Alexx Shorts: RoC Cobra Gunship (7/12/09)

Well, this is it: I've finally decided to start reposting my old "Alexx Shorts" G.I. Joe reviews.  They're the reviews that lead to what eventually became this blog!  I'll be posting them in straight copy-and-paste format, separating them with bold dotted lines so you know where they begin and end, and then I'll post some final thoughts on what I think of the figure currently.

For those unfamiliar: I used to take random pictures here and there, but by the time the Rise of Cobra toys came out, I was getting annoying with how much people had been bashing the figures which were clearly better than the previous 25th Anniversary offerings.  I set out to show people how awesome they were, and things went from there, forming into "Alexx Shorts", named so because I thought I was going to keep to a short format with a few pictures.  I did not do that.


Wow man, I haven't touched any Joe vehicles in AGES, except to move them out of the way!  Let's see how excited I was for vehicles, back in '09. 

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Duck got all the close detail shots for you here [Present Note: This used to refer to a post by a guy on Joebattlelines named Duck, since he reviewed the ship before I did.] , so I'm gona go nutz like usual and show you why else this vehicle will be in your hangar.

Well, okay, unless those mooks are in your hangar, acting like they are fixing things....

Anyway, this ship has a lot of action built right in, and most of it is because of the opening side where figures can sit or pop out! Of course, there's also stuff like the bottom handles used for holding, or hanging! It's all a dang good show, really, so take a look! I don't have much else to say.

I really thought those handles underneath were for holding on, but attaching the hooks is obvious and a much more normal idea! After I started screwing around with that, I couldn't get enough of it!

My favorite part, though is obviously that opening panel. You really gotta shove figures in there though, which is kinda disappointing. Nonetheless, they do fit in there. I'm just sure I'm going to use it more for figures popping out and doin' stuff!

Finally, I noticed that Duck's figure has the black helmet, which was cool, but I decided to not pay total attention to what I was getting, and got the red one. So, since it was already red, I copied Duck's idea and used a Hiss driver (with some different lower legs 'cause he was a fodder figure).

Oh....and I couldn't help doing this:

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I have cut WAY down on vehicles, over they years.  Ya know why?  Because of this one and a million other Joe vehicles I amassed!  They're taking up the entire lower shelf in my toy room, in one big bin (as well as a few I took out and stored at the storage center).  They're still good stuff, I just don't have the room or the picture-taking-space to really utilize them in photos. 

The vehicle at hand, though: This was pretty cool!  Certainly better than some others they had put out, around the time.  It had opening panels for repair, which is a BIG plus in terms of imaginative play, and the side opened up to store figures 'n such.  Obviously I loved that opening side panel, and I still do, but I wish they had allowed the top to just hinge upwards so you could position figures in there rather than shoving them in awkwardly (and there was barely enough room for two figures, even though there's two seats).

I ignored a few features on this one, though, when I reviewed (probably because the guy called Duck had hit it first, and I didn't want to step on any toes at the time).  One: There's a bomb dropping feature that is pretty cool.  It's just a simple press-button-drop-bombs, but it's a feature, and this ship actually had quite a few.  I mean, with the bomb drop, you've got a cockpit, missile launchers, opening repair panels, the passenger bay with the side door, handles on the bottom, extendable landing gear - there's a LOT to do with this!

The other thing is the figure it came with: A 25th Firefly with some flight gear...?  Why?  It was strange, boring, and could have been any number of pilots we'd already seen, or a kitbashed new one.  No idea why they shoved a poorly slapped together Firefly in here, but I made the best of it.

I'm sure, back in the day, this would have been a bit larger and able to hold figures better, but I feel like it was one of the stars of the RoC vehicles, and when I eventually dump a lot of my vehicle collection, I'm definitely keeping this one.