Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Transformers 3rd Party: Headrobots - Crystal Cobra

One of the early Third Party companies on the Transformers scene was Headrobot. Their initial release, Cobra seemed to be pretty popular amongst fans. The premise was simple, create new G1 like transforming Headmaster heads.

The Cobra release would go on to be reproduced in several different varieties. In limited numbers Cobra was first released in a all gray prototype color. The mold was also used to create several exclusive versions such as the very nice Nightrider for Japan (complete in a G1 Black Zarak color scheme!) and as Toxin for the 2011 TFCon exclusive. There was even a G.I.Joe themed released dubbed as Snake! The only release that I wasn't familiar with was the Mega Toy Fan exclusive, D-1S Crystal Cobra.

Crystal Cobra photo 175_zpsc0740e62.jpg

I don't know the whole background on this release, but from the packaging I can deduce that this was an exclusive from summer of 2010. The figure contains the side guns that were also included with Nightrider and Snake. The figure comes packaged in a resealable clamshell with a G1 like insert.

Crystal Cobra photo 180_zps400fa8ed.jpg

The thing about translucent toys such as this is they are hard to photograph! I will preface this review by saying the toy looks much better in person. I always loved the look of the head, sadly the red plastic doesn't show off the molded details very well.

Crystal Cobra photo 178_zps97b861f1.jpg

I already liked the alternate mode of the snake with tank treads, but the addition of the new side guns take it to the next level. The additional gun accessory is quite ingenious actually. The guns snap onto the back of the snake and also doubles as a handgun for a larger Transformer.

Crystal Cobra photo 182_zps8adad6c0.jpg

Crystal Cobra photo 181_zpsa38f6262.jpg

The closest Headmaster figure within my grasp was the Horrorcon Snapdragon. Now granted a red translucent head may not blend in very well with any G1 Headmaster figure, it really clashes with Snapdragon's purple!

This release of Cobra isn't for everyone. Unless you are a completionist or just love translucent red Transformers, this is a release you can easily skip. Photographing this toy however has made me really want to grab Nightrider (or Snake) off my wall to photograph so stay tuned. Perhaps there is more Headrobots love in your future.

7 comments:

  1. Neat ideal but reminds me of something more Go-Bot related than Transformers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, not my favorite release. Got 'em for cheap and their can't be that many floating around out there so...

      Delete
  2. I love the name more than the figure. It sounds like a Cobra nightclub or something.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, you'd think the Crystal Cobra is where Destro and the Baroness hung out after a long day of terrorism!

      Delete
  3. very nice. I like this, but agree that transparent stuff is very difficult to photograph. Often the details get blurred into each other.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It also doesn't help that my digital camera is just average and I'm still trying to figure out the best background and lighting to use while photographing the toys.

      Delete
    2. it's really to photo transparent stuff. I have some trouble getting the details of my transparent SCF ACT2 Rodimus to show as well... ah well, we'll learn.

      Delete