There are, as of the end of 2019, 56 different versions of Cobra Commander that were released by Hasbro. There's a handful of international versions, too. In short, Cobra Commander is one of the most popular characters who is represented by action figures in the history of the Joe line. (And, likely, any toy line.)
Yes, I started writing this profile in 2019. It's sat in drafts for 8 years. In that time, I can't imagine how many more Cobra Commanders have been released. Hasbro gave us two o-ring versions in
2022 and 2023. The
Super7 ReAction line had a ton. Classified has produced countless Commander variants. Factory Custom makers got into the Cobra Commander business and made at least 50 versions themselves. The, the ReAction+ line has also fallen in love with the character and released an overabundance of Cobra Commander designs. We're almost at a point where just a Cobra Commander collection would be an entire shelving unit of display space. And, yet, we don't seem to tire of the character.
As the titular villain in the G.I.Joe saga, though, that makes sense. You can't really have a story without the main bad guy. So, always having a figure of him available is just good practice. The fact that the character's main design happens to be pretty cool certainly helps. The Commander is a classic mix of comic book super villain and military strongman. He has a dressy uniform that's topped by the battle helmet or classic hood. You need only look at him to know he's the bad guy. And, for a kid's toy line, that visual reference was all that was needed to create an iconic image.
When Hasbro looked to bring the G.I. Joe line back to full retail in 2000, Cobra Commander was a mandatory member of the initial wave. Unfortunately, back in
1997, Hasbro had learned that the near perfect
1983 Cobra Commander figure mold was no longer viable. Back then, they scrambled and released the Battle Armor version to get the character into the Toys R Us exclusive line. Wanting a more classic look for the Commander for a fuller retail launch, though, left Hasbro with few options. The
1991 mold was enjoying a great life in India. The 1987 had just been used. This left Hasbro with just the Talking Battle Commander/
1993 Cobra Commander mold. But, that happens to be an amazing sculpt for the character that hearkens back to his original designs. So, it became the mold of choice to represent the Commander at the retail relaunch.
Packed with a
1984 Baroness figure that was now named
Chameleon, Cobra Commander was shipped 3 to a case in the first wave...making him very abundant. Hasbro assumed that collectors would go ga-ga over the new Baroness while also appreciating the Cobra Commander. And, they weren't really wrong. While the two pack did back up at retail in late 2000 and was often the last pack available on the shelves, it was all gone from retail by early
2001. Despite collector reticence at post 1990 molds, the community generally accepted the new version of the Commander. The appreciated the color and found the mold good enough, especially when used among later figures.
Where this figure shines is the paint applications. The 2000
ARAHC releases featured paint masks that would come to be considered Convention quality. Hasbro spent money to paint the figures up correctly. And, that quality allows the figures to have more resonance, today. Hasbro started skimping on retail paint applications in
2002. But, figures released before that, like this Commander, retain many of the trappings of vintage Hasbro releases. The body is cast in a Cobra blue and features silver and red highlights. It's a definite improvement over the 1993 paint masks. And it allows you to see all the sculpted details that Hasbro baked into the figure. The result is a visual treat that looks like a vintage figure but has the coloring of a collector themed release. You'll even see a great little detail where the Commander's neck is painted red. A small, unnecessary touch that adds to much depth to the figure. It could be argued that this is the best Cobra Commander figure Hasbro ever did...except for one horrible design choice.
The 1992 Talking Battle Commander figures all featured flat backs. This was done to accommodate the screwed on, oversized sonic backpacks. In 1993, though, Hasbro sculpted a proper back piece for the Cobra Commander so that he could be a standard carded figure. For some reason, though, the 2000 figure features the flat, 1992 back instead of the proper 1993. The result is that the figure is out of sorts with his contemporaries. From the front, he's fine. But, as soon as even a small portion of the back becomes visible, you realize that something is drastically amiss. No explanation was ever given by Hasbro as to why this back was used in 2000 and continued to be used through the figure's final appearance in
2005. At least the 2003 convention release and the 2005 Processional figures had capes to hide the mis-shapen piece. But, it's a glaring miss on an otherwise impeccable figure that takes it from one of the best figures of the repaint era to just another figure that you can probably skip over.
The rest of the figure is solid. There are some who don't like the shorter hood. But, the later Comic Pack release showed that even a longer hood wasn't a guaranteed improvement. But, the sculpting bears strong resemblance to the Cobra Commander's first appearance in the comic in 1982. He's a dead ringer for the Cobra Commander who appears on the cover of G.I. Joe #100. In short, he's about as iconic a look as you can get for Cobra Commander. But, that kind of makes sense, given his 1992 release date. 1992 was a reboot year for Joe with many classic characters returning to the line. Gung Ho, Wild Bill, Destro, Cutter and Spirit were just some examples of classic characters who were designed for a 1992 release and who got figures very true to their characters. So, the Commander being among was Hasbro's way of keeping him as the main bad guy for a new generation of kids.
Cobra Commander's gear is terrible. Really, really terrible. All of the gear is recycled from the 1992 Talking Battle Commanders figure. And, you can see what they were attempting to do back then. The missile launcher has removable missiles and even features a blast shield (realism that could be missing from some Joe toys) to protect the shooter. But, the practicality of the design is lost and the weapon doesn't really look good at a 3 3/4" scale toy level. The other rifle is, again, too large. It's a big, bulky weapon that is difficult for the figure to hold and looks out of place. Were it scaled smaller or even included a stock, the weapon might have merit. But, you really need a spare 1987 Cobra Commander pistol to make this figure work. (The 1983 "hairdryer" accessory is really too small for this bulkier 1992 sculpt.) I'm more lenient on poor gear for a figure like the Commander since he's not someone who's out on the front lines. But, if a figure is going to include gear, at least make it something worthwhile.
The upside is that there is a nice amount of 2000's era Cobra Commander accessories to supplement this figure. The classic hair-dryer gun was released with several different figures in the repaint era. The 1987 Cobra Commander pistol also saw release in a nice silver color. Both are good alternate accessories for this 2000 version. And, if you want to hide the flat back (and, you do!), the cape from the 2005 Imperial Processional Cobra Commander works perfectly for this blue version, too. With that gear, the figure really stands out and looks like the Commander should.
I see this figure as the logical placeholder/replacement for the 1984 Hooded Cobra Commander figure. When I'm using figures that were released prior to 1986, the Hooded Cobra Commander is a perfect companion piece. He's skinny, frail and in proportion to the figures of that era. But, when I want to use figures from later in the line, it is this sculpt of the Commander that is my go-to. The bulkier sculpt is more in line with later figures...but keeps the classic Commander look. So, you can have a standard Cobra army, just using later figures. It's a fun way to keep some consistency within Cobra and gives me a nice, alternate look for the faction. I've long loved the 1993 Cobra Commander and have made a case that it's the best Cobra Commander figure. If this 2000 figure had the proper back, though, he would be the undisputed king of the character's figures. Even with the poor back piece, he's in the running for the best since he does photograph well.
This mold was used a lot. The initial, flat back release occurred in 1992 with the Talking Battle Commanders. In 1993, Hasbro fixed the back and gave a black version a full retail release. It's one of the highlights of the 1993 line. Sadly, the flat back returned in 2000 and remained with the figure's releases. In 2003, a version of this Commander was released in the Convention set. It's a solid figure. And, it was given a cape to hide the poor back piece. In 2004, the body mold was used in the first Comic Pack. But, that figure got a new head. The new head and
1992 body then appeared in the 2005 Imperial Processional pack and then again as a clear "holographic" figure in a DTC Comic Pack. (There is an alternate Imperial Processional Cobra Commander, too. It's extremely rare, though and wasn't ever really available from Asian sellers. You'll see it in a
Rarities post next June.) That was the end of Hasbro releases. However, in 2020 or so, Black Major resurrected the head for inclusion with his Worms figures. The head made for some fun new takes on the Commander before being retired.
This Cobra Commander is, simply put, not popular. The figure was overpacked in Wave I of the ARAHC cases at 3 sets per case. This lead to oversupply in 2000 that still manifests itself 20+ years later. While Cobra Commander was discontinued after Wave I, the huge oversupply kept him available for a long time. Even when the Baroness mold was hard to get, this figure remained cheap. Today, loose mint and complete figures sell for a couple of bucks. Dealers charge $5-$7 just because it's not worth their time to deal with them for any less. You can get carded versions with Chameleon for $10 and even less if you are patient. This is a pittance for two figures of the quality of this Cobra Commander and Chameleon. This version does have limitations. But, those are easy to forgive for a dollar or two.
