 This week we're looking at the second version of the Cobra Battle Android trooper. This is the second year in a row We've looked at the Cobra bats What's that? I know what that is Last time I heard that sound I was attacked by bats Stop that! Merk kids think they're so funny Hello everybody hooded Cobra Commander 788 here. This is the show where we review every vintage GI Joe toy from 1982 to 1994. We are in the middle of Cobra Convergence 5. GI Joe fans celebration of GI Joe's enemy Cobra Before we get started I have the privilege of giving a codename to a new patron. Silent Ghost added his support on Patreon And this is another guy who already has a really awesome screen name That makes it really hard to come up with a good codename. Your codename is Shadow Phantom I can't give you anything cooler than what you already have. Thank you for your support The Cobra bat is a divisive subject in GI Joe. Some fans, like me, prefer the more realistic military aspects of the line While other fans prefer the more science fiction and fantasy elements of GI Joe Robot soldiers definitely fall on the side of sci-fi Even so the Cobra bat wasn't the worst addition to GI Joe Even hardcore military Joe fans have to admit sci-fi was always part of the line And a robot soldier wasn't that big of a leap from earlier science fiction elements At least the first version of the bat was a good action figure. It was well designed. It looked nice Then there was a new version in 1991 and they did away with all that But my opinion isn't the only opinion. Some of your Cobra Convergence 5 presenters will share their thoughts on this figure HCC788 presents the second version of the bat This is the 1991 Cobra battle android trooper the bat. This figure was released in 1991 and was available in 1991 only it was discontinued for 1992. This is the second version of the bat in the vintage era This body mold was used again in the post vintage era in 2003 And there was a modern version of this figure in the 2017 GI Joe convention exclusive set It was designed by Kurt Groen for Hasbro There were only two versions of the bat in the vintage era But there were other figures that may be considered in the same lineage in 1986 the first version of the bat was released the packaging didn't exactly say what the BAT stood for but it was generally believed that it was an acronym for battle android trooper in 1991 We got the bat version 2 and the packaging explicitly calls it a battle android trooper in 1992 overkill was released in the talking battle commander's subset and he was billed as the bat leader So he is definitely in the bat lineage in 1993. We got the bat That's b a a t which stood for battle armored android trooper in the star brigade subset It was an armored upgrade of the bat made to fight in space The bat wasn't the first introduction of science fiction into GI Joe GI Joe had lasers in the first wave of the new GI Joe back in 1982 It did represent a big leap forward in science fiction for GI Joe It wasn't the last sci-fi figure in the line either not by a long shot It ushered in a new era of fantasy and unrealistic elements in the GI Joe toyline in 1986 the year The first bat was released There was also a composite clone cobra emperor a new laser rifle trooper at a mind-controlling mad Scientist some fans loved these fantasy elements for me. They were acceptable to a point But GI Joe was at its heart a military toyline It was called GI Joe after all it's impossible to separate that name from its military roots This figure has several callbacks to the first version, but in some respects, it's a departure We will compare and contrast as we go through each element. What is an android? The simplest definition is it's a robot with a human form a robot is a machine capable of carrying out complex actions So all androids are robots, but not all robots are androids modern robotics has made great strides But not quite to the point of sending bipedal autonomous robots into battle if Cobra could do this in 1986 and with an update in 1991 they were far ahead of the state of the art Despite being engineering marvels cobra bats were treated as Disposable. I have the full card back for the cobra bat version 2 So we can see how this figure was marketed back in 1991 and the artwork. I have to say is lackluster It doesn't have any of the chest detail from the figure's lenticular sticker This is in contrast to the card art from the first bat Which had lots of detail and lots of drama Just not so with version 2 it has the GI Joe logo and cobra the enemy It has a red background denoting. This is an enemy character codename bat battle android trooper And then behind the space where the figure was packaged It has instructions on how to use the arm attachments the missile launcher and the figure stand flipping the card around to the back We have the cross cell with other figures that were available at the time It does exclaim weapon really shoots It has an 80s style flag point and an 80s style file card even though this was released in 1991 The back of the card was still in the 80s style. We will take a closer look at this file card later in this video Let's take a look at the accessories for bat version 2 It has some callbacks to version 1 for instance one of the arms can be removed and other Attachments can be put in its place. It goes about the storage of the extra attachments in a totally different way though And the spring-loaded missile launcher comes into play with that system Let's start by taking a look at that removable appendage this right hand all the way up to the forearm can be removed There is a peg on the arm and it fits into a hole on the hand That hand is in very bright orange plastic the right hand uses the same basic design and color as the left hand And when it's removed on the spring-loaded missile launcher, which can connect to the back There is a peg and that hand can be placed on that peg This is the same basic idea as version 1 which had a removable right hand You could take the hand off and in the backpack there was a peg So you could store the hand on the backpack on a second peg on the missile launcher There is another attachment. This is referred to as the grenade launcher It pegs on in much the same way as the hand you can pull it off of the missile launcher And you can put it on the peg on the arm in the same way the hand would fit on there And now the bat has a grenade launcher attachment on his right arm now Let's look at that missile launcher. It has a backpack so it works as a backpack works pretty well In fact, it is in black plastic. It has two pegs one for the grenade launcher and the other one for the removable hand It also has a hole so it can be attached to the bats arm That's how the bat carries it it pegs on to his right arm on the same peg that holds the hand and attachments This is a lot better than just having a grip on this thing that he probably couldn't hold anyway This is actually pretty cool. I don't mind this the missile launcher includes one very bright neon green missile It's very bright. You can't miss it and it only comes with one That means we only get one shot at dr. Mindbender So let's use version one of dr. Mindbender and since we already have him out to use the missile You just place the missile in the barrel of the launcher with this notch on the missile facing away from this notch on The barrel you just press it in until it clicks and then the trigger is in the back this green trigger So you just take aim as we take aim at dr. Mindbender You pull back on the trigger or actually push looks like push down on the trigger Okay, before I get started This is falling off of the peg and I'm having a very hard time keeping this on the peg So be aware of that if you choose to get one of these figures It's a cool idea to have the launcher peg onto the arm, but only if it stays well All right, forget the figure just take aim at dr. Mindbender and press back on the trigger to fire That's a pretty powerful spring And we would have knocked down dr. Mindbender if he hadn't been standing so close to the back wall the final accessory Which should never be forgotten is the figure stand. This was a black figure stand 90s figures came with figure stands and 80s figures did not That's always a plus with these 90s figures with the accessories out of the way We can take a look at the articulation. He mostly had the standard articulation for GI Joe figures at the time He could turn his head from left to right and look up and down He could swing his arm up the shoulder and swivel at the shoulder all the way around He had a hinge at the elbow so he could bend his arm at the elbow about 90 degrees He had a swivel at the bicep so we could swivel his arm all the way around This was an o-ring figure meaning the figure was held together with the rubber o-ring that looped around the inside That allowed him to move at the torso a bit. He moves his legs apart about so far He had bent his leg at the hip about 90 degrees and bent at the knee about 90 degrees The additional articulation comes in when the hand is attached that hand will swivel at that attachment point Adding a bit of articulation for the right hand Let's take a look at the sculpt design and color of bat version two and some elements of bat version one are Carried over like the general shape of the face shield and the black uniform and the linticular sticker Many other elements have changed bat version one had one bright color yellow Version two goes overboard with the bright colors adding a very bright neon orange and green The new version also does away with the intricate sculpted technical details We saw on version one the head is black. It has an orange face shield It has two green bands that go around the head It has a single small green detail just at the forehead This has minimal detail and it lacks the art deco inspiration of version one on the chest He has a black uniform with a green collar and an orange shoulder and chest guard The green collar continues to the back, but the orange does not the back does have some sculpted Rectangles, which I guess are supposed to be panels On that orange chest shield. There is a linticular sticker That has a 3d effect and has some of the technical inner workings of the robot The linticular sticker is a carryover from version one, but it is much smaller It just is less impressive than the version one chest It's a nice detail, but if they're going to do it Why not do it at least as good as the first version? Moving on to the arms, the figure has mostly black arms with some very minimal molded in detail on the upper arms He has thin green bands that go around the upper arms and he has bright neon green elbows He has neon orange hands and forearms that look like gloves And of course that's on the left hand. The right hand is A separate piece that is removable and reveals a green peg under it These arms are so much less impressive than version one version one had metallic looking arms With molded in gears and hinges and circuitry and on the left arm. It had a cobra emblem There's nothing like that at all on version two the waist piece has a ridged orange belt with a big Buckle right in the front center and otherwise has no detail at all The legs are black with some very minimal technical detail molded in There are wide green bands that go around each thigh And he has tall orange boots This ridge section at the top of the boot is a slight callback to version one that had a similar detail on his boot But that detail was painted silver and looked much cooler in my review of bat version one I talked briefly about why a robot would need to wear pants In this case the black uniform for version two seems more like a plastic or latex casing than a cloth uniform It lacks the folded cloth detail of the version one figure. There's no doubt. This is a bat There are enough elements carried over from the first version to make it unmistakable for me though It's missing the best elements of the bat the robotic arms the unique shape of the head The pseudo military feel of the uniform version two seems like a stripped down version of the bat Maybe the file card will give us some clue as to why that is Let's take a look at the file card the file card has the faction as cobra obviously a portrait of the bat Taken from the artwork on the front of the card. It says his codename is cobra bat battle android trooper This paragraph says bats are totally artificial robotic troopers with extremely primitive logic circuits and very sophisticated targeting sensors They can absorb enormous amounts of battle damage and still continue their missions as long as their trigger finger circuits are intact Bats are usually deployed from low flying aircraft without use of parachutes This delivery system is normally quite demoralizing to opposing troops who happen to witness it This paragraph would be true of version one bats They were not especially bright, but they were very durable and they could continue to fight even when a large part of the robot was blown away This bottom paragraph says the new bats although upgraded in weapon systems have been severely downgraded in logic and memory components Which have been deemed unnecessary for what is now a machine gun with legs And ironically the bat does not come with a machine gun The right arm can be replaced with a modular missile launcher capable of firing a wide assortment of ordinance The basic model has three forward gears no reverse option And can be recharged from an ordinary household electrical outlet the thought of thousands of bats at cobra headquarters All plugged into one big extension cord is hilarious to me version two of the bat is a downgrade if anything They are dumber than the first version looking at how the bats were used in gi joe media in the cartoon series They first appeared in arise serpent or arise part one They were formidable, but they couldn't withstand an attack by sergeant slaughter in that episode Scrap iron is seen assembling bats. This has led some fans to believe scrap iron created the bats Later in that episode though It is implied that dr. Mindbender created them the version two form was used in the deak era of the animated series I don't know what else to say about their appearances in cartoons They were robot soldiers is pretty basic and not very unique in animation as other cartoon series Also had robot armies in the comic book series published by marvel comics The bat first appeared in issue number 44 and was on the cover It was unambiguous that they were created by dr. Mindbender and they were used to attack a squad of joes that was on a training mission There were some cobra battle robots earlier in the series as early as 1984 in issue number 28 Some cobra uniformed remotely controlled robot troopers are seen. Are they precursors to the bats? It's impossible to know but maybe the bats were well used in the comic book series in the late 80s They were undeniably science fiction and not realistic But larry hamma used them to good effect. The bats were smart enough to drive cars and follow simple orders They were also durable continuing to attack even when they were busted to pieces The second version of the bat was seen in the comic two They were part of cobra's attack on gi joe headquarters in issue number 130 They were deployed by being kicked out of a hovering helicopter Although the comic book has a reputation for being more realistic than the animated series Even in the comic they got a little crazy with the robots. For example, in issue number 132 The joes encountered some amazingly tough robots that were smarter and stronger than the standard bats In issue number 146 to 148 gi joe star brigade and the october guard Encountered an army of robots defending an asteroid on a collision course with earth The field of robotics in the gi joe universe was much more advanced than it was in the real world Robots were treated as disposable even when we would have considered them sophisticated advanced and expensive Now, please welcome your cobra convergence five presenters to share their thoughts on version two of the cobra bat To me while the bat version two is a really well done action figure I still prefer the clunkiness of the design of the bat version one It just has those classic robot looks However, in its favor, I will say the bat version two is really sleek aesthetic Really reminds me of the carnival robot from scooby-doo Or maybe that's just me Thanks, hoodie. It's great to converge with you on this video Bat version two was a fun yet brightly colored update to the classic cobra battle android trooper from 1986 It really is hard to make an amazing version two of one of the best figures in the line The updated bat used all new parts Hasbro liked to sculpt enough to recycle his legs and waist for the street fighter two figure zangief in 1993 Why a russian bear wrestler would have flesh colored robo legs is beyond me But that bat waist and boots work pretty well for his trunks and footwear The problem is mostly those thighs Hoodie doesn't count the street fighter two figures as part of the vintage gi joe line But the street fighter movie figures are definitely not part of gi joe I'd just like to point out that hasbro didn't use the bat body parts for the movie zangief They used the bulkier road pig body much later after the vintage era was over We lived in a weird time that consisted of a mix of new sculpt gi joes and repaints of o-ring figures Hasbro revisited the bat version two sculpt to put out a bat version four and inferno bat These figures were part of an internet exclusive set that included three bat version fours two inferno bats and a repaint of the bat leader overkill Bat version four was the bat two sculpt in a paint scheme more reminiscent of bat one While the inferno bat was made of translucent red plastic Both internet exclusive bats came with repaints of the bat version two hand attachment Grenade launcher attachment and figure stand no spring loaded firepower this time I think bat version four with the subdued paint scheme really shows off how cool the 1991 bat really is bats version two Was my bat version Okay to put this in perspective My very first gi joe comic was bought for me by my brother It was issue 130 of the original run Those of you who think that is an obscure comic wouldn't be wrong But it did feature the bats in an assault on the pit in utah And these bats version twos were dropped out of cobra transport helicopters as per the file cards and From that day onwards. I always played with my bat v2 in that fashion It was always dropped from a helicopter kicked out of the cargo door Some of them were damaged some of them were totaled But the ones that were still combat effective were enough to overrun gi joe. I only had one So he was doubling up. He was tripling up. He was playing double double duties To overrun the joes so to speak just kind of recycling this figure, but hey, who didn't I mean army building in the 90s come on Love this figure. I really do the uh Clip for the bats version two which is a It's an okay figure, you know, I had I had it when I was a kid you know, but uh I actually don't like it as much as I like the original because the original bat is the is the most awesome of the group but uh Version two is all right. It's good as army builder. You know, it's good as father for the bats version one to go out on On your cobra missions. That's how I used to do it as a kid but uh Is a great secondary figure to the original batch and a good setup for it but uh That'll work, you know, but the bat version two if you like it you like it if you don't you don't But uh, I rate it as a middle tier figure myself Looking at the bat version two overall I do not like it very much The original bat was not realistic in any way, but it had some things going for it It had a good design. It had good sculpting. It had cool colors It had a unique lenticular sticker The sculpting on the hands and the arms was intricate and technical It was a cool figure even if it didn't fit my preferences version two does away with most of that the sculpting is much more basic It looks like he has human musculature rather than gears and circuits The head is very human like with a face mask. He doesn't look very much like a robot With version one at least you could tell he was a robot With this guy as long as the arm is attached could just be a guy in a suit The base color is still black, which is a good start But the other colors are as obnoxious as they could possibly be The yellow on the first bat wasn't exactly subdued But it wasn't neon either since we're talking about a robot an attachable missile launcher seems like a good idea Except on mine. It has a hard time staying attached and did the missile absolutely have to be neon green Even the lenticular sticker is downsized version two has one, but it's smaller and less impressive That's what you get when the 90s happens to an 80s figure. I know the 1991 bat has fans I hear from them. I hear you guys talking about this figure for me, though It doesn't hold a candle to version one I will say one positive thing about it. It's much cheaper to army build than version one bat much cheaper Much much cheaper. That was my review of cobra bat version two. I hope you enjoyed it Thank you to silent ghost aka shadow phantom for your support And thank you to the cobra convergence five presenters who you saw in this video coming up next for cobra convergence five Today on august 16th you will get an entry by mate mylar on august 17th You will get fun school ronnie on august 18th You will get joe motion videos 82 on august 19th You will get jls comics on august 20th You will get watts on joe mine podcast on august 21st You will get articulated points and on august 22nd you will get green yeti 907 Thank you for watching i'll be back next week with another cobra review and until then remember only cobra is cobra