Cobra B.A.T. (G.I. Joe (Super7)) Review

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Cobra B.A.T. (G.I. Joe (Super7)) Review

Cobra B.A.T.
G.I. Joe (Super7) (Super7)If there's one line of figures I'm excited to be getting soon, it's Super7's G.I. Joe Ultimates. Yeah, Hasbro's ongoing Classified Collection is cheaper and nicer, but I think we can all agree getting figures based directly off the original cartoon is awesome. The first wave of Ultimates won't be out for another month or so as far as I'm concerned, but until then, we got our first released figure during SDCC. It's one of COBRA's Battle Android Troopers, or B.A.T.s, with its comic design rather than the cartoon one.

The packaging is standard Ultimates; a trapezoidal box with a slip cover. The slip cover invokes a metallic look, with rivets and peeling paint. The package underneath has a character bio and some nice graphics on the back, and is attractive overall. Surprisingly, there's no twist tie holding in the figure, so you can pop it right out. One of the accessories and the two trays are held in with tape, however.

This figure shares most of its sculpt with the cartoon B.A.T. we'll be getting soon, with the heads and arms being the only real changes. The heads are more angular, and I say heads because a second one is included. The alternate head has a crack in its face (visor… whatever it is), and a couple small dents. The B.A.T.s are always getting wrecked, and this is a good representation of that. And as opposed to gloves, the arms are shiny gray metal from the elbow down, with plenty of mechanical detail.

Standing roughly 7 1/2" tall, the B.A.T. is pretty accurate to how it looks in the comic, of course, the torso and lower half are reuse, but that's how it looked in the source material. I really like the visible mechanics and wires and whatnot in the chest, and it's shielded by a removable clear panel. The panel tends to pop off a lot, which is pretty annoying. The strap on the torso, belt, and gun holster on the left hip are made of a softer plastic, which keeps them from interfering with articulation too much. The paint is nice, and the somewhat glossy works fits for a robot like this one, but there is a little bit of bleed around the gray areas.

The articulation isn't quite Classified-level, but it's still really nice. The Android has a ball-jointed head and waist, swivel/hinge shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, and ankles, swivel biceps, forearms, thighs, and boots, and hinged knees. The joints move nicely, and the balance is great as well in case you want to pose it kicking a Joe or whoever. My main complaint is the limited range in some areas. The elbows can't exactly bend 90 degrees, and the hips can't kick back thanks to the butt, so that restricts the figure a bit. On the contrary, the head and waist both have a great range of motion.

The accessories here are mostly reuse, but there are some unique ones. For alternate parts, the B.A.T. has the aforementioned battle-damaged head, along with four pairs of hands: closed, gripping, another gripping set with different detail on the hands, and open. It's worth noting that the hands swap at the forearms instead of the wrists, and that's because of the weapon attachments. The three attachments are a gun, a flamethrower, and a claw. They pop on and off easily, and when not in use, they can be plugged into a backpack that clips onto the torso.

Outside of those, we also get a blaster, a rifle, and an electricity effect. The effect piece is meant to compliment the alternate head, and is designed to plug into a hole in the chest, hence the removable panel. The most unique accessory here is a big canister that can also clip onto the figure. It can be opened up to reveal three spores, and those can be taken out. Since I haven't read the Marvel comics, I'm not sure what they were for, but it's obviously part of another COBRA plot.

It's odd that the Joe Ultimates line would begin with a con-exclusive (though it's not the first), this is definitely a great start. While not without its issues, the B.A.T. is a solid figure and plenty of fun, and it makes me more eager to get the first wave so it has some good guys to fight. I'll admit that the $55 price will prevent those wishing to save money from army-building, but I'm not an army-builder, so I'll be fine.

- 9/15/22