GI Joe 25th Anniversary: Cobra Sting Raider

One of the dilemmas I had with the original line of G.I. Joe toys growing up wasn't the cost of the toys necessarily, it was the size of the toys - vehicles in particular.  Let's not kid ourselves.  As cool as some of the action figures were, the vehicles and play sets are what made the Joe line of toys so much fun.

Over the last 15 or so years I've been able to acquire a lot of these bulky toys I never owned as a kid.  My favorite purchase was a near complete Terror Drome from an old BigBadToyStore vintage clearance sale.  As with many things I've collected over the years space is always a very valuable commodity and something that I don't always have a lot of.  As I've grown older and shifted my focus back to Transformers, I still have a special place for certain G.I. Joe toys and this is one of them.

I bought nearly everything released in the 25th Anniversary series of G.I. Joe.  In fact I have all but 3 of the 25th Anniversary Cobra figures, sealed on card, hanging on the wall effectively making a wall paper like border across the top.  While I've liquidated much of the loose stuff recently, I decided to hold onto the Cobra Sting Raider...better known as the Water Moccasin.  I can remember getting the Joe's Killer W.H.A.L.E. vehicle for Christmas one year and always wanting a cobra watercraft to pit against the big hovercraft.  When the Water Moccasin was released I instantly asked my parents for it.  A couple of good report cards later and it was all mine.

Despite the name change (legal reasons I assume), the new Cobra Sting Raider retains pretty much everything I can remember about the old Water Moccasin.  Most importantly the driver figure was still included and the same great character, Copperhead!

Copperhead was one of my all time favorite Cobra characters, though I'm not entirely sure why.  Perhaps it was the teal and neon green colored outfit, or the cool looking helmet.  Whatever the reasons I love the new updated 25th Anniversary figure.  Most of the old vehicle driver didn't come with accessories, or at least not weapons.  This new Copperhead however comes packaged with a menacing shotgun.  Now he doesn't have to be inside his watercraft to be armed so watch out Joes!

I really can't find any major differences with the vehicle itself over the original.  The fan propeller still spins via a small wheel, there are compartments on each side towards the rear, same clear removable canopy on the cockpit, 360 degree rotating gunner's seat, side cannons and even the small torpedo sled underneath the watercraft.  This is a very fun and what I liked about it as a kid and to this day is it's size.  It isn't too small (as it can carry an additional 3 figures), but it isn't too big either.  Honestly I don't understand how full on Joe collectors have enough room to display their collections as large as some of the toys are.  That said this is an excellent walk down memory lane toy and one that should be easily attainable on the secondary market.

G.I. Joe Retaliation: Cobra Fangboat w/ Swamp-Viper

Get 'em while you can.  That's what was going through my mind over the Memorial Day weekend when I came across some freshly stocked G.I. Joe Retaliation toys at Target.  By now I'm sure you have heard that the movie has been pushed back to March, 2013.  Because of this move by Paramount, Hasbro has decided to leave the first wave of toys on retail shelves - but not ship any additional waves until closer to the release date of the movie.  I'm not sure what this means to the toys, but my guess is after they sell out most retailers won't bother to try and re-stock them.  Some Walmart stores aren't even carrying the new Retaliation toys because of poor G.I. Joe sales in the past.

When I first saw pictures of the Cobra Fangboat online I laughed.  Honestly.  That said when I found it recently on the shelf I started to sing a different tune.  The toy is based on the original Water Moccasin...a childhood favorite of mine.  When the Water Moccasin was re-released as the Sting Raider in the 25th Anniversary series I quickly bought it.  I skipped on the later Rise of Cobra release, but I felt compelled to buy this on sight.  Chock it up to my curiosity of the included Swamp-Viper figure.





The first thing I noticed is how small and compact the box is.  I knew Hasbro was making some cost saving moves with this line, but dang is this box small.  Gone are the big window boxes used for the 25th Anniversary vehicles.  The toy comes partially unassembled...part of the charm of old school Joe vehicles.





Pop in the center gun placement, snap on the new spring loaded torpedo launcher, snap on the engine cover, rear compartment covers, cockpit cover and assemble the fan mechanism.  Done.

Things I like about the Fangboat:

- Tampographs.  The large red Cobra symbols on the rear compartment covers and on the black hull aren't stickers!  The rest of the decoration are your standard fare clear stickers.
- Torpedo Launcher.  I thought it was silly at first, but I like how they took the original tooling of the boat and made the launcher fit in place of the original gun.  If you have an extra gun you can remove the launcher to have that more classic look.
- Swamp-Viper.  I love the head sculpt and the overall look of the figure.  More on him in a bit.

Things I don't like about the Fangboat:

- Canopy cockpit piece.  Call it mold degradation or back luck, but the plastic on the red portion of the cockpit is warped.  This makes the clear canopy piece not want to snap into place...at least without a lot of force.



The included stickers are pretty cool.  I love this new (is it new?) Cobra decal for the side of the boat.



Here is a close up of the issue I referred to.  See how the tabs on the front of the canopy cover don't tab in?  The red painted plastic dips down in the middle.  Not sure if this is a defect of mine or a problem they all suffer from.  I was able to take a flat head screwdriver and apply enough force to snap the piece in place, but now I'm afraid to remove it fearing the tabs will break.



Don't like the look of the new torpedo launcher?  Have no fear, just snap it off and steal a gun from your 25th/ROC Sting Raider!



I did notice a few changes to the mold when I put them side by side with my 25th Anniversary Sting Raider.  The engine cover has been remolded - using less plastic.  Notice the cover doesn't surround the wheel that spins the rear fan.



The other change I noticed was to the copyright info on the bottom of the boat.  This was has the blurb:

" Represented by: Hasbro Europe "

Not sure what that means, but this isn't printed on the bottom of the Sting Raider.



The included driver is a new version of the Cobra Swamp-Viper.  I'm sure a lot of Cobra fans were happy to hear the news of a new Viper figure, but alas keep your excitement bottled up.  Remember when I said Hasbro implemented some cost saving measures for this line?  Well look no further than the vehicle figures.  Here is Swamp-Viper in all his glory...with a T-crotch.  Yup, we're back to the days of G.I. Joe vs. Cobra figures!  Notice there isn't any elbow or knee articulation either.  Static poses is all you get!  His hands and arms are also molded in an odd position.



He can wield a weapon, but it doesn't look very natural.



This is about the limit of his poseability.




The best part of the figure is the head sculpt.  It immediately reminded me of the old Lamprey figures that piloted the Cobra Hydrofoil.  The head doesn't rotate side to side, but the molded "bandana" limits how far the head will turn.  The head does pop off rather easy allowing for customizers to work their magic.



Side by side w/ Copperhead you can see how much of a step back the Swamp-Viper is.  It's a shame Hasbro took this route as the Swamp-Viper figure had potential.



At the end of the day the Water Moccasin / Sting Raider and Copperhead win.  There are some redeeming merits about the Fangboat however that warrants a purchase.  It's not for everyone and I'm sure I'm in the minority when I say I like the new colors of the boat and the articulate challenged figure.