G.I. Joe Classified Series Combat Armor Cobra Commander action figure review No. 168

Combat Armor Cobra Commander was a major shift for Cobra’s leader. In the comics, he was fairly fearless and would be out front leading Cobra forces against the Joes, which ran counter to the cartoon as it portrayed him slightly more cowardly.

To refresh Cobra’s commander, Hasbro gave him a suit of battle armor to better protect him when he leads his troops into battle. Since that look came out after GI Joe The Movie, it didn’t get its full due since it was spotlighted in the DIC cartoon run. At least its debut was noticeable as Cobra Commander was restored to a humanoid form and given the battle armor in Operation Dragonfire.

The comics went way further with the Combat Armor Cobra Commander storyline as writer Larry Hama made it a renegade Crimson Guard who briefly assumed control of Cobra and won a Civil War against Serpentor’s for1ces. When Hasbro debut the Combat Armor Cobra Commander, I was hyped as it marked the final piece of the 1987 Cobra ranks. And it’s a pretty sweet variant outfit for CC.

Let’s see if this version of our August leader delivers or if he needs to slink off to the nether regions of the display.

Packaging: Combat Armor Cobra Commander is in the standard packaging with the big Cobra logo on the front. We get the QR Code to nowhere and the skills stats on the right side with a sweet drawing on the left side.

Over on the back, we get a render showing CC in the temples where he was aided by Baroness and Gnawgahyde and a fun Easter Egg of the iguana Serpentor.

For his skill set, Combat Armor Cobra Commander ranks a 4 in leader, coercion and in psyops and 1 in light weapons.

Likeness: Hasbro’s Classified Series team has done a nice job of modernizing most of the Real American Hero designs. There have been a few that maybe got tinkered with a bit too much. Combat Armor Cobra Commander is more of the latter.

That’s due to the RAH design having some cooler angular elements like the chest plate styled like a snake and the thin vertical slits of varying lengths around his upper thigh. The CS design is more practical with a wider chest plate and more armor coverage on his thighs. Still, that doesn’t make it look as visually interesting.

Combat Armor Cobra Commander has a ribbed polymer section for the non-armored areas. They look like they can withstand some small arms fire on their own. He has the snake belt buckle, which connects to a holster on his left hip. His helmet has the tube that connects to the bottom left torso area. Along his left side is the tube that connects inside the outfit back to the helmet tube.

Both head sculpts are terrific, but for now I’ll focus on the default one. This one is a nod to the cartoon continuity where the snake form of Cobra Commander was restored to a humanoid before he got the battle armor.

His snake-like eyes are prominent in the recessed helmet eye slots. The Cobra logo is sculpted, and the helmet retains all of the angular elements to give it a bit more pizzaz.

Scale: Combat Armor Cobra Commander doesn’t gain any more height with his armor so he’s about eye to eye with Raptor, Crystal Ball and Croc Master.

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Paint: The paintwork is well done with the CS team toning down the brighter blue from the RAH figure to better match the standard Cobra blue used in the line so far. Covering up more of the suit with the armor plating means there’s less visible blue, which means silver is the overwhelmingly dominant color.

The silver looks good despite not being chromed out. Accent colors like the maroon on the chest harness, belt buckle and belt is mostly clean save a little overspray on one section.

His helmet snake is very precise allowing for the snake eyes within to really pop. The human head sculpt also has sharp paintwork. For his polymer sections, they’re all cast in black to provide a welcome break from the silver.

Articulation: CC has the basic Classified Series articulation scheme, which allows him to fully charge into battle against the Joes. He’s got excellent range of movement even with the angular armored shoulder pads, knees and elbows.

Combat Armor Cobra Commander has:

• head
• neck
• shoulders (butterfly)
• elbow (double-jointed)
• forearm
• wrist
• wrist hinge
• mid-torso
• torso
• waist
• hips (ball-jointed)
• drop down hips
• knees (double-jointed)
• ankles

Accessories: Combat Armor Cobra Commander gets a very solid number of accessories, which shows the inherent value for your dollars with the Classified Series line.

First up is his alternate helmet. This one skews to the comic/RAH figure. It has CC as a full man with intense, glaring eyes. That’s a cool bonus to include both options. I likely won’t keep the snake face helmet displayed, but it’s fun to have the option to switch.

Next is his very cool backpack, with jutted edges and paneling that makes it look like it could also double as a weapon/shield depending on the MARS designers’ engineering.

He also gets some swappable hands — a set of fists and a pointing left hand. Those are always nice inclusions.

Another accessory is his auto-assault pistol. This is mostly accurate to the RAH version save for a streamlined scope.

Combat Armor Cobra Commander’s final accessory is a great gag for Team Cobra Commander as he gets the full-on karma version of Serpentor after he was turned into an iguana.

The CS team didn’t have to throw in as much detail as they did, but this is an especially well-done bonus animal with paint gradations and articulated legs. That’s such a cool touch.

Worth It? Combat Armor Cobra Commander gets more accessories that I would have imagined for the standard $24.99 price point.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

I’m only taking off a bit for the design modifications to the armor, which lose some of the original’s charm, but in the other important ways this is a fantastic version of Cobra Commander.

Where to Get It?  Combat Armor Cobra Commander seems to be one of the first to leave shelves right now. You can still get him from Amazon. Entertainment Earth also has him in stock.

You can also check out LMF sponsor RetroRoboToys, which still has him in stock as well with the option for cargo shipments and the ability to stack reward points with each purchase.

As an Amazon and Entertainment Earth affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.