BRAWLER

The G.I.Joe Brawler is a remake/repaint of the original G.I.Joe vehicle Hammer (See it on YoJoe.com). Right out of the box, there's little you have to do to put it together. It's near ready to go. A snap here and apply the stickers and you're ready for action. This is nice for kids to some degree, but I always liked the idea of putting the vehicle together like it was a model. There's a lot of others out there that do too, but I get a feeling there's a majority more that prefers to just take it out and play. Hasbro did a few alterations to fit the newer style figures. They did a pretty good job in doing so too. They cut areas in the back of the seats for this. The Hammer/Brawler is a little big for what it is suppose to be. It's fine really because this is a G.I.Joe vehicle, and I don't think it was ever intended to be an exact HumVee. It's just a little odd to put it up against a HISS tank because it would make any Cobra troop feel intimidated. On the subject of size, the large gun on top isn't really as bad as you'd first thing. Once you get it out of the box, it's fairly ok in size. It's really sort of fitting with the Brawler, though you can do modifications and put other things (guns, rocket launchers, lasers, etc.) in it's place. The Heavy Duty repaint is sort of pointless. He's got little new stuff done with him, and it'd have been better had there been a new figure with this vehicle even though we all know Hasbro had no plans to pack new figures with vehicles just yet. I give the Brawler 9 Cobras. It's a nice rugged vehicle. It's a fitting vehicle for the new sculpt figures.

DESTRO'S DOMINATOR

Destro's Dominator is a remake of the original Destro's Dominator (See it on YoJoe.com). Opening the box, it's nearly ready to be played with. There's only a few loose parts that need to be put together. After adding the stickers, it's ready to go! You also get a repaint of the wave 1 Destro. There was some changes done to allow the newer style figures to fit inside the cockpit. The canopy piece was altered so that it has openings. There was also some extra things done to make the changing feature work better than it did. Speaking of the changing feature, this vehicle changes from tank to helicopter and back. It's not a bad concept, and looks ok. The biggest problem this vehicle has is that the helicopter blades do not lock down in tank mode. That's really not a big deal, but it would help for playing. I remember when I had the original one, I hated the blades just flopping around. The cockpit's open canopy makes the idea of this thing in helicopter mode seem weird. It's like can this thing go into high altitude? If so, why the open sides? It's just weird. The original Dominator I'd have given 7 1/2 Cobras because it is a quirky vehicle. Although it's fun, it's still not a vehicle way up on the list of greatest G.I.Joe vehicles. Due to the canopy thing though, I gotta take the 1/2 Cobra away and just give it a solid 7.

COBRA MANTIS SUB

This is a great use of a Jonny Quest vehicle. This is easily my favorite vehicle of the 4 wave 1 vehicles. Opening the box you get a vehicle nearly ready to play with. Very few parts need to be put on along with the stickers. Hasbro did a great job retooling the seats to fit the new style G.I.Joe figures. They painted the submarine from the bright yellow of the Jonny Quest world to a nice blue with "cobra skin". This is one of those rare times that a toy from another line has been remade into something better than it originally was. It's packed with a lot of fun for kids, and just looks great to those who only want it to display. The repainted Moray from the wave 1 figures is nice, but it could have been a darker blue. I give this 9 1/2 Cobras. I mark off 1/2 due to it being a submarine, but it's not made to be played with in the water. It can be put in water of course, but you run the risk of rusting out the metal parts. There's even a wind up propeller that is suppose to propel it in water, although I haven't seen it actually add any push to the vehicle. It has a wheel that makes the vehicle bob up and down to give the idea of it riding the waves.

ROCK SLIDE

The Rock Slide is a repaint of the original Polar Battle Bear (See it on YoJoe.com). Out of the box, you only have to add a few parts and the stickers. You also get an ugly repaint of Frostbite from the wave 1 figures. He has bright yellow highlights that remind you of the bad neon times the G.I.Joe went through in the past. Hasbro made a change to the engine cover so that a large size canon could fit on the back. They also retooled the seat so that the new style sculpt figures could fit. Speaking more on the large canon, this one is pretty over sized. It's ok and doesn't look too bad on the vehicle, but Hasbro could have done better. I give this a 7 1/2 Cobras because the Battle Bear was a great vehicle, but the remake takes away some of the fun of the original. That large canon isn't that bad, but it does take away from the looks of the vehicle. With it being in the way also, it keeps from being able to place extra figures on the back. The larger bulk size of the new figures and the way the canon is fitted on makes it so that only 1 figure really looks right on the back. The ugly repaint Frostbite doesn't help either.

Assault Quad

This is an all new concept vehicle. No repaints here! This comes off no more than seeing a pack of figures on the shelf. It's on a card stock with a blister pack just like any figure. It brings back the thoughts of the Toys R Us exclusive from '97-'98. It's not hard to miss this, and it does a fair job at standing out among the figure packs. Once you open this up, it pretty much comes out. Not too many twist ties holding it in. There's a folded background that you can use to display the Quad, and there's a filecard for Gung-Ho. There is an instruction sheet inside with a sort of blueprint, but it's not like those of the past, or even like the new ones. When seeing this on the net, to me it looked very box like. In person it's not quite as box like, but it still doesn't have a lot of smooth edges. It's no where near being one of the great vehicles to come out, or even one of the great vehicles of the present selection. It's not really all that bad. It has a fold down platform for an extra figure. There's a hidden rocket launcher under the front bumper. The "sound weapon" that plugs in isn't as bad as some of the others because this one is a gattling gun. It looks like something that works as a stand alone without needing a matching one on the other side. The figure sits fine on the seat, and you probably could squeeze on 1 more. The rocket launcher on the back doesn't have any fireing mechanisim or anything. It's there for looks, and by not being "super sized" it looks good! The Assault Quad comes with a repaint of Gung-Ho. He's the same wave 1 figure with different colors, so nothing great here. An upside and something that would help sell more Quads would have been if there was an all new figure. Something done like Dusty packed with the Sand Blaster. I give this 7 1/2 Cobras. While it's not a great vehicle, I see the possible fun kids could have with it. It's also a decent enough vehicle that long time fans wouldn't mind in their collection, and at least 1 should be added!

Cobra F.A.N.G. III

The Cobra F.A.N.G. III is on card stock with a blister pack just like a pack of figures. It's easy enough to distiguish the 2 on the shelf. The F.A.N.G. has a nice presentation to it in the package so mint in box collectors will appreciate them. Opening the package is no different than opening a pack of figures. There's only a few twist ties. One you have the helicopter out, you have to attach the end of the tail section, load the missle, and attach the "sound weapon". There's not much work involved at all and no stickers to apply. You'll be playing in no time! I was pretty sure I was going to like this version of the Cobra F.A.N.G. from the first pictures I saw. Photo did give a lot of people the impression that it was a very bulky design. There were some picture that really did make it look like it was very squished looking. I remained hopeful that it was just the pictures. Having it in hand, you do see that it was just the pictures. While there is a rounded look about this helicopter, it still looks cool! The front piece has a Cobra head shape to it which bring back memories of old original vehicles that were int he comic. The sound feature is ok, but more of something kids would enjoy. There is a missle that plugs into the "FX" port for roviding a missle launch sound. An extra missle for the other side would be appreciated becuse it looks odd with only 1 missle. You could make an arguement about the lack of armor for the pilot, but really there hasn't been a F.A.N.G. yet that I didn't see the pilot being all that safe. That's part of the idea of the vehicle to me! The pilot is a redone Cobra C.L.A.W.s from wave 1. He has a head that rumor has it is one from the Jurrasic Park figure line. The chest of the C.L.A.W.s is reworked so that the breathing hose has a place to go. The rest of the figure is exactly the same except painted in purple and gun metal colors. It's not a bad figure by any means, but given hip and waist articulation would have made this figure perfect! This gets a well deserved 9 1/2 Cobras! The only thing that prevents me from giving this a full 10 is that the figure is a repaint/remake of the wave 1 Cobra C.L.A.W.s. If it were the later version with the O ring retro fit, it'd score 10 easy!

Cobra Hiss IV

The Cobra Hiss IV was originally going to be called the Cobra Strike Hiss. The original name is more fitting, but it's new name is fine. When you see it on the shelf, it's very different from all other G.I.Joe vehicles we've come to know in the past. It has the new open box style that allows you to see the actual vehicle. It's a rather nice presentation actually, but my fears of seeing a near mutilated package came true on the first day. The first Sand Razor and Hiss IV I saw had boxes in horrible shape. This isn't so bad if you're just going to open it and throw out the box. It's terrible if you're a mint in box collector. The box will tend to get messed up by everyone trying the sound feature among other things. When you open the box, there's not many ties that you have to remove. It's a pretty easy vehicle to take out. You get an instruction sheet with the always popular blueprints! The stickers are already in place, so you don't have to spend time putting all of those on. The only problem with that is that most G.I.Joe fans have come to enjoy the building of the various items and even applying the stickers. The pictures from Toy Fair made this look pretty odd. It's still an odd looking thing actually, but not necessarily something that Cobra wouldn't have. It looks more like a command vehicle for the original Hiss tanks than anything else. The troop carrier abilities aren't much with it just holding 2 troopers. I'd look at this as a stash to put 2 Cobra B.A.T.s in as "last resort backup". The gunner position is just too out and up there. The trooper put in it would be dead in less than a second! I do see this as some great fun with kids. With the inclusion of the new sound feature, kids will get some extra play out of it. I don't know what happened to the strike feature. Either mine's broke, or they just didn't put the feature in. Also the spring keeps making the cockpit push upward which sort of distracts from the look of the Hiss in it's down position (which is it's best look). It has a button that a hole snaps in to hold the "head" in place, but this has to be done just right and you can't push the slide mechanism all the way in or the "head" will release from the button. It does keep the basic look of the Hiss though. It comes with a repaint Neo-Viper as the driver. He's ok, but still one of the non-articulate waist figures. That's the downside. The Neo-Viper figures are ok, but they'll look better once the original hip and waist articulation is returned. I give this vehicle 8 1/2 Cobras. If the problems this vehicle has were worked out and the Neo-Viper was the later hip and waist articulation added figure, this could have been a great toy. This isn't to say that it isn't a really fun toy, it just needs a couple of things worked out. It may also just be that I really like the way the concept drawing looked!

Night Attack Chopper

The Night Attack Chopper is a completely new concept vehicle. It was originally going to be called the Wild Fire. As far as I know, it has no basis in reality. It has the look of many true helicopter designs, but isn't any 1 single design. The open box idea works for this one and feels like a G.I.Joe vehicle from first site. Either that or I'm getting used to the open front boxes already. This vehicle has a bunch of twist ties holding it in. It's not a quick easy removeable vehicle. Once you get it out though, it's well worth the time. The instructions gives you a run down of all the features and has basic blueprints on the other side. Like all the new vehicles, the stickers are already applied and you don't have much to put together. You do have to attach the tail section and a few guns. From all of the pictures that's shown up online before this vehicle has come to stores, it's looked like a really cool vehicle. There's not many that's been able to actually find much bad with it. It's that good! There's a great mix of design here too. It's designed with many features for kids to find fun such as handles to hold the helicopter and play with it, firing missles, lights, attack sounds, and many other things. But, it's designed in such a way that all collectors can fold the handles up, display the vehicle, and just sit back and enjoy the over all concept. Hasbro did a really great job on this one. The only part that has been critisized is the helicopter blades. They are an odd design and are an alternate from the usual design. Really though, to me they look like a stealth design that has been played with in realy testing. I just see it as a stealth idea and it seems to just add that much more to it. I really can't say enough about this toy! The Night Attack Chopper gets a solid 10 Cobras. It's the best vehicle of the lot. I'd go as far as saying it's the best toy to come out in a while. There would have to be something wrong with kids to NOT like this. It has a ton of play features and provides hours of fun! If you plan to get only 1 vehicle of all the new ones, I'd have to say to get this one! This is a must vehicle for everyone from the hardcore fan to the casual fan.

Sand Razor

The Sand Razor is an all new concept and actually originates from a true army design. Seeing this on the shelf is like seeing something other than a G.I.Joe vehicle. I sort of had the feel of seeing a knock off such as say a CORPS! design, or something like that. The new open box is just something to get used to is all. As a stand point of being a mint in box collector as well as an open item, it does give me a great veiw of the toy and lets me decide if I want a second to open. In the case with this vehicle, it's look definately made me buy a second to open where I originally wasn't going to. Opening the box, there's only 4 ties that hold the wheels in place and a tie hlding the gun in place. It's pretty easy to remove and is ready to play with out of the box. The instructions gives you a run down of all the features and has the blueprints on the other side. Like all the new vehicles, the stickers are already installed. The pictures all over the net really doesn't do this justice. If you have a pre-conceived idea disliking this vehicle and do not allow yourself an open judgement when you see it in person, you'll miss out on a pretty cool vehicle. I know I wasn't planning to get this thing when I first saw it, but picking up my mint in package one (the only one I thought I was getting), it just looked better than the pictures. My wife also was a factor in me getting a second one too, but still it's a whole lot better than it looks in pictures. There's a hidden compartment that is used for a figure to stand on, but it's roomy enough to place some guns in it for storage. The large gun on top really isn't so bad either. It is a little heavy and does slightly tilt back. It could over time start dropping backwards more and more, but this is an easy fix by either wrapping a little string in the joint or putting alittle Elmers glue in the joint to tighten it. About the gun on top, it looks like the sheild was originally planned to drop down, but they changed the idea. It has pegs that look like places that you can place the figure's hands. Also the gun that works with the sound feature is different than the pictures and instructions. It has the peg on the side instead of on the bottom. I think it looks better with the peg on the bottom. I do recommend this vehicle. The Sand Razor comes with a repaint of Dusty. It's actually more like that first version to us the general public since it is actually out before the 2 pack version. He's a nice figure over all. He has the new style sculpting WITH the hip and waist articulation. The softer plastic is a little rough to move around when you first open the pack. the soft plastic gets trained to be in the position it's shipped in, so it tends to be tight to move it around. The neck on my figure had some dents on the ball joint where it was resting while in the pack. It's a vast improvement from what Hasbro was originally presenting to us with wave 1 new sculpts. Hasbro still has a little ways to go before these are perfect however. I'd just recommend slighter harder plastic. The crotch part on the waist is pretty thin also with Dusty. Later figures that's been shown has wider crotches. Hasbro needs to stick to the idea of a wide crotch piece, but this works fine for Dusty since he does have the extra plastic that covers over on his legs. One cool thing I saw right out of the package is how neat it was that Dusty seemed to look like he was "getting to work" when positioning him at various places in the Sand Razor! I give the Sand Razor 9 Cobras. It's a great toy. I can really see kids having fun with this, and it really is a neat addition to your G.I.Joe army. It's not one of those vehicles that's going to make the top 10 list of favorites, but it is pretty cool. There is room for improvement, but I think we'll be seeing that as G.I.Joe gets it's legs back under it again!