Destro (Arctic Threat) - Pursuit of Cobra Pre-Production

I think it's pretty safe to say that if the Hasbro designers can make an arctic figure that even I love, they're earning their paychecks. Such is the case with the Pursuit of Cobra Destro (Arctic Threat). To be fair, there isn't a whole lot here that really screams "arctic" necessarily, but maybe that's why it appeals to me so much. Sure he's got the fur collar on his coat, and his clothes are pretty thickly padded, but all in all, this figure goes beyond "Arctic" and is just a great looking figure, regardless of where he chooses to do battle.

The figure itself is large and bulky, as you would expect from a Destro figure, and especially a Destro figure outfitted in his cold weather gear. There's a plethora of new tooling here, from his very cool shoulder pads over thick red parka, to his reactive-armor type torso and very nicely detailed pants.

There isn't an inch of this figure that isn't sculpted in great wrinkly detail, which is just one of the reasons why the sculptors at Hasbro are a few steps above the competition when it comes to the 3 3/4" scale.

Destro's removable vest has a nice amount of detail throughout as well, from the aforementioned collar to the contoured surface on his upper chest, and the wide array of straps, zippers, and other trim throughout the rest of it. It seamlessly meets with his shoulder pads to make a very interesting looking vest...something that not many rubberized accessories can pull off.

But as cool as this figure is from a tooling perspective, where it really shines is in the paint applications. Instead of a generic white and/or gray color scheme that we typically get from the arctic specialist, Destro is hued in various reds, grays, and blacks with an absolutely great white "frosted" look over the top. His vac metallized head sculpt contrasts with the thin layer of snow perfectly, and the wear over his vest and shoulder pads is fantastic. It really makes the figure look like he's coming from a cold environment, without an over-reliance on the boring color schemes associated with it.

So far with all of the Pursuit of Cobra figures I've reviewed, one of the high spots has been the accessories. That isn't really the case with Destro, however. Sure, the vest is cool, and I actually really love the newly tooled ice gun from a design perspective. But the rest of the weapons and gear just don't really add up. I'm not even going to talk about the squirt action of the weapon because this is a preproduction piece, and I wouldn't figure it would be quite functional. Not to mention that it doesn't really make or break anything for me as it is. But even without that, there just isn't much to write home about. The goggles are okay, but a very tight fit on the head. The ice chunks are kind of neat, but really don't add much value. The freeze gun looks bad ass, but that's about it. Just nothing that really hits home, which is the exact opposite of pretty much every other Pursuit of Cobra figure I've gotten my hands on so far.

While not as stellar as the other Pursuit of Cobra figures I've reviewed to this point, Arctic Destro is still a respectable addition to the lineup. Not without his flaws, but he's still a very cool looking figure that captures the spirit of the character well, and manages to not make me hate an arctic figure (a fate in and of itself).

Don't know if its worth jumping on or not...the full release version appears to have a much better head. But here he is, take him or leave him.

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