G.I. Joe Spy Troops Vehicles - COBRA Treadfire
Up until now, Hasbro's success factor with their smaller vehicles in the G.I. Joe Vs. Cobra line has been questionable at best. The likes of the Assault Quad, Battle Blitz, and the Road Rebel honestly questioned my faith in Hasbro to make a decent smaller scale vehicle. Those were things in the Real American Hero line that were a joy for me as a kid. Being able to buy a mini tank, jeep or jetpack for a little more than the price of a figure was a big draw for me. My army was filled with those miniature vehicles, like the CLAW, Trubble Bubble, SNAKE Armor, Pac Rats, the Armadillo and the like, and this is something that's been lacking with the new stuff. Even the somewhat interesting vehicles like the Fang III and the Missile Storm Copter still fall short. Up until the now, the best small vehicles were the ones that come with Barrel Roll and Depth Charge...well, the Cobra Treadfire changes all that.
Upon first look, I wasn't certain about this little mini-tank. It was an odd little vehicle, without much visible armament, and without a real draw. It seemed kind of bland. Still, it came with the Cobra Coils figure, an interesting and immediately desirable army builder, so I figured I'd grab a couple at least, and discard the Treadfire if need be. But then I saw a closer picture of it...and it seemed...cooler, somehow. Whether it was the shape, the colors, or the features, I'm not sure, but at that point I found the Treadfire suddenly very desirable...almost as much so as the figure that came with it. When I finally got it in my hand, those feelings only increased.
The Treadfire is a great, sleek little Cobra warcraft. It's rounded design is an ongoing feature of the vehicles in this new line, but on this one, it really works. There are some angles at work as well, and it all comes together into a cool shaped miniature tank. It's long, but not real long, and is thin, but not weak looking. It's front comes to a nice point and is very effective, and it's assortment of silver piping mixes in with the trim and adornments with flair. The tank treads add another level of toughness to the vehicle, and it looks like something that can take it as well as dish it out, yet is fast and maneuverable at the same time.
It does not have a lot of armament, really...twin sound attack tabs can house a few different weapons, although it only comes with a single rocket launcher. The unmanned drone that fits inside sports two more rocket-cannons, but once that drone leaves home, the Treadfire seems woefully undefended, which would support the concept of this being a fast attack vehicle, designed to strike and run, and not stand toe-to-toe with stronger G.I. Joe vehicles. The sound effects are not spectacular on this, or any other sound attack vehicle, but I don't use them much, and it doesn't effect me a whole lot.
The cool design of this little tank is only improved by it's dramatic and dynamic color scheme. Adorned with some really cool blue and gray tiger stripe camouflage, the tank looks cool and practical, and holds onto some Cobra design elements. The features of the Treadfire are another drawing point...I kind of like the unmanned drone inside, and it even has some cool little G.I. Joe markings. While I'm sure the design wouldn't fool too many a Joe member, it may confuse them long enough for Cobra to attack. Another cool feature was probably a side-thought from Hasbro, and that's the overly large fan on the back of the tank, which would seem to serve little purpose on a vehicle such as this. In my mind, these fans are more like propellors, designed to drop these tanks into enemy territory from low-flying transports. They wouldn't be enough to make it fly, of course, but enough to slow a decent enough to drop the tanks slowly into enemy territory. That's why the Cobra Coils need to be so daring and dedicated...as they fall slowly through the sky, they are sitting ducks for enemy fire, and then as they hit the ground, they are truly in their element and can use the Treadfire to its utmost advantage.
So, seems like a pretty cool vehicle, huh? Well, if that weren't enough, the figure is very, very cool as well!
It seems like public opinion that the Cobra Coils was originally meant to drive the Venom motorcycle, and he certainly seems designed to be a motorcycle driver with a cool leather bodysuit and very nicely designed helmet. The sculpt is great and sleek...it is simple, yet effective, with nicely designed leather and padding that integrate perfectly with each other. The forearms, gloves and legs all have that very cool dark padding, and it adds a lot of design to what could be an otherwise dull sculpt. Coils isn't littered with straps, buckles, and endless detail points, but what he does have is useful, and it all fits well. His colors also compliment well, with the leather as a dull almost silvery gray and brown pads. His straps and holster are an awesome metallic blue, a color Hasbro keeps using better and better. His head sculpt looks great as well, obviously drawing inspiration from the original Cobra trooper. It's a fairly normal, non-descript face with some torn fabric wrapped around his lower face, all looking great. As a matter of fact, I'm torn about whether I like this figure more with or without his helmet. His face sculpt is great, but that helmet...it's a cool cycle helmet with a nicely embossed Cobra on the top and a great visor, again in that metallic blue.
He's got a nice little Cobra symbol on the right side of his chest...but one side point is the sculpting of his hands. His right hand actually works pretty well as a hand to hold a weapon, and looks AMAZING with Sand Viper's machine gun...I'm hoping I can find a number of those to equip all of my Coils figures with. However, his left hand is just strange. I'm not sure what it's supposed to be doing or what it's purpose is, but it's a very odd shape. It's made like it's supposed to grip a weapon, but is far too wide to, but I'm not sure what else it could be made to do. I'm hoping I might be able to boil and shape it a little bit, but we'll have to see.
So, basically you get a can't miss vehicle with a pretty cool figure. If Coils had a different shaped left hand and maybe some sort of weapon, buying several of these would be a no-brainer. As it is, this is a very nice piece to own, and I think everyone should buy at least one. I'm even more eagerly awaiting the new Cobra Coils coming with Wave 7...seeing this figure in black and red would just be too cool!
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