Built To Rule - COBRA Moccasin
Along with the Locust, the Mocassin was one of the first BTR vehicles to be seen by the masses, but it had the opposite effect to a lot of people than the Locust did. For me, as well...I thought the Locust looked silly and not real impressive, but the Mocassin...that vehicle looked very, very cool. I'm not much of a boat person really, when it comes to Joe vehicles, but this one is neat enough, sleek enough, and cool enough to convert me, if only for a short, one page review. :)
The one downside to this vehicle is it's driver. While the Moray, overall, is a very neat figure, and a great, detailed mold, a figure with no O-ring just doesn't look right when surrounded by his O-ring'ed peers. The mold at least is nice and slim and sleek, and the colors are very interesting indeed.
Another COBRA diver to compliment the Eels is never a bad thing, and the nicely designed helmet, airhose combination looks really cool. Add that to his cool chest air tank and cool, sleek mold really brings this figure together, even for a Wave 1.
While the figure choice is uninspired, the colors are at least somewhat interesting, with a nice different blue and red hue still COBRA-like, but a little off kilter and appealing. Another plus about this figure is that the peg-gauntlets and boots mesh pretty well with the figure and actually add some cool flair to the hands and legs.
But, the important part is the vehicle, not the figure, at least in this case. So, what does this little speedboat have to offer?
Well, the most important aspect of the vehicle is it's sleek design. It's got a great, streamlined look to it, which shines very nicely in this set and shines as a COBRA vehicle in general. The pieces that make up the front of the boat fit together as building blocks should, but also mix together to create the bow of a very cool speedboat and assault watercraft.
The twin skis out the back of the boat add a nice, different flair as well, giving this speedboat some girth and making it stand out a little in the crowd, as a COBRA vehicle (of any type) should do. The twin guns perched on the skis work very well and are nicely colored and positioned for maximum efficiency (even though they can be moved if you so please...). The driver actually meshes with this set pretty well, even though the colors are slightly different, he looks great in the cockpit and the two together actually look like they go together.
Another awesome touch is the eel decoration at the front of the boat...it matches the one on the Moray Hydrofoil and this boat could easily be an escort vehicle or support craft for it, and in spite of the Built to Rule body style, this thing fits right in with the other COBRA craft.
The colors are spot on, too, with an awesome shade of blue and red, with some cool purple-ish trim and touches, this is a great little COBRA craft and is something I will definitely integrate into my COBRA forces. I don't even like boats that much and this Mocassin just impresses the heck out of me, and is something I will endeavour to acclimate to my Joeverse.
The second mode, while not quite as striking as this one, is still functional. It's labelled as a snowmobile, but works as pretty much any land-based craft, and with a little imagination, I could see the Mocassin being an amphibious vehicle, transforming from boat to landcraft as the Moray swarms in to attack his target.
I say without a doubt that this vehicle is by far the most successful of this first group of BTR sets. The other ones are okay in their own right, but this one just blows them out of the water (no pun intended) and is probably the only one that will integrate seamlessly into my army. Buy this one without a second thought, and if you have any extra cash, buy a couple more.
Second mold- the "snowmobile" works as an overall landing craft.
