Enemy Fast Attack Tank (Geewunner.com)

Is there a more iconic Cobra vehicle than the HISS? This early villainous ride hasn’t been ecplised as far as I’m concerned. While there have been multiple re-imaginings of it, and other subsequent vehicles have become more elaborate, the original still rules in my eyes as the de facto Cobra ground combat platform.

Geewunner’s Fast Attack Tank resembles the true HISS much more closely than the official Hasbro Kre-O version. Am I like a broken record on this, or what? Only because it’s true. These custom builds exhibit an attention to detail and attempt to capture original forms and silhouettes in a way that the Kre-O line didn’t. Of course, these kits are intended for hobbyists rather than a kid market, so certain features of the mass-produced lines are only natural. In the case of the HISS, the traditional cannons were replaced with missile-firing features. I’m all for adding play features, and the Kre-O friction-powered missiles are much more impressive in terms of velocity than their Lego counterparts.

The Hasbro brick HISS was certainly no slouch when compared to other Kre-O vehicle later based on RAH equipment. At the very least it mostly looked like its counterpart. That same can’t be said for the VAMP stand-in. Compared to this bigger and more fleshed out representation, the Kre-O HISS looks like more like a Cobra Power Wheels HISS than a fast-moving engine of destruction.

This vehicle and others (including a couple of crimson colorways) are available at Geewunner.com.