G.I. Joe HQ Exclusive COBRA Little Bird Set
Available only through GIJOE HQ
My enjoyment of the Power Team Elite line is no secret to fans of my reviews, although I haven't had anything of theirs to review in quite some time. Well, that all changed with one package this week from G.I. Joe HQ!
Apparently Curt, proprietor of the online Joe store was able to get some online exclusives from the fine folks over at M&C Toys, and brought over a very cool pair of COBRA-esque helicopters for us folks in the states! A very cool idea, and he is currently the only person offering these up for sale!
First of all, though, it's important to realize that as cool as these helicopters might be, they're made even cooler by the wealth of gear and accessories they come with. Sure, you get a pair of copters that look cool enough to fly in COBRA's Air Force, but you also get a pair of poseable figures and a ton of gear in each box to go along with it. Very good deal, especially for us diorama fans.
I'll start off with the blue copter first...and first I'll talk about the mold of this little helicopter. Ever since seeing Blackhawk Down I've had new appreciation for what the Little Birds are used for. Previously I considered them little more than souped up newscopters, but it's become obvious to me now, that these cool little aircraft are quick, powerful, and downright dangerous with the right equipment.
The design of the vehicle here is very consistent with normal PTE offerings...they take the overall famous shape of the well-known bird, and basically simplify it. This helicopter isn't loaded with intricate and 100% authentic detailing and paint washing...it's a toy, as it should be. There aren't a whole lot of movable, breakable bits and pieces scattered throughout, but that turns out to be a good thing, making for a very solidly designed, well rounded helicopter. The helicopter blades fold out like the Blackhawk, and the orientation of the blades looks great, too.
But the most important thing about these exclusives are definitely the color schemes. The blue of this new Little Bird is a very cool and very COBRA-like, although it could stand to be a little bit darker. The blue is a little bit "Baby blue-ish" but regardless of this fact, it looks great as a COBRA helicopter for Viper deployment or quick airborne assaults. The blue hue matches the new Vipers to some degree, and nearly perfectly matches the Wave 7 COBRA Commander, which is pretty neat.
The helicopter itself is marketed as a rescue helicopter and comes with two mountain climber/camper figures (that would make great civilians) as well as a bunch of miscellaneous tools and a rolling, foldout stretcher. As usual, the figures are pretty much secondary, and not really anything special, but do make a nice pair of normal people for diorama purposes, and the equipment is pretty neat, too. The centerpiece of the set, though, is obviously the copter itself, and it ends up looking pretty darn neat in the blue paint.
And really, pretty much everything I said above can be attributed to the red version of this helicopter as well, only more so. First of all, this version comes packaged in a firefighter set with a pair of very cool looking fireman figures with helmets and full firefighting gear (including an awesome extending ladder with two very nicely design feet).
The helicopter itself shares the exact same design schematic as the blue one, only it also has opening doors and is in a nice crimson shade. Normally I might think this red was a little bright, but the color of this copter just happens to blend in with the recent K-B exclusive Operation Crimson Sabotage to near perfection! The red hues are very close in color, and it really looks like it could have been a third vehicle in the set, which rocks. The red color itself is nice and vibrant, and maintains the regal look of the elite Crimson Guard. All in all, it's got all the great mold benefits of the normal Little Bird (and the blue one, for that matter) with a great, different paint scheme that just happens to work perfectly with a recently released Hasbro offering.
If there is one minor downside to these copters, it would be the lack of any armament. I would have loved to have seen some ski-mounted rocket launchers or chinguns of some kind, but regardless the little helo's are pretty darn neat. Personally, I see the Crimson one as an executive helicopter transport for the Twins with their CG contingent...I think it works awesome in this capacity. For those who are really inspired, I think if you added a black paint wash and a couple of custom decals to this thing it would look just plain fantastic!
Overall, I think I like the red bird a little bit better, simply due to the very appealingly bright red color scheme. Not only that, but it blends with the existing crimson items very nicely, and has all four doors included with it. Still, though, both items are fantastic and work very well when integrated with the COBRA forces.
So, yeah, I'm a Power Team fan anyway...but what really puts a smile on my face is seeing PTE vehicles, that are reasonably priced, mesh with my normal Joe stuff. These items absolutely qualify!
A couple of great Joe-scale vehicles that I definitely recommend you take a second look at...and you can only get them at G.I. Joe HQ!
