G.I. Joe Pursuit of Cobra: Steel Marauder

The G.I. Joe Steel Marauder Mobile Mech Suit has yet to be released here in the Philippines through retail outlets. You'll have to find one in Greenhills or in ebay - where I got this particular model (Check out Jedimarc76 as he still may not have moved the Cobra Deviant Mech yet if you're interested). The Marauder comes with Sergeant Joseph "Kickstart" Rivera, a plethora of stickers to attach and six missiles that can be launched from the Marauder's left arm - however it looks better without the missiles, so I removed them. To see the missles, check out my video review.

The box describes the Marauder as a "Suit that boosts strength and speed to tremendous levels! This highly advance battle armor gives the G.I. Joe Team powerful support and firepower in the battle against Cobra!"  Note that  Kickstart sits in a cockpit and operates joysticks and therefore lends none of his strength to the performance of the Marauder. This is therefore not a suit. It's clearly Mechanized Armor, a Mech.

Articulation in the arm area is decent, but there is a lot of pressure exerted on the ball joint area where the arms are connected to the main body, so do be careful with that. The arms can move forward, fold back a bit, reach forward, and generally move/cover an almost 270 degree range of motion without having to twist the torso.

Pressing/Depressing a button on the right arm activates the Marauder's claw - but you really can't grip anything with it. Turning the knob on the back of the right arm activates the gattling cannon which fires each of the missles individually.



Of particular note is the modular ability of the Marauder. You can switch arms with other Mechs - including the Cobra Deviant, or swap them out with other weapons from other vehicles - such as the RHINO's missile launchers shown below. There is also room for modular pieces on the arms themselves.

At this juncture, let's note the low articulation in the leg area of the Marauder. You can position the feet and move them in/out, up and down, but the legs themselves - despite having the joints - do not move.

The bigger they are, the bigger the blind spot

The G.I. Joe Steel Marauder was purchased on ebay for P1,800. The Marauder is for sale on Amazon for US$ 16.82 to US$ 39.99 not inclusive of shipping. A definite nice novelty piece to have in one's G.I. Joe collection. Grab it if you can.