Steel Crusher

Okay, I admit it, and I’m starting to realize it more and more…I am a media whore.
I like to pretend I don’t get influenced by the media machine, but the fact remains that I must be a sheep who gets blindly led around by what I see on the TV screen…I can think of no other reason why I would own both the COBRA Gunship and the Steel Crusher, when not a few months ago, I thought they were pretty much garbage imitation vehicles that couldn’t hold the jock of some of the more recent G.I. Joe releases.

Now that I have them in hand, though, I’m very glad I was led to this point, because both vehicles have some definite redeeming qualities, even if they don’t look very impressive on the surface.

The Steel Crusher never really got me excited, looking like a typical black Hummer without a whole lot of bells and whistles, and really doesn’t match COBRA’s typical state of the art, unusual looking machinery.  Nitro-Viper didn’t do much either, and the total package was pretty underwhelming.

But then Joe fans started picking up the vehicle, and more and more positive reviews started trickling out, I decided to take the plunge and pick it up.  Damn, am I glad I did.

This vehicle really has a “back to basics” feel, coming across as a fairly generic black Hummer on the outside, with some neat hidden features that still make it seem sort of like a COBRA type ground craft.  The roof of the vehicle slides forward to reveal a rising missile launcher in back, with a very cool flip down armored windscreen, too.  The removable front plow plugs seamlessly into the grill and the twin missile launchers that reveal themselves from hidden side panels are cool, too, and a nice movie-accurate presentation.

But what really makes this vehicle cool is the construction of the thing.  With real  rubber tires and solid plastic construction, this vehicle feels like something really well made and really durable, ready for tough and rugged play.  It works as a COBRA vehicle, but can also be pushed around and bashed into things like a regular car, plus it’s movie accurate.  It’s a very, very nice vehicle, that is quite understated by the pictures we’ve seen so far.

Nitro-Viper

Nitro-Viper himself actually impresses me a bit, though just a bit.  The figure is an amalgamation of the HISS Driver and the COBRA Viper, and I actually like the parts used to make the figure.  The HISS Driver parts are nicely reminiscent of the Motor Pool staff, with the interesting twist of the Viper legs added into the mix.

The vest and the new heard are both pretty nice.  I like the Moto-Viper homage with both parts, and the head sculpt is absolutely fantastic.

Where this figure suffers, though, is in the color scheme.  The Nitro-Viper is essentially a generic blue colored figure with almost zero trim or additional added colors in the figure, and that really negatively impacts the figure’s appeal.  His colors don’t match the Steel Crusher necessarily, and he just looks uninteresting and bland.  I think some added blues and even blacks would make the figure look very nice, but as it is, there’s not much to talk about, but its mostly color related.

All in all, this is a great package.  It’s tough to recommend a $25.00 toy these days, especially since Bravo vehicles were only $15 not long ago.  But if you’re determined to buy a Bravo scale vehicle or two, and you want things that were in the film, the Steel Crusher gets my recommendation.  It’s a well-built, fun vehicle that serves several different purposes and was featured heavily in the film.  Even at the $25 price point, I feel good recommending it.

Buy this vehicle at Big Bad Toy Store!

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