The 25th Anniversary rages on with Hasbro’s second DVD Battle Pack
Before jumping into the review of its contents, I must make a confession. I am uniquely biased toward this set, as it includes not only my favorite member of the Joe team (Roadblock) but also my favorite villain from the Joe-verse, Destro… AND my favorite female Joe, Lady Jaye. That being said, this set seems taylor-made for me. It has its shortcomings, which I’ll mention below, but I really love it.
Like the previous set, the “Revenge of the Cobra” set includes both heroes and villains, which makes it a self-contained little group – great for starting a collection or serving as a mini-collection in and of itself. With two Joes, one male and one female, as well as a villain and a small vehicle/device, the set can allow for hours of play for youngsters and countless display opportunities for collectors. Of course, this would be meaningless if the figures were crappy. Luckily, I could not have been happier with most of them.
Ladies first. This is Hasbro’s first attempt to release a figure of Ms. Jaye in her cartoon outfit; and they will never have to do it again. The figure is definitive. Not good, not okay… “DEFINITIVE.” The sculpt is curvaceous, the face-sculpt fairly accurate and her accessories are amazing. Jaye includes a sidearm and a removable backpack with various parts for putting together her javelin weapons. The pieces are the essence of form and function. They look fantastic, and hold together well. Hasbro’s investment into this particular version of Lady Jaye is evident, and I must say that she alone is well worth half the cost of the set. Even if everything else was mediocre, the set would still be worth picking up for her.
Joe fans are getting bang-for-their-buck well beyond Lady Jaye. The inclusion of the villainous Destro with a faux-chrome (shiny plastic) headsculpt is also a highlight of this set. When the single carded waves for the 25th Anniversary line began, I made sure to get both the first Destro as well as the initial comic pack version. I wanted to customize my own “chrome” head” version of the character in his standard black outfit. Now, 8 months later, Hasbro has made their own… and I like it better than the one I put together myself. The colors on this new version are bold and vibrant, and he even includes a sidearm for the holster on his legs. The chrome mask features starkly contrasting green eyes and the well-articulated Destro sculpt used previously is as good as ever given the bolder paint scheme. He’s incredibly cartoon accurate, making him my favorite version of the character to date!
Roadblock is also very cartoon accurate and is based on a previously released sculpt. Frankly, I never loved this color scheme in the cartoon, nor do I care for it in this set. However, that’s a personal preference and says nothing against the figure itself. This Roadblock’s sculpt and paint apps are accurate to the cartoon and the figure’s overall appearance is sound, even if I don’t particularly care for the chosen colors. This is not my favorite version of the character but it’s a solid one. The inclusion of the weeds featured in the cartoon is an excellent bonus. Roadblock unfortunately does not feature any weapons beyond a knife. However, the weeds accessory included with him looks neat and connects to his base.
Rather than include a fourth figure (as the other four sets do), this set includes the never-before-released Weather Dominator. Is it worth the replacement of a figure? Absolutely. Not only is the piece well-sculpted, but it has an exceptional design as well. I had not seen the miniseries prior to buying this set, but Hasbro has gone the extra mile in creating a WD that actually mimics the compartmentalized structure of the device in the show. It can break into three parts, as it did in the program and while Destro cannot sit in it, he still looks great standing behind and aiming it. The Weather Dominator is a very unique, cool piece that is well-worth the replacement of a figure.
Hasbro also took the time to engineer the Dominator to the M.A.S.S. Device itself. For those not in the know, each of the five DVD Battles Packs comes with a piece of the M.A.S.S. device, the first major WMD used by Cobra in the animated programming. The Weather Dominator can actually sit atop of the currently-released M.A.S.S pieces and it looks fantastic. Hasbro really took some extra care with this, and it is an added functional bonus for both this set and the entire line overall.
The set includes a DVD of the original “Revenge of the Cobra” miniseries and unfortunately, it is not the excelsior outing of the “M.A.S.S. Device.” For some reason, “Revenge of the Cobra” seems to suffer from an acute case of sequel-itis. It is certainly bigger and it showcases more characters and toys, but I found it less exciting and engaging than the previous miniseries. I look forward to seeing it again so I can analyze why I didn’t connect with it in my first viewing. I know others prefer it to the M.A.S.S. Device episodes. As of now, I have to say the second miniseries is a step down from the first but I hope my initial impressions were incorrect.
Hopefully it has become evident that this set, like the first, is an incredible value. It maintains the high quality fans demand from Hasbro’s 25th Anniversary line and it contains two never-before released items – Lady Jaye in cartoon clothing and the Weather Dominator. The “Revenge of the Cobra” DVD Battle pack is another fantastic entry into the 25th Anniversary line and at $19.99 – $24.99, it’s a cost-effective gift or “starter pack” for ones own collection!
You can read more of C.J.’s musings on film, toys and music over at stunksstage.com.
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