Cobra la, nemesis enforcer, and coil ramblings

Cobra La is out there. I don't "hate" it, but it has never been a part of the core of my Joe-verse, or Cobra-verse.
I've only got one original Nemesis Enforcer out of this lot of creatures, and he's a well-used figure that made it into my collection only through a series of trades where I was looking for anything from the original-ARAH line I didn't have.

Nemesis Enforcer has become part of my "Coil." Not an original name on my part, and very much inspired by the 2006 Convention set (GIJCC) and the DDP comic series. This is really a good example of how the outer world influenced my Joe collecting. Namely, in this case, this was how I resolved what to do with those strange figures that didn't or couldn't "fit" in my Cobra-verse. Put them into the Coil, with a revived Serpentor at the head, former Cobra traitors, oddities, and un-trust-worthies right behind him.

Currently, Nemesis Enforcer in my world is a formerly non-living person who is now something along the lines of the classic Incredible Hulk persona for me. Not green and mean, but a grunting, unfeeling brute who excels at close personal combat and general tearing up of things...as commanded by Serpentor.

Essentially, my Coil is where anything Cobra La that I acquire will be put. Serpentor also has Dr. Mindbender and Overlord at his side. These two have too many traitorous traits to be trusted by Cobra.

The 2006 Mercenaries GIJCC sets Coil team is the fanatical super soldier bunch that does the fighting and whatever Serpentor demands. Even though, as much as I like the green and gold of the GIJCC Coil figures, I can't help but think of TARGATs. Especially if TARGATs are on the shelf right next to the Coil Troopers. Should Coil Troopers get their own flying rocket packs, too?

With the mention of TARGATs, I also have to bring up the Nullifier (1988). Where, for as long as I have been staring at pictures of Iron Grenadiers, Nullifiers were the pilots of the A.G.P., now, I'm wondering if they should be aligned with Cobra La, as they were originally intended to be? The tan colors are there with the strange hieroglyph-like symbols, and these guys sit right perfect next to Nemesis Enforcer (he has the medallion with the hieroglyph-like symbol AND the same tan colors as the Nullifiers).

This would be a major -realignment/ re-imagining on my part, however. TARGATs could easily take over my A.G.P.s operation. For now, this idea is on a side-burner. I can always put a figure in a bag in one pile and move it around whenever.

Raptor

As I look at a lot of my stuff, I often consider discarding stuff simply since I don't usually think about some of it; let alone get any use out of it.

I thought I would try putting Raptor up in the public forums to see what everyone else might think of the guy.

With the file card, accessories, and the figures costume (as in clothing) design, I can put some imagination with that, and I usually see a figure/ character that I can integrate into the grander scheme of the imaginary Joe-verse.

Raptor has been more an exception to this, though. I think I made mention of my views of Big Boa already, a possibly awesome character, imo. Croc Master is kinda out there, too, but really, a guy that wrestles crocs is gonna be tough... this guy hasn't had a big Joe-verse break-through here, although I do feel some potential. Crystal Ball is a guy that I think could come out of field much like Dr. Mindbender really did, but I think Crystal Ball could be some kind of Command and Conquer Yuri-like mind-master. A touch of the supernatural could be kind of fun, too, but I'll probably delve into Crystal Ball later with his own paragraph in this blog.

That leaves Raptor out of the main Cobra individuals from 1987. I like the individuals in Cobra. In my mind, any individual really *could* be a former Viper with a name, or just so good at something where Cobra Commander is going to pay for some services.

However, Raptor is a falconer. I think any animal training is a neat thing, in the imagination and real world, but, can birds of prey be THAT threatening? Or THAT threatening for THAT long?
Poison tipped steel talons could be pretty crazy... and deadly. I suppose, too, what would be the defense for that, from a ground foot soldiers perspective? How many birds would it take to overwhelm, or at most distract, or disorient? How long does a bird take to get trained? Perhaps I don't know my birds-of-prey as well as I should?

But, these are the attributes of the birds. Without the birds, Raptor is a guy in a bird suit. Has this yuppie tax consultant trained in some kind of martial art that mimics the attack pattern of owls? What can Raptor do, besides train birds while he sits in a bird cage dressed in a bird suit?

Is my imagination limited by what little is given in the file card, and what I've seen in the comic?

Perhaps I should read up on the personality of a bird of prey to understand the personality of Raptor?


Raptor on JBL

random road thoughts

I get to drive a little bit all over for my current job, and while I rather dislike my job and the boss, the driving part does have the advantage of me being able to stop in most locations all over the eastern/ southeastern border of Wisconsin.

I've been thinking of changing up my current runs to incorporate an overnight over that way, SO WISCONSIN JOE FANS, if you're reading this, let me know! Maybe we can get some small meets or something in the future or something, since I would have nothing else to do once I shut the truck down. Some meet-ups would really be the only benefit for me to do overnights, as I wouldn't get paid for sleeping. (boss is rich but cheap)

Either way, I didn't stop at the Toys R Us stores I could have, in Green Bay on Mason, or the Appleton store. The new vehicles, and just being a toy fan in general, really got me interested in stopping. Paying full retail is something I didn't want to do, so I skipped, I do keep an eye on the internet for TRU store sales.

I did stop in at the Oshkosh Target. There were NO figures, just the new Ghost Hawk and Doom cycle. A pair of each. And there were a few '09 Night Ravens at almost full price. Even if I was a kid, the Raven isn't $40-some after tax cool that I can tell. Even with me wanting to keep large vehicles to the minimum, I can't give up my Night Raven-'86. THAT is a $40 craft. Even from an objective "need" view that I've taken with many favorite vehicles, the '86 is just plain sleek and the shiz. I said shiz, because it is that cool. The '09, maybe a fun toy, just with so many angles it quickly loses grace.

I am kind of interested in the Hawk and Cycle, but really, neither are very big "needs." The Cycle is almost a "need," as my Dreadnoks are riding just the Thundermachine currently, and may take full ownership on the Sting Raider. The price is my deterrent, and it's hard to tell if my old mold collection will fit to my liking on the thing.

Cobra Vipers and wishful thinking

The 1986 Cobra Viper has been my base view of everything Cobra. Well-equipped and trained, motivated by money and power. When one cross-references between classic file cards I think there is more than meets the eye to the grunts of Cobra. I would SO like to see a visit to the base Viper corps from this angle, ... enter into it from the perspective of a new recruit maybe. We never really got that in the "classic" days, rather we got "blue-shirts" running around always getting trounced by more personable good guys in the cartoon. The most personable Viper I can think of is the SAW-Viper from the mass-kill of Joes in the Marvel comic. I guess I kind of think of when he's throwing drinks back with the women in one panel telling the "hierarchy" to shut-it.

Mercer is the only other Viper, but he's become a mercenary. Was he a mercenary before Cobra? This is a guy that would be interesting to investigate more into...

Sometime I'll have to dig out the Marvel comics I have and see if I am wrong about the Vipers and their personalities that I've so far mentioned. I haven't been reading any of the new comics in the last couple years, I really stopped after a couple of years of the DDP issues, started again with the America's Elite, but, I just couldn't get into those. Not that I'm THAT into the Marvel comics, but at least with Marvel and Mr. Hama it felt more cohesive with the toys file cards.

Ultimate toy wish for me is an all-blue-based Viper infantry fire team, and since it's my fantasy-that-will-never-be pack, it would be all classic arah-style and I'm not limiting my pack to 6, 7, or 8. I'm maxing this thing out.

6-1986 Vipers
4-1994 Vipers
1-1990 SAW Viper
1-1989 Frag Viper
1-1990 Laser Viper
1-1989 HEAT Viper
1-1992 Flak Viper
*new* Viper-recruit--first tour of duty viper, looks much like '86.
*new* Viper-officer--'86-based, but no faceplate on the helmet, just safety specs.


Ok, so this will probably change the next time I think about this. And this is just the infantry component. No drivers, arctic, sea, etc., they're their own packs!!

But back to personality. Think about who might join the army in real life, or someone just looking for opportunity of any kind. I think a Viper is a type of person who doesn't have anything else to believe in, other than their own personal advancement; no philosophical or ideology that dictates what they do--not this at all. I don't think they are all full-time bad-to-the-bone always brawlin' street thugs at all, either; that's Dreadnoks. Just like a normal real-life everyday workplace, one needs dependable employees with some kind of education smarts in them. Think about the Motor Viper file card 1986, the "Recon and Perimeter Defense force" attracts the type of individual who likes danger and drives fast, WITHOUT the benefit of an education this type of person might join the Dreadnoks. And then consider that "everyone" starts as a Viper, so in my mind anyway, Vipers are not flunkies.

Probably sounds like I think of Cobra as an Equal Opportunity Employer. No person is going to put their lives into peril unless there is some kind of reward at the end of tunnel, and that depends on the person. Cobra can make that happen, or perhaps the front company(s). And that's where the Crimson Guard, Extensive Enterprises, and ARBCO, really make Cobra that more real. Perhaps Vipers are initially employed in a factory making Marauder NVR rifles, and then after 5 termed tours of action or something, get a piece of stock in that factory. Basically something to appeal to the reward side of things: do this, this, and this, and if all these things "goals" are met, one gets all "that." And if all "that" isn't enough, there's extra duty as, say, a ROCK Viper, where one could get 4 times of "that." But, consider that final graduation risk, too.

More to come on this at various points in the future...

random shot

I was once an I.D. student...once a student... aarraaaaghg onccceee a stuuuudeenntt.. (get the Cobra Commander "once a man" thing...? maybe not.)

Anyway, for a presentation techniques class, we had a weekly hand rendering project where we essentially had to copy an existing rendering, usually out of a marker rendering textbook or something. I liked these in that it really got us to look closer at what went into these works and got us hands-on practice for something very few people did even 10 years ago.

I was passing through my current basement, and when we moved in here I had put a couple of the results of these projects on the wall. I thought I would try one for a background shot combined with this really odd piece of petrified wood in the foreground. Something to do, anyway.

I thought I'd put Recoil and Footloose into the scene. Here's two Joes that are really rather pretty good looking figures that don't get much internet play time that I see. With so many "core" characters coming out new and taking up the bulk of what are on the "front-shelves" that is to be expected, though.

Unless you're like me and still play with old stuff I really only fairly recently acquired.

armoire?

Did I spell that right, armroire? Armwar? armore?

Well, since I can't spell it, I'll just say, "big fancy cabinet." (BFC from here.)

So, we got this BFC for this computer terminal, and it works to a point, but is really just a BFC. I'm half tempted to try two of these things as a GIJOE cabinets. (Big fancy GIJoe cabinets from here.)

I was thinking a pair of BFGC would be good, one for the good guys, one for the bad guys.

I think for the Joes, for the BFC we have, the size would work really well for the BFGC. The top should be able to accommodate the '83 HQ, and with shelves placed on the wall behind and above, the "motor pool" should fit well. The inside with have some kind of figure storage. Right now, I'm thinking it would be sorted like my departments breakdown that I did awhile back. A "security" rack, a "medical" rack, a "sea" rack, a "pilot" rack, etc.

Cobra would mirror this, however, with no Terrordrome to top it off, what would go there? The "bad guys" in my mind are split into separate groups for the most part. Only working together for mutual benefit. So, perhaps the top would be more of an airstrip? Or maybe a "blank" area that could be the spot a lot generic battlefield items and such could be. Or perhaps it is time to hunt down a Terrordrome, no, even better is that that Molten Monkey International Virus base would be available by the time I actually get this kind of project rolling. That would be cool. (see how random my thoughts get as I think about this stuff?)

In between these two BFGC's is my bed. Actually, I would have some kind of a desktop/ flattop between these, with some drawing supplies underneath on shelves, and then suspended above on the back wall some more shelves?

So many ways to do organize GIJoe stuff, only thing keeping me off even simple projects like this is that I'll have to move it all at some point. I would dislike getting all comfortable and spread out, only to have to pack it up. Again.