G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra: Night Raven

Presenting the G,I. Joe Rise of Cobra Night Raven S3P. Inspired by the Lockheed Skunk-Works SR-71 Blackbird spy-plane that was retired in 1998 (Trivia: only 32 were built, 12 were lost to accidents. None were ever lost to enemy action).

The Cobra Night Raven is actually more than a simple retooling of the original Cobra Night Raven that was released in 1986 which was a bit more angular in comparison with the sleeker image of the modern Cobra Night Raven. Also gone from the modern Cobra Night Raven is the Drone Reconnaissance Scout Pod that piggy-backed on the rear of the Cobra Night Raven.

There was another version of the Night Raven released in 1990 this time on the side of the G.I. Joes - a captured and re-purposed craft from Cobra - which was renamed the Sky Raven and given a metallic Chrome paint-job (Special thanks to Aaron F. West for pointing this out). The modern movie Cobra Night Raven also drops the external drop down missile ports and the twin 20mm cannons. These are replaced by voice activated twin internal rotary IRO-42X Missle launchers.

Lastly, the original Cobra Night Raven had a top speed of Mach 3. The Sky Raven topped at Mach 3.7. The new movie Cobra Night Raven tops in at Mach 6. Both Cobra versions were piloted by a Cobra Strato-Viper.

G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra: Cobra Sting Raider

Dude, I don't think we're moving.

Presenting the G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra: Cobra Sting Raider. As previously mentioned in a news break here on Dark Lord Dungeon, the Cobra Sting Raider used to be available for PhP 1,699. It is a solid vehicle that came with two G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra action figures: Copperhead and Swamp Viper. However I did not feel any real motivation to buy it. I didn't feel any motivation to buy the Cobra Sting Raider when its price dropped down to PhP 1,000. But when Toy Kingdom finally dropped it to PhP 500, I grabbed it and quickly recommended it as a nice troop builder. The Cobra Sting Raider is available on Amazon for US$ 31.75. Two solid "drone" figures and a vehicle for a price that's less than the cost of a regular Pursuit of Cobra Action Figure? You can't go wrong.

G.I. Joe RHINO (Rapid Heli-Integrated Neutralizing Offensive) Vehicle

Presenting the G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra Rapid Heli-Integrated Neutralizing Offensive Vehicle or RHINO. This particular version of the RHINO is a repaint/re-issue of the G.I. Joe Sigma Six RHINO (Which had a midnight-black paint-job instead of this steel blue look). In the G.I. Joe Sigma Six cartoon, would you believe that this was stored inside the G.I. Joe ROCC.  In reality, the G.I. Joe ROCC isn't big enough to carry the RHINO. But then even in the cartoons, the ROCC had size issues - sometimes growing in size to accommodate big vehicles such as the RHINO, and sometimes shrinking to accommodate maneuverability. 

My only other beef with the G.I. Joe RHINO is the name. In the Filipino vernacular, the name is what we calll "pilit" or forced unto the vehicle just so that it can have a cool sounding acronym. I mean they actually called it an "Offensive" vehicle. What does that mean? It stinks? It's morally offensive? Touching it gives you allergies? Well it is kinda "Fat" and it's got an ass that puts an elephant to shame, but that's not really offensive. 

But I suppose we can forgive the name because it's just really cool.