G.I. Joe Classified: The Baroness With Cobra C.O.I.L. - Wave Three, Cobra Island Concluded

Today I'm wrapping up the elusive Target exclusive Cobra Island (wave three), with a look at the last figure in the bunch, The Baroness. This figure / vehicle combo pack was a nightmare to track down. With no stores receiving it until August 14th, or after, it has certainly been the most challenging to obtain, and the most expensive on secondary markets.

With a retail price of $39.99, the $120.00 and up prices on secondary markets sure don't promote this line being one worth collecting to your average fan. However, patience is a virtue, and the lesson stands true. Never give in to scalpers. Product can be found in stores with perseverance and patience.

Anyway, enough of the intro. Let's actually dive into the package.

I've talked about the boxes ad nauseam, so I'll keep this relatively short. The biggest thing that surprised me with it is actually the overall size. At sixteen inches long and nine inches high, this package is massive. I don't know what I expected, but I suppose it should have been that it would be hefty.

If nothing else, it terrifies me of the perspective of future vehicles for this line. I'm not very interested in collecting these to begin with, and most of this is driven by the sheer volume of space they would inevitably take up. It's disappointing to think that future exclusive figures may be packaged this way because $39.99 was expensive enough. I don't even want to think about paying $300.00 for something just to get the figure inside.

Fears of future releases aside, you can see that the Cobra Island packaging style is kept in line with the three basic figures released in the wave. Despite being packaged with a vehicle, the numbering scheme continues, with The Baroness being appropriately labeled thirteen.

Because there are numerous accessories inside, let's take a look at those first.

The two assault rifles (or are those SMG's), can either go in the hands of The Baroness, or they can be attached to the sides of the motorcycle. I dare say they look better on the bike because of the large pegs which jut out of the sides of them.

Speaking of the bike, I don't know why the second handlebar had to be packaged loose, versus being attached to the bike. It was quite a pain to get on. So much so, that I thought I was going to break it in half trying to force it on.

The helmet accessory is actually it's own separate head. I suppose this is a good and bad thing. It's good because it means you don't have to risk any paint wear on the head of The Baroness. It's bad because it means one piece is always going to be floating around loose.

As for the remaining items, these include two gold pistols, a cobra emblazon knife and a molded cobra. The latter I found to be quite silly. I get that she's part of Cobra, but come on, including an actual cobra? Cliche much?

The bike itself is straight up disappointing. It's bulky, feels cheap and has an overall feeling of being a glorified Fisher Price toy. It's out of place in the line and lacks any real depth of detail when compared to the figures. In short, it's garbage. This is the kind of toy that belongs in Playmate's original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line.

If future vehicles are going to be released, then the quality and care needs to match that of the figures they're either intended for, or accompany in the packages. Otherwise, the increased price tag associated with them is simply not going to be justifiable.

I'm physically frowning at this thing as I look at it. It's total crap.

Fortunately, the saving grace to this set is The Baroness herself. Before I even had her out of the package, I knew she was going to be my absolute favorite in the line to date. She is practically flawless in design.

I say practically, because I did find an issue with her. That would be that while her glasses are removable, there are clear cut grooves in the side of her face to slide them into. Removing them detracts very much from her face, leaving the question of, "Why bother making them removable?" At that point, it's just another piece to be potentially lost.

Minor gripe aside, the details on this figure are superb. From the textured layers of her breastplate, boots and gloves, to the minor details of gold etching on the glasses. Hasbro certainly hit all the right notes with The Baroness.

As you spin the figure around, you can see that there's also a place to store her two pistols and the knife. While it's a little disappointing there are no back pegs for the larger guns, since these can be stored on the bike, and again seem like that was the intention anyway, that's an aspect that's easy to move past.

Here she is all decked out.

And here she is with the bike in front of her. Ugh...Putting them together seems to only amplify just how out of place the bike looks in this line. Hasbro definitely needs to up their game on future vehicles. I foresee a lot of these being offloaded on ebay without the figure.

And to get a look at the entire Cobra Island wave, here they are as a group, sans the bike.

Lastly, here's how my shelf stands in this lineup to date.

Difficulty in finding them aside, this has definitely been one of the best lines I've collected. The overall quality of each figure has been superb.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.