Cobra Officer & Trooper GI Joe O-Ring Retro Collection Hands on Review
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Summary
The new GI Joe Retro Collection O-Ring Cobra Officer & Cobra Trooper 2 Pack is one of the coolest retro items I have purchased in a long time. So, join us now for this GI Joe Retro Collection Cobra Officer & Cobra Trooper Hands on Review. The second set to come out of Hasbro’s Retro O-Ring Collection, these figures harken straight back to 1983 and a beautiful homage to those vintage A Real American Hero O-Ring Figures! They are exactly like the swivel arm Troopers we all loved as kids! These figures come packed with a ton of extra accessories and are so much fun to purchase multiple sets to troop build these guys! I had so much fun reviewing these guys and photographing them, so let’s dive right in! From the classic packaging and artwork to the original O-Ring articulation, these figures are exactly what O-Ring fans have been waiting for.
These Cobra figures are a perfect homage to the vintage 1983 A Real American Hero figures of our childhood! Featuring the same articulation as the vintage figures, but made of a more forgiving plastic, and packaged with a ton of accessories; these new O-Ring figures were a blast to photograph! Army building these guys is so much fun because of the endless possibilities for display and photography. Let’s look at each of these figures and their accessories in closer detail.
The Toy Sorceress really enjoys Toy Photography, so enjoy the fun ways you can pose your new Cobra Trooper and Officer 2 pack!
The Cobra Trooper looks exactly like his vintage counterpart! Complete with his red Cobra Insignia on his chest, black shoulder straps, multiple pockets & pouches, silver shoulder hook, black knee pads, and knife strapped to his left leg. These figures are very well painted and look sharp when you see them in person. He holds his weapons well, and articulation works just like the vintage figure. Made of a more flexible plastic, there is no worry with this figure of cracked crotches or broken thumbs! So go ahead and have fun with these guys
The Cobra Officer looks just like his vintage counterpart! Complete with his grey Cobra Insignia on his chest, black and grey shoulder straps, multiple pockets & pouches, black gloves and knife strapped to his left leg. His head includes the same chevron design on the front as well. Again, this figure too was very well painted and looks fantastic in hand.
Packaging
The Cobra Officer & Cobra Trooper two pack come packed in a special box, just like the Snake Eyes & Storm Shadow O-Ring Line Hasbro Pulse Exclusive 2 Pack. The artwork on the front of the package is nothing less than quintessential Cobra! It features a Cobra Officer and Cobra Trooper in the jungle, on sentry patrol. The same artwork is found on the back, along with various legal language. The green box is supposed to be a faux action figure case reminiscent of the vinyl action figure carrying cases of the 1980s. The bottom portion of the box is a weapons cache and is filled with a ton of extra accessories, which we will get into further detail later in this review.
The Cardbacks take us right back to 1983! With the burst explosion and beautiful classic Trooper and Officer artwork, these card backs looks great. The GI Joe Logo and Cobra Enemy yellow burst add to the nostalgia you will feel when you get these in your hands. These card backs, just like the first Snake Eyes & Storm Shadow O-Ring set are made of the same thin cardstock. My only complaint on these figures, that for the price, Hasbro really should be using a thicker cardstock for those Mint On Card collectors who would love to display these. The thin card stock tends to curve and that takes away from the displayability. Hasbro needs to learn from the GI Joe ReAction figures by Super7 come on a much thicker gage cardstock and display beautifully!
The back of the card backs has the same limited file cards as the first set as these are internationally distributed and so they have multiple languages, and it takes away from the extent of the information they can put on the file cards. This is something that have been bothering fans as well, but I guess it’s a cost saving function for Hasbro. Below the file cards, you can see the cross sell for Storm Shadow, Snake Eyes, Duke and Cobra Commander. Again, Hasbro should learn from the Super 7 GI Joe ReAction figures, as those have full file cards and a great cross sell!
Head
Cobra Trooper
The Cobra Trooper head is just like the vintage figure with a completely blue helmet and black face mask. The paint was fairly clean and the eyes look good on this example. These eyes on these troopers seem to look correct including eyebrows which is something they didn’t execute as well on the Retro O-Ring Storm Shadow figure.
Cobra Officer
The Cobra Officer head is also just like the vintage figure with a completely blue helmet and black face mask. This helmet, just as on the vintage figure includes the molded chevron on the front forehead portion of the blue helmet. Again, the paint is clean, and the eyes are executed beautifully on this figure as well.
Chest & Back
Cobra Trooper
The chest of the Cobra Trooper looks just like the 1983 vintage figure. He has a red Cobra insignia on his chest, black webbing shoulder straps, that wrap around his chest and around his back in a “Y” like nonsymmetrical design. He has a little molded collar at the top of his shirt. His back includes the same indented hole for you to place a backpack on him, although these figures do not include backpacks. You can see that they still use the same type of construction as the vintage figures, as you can see the screw that holds his torso together in his back.
Cobra Officer
The Cobra Officer has a different look to his chest and back then the Cobra Trooper. In this respect, Hasbro did these figures right to differentiate your Cobra ranks! Featuring the grey Cobra Insignia on his chest, this Officer figure is styling grey shoulder straps with various black and grey pouches on his belly area. The straps then wrap around the back into the classic “H” back design on his back. This figure too has the same indented hole for you to place a backpack on him, although these figures do not include backpacks.
Arms / Waist / Legs
Cobra Trooper
The Cobra Trooper’s arms match the vintage figure perfectly. On his right shoulder he has a silver painted hook and on the left 2 bullets with silver tips. His gloves are the same blue color as the rest of his arms. And now on the Retro collection version, you can see that the main rivets at the top of each shoulder and at the elbow joints are also colored blue as well to match the rest of his arms. This is a nice upgrade from the vintage, which is a silver metal color. So, makes for a much cleaner look.
The Cobra Trooper’s waist has the same chest straps and belt just like his vintage couterpart. All in black, you can see the various pouches and pockets molded to the front of his belt. On the back, it is a simple black belt which looks like a canvas belt. You can also see 2 small pockets on his butt. ( ya…. I said it!) This is also where Hasbro decided to put his manufacture’s stamp as well.
His legs are asymmetrical, as his left leg has a black knife strapped to his leg. He then has black knee pads on both his legs. His right leg has a blue molded pocket on the side. And he is wearing black boots. This design matches the vintage figure perfectly as well.
Cobra Officer
The Cobra Officer’s arms are both the same, just in blue and is his wearing black colored gloves. Ther are no pockets, pouches or adornments. He took has the blue colored rivets at his shoulders and elbow joints, which is a very clean look and a much-improved upgrade.
The Cobra Officer is also wearing a black canvas belt, and has some pockets and pouches molded on the front. The back is just the plain canvas belt and then the 2 blue pockets on his rear end. The translation from the vintage figure was executed perfectly!
His legs are asymmetrical, as his left leg has a black knife strapped to his leg. His right leg is just plain with no pockets or anything. The Cobra Officer is also wearing black boots. This design as well, matches the vintage figure perfectly.
Accessories
These figures were well accessorized as Hasbro really packed these guys out with a ton of stuff. They match the same style as the vintage action figures but are finished in a much flatter plastic finish. The accessories that came included with these figures includes:
- Sniper Rifle
- AK-47
- Sub Machine Gun
- Machine Gun with stand
- Uzi
- Figure stand
The second batch of accessories also included:
- Figure stand
- Green Bazooka
- Mortar
Vinatge Figure Comparison
Cobra Officer
The Cobra Officer originally came out in Wave 1 in the A Real American Hero line and was soon improved upon in Wave 1.5 with the new swivel arm design. The new Retro Collection Cobra Officer is a perfect version of his vintage counterpart and is anything a vast improvement with the more flexible plastic and blue colored rivets. I am so glad that Hasbro decided to go with the swivel arm design on these figures, as this is the only design that makes sense. I can’t be happier with the way these new O-ring figures came out and Hasbro needs to keep them coming!
Cobra Trooper
The original Cobra Trooper was also released in Wave 1 of the A Real American Hero line and then also improved as part of Wave 1.5 with the new swivel arm design. As you can see the Retro Collection version shown on the left is a perfect recreation to the vintage action figure shown on the right. Hasbro really knocked it out of the park with both of these figures and I can’t wait to see what else they have in store for us with the O-Ring Retro Collection.
Toy Photography fun
These GI Joe Retro O-Ring figures are great fun to set up and take cool photos! The great thing is, since they are 3-3/4″ and the same O-Ring design as the vintage figures, they are compatible with all your GI Joe Retro collection and vintage O-ring ARAH vehicles! So you can have a blast tasking photos of them! If any of you follow our Toy Habits Instagram page and The Toy Sorceress Instagram page, you will see the Toy Sorceress loves Toy Photography, so here are some photographs for your enjoyment and inspiration! Who knows, they might inspire you to pick up a set of these Retro O-Ring figures as well!
The troops had the opportunity to go outside in the wild and stretch their legs so to speak in the great outdoors! You can see from the photos in a Retro HISS Tank, the fun you can have photographing these Retro O-Ring figures! They blend right in with vintage A Real American Hero O-Ring figures as well!
Where to Buy:
You can still pick these up for $41.99 on HasbroPulse.com at : G.I. Joe Retro Collection Cobra Officer & Cobra Trooper 2-Pack – Hasbro Pulse
Rating
Toy Sorceress
Michael
Given my love for vintage O-Ring A Real American Hero Action Figures, these new GI Joe Retro Collection O-Ring figures are a perfect homage to their vintage counterparts! The retro style packaging complete with blast explosion and classic artwork, pulls on all those nostalgia strings! The new more flexible plastic on the figures, and bevy of extra accessories make these guys so much fun to pose and photograph! I give these a 6.5 out of 7. These figures are a perfect tribute to the vintage figures in every way. My only criticisms are the thin card backs and lack of information on the file cards, which is the only reasons I didn’t give these a perfect score.
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