G.i. Joe Classified # 168 Armored Cobra Commander
Thanks to the Baroness’ efforts and the use of her DNA converter along with the power of Dragonfire, Cobra Commander eventually regains his humanoid form. Now suited in a battle armor uniform, along with a newfound thirst for revenge, the head snake is more dangerous than ever!
In the ARAH comics continuity, this suit was actually worn by one of the Fred series Crimson Guards, who took out the real Cobra Commander and tried to take over Cobra with a little help from Baroness. The Crimson Guard, along with some loyalist (Xamot and Tomax most notably) all eventually got killed when they got trapped inside a tanker that the real Cobra Commander buried in a landslide as part of his revenge.
More recently, this suit again made a reappearance in the ARAH books in 2025, this time worn by another Crimson Guard, leading the ground troops against a mutant invasion by Revanche cyborg organization, all while the real Cobra Commander was safely tucked away in a bunker elsewhere, dictating orders to his proxy.
Aside from being armored against ballistic weaponry, this suit also has functioning servos that augment the wearer’s physical strength. It also features onboard targeting systems in its helmet HUD to help with tracking and aiming.
Again, in the comics, the suit also has a built-in failsafe. To protect Fred’s identity, he wired his helmet with an unlock code. Unless the code is entered, the suit will explode if anyone tries to remove the helmet, killing anyone close by.
The set comes with “snake-face” Cobra Commander as the default head, based on the DIC G.i. Joe pilot episode that takes place after the events of the movie. I can’t say I particularly like this look as it’s too creepy. It’s cool they included this option, but I prefer the human-looking head.
The set comes with a pet iguana for some reason. I would’ve preferred the weird, fat reptile thing the Commander turned Serpentor into with his Pythonizing ray instead this fella.
Cobra Commander comes with this backpack. Too bad it doesn’t open up to store his pistol.
His pistol can be holstered on his left hip.
Of course, the Commander comes with his most important accessory, a pointing left hand! So he can either bark orders, or more likely, point blame onto someone else when things go wrong. Lol…
Overall, a decent figure. I do wish it came with some more weapons or accessories or something, as it is one of the least accessorized figures in the entire classified line. The iguana figure also seems really out of place, what is up with that?
Admittedly, the DIC era of Joe cartoons really was a low point for me in the franchise, which is why I didn’t really feel the need to rush out and get this one. I actually only got this to pair up with Destro and his Despoiler, just to keep things tidy.
Gold
