G.I. Joe Pursuit of Cobra: A Comprehensive History

To celebrate the finale of Yo Joe June 2024 I’m going back to the Joe toy line that made me a fan in the first place.
YO JOE!
Thanks again to John Warden for answering my questions. To read the full interview click here: docs.google.com/document/d/1b...
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[@4LoveOfMoney]

I'm 23 so I grew with ROC and POC. I saw ROC and got a few figures and that was it for a while. Before Thanksgiving 2010 and I had to stay home from school because I got sick. My dad took me to Target for medicine and we always checked the aisle because we collect and they had this endcap for POC and the Jungle-Viper just kind of jumped out to me and peaked my interest in G.I. Joe again and my dad bought me him, Beachhead and ROC on DVD. That Christmas was all G.I. Joe and it became an obsession after that. It's really cool knowing there are more people in my age group that grew up with this incredible line of figures! Amazing video!

[@AnthonyReviews]

Thanks for sharing this! It’s great to hear people’s gateway stories. I’m glad you enjoyed the video

[@liquididentity101]

Pursuit of Cobra took some big leaps in character design. Some flopped, but a lot were fresh takes and some are now iconic. With all those accessories and even cloth, these were amazing toys for display. I wish Classified continued the trend of new designs but fans seem to get pretty irate when things dont align with their 80s kid memories.

[@AnthonyReviews]

Here’s hoping more unique designs make their way into Classified the further the line goes.

[@Lazrael32]

I think part of the problem is a lack of popular media for the brand. Transformers has many generations of successful shows and reinterpretations to pull from for fans to be used to it. g i joe has.... a lot of shows... that weren't popular. so the fandom is less accepting of it. which is a shame as i too enjoy different versions of my favorite characters.

[@OptimusMonk01]

yes please. i was hyped for classified, except perhaps for the Nerf guns, until they pivoted and decided to just rehash old designs instead of doing something new. Hiya toys fortunately gave us a 4 inch tattooed storm shadow, thank god.

[@ProfessorHurt]

I really REALLY loved this line. I army built the Vipers, Cobra Troopers, Iron Grenadiers, Cobra Shock Troopers, Alley Vipers, and the Cobra HISS tanks (cause I was literally five minutes away from a TRU). This line was amazing and my favorites were the Jungle Viper and Data Viper (Retaliation but yeah it was so Pursuit-inspired and I dug it for that).

[@Lazrael32]

I wish convention exclusives and store lines had more of this stuff in it. characters and interpretations from other media/lines. though looking at it it's hard not to imagine classified wasn't inspired by this line for firefly and beachhead. it does seem as though hasbro is starting to try this "different enviroments" versions of characters for classified.

[@stuck_in_carbonite]

This line released at the perfect time for me. I was 10 years old or almost 10 when I got my first pursuit of cobra figure. I thought this line was amazing. I only had a few figures and one vehicle but I really appreciated the risks this line took. I love the tactical gear on most of these figures and the sheer amount of accessories was crazy. This line will always be one of my favorites from Gi joe!

[@EversGreen-fy4vs]

Very in depth review. However the 25th anniversary paved the the way for this memorable line. Def the best variety of joes and cobra.

[@holonet1]

POC, 30th, Renegades & Retaliation minus the first wave were the best era of modern 1/18th Joe figures & vehicles. As well as the 50th, later on. The modernized versions of the characters & vehicles are hands down my favorites. Still a bit of a shame, they couldn't adapt the 30th Sky Striker to be a 2-seater.
These are the designs I imagine my Joes to be in & not stuck in the 80's & 90's. The early 80's vehicle designs, I feel are fairly dated now. The POC era brought the Joes into the 21st century aesthetic. I'm still avidly looking for more figures of that era. I also like Rise of Cobra & a lot of 25th as well. I did cherry-pick some modern subscription figures & con exclusives too.

[@jasonatreides2542]

Hasbro needs to do this entire line in 6in. The Shadow Tracker we got is mehh. We need the POC Shadow Tracker, also those Shock Troopers!!
I loved that firefly mask!!

[@iwantmytvnow]

Ooooh I do like the brown hiss tank just for storyline play. That could totally be the "prototype" before the black version. That's cool.

[@ultracarterzilla6939]

The first Cobra Commander figure in the Pursuit of Cobra looks awesome and that's how I would've depicted him in my own take of the G.I. Joe movieverse where he would appear like that on my own take of a 3rd live action G.I. Joe movie, G.I. Joe Salvation. That mask design looks intimidating and that's the type of mask design I would depict an movie styled armored Cobra Commander looking like as I plan to do my own custom movie depiction of an armored Cobra Commander using that head and adding it on the accelerator suit ripcord body with chrome red on the armor bits and add the claws from the Rex Lewis/Doctor figure to make my own custom movie depiction of an armored Cobra Commander more intimidating.

[@ultracarterzilla6939]

The Jungle Assault Duke and City Strike Beachhead figure are awesome, but more bad ass when given Marauders Gun Runners guns as I gave my City Strike Beachhead the AA-12 Shotgun which he holds really well and looks bad ass as it make him more geared up. When I get around getting the Jungle Assault Duke, I plan to give him the M-16 with M203 Grenade as he will look bad ass and hardcore holding that gun.

[@adamgamble8386]

30th, 50th was great but about presuit of cobra as really awesome it's came off as abit more modern, updated, darker, gritty and less cheesey it sparked my interest to start collecting again was really fun I remember thinking of a presuit of cobra cartoon or video game that was more darker would have been fascinating to see. That desert zartan was great and dusty

[@jasonking3182]

I really hope we get a Cobra Shock Trooper in Classified soon. It’s a shame we never got City Strike Scarlet in POC and had to wait for the movie to get any female characters.

[@LAJohn]

Great video, highly informative… Showcases the disparity between collectors THEN and NOW.. Seems people were more open to Pursuit of Cobra modernizing certain figures/characters THEN, whille NOW in the CLASSIFIED line (mostly)everyone bemoaned the re-interpration of said characters wanting only classic depictions. 😉😁😂🤣

[@anthonysuski9248]

Awesome!!! 😎 👍

[@tomdulski3729]

sharp eyed viewers will notice that they gave Duke a pulse rifle from ALIENS, and the Iron Grenadier also has a heavy machine gun from the same movie. very odd.

[@TheBigred138]

16:33 The Hiss Tank is the Terminator (T2, Salvation) Hunter Killer drone in kit bash Glory. Most likely a unreleased prototype from Kenner for Terminator salvation.

[@thebrownboywonder]

Cobra fury looks like a cyber truck

[@AnthonyReviews]

That explains a lot.

[@tomdulski3729]

That Firefly was a big disappointment, I seem to remember this line being pretty tricky to find in TRU and Target.

[@OptimusMonk01]

Did you ask Warden (a) did they deliberately double down on the Predator theme with the Jungle characters? I mean, it's obvious they did, but would be nice to hear him say it and elaborate more. (b) does Warden know why ebay was flooded with loose figures from the wave with Blowtorch, Jungle BAT, Hawk and CC? For years those figures were being sold by the hundred on ebay and alibaba et al.

[@AnthonyReviews]

You know, I didn’t ask him but I probably should have. Maybe at some point I’ll try to do a follow up

[@OptimusMonk01]

@@AnthonyReviews this was a great video. Would love to see one on the 50th anniversary sets.

[@kylelewis9110]

Should that last wave of ROC be considered POC? I feel like it should...

[@danahousley-preaster2865]

Crazy Legs is a paratrooper bro...even says on the box lol

[@iwantmytvnow]

I'm shocked that there's no females in this video until the end.

[@AnthonyReviews]

Doing this video unlocked a memory of me looking at the cartoon figure of Scarlett that followed this line and trying to determine if she would fit my collection. I came to the conclusion that she would not.

[@williamperkins3389]

You forgot the cycle armor.

[@jasonhaig1747]

202010

[@mrspeigel3593]

Pretty sure crazy legs is a paratrooper not a pilot

[@TheShrekage]

these were horrible. they should've stuck with the classic design.

[@OptimusMonk01]

but they already made all of those classic designs in the G3 style