 All this month, for Cobra Convergence, you've seen your favorite G.I. Joe fan creators post special Cobra related content. But did you know you can get in on this too? To find out how you can make your own Cobra Convergence creation and be featured in a weekly promotional video on this channel, go to HCC788.com Everybody hooded Cobra Commander 788 here. This is the show where we review every vintage G.I. Joe toy from 1982 to 1994, and we are in the middle of Cobra Convergence 5. This week we are looking at Destro. If Cobra Commander is the heart and passion of Cobra, then Destro is Cobra's brain and sense of honor. It's a challenge to tell Destro's story in just one video. He was his own force throughout the entire arc of G.I. Joe's history. He was a leader, he was an honorable enemy, he was an uneasy ally. Behind the scenes, the creation of Destro was the work of legends, Ron Rudat, Larry Hama, and Arthur Burkhart. They made Destro the icon he is today. We're now looking at the first version of Destro. We're looking at version 3 from 1992. This version seemed to be an attempt to return Destro to his classic look with some important differences. Cobra Convergence 5 is the right time to take up this challenge, and such a challenge it is to cover Destro, I asked your Cobra Convergence 5 presenters to help me out, so you will hear from them too. HCC788 and friends present Destro. This is Destro, the enemy weapons supplier from 1992. This figure was released in 1992 and was available for 1992 only. It was discontinued for 1993. This is the third version of Destro in the vintage era. Version 1 of Destro was released in 1983 and the first version is taller. 1983 Destro is taller than the 1992 version, so I guess Destro shrank in the intervening nine years. This legendary version 1 figure is the Destro most remembered by fans. It was designed by Ron Rudat for Hasbro. This figure was available for three years instead of the usual two years. It was discontinued for 1986. It was an enormously popular figure with a VAC metalized chrome silver head. Version 2 of Destro was released in 1988 and this figure came with a small vehicle, the Dispoiler. Destro at this point was the leader of a new faction called the Iron Grenadiers. This figure had a VAC metalized gold head. The 1992 release was version 3. It was a return to the silver head, but no longer a VAC metalized chrome. It's similar in style to version 1, but with some important differences. Version 4 of Destro was released in 1993 as part of the Star Brigade subset. It was an armor tech figure. We're back to the VAC metalized silver head. He also has a missile launcher for an arm and two toes on each foot. It makes total sense. Those are the only versions of Destro in the Vintage era, but I will look at some modern and foreign releases. And I'll talk about a figure that's so rare for a time it was thought to be a myth. There is so much to say about Destro, he's one of the most important characters in the line and appears in nearly every iteration of G.I. Joe from Vintage to the present day. His position in Cobra was unclear. He was the head of Mars, a weapons manufacturer that worked independently of Cobra and supplied weapons. I attribute the strange Cobra vehicle designs to Destro's influence. He also had some leadership responsibilities. He took command of Cobra troops on multiple occasions. Destro's personality was competent, stoic, stern, and intelligent. The animated series did a particularly good job portraying this with the help of actor Arthur Burkhart. Destro often became impatient with Cobra commander's failure. Even though only one version of Destro came with a vehicle, version two, I believe he designed some of Cobra's weird vehicles. The his tank and the Fang helicopter entered the line the same year Destro did. I don't think that's a coincidence. Cobra acquired a new weapons supplier and they suddenly had sleek new vehicles. The name Destro probably comes from the Italian word Destro, which means right, the Italian phrase Ilbrario Destro, which means his right hand man. In all forms of GI Joe media, Destro has had a relationship with Cobra's intelligence officer, the Baroness. This has sometimes challenged the Baroness's loyalty to Cobra commander. Kevin from SEO Tour Review here, and I'll be taking a look at his card back. I do have a card sample of Destro version three, so let's take a look at it. Destro's card features a large GI Joe logo. It says Cobra the enemy underneath that and the red coloring here indicates that he is a bad guy. We can see Destro is number five in the 1992 series. His card art has a picture of Destro holding his gun and using his giant disc launcher. The art is pretty standard for 90s Joe's, but not as nice as the 80s figures. There's also some strange anomalies with his artwork like changes in his disc launcher and discs. The discs in the artwork look more like saw blades than the actual included ones. There's an advertisement down here, disc launcher shoots, battle stand included. There are some instructions behind Destro here on how to work his disc launcher. Those are obstructed by the figure. Flipping the card around to the back, we see the cross cell with other figures available at the time. There's an advertisement to watch the new TV Adventures of GI Joe. This would be the cartoon series produced by Deke. Down here we have the cross cell for some of the other sub teams available at the time, including Battle Commanders, Air Commandos, and Ninja Force. We have one flag point in the 90s style. Then down here we have the file card. Someone will be taking a closer look at this later. On the file card there's a list of features for the figure and accessories. Someone will be referring to these when they take a look at the accessories. Let's take a look at Destro's accessories and let's start with his main weapon. He comes with this what I'm interpreting as a machine pistol in black plastic. It has a magazine and a scope. This looks like a chunky version of the pistol that came with version one. The version one pistol is much smaller. This is much larger, but it works even though it's a bit oversized. This looks like something Destro would carry. The file card calls this a laser powered rapid fire burp machine gun. I don't think that's really what it is. I hope that's not really what it is. He also includes this other weapon. It's sort of a weapon anyway. This disc launcher. The file card calls it a high tech computer controlled disc launcher. It is black and it has a black orange lever on the back. It also includes two orange discs that load in at the top. The discs are loaded at the top and when the first disc is fired, the second disc automatically falls into place. The discs are fired by pressing this lever to the side and releasing. These discs are orange. There are two of them. They are identical and they're same top and bottom. The file card calls these razor sharp armor cutting discs. The shape of these discs was apparently changed before production because the image on the card shows a bladed disc. But these are just round. Let's demonstrate how to fire this disc launcher. It'll just put the discs in the top. And let's use our favorite target, Dr. Meinbender. Just slide this lever all the way to the side and release. We missed. A good thing we have two shots. You're going down Meinbender. That one went backwards. Bit of a misfire on that second one. We're just going to take another try and knock out Dr. Meinbender. Oh yeah, there he goes. I don't think this is something Destro would really use. This is something for kids to fire at their little brothers. The final accessory is a black figure stand. It is of a standard size and shape. This is a perk of 90s figures. 80s figures did not include figure stands. 90s figures did. So that's always going to be a plus in the 90s column. Let's take a look at Destro's articulation. He had the articulation that was standard for GI Joe figures well before 1992. So he could turn his head from left to right and look up and down. He could swing his arm up at the shoulder, but not a great range of motion on that arm. He could swivel at the shoulder all the way around, but the sculpting definitely gets in the way. He had a hinge at the elbow that allowed him to bend his arm at the elbow about 90 degrees. He had a swivel at the bicep that allowed him to swivel his arm all the way around. This was an o-ring figure, meaning the figure was held together with a rubber o-ring that looped around the inside. That allowed him to move at the torso a bit. He could move his legs apart about so far. He could bend his leg at the hip about 90 degrees and bend at the knee about 90 degrees. Let's look at the sculpt design and color of Destro. It's impossible to talk about Destro without discussing the original figure. This figure was designed by Ron Rudat for Hasbro. Ron was inspired by the Man in the Iron Mask. Hasbro went with vacuum-metalized chrome to give the head a reflective shiny surface. The first figure was so memorable, all later versions are measured against it. Does version 3 measure up? Looking at Destro's head, it is silver, but it looks like it's painted silver. It is not chrome. Also, the neck is flesh tone. Having the mask stop at the jawline, I think just doesn't look very good. Looking at the chest, the chest is very bulky, like he's been taking steroids. Looks like he's super muscular. The uniform is a base black color, which is a good start, but he has this huge red collar. This is a carryover from version 1 that also had the red collar, but version 3 has a collar that's about 3 times the size of the collar on version 1. Destro has a bare chest with flesh tone paint. That's another carryover from version 1. He also has a red necklace, but this is not the classic ruby necklace from version 1. That ruby necklace from version 1 seemed to have some significance, but it was ignored for later versions, so I guess not. I asked Ron Rudolph about the design choices on Destro's chest. He said he wasn't sure about the specific influences of each element, but the red collar was probably inspired by the cowling around the cobra snake head. And the open chest needed something to fill the space, so he got the ruby necklace. Ruby being the color of blood that set atop his heart. This necklace is not a ruby, and it's hard for me to tell based on the sculpting exactly what it is. Looking at the card art, I believe it's supposed to be a red rose. But why a red rose? The file card says this is an ancient Scottish emblem symbolizing absolute power and the Destro family crest. If this is a red rose, this is probably a reference to the War of the Roses in the mid to late 15th century. Two factions of the House of Plantagenet fought a war for control of the throne of England. The red rose was the symbol of the House of Lancaster, and the white rose was the symbol of the House of York. Destro is Scottish and Lancaster was supported by Scotland, so maybe that's the connection? It could be a thistle, which is the national flower of Scotland, and that would make sense, but that's not what it looks like. He's wearing a black jacket with huge orange shoulder pads that stick out really far, and then there's this orange detail on the left side of the chest. I have no idea what that's supposed to be. The arms feature long black sleeves with orange piping that go around the upper arms. There's an unpainted buckle around the left wrist, but not the right one. No wrist rockets, that's unfortunate. He's wearing red gloves. After checking the file card, I guess this is supposed to be a wrist based telecommunicator, but it still looks like a buckle to me. Looking at the waist, he has a red belt with some detail, not a lot. There's a buckle in the center and directly under the buckle there is a red pouch. Is he wearing a fanny pack? That's such an odd detail. On the hips, there are short orange stripes that continue down to the legs. The legs feature black trousers with those horizontal orange stripes that run down the outside of each leg. Then there are these orange dots that run around what look like thigh high stockings. Those dots are very poorly painted, very splotchy. We finish up with some tall black boots with connected knee pads. This is probably the best part of the figure. Before I started this review, I thought I would like this figure. It looks like they're trying to update the 1983 Destro design. Many elements are copied over. We're back to the silver mask. He has the raised red collar. He has a black uniform. He has a bare chest with a necklace. A basic black uniform is a good foundation, but you have to be careful about adding too many colors. It's easy to lose the simple elegance of the black uniform. I have special permission from Joe Declassified to share some exclusive pre-production artwork for Destro Version 3. Destro Version 3 was designed by Kurt Groen for Hasbro, the same person who designed the Bat Version 2. As you can see in this early concept artwork, Destro would have had a cape and a cane. The cape would have been a carryover from Version 2 and I think would have improved the figure. This presentation artwork also looks better than the figure we got. Even the orange shoulder pads look better in this artwork. This kind of pre-production material is invaluable to researchers and reviewers like me. Joe Declassified does some of the best work in digging up these pre-production samples, artwork, and other materials related to the creation and development of the action figures and vehicles. I used to stop by their booth at Joe Con every year and marvel at the stuff they had. Fortunately, they won't be making it to Joe Fest this year and neither will I, so they agreed to allow me to show this pre-production artwork for Destro Version 2. Let's look at some other releases of Destro. This Version 3 mold was reused several times. One of those times was in 2001 in this two-pack with Fast Blast Viper. This is very similar to the 1992 release, but the colors are a bit better. We have red shoulder pads instead of orange. We have darker red on the collar and gloves and belt, and we don't have those odd dots and stripes on the legs. It still has the same odd design choices. Like that pouch over his crotch. Is this supposed to be a gift for the Baroness? You know, step one, you cut a hole in the pouch, step two, you get it. This Chinese release of Destro is purchased in Hong Kong and given to me by Chris from the YouTube show Comic Tropes. I'm excited to have it in this video because I just think it's cool. Note the artwork is from Version 1, and it does not match the figure in the bubble. Also, the artwork is kind of faded as if they used a copy of a copy. The figure is similar, if not identical, to the US release. Maybe the paint quality is a little different, but not very much. But the accessory is different. It did not come with this machine pistol. Instead, it came with this Colt 9mm submachine gun that came with Shockwave Version 3. Even though I can't read it, I'm going to flip the card around just to show you the back and the file card. This is just a really cool thing. This is the 25th anniversary modern Destro figure based on Version 1. This is Version 14 from 2007. This figure was available two ways. It was in Battle Pack No. 1 with some other Cobra figures, and it was a single carded figure. This is a truly modern figure with new sculpting and new articulation. It's also a bit taller than the vintage figures. A little skinnier, too, and lots more points of articulation. The head is silver, but again, not chrome. So we're getting away from the chrome head, even though the chrome head looks better. He came with a lot of accessories, including a figure stand with his name on it. He had a submachine gun, and he had two micro pistols, so small you can barely see them, and neither of them fit very well in the holster on his leg. He included a briefcase. It says Mars on it. It's in all black. It opens up to reveal another pistol, a removable pistol that will also not fit in his holster. It's pretty small, but not as small as those other two micro pistols. This is a 6-inch Destro figure from the GI Joe Classified series. This figure was released this year in 2020. It's based loosely on the version 1 figure, but as you can see, it's much taller than the vintage or modern figures. He has a nice, shiny head, but not quite chrome. We still haven't worked our way up to having another chrome head. He has his ruby necklace there, and he's won up on the 25th anniversary figure because he can carry his weapon, and his briefcase at the same time. I have enjoyed these 6-inch figures much more than I thought I would. MacDowan did a full review of this figure on his channel for Cobra Convergence. Make sure you check that out. Now let's talk about a figure that's a bit of a legend. If you're new to collecting GI Joe, you may have heard some fans refer to Pimp Daddy Destro. This is one of the strangest stories in GI Joe history, and one of the strangest figures to ever be released. Well, it was briefly released by mistake. That's why it's so rare now. Only a handful of carded figures are known to exist. When Hasbro was re-releasing some of the 3 ¾-inch figures in multi-packs in the late 1990s, they were given new color schemes. In this case, model painter Steve Masso painted Destro with leopard print on the collar and legs. It was intended as a joke, but surprisingly it was approved by designer John Boyce. Because of the leopard print, the figure was nicknamed Pimp Daddy Destro. Marketing manager Vinny Daliva didn't think it was so funny and put the kibosh on it. The final released figure had the leopard print areas painted black. Despite the change, about 100 Pimp Daddy Destros were sent to the US and placed on store shelves. At this time, there are only a few authenticated Pimp Daddy Destros floating around. It's an extremely rare figure and an extremely peculiar one, and it's unlikely either you or I will ever own one. How rare is Pimp Daddy Destro? By last count, there may be as few as 30 genuine loose figures and as few as 10 genuine carded figures in existence. I have to say a special thanks to Project PDD for allowing me to use their images in this segment. That is the best repository for information on this extremely rare figure. So check them out, the link will be in the description of this video. Let's take a look at Destro's file card. The file card was printed on the back of the card on which he was packaged and this is a 90s style file card. It has the rectangular file card with the rounded corners instead of the 80s style file folder shape. It has a close-up portrait of Destro up here and then a copy of the artwork on the front of the card here and a list of some of the accessories and features. I'm not going to read all of this, but I have referred to it when talking about those accessories. Codename Destro Enemy Weapon Supplier. This isn't really his codename though, that is his real name. It doesn't say on this file card, but we know based on the comic book his real name is James McCullen Destro the 24th. There's a quote here that says, If I didn't make and sell weaponry, someone really evil would be doing it. Well, that's a point, but is it a good point? Just because someone is more evil doesn't mean you're not evil. I mean, selling weapons to terrorists is still a pretty bad thing to do. This paragraph says, from his grim castle in the Scottish Highlands, Destro builds and pedals his instruments of destruction. Destro and Cobra Commander despise each other, but maintain an alliance of convenience. Although Destro is twice the tactician and three times the soldier than Cobra Commander and five times the dancer, he is disadvantaged by his own sense of honour in the face of Cobra Commander's utter ruthlessness. This master of armaments frequently commands Cobra's newest battlefield devastating, the Earthquake, a little cross-sell for the Earthquake vehicle there. This file card isn't as deep or as interesting as the version one file card written by Larry Hama, but it tells Destro's backstory well enough. It gets the job done, but not much else. Looking at how Destro was used in G.I. Joe Media, in the animated series he made his first appearance in the first miniseries in 1983 as the procurer of the teleportation machine, the mass device for Cobra. He was a strong internal rival to Cobra Commander. In the miniseries Arise Serpentor Arise, Destro was one of the conspirators who plotted to replace Cobra Commander with a new genetically engineered Cobra Emperor. Destro has many good qualities, but loyalty is apparently not one of them. Destro made so many animated appearances it would be impossible to cover them all. He was in nearly every episode of the Sunbow series. He made the transition to the Deak era where he was first seen in his version 2 uniform, the one with the gold head. It was cool to see the Iron Grenadiers version in animated form even though the Iron Grenadiers did not appear with him. He appeared in his version 3 uniform in a few episodes, such as the episode Shadow of a Doubt. The model sheet for the animated series looked a little better than the figure. Not a lot mind you, but a little. In the Sunbow era Destro was voiced by actor Arthur Burghardt. Burghardt is one of the most remarkable people ever to be involved with G.I. Joe. He is so much more than a voice and so much more than an actor. He began his screen acting career in the 1976 movie Network. He was in numerous television shows and did a lot of voice work in the 1980s and 90s. With a voice like his, it's not surprising. He projects power, confidence, and authority. His story stretches back before his acting days. In the 1960s he was jailed for protesting the draft during the Vietnam War. He attempted to register as a conscientious objector, citing influential philosophers as the source of his moral stand, but his application was denied and he was imprisoned by the federal government. In prison he organized a theater troupe and was beaten for protesting racist treatment by prison officials. According to his Facebook profile, he studied political science, history, drama, and French at Rutgers. As a poly-sci major myself, I can relate to his educational path. By all measures he is intelligent, talented, principled, and tough. I have the greatest admiration for him. He is so much more than Destro. And the reason I like him so much is I believe writer Larry Hama crafted a much more complex villain with Destro than pretty much anybody else throughout all of Cobra or the Dreadnoughts or, you know, other factions. The thing I liked about Destro was he had some integrity. He was definitely not a good person, okay? He is a villain. He is. He compromises his own ethics. But he does have his own personal code of honor. And it's just a fascinating journey to see what the original interpretation of Destro was because originally there were some action figure designs and Larry Hama was thinking of calling him Warmaster and he would be Cobra's field commander. He was meant to have his headquarters in a converted super tanker. Some interesting ideas. But the idea of a weapons dealer is a little more grounded and I think it really helps. It gives him his whole Scottish lineage of a family of arms dealers. It gives him a reason for the mask. I wanted to point out, though, four issues of the G.I. Joe a real American hero comic. I wrote it down on this little note pad. So bear with me. Four quick issues to look up where Destro shows some of his moral fibers, some of his integrity. The first one is number 33. And in that issue, Destro realizes that Baroness and Major Blood have hired an assassin to kill Cobra Commander. He's okay with that until he realizes that it's actually Cobra Commander's own son, Billy. And he's not okay with Patricide and he intervenes. I think that's interesting. Number 57 is another interesting issue. In that issue, Lady J and Flint actually end up helping Destro to reclaim his castle, which has been stolen from him, his family castle. And in exchange, he gives the G.I. Joe team the plans for Cobra's terror drone. So he sort of betrays Cobra there. I thought that was interesting. Number 76 shows that Destro has more emotions for other people than pretty much any other villain. He's known for his relationship with Baroness. He goes into the Cobra Civil War with an entire huge army, his iron grenadiers, for the sole purpose, really, of rescuing Baroness. That's a really great moment at the very tail end. Sort of a denouement to the Cobra Civil War. And finally, there's issue number, I was about to say 76, issue 96. That is the final part of the Snake Eyes trilogy. And in it, Baroness is planning to murder Snake Eyes because she believes Snake Eyes killed her late brother. Destro knows for a fact that Snake Eyes did not. And so even though Snake Eyes is the enemy, he doesn't want Baroness to kill somebody for the wrong reasons. And he intervenes there as well. So just a handful of instances where I think Destro is shown to be a more complex character than your average villain. Destro version 3. Yeah, I don't really like it all that much. I think it's the worst Destro from the original series. He's just too buff looking, you know, especially compared to the original figure. And even on this figure itself, the torso is far too buff compared to the legs. And then of course there's the color. Man, Dracula would tell this guy to tone it down. I can't say two positive things about the figure. The head sculpt is pretty nice and the color scheme is a decent homage to the original. Hey guys, so Destro version 3 was one of the two figures my brother and I had as the Cobra High Command when we were kids. The other one was the Crimson Guard Immortal that we used as Cobra Commander because we didn't have an actual Cobra Commander figure. But Destro version 3 was great. He didn't have the VAC metal helmet, but the paint was fine. It was silver, it was fine. The sculpt was great. He looked like Destro. In my opinion, the body sculpt is an improvement over the version 1. I like the high collar around his neck and I think he looks great. He didn't see much action when we were kids on both sides, Joe and Kerba. The high command tended to be in the back calling the shots. They didn't make it out to the front lines too often. So he stayed in pretty good shape for a while until he was lost to time. Unfortunately, I don't have him anymore but I'll change that at some point. So Destro version 3 gets two thumbs up from me because I think he is a decent improvement over the previous version. Destro version 3. Great looking figure. I like the sleek blackness of the uniform. It is a venture off of the original Destro but it's still a very awesome figure. I really like it. I never had this one. I didn't know this one was out but actually I'm kind of glad that you got to review the figure. The figure is actually pretty awesome especially the look. The disc launcher is a bit far fetched and kind of like out of it but I still like the figure. I mean I could do it without the disc launcher but Destro has always been one of my favorite characters. I'm actually glad to get a chance to review and look at every Destro ever made. Destro is like the greatest but that's about it from here. Looking at Destro version 3 overall I can see where they were trying to bring him back to his 1983 style but with the 1990s aesthetic these two things do not go well together. The chest is ridiculously bulky like he's competing for Mr. Universe. The legs are normal sized though making him look top heavy. I guess he skipped every leg day. The red collar, a carryover from version 1 is oversized and looks like a flotation ring. The red rose necklace, if that's what it is is alright but not as iconic as the red ruby necklace from the first version. The basic black is a good start. I feel like I'm saying that in every review this month but it's disrupted with annoying orange. No, absolutely not. The accessories are fine. The machine pistol is good. The disc launcher is a gimmick and I usually overlook it. The file card is okay. It explains Destro's character well enough without being especially colorful or interesting. Destro is the creation of legends. He was designed by a legendary artist for Hasbro. His story was written by a legendary writer for the comic book. He was brought to life by a legendary actor for the animated series. Destro deserves the best. He deserves better than just okay. That was my review of Destro version 3. I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you to my Cobra Convergence 5 collaborators for the extra work they did on this video. I greatly appreciate it. Thanks also to Project PDD. I could not have done the Pimp Daddy Destro segment without their information and images. There's more Cobra Convergence 5 coming up. On August 23rd, My Side of the Laundry Room. On August 24th, File Card Podcast. On August 25th, Real Hector Canales. On August 26th, Joe Fan 82. On August 27th, Jay Bartlett. On August 28th, Codename New 202. On August 29th, Painted Plastic. And August 30th, Joe Colton Cosplay. You can also participate in Cobra Convergence 5, but time is almost up. Go to hcc788.com for instructions. I probably shouldn't have thrown that. You can find me on social media, on Facebook and Twitter. And I have that website that I've mentioned about a hundred times now, hcc788.com. I'm also on Patreon. If you want to support the channel in that way, you can get some special perks, like a sketch from me and early access to reviews and a secret code book to decode those secret messages you see in the videos. Special thanks to all the names you're seeing scrolling on the screen right now. They are keeping this show going, and they have my deepest gratitude. Next week, we're doing a fresh review of Cobra Law. And I asked everyone to participate. We'll see how that goes. And until then, remember, only Cobra is Cobra.