1985 Rifle Range

A lost feature among modern action figures is the world building brought by small items like the Battle Field Accessories. These come across as being somewhere in between model accessories you might see Tamiya selling in 1/35, and similar accessory sets that were sold for the old 12-inchers. So, let’s try and hash out a few paragraphs about the the Cobra Rifle Range.

The Battle Field Accessories are pretty self explanatory, as is the case with the Rifle Range; it’s a small set with two targets, a sign, rifle rack, three guns, a barrier and two figure stands. The targets mount into some sandbags, and have a small gimmick where they can be flipped down. That’s about all there is to it, and while I don’t really feel like I have everything I need for a Cobra firing range (some ammo cans and a table might’ve helped), it’s still kind of amazing something like this ever existed now.

Of course, I see why the sub-line only lasted two years: truth be told, it’s a pretty boring item, especially for roughly the price of a figure. I wish stuff like this still existed, but you don’t really get all that much with the Rifle Range. The targets are flimsy and love falling down on their own, and the other accessories just seem somewhat bland. Even as a grown man who loves making little dioramas, I’ve hardly ever used these pieces just because they aren’t really all that much to toss around. The barrier doesn’t look that good, the sign doesn’t have much value, and while the gun-rack is pretty nice, you also only get one, which is pretty lame.

The guns kind of just seem like leftovers from an accessory pack. You get an Airborne rifle, Snow Job rifle and a Grunt M-16 in blue, which is pretty odd since both the boxart and packaging photo show an Officer’s AK-47 in place of the Airborne gun. A very similar gun can be found in Accessory Pack #2, so I guess if you wanted you could assemble your own “preproduction” version with that, though you wouldn’t have the tan figure stands.

It feels wrong for some reason to say this, but honestly I think half of what I have against this little set is just the fact that I like Power Team Elite (AKA: Click n’ Play) accessories a little more. There’s a cool and immersive feeling I get when I take photos of Joes only using their intended contemporary items, which is why my newer photos feature tons of bright, neon guns you used to never see. Using the Rifle Range however, really isn’t as easy as it should be. Part of that’s just because you don’t get enough with it, and another part of that is that is because I can’t disconnect from the notion that the guns would look like stand-ins for a poor person if I used them.

You can get a complete Cobra Rifle Range for $15, which isn’t bad for modern Joe pricing. In my experience, vying for a mint complete set more often feels somewhat impractical compared to just building a complete one out of a few lots and enjoying the extra accessories that come your way, but your mileage may vary. For what it is, I enjoy having it around, and I mildly feel like the Battlefield Accessories are required for the full 80‘s GI Joe experience, but it’s also not really the most dazzling of items.