Cobra Commander 3 Versions:
One of my favorite toy lines from my childhood is G.I.JOE. These cool toys included figures, vehicles, and playsets. Each figure has it’s own character and those characters were brought to life by the first cartoon mini-series, The M.A.S.S. Device created by Sunbow:
Cobra Commander Version 1:
One of my favorite characters from the beginning of this toy line is the enigmatic leader of Cobra, The Cobra Commander! He is the primary antagonist to G.I.JOE. Bent on taking over the entire world, he causes a lot of problems for the Joe team. Chris Latta gave Cobra Commander his voice:
Along with the G1 version of Transformers Starscream:
The first toy version of Cobra Commander that became available was the helmet version. Below is my original Cobra Commander figure. The figures listed below are currently available on eBay:
Cobra Commander Version 2:
After the first mini-series aired, Sunbow came out with the 1984 Revenge of Cobra. Cobra Commander was updated with the hooded look that first appeared in the 2nd mini-series, The Revenge of Cobra:
And in 1984, Hasbro made the Hooded Cobra Commander toy available. The figure was a mail-away only and never offered at retail until the 25th anniversary in 2007:
Cobra Commander Version 3:
In 1986, the 3rd mini-series aired which was titled, “Arise Serpentor, Arise.” He is made by taking the DNA from history’s greatest leaders. Serpentor was born and took over the Cobra Organization from the Commander and demoted him to his 2nd in command.
Cobra Commander got another upgrade to his uniform around 1987 to regain Cobra’s previous glory. He got clad in a full battle armor suit to lead the Cobra forces to victory:
And in typical Hasbro fashion, the armored toy was soon to follow:
Conclusion:
For a brief introduction to this toy line, <CLICK HERE> Comment below on what your favorite G.I.JOE character is.