2005 Night Watch Trooper - Around The Web

Once upon a time, Hasbro did little with the classic Cobra Trooper mold.  Just as collectors had given up hope we'd ever seen another retail release of the mold, Hasbro dropped a little surprise into the first round of DTC releases: the Cobra Night Watch.  

Ostensibly, the Night Watch is just different enough to be useful.  But, also just different enough to not really go with anything.  Below, you'll find a nice mix of modern uses of the figures as well as some thoughts on the figure back when it was first released.  In the 18 years since this figure appeared, though, the multitudes of Black Major Cobra Trooper repaints have rendered the Night Watch kind of moot.  There are plenty of factory customs that now are better night themed figures and also better blend with Night Vipers, the Stinger and other Cobras that fit the nighttime theme.

But, these figures are still useful, even if they are not the cheap army builders that they were even just a few years ago.  You can check out all the links to see a nice array of ways that collectors have used these figures.

2005 Night Watch Trooper Profile

2005 Night Watch Trooper by andrey_collector

2005 Night Watch Trooper by Dreadnok Dread

2005 Night Watch Trooper by gijoekorea

2005 Night Watch review at JoeBattleLines.com

2005 Night Watch Trooper by thedustinmccoy

2005 Night Watch Trooper by gigamach

2005 Night Watch Trooper by megastorm

2005 Night Watch Trooper by yotothejoe

2005 Night Watch review at General's Joes Reborn

2005 Night Watch Trooper by Slipstream80

2005 Night Watch Trooper by gen_liederkranz

2005 Night Watch Trooper at JoeADay.com

2005 Night Watch Trooper

At the 2003 G.I. Joe Convention, Hasbro showcased the upcoming Cobra Infantry 6 pack.  This set included four Cobra Troopers and two Cobra Officers that were painted up as homages to the original characters from 1982.  It was a hugely anticipated set and proved to be extremely popular.  Collectors of era assumed that Hasbro would then repaint the molds into the rainbow of basic troop colors that every Joe fan had yearned for since 1984.  At the time, Hasbro was repaint mad and collectors were army builder obsessed.  It was a no-brainer.  But, then, it didn't happen.  Sure, a Cobra Trooper and Officer showed up in the first 5 Comic Packs.  But, they were poorly colored and used terrible arms.  As 2005 brought about the retail line's cancellation, it became apparent that collectors would never get Stinger or Crimson Troopers.  The loss of these highly desired releases, though, was drowned out by the general malaise over the line's overall demise.  But, Hasbro then offered collectors a lifeline: the DTC experiment.  Among the figures and vehicles that comprised these online only toys was a 6 figure set of classic Troopers and Officers: the Night Watch.

At first, collectors were ecstatic about the Night Watch.  Cheap Cobra army builders were rarely scoffed at.  But, once in hand, the oddity of the release hit home.  The Night Watch figures didn't really fit anywhere.  Sure, they were supposed to be Cobra's night guardsmen.  But, their color scheme didn't fit with Night Vipers.  Nor did it really match up with the Stinger or it's driver.  They were an island unto themselves.  And, this quickly took a bite out of their popularity.  Slowly, the sets began to stagnate.  And, when Hasbro finally sold all of their non-moving online stock to Toys R Us, there was a large supply of Night Watch sets that were included in the sale.  A year after the set's online release, you could find plenty of Night Watch sets hanging at Toys R Us stores around the country. 

With time, though, comes perspective.  And, this set was both over-hyped and then overly derided within its release window.  Now, though, you can see the figures in the set for something new.  The Night Watch doesn't fit the traditional definition of Cobra Trooper colors.  But, the bluish-grey with camo pants does add some design flair to a normally staid look.  The grey pads on the chest straps bring out the detail on that feature that had been lost to a sea of black on other releases.  The multiple skin tones allowed for more diverse army building.  Though, Hasbro did do away with the differing eye and eyebrow colors for the caucasian members of the 2004 Infantry set.  

Truth be told, I don't much use the Night Watch figures any longer.  Not because they are bad.  It's just because there are better versions of the Cobra Trooper that were released by the factory custom makers in the ensuing years.  So, the uniqueness of the Night Watch is lost as there are lots of Cobra Troopers out there with multiple colors, additional painted details and camo pants.  And, the factory customs include the correct arms as well as the original rifle.  So, they offer all that made the Night Watch unique.  But, in getting these figures out for photos, I was reminded of their quality.  They seemed a bit odd at the time.  But, the details make for good figures.  But, because we were deprived of basics like Stinger Troopers in 2005, these Night Watch Troopers became victims of collector expectations.  We wanted them to be something they were not.  And, they were dropped because of this.  When taken for what the Night Watch is, the figures hold up much better.

The Night Watch Trooper's accessories are OK.  The Toys R Us six packs had devolved into a just including massive amounts of non-sensical gear for the figures.  The Night Watch brought back a bit of order to the weapons...even if it meant a decrease in quantity.  Each of the four Troopers includes the same black stand, black knife and black rifle.  Both the rifle and knife are JvC era designs.  But, they actually work with the older figure molds.  The knife is menacing.  It looks good and it's always nice to have extra bladed weapons lying around.  The rifle is also OK.  It's a rifle/grenade launcher combo that debuted a few years earlier.  It's compact for what it is.  The handle is a bit blocky, though, and would snap vintage thumbs.  The softer, more pliable plastic used in the 2000's releases, though, allows the Night Watch Trooper to hold it with no fear of breaking.  In fact, the greater issue is that the weapon stretches out the figure's hand so much that you have to push it back into place before he can hold the weapon again. 

This figure uses the same parts as the 2004 Comic Pack Cobra Trooper.  Supposedly, the change from the 2004 Toys R Us Infantry figure mold was due to Hasbro finding the original Officer and Trooper parts in a different factory.  The sad part is both the waist and arms are from the 1984 Roadblock.  I don't really mind the waist.  It does look a bit out of place.  But, it doesn't bother me to the extent that it does others.  The arms, though, are a different story.  Roadblock's arms were meant to be bare.  So, with painted sleeves, they look skinny.  I thought that Thunder's arms on the 2004 Troopers worked well.  But, these Roadblock arms are the weakest point of the Night Watch figures.  The original Cobra Trooper arms were iconic in that they included the piano wire that really gave you an idea of how bad they were.  Losing that detail (and all details) on the Night Watch figure made them appear more plain.

In looking back at the Direct To Consumer strategy, Hasbro was really ahead of their time.  In 2021, a series of collector themed toys sold via online dealers who cater to that constituency should be viable.  More than a few companies make it work.  But, in 2005, it was downright innovative.  We do have to account for the fact that that toys had already been designed and molds created.  So, Hasbro had a lot of sunk cost into their creation.  So, the proposition was less risky for them than it otherwise would have been.  The fact that DTC failed is both a function of the timing (2005 was a LONG time ago!) and the size of the Joe collecting world.  Joe collectors like to believe we exist in great numbers.  But, we don't.  And, we never have.  People point to large populations on various social media forms as proof of a large size.  But, those groups are mostly people who joined to ask a question (usually about value) and then never come back.  There's a few dozen to a few hundred really active people out there with an overall collecting community that's, maybe, 10% of the size of the Star Wars community.  In short, there aren't enough of us to sustain a line.  Even in 2021, that's true.  The Joe toys we see are geared towards people who collect scale: almost exclusively at retail.  If they flock to Joe, we'll get more of that product.  But, there aren't enough of us 3 3/4" collectors left to really support a toy line.  And, that's now been true for 15 years.

Like all of the 2000's era ARAH releases, the Night Watch sets have kind of dried up.  You can get boxed sets in the $80-$90 range.  And, dealers tend to sell a lot of loose, complete sets for similar amounts.  This appears to be a deal, though, since dealers will get up to $20 per figure for the individuals with many still reaching $16 on the open market.  It's a far cry from the days of these being $3 or $4 figures.  And, at current pricing, it's hard to justify these figures.  Most of the factory custom paint jobs of the Cobra Trooper are better.  And, they are around the same price.  The Night Watch is something different.  But, it lacks a true identity and it doesn't really mesh well with any existing Cobra units or vehicles.  If you can get them cheap, the bizarreness of their release is worthwhile.  But, at current pricing, there are a lot of better options out there for classic Cobra Troopers.

2005 Cobra Night Watch Squad Leader (Cobra Officer)

In 2004, Hasbro hit the collector mother lode when it released the Cobra Infantry Set.  This mix of 4 Cobra Troopers and 2 Cobra Officers (Called Squad Leaders) made from mostly original molds in classic Cobra colors sold like hotcakes.  Collectors tripped over themselves to build massive retail armies and the sets quickly doubled in price on the secondary market.  In the 18 months that followed the release of the Cobra Infantry Set, though, Hasbro never again captured lightning in a bottle the way they had with the original 6 Pack.  Collectors clamored for more flavors of Cobra Troopers and Officers.  But, Hasbro never came through.  Finally, in the summer of 2005, collectors saw the only other time Hasbro would package the Trooper and Officer molds together in an army building set when they released the Cobra Night Watch.  This set featured the return of the original head molds for the Trooper and Officer in a base grayish-blue coloring.  The officers, though, got a more standard treatment.  But, the result is a figure that is remarkably well done.

I've never been as much of a fan of the Cobra Officer as I have of the Trooper. I don't really know why, but I have always considered the Officer to be the lesser of the two figures. As a kid, the Officer was the first of the Cobra army builders to enter my collection. Despite the excellent AK-47, there was not much about the figure that really intrigued me. The named Cobras of the era were the villains who captured my attention. And, having them superseded the need for faceless troopers. In time, though, this changed. Army builders became more important to my Joe world. Hordes of masked troopers helped to set the Joes up as a super-hero like organization since they could overcome such great odds against them.

The Night Watch set didn't have much of an identity.  The figures weren't really night combat colored.  They didn't match Stinger Drivers.  And, they didn't fit any of the other, existing Cobra color palettes.  This doesn't mean that they didn't stand on their own as valued releases.  But, they were more difficult to integrate into existing Cobra armies.  The Night theme was at least something new that Hasbro tried that didn't come off as completely cheesy and cliched. But, it would have been nice for these figures to have been integratable with Night Vipers (it would have been even nicer had Hasbro included a Night Viper or two instead of the 2nd Officer and a Trooper!) But, the colors are subdued, close enough to vintage to be acceptable and can work as a reasonable Cobra strike force.

Since these figures were plentiful and cheap, I acquired a good lot of them. At the time, I heavily favored figures based on molds from 1985 and prior. And, since the Night Watch fit the bill, I acquired a large number of sets. Once I owned, them, though, I found that the Cobra Troopers really didn't do much for me. When picking out a cadre of villains to use for a photo, I would gravitate to the 2004 Infantry Troopers before I would look at the Night Watch figures. However, it is this version of the Cobra Officer that I find is my favorite. The dark blue background with the solid painted details and red trimmings make for a figure that leaps off the vintage comic pages. The silver logo and helmet sigil hearken back to the vintage Cobra Officer and give this figure a feel that is more like the vintage line than most of the repaints of molds from that era were able to accomplish.

The set included two Cobra Officers, one adorned with purple trimmings and this figure, with the classic red mask. The purple figure is visually interesting. But, this vintage inspired, red masked figure is the one that really stands out. One of the great shortcomings on the vintage line was that the original Troopers and Officers were never released in more colors. They should have seen repaints with the comic book based red mask. Fortunately, the repaint era did remedy some of this. Both the 2004 Infantry set and this 2005 release prominently featured red masked officers to help augment the Cobra armies.

As a mold, this figure is something relatively new.  At the 2003 convention, Hasbro said that the Cobra Trooper and Officer molds were gone.  But, to create the 2004 Infantry set, they retooled them from the ground up.  At some point after this proclamation, though, Hasbro found at least part of the vintage molds.  So, the 2004 Comic Pack Trooper and Officer as well as these Night Watch figures feature the vintage head, chest and legs of the Cobra Officer.  The arms and waist, though, are from the 1984 Roadblock figure.  The result is fine, though, the skinny arms are not nearly as nice of a replacement for the original arms as the Thunder arms from the 2004 Infantry set were.

The Night Watch accessories were OK. The certainly beat those included with the 2004 Infantry set. But, that was a pretty low bar to overcome. Each of the Troopers included a well done combat knife and a new sculpt assault rifle. It's not the best sculpting of the new sculpt era, but also not the worst. It fits the figures and is acceptable. The purple Officer includes two more rifles that are also from the era. This figure includes 4 sub machine guns. (2 occurrences of 2 different weapons.) The weapon you see pictured below is one and, frankly, kind of sucks. I have never liked the look. The other two, though, are very nice and look like the weapons that Cobra Troopers and Officers used in many of the late '80's issues of the Marvel comic. Since there's really no need for one figure to have both weapons, it's easy to hand the extra gun off the other Officer and both figures are then well outfitted. It would have been nice to see some vintage accessories and backpacks for these figures. Maybe even some additional gear to accentuate the fact that these troops were supposed to be more elite would have helped. But, for the time, at least the weapons made sense and were mostly firearms. That, alone, was a victory for the set.

The Direct to Consumer line from 2005 through 2006 was actually a surprisingly good mix of collector friendly figures and vehicles.  The ARAH style releases finally escaped the numeric sequential comic releases and expanded into some new territory using vastly different molds.  The new sculpt figures were progressing and featured many of the highest quality figures in that style.  There were army builders, classic characters and some decent new characters all sprinkled into the releases.  But, the line was still doomed from the beginning.  Not even Hasbro dumping all their overstock to Toys R Us for huge discounts was enough to save the line from cancellation.  There just weren't enough Joe collectors alone to keep a toy line afloat as an online only offering.  Without the residual retail sales, Joe didn't have the interest to sustain itself.  But, even the appearance of the DTC items at Toys R Us stores was too late. Most of the releases languished at retail for years. Better items, like the Night Watch, did sell out. But, Hasbro was forced to rethink what they wanted the Joe line to be.

The Night Watch sold well upon its initial release.  At the time, Cobra themed TRU 6 figure sets were seeing production runs in the 20,000 units range.  It is likely that the Night Watch saw production numbers this high as well.  Every online dealer of the time stocked the Night Watch set and most sold through their initial shipments very quickly.  But, collector demand was sated just as swiftly as the sales.  The move to the DTC model alienated a large portion of the Joe fanbase.  And, collector interest in the DTC releases was at an all time low.  This lead to Hasbro selling off their remaining DTC stock to Toys R Us stores.  TRU then sold the items in their brick and mortar stores across the US.  A full year after the Night Watch set's release, it was possible to still find them for original retail price at TRU stores around the country.  The result is a cheap figure to acquire today.  Mint and complete Night Watch officers sell for around $4 each.  Boxed sets seem to run in the $30 range.  So, the sum of the figures is much less than getting all at once.  For $4, this figure is worth picking up, especially if you can get a nice cadre of the Night Watch Troopers.  But, at it's core, this figure is still inferior to the original Cobra Officer.  He's just a lot cheaper.