When the 1997 and 1998 Toys R Us exclusive line was out on the shelf, I had the approach of, "I have the older version of that and don't need that" at first. I remember thinking that when I saw the HISS III. I already had the '83's mail-in version of the HISS, so I passed on a lot of this TRU merchandise at first.For some reason or another, that reasoning didn't last too long. For some reasoning that I don't remember, I started buying a lot of these. Perhaps they were starting to go on sale around 1998 into 1999...?
Either way, I know I ended up with the A-10, the Slugger, 2 Cobra Rages (one that was on the cheap as the figure was stolen), the X-30, the trouble bubble, the navy seal raft, and (and I must be forgetting something...) of course the Cobra Rattler.
That's what's pictured above. The Cobra Rattler 4WD. This was my favorite Cobra jeep for just about up until really recently, and I guess it still is as it hasn't been replaced by any other favorite "jeep." It is on the vehicle chopping block currently, though.
Vypra was the driver and had some potential, but when the figure is a straight repaint of Jinx '87, and with the EXACT same accessories as that ninja...well, the file card just didn't match in my mind. I tried to use Vypra, and for awhile, she was a body guard/ personal assassin for Cobra Commander. A few years later we were offered the Red ninja set with the "Vypra twins." So, with the same name, even my imagination was getting to a limit. I didn't want to call them some other made up name, and since they were all the same mold, that made it more of a stretch than I wanted to allow. The "Vypra twins," essentially replaced Vypra for awhile. Vypra being bagged and put farther back in the figure storage.
Back to the Rattler 4WD, well, in my mind it's a Stinger. I really like the camo-blue on it. If I could get a small Cobra force with this type of paint job across the board, I'd take it! About the time I started considering "army building" this model, though, the price was in the high $40 plus for loose vehicles. More than I would want to pay for multiples. I haven't looked lately, but I am sure this on is still fairly high in price.
It's a one of a kind model, but as I looked over my simplified Cobra army, I thought, "who would drive this?" Wild Weasel flies, Copperhead skippers, so next on my Cobra-aligned baddies is Scrap-Iron. I made Scrap-Iron ('84) the"expert" ground vehicle operator. I think it makes sense, being an anti-armor specialist, and over-the-top perfectionist, I can easily see Scrappy taking a Stinger and making it his own. While it may be still just a 4wd underneath, perhaps his skill upgraded those missiles into more deadly armaments?
It's on the chopping block, though, since I've started thinking of Cobra as a very small strike force. Any force that gets big is gonna show up and be more easily defeated, in my mind. Cobra needs to remain more mobile and covert to make themselves that much more of a threat. Is the Rattler 4wd too big? No, it's a good size, but it is a thing where I don't like the VAMP right across the battlefield from it. Sure, one can say that a VAMP model is available everywhere to everyone, but I don't buy it. I think Joe vehicles are much more limited in their availability, hence why they are special at all. If a VAMP is not a limited production vehicle, then we're just playing army, in my mind. There has to be limits.
However, with a new 4-seater VAMP in the pipeline for this year, perhaps the Rattler 4WD will be removed from the chopping block...