GI Joe Pursuit of Cobra Jungle B.A.T.

I sat up all last night debating with myself if I liked the Cobra Jungle B.A.T. or not.  I am a huge fan of the campy classic Cobra B.A.T., with its black and yellow body and lenticular chest, it is one of the all time Cobra greats. The 25th anniversary B.A.T. was a pretty good update too (missing lenticular and all). The latest is a Jungle version, a part camo repaint, part accessory dress up. 

I want to say he is more of a last years toy, as I found one yesterday at a Paul's Supermarket, a store that is never current on popular toys. I had to pay a little more, $10.49, which is ridiculous, but I guess beats online prices. That price is getting to be the norm anyway, which will end my GI Joe collecting habits pretty soon.

That Jungle B.A.T. comes with a pretty heavy gatling gun, but its very clumsy in use, hard to hold. The ammo clip feeds into that back pack, which barely fits on the back. (Firing effects are my imagination).

The Jungle B.A.T. still comes with those neat interchangeable arm pieces, my favorite in this situation is the flame thrower.  (Firing effects are my imagination).

What sold me on the toy was the battle damaged chest plate (Old lenticular location), and interchangeable head. That just looks brutal, if that wasn't included I would have passed on the figure.

So did I decide to like it?

The final verdict is...

Nope, I hate it. Its too much. What makes the classic B.A.T. go is its ability to go anywhere in its standard suit. It would be scary to see the black and yellow army in the jungle, forest, tundra, ocean etc. I just don't see Dr. Mindbender asking the B.A.T.s to put on camo pants for their Jungle assignment. I bought merely for the battle damage, and on the fly decision.

I will say though, if its a single B.A.T., with more character then an army, I don't mind the camo look for a small Cobra Jungle Team. That way you can play it as the emotionless robot character opposite the jokester leafy guy, and grumpy faced Predator.

G.I. Joe The Pursuit of Cobra: Blowtorch the Flamethrower

Digging in my stockpile of overstock toys today, I found Blowtorch. As much as I like Blowtorch, I was surprised to see him not opened yet. He is a classic character from the old show and very recognizable. I believe this toy is pretty much a reissue from the remnants of the 25th anniversary line that I missed? I am very pleased he got a slight upgrade and or encore in the very well made Pursuit of Cobra line.

So it looks like I have two fire starters now, and one fire extinguisher.

I wonder how these guys get along in the break room?

Yeah, that's about what I thought.

One HIGHLY inappropriate GI Joe Cycle Armour use...

A keen eye asks why are the Cycle Armour's handle bars located where they are at. Scarlet figured it out a little too fast.

G.I. Joe The Pursuit of Cobra City Strike Cycle Armour with Ashiko Part 3

What is the final verdict on the Cycle Armour suit you ask? I would say 50/50. I am amazed it works as well as it does. Usually suits like this are really a mess. This suit IS a mess but with enough interesting features it actually is kind of cool to play with. Yes its a nightmare of pieces and parts. The Cycle does look pretty cool because of all those parts layered together. The Suit is a little clumsy, the poor figure's groin likes to go out with all that weight. The Cycle also a little difficult to put back together again.

I suppose its a good anchor piece if you like the Accelerator Suit deal. I imagine that this was intended for the technological theme. In the end though, I would stick with War Machine for a real armour suit.

G.I. Joe The Pursuit of Cobra City Strike Cycle Armour with Ashiko Part 2

Last time on Cycle Armour GI Joe guy, we saw a GI Joe on a cycle. This time we see that the Cycle does indeed become a powerful Suit of Armour. How does the Armour Suit handle a hand rail you ask?

Uh-Oh!

I guess it looks good in concept, but functions a little clunky in reality.

Maybe next time I will say more about this.

G.I. Joe The Pursuit of Cobra City Strike Cycle Armour with Ashiko

I did a visit to Grocery Outlet to pick up one of these $9.99 bikes (thanks to thatboywhite for spotting). It also forms a nasty little armour suit, but more on that some other day. The real treat is this ramp...

Walmart was selling Tech Deck Skate ramp sets for $7.50, this is only a fraction of the pieces. I plan to use them for mayhem and display stand purposes. Now lets try the bike!

It was a difficult climb, as I had to use my finger.

Triumph at the top, things look good!

OH! Well, this guy needs more ramp stunt work.

GI Joe The Pursuit of Cobra; Cobra Ice Cutter

Totally awesome tread height dude!

Cobra Commander clearly has rehired, or un-prisoned, his 1980's vehicle design team. Many of the new Pursuit of Cobra vehicles borrow much from the old era. They have that Cobra funky design, yet still almost look possible to build. The Ice Cutter has those great flipping tracks borrowing from He-Man's Attak Trak too. I think the general consensous is, neat flipping tracks, but a need to lock them into place. I think I will do a video shortly to show those off, so stay tuned.

the back sports a big wheel, that would probably need some spikes for even more traction. I can't imagine how difficult it would be to drive and maintain this thing. Yet it is still totally awesome. The laser cannon on top, is just that a laser cannon. No shooting projectile if you can imagine that!

The driver wields two powerful flat like rackets for hitting Joe's in the face. He also has a back back with mini missile, and a machine gun.

Great toy to add to your arctic battle teams.

The Pursuit of Cobra; Shadow Tracker

Dear Lord, this guy is creepy. Yeah, Predator creepy.

I exchanged an old unopened five Dollar Dusty for Shadow Tracker, using my Walgreens receipt from last week's Low Light. Pretty evil eh? COBRA!!!

Once again, this guy is packed to the brim with utensils and weapons. His Bow weapon is great, and his hands are formed to hold arrows. Real nice! The Dread hairdo gives the Dreadnoks something to think about too.

As for his creepy green net, he likes to collect heads. Oh, not again Man-At-Arms?!!

So yeah, this guy begs a violent, bloody, Stop Motion someday.

The Pursuit of Cobra; GI Joe Low-Light

Low-Light is the GI Joe team's night operations expert. He was one of my favorites from the original series season 2. I like how he was once afraid of the dark, yet now works in the dark.

This guy is nuts! I can't believe how much crap Low-Light comes with.

There is simply too much to keep track of with these new GI Joes. TOO MUCH!!!

Are you #@&*ing kidding me?

The only thing missing is a tilting neck so he can lay low.

A thousand gold stars for this action figure, well worth the rip-off price that Walgreens got me for. At least I can take back an older PoC figure I didn't open yet, use the receipt, and exchange it for a newer one, that I want.

GI Joe The Pursuit of Cobra; Team Commander Duke

I will go out on a limb and say the Pursuit of Cobra line will never be topped. Action figure perfection. I picked up Duke finally, and he will be my primary Duke from now on. What's that on his back?

Just simple shoulder-mounted dual plasma cannons.

Is that a little much?

Is he over compensating for something?

Really, won't those throw out his back?

I think he will be just fine with that choice of weapon vs the HISS Tank V5.

The Pursuit of Cobra; H.I.S.S. Tank V.5

I was fortunate to view a H.I.S.S. Tank in the wild today, here is my story.

I heard a loud noise in the backyard. I ran to go see. In the distance a Cobra H.I.S.S Tank V.5.

It spotted me first, and raised to strike!

It looked at me.

I looked at it closer.

A canopy opened, and a tiny man appeared.

He exited momentarily and stated that this land is now in Cobra's control.

He then went on his way.