By Loran
Sometimes, toys get canceled. In some cases, it can be a mercy killing. Other times, though, it’s really sad to see that awesome toy we wanted get the axe. But in some rare cases, like almost every Pursuit of Cobra figure, that awesome figure does make it out, but with some changes. It’s been a mixed bag so far, with the Duke figure looking much more like a true Duke, while some like Destro look kind of boring without the movie likeness. But there’s one in the line that’s getting released as a new character, and right here, I have the unreleased base figure we’ll be seeing soon as Pursuit of Cobra Skydive: Ripcord.
There’s nothing I can say about the character of Movie Ripcord that hasn’t been said, but one thing that bugged me about the Rise of Cobra line was a proper paratrooper outfit for him. Thankfully, the Pursuit of Cobra line was scheduled to have one… and then it got cancelled. Myself and many others were able to get a hold of a pre-production sample to fill that slot. Was he worth it? Let’s take a look…
Underneath all of his gear, you have your typical modern-era Joe. Like the Jungle Strike Duke figure, he uses the standard Reactive Impact Armor torso, which is fine by me. Besides, it’s not like it’s gonna be visible too often, right? His head is the regular Marlon Wayans Ripcord head, which looks much better unpainted than painted…
His arms are nice and puffy, previewing the look with the rest of the gear on and don’t look too awkward without it. His legs remind me of the Tiger Force colors, and on his boot is a very nice working holster. Really, I don’t think you see these often enough. The pistol even looks like a new sculpt, to boot.
But now we move to his gear. Holy crap, look at all of this stuff! It’s amazing that Hasbro can include this much stuff with a 3 ¾” figure and keep it at the $7-$8 pricepoint. Bandai USA can’t even give us good articulation at that price!
Getting all of this stuff on him is kind of annoying, just because of how much of it there is! When it’s all on, though, you’ve got one awesome paratrooper of the future. So many pouches! So many cables! So many things I don’t know what they are! So much STUFF THAT REALLY LIKES TO POP OFF. Yeah, if I have one complaint about this guy, it’s how easily stuff comes loose. While typing the review I misplaced one of the cables for the helmet. D’oh.
Of course, his poseability is REALLY hindered by the sheer amount of… stuff strapped to him, but that shouldn’t come as any surprise. Like the Para-Viper from 25th Anniversary line, he’s a display piece. And what a display piece he is. I’m hoping to get two Skydives when they come out to make his escorts. Gotta have some grunts, right?
He also has a spring-loaded backpack akin to the ones also from Rise of Cobra and Resolute. The painted detail on this is awesome, even if the design is rather questionable. Really, I think even with his helmet on those missiles would cause Rip here to go deaf, or at least singe his flightsuit…
Unfortunately, all the other accessories kind of killed his gun budget, as he only got saddled with the standard-issue Rise of Cobra machine gun. It’s a nice gun, don’t get me wrong, but it’s kind of overdone, and I have more of these than I need…
Ripcord here is one AWESOME figure. It’s a shame he got canceled, but if we’re talking colors, Skydive wins, generic head aside. I’d say this mold is awesome enough to be bought regardless of what colors or character he is. When Skydive hits our shelves, you’d better be first in line to get him!
