Tag Archives: TBM

Black Major 2017 Cobra Soldado

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Black Major 2017 Cobra Soldado

There’s going to come a point where my posts about custom Cobra Troopers, Night Vipers and Alley Vipers are going to all sound the same, which is frustrating. However, it’s a risk I’m willing to take to keep putting out posts on the different 3rd party releases, as there’s not a lot of information on these out there. Plus, there’s so many of these repaints I genuinely like, I’m beginning to think I just can’t get tired of the Cobra Trooper mold. Here I’ll be looking at The Black Major’s Cobra Soldado, a reinterpretation of the Brazilian Comandos em Acao figure.

TBM’s Cobra Soldado is made from his second Cobra Trooper mold that he began using around 2014. It’s noticeably different from the 2010 mold, but the only real flaw in my view is that the figure’s stance is somewhat pigeon-toed. Other than that, it’s a really solid mold and there’s a lot of changes I like here. Notably, compatibility with standard vintage backpacks, though I also feel as though these can sit better than the 2010 figures, which had an odd habit of their legs wanting to spread apart.

This figure is of course a remake of the Brazilian Cobra Soldado, as mentioned before. It’s really cool that TBM chose to make this because that’s a very nice figure famous for it’s bright blue color it used instead of the standard Cobra blue. The downside of that figure, (besides being rare) is that it makes use of the ‘82 straight-arm tooling. For me and most collectors, this renders a figure nearly useless, so this Black Major release is the first Cobra Soldado that actually works with the other 90% of a collection.

There’s at least three different takes/variants on this figure, which is surprising. The first release has a black cobra symbol and a black mask, and later figures showed up with chrome masks, Micky-mouse Cobra Commander styled silver-symbols, and finally a red-symbol figure that is a slightly different shade of blue. The last figure is the one that stands out the most as it’s blue color looks closer to the original Cobra Soldado, besides having the appropriately colored symbol. Of them, the red-symbol variation is easily my favorite, though I saw them less often than the first release.

Of course, another cool thing about the second Cobra trooper mold is that you get some extra accessories with it. Besides the classic Dragunov, you get a Cobra Officer’s AK47, and the ‘86 Viper’s backpack. I rarely use the packs, but the AK is nice the have in ample supply, and it really adds value to these for me. Of course, I guess you could complain that the figure doesn’t include Rock&Roll’s M60, like the original Soldado, but personally I really don’t care since machine-gunners are niche and not something you need a lot of.

The 2017 run of Cobra Troopers saturated the market a little more than older TBM Troopers. For a while, you saw these show up in good numbers, and less popular figures could be had pretty cheaply. As one would expect, they’re a little harder to find now, and generally they run around $20 a pop. For me, this is a perfectly reasonable price given the nature of these figures, though I’ll probably not be buying more since I already acquired a nice squad while they were cheap.

hasbro vintage arah comandos em acao tbm customs the black major hasbro vintage arah comandos em acao tbm customs the black major

Black Major 2017 Cobra Soldado Links:

Forgotten Figures

Differences Between TBM Troopers at Attica Gazette

2020 TBM Eels (Copperhead Colors)

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2020 TBM Eels (Copperhead Colors)

So after a good amount of hype, The Black Major’s latest project has finally arrived, and this time it’s the 1985 Eel mold. There’s quite a few interesting color schemes floating around, though a popular one and the one I liked best was this color scheme based on ‘84 Copperhead.

GI Joe TBM The Black Major eels copperhead vintage arah

In general, I’m not someone who was overly excited for Eel repaints, and that’s for a handful of reasons. The Eel was a good figure that serves it’s purpose, and similar to the Snow Serpent, there’s not much need for a repaint of a character so specialized. Because of this, I think a lot of the repaints went in a more novel direction, which doesn’t work for me with this mold. I also just don’t like this mold as much as other people though, so there’s that too.

This color scheme is very good however, and very useful to my collection. As a personal choice, I don’t like imagining that they have much relation to Copperhead (he’s a rogue agent), but rather are just an Eel division in swamp-centric colors. This to me, makes them a little more unique and gives them a more distinct role in my collection. This way it provides some new opportunities, like giving them the Dreadnok Swampfire, or having someone for Muskrat to fight.

The quality of these figures is very good, maybe the best I’ve encountered from factory customs. In general I don’t judge these figures too harshly for quality, as with their third-party origins and small production runs, it’s usually going to be the case that a figure won’t be perfect. With that said, these are simply excellent. The paint, joints, and even the numerous parts have a solid feel to them, which surprised me, as I was expecting the flippers or mouthpiece at least to have some problems. Instead, everything’s very snug and almost on par with vintage quality.

You get the original Eel’s full assortment of gear, including the two-piece backpack, speargun, mouthpiece and flippers. All of the parts are cast in a winter green color, which looks pretty good. Personally I think black parts might’ve contrasted better with the figure itself, but I really like these oddly colored 80‘s accessories, so I’d rather have them like this than be perfectly attuned to my esthetic sense.

It seems like with factory customs, you get about a year or so of seeing the figures float around plentifully before things start to dry up. These particular Eels are the cream of the crop from this set, so I didn’t chose to wait around on them. However, I’m pretty sure a handful of these will be available into next year, at which point I’ll probably dip my hands into a few more color schemes. I expect you’ll see these particular Eels for at least the rest of the year at their normal $15 to $18, which they’re well worth.

2010 TBM Black Cobra Trooper

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2010 TBM Black Cobra Trooper

It seemed like not so long ago that a bunch of mysterious, bootleg Cobra Troopers popped up on eBay and no one really knew what they were or what they’d be like. While the “factory custom” scene has changed a little in the years since then, it’s interesting to take a look back at some of the very first figures. This black Cobra Trooper was the first one I acquired.

When these figures surfaced, I was dead-broke, so I couldn’t get too much of what was available. Because of that, I singled out figures I thought might be more well suited for use in small numbers apart from bigger squads. Given that this guy is mostly just a single black color, I thought he could make decent for a sniper. I believe I stole the idea of using an all-black Cobra as a sniper from the Sideshow Cobra Sniper that came out a little before that, which struck me as an interesting concept.

At the time, for a bootleg that nobody knew much about, the quality of this release was quite impressive. A series of similar Trooper bootlegs had come out roughly a year prior, which were much flimsier by comparison. Since then, I think the subsequent Black Major releases have made this figure seem less nice. It has a few interesting quirks not seen on later releases, namely the backpack hole. On the original run of TBM Troopers, all of the figures had smaller screw-holes/backpack holes. This was done deliberately to further distinguish these figures from their vintage counterparts, but it also means they can’t use a backpack.

For the most part, the figure is solid black with some light gray painted details and a silver Cobra sigil. It’s a simple look that fulfills it’s role in my collection nicely, and also looks good with basically any other early Cobra. The paint is sharp and clean, although interestingly there’s a good amount of excess paint above the belt on the waist. The later Troopers from TBM don’t have this problem, but on all of the 2010 Troopers, everything above the belt is painted, which is a bit quirky.

For accessories, you get only the classic Dragunov sniper riffle like with the original figure. It’s a faithful recreation and at the time, this part was precious and hard to come by. Of course, it’s the only part you get and later releases improved by including the Officer’s AK-47 and a Viper backpack. Still, at the time just getting the black Dragunov was great, and I certainly enjoy having no shortage of them years later.

Pricing Black Major customs can be difficult, as this figure’s gotten much harder to find, as you might expect. Of course, most of the customs including ones from around the same time tend to cap their value around $20 to $30, so it’s fair to say this guy’s probably in the same ballpark. I think Black Major’s second run of Cobra Troopers was better than the first, but this is still a really a cool figure I’m glad to have in my collection.

TBM the black major custom Cobra Trooper black 2010 gi joe vintage hasbro
TBM the black major custom Cobra Trooper black 2010 gi joe vintage hasbro
TBM the black major custom Cobra Trooper black 2010 gi joe vintage hasbro

2010 TBM Black Cobra Trooper Links:

Collection of all 2010 TBM Cobra Troopers

Pre-Black Major Cobra Trooper customs

Later TBM Cobra Troopers

TBM Nocturnal Alley Viper (Night Viper colors)

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TBM Nocturnal Alley Viper

I’ve wrote about a lot of Alley Vipers here, so I was hesitant to keep making post about more of them. However, I’ve noticed how much the majority of my traffic tends to favor factory custom posts. So, despite the repetitive nature of staying on one single topic, it’s justified for the sake of increasing the amount of written information and documentation of these.

One problem that factory customs have run into, is that most GI Joe molds have a pretty finite life-span of straight repaints you can make before a figure gets boring. It’s a bigger problem for some figures more than others, as while I’ll likely purchase a Cobra Trooper in any color scheme conceivable, my interest in things like BATs and Alley Vipers is somewhat more fickle. After the first couple of recolors, I usually can’t justify more.

This particular Alley Viper avoids such a problem in part, because it disregards the standard Alley Viper paint applications, and has it’s own, truly unique deco. It does a surprising amount to highlight the detail of the Alley Viper mold in a way that other releases have yet to do. The contrasting black painted across the pouches on the Alley Viper’s chest really breaks up the look of the figure. The zipper that’s highlighted here is another nice detail that’s easier to miss on the V1 Alley Viper.

Another thing factory customs have been notoriously bad about, is matching the colors of new releases to vintage figures. In the case of TBM, both the Python Cobra Troopers and Python Night Vipers end up not matching so well with the colors on the vintage Python Patrol. This Nocturnal Alley Viper, however, does not suffer from such an ill fate. In fact, the green color of the figure is remarkably close to the V1 Night Viper, which really adds some appeal to this release for that reason. Of course, if you happen to own a Funskool Night Viper, the plastic is a slightly better match to that release.

The parts are the standard set you’d expect for the Alley Viper, including the original gun, backpack, and shield. The shield is a fairly interesting piece, as once again the deco has been creatively changed a bit. Replacing the standard camo is a large Cobra logo, which is distinct and adds something to the figure. My only problem is that the face of the Cobra doesn’t perfectly fit over the shield, but other than that, it looks pretty good.

This Alley Viper trends around $20, like many of the custom Alley Vipers that are still available. Given how much standard vintage Alley Vipers have always gone for, I don’t think this is too much to pay. It’s also appealing that you can integrate this figure with an existing squad of Night Vipers, which makes me feel better about only having one.

TBM Steel Brigade (1992 Mail Away Remake)

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TBM Steel Brigade (1992 Mail Away Remake)

As a kid, mail away toys were a constant item of my desires as they were for my brother as well. Unfortunately, I had the kind of no-fun parents who thought that any toy you paid postage for was a scam. So when I started collecting as an adult, you can imagine my embitterment upon discovering the aftermarket prices on V2 Steel Brigades… Little to say, this Black Major Reproduction became an immediate item of my interest.

So around late 2017, The Black Major produced a run of custom Steel Brigades in assorted color varieties. Of them, he made a reproduction run of V1 and V2 Steel Brigades, with some obvious and tasteful differences so that anyone can tell them apart form one of Hasbro’s. The V2 Steel Brigade remake was of great interest to me, even though I’m not the type to shy away from paying for a decent collectible.

The thing is, the 1992 Steel Brigade is a figure that simply out prices what it’s current value should be today. You see them plenty in comparison to other rarities, but that doesn’t stop these from fetching anywhere from $300 to $500. That’s simply too much for a domestic release. But, the colors are interesting and it does well to compliment my 90‘s collection, which is why this custom serves my needs perfectly.

The figure is quite similar to the Hasbro version with a few obvious differences. First, all of the colors are much brighter. This may be off putting to some, but I think they match very well with some of the other brightly colored items from Battle Corps and such. Second, the arm patch is now silver instead of white. Third, the belt is now solid gold, and does not have the black details of the Hasbro version.

The Black Major Steel Brigades were overall some pretty good figures quality wise, but the run had one general problem in the way that they had a lot of difficulty holding their guns. Their grips were too tight while their guns had handles too thick: certainly a recipe for broken thumbs on such otherwise fantastic figures. I’ve circumvented this by trimming a portion of the handles down on the M16’s for some of mine as you can see below.

The black major factory custom 1992 Steel Brigade gi joe hasbro mail away exclusive

This figure does a great thing in providing me all I need from the V2 Steel Brigade. It’s a niche and odd repaint, but I like it and it nicely compliments my 90‘s collection. This design is by no means worth the $300+ that a Hasbro figure can commend, but a similar looking remake for $15 to $20 is perfect.

The black major factory custom 1992 Steel Brigade gi joe hasbro mail away exclusive

TBM Steel Brigade and Steel Brigade V2 Links:

Forgotten Figures

Cobra Island

Yo Joe

Letal Customs Iron Grenadiers

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In late 2017, another individual producing factory GI Joe customs (bootlegs) showed up going by the handle of Letal Customs. The first set of figures is the 1988 Iron Grenadier in four color schemes. Like The Black Major’s customs, these figures are of high quality and this writing will profile my thoughts on all four figures from the first wave.

Letal Custom TBM The Black Major Bootleg GI Joe Destro Iron Grenadiers

They come mainly in environment themed color schemes, with one being a Crimson Guard teemed palette. All of the colors are vaguely reminiscent of existing Hasbro figures, such as the Snow Serpent, Desert Scorpion and Night Viper. They’re similar enough that they blend in well with those figures, but different enough that they’re able to stand on their own as well.

Each figure comes with a very nice assortment of five parts. You get the original Iron Grenadier’s gigantic Uzi, sword, and pistol as well as a smaller Uzi, and Iron Grenadier Destro’s sword. The Destro sword was a very nice inclusion and a great extra mile these figures didn’t have to go, but are hugely benefited by. The smaller Uzi is also great, as the vintage one is somewhat risky to use for it’s tendency to break thumbs. The load out does a really good job covering all of it’s basses.

Letal Custom TBM The Black Major Bootleg GI Joe Destro Iron Grenadiers

The quality of these figures is very good. Overall, the plastic has a nice feeling akin to that used on the vintage figures, and is thoroughly pleasing. A few figures have reversed rivets in the shoulders, but that’s the worst I can say and it’s hardly a problem. The paint applications are also very clean.

Moving along here are my thought on the individual color schemes.

Crimson Guard colors

Of the lot, this one is the most eye-catching and my personal favorite. I also feel like there’s a lot of applications this figure can be used for, as the colors work well enough with the Iron Grenadiers still, but also look excellent with most of the existing Crimson Guard figures. Below is a comparison of the Crimson Iron Grenadier with Hasbro’s Crimson Guard Immortal, Funskool’s Crimson Guard Immortal, the Crimson Guard Commander, and the 1985 Crimson Guard:

Letal Custom TBM The Black Major Bootleg GI Joe Destro Iron Grenadiers

As you can see, the particular shade of red isn’t a perfect match to the V1 Crimson Guard, but it is almost the exact same shade as the Crimson Guard Immortals. I’m not quite sure if this was intentional or not, but it’s pretty cool and opens you up to some LBC (part swapping) potential as well.

Desert colors

I was really torn on this color scheme, and I have to admit that at first I didn’t like this one. Though, it’s greatly grown on me, especially after seeing how it looks with the Desert Scorpion. Personally, I’d have much preferred for all of the yellow to be replaced by either gold or another shade of brown. However, when coupled with the orange accessories, you have a figure that looks like he jumped right out of the 90‘s, which I appreciate for it’s retro appeal.

Letal Custom TBM The Black Major Bootleg GI Joe Destro Iron Grenadiers

Snow Serpent Colors

These colors are really interesting. The blue and white makes it the opposite of the vintage Iron Grenadier, which is a cool look. Of course, I believe the colors are meant to resemble the V1 Snow Serpent, which it also does a fairly good job of. I’ve always figured MARS probably operates often in cold, northern climates, so as an environmentally themed repaint, this one makes a bit of sense too.

Forest Green Colors

Lastly, we have the green one. He’s an odd shade of green that I don’t think matches any other Cobras exactly, but looks good with a few regardless. It’s a bit harder to see the details on this guy, as they’re painted largely in black and brown shades, but it’s a nice look regardless. He comes off as a bit bland to me, but that’s mainly because I just prefer the more regal palates such as the Crimson one.

Letal Custom TBM The Black Major Bootleg GI Joe Destro Iron Grenadiers

All in all, these are some excellent figures and I’m really pleased with my set. Right now you can get them off eBay or from Letal Customs on Instagram, which I recommend doing if you have any interest in these. Most of these customs tend to be figures you have a short window to acquiring before they’re gone, so I wouldn’t suggest waiting too long.

More on Letal Customs Iron Grenadiers:

Custom Iron Grenadiers at Cobra Island (Desert, Jungle, Arctic, Crimson)

eBay listing

Letal Customs on Instagram

Clean-up Ladies

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Cobra Trooper Hazard Troopers Vipers Female Cobras TBM GI Joe vintage ARAHFemale soldiers find odd jobs in the Cobra hierarchy. This pair works as security at a Cobra chemical plant. They may not be technicians, but they can still melt your heart: literally!

These two were customs/KOs by The Black Major, famous for making recolored Crimson Guards and Cobra Troopers. Very interesting figures indeed, I find myself rather happy with the figures where he experimented with punchier colors. It always provides so much fun contemplating their different roles or applications. I also really love the riot shields these included.

One Shot, One Chance

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Low-Light Dial-Tone Cobra Commander Tele-Viper Major Bludd Cobra Trooper TBM Stinger ARAH Vintage Hasbro GI Joe

Low-Light and Dial-Tone have crawled, hid, and waited for days on a special mission to assassinate Cobra Commander. Will they hit? If they do, there won’t be time to confirm once an onslaught of Cobras go to pursue them.

I’ve never seen a diorama photographed from a first-person perspective, so this was an attempt at that. The secret behind this trickery is that I actually combined three separate images into one, and made the scope overlay in Photoshop. It was fun to do.