G.I. Joe: The Pursuit of Cobra (Hasbro)

G.I. Joe: The Pursuit of Cobra
2010 - 2011
Hasbro

The iron was hot for the striking, and Hasbro came down on it with all their might. Right on the heels of their prior Rise of Cobra line, Hasbro dove headlong into the all new Pursuit of Cobra which ran from 2010 to 2011.

Though Joe fans were eager to swoop up what they could, truth be told there were a lot of questions as to what happened to the line as showcased at Joe Con in 2009. What hit shelves wasn't what was in correlation to what was initially displayed at the convention. To much dismay of collectors, several pieces had been cancelled prior to the line even getting an opportunity to thrive.

Despite this, Hasbro was able to please with what they did deliver - Six waves of figures, three waves of vehicles and a handful of exclusives.

 WAVE 1

Beachhead (City Strike)*Duke (Jungle Assault)*Snake Eyes (Desert Battle)*Snow Job (Arctic Threat)

Alley-Viper (City Strike)*Firefly (City Strike)*Storm Shadow (Desert Battle)*Cobra Commander

We love how Cobra Commander got his own "Cobra" themed card for this particular release. It adds all the more menace to his persona. We also love how Hasbro consistently creates artwork for each character in general leaving no one package the same as the other.

WAVE 2

Dusty (Desert Battle)*Recondo (Jungle Assault)*Snake Eyes (Jungle Assault)

Destro (Arctic Threat)*Jungle-Viper (Jungle Assault)*Zartan (Desert Battle)

WAVE 3

Duke (Desert Battle)*Snake Eyes (Desert Battle)

Cobra Shock Trooper (City Strike)*Storm Shadow (Arctic Threat)

Admittedly, one of our biggest complaints about this particular line is the over production of Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow figures. We get that the two are popular, but it has become an annoying trend that each new series of G.I. Joe often times ignores other great characters that could be made in lieu of mass producing these two over and over.

WAVE 4

Low-Light (City Strike)*Skydive (Jungle Assault)

Destro (City Strike)*Shadow Tracker (Jungle Assault)

WAVE 5

Blowtorch (Jungle Assault)*General Clayton "Hawk" (City Strike)*Steel Brigade (Desert Battle)

Cobra Commander (City Strike)*Cobra - The Enemy (City Strike)*Jungle B.A.T. (Jungle Assault)

One of the things we love the most about pretty much every G.I. Joe line that has been produced to date is that they can all be incorporated together fairly seamlessly - As if they were just one giant line that's been running non stop for the past 30+ years. Not only that, but the look of the characters has stayed fairly consistent with their prior rendition. In other words - If you were to look at say, Crazy Legs from this line, and compare him to his 1980's counterpart, you would easily be able to tell that this is the same figure - Just in a different outfit.

WAVE 6

Crazy Legs (Jungle Assault)*Snake Eyes (Arctic Threat)

Cobra Viper (Desert Battle)*Croc Master (Jungle Assault)*Iron Grenadier (City Strike)*Rock Viper (Arctic Threat)

Personally we really appreciate the fact that exclusives were kept to a minimum for this line. There's nothing worse than not being able to complete your collection because you can't find or worse, afford a particular piece. Hasbro only released two exclusive figures via Toys R' Us, and even then they were fairly plentiful at the chain.

EXCLUSIVES

Quick Kick

Spirit Iron-Knife

While Hasbro planned, but then eventually cancelled a mail away version of Cobra Commander, the figure has still seemed to find its way to secondary markets. What's notable about it is that it contains all new accessories and a redesigned package. The figure itself is the same as what was released in wave one.

 MAIL AWAY

Cobra Commander

Every good Joe line needs a set of vehicles, and Hasbro made sure to deliver. Not only did they produce a fine few waves of sets, but each one came packed with a figure you couldn't get any other way.

 WAVE 1 - ALPHA CLASS VEHICLES

Ghost Hawk with Tomahawk (Jungle Assault)

Doom Cycle with Storm Rider (City Strike)

 WAVE 1 - BRAVO CLASS VEHICLES

Wolf Hound with White Out (Arctic Threat)

Cobra H.I.S.S. Tank v5 with Tank Driver (Desert Battle)

During production, Hasbro changed the color of the Cobra H.I.S.S. Tank v5 to black, and discontinued the original green version. Without opening it, the only way to tell if the version you are getting is green or black is to look at the production number on the bottom of the package. Production number 02381 (or higher) are the black ones. Numbers lower than 02381 are the green version.

 WAVE 2 - ALPHA CLASS VEHICLES

A.W.E. Striker with Nightfox (Desert Battle)

Cobra Ice Cutter with Snow Serpent Officer (Arctic Threat)

 WAVE 2 - BRAVO CLASS VEHICLES

V.A.M.P. with Double-Clutch (Jungle Assault)

Cobra Fury with Alley-Viper Officer (City Strike)

 WAVE 3 - MECHS

Steel Maurader with Kickstart (Jungle Assault)

Cobra Deviant with Cyber-Viper (City Strike)

Hasbro also planned on releasing two additional mechs - Minotaur with Desert Scorpion (Desert Battle) and Mountain Wolf with Alpine (Arctic Threat). Unfortunately these items were cancelled.

Two vehicles initially planned for a 2011 release were the G.I. Joe Cycle Armour and H.I.S.S. Attack Scout. Hasbro shopped the vehicles around to numerous retailers, but found little success until Winners of Canada accepted it as a store exclusive.

 G.I. Joe City Armour with Ashiko (City Strike)

H.I.S.S. Attack Scout with H.I.S.S. Scout Pilot (Desert Battle)

Finding G.I. Joe toys today on store shelves is just as much fun as finding them back in the day when the line was in its prime. There's no denying that Hasbro found something special with the 3 3/4 inch line, and it's just fantastic that they've managed to keep it relevant for so many collectors for so long. We're sure the franchise will be thriving for decades more.

Join us next time when we take a look at Rob Zombie Presents The Haunted World Of El Superbeasto!

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