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1
Reviews Section / (FIXED) 1986 Cobra Terror Drome review
« on: June 14, 2013, 08:08:55 PM »
1986 Cobra Terror Drome review



The circular fortress measures 24 inches (2 feet!) in diameter not including the 2 turret cannons, which stick out an extra 7 inches.  Its height is 18 inches and weighs about 10 lbs unloaded.  That’s a lot of shelf space volume it takes up, so be prepared.



The exposed upper level (which can securely display 14 figures with room for plenty more) contains the dome-shaped launch silo doors and a ring of stations.  These include two grey “work stations”, two grey “filler panels” and four grey radar-display “computer stations”.  The work stations and filler panels each have two figure foot pegs in front of them and the computer stations each have a highly detailed seat that reclines back for no apparent reason.




The filler panels are positioned right behind the turret cannons (which swivel on their bases and barrels elevate with ratchets).  Each turret cannon has a back-pegged non-swiveling seat which are curiously far from the cannon controls.
The caps on the ends of the cannon barrels (as well as those on the door gun barrels) are held on by friction and in some cases do not stay on well. 



The lower level has eight divided rooms, six of which have lowering bay doors and two with swing-out gun doors enclosing the bottom.  The very bottom base (of black plastic) has stairs leading to each room while the doors are closed.  The photo shows the molded triangles on the edges of the base and upper level.  This is used to line up the top and bottom halves during assembly, but also indicates which room the silo door launch lever is in.
All the bay doors have triangular wedges which are perfect for storing a 1984 CLAW glider.  *I read this somewhere years ago, so I can’t take credit for this discovery.



Room 1: has the most foot pegs (four) and like all the other rooms has doorways leading to the next room.



Room 2: is the right-side gun station room and only has one foot peg.  The gun station itself has a small platform (with a stepping rung on either side), a back-pegged seat (same as the ones on the turret cannon) and a fold-down door strut.  The door strut and the clips that connect it to the door are extremely fragile!  The gun can swivel up and down but is prone to becoming loose.



Rooms 3-5: basically the front of the Terror Drome, are fuel stations.  Each is exactly alike, with a foot peg on the floor and another foot peg on the red slide-out fuel pump station.  The three stations have connector pegs for the thick black vinyl hoses with fuel nozzles. Each fuel pump station has a clip to lock the nozzles down for storage, but it requires stressing the plastic, so I don’t recommend even trying it.
The box suggests these rooms can double as garages for small vehicles, but it’s a tight fit. 




Room 6: the jail cell room has four foot pegs; two in front of the cell and two within it.  The opening the sliding cell door makes is a little small for my hands, I’d suggest removing the cell wall to position prisoner figures on the pegs first.



Room 7: the left-side gun station room has three figure foot pegs, otherwise similar to room 2.



Room 8: the launch station room has only one foot peg and houses the Firebat launch lever.



Pushing the launch lever down simultaneously opens the silo dome doors and raises a platform.  The platform has molded indents and clips meant for the Firebat’s wheels and tail fins, respectively.  The platform is large enough for two Trubble Bubbles or even an Air Chariot.





Some Easter eggs: on the upper level there are stickers that say TADURCHRONICS (TADUR is RUDAT backwards, as in Hasbro lead designer Ron Rudat).
On the lower level, in every fuel station room the box molded to the floor is a re-use of the 1984 Machine Gun Defense Unit ammo box.  The large crates molded to the floor in rooms 2 and 7 are re-used from the 1984 Mortar Defense Unit ammo box.




This is an iconic Cobra playset with both play and display value and should be part of any large GI Joe collection, vintage or modern.  I would recommend a turntable for it though.



NEXT WEEK:  1986 Firebat and A.V.A.C.

2
Reviews Section / 1986 Cobra Terror Drome review
« on: May 31, 2013, 09:04:37 PM »
1986 Cobra Terror Drome review



The exposed upper level (which can securely display 14 figures with room for plenty more) contains the dome-shaped launch silo doors and a ring of stations.  These include two grey “work stations”, two grey “filler panels” and four grey radar-display “computer stations”.  The work stations and filler panels each have two figure foot pegs in front of them and the computer stations each have a highly detailed seat that reclines back for no apparent reason.




The filler panels are positioned right behind the turret cannons (which swivel on their bases and barrels elevate with ratchets).  Each turret cannon has a back-pegged non-swiveling seat which are curiously far from the cannon controls.
The caps on the ends of the cannon barrels (as well as those on the door gun barrels) are held on by friction and in some cases do not stay on well. 



The lower level has eight divided rooms, six of which have lowering bay doors and two with swing-out gun doors enclosing the bottom.  The very bottom base (of black plastic) has stairs leading to each room while the doors are closed.  The photo shows the molded triangles on the edges of the base and upper level.  This is used to line up the top and bottom halves during assembly, but also indicates which room the silo door launch lever is in.
All the bay doors have triangular wedges which are perfect for storing a 1984 CLAW glider.  *I read this somewhere years ago, so I can’t take credit for this discovery.



Room 1: has the most foot pegs (four) and like all the other rooms has doorways leading to the next room.



Room 2: is the right-side gun station room and only has one foot peg.  The gun station itself has a small platform (with a stepping rung on either side), a back-pegged seat (same as the ones on the turret cannon) and a fold-down door strut.  The door strut and the clips that connect it to the door are extremely fragile!  The gun can swivel up and down but is prone to becoming loose.



Rooms 3-5: basically the front of the Terror Drome, are fuel stations.  Each is exactly alike, with a foot peg on the floor and another foot peg on the red slide-out fuel pump station.  The three stations have connector pegs for the thick black vinyl hoses with fuel nozzles. Each fuel pump station has a clip to lock the nozzles down for storage, but it requires stressing the plastic, so I don’t recommend even trying it.
The box suggests these rooms can double as garages for small vehicles, but it’s a tight fit. 




Room 6: the jail cell room has four foot pegs; two in front of the cell and two within it.  The opening the sliding cell door makes is a little small for my hands, I’d suggest removing the cell wall to position prisoner figures on the pegs first.



Room 7: the left-side gun station room has three figure foot pegs, otherwise similar to room 2.



Room 8: the launch station room has only one foot peg and houses the Firebat launch lever.



Pushing the launch lever down simultaneously opens the silo dome doors and raises a platform.  The platform has molded indents and clips meant for the Firebat’s wheels and tail fins, respectively.  The platform is large enough for two Trubble Bubbles or even an Air Chariot.





Some Easter eggs: on the upper level there are stickers that say TADURCHRONICS (TADUR is RUDAT backwards, as in Hasbro lead designer Ron Rudat).
On the lower level, in every fuel station room the box molded to the floor is a re-use of the 1984 Machine Gun Defense Unit ammo box.  The large crates molded to the floor in rooms 2 and 7 are re-used from the 1984 Mortar Defense Unit ammo box.




This is an iconic Cobra playset with both play and display value and should be part of any large GI Joe collection, vintage or modern.  I would recommend a turntable for it though.



NEXT WEEK:  1986 Firebat and A.V.A.C.

3
Reviews Section / 1986 Cobra Night Raven (and Strato-Viper) video review
« on: December 14, 2012, 09:47:58 PM »
Ahead of schedule here's the shorter YouTube version of the Night Raven review:

1986 Cobra Night Raven Strato-Viper G.I. Joe review

The long version in HD is available on BlipTV here:  http://blip.tv/formbx257/1986-cobra-night-raven-strato-viper-review-6469084

Next Week: 1986 Lifeline (Rescue Trooper) plus the 1991 Rice Krispies mail-away version!

4
Reviews Section / The 1980's G.I. Joe Show
« on: October 04, 2012, 10:56:41 PM »
Hello, some of you might already know me from my weekly Youtube reviews on vintage G.I. Joes.  Starting this weekend (Oct. 6th), all my ongoing reviews will be uploaded to my BlipTV channel instead.
I hope this doesn’t inconvenience my current viewers, but the videos will still be done in HD and with my usual attention to detail.
Please check out “The 1980’s G.I. Joe Show” on BLIPTV, if you haven’t already!


5
General Joe Talk / What does MSV stand for?
« on: March 06, 2012, 08:21:37 PM »
I'm not sure if its been answered on another thread, but what does the acronym MSV (1983 Sears Canada - Cobra Combat Set) stand for?  If there's no official answer, any speculation?

6
Ontario / Cycle Armour & HISS Scout at Giant Tiger
« on: December 21, 2011, 03:56:16 PM »
A few boxes of Cycle Armour w/Ashiko and HISS Scout w/driver have shown up at Giant Tiger (3200 Erin Mills Parkway, Unit 13, Mississauga) for $14.97 ea.  Just in time for Christmas!




7
Off Topic / True Heroes L.A.S.E.R. Storm aircraft
« on: October 27, 2011, 09:50:26 PM »
Walked into a TRU Express and saw the new L.A.S.E.R. Squad series and this giant aircraft (twin rotary jet/helicopter?).  Looks very "Space Marines" and at two feet long, great customizing potential.  Too bad about the insect leg-like landing gear... would've liked to see wheels or skids.
http://www.toysrus.ca/product/index.jsp?productId=11847369

8
General Joe Talk / 1984 Battle Station Assortment from SEARS
« on: August 07, 2010, 05:38:56 PM »
I just got back from the 'Con and started reading Tattoo Shane's awesome article on Canadian Joes in the Declassified mag, when I noticed he lists this set as "Unidentified retailer".  I've been trying to get this set for over a decade and the closeset I've come is the Sears Fall Sale catalogue.  It shows the Battle Station Assortment (item #6124.31/38287) with the Bridgeleayer and the second Cobra Combat Set.  I hope this helps!



9
Reviews Section / USS Flagg review
« on: June 14, 2010, 08:07:35 PM »
USS Flagg review

While filming my USS Flagg review for Youtube (see account/channel formbx257) I took some pictures as well.  Seeing as olyeller01 stated that he wouldn’t do a review of this, I figured I’d give it a try!



The Flagg comes in a big BIG box (4 feet X 3 feet X 1 foot deep) and is quite flimsy for the weight of the toy inside.  Inside the box are… more boxes.  A big flat box with all the deck pieces and two tray boxes filled with the rest.


 
 

As you can see, some parts I’ve permanently assembled like the radar dishes and cannons but there are still close to 80 pieces for me to put together!



After an hours worth of careful assembly, the greatest action figure playset ever created is before my unworthy hands.  The only part that has any trouble fitting on is the admirals launch davit base.  This piece has both pegs and hooks that snap onto the deck side and needs to be put in by force (not a good thing for 25-year-old plastic).




Besides the enormous size of the aircraft carrier (7 feet 6 inches in length, 3 feet at its widest and 2 feet 5 inches tall), the Flagg came with wide range of features in various sections.
The tower has 6 rooms and 2 outer observation balconies (you could put about 12 figures inside before it starts to look crowded), a swiveling and elevating missile box with 6 missiles, a rotating net radar and a 9-piece nav/comm/radar antenna mast.



The assembled mast should look like this (the picture at Yojoe.com is not assembled correctly – they haven’t pressed the interlacing mast halves together fully).



On the deck there is the aforementioned davit base that lowers the simple looking admirals launch, a knob operated winch with removable engine cover, an arrestor rope for catching the included skyhook, a hydraulic blast shield and a bow ladder that leads to a radar dish nest.


 

I think you can put 3 Skystrikers on the deck comfortably: one landing, one taxiing and one ready for take-off.

The electronic sound system (bane of many collectors since this usually stops working due to various reasons) sounds like this: <!-- m -->http://www.klrtech.com/0gijoeflaggsounds.wav<!-- m -->
The metal fork on the speaker portion is supposed to hook onto a knob at the back of the tower (which I can’t show due to it being the only broken-off piece on my Flagg).



The Low Tow fuel tractor with its removable engine cover has a dual function: it can tow the fuel trailer or it can tow/taxi a Skystriker by putting its tow arm peg under the nose and into the screw hole (thanks to Jaimanstone of Yojoe.com forums and Wheelbreaker41 of Youtube for showing me this).


The fantail deck (that room at the stern of the Flagg) houses a cannon, a radar dish and has barely enough room for a figure to stand.  The fragile fantail rail is small and if you don’t have one, you’re not missing much.



The USS Flagg came with one figure: Keel-Haul, the admiral.  This figure looks more like a World War II destroyer captain than a carrier admiral, but that’s part of his charm.  It’s a shame his character wasn’t in the cartoon.  He came with a pistol (which I refuse to call a Walther PPK, because it’s NOT) that along with the fuel nozzles are the only pieces re-used for other Joe toys.

When people say, “They don’t make toys like THAT anymore”, it is especially true of the USS Flagg.  As an adult, I don’t even have to touch the playset; just looking at it assembled with a single Skystriker on its deck and I’m instantly 30 years younger!



The only bad thing about the USS Flagg? Putting it back into it’s box…

10
Off Topic / Avatar AMP Suit at Winners
« on: June 01, 2010, 04:29:04 PM »
I know some people might be interested in Avatar AMP Suits (as they fit G.I. Joes well).  Winners in southern Ontario has them (and the Grinder ATV) at $16.99 ea.  It's a lot cheaper than even TRU - I think they marked theirs down to $25.

11
General Joe Talk / Flipped artwork
« on: May 13, 2010, 02:12:44 PM »
Recently, I was looking at my 1983 Dragonfly box and noticed the cannon is portrayed on the opposite skid.  Other "flipped artwork" includes 1983 Doc, the 1984 Slugger, 1985 Ferret and Silver Mirage.  (all flipped presumably for aesthetic reasons)
Are there any more examples?
Any examples of original artwork corrected?

12
General Joe Talk / 1984 VAMP & HAL Sears 2-pack question
« on: May 04, 2010, 11:27:59 PM »
Was the 1984 Sears VAMP & HAL 2-pack ever available in Canada (in a bilingual box)?
I know the '82 Missile Command HQ, '84 Toss N'Cross and the '85 SMS & CAT were all available here (because I have/had some of these).
In 1984 Sears Canada released the Cobra Combat Set (a Stinger and ASP 2-pack) and a Battle Station 3-pack, so did these replace the US-only VAMP & HAL?

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