Hooded Cobra Commander

Let's just start with the $64,000 question (or the $69.99 question, as the case may be): did Entertainment Earth honor their initial low price, or did they try to willfilly overcharge me like they've done before? I am pleased to inform you that they did in fact keep the price where it was when I placed my order, so they remain, for today at least, a reliable source for you to order from. And now, on with the review! Absolute power! Total control of the world... its people, wealth, and resources - that's the objective of Cobra Commander. This fanatical leader rules with an iron fist. He demands total loyalty and allegiance. His main battle plan, for world control, relies on revolution and chaos. He personally led uprisings in hot spots across the globe. Responsible for kidnapping scientists, businessmen, and military leaders, then forcing them to reveal their top level secrets. There was a longstanding rumor in the fan community (with no way of confirming it, of course, because unfounded speculation is the lifeblood of all the best conspiracy theories) that Hasbro refused to allow anyone to do anything with Cobra Commander in his hood instead of his mirroed helmet, because it was too reminiscent of the KKK. If that ever were true, it's clearly not any more, because this is the hooded CC we've been waiting for! Larry Hama, being a guy who cares about his work, was very consistent about when Cobra Commander would wear his hood, and when he would wear his helmet: the mirrored mask was for battle situations, while the cloth hood was just ceremonial. And boy howdy, is this figure ready for some ceremony! The outfit is more "military dress uniform" than "fatigues," he wears a giant cape, and has a crown on his head. Weirdly, the first photos released never showed him without that, so the design team had to come out and reassure everyone that yes, the crown was removable so you could have a plain hood. The hood and visible eyes are sculpted as one, rather than two pieces for depth, but it still looks great. Check out what the marketing copy has to say about this figure's clothes: "This Cobra Commander figure comes in his full dress uniform ceremoniously adorned with medals, gilded epaulets, aigullettes, fourragère, softgoods cape, and signature cowl topped with removable serpentine crown." Why does that sound like something we'd write? Epaulets are the decorations on the shoulders, of course, but aiguillettes and fourragères are basically the same thing: a braided cord worn across the shoulder or chest. Technically an "aiguillette" only refers to the metal cap on the end of the cord (which is why the things on the end of your shoelaces are called "aglets" [their true purpose is sinister --ed.]), but synecdoche has transferred their name to the full item. The difference between the two types of decorations? An aiguillete denotes an individual's role, while a fourragère applies to an entire unit. The cape is removable if you want to get a better view of the uniform: the figure's head pops off easily, and the cape can just slip right off with no hassle. It's the same cape the "Snake Supreme" variation from the start of the line wore, with Cobra-logo clasps, a flared lower edge, and a scale pattern on the exterior. When the original G1 Cobra Commander figure was released in 1982, he wore a bright blue uniform ith black accents; when the hooded version was made available via mail order, he was in a much darker blue, and accented with gold. This figure honors that colorscheme perfectly, being slightly darker than the existing Classified CC and doing his ornamentation in gold. For a maximum homage to the '80s, they'd have had to do his belt in gold with a red buckle, rather than black with gold. Regardless this is a sharp-looking uniform, and it's even nicer when you've got the cape on him to provide extra contrast and outline him. He's got the usual articulation: barbell head, balljointed neck, swivel/hinge shoulders on pectoral hinges, swivel biceps, double-hinged elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, hinged chest, balljointed waist, hips that are a balljoint mounted on a hinge, swivel thighs, double-hinged knees, swivel boots, and swivel/hinge ankles. The decorations on his shoulders are all PVC, so they can flex as he moves, but the cord being attached to his chest means you'll need to be a little careful, still. Since the head is meant to be removable, it's slightly loose on the balljoint. That's fine when he's wearing the cape, because that adds a little bit of thickness at the shoulders to brush up against the lower edge of the hood, but without it, the head is a little bobbley. Cobra Commander's stats are unchanged from all three others: Leader 4, Light Weapons 1, PsyOps 4, and Coercion 4. He gets a pair of fists, a pair of trigger hands, a pointing right hand, and a clutching left hand. That last one comes from the same source as the cape, which we can tell because it's open wide enough to hold the small globe accessory. And yet the globe isn't reused, because Supreme Snake's globe was just a globe, while this one has a snake wrapped around it. Ornate! His Mauser-style pistol can store in the large, squarish holster on his right hip, but the dagger he includes doesn't store anywhere. He has Serpentor's cobra-headed staff, suggesting he's crowning himself after deposing the hastily-assembled Cobra Emperor. And oh, the crown! It's designed to look like four snakes, with a Cobra logo in the center. When it's seated properly on his head, however, the crown covers half the logo that was already there - either it should be higher to reveal the whole thing, or lower to cover it entirely. Obviously this figure would have sold by itself - fans have wanted a Hooded Cobra Commander so badly for so long, they've even bought obscure third-party items just to be stand-ins. But Hasbro opted to make this a deluxe set... because you can charge more for those than for a standard figure. Sometimes even increasing the price at the last minute, if fans guess high when images leak a few days before the official reveal! But since Cobra Commander isn't associated with any "deluxe"-worthy items, they've made up a cool new Cobra throne for him. The marketing copy describes it thusly: "A symbol of his villainous might and ever-present menace, Cobra Commander's regal throne is befitting someone who thinks he's the inevitable ruler of the world," going on to say it's "bejeweled with opal and ruby details" and "features meticulously ornate snake scale carvings and is festooned with intertwined serpents and heraldic insignia." To us, it's a big golden chair with snake carvings. If you're used to other Hasbro thrones, you may be shocked by how heavy and sturdy this thing is. It's made from several pieces, but is solid and heavy, rather than hollow and flimsy, really appealing to that innate "weight = quality" thing humans have. Like, you take a pair of headphones that Five Below would sell, put a bunch of pointless metal in them to make them heavy, and suddenly they're Beats By Dre and sell for hundreds of dollars. A piece this dense really does feel deluxe, and that makes the price easier to accept. It's assembled in the package, unlike Serpentor's Air Chariot, but the screws on the bottom suggest you could take it all apart if you need to eventually break it down for space reasons. The chair is nearly 8¼" tall, sitting on its ½" dais. The full thing is 4½" deep and 4⅝" wide. It has a red seat with a padded backrest that ends in a silver Cobra logo. The throne is designed to look like a hissing cobra looming over whoever is seated on it, and has solid armrests that are fronted by more cobras. The sides have more logos, and like the marketing copy implies, the back is a mass of intricately interwound snakes. It's a beautiful piece that I never would have gotten if there had been a non-deluxe version of this figure available. When images of this set leaked, fans naturally began speculating about the price, with some guessing up to $90. If I, as a personal individual speaking only for myself and not acting as a representative of OAFE or any other organization, were to say A) the reason this figure was originally listed for sale at $52 instead of $70 was that Hasbro intended to sell it for $52, but B) they realized they could pad the price by 20 bucks and still come in comfortably below fan predictions, then C) offered retailers half the increase if they went along with it, but D) this all happened at such a last second that most of the retailers didn't have time to adjust their price listings in time, then I would sound like a conspiracy fool, because there is no evidence any of that is what happened. It wouldn't be a lie, because I wouldn't know it to be false when I said it, but not being a lie isn't the same as being true. The throne does add the equivalent value of a second figure to this set, making it functionally a two-pack, so yes, something in the neighborhood of $50 would be an accurate price to charge; if you missed that opportunity, though, I'm not sure we can recommend this to you. There will, inevitably, be a solo release of Hooded Cobra Commander, we promise. We don't have any inside information about that, but the character is too in-demand for it to not happen now that Hasbro has broken the seal. He probably won't come with the cape, maybe won't come with the crown, but he'll exist. Perhaps a carded Retro Collection version that makes the belt gold. The point is, if you can be patient, you don't need to buy this Cobra Commander right now, you can get one later for less. If you don't care about his chair. -- 10/09/26 Gonna get it, or wait? Tell us on our message board, the Loafing Lounge.