Sideshow Collectibles - Cobra Trooper

While I've been sorely tempted to pick up the Sideshow Collectibles figures as they come out, I just haven't been able to cobble together the cash to do it. Luckily I've been able to get my hands on a couple of them so far, including Snake Eyes, and now the Cobra Trooper. Snake Eyes left me with a bit of a mixed reaction...very cool, certainly, but the joints seemed a bit loose, and I wasn't sure I could justify the $120 expense. I loved the gear, but the whole package just didn't knock my socks off.

But then I got the Cobra Trooper.

I don't know if maybe the Snake Eyes I got was just a bad sample...but this Cobra Trooper exemplifies everything cool that can be done in the 12" scale. I absolutely love this figure, and it single-handedly renewed my faith in Sideshow, which is a bit unfortunate because I really don't have the cash to buy these figures right now.

The base figure seems much the same as the Snake Eyes one, with an amazing level of articulation, allowing for multiple poses and levels of realistic movement. However, where Snake Eyes seemed to have loose knees that prevented holding some of the cooler poses, the Cobra Trooper does not have that issue, and reviewing this toy was a pure pleasure.

But the movement of the figure is only as good as the gear on top of it...and this gear rocks. The blue full body suit is well made and well stitched, moving well with the figure and looking like a very authentic real world Cobra uniform.

On top of the blue uniform, the stiched black straps, pouches, and belts are all excellently crafted and very strongly resemble the real world counterpart, yet don't look out of place in the larger scale.

Along with the cloth accessories, the Cobra Trooper also comes with replacable hands (that make a huge difference) and a very cool customizable AK-47.

The hands allow for a nice variety of poses, whether he's firing his weapon, raising a fist, or bitch slapping a hapless citizen. The rifle is the most amazing part, though, with the removable clip(s), the under-magazine grenade launcher (with removable grenades!), the folding stock, and the sight. All components clip on very securely and don't fall off when you breathe sideways. He looks great with the plain jane AK, or all decked out in the commando style as well. As an added bonus the knife can also clip underneath the barrel and give you an instant bayonet!

I was pretty fired up for Snake Eyes before I got him, yet for some reason, he left me a bit lacking. Perhaps I just got a bum figure, I don't know, but whatever the reason was, the Cobra Trooper has totally renewed my enthusiasm for the Sideshow Joes. They are doing amazing stuff with this license, and if money grew on trees, I would have a toy room chock full of these bad boys.

Unfortunately money does not grow on trees, and I'll have to start making some tough choices about where I want to invest my toy money. Until then, though, I'm left with a much better taste in my mouth after the Trooper than I was with the somewhat loose-jointed Joe Commando. This figure is amazing, and he has single-handedly driven me closer to the bowels of poverty as I drool over Duke, Beachhead, Flint, and Firefly who wait in the wings.

Time will tell if I get my hands on them or not. If I do, you can fully expect to see them treated in these pages.

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