Back in 2009 when Hasbro originally released the Sky Sweeper, they included a pilot carrying the name Air Raid. However, one look at the filecard for that pilot, and it was easy to tell that the pilot was actually supposed to be Airborne, not Air Raid (Franklin Talltree is a pretty unique file name, after all…). So now with Sky Patrol front and center, and a new pilot being needed, the Collectors Club has provided us with a brand new Air Raid, only one look at the figure tells us this is not Franklin Talltree.
It’s pretty widely accepted that at least one character in the G.I. Joe Convention set will be a new one, and for 2016, Air Raid is it. As the free attendee figure this year, he was included for anyone who purchased a boxed set and in the comic serves as Sky Patrol’s main test pilot for the Skystriker.
The figure itself is pretty good. He uses more or less the same formula as previous versions of Ace (and COBRA Commander) so he definitely looks the part of pilot. His head is repurposed from Resolute Duke, only in an African American skin tone.
I do like the parts, with a nice mixture of Resolute and Pursuit of COBRA, providing great articulation and nicely sculpted elements. He moves pretty well, even though his limbs are pretty thick, and I like the sense of cohesion we’ve got going on with past pilot figures in the line.
One place that Air Raid could use some improvements is with his paint scheme. Granted, as a “free” figure, you can understand where some paint apps had to be trimmed, but the somewhat bland blue of the base uniform lacks some of the necessary detail to really accentuate the nicely detailed mold underneath.
That being said, it’s nice to get another new character, and a new addition to the Sky Patrol after twenty-six years.
Accessories
Air Raid comes with the large, bulky vest from Pursuit of COBRA Skydive (and canceled Rise of COBRA Ripcord) as well as the helmet with twin hoses. The two removable engines on the back are the same that came with the previous figure as well, as is his included pistol.
That’s really all that comes with the figure, but as an fighter jet pilot, he probably doesn’t need a whole lot else.
Air Raid is a decent figure with an interesting build, but a somewhat bland color scheme.
Sky Patrol Air Raid
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
2.7
Summary
The same name, but a clearly different character than the 2009 iteration, Air Raid comes to Sky Patrol as a pilot of the Skystriker. He uses the familiar parts of recent G.I. Joe themed pilots, and those parts are great, but a pretty bland color scheme does the figure no favors.
Ah, G.I. Joe and COBRA, they really loved their acronyms. It seemed like every other vehicle in the A Real American Hero line sported a cool name made up of other words. Well in that way the COBRA A.D.D.E.R.S. fit right in. The Aerial Deployment Daredevil Elite Recon Squadron is made up of some great characters and 90s troops, including my personal favorites – the Air Commandos.
Today I’m reviewing all five members of the COBRA A.D.D.E.R. team from the boxed set. You can check out the review at the G.I. Joe Collectors Club Review Page, or the link below. I also have done a video review which you can see embedded below.
Where you have the Air Devil and Night Vulture, you simply must have Sky Creeper. This guy was an anomoly to me as a kid, an exciting and vibrant looking character with the trademark 90s colors who I just could not figure out. His flat out bizarre sloped and pointy helmet and those super thick pads on his legs just looked strange, and while I loved and appreciated the character of Sky Creeper, the figure itself fell far below the other two
Air Commandos on my favorites list.
However, this modern update takes those elements that I did love and pulls them up into the 21st century in some great ways.
First of all, the newly sculpted head is great. I’m surprised that they invested serious tooling dollars in a head like this that would be very difficult to use with any other character, but I’m glad they did. It’s a nice rejuvination with twin cameras on each side, and a slightly less pissed off face sculpt going on there. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Sky Creeper’s perma-scowl, but at some point you have to figure he’s going ot have to
close his mouth and not be snarling at everyone.
The Retaliation Snake Eyes torso works nicely here along with the Ultimate COBRA Commander arms. Like in the old days, I’m not quite figuring out the thick pads on the legs, and these Jungle Snake Eyes legs really leave me cold. I understand they’re reminiscent of the vintage look, but those weird gaps in the thighs and the strange texture of the pads themselves just don’t work for me, and I wouldn’t mind if they were retired in favor of some kind of new engineering.
From a color perspective, Sky Creeper is just what you’d expect, chock full of teal and yellow, and I still can’t get my head around the whole Air Commando color scheme concept. None of these guys are color matched in any kind of way, and they seem much more like three groups of individuals who happen to be working together rather than an actual cohesive team developed from the ground up. Still, even though the colors feel completely distinct and separate, I love them each for what they are.
Accessories
Sky Creeper follows the Air Commando trend, equipped with the awesome color-matched wingsuit, his COBRA logo the winged COBRA of the Night Vulture. His stark, yellow webgear is the one that came with Retaliation Snake Eyes and I love, love LOVE it. Some of my favorite webgear ever produced, and it’s used to perfection here. He also sports two submachine guns to round off his great group of weapons and gear.
Sky Creeper is terrific. While I often considered the vintage version to be the weak link in the Air Commandos, this version stands at the head of the class in spite of the legs. Although I am struggling a bit to figure out the command structure. Sky Creeper has always been the Air Commando leader, and the group was pretty small. But now we’ve got Black Vulture, Flying Scorpion and Sky Creeper. Do these tiny Air Devil and Night Vulture groups really need sub-commanders? Ah, probably not, but the two figures are flat out awesome, so we’ll roll with it. Sky Creeper certainly looks worthy of leading the charge.
To check out a video review of the COBRA ADDERS half of the Convention set, watch below!
Sky Creeper
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
4
Summary
While I loved the character back in the day, the figure was a weird design that didn’t really resonate with me. This modern design is still weird, but is executed really nicely, with a fantastic new head sculpt and some very vibrant colors that pull off many things that the vintage one could not. He comes with great gear and is extremely photogenic, something that not every figure in this set can boast.
Could the Collectors Club have worked this out any more perfectly? Really, it’s almost as if it were meant to be.
When I first discovered the online G.I. Joe community in the late 1990’s, YoJoe became my home away from home as it did for nearly everyone. The website and the mailing list quickly drew me in and what completely fascinated me was this concept of foreign figures that I had absolutely no idea even existed.
Back in my childhood days, I was the resident G.I. Joe expert. If my friends wanted to sell their Joes, they called me. If they found a pile of discarded weapons and didn’t know who they went with, they called me. I knew it all. But when I discovered this whole world of South American (and European for that matter) G.I. Joe and COBRA characters that I didn’t know about, I was instantly captivated, and especially captivated by Abutre
Negro and Escorpaio Voador. We’ll talk more about Flying Scorpion later, but what was so intriguing about these figures was that in Brazil, they actually mixed and matched some parts and created this whole new person. They weren’t just paint variations or the same characters with different file names, these were completely new creations and I loved that.
I have no doubt these guys have been on top of many collector surveys for many years now, and considering Black Vulture was a Sky Patrol figure down in Brazil, including him here lines up perfectly.
Not to mention the fact that one of the COBRA Air Commandos is Night Vulture, and this character’s name translates as Black Vulture. Again, it’s almost like it was meant to be.
So not only did the Club make a genius call with the character, but the execution is spectacular. His head is from the Renegades COBRA Trooper, which works pretty well, and they went with one of the Rise of COBRA Accelerator Suits for the torso, with the paint applied just right to approximate the look of the raised COBRA logo on the chest. Beyond that distinct pattern of red, the rest of the figure is a striking contrast of black and silver, all applied to expertly developed parts. G.I. Joe: Retaliation Snake Eyes arms are great, and I always support the use of Pursuit of COBRA Beachhead legs. The filecard developed writes Black Vulture as some kind of next generation computer hacker, so the technology strapped to the leg makes sense as well. From head to toe, Black Vulture is terrific. If I had any complaints it would be that the black and silver color scheme doesn’t necessarily jive with the Night Vulture, who this guy is supposed to be the leader of, but to be honest, I’m thrilled that they just maintained the classic color scheme rather than try to work in purple or orange somewhere that would look way out of place.
If I had to dig around for a complaint, it would just be that the sloped back of the torso does keep the jetpack from sliding down the post all the way, which can cause it to fall off somewhat easily. This is a minor complaint in the grand scheme of things, but it should be noted.
Accessories
The Club hit a home run with pretty much every accessory compliment for the COBRA A.D.D.E.R.S. and Black Vulture is no exception. He has that wonderful jetpack that was initially released with the Pursuit of COBRA Skydive, a nice, different look from the wingsuits of the other Air Commandos.The color scheme of this jetpack matches him very nicely and he has the winged COBRA logo on each wing.
Along with the jetpack and removable bombs he’s got a great, jagged blade knife and machine gun which he can hold to perfection.
Black Vulture was an early infatuation of mine when I discovered the online International world of G.I. Joe and I’m thrilled that the Collectors Club has given him a modern update. Not just a modern update, but a fantastic modern update. Excellent all around.
To check out a video review of the COBRA ADDERS half of the Convention set, watch below!
Cobra Black Vulture
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
4.8
Summary
This is precisely what I envision when I picture items the Collectors Club should be focusing on. Taking international exclusives, updating them to the modern format while retaining the look and feel of the old school versions. Not only that, but managing to dovetail the character with an existing American subteam and into their ongoing G.I. Joe universe. A grand slam home run all the way around on this one.
Doing these Con Set reviews is always a bit of a mixed blessing. I generally love the convention sets, but at the same time I’m still trying to do nearly 20 reviews simultaneously which is exhausting. I’ve lost track of how many hours I spend each year putting these together, but that’s why they pay me the big bucks, right?
Wait… I don’t get paid for this crap?
Ah, well. Good thing I enjoy it, eh? So, the 2016 “Project: Downfall” Convention Set hit my hands a couple of weeks ago, and I’ve been spending nearly all of my free time behind a camera, behind Photoshop, or behind Microsoft Word writing up the reviews! Today I am starting the week of right, with SIX, count ’em SIX of the reviews hitting today alone! The entirety of Sky Patrol is being reviewed today with the rest of the set sprinkling out throughout the week.
