 We've reached that time again, the end of Cobra Convergence. It was another spectacular year with many awesome presenters and participants. This is my opportunity to thank everyone who got involved this year, let's look at each of them individually and see what amazing creativity they brought to the event. Sergeant Slaughter's Slaughterhouse kicked it off with a discussion about the GI Joe animated series episodes Worlds Without End. I was a guest as was Ken from Toy Connections, Steven from GI Joeberg and Sergeant Slaughter's daughter Kelly, special appearances by Action Force Space Commander and Sergeant Slaughter. Alright let's get into the show, let's get into the meat and potatoes of the show. So I wanted to mention that sometimes when looking at forums or chat groups concerning the two-part episode Worlds Without End, a lot of people are under the impression it's like a shattered glass universe where the good guys are the bad guys and the bad guys are the good guys. Which is not true. It's basically just a, it's almost as if, I mean there are some slight differences like I believe it's, is it Stealer that has a tattoo on one side of his arm and happens to be on the other side in this universe? I think there's a lot of inconsequential things but I think for the most part and disagree with me if you like, is that basically this is almost the same as our universe except something has happened that's made it so Cobra now has primary control for the world. The Full Forces episode covered the Hazlab, His Tank, new GI Joe classified figure reveals and much more. Chris and Pat always have great information and insight. Yeah I think I got this, I mean my goodness Pat, what's a, what's an incredible reveal and then what an incredible response from the community, eh? Yeah it almost, I do wonder if we're going to see some tears like added toward the end. Other than the tears of Troy. They should change it to T-E-A-R-S, shouldn't they? That is amazing. Also I've got to shout out Hooded Cobra Commander 788 who is on the chat as we're talking. He says there's a new His Tank, question mark, yes, HCC, you've obviously been under a rock for the last, I don't know, month I would say but also I have to, I have to also shout out HCC for this comment as well. If you've been a red ninja for 20 years you're lucky to be alive. JoeMotionVideos82 reviewed the Valor vs. Venom Venomization Chamber with Venomous Maximus. That's a series of toys that is often overlooked so it's great to get some information about it. You're supposed to start it off on the side of the victim and then flip it around and out comes Gluteus Maximus. You may have been wondering about the G.I. Joe Retro line. Is the Retro Cobra His 3 a good vehicle? Cobra Island has you covered. It is the same as every other His Tank, well that's in this particular mold but it's in a blue plastic and no that's not dust and dirt on the trash, it's actually the paint, it's actually the paint and the design of it. They actually come like this, which is pretty cool because it shows the weathering on it. Would it be a Cobra Convergence without half the battle? Timmer reviewed a classic Cobra weirdo, the Mega Viper. What a crazy figure. Okay I'll say a bit more, why do I always get the worst crafter review for this event? So meet the Mega Viper I guess. This figure was released in 1993 with all original body parts. Very bright yellow body parts. This figure is so loud you need eye and ear protection to handle it. The secondary colors of purple and pink don't exactly help. And that's a real shame because this is a pretty decent mold. Hell, I'll go even further and say that this is actually a damn good mold. Pig warmers had guests Penelope and Justin from Farpoint Toys to talk about Cobra's crazy schemes and weird figures. It was a wide ranging and fun conversation. Like I remember watching it, I remember not understanding the movie references in it and then years later like in high school when when I get the deep kid Rhino DVDs or whatever came out, I was watching it again and I'm like, oh, I understand all this stuff now. It's constantly quoting these old movies. Yes. Oh, that's his thing. Yeah. Yeah. And it's banned. But you can tell like the generations of it. So it's four little kids, it's somebody in their 40s writing it about movies they saw when they were kids. It's not movies I recognize. No. It's not at all. And not at all. Plastic battles took us behind the scenes of his diorama for a toy photo shoot. Check out his custom crock master too. Macbooks, I'll take it in, I'll find an image, I'll pull it up full screen and then I airplay it to the TV and then that's my backdrop. And then so basically I made all this like swampy water and I put crock master in there and I got some trees and I got some stuff. You can see Duke and the Cage that's coming up for later. That's another that's another shot that I'm doing but that one's not ready yet. So so he's just hanging out in the swamp. This Nuva's Corner Cafe featured an article about the Cobra Eels. The Eel is my favorite Cobra Army Builder. They covered all vintage versions of the figure. What's on Joe Mind went live with the whole team, Mike, Mark, Joe and Rob. They covered a lot of GI Joe news and did a special ranking of every Cobra classified figure. Yeah, I love the little extra stuff. I love the gold tinge on the glasses. Yeah. I like the gold pistol. It's just something that like the Baroness is pretty vain as a character. And that's something that she would have. That snakey laser gun is kind of weird too. Yeah. Yeah. Her glasses have the Cobra's on the side. Yeah. Those are as you look closely at their Cobra on the corner in there. It came with our first vehicle, right? Toy Connections was in the Sergeant Slaughter's Slaughterhouse episode and he had his own entry. Who should occupy the Cobra Throne? Should it be Cobra Commander or Serpentor? Here is how this version of the throne looks with the Cobra Commander version 1.5 from 1983 along with some of the enemy troopers from that same year flanking him. I think if anybody had a custom cape to attach to the commander, it could make him look even better. This to me gives a natural, timeless look and while it requires probably the least amount of imagination, it's just fitting to display him in this manner. And here's Cobra Commander again. This time the second version with the hooded appearance. It is always a pleasure having JLS Comics in Cobra Convergence. This year he looked at a video game character that is also a G.I. Joe villain, M. Bison. And his original version had a Japanese Imperial Army peaked cap with a Communist star on it but it was later changed to Skull and Wings. During development his pre-production name was Eaglehead so where did all that inspiration come from? We can source two inspirations. The first is General Washizaki from Rikiyo whose name translates to Eagle Cape. Special Mission Force returned to Cobra Convergence with a photo of the Cobra Royal Family featuring classified figures. Amazing work! Forgotten Figures is a fantastic resource for G.I. Joe history and information. This year he did an in-depth look at a rarely discussed character, Cesspool. The Joe on Joe podcast is known for producing epic stories and this year is no exception. Do you remember when Colombo joins G.I. Joe? Listen to this special episode of G.I. Colombo. Elsewhere in the bit the G.I. Joe dog handler, code name Mutt, escorts a very special guest through their reception center. So you see, Onk, that a day in a pit, even an off day like today, is never really relaxed. Boy, I'll tell you Stanley, this is all just way bigger than when I was in the Cybers. Uncle, how many times do I have to ask? Everyone here calls me Mutt. You can't be Mutt, your dogs are Mutt. But his name is Junkyard. Why don't you call him Mutt, you're Stanley. The Talking Joe podcast joined the Convergence and it is my pleasure to have them in the event. They showed us Cobra's weirder side. They have all the crazy Cobra's. And so, so against that, that giant choice of characters, how did you land on your character and what was it? I'm waiting for the turn of the slide for when you say it. For Cobra Conversion 6 and our Talking Joe discussion today of crazy Cobra's, I picked Gristle. The Human Mechanism Mark II was back again this year and he addressed the Cobra vehicle that I most wanted as a toy. We get to see an amazing custom of the Cobra Transport Helicopter. The construction was actually very simple. I cut out a large chunk from the helicopter and left a space for cargo. The legs are constructed out of evergreen plastic sheets and are reinforced with metal. I also recycled the wheels. The helicopter has telescopic legs. I don't know why. It's just one of those things that happened and I rolled with it. I'm sure if someone were to make their own version of this, they could simplify the construction. So the ultimate question. Can it carry a his tank? Audible Interlude dives into a fun and supremely weird episode of the GI Joe animated series. Do you remember Cobra Thon? This is a brilliantly strange episode and the discussion on Audible Interlude is great. Cobra needs to raise some money for a computer virus that is going to take down Interpol and blow all the computers up. As one does. Yes. So, you know, they just need a few billion dollars to make it happen, which just so happens to be over the budget that Sipintor gave us because he's a cheap SOB. So how else do people raise money in cartoons in the 80s? You get all the other villains together and you put on a marathon. A Telefon, a Cobra Thon, a Cobra Thon. I'm glad my side of the laundry room returned to Cobra Convergence this year. This time he looked at the most terrifying villains, the Cobra Monsters. Now the first monster is the Bio-Ennihilator, which appeared in the episode in the presence of Mine Enemy that aired on November 19th, 1986. In the episode we have Conquest Pilot Slipstream running missions over a Cobra installation, a small island. He is trying to gather what data he can and after a while he is pursued by a group of Cobra Night Ravens. Jay Bartlett had something special planned for Cobra Convergence, a full table read of the script for the 1987 G.I. Joe movie. Join Jay, me, Zazel, Ken, and Hans Chow as we perform the whole movie. Go ahead, make me the scapegoat. My loyal subordinates could testify to my superb stewardship of Cobra, but you don't have the courage to let them speak. Wrong again! Defend him if you can! You first noble distro. Militarily speaking, it's only fair to say that Cobra Commander is a world-class buffoon. The artist shark is new to Cobra Convergence, he entered the game with a great video about the Toys R Us Python Patrol set. It's great to see this era represented, it's also great to hear some personal stories. At some point I was stumbling across the G.I. Joe isle because that was my favorite, and of course this was near the revamp where there was a lot of two packs going on, but it was very hard to find those. But I remember walking around the isle and then I end up stumbling across this very exact six pack right here. And I looked at the price and said, oh my god, this is actually $20 and there's six figures and it comes with all these unique weapons and accessories. So I asked my father, can I purchase these figures? And he said, yeah, absolutely because you're getting a little more than you're bargaining for especially around the 2003 era. So and on top of that I was lacking in the Cobra department whereas like I said before I had a lot of Joes. Action robot punch introduced something truly intimidating for G.I. Joe, Cobra's new tank. See how this battle played out. This new heavy armor has rendered us well nigh impervious and since the Joes have spotted us, let's move out and see what this new tank can really do. Two direct hits and now it's moving out. What the heck is that thing? I don't know steamroller, but right now we need to move out. Stay here and we're sitting ducks. Right on. Let's bum rush that Cobra scum. Steeler Falcon, you split off left. We'll split right. Let's take it to him. Yo, Joe. I called in a special favor from anything Joes. They showed us some Cobra characters that are almost never talked about. The enemies of Star Brigade. It is peak 90s. Boneless alien arms and razor sharp teeth. That's all he's got. They're not going to highlight anything else that's going on with him. It's got a crazy design. The artwork really is like, it looks like he has like a crab-type shell just on his legs and maybe his back and then his arms are like, they look like they have like follicles of hair or something coming off of them. But his hands are insane. His hands look like a puppet show gone wrong basically. He's like, I got a mekaka. Vagon joined the convergence with a look at the Cobra paratrooper, but he went beyond just a look at the figure. He also showed off his real service parachute. So here's the parachute itself. As you can see, you see that it has a static line on it because this is a static line shoot rather than a free fall shoot like your Halo jumpers. That's why it's funny because to me it's, I was complaining about it, about there's a difference and all that. A toy kind of mood convened a panel of GI Jo fans to show off some spectacular customs and dioramas. You have to see this stuff. Great job guys. Joe's about to get waxed. They better come up with something, man. GI Joe will be right back after these commercials. That is incredible work. Very nice. Wow. You know what, let's all for everybody here, let's do it. Come on guys. Thank you. Thank you. Code name new to vero two reviewed an era of the comic book that many of us consider to be a dark time with the assistance of comic tropes. He looks at transformers appearing in GI Joe. You see what I mean when you have to go a little bit back in order to get a better perspective of the actual story art because those are really crucial elements that kind of changes things a little bit with your perception. It doesn't save it totally, but it makes it more of a palatable going forward. And I also think that at the time, this is a really big thing that we were so fixed on generation one that when you saw G2, like for a lot of us old school guys that heard about this, it kind of came back just for a brief second to revisit our beloved GI Joe and transformers and solve this, like this different version of Megatron as we're going to see in the next issue. It really was disheartening, like that's not my Megatron. That's not my GI Joe. GI Joe Berg is a veteran of Cobra convergence and they know how to bring the heavy hitters. This year they produced the biggest collaboration ever with a feature length movie seconds to midnight. Enemy planes grounded, bomb drop vector 08880018. Protocol 83. Anti-mine crew has been sent out to mop up runway 77. Cleanup crew is on the deck, sir. If that runway is not cleared in two minutes, we all will perish. All air defenses are down except for the flak. It was a privilege to have Star Joe's in Cobra Convergence, I have been listening to their long running podcast for quite a while. Check out their Cobra special missions. Alright Eric, so scenario number one, which is the escape from the silent castle. Who were your agents and what were your vehicles and why? Well, as the leader of the group, I chose Crocmaster. Okay. Well, it's a freaking swamp and sewers. What better way to have a guy who controls alligators and crocodile's in there to eat them? People. Then I took Copperhead because he'll be rolling around on the water moccasin, you know, looking for people. Took a raptor because of the bird. The bird can help scout. Then I took Televipers because swamps suck and they can help communicate. And then finally I have Zirana running around with the Swamp, the Dridnock Swampfire. Cobra Ling is the master of stop motion. This Cobra Convergence video was a look at the evil Cobra Emperor, Sarpentor. He's definitely one of my favorite villains. He was created by Dr. Mainbender by collecting and combining the DNA of great people of history such as Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Hannibal, a great commander and others. That's many of you know. One thing I remember about Sarpentor were his biceps. He really looked like he could kick some butt, not just lead. Rob Vegas was doing Cobra Convergence videos every day. When we needed someone to step in, he took the job. For his day, he looked at the Toxoviper. And that's over at the Rob Vegas Technology Center and I tell you what, let's head on over there and get the job done. I'll see you there. Okay, so here we are at the Rob Vegas Technology Center which today is doubling as a Toxic Waste Treatment Plant. We have quite a few friends here. You know sometimes when you're on the internet you can get some toxic comments on your videos but they can get as toxic as they like here because we've got the gang. We've got Toxoviper version one. We've got Cesspool. We've got Sludge Viper. It was fun to meet the gang from Podcast From The Pit at Joefest. I'm thrilled they were able to join the Convergence. They picked their favorite Cobra figures and vehicles. I love Cobra. I mean I love G.I.G. I don't get me wrong. I lean Cobra. So happy to be asked to do this this year. So looking forward to it. So vehicles. I wonder how different we're going to be. I bet we're closer on vehicles or play sets than we are on figures. Let's see. All right. You start number five. Let's go. It's a classic. Very classic. Awesome. That's why it's my number five. Fun School Ronnie is our window into G.I. Joe in India. A lot of fans are curious about international toys. Ronnie restores and assembles a Cobra surveillance port. Today on this Cobra Convergence 6 special video I'm going to review the Fun School Cobra surveillance port. So without further ado let's get started. Five. Four. Three. So this is the Fun School Cobra surveillance port that my good friend Jason from Order of Battle Pod helped me buy. As you guys can see the box is in pretty rough shape so I decided to restore it somewhat. The Order of Battle podcast always brings thoughtful and insightful discussion and they give some love to some of the strangest Cobra characters of all time. I chose the Flag Viper not because of any of that but because on their file card especially if you think about it from when this came out two to day's time it's even funnier. They're wearing surface to air missiles on their back. This is not meant to fight Joe's on the ground. They are meant to ride around on vehicles like the parasite and fire up at overhead combatants and to train for that they put a cartridge into their helmets so that they can essentially play an altered reality video game through their helmets for ten hours a day to become experts at being these human surface to air missile weapons. The Skull Reviews is a veteran of Cobra Convergence and often does reviews of twelve inch action figures. This time he reviews a three and three quarter inch figure that is synonymous with Cobra the Viper. Having a closer look at the Cobra Viper he's got an awesome style so he incorporates the classic dark blue of the Cobra Trooper along with the faceplate of Cobra Commander so it's a really nice tie in it really makes the Cobra organization look like it's got its act together. Articulated points gave us the final entry in Cobra Convergence 6 with something truly special custom figures of rare Japanese characters. I'm gonna throw it over to Patrick now because he's got something he wants to show you as well. Hey thanks Philip it's not every day that you see a good use for that Robo Joe head is it? Oh. The fact that it has the old style body construction on the neck I think really made it blend in with those older parts in the O-ring line which made it mesh in with the other figures that were released in Japan so I think you did a really great job. Okay so for my half of this project I was picking a character that appears in the second to the last issue which was from January 1987 and the name of the character that I'm working on thanks to Philip having it translated is Bomber Jack. Thank you to everyone who was on the calendar it means a lot to me that they would join and produce such amazing content it's their creativity that drives the event. Cobra Convergence is for the entire community. I invited everyone to create their own Cobra Convergence productions. This is the community coming together to support each other and share their enjoyment for this iconic line. Thank you to everyone who converged. That's all for this year we bring Cobra Convergence 6 to a close. It was a lot of fun. We will be back next year but we don't have to wait until then to come together and build our community. I will see you for Cobra Convergence 7. Cobra!