COBRA Eel

Carlos guest-reviews another Wave 3 COBRA Trooper, this time the COBRA Eel!

CARLOS: Cobra Eel, our first Cobra underwater trooper for the R.O.C. line. When I first saw pics of the Eel I didnt know what to feel. I certainly wasn't excited, I mean we had gotten a great classic Eel in the 25th Anniversary line already, did we need another? Seeing the R.O.C. previews gives us a hint at an underwater fight scene, will these guys get some onscreen time? Does this new Eel sink or float? Read on to find out my opinion.

JUSTIN: Well, anyone who has seen the Rise of COBRA at this point knows that the figure does get some screen time, though mostly behind the stick of the Mantis subs...is that enough to warrant a purchase?

CARLOS: Well lets get to it. Its hard to tell from those dark pics up there but the R.O.C. Eel shares the exact same body, arms, and legs as Torpedo and pretty much every other underwater guy we've gotten. Sure its a great mold but Im tired of seeing it. Well does the Eel bring some gear to make up for the repaint body?

JUSTIN: Agreed on all counts. When Torpedo first came out, it was probably among my favorite figures in the Anniversary line to that date, but at this point it's getting pretty well-used and tired. I mean, it does make sense for the underwater troopers, but part of me would love to see something new and interesting, instead of simply continually tossing new webgear on top of the same figure, especially with those huge holsters.

CARLOS: Checking out his gear you get; a vest, air tank & hose, a knife, pistol, flippers, and an underwater speargun. Overall its a good compliment of gear for an underwater trooper. The vest does indeed help a lot in differentiating the R.O.C. Eel from other underwater figures we've gotten in the past. I really like his speargun. It looks very menacing with its bulk and length. It has some nice detailing as it has a sculpted on flashlight underneath, pretty cool. The pistol and knife are the same ones we got way back with Torpedo. They fit nice and tight in his thigh holsters. The spring loaded weapon actually may have a purpose, this time around. It has handles to grab onto and could serve as an uderwater skiboat or maybe just a giant torpedo with handles. It also has some swinging blades on the sides.

JUSTIN: Continuing along with the movie figure tradition, he does get a ton of gear to fight the Joes with. I actually really love that spring-loaded sea sled! It looks really cool instead of your typical rocket launcher. I think it's my favorite piece of spring-loaded gear that I've seen yet. I also dig his vest and speargun, though I'm still not sure if it overrides my hesitation with the reused tooling underneath it all.

CARLOS: The only new part, besides the gear, is the headsculpt. It resembles the Elite Viper head a lot. Almost identical but they are different headsculpts. This one has a hole on the back to attach the air tank hose. Its very menacing looking. The paint scheme on the figure is very dark. All black with some red on the shoulders including a Cobra sygil on the right. The vest helps break it up with some dark purple. Some nice detailing on that vest brings it to life. The air tank fits into the normal backpack hole on the back of the vest.

JUSTIN: These head designs really left me...well...scratching my head, but they have kind of grown on me. They seem to be a combination of snake-themes and skull-themes, and really do look pretty nasty and mean. The Eel head sculpt is no different. If I were a special ops troop in the jungle, and I saw these guys slinking from the water, I'd be thinking twice about popping some caps.

CARLOS: Overall its an average figure. Articulation is there thanks to the tried and tested mold. I just get a big meh with him. The new head and vest aren't enough to get me excited over him. Sure he looks different but its the same old sculpt. The vest gets a bit bulky around the waist where the clasps are located. The vest does prevent his arms from closing tight against his body but it doesn't appear to interfere with his gun handling much. If you love underwater guys then you'll probably like this guy, too. But if your not into the underwater scene then you should probably avoid this guy. I guess my opinion of him is jaded with previous releases of this mold, because really there is nothing terribly wrong with the figure it just doesn't float my boat.

JUSTIN: Yeah, as usual, I agree. There's nothing here that really knocks me out. He's a cool enough figure, but there's lots of re-used tooling, and even with the new accessories I'm just not "wow'd" by this guy. Tough to make a recommendation.

Buy this figure at Big Bad Toy Store!

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