COBRA'S Most Wanted: Mercenaries
G.I. Joe International Collector's Convention, 2006
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Toy name: COBRA's Most Wanted: Mercenaries
Assortment: Convention Exclusive, 2006
Price: Assorted
Availability: June, 2006
Key Features & Price Points
- 15 Figure Set w/ Filecards, accessories, and Desert Camouflage Armadillo- $240.00
- Sgt. Slaughter Carded figure - $25.00
- Sgt. Slaughter's Renegades Carded 3-Pack - $50.00
- Ferret ATV 2-Pack - $25.00
- Desert Camo Warthog - $48.00
I still remember hearing the surprise announcement at the 2002 Convention that everyone who attended would receive a free vehicle to go along with their convention set. It was a great surprise that year, and each year since, the Collectors' Club has worked hard to get us a decent selection of mini vehicles that are fun to play with, but also tie in to the theme of the set. Well, this year, they walked a thin line. We ended up with a decent free vehicle, and a pretty fun selection of other vehicles, but I didn't really get a "wow factor" like I have in times past. Perhaps it's that funky swirly camouflage that the Club insists on using...perhaps it's the fact that slowly but surely I'm certain they're running out of vehicle tools to call into action. Whatever the reasons, we got some fun little vehicles this year, but they didn't really knock my socks off.
First off is the Armadillo. Now, this little mini tank is a terrific, fun, little speedy vehicle of destruction. With some nicely aerodynamic armored plating, low to the ground clearence, and four miniature cannons, it doesn't look like it packs a huge punch, but it looks like it could run circles around some of the larger COBRA vehicles. Originally released in '85, it became a standard vehicle of choice in the cartoon, and is really a pretty fun little craft.
My issue really lies in the fact that it doesn't really tie in directly with the theme of the set necessarily. While it's obviously meant to be some sort of desert-themed mini tank, with that funky brown, black, and tan swirly stuff going on, I'm not real sure how it fits into the set. With vehicles past, like the Stealth AGP, the Dreadnok Cycle, and even the mini subs, there was a clear line as to how the vehicle was meant to be used. Not so much here. While that is a minor complaint, it does leave me kind of wishy washy about how to integrate this vehicle.
Not to mention the fact that the swirly camouflage is honestly kinda ugly. The vehicle has a brownish base color with darker browns and such swirled in together, either trying to make it look camouflaged, or trying to make it look dirty. It doesn't really succeed at either. Although, really, I would rather have it look like this than have them just make it desert themed, giving it a bland tan shade with some assorted paint wipes. At least the swirl-o-flage is somewhat interesting and draws the eye, but I'm just not really sure what the purpose was. I guess I can see how this ties into the set sort of...I mean the Armadillo was the base vehicle for one of the Slaughter Marauder tanks. I guess I just wish it was written in a little bit more clearly.
Also, in what is quickly becoming an annual event, the decals were not available at the Con this year, and will have to be acquired at a later date. This is a minor inconvenience, but my desire to get reviews up quickly trumps my need to have pictures with the stickers, so you will have to use your imagination.
It's tough to go wrong with a free Armadillo, and while the color pallet throws me for a little loop, the vehicle itself is enjoyable, and it holds three figures, so I can see using it as the Renegades' personal infiltration and attack craft.
Now, for the best deal of the convention exclusives, without a doubt...the Ferret 2-Pack.
The Ferret has always been one of the more underrated vehicles in the early years, I think. From the rubber tires, to the oversized cannon, to the handlebar controlled front machine guns, the Ferret was a nice little simple vehicle that has proven pretty timeless. Set a Ferret ATV beside a new sculpt Assault Quad and tell me which one is cooler. I'm actually quite surprised we haven't gotten more Ferrets released over the years, considering they evidently have the tooling available. But I'm glad at least the G.I. Joe Collectors' Club came through on this one, and gave us a cool and relatively affordible mini vehicle set in the same vein as the Skyhawks last year.
One Ferret is obviously meant for Overlord and the Coils, while the other one is geared for Major Bludd and his Skull Squad. Rather than the traditional paint schemes, once again, the Club opts to go with the swirly camouflage, but I must say that I really love the effect here...it comes across a lot nicer than the Armadillo one, for whatever reason that may be.
One of the Ferrets as a green/black/gray swirl, designed to work with the Coil team, and it looks really nice. It has kind of a jungle ops appearence, and the weapon trimming is all in gold, which actually ends up looking a whole lot nicer than I thought it might. The green and gold mesh well together, and it looks pretty good being manned by Coil Troopers, even if the colors don't match exactly.
The other Ferret in the two-pack is even less like the troops it's supposed to serve, but I LOVE how it ended up looking. The terrific almost pewter camouflage look to the vehicle is a great color, and gives it a whole lot of life beyond your traditional dark blue and red. Gray comes out a lot more prominantly than the brown and black, but the combination of all three colors just gives you a really nice looking color scheme and an exciting little vehicle. It's got a red cannon, red machine guns, and light red missiles, and ends up being a really nice compliment to the original Ferret, even if the colors aren't real close to the Skull Squad and Major Bludd. Regardless of the fact that the Ferret doesn't fit real well color-wise, it's still a really nice looking vehicle.
Like the Armadillo, neither Ferret's decal sheets made it to New Orleans intact, so both small vehicles are currently sticker-less, but I have confidence that the Collectors' Club will rectify that situation.
All in all, I find myself most interested in the Ferrets where the vehicles are concerned this year, both from a purpose and price standpoint. Kudos all around for this awesome pair of COBRA ATV's.
Once Sargeant Slaughter was revealed as the theme to this year's set, the potential vehicle choices dropped to a very low number, and I think a lot of people kind of figured the Warthog was a no-brainer. The Slaughter figure was based on the Warthog driver figure, the Warthog mold was used in 2002 as the Night Rhino, so we all knew they had the tooling available. When it comes right down to it, it's not a surprise, and surprise is kind of important to me when it comes to the Con exclusives. Still, you cannot go wrong with the Warthog, and in fact, the Collectors' Club went very right with this particular vehicle, even at a somewhat higher price point.
It's obvious that the environmental theme of the Slaughter/Renegades set is desert warfare, and the desert theme continues on with the Warthog here. So far we've gotten two renditions of this vehicle, one in plain jane olive drab green, and one in pretty basic black. Here we get a very nice, elaborate camouflage paint scheme, which is almost flawlessly done. The different shades of brown and tan are mixed perfectly and the pattern itself is fantastic. It really brings the vehicle to life and makes it "snap" all that much more.
The vehicle choice makes sense, being a Slaughter vehicle, the troop transport and assault capabilities are all fantastic, and the stickers are really well done, too. They even added a couple Renegades and Slaughter specific stickers to the sticker sheet, which was kinda neat, too.
A cool vehicle and a great new paint scheme add up to a nice addition to any Joe motor pool, although the price could get slightly prohibitive. Forty-eight dollars seems excessive, most likely due to the huge number of paint applications on the vehicle. Really, though, despite the high price point, I really love this vehicle a lot, even though we've gotten it a couple of times before.
So, congratulations for reading through this overly long-winded and tiring review of this year's Convention exclusive set. From reading my reviews, you might think I'm somewhat unhappy with how the set came out...in fact, the complete opposite is true. The issue the Collectors' Club runs into is that they set their own bar SO high, that it's tough to live up to, especially when compared to the Iron Grenadier set last year.
But, this set has elements that G.I. Joe tends to miss in it's regular releases... "fun". This set is flat out FUN. A couple of great COBRA upper echelon individuals in awesome new uniforms...a dozen new COBRA-type troopers using unique molds in really interesting color schemes...the Renegades, for crying out loud! Who doesn't love the Renegades? Regardless of some of my issues with paint choices, the characterizations and portrayal of Joes and COBRA's in these Collectors' Club sets are just pure enjoyment for me. Some of the best figures released throughout the year, bar none.
Perhaps I'm overstating things...maybe I get too giddy because the classic sculpt Real American Hero world is near-dead, and I love seeing the Collectors' Club work their magic. Whatever the reasons are, I find myself really enjoying pretty much everything the Club produces, and this set is no different. I can immediately picture the Renegades facing off against the Coil and Skull Squad, and it just brings a sense of adventure to it. I think Hasbro has some great things they could be doing...the Viper Lockdown and upcoming Steel Brigade/Plague set all look like Hasbro has the right idea. But we all know that we're not seeing much in the way of 3 3/4" through mainstream release over the next year, and we'll have to depend on the Collectors' Club to give us our Real American Hero fix. Personally I have no issues with that at all, they continue to impress me with nearly everything they do. Do they have problems? Of course they do, everyone does. Could they have done some things better this year 'round? Absolutely. But for the most part, I find myself liking their work, and not regretting the money spent in the least.
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