1983 Action Force Shadowtrak

Posted on May 29, 2024 by mwnekoman

1983 Action Force Shadowtrak

I realized that by coincidence, every toy I’ve posted about for the last month has been red. Not intentionally, but just something that happened. So to cap off May, I’ll finally get around to a post on the Shadowtrak. Action Force vehicles could be kind of hit-or-miss, but the hits tend to be fairly pronounced, as exemplified by this vehicle. Really, the only downside to the Shadowtrak is that it’s a pain in the ass to get a nice one and a handful of Red Shadows to have for it’s crew.

Despite not being designed initially as a bad-guy vehicle, the Shadowtrak strikes me as almost exclusively being the light reconnaissance vehicle of the Red Shadows. It’s odd too, because the angular design and square glass windshield doesn’t look that far off from what would become a standard look for Joe vehicles come ‘86, like the HAVOC. Still, something about the angular peaks of the design seems oddly communist by way Art Deco. It’s an odd thing to describe, but there’s just something a tad bit alien about it that feels much better as a Red Shadows vehicle rather than anything else.

I remember hearing somewhere that Action Force wasn’t a particularly high-budget toy line. This seems fairly evident with toys like the Shadowtrak, which itself is a repaint of the AF5, and the Q-Force Cosmic Cruiser. Small parts are changed across the toys making them unique, and in the case of the Cosmic Cruiser it was totally re-engineered to be a space ship. They work well in their intended roles, but there weren’t really a whole lot of Action Force toys that were mostly unique identities.

It seats two figures: one facing the back and one driver, though I think it looks perfectly reasonable with three, and you could probably fit five on there if you wanted. The backend is very open and not so restrictive in terms of how figures are seated on it, so there’s room to get creative with how it’s used. It’s armed with a pair of missiles on the side and some adjustable guns that go on both sides of the back. Mine doesn’t have these yet, so you won’t see them pictured here, but it’s a starter that was sent to me for free by one of the kindest GI Joe fans I’ve ever known. I don’t really mind it without those parts, as I just use it as something similar to the LCV Recon Sled, as if the Recon Sled were a good toy, it’d be a lot more like this. Part of what makes the vehicle seem so nice is that it has a pretty detailed parts count, compared to something like the VAMP which is only made of a dozen or so parts in total.

With that said, the Shadowtrak and it’s various repaints are fantastic vehicles that trounce many of Hasbro’s contemporary offerings. That’s a pretty impressive feat when you consider the fact that the Shadowtrak also has to be compatible with arthritic, 5-POA Action Force figures. The overall quality and feel of the vehicle is much more pleasing aesthetically than the more cheap and utilitarian feeling of the GI Joe vehicles. Little things like the eight rubber wheels, the Red Shadows marking on the windshield, the folding seat and weight of the vehicle make it feel more premium in nature.

The non-Hasbro Action Force stuff used to be cheap, but isn’t really any more. Shadowtrak’s are fairly common, but it has a lot of little pieces that are easily lost or damaged, so it’s hard to get a complete one for less than $70, and here in the US you’re going to get eaten up by shipping if it’s coming from Europe (usually around $30). Still, this is a niche collecting interest and you can get good deals on almost anything if you wait long enough. Though if you really want one, it’s probably also something where you won’t do bad buying an example at full price if it’s mint and complete.

action force action man red shadows palitoy gi joe

1983 Action Force Shadowtrak Links:

Forgotten Figures

Blood For the Baron

1983 Black Major (Action Force)

Posted on November 6, 2023 by mwnekoman

1983 Black Major

Thinking about it, there’s only two things that come from Britain that I think I really like: the first being the USA, and the second being the Action Force toy line. I don’t think Action Force has the same enduring charm as GI Joe, but I think the fact that I’m even interested in a series of forty-year-old action figures from another country that I’d never heard of until I was mostly grown speaks to their quality. Or maybe I’m just a sucker for toy commandos with mostly realistic guns.

The Black Major is a pretty popular character with Joe fans, and also probably the most popular Red Shadows villain. I learned this by conducting a survey that consisted of one person, and I asked myself various questions, so now I can project whatever vague notions I have onto anyone else who’s apart of any group I associate with. Anyways, most of that popularity probably stems from his appearances in the Action Force comics, which did a good job of fleshing out his character. A lot of his popularity is also probably owed to being a figure that vaguely looks like some kind of Nazi. For a villain’s design, it’s a little on the nose, but at the same time it’s much less silly than the disco guy. The overall Red Shadows aesthetic is charming in the way that it mixes bits of Nazi Germany and a few Soviet visual cues.

The Black Major strikes me as a figure that’s full of imperfections, yet somehow by virtue of modern GI Joe’s sheer incompetence, remains the best figure ever made of the character. I don’t mind that he’s done in Kenner Star Wars style 5-POA, but given the relative popularity of the character you’d think at some point he’d have gotten his own, proper GI Joe figure. The only Black Major made after this one was the 2010 convention figure, an abominate mix of M. Bison, Thunder and Action Marine parts that resulted in a figure far too ugly to justify a few extra points of articulation.

Sadly given that the Black Major himself is a repaint of the Action Force Commander (and similarly, the Z-Force Commander), he doesn’t have all that sinister of a face. Instead he just looks like any friendly ol’ Action Force commando, which I don’t think really suits the character all that well. From what I understand, Action Force didn’t really have all that much of a budget, so the short line is filled with curiously recycled sculpts. Having a villain who looks like a normal person really isn’t such a bad thing though.

For accessories, the Black Major included the Cobra Officer’s AK-47, and a code sheet that corresponds with the Cyrillic-like letters on the Red Shadows vehicles. The figure’s pose makes a pistol a bit more of an appropriate weapon, which again, is probably a side-effect of being an Action Force Commander repaint. As it is, I think he looks weird with an AK since he has to hold it with his arm extended. The code-sheet’s also pretty neat, though it seems like the kind of thing that wouldn’t hold your imagination very long as a kid. As a cheap toss-in though, it’s a nice bonus.

Action Force figures aren’t worth a lot despite probably being a lot more scarce than GI Joe figures. A Black Major figure complete with his AK and code-sheet runs around $30 as a BiN, but incomplete figures in good shape can be had for around $10, and it’s pretty common to get him in lots too. Judging by how common he is, I don’t think it’d be a stretch to say he’s the most popular Red Shadow, which is reasonable given that he’s probably the coolest Red Shadow too.

1983 Black Major Links:

Forgotten Figures

Blood For the Baron

Joe A Day

1983 Torpedo

Posted on November 21, 2022 by mwnekoman

1983 Torpedo

While I don’t have a mint example of many of the figures from this year, I’ve occasionally contemplated that ‘83 might be my favorite line-up of GI Joe figures: at least from a minimalist point of view. A lot of the figures from this year were pretty plain and seem less remembered compared to the cast of the next two years, but in ways, that’s also their charm. Very ordinary and down to earth renditions of various military specialties, similar to the ‘82 guys, but with more personality and a lot less green. Torpedo very much falls into that.

With that said, Torpedo is by far probably the most no-frills, plain-jane diver you’ll find in this toy line, but I like that about him. This theme was done several times over between the Eels, Wetsuit, Hydro Viper and later the Battle Corps renditions of both Wetsuit and Shipwreck; with all of those figures you see a nice progression of play features and complexity that make them a tad more exciting than V1 Torpedo. At the same time, all of them are more fiddly, and definitely more busy looking than this figure, which I think is what gives him some staying power in my eyes.

As suggested, Torpedo’s sculpt is very basic with not a lot going on, he’s a guy in a wetsuit and that’s about it. Like with most early Joe divers, his diving mask is sculpted on, although unlike with later attempts, he has no hoses or anything to connect his respirator to his backpack. It makes him a little less interesting for a guy with a limited role, but it’s not a deal breaker. All of the other divers with their respirators look a tad more sophisticated, though that comes at the cost of a small and easily lost piece of rubber to complete their look. I’m not sure if this is a case of less is more, but it does make him a little easier to handle.

Torpedo features some pretty tiny feet, which I suppose represents his form-fitting wetsuit and lack of big bulky boots that most Joes wear. It’s sort of nice in some ways, though in today’s world it’s translated into a lot of figures with broken heels. There simply isn’t enough plastic there to last over time, especially with the suction caused by inserting and removing his flippers (look out for that). Foot pegs are something collectors are having to avoid more with time, though you don’t really hear about such a thing with the Snow Serpent’s snow shoes, so I think Torpedo’s just a little more worse off than usual.

For parts, you get a backpack, harpoon gun, and two flippers, in line with the simple kits seen in these early Joe releases. He has everything he needs, which includes some kind of weapon at the very least. GI Joe seems to interpret that most divers have a standard issue spear or harpoon gun for underwater combat, though to my understanding, no SEAL uses a weapon like this. As for his backpack, I’d like to point out that this is one of the first and rare examples of a figure with a painted part. The oxygen tanks have a nice splash or orange-red on them, which is a very eye-catching detail.

This mold has a lot of repaint potential that never really got tapped into. Funskool released the mold in three different colors, gray, blueish-gray and yellow. He was then repainted with the Cobra Night Landing as a ‘97 release, and came out again in similar colors to the original as Wet-Down in ‘01. The GI Joe club floated the idea of using this mold for Cobra Divers IIRC, though that never manifested and they promptly dumped the classic sculpts. Bootleggers like Red Laser Army got some good usage of his head for various figures, though I don’t think the entire mold was ever used. Guess if I want some repaints of him, I’ll have to do it myself.

A complete ‘83 Torpedo is worth around $15, and is not very hard to find at all. Truth is, that’s a little more than I expected him to go for, but it seems like a reasonable amount for an early Joe. Although mint ones are pretty plentiful, he does seem like a figure that’s prone to damage in a variety of ways. He’s also horribly boring and pretty useless without his parts, so that likely has an effect on his value too.

1983 Torpedo Links:

1983 Clutch

Posted on June 7, 2021 by mwnekoman

1983 Clutch

For most of my collecting years, I’ve typically ignored a lot of the ‘82/’83 First Thirteen Joes. I see the characters as being an integral part of the GI Joe universe, though at the same time, most of those toys leave something to be desired relative to the prices they maintain. 39 years ago, I think most of these were a lot more tolerable. For me though, it’s a little hard to justify ‘83 Hawk for example, when ‘86 Hawk is a nicer alternative, that’s a heck of a lot cheaper. Clutch, doesn’t fall into this dynamic quite as much.

Of the 1982 cast, certain figures had a little more individuality than others. Clutch happens to be one of those figures, as he has a unique torso, and only had to share his head with Breaker and Rock&Roll. It doesn’t put him in quite the same position as Stalker, or maybe even Snake Eyes, but he is a lot stronger than Short-Fuze, or Grand Slam. Even the reused head seems more forgivable, as beards tend to obscure your facial shape, which kind of makes people in real-life with full beards look more generic.

Of course, I think what makes Clutch for virtually everyone is his appearance in the Marvel comics. I didn’t particularly care for the character until I read the first Marvel issues sometime around ‘08. He stood out to me as one of the more fun and vibrant characters in those early issues, and it solidified my interest in his figures a lot more. Prior to that, I knew GI Joe through Sunbow reruns and the ’87 movie, where most of the ’82 cast plays almost no role.

Of course, most of the Clutch toys out there are relatively blase. Not a lot of bad ones, just not a lot of good ones, either. Besides this toy and it’s ‘84 recolor, there’s a Mega Marines figure who looks nothing like Clutch, a very mediocre Spy Troops figure, a comic-pack figure with anemic skin and a pea-head, a better looking and more expensive convention figure, and then a few post-25th releases of the character. Compared to the other attempts, the 25th and POC figures aren’t so bad really, but they’ll never look right with an o-ring collection, leaving this figure and the ‘84 release as the only decent representations of Clutch.

V1 Clutch is a fairly good looking figure. The unique torso is nice and leaves a strong impression at time when half of the figures on shelves had Grunt’s torso. The head is a fine sculpt as well, and didn’t age as poorly compared to later figures in the same way that Hawk and Grunt’s ugly mugs did. For a guy who’s just meant to sit in a jeep all day, there’s a surprising amount of care that was put into him.

His only accessory is a helmet, which isn’t of much detriment to him. It’s the same generic piece used on him and almost every other ‘82 Joe, but the toy was designed for the helmet and it looks good on him. I have always sort of wished there were some more pistols from this point in the line, as the Joes were fairly lacking in sidearm options in these first few years. The best you can give him is Snake Eye’s uzi or Mutt’s MAC-10, but there’s not a really good M1911 or anything like that.

Getting a good Clutch is surprisingly not too hard. At the current market’s prices, you can get a complete Clutch with a passable VAMP for $40 if you look around. A lot of Clutches sell for around $30, but he should really be worth less than that, especially when you consider that ones with the VAMP don’t go for much more. Also worth noting, that I’ve seen at least a couple of Clutches show up with swivel-arms, and fat crotches, implying that some people are passing off poorly pieced together frakenstiens of the ‘82 and ‘83 figure, as a legit example of either one.

1983 Clutch Links:

1983 Will Bill

Posted on November 17, 2020 by mwnekoman

1983 Will Bill

Wild Bill finds himself in a tough spot in my collection. I sort of like using him, but I have no attachment to the character, and I don’t own a Dragonfly for him either. Besides this ‘83 Wild Bill, there’s a couple of other iterations of the character I own, most of which are nice figures too; it’s just I don’t really have much use for the character. Still, he’s an early figure that’s memorable in comparison to later vehicle drivers, so I thinks he’s worth a look.

Oddly enough I think what bothers me so much about him is the cowboy motif. This coming from a guy who mildly enjoys Cobra-La and ninjas, for some reason a cowboy doesn’t sit right. Which on my end is rather silly, as really he’s a reasonable looking figure. I just dislike the motif on a very subjective level, and that’s all there is to it. Probably, I wouldn’t have this slight against the figure were I born closer to his release, as I think cowboys were a lot more popular in the early eighties, but by the time I came around, they were lame.

The sculpt is pretty nice and simple. Personally, I feel like his head detracts a lot from it, as in general it’s way too big. Other than that, it keeps with the early line’s style of simple designs with tasteful amounts of detail. I think the sculpt on his chest with the oddly unpainted dog tags is particularly good looking, and a shame we never saw it used anywhere else besides the Funskool release.

The paint applications are about what you’d expect for a vehicle driver, though I take some interest in the bull tampograph on his belt-buckle. It’s a very small, silver paint application, which of course means it’s prone to wearing away, but as it’s such a small detail, most likely go without noticing it. I also found it oddly nice they painted his revolvers white, when nothing else on the figure is this color, and they could’ve just as easily painted them the same color as the knife of his chest.

I’ve never felt like Wild Bill was so married to the Dragonfly that it’s wrong to use him in other vehicles, so that grants him some usefulness in my collection. The only thing is I don’t like helicopters and aircraft very much. So ultimately, Wild Bill is limited to only the occasional use with a Tomahawk or maybe a few of the other oddball helicopters I have like the Retaliator. Of course, of those two the only one I really like is the Tomahawk, so to that end, there still isnt’ much to do with him.

So have crazy 2020 prices made Wild Bill a coveted and expensive figure? In truth, not really. You can get a mint with filecard Wild Bill for around $8 still, which is not much more than he’s ever gone for. Of course, you might have to look around to get one with both a nice bull-buckle and nice white pistols, but he’s a common figure that still is only worth a few dollars, which is good.

1983 Will Bill Links:

Attica Gazette

3D Joes

Joeaday

1983 Gung Ho

Posted on January 6, 2020 by mwnekoman

1983 Gung Ho

Gung Ho is a popular GI Joe character, but oddly for me I have no real attachment to Gung Ho. 1983 was full of cool designs I like a lot, like Snow Job, Doc, Destro, Major Bludd: there’s barely a figure from the year I’m ambivalent to besides Gung Ho. So while I’ve got some classic figures on the mind, I might as well hash out a post about my feelings on the figure.

Gung Ho is somewhere between being iconic and boring. On one hand, the figure is distinct with fun colors and a look that’s fairly unique among early 80‘s figures (this was before 1988 when every forgettable Joe ran around in a vest with no shirt on). On the other hand, being a shirtless marine is about the extent of his character, and I can’t say I find him all that fun to use. By comparison, Leatherneck is far more standard, which seems less interesting, yet I still find that figure more fun to have around than Gung Ho.

Despite my somewhat ill-defined disinterest in him, he’s certainly not a bad figure. The light-blue and green camo colors look eye-catching and distinct. The large marine corps logo tattooed on his chest is possibly the most memorable and well done detail on the figure. It’s hard to compose a group of figures where Gung Ho doesn’t stand out, which speaks volume to his charm.

V1 Gung Ho has some interesting repaints, though domestically we never got more than the brown one in 1997 with the Slugger. In the Action Force line, he got a repaint as the fairly famous Gaucho, and Funskool also used his tooling for their own release of him and a Complan Commando figure. Most of these figures come in colors I find far more interesting than V1 Gung Ho’s, but sadly they’re of value and rarity that’s unattainable for most.

His accessories are nice. He comes with a hand-held grenade launcher, and a unique backpack that’s one of the first in the line to be so bulky. It stands out and has a great shape to it, a shame to not be included with more figures. Personally I think this pack would’ve been nice to see in black with some Cobras, but such was never the case. The grenade launcher has a functioning sling you can use, and a good size grip that isn’t too scary to stick in his hand.

It feels like mint, complete Gung Ho’s tend to run around $15 to $18, but the challenge is in finding ones that are both mint and complete. Gung Ho is very prone to discoloration and it’s more often that his original grenade launcher is swapped for the white one from an Accessory Pack. If you aren’t too picky about these things you can get one a lot cheaper, but it can require some patience.

gi joe gung ho hasbro arah vintage action figure version 1

1983 Gung Ho Links:

Yo Joe

Forgotten Figures

3D Joes

1983 Cobra Officer

Posted on January 1, 2020 by mwnekoman

1983 Cobra Officer

I’ve been in a bit of a lull lately with not much GI Joe stuff to talk about. The Cobra Officer isn’t a figure I can find a lot of original things to say about, and I’m far from being the only person who likes the figure a lot. Regardless, I’ve wanted to profile him on my blog for some time, and talking about a classic seems like a good way to refresh myself as we head into 2020.

I don’t really have the sentimental attachment to the Cobra Officer that I do for the Cobra Trooper. Largely, this is because I just didn’t remember him apart from the standard Troopers in Sunbow, which as a kid was my only source for connecting with the GI Joe lore. The only thing I can say is that I did handle this mold first before I ever obtained the Cobra Trooper, by way of the Python Trooper I had as a kid.

Perhaps that childhood exposure to the mold does affect my opinion on it now. The truth is, I’m more fond of the Officer’s sculpt over the Trooper’s, however, that’s only in a few ways. The added details on areas like the helmet and webgear seem more appealing to me than the Trooper’s relatively simple sculpt. Noticeably, the Officer is much less bulky than the Trooper, which I tend to think looks a little more natural.

An odd thing I hate about the Cobra Officer compared to the Trooper, however, is the figure’s grip. For some reason he has one of the most ridiculously tight grips in the entire line that I know of. For an early sculpt, it seems as though it wouldn’t be that strange, but even the Cobra Trooper and Cobra Commander can hold their weapons better than the Officer here can. It doesn’t ruin the figure, but it’s always been something that bothers me.

For parts, you get just one: the classic AK-47. It’s one of the world’s most common and iconic firearms, so it’s appropriate to be included with one of GI Joe’s most notorious enemies. I agree with the sentiment I’ve seen from others that it would’ve made more sense for the Troopers to have the AK and the Officer to have the Dragunov, but it doesn’t change the fact that this is one of my favorite accessories in the entire line. Even after The Black Major started casting these by the dozens in different colors, I still never get tired of getting this part.

Cobra Officers are not rare, but expensive and prices seem to vary more than with other figures; usually even a rough figure will go above $20. Largely, this is because of the fragile silver paint used on their Cobra sigil. However, even once this paint has completely worn away, these can still go for a premium. Used to, you could by the worn ones and replace this paint application with a decent sticker if you felt so inclined, but today even this is not very practical. I really enjoy my Cobra Officer and can’t imagine my collection without one, but the prices for them sting.

Cobra officer gi joe hasbro marvel ARAH vintage V1 1983 Cobra Trooper black major custom

1983 Cobra Officer Links:

1982 Prototype at Yo Joe

1983 Snow Job

Posted on May 28, 2018 by mwnekoman

1983 Snow Job

Since a young age, cold climates and snow have always fascinated me. I don’t know if it has something to do with the fact that as a person from the deep south, I’ve never had much snow, or if it has to do with a memorable impression I got from watching both The Empire Strikes Back and The Thing as a kid. Either way, it’s led me to value arctic themed figures more than I probably should, most of all, Snow Job.

My first Snow Job figure was the ‘97 version, and as a kid he was probably among my top 3 GI Joe figures. The entire Arctic Mission Team got a lot of use, but Snow Job was the most interesting figure to me of them all. Now, I don’t feel like that figure is the best version of this character, but he in some form has always been a favorite of mine.

With that said, one thing the character has going for him that a lot of GI Joe characters don’t, is that the overall quality of Snow Job toys has been pretty good. While the ‘97 figure has issues with it’s quality, it was a fine stand-in in lieu of the V1 figure. The 25th figure was also pretty good given the standards of that time, followed by the 2009 “Past and Present” figure that may even be arguably better than the V1 figure. The POC version was also one of the best figures released in that line, so overall you have the character featured in a few different styles and yet there’s never really been a bad Snow Job.

Snow Job has a pretty simple aesthetic and sculpt, like a lot of the 1983 guys. One of the nice elements of the figures from this year is that they tended to have more basic, less busy designs similar to the ‘82 figures, but with far more variety in terms of sculpt and colors. Snow Job’s sculpt features a decent amount of detail, but never goes too far into looking busy like 1988 Blizzard, for example.

Snow Job’s parts are yet another one of the figure’s strong qualities. He included the iconic XMLR-3A laser riffle, a set of skis and ski poles, and a backpack that could hold all of his ski gear. The ski gear is a lot of fun even if sometimes I find it mildly cumbersome, and I think they add a lot to Snow Job’s character and play value. The laser riffle is a great part too, and if you’re into the Sunbow’s take on Joe, it’s the standard riffle for the entire team.

V1 Snow Job’s can vary a lot in terms of price. One reason for this is because he’s a white figure, and like all of those that means he’s prone to yellowing. So a dead-mint example that’s complete with his filecard can go for as much as $20 to $30. But this is a common figure and you often see similarly well conditioned figures go for around $10, so one definitely shouldn’t pay too much even for a stark white example.

1983 Snow Job Links:

Forgotten Figures

Yo Joe

3D Joes

Destro V1, 1983

Posted on March 19, 2018 by mwnekoman

When I first got into completing my vintage ARAH collection in the late 2000‘s, many of my early acquisitions were vehicle drivers such as the Lampreys and other oddballs like Techno Vipers, partly because these figures were cheap and helped me grow my fledgling Cobra army. I did have some characters I sought in high priority for one reason or another, and one of said characters was V1 Destro.

As a kid, I had V3, V4, and V5 who were all frequent players in my childhood battles. In fact, Destro would more often be leading Cobra than Cobra Commander, as I preferred any villain with a robotic appearance and Destro fit that bill nicely (especially his Armor Tech toy). I also really enjoyed his appearances in the Sunbow cartoon, so he was essentially my favorite Cobra in my early days.

As such, his V1 figure was one of the first I set out to acquire after V1 Major Bludd. The ones from my childhood were nice, but the appeal quickly wore off of the Armor Tech figure, and I was never fond of the small head on the V3 mold. Most later Destros were derived from that mold as well, leaving me with only the V2 Iron Grenadier figure and this one as palatable alternatives.

Destro’s design is fairly eccentric with his open-chested jacket and medallion he wears, but the absurdities of his appearance are something I’m somewhat numb to. Compared to other early Cobras like the Cobra Troopers and Major Bludd, this is a pretty silly look for a character. But, it works for Destro and there’s no other design for the character I prefer over it. It’s odd, but when you look at him as being an 80‘s comic book antagonist, he’s far from out of place.

There are some weaker areas in V1 Destro’s sculpt. Namely, I feel as though the chest and waist details are a little on the soft side, even when compared to his contemporaries. The best element of the figure is by far his head. It’s one of the few Destro toys that wears an appropriately sized mask, and the use of chrome on it made for a very unique figure.

For accessories, he included a laser pistol, and a backpack/ gun case. I still only own the accessory pack version of his pistol, but I really dig the look of it. Not a lot of figures came with pistols in the early part of the line, so it seems to carry a sort of distinction that denotes the importance of a character. The backpack opens up and reveals a disassembled M16 in storage, a very nice detail that added a little more play value to the part, though personally I’ve always thought he looks a little strange wearing it.

Complete Destro’s range from from $20 to $30 dollars, but it’s more common you see them run towards the later. If you sacrifice the pistol, the figure can be had more easily for about $8 to $10. If you go the cheaper route and don’t care about his pistol, there’s a dark blue accessory pack version that makes a decent stand-in.

Destro V1, 1983 Links:

Destro by RTG at ARAH Gallery

Destro Diorama by Outrider

Destro Diorama by Scarrviper

Destro Diorama by Xander

1983 Cobra Trooper

Posted on February 5, 2016 by mwnekoman

In a weird way, I find figures like the V1 Cobra Trooper harder to write about simply because there’s so much that can be said about them. I think the Cobra Trooper is the second most iconic GI Joe figure after the original Cobra Commander. Everyone knows this look, and it’s safe to say the ‘82 Cobras such as this guy established Royal Blue as Cobra’s defining color.

I think it’s because of this figure and his perceived importance to me that I ignored GI Joe somewhat as a child. As a kid I came really late on the GI Joe wagon, so most of the original figures were not accessible to me. The classic Sunbow cartoon on the other hand was more than accessible to me, where I was introduced to GI Joe’s excellent 80‘s cast. It always left me disappointed after watching the show to not have any similar figures to play with. Even going into the 2002 – ‘06 “New Sculpt” era, interpretations of the Cobra Trooper were sparse. As such, I lacked the most classic Cobra in many of my play times as a child, leaving me somewhat jaded at the time.

Years later I’ve acquired many fine Cobra Trooper variations including the vintage figure. It’s strangely fulfilling to acquire the figure so many years later, and I hold them as some of my favorite pieces in my Joe collection. However, I think I may be prone to over-rating the figure similar to a few other early ARAH pieces purely from my long held desire to own one.

Simplicity is one of the greatest charms the original Cobra has going for him. With later Cobras the detail on the sculpts grew to a very high quality, but likewise the figures often became busy with so many details. The Cobra Trooper avoids this, but still has eye-catching elements that makes the figure all the more interesting. In particular I always really liked the silver grenade-launcher shells and piano wire on his shoulders.

Speaking of the piano wire, I like others have often found myself puzzled as to why the lower ranking Cobra Trooper has a sniper riffle while the Cobra Officer has a fully automatic AK-47. I take the piano wire to be a hint that perhaps the Cobra Trooper was originally envisioned to be more of a stealthy, assassin like soldier than the brainless grunt he later became. It could just be a coincidence, but I sometimes like to view them as more competent, sinister characters.

In the end, this is just a figure I couldn’t imagine my vintage collection without. Like Duke, Roadblock and Snake Eyes, you just don’t have GI Joe without THE Cobra trooper. If I had to sell all but a handful of my collection this is a figure I’d always keep.

https://youtu.be/anse2STbpYE?t=1s

The Viper Pit

Tag Archives: 1983

1983 Action Force Shadowtrak

1983 Action Force Shadowtrak

1983 Action Force Shadowtrak Links:

1983 Black Major (Action Force)

1983 Black Major

1983 Black Major Links:

1983 Torpedo

1983 Torpedo

1983 Torpedo Links:

1983 Clutch

1983 Clutch

1983 Clutch Links:

1983 Will Bill

1983 Will Bill

1983 Will Bill Links:

1983 Gung Ho

1983 Gung Ho

1983 Gung Ho Links:

1983 Cobra Officer

1983 Cobra Officer

1983 Cobra Officer Links:

1983 Snow Job

1983 Snow Job

1983 Snow Job Links:

Destro V1, 1983

Destro V1, 1983 Links:

1983 Cobra Trooper