Cobra Night Watch Trooper (2008)

If you go back to the early comic issues and cartoon episodes, most Cobra troops were the basic blueshirts of 1982-83. Then the organization branched out, and before you knew it, there were Cobras for every occasion and situation. Then a strange thing happened in the 2000’s–out of the blue (or the black) a new Cobra force was born, the Night Watch.

So what happened to the troopers of old? The vintage line brought them back for a repaint with the Python Patrol sub-team. The vintage style O-ring blueshirts returned in a Toys R Us multi-pack, and then it seemed the floodgates opened for blueshirts. There were basic troopers in comic packs and then the DTC exclusive Night Watch, a special group of Cobra soldiers who operate from dusk to dawn, guarding Cobra bases and helping to infiltrate Joe bases under cover of night.

This figure comes from the 25th anniversary version of the force, which looked a bit different from its predecessor. Rather than the subdued greys of the previous set, this pack did the figures up in black and blue. I’ve had a thing for years about figures with odd camo pants, but this set featured a new twist–odd camo shirts. I like the idea of special Cobra troops who patrol the base at night, especially if they look this cool. While most maniacal villains would have gone for an all-black look, you can’t fault fantastic fashionista Cobra Commander for wanting his troops to look spiffy, even in the dark.