SDCC-Exclusive Rise of Cobra 3 3/4″ Destro 2-Pack
Do you want to buy Hasbro’s latest con exclusive?
Yes, you do. Every bit of it is amazing. Prior to its arrival, McCullen the 9th didn’t do anything for me. Boring! Once I saw him up close, however? The detail is too gorgeous not to love. The hand guard on his rapier features some stunning sculpting, his pike is impressive in and of itself, and the figure as a whole is great (though the expression on his face is a bit odd).
The Destro we know and love, however, is beautiful. Perfection. There’s just nothing not to like. The face sculpt is impressive, and evokes just enough Christopher Eccelston. The vac-metalized movie style head looks so much better than the flat grey version. The detailing on the suited body is PHENOMENAL. The assortment of weapons is pretty damned neat, too. The smaller briefcase looks far more appropriate than the larger ones packed in with the ROC figures. I’m toying with the idea of purchasing one to three more of these… as ridiculous as it would be, part of me wants it to have an open Destro, and part of me wants to get another Crimson Twin 2-pack and do a head swap to make the Extensive Enterprises CEOs. (The fact that they haven’t done this yet with either the SDCC Cobra Commander body from last year or this one is making my head explode. Are they just attempting to preserve the value of these figures by not reusing the body mold?)
Finally, the packaging is one of the most impressive designs ever. Open the outer box and inside you find the tome of the history of Clan McCullen. Open the first magnetically sealed hinge to read a bit about the first 12 lords of the house, with a backdrop of chain flails, muskets and the like… the family’s early stock and trade. The back hinge is similar, detailing the latter 12 lords and backed by blueprints for the Cobra gunship and, interestingly, the Joe’s ROCC. The mid hinge, of course, is the one that shows off the figures (as seen above). Each is carded, then elastic banded into a tray that slides down into the top of the “book.” You can view them perfectly intact from the inside of the book, or slide them out and examine the carded figs more closely. As a last loving touch, the back of the “book” is adorned with a Joe evidence “sticker” that’s been painted on.
Totally worth $25 plus shipping, no doubt. If Arkham Asylum doesn’t make me buy a controller for my PC, and these are still available through Hasbro at that point, I can almost guarantee I’ll pick up one more to open. I’ll hold out hope for the Crimson Twins to be released later, though. $100 on these sets would be a bit excessive…
5 out of 5 Dumasian metal masks.
