G.I. Joe vs. Cobra - The Baroness

Wow, it's been a long time since there's been a new mold for The Baroness. Ever since she was first made back in 1984, she has maintained the same look throughout the decades. Sure, colors have changed, from Black to Blue...Black again, and then Crimson. Now, for the first time in almost 20 years, Anastasia DeCobray has a new look and a new attitude.

Is it a good one? We shall see...

If you've been reading these reviews in order, then you've heard me talk about this new "style" that Hasbro is injecting into these new JVC figures. Exaggerated muscles, overly large limbs...a tad unrealistic, yes, but a way to add impact to the human form. Well, they did the same thing with The Baroness, and I think it really works well.

The most drastic change Hasbro made was to her hair...this is a modern day Baroness. They shortened up her hair and mixed in some red, which looks pretty cool, I think. She's got slimmer glasses and her overall look is much slimmer and much...meaner.

Her black leather uniform now LOOKS like black leather, with the zippers and buckles all nicely sculpted and adorned in the right places. Not only that, but Hasbro crammed Cobra symbols in just about any place they could, and rather than just slap some painted ones on, they took the extra step and sculpted them on, changing the style of the symbols slightly, but making them more in tune with this slimmer, more evil looking "Queen Cobra" of a sort. She's got one on the chest, one on the belt buckle, one on each knee and some nice muted ones on each hand. But she's got the normal Cobra symbols as well...one on each of her arm bands. One look and you can tell this woman works for Cobra, which is as it should be.

The mold also definitely pays homage to the original mold of the Baroness, taking the important cues from 1984 and expanding them greatly. She's still got the angled armor, only now much more threatening. She's got the same always classic black and red color scheme, only now with the right added touches of silver. She is well armed and even more well armored and I can see this Baroness being my default Baroness...too bad she's dead in my universe...or is she? :)

Lastly, we have her weapons. Absolutely flawless choice by Hasbro here. She keeps her classic backpack which suits her perfectly, and they added a new weapon sculpt! Not only that, but a GREAT weapon sculpt! It looks to be based on the FAMAS machine gun, similar to what the original Dusty came with, only this one is much bigger and nastier. It's design and purpose suits the user to a "T", but I'll be much happier once I find a good way to remove that blasted Sound Tab. I can see why Hasbro is doing it...and I know they are trying to include weapons that don't have the sound tab to appease those of us who don't like the looks. Only problem is, they're sticking the sound tab on the coolest weapons! Scarlett's Crossbow, Snake Eyes' machine gun...and of course, The Baroness' machine gun as well. Eventually I'll just end up taking the Dremel to it and I'll be happy...until then it's small source of annoyance on an otherwise fantastic weapon and great figure.