By Justin Bell and Terry Dizard

The backbone of the COBRA forces are the masked terrorists that were originally only described as "The Enemy". As Troopers and Officers, these faceless masses were the first foes that G.I. Joe faced way back in 1982.

As great as the design scheme is for those evil masked men, some folks find the tooling relatively dated and tough to integrate into today's modern Joe collection. I partially agree with that sentiment, though I think the minor changes made for the TRU Infantry Forces 6-Pack a couple of years ago made a world of difference and immediately made those figures incredibly relevant again.

To go along with the very nicely designed Anniversary figures, we have a new backbone of the COBRA forces, and this is the Officers chosen to lead the squads of Troopers against the world. With an incredibly well sculpted military uniform, these COBRA Officers gain a lot of bulk and a lot of character. His removable helmet reveals a bald head underneath, which at first seems a bit jarring, but the result is a helmet that fits exceptionally well and stays on perfectly, which is a good trade off in my opinion for the Troopers and Officers having hair.

The one drawback to this figure is, like a few others, his hip articulation. While not nearly as bad as Scarlett and Baroness, the COBRA Officer does have some limitation to his forward leg movement. He has some range of motion, but not quite enough for me, which is hopefully something Hasbro can address in the future. The knife sheath works great, and the webgear is so well sculpted and well made, that it simply makes the figure fantastic.

Beyond that gripe, the Officer is a great looking figure. Something that's not meant to bolster your existing vintage COBRA soldiers, and certainly not something that's meant to replace them, but he is a well designed and well produced homage to the original, and a terrific support squad for your Anniversary COBRA Commander. Whether working the Terror Drome, driving a HISS, or leading the charge against G.I. Joe, these COBRA Officers are great looking figures and will be excellent display pieces.

-COOBBRAAAA!!!

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