1997 Cobra Commander - Random Photos of the Day

A decade after the debut of the 1987 Cobra Commander, Hasbro released a repaint.  Originally, the figure in the 1997 Cobra Command set was supposed to be the 1983 Cobra Commander mold.  It was supposed to be a helmeted version of the classic character but in the color scheme of the 1984 Hooded mail away.  It would have finally gotten collectors a Cobra blue version of the faction's titular leader.  (A gap that still exists today!)  But, mold shenanigans reared their head and Hasbro could not locate the original Cobra Commander mold.  (It had been used as recently as 1994, even!)  So, they went with the less popular 1987 mold.  Instead of the metallic silver of the original, though, Hasbro kept the Cobra blue with gold highlight motif.  And, collectors were gifted the 1997 Cobra Commander.

I looked at this figure almost 8 years ago.  But, at the time, I really didn't have much to say about him.  The profile was a rush job as, I still hadn't really found a great use for the figure.  Since then, I've found value in the 1997 Cobra Commander.  The color scheme is classic.  And, between factory customs and the Pulse era releases, there are now more options for classically blue Cobras who can match up with a properly colored Cobra Commander.  So, I've had more occasion to use the 1997 figure in my photos.

The real story of this figure is the intricacy of the paint masks.  Against the dark blue, the figure features gold, red and black details.  The layering of gold and red on the chest is especially impressive.  Hasbro really worked hard to deliver high quality paint jobs on the 1997 and 1998 figures.  After that, the retail masks got more sparse while the finely detailed molds became the domain of premium priced convention figures.  The main reason the 1997 and 1998 series have held up so well is due to the complex paint masks that give even bland character designs and base colors tremendous additional depth.

It's amazing how much of a difference the air hose on the figure's head makes.  Sans this accessory, the head is bland and strikingly plain.  The hose adds a tremendous amount of detail.  But, the hose was not included with the 1997 figure.  So, you have to take one from a 1987 or 2001 figure to make the 1997 figure whole.  The mouth hole, though, is shortened on this version.  So, the hose is a precarious fit at best.  And, it isn't practical to actually use the figure with the hose attached as it will just fall off and get lost in the weeds, forever.

I miss the days when Hasbro would take weird chances with figures.  They missed way more than they hit.  But, when they did hit, like with this Cobra Commander, the results were spectacular.  The first couple of waves of the Super7 ReAction+ line were too staid and predictable for me.  I'm glad that they deviated a bit with some weird repaints as SDCC exclusives.  I assume the lack of previews of future waves was just due to the uncertainty of...everything.  I'm holding out hope that they start to get a little more daring and can come up with some weird combos of mold and parts that creates an unexpected classic like this 1997 release.