1991 Cesspool
I’d argue that the named Cobras of the 90‘s are right up there with the greats of 1984, or at least very close in quality. To me, Cesspool and Interrogator are easily on par with Copperhead and Wild Weasel, and the only real problem with 90‘s Cobras is you only got about two or so new ones a year. Still, the new guys for 1991 are both very good, and here’s some elongated rant on that.
Character wise, Cesspool is preeeeetty corny. Overall, I’d say he’s actually way cornier than Headman in many respects, but it’s the solid character design that elevates him over the other. Don’t get me wrong either way, because I quite like Headman, and I also quite dislike CEO’s, but Cesspool’s just… Stupid? The characterization early on for someone like Zartan or Firefly seemed a lot more intriguing or tangible, whereas Cesspool feels more on the Dr. Robotnik/Rita Repulsa silly end; way more of a caricature.
At face value anyways, the idea of scarred, psychotic former CEO joining with Cobra has some interesting prospects. Mr. D’Alleva would probably have plenty of dirty business ties and blackmail that would put him higher up in the late Cobra hierarchy, which again, is a pretty small club. Focusing on his unscrupulous business smarts makes the character a bit more interesting to me, and also gives him some purpose beyond “Toxo-Viper column decoration”.
The design and sculpt on Cesspool is where he shines. Most prominently is the giant Cobra design on his shirt, which was surprisingly a design motif they hadn’t tapped until this figure. Then there’s his head: the scarring on his face and dead eye is both very sharp and very cool for just how gruesome it is. The rest of the figure strikes me as more of a par for the course Cobra super-villain kind of look, but the detailing is sharp all throughout. The only thing I really don’t like, is the gold plastic used for his right arm, which will probably be prone to crumbling sooner or later.
His accessories suck for the most part. You get the requisite Eco-Warriors water-pack, a gold chain-saw and a gold helmet, with a tiny and easily lost respirator. Worth noting that while similar to the squirt-gun included with Flint, Barbecue and Ozone, Cesspool’s is a unique sculpt. Still, it’s just like those in terms of being cumbersome are difficult for the figure to hold. Would’ve been way nicer if his parts were more consistent with the Sludge Viper and Toxo Viper, but oh well. The chainsaw’s okay, but not really integral to the figure. Finally, his helmet is pretty cool actually, it has a nice design and ignoring the issue with the respirator, it looks fairly well done. Why use it though? Cesspool is almost never shown with his helmet, and the head-sculpt is too cool to cover up. So most of his accessories are the kind of thing you toss in a bin and only keep around for the sake of knowing you have them.
The little respirator pushes a complete Cesspool up towards $40. Sans that, you can get one with the rest of his accessories for $15. Reproduction respirators are out there, which is both an option for “completing” your figure, but also something to scrutinize when buying a figure advertised as complete. For the all the praise I can heap onto Cesspool, it’s hard to say he feels like he’s worth as much as a decent V1 Zartan (last time I checked). Amusingly though, eBay prices are a pretty good indicator of the collecting consensus on any given figure, so I guess going by that Cesspool’s an A-tier Cobra.
Cesspool really is a great action figure. The design, sculpt and details are up fantastic. I wanted to acquire a complete Cesspool for my collection but it seems cost prohibitive especially to find that breather piece to his helmet. I’ll have to reconsider getting an incomplete one although as you said the gold plastic arm makes me a little nervous due to GP Syndrome. It’s great seeing the Star Brigade Roadblock shotgun make an appearance, I used to love that gun as a kid and it fits Cesspool perfectly. Also, nice use of Ice Cream Soldier as a Cobra rather than GI Joe – he’s one of the most baffling figures of the line to me.
Went through my Joes and realized I actually have Cesspool already. I need to do an inventory this summer on my collection.
I now he’s based on a scarless Hasbro employee Vincent D’allaeva, but the figure reminds of late character actor John P. Ryan (Bound, Delta Force 2).
Some leg boot details went unpainted from the catalog photos. Not a big loss. His large Cobra logo was interesting for a guy who just signed on, but it speaks to his ego.
The weapon accessories are potential thumb breakers and I never used either despite appreciating the chainsaw. The removable helmet raises him up a lot. The masked just of the sake of it was tired by then, it was quite nice to have the option. It and his fancy uniform also push him a bit past his niche. One certainly doesn’t have to use him merely as a chem weapons leader/operative.
He or a similar eco baddie was going to be called Oil Baron or something, and Larry Hama was confused. “Is this JR Ewing?”
Anyway, he’s probably the best of the 4 Cobra Eco-Warriors. They all had their good points, though.