he can’t even sit down well is frustrating. He can lean back enough to drive the hiss. But that’s about it.
I’ve heard alot of complaints about figures fitting in their vehicles especially older vehicles. But I haven’t had any trouble if you just work at it a bit. I don’t have this figure though.
The twitter war is hilarious.