 Hello everybody hooded Cobra Commander 788 here, and it's time for an unboxing and assembly It's been a really long time since we've done this. I have to thank William Jackson for sending this to me This is the GI Joe retro collection Walmart exclusive Cobra fang helicopter I have the vintage 1983 fang here just so we can look at them side by side. It's a little dusty I also don't have the missiles attached or the red roll cage Because those are a pain to attach and keep on but you know that we got the general idea There are some significant differences. I understand between this original fang helicopter and the current released Walmart exclusive fang helicopter So let's let's open this one up put it together and put it side by side and see how it stacks up Against the original Cobra fang I have all the tools that I might need to assemble this guy all right here So we should be ready to go. I also have my glasses so I can actually see let's set this one aside for a moment One thing that is different about this current. I think this came out in what 2021 This current retro fang is that it comes with an action figure it comes with a pilot which the original The original vehicle did not So let's open this and let's start By cutting the tape at this end because this just feels like the right end to open this out I guess it doesn't matter So we have cut the tape it is now no longer sealed it is unsealed We are opening it now and there we go Try to get give you guys the idea of the full feel of what it's like to open this thing up and take it out and put it together there is a There's a tray. There's a cardboard tray and let's see where's the Okay, it looks like it goes this way Yeah, the tray Goes this way It's not open at the front side, which is interesting. So let's pull this out and I'm going to close up the box again. Let's just take a quick look at the box here real quick Vintage inspired artwork, but obviously updated to reflect the toy that you're actually going to get in the box We've got a photo of the toy here and a figure and we have a file card Unfortunately, it's one of those modern retro file cards with a whole bunch of different languages and very little actual content to it So unfortunately, that's what they have to do with file cards when they're printed on the box like this I would prefer to see a file cards as inserts inside the box So you can have a full file card in each language, you know, just print on both sides and put more than one in there Otherwise, you have to do something like this and it looks ridiculous. Let's set this box aside And see what we've got We have a sticker sheet we have some copyright and disclaimer information We have a very Small assembly sheet and I can tell from just looking in the box here There's not much assembly to do here So that is mostly going to be used for For the sticker the decal instructions Set that aside. Let's look Inside the box. It's all secure in there. So no rattling around but as you can see The box is pretty big for what you get inside. There is the the body the helicopter blades The bomb that goes on the underside There is the the missiles and then around on this side There is the figure and it looks like it's gonna take a little work to get all of these off because there are some plastic ties on each one so I'll pause this just for a moment and And take all these pieces off so we can put them together these parts in the box seem to be pretty easy to remove with the the nippers just cut those plastic These plastic ties off There's that There's the bomb that goes on the underside we have four red missiles None I can tell right off the bat. None of these parts will fit on the vintage fame. They have different Slots or holes for pegs looks like they attach in totally different ways although the The holes for the pegs on these red missiles are tiny and Maybe just as difficult to attach to this modern thing as the missiles were to attach to the vintage thing So that's interesting that may not be an improvement now. I've got to get the figure out and Might noticing something that is a little unusual for a modern Gijo action figure. He doesn't seem to have a figure stand Most modern figures come with figure stands, you know these have the the name of the Character printed on it This one unless it's hiding in the box somewhere Doesn't seem to have one. Okay, let me see if I did this adequately and I can pull this guy out. Oh, his helmet comes off Okay, he does have a removable helmet All right. All right. I got the guy out. Let's let's put his helmet back on We will examine the figure later I'm gonna set him over here for now All right, and then there's this plastic piece that just kind of holds the figure in place And that is it that that's empty Nothing left in there except for this little plastic piece. Okay, let's set this aside then and do the Well, I've got lots of little plastic There we go Plastic ties there. Okay. Now So here is what we've got. There's the main body there's the Blade the four missiles and the one bomb. I can tell how to put this together without looking at the Instructions, but I guess I will anyway Yes, I have confirmed With the graphic on the instructions how to put this together. It's quite simple This has a mushroom peg Looks like it pegs I'm not gonna I'm not gonna press down on it like this because that could break the the skis the skids so I'm gonna hold it and press it on and No, there goes it clicks It rotates it is not that smooth a rotation on the blades. I Mean it's okay, but there's a little bit of resistance the vintage thing Has very little resistance and those blades really spin Next next we just attach the missiles in the bomb the missiles I think will be the most difficult so I'll do those first Unfortunately, I'm gonna have to do it on this side of the camera, but I will turn it around so you can see What I've done Yeah, I already hate these I already hate these look this is Maybe the worst part of the the vintage thing and they have They have not improved it with the modern These pegs are tiny. I feel like I'm going if I try to attach the second missile. I'm gonna knock the first one off So let's try Man, I don't like this. I don't like this. I Don't like this Ah and if I press too hard, I'm worried about breaking the landing skids. They do have a little bit of flex to them. So hopefully not but I Got I got one missile attached and getting the next missile Attached is a matter of lining up The holes with the very very tiny holes with the very very tiny pegs And then there goes I knocked off the first missile. I'm gonna show all of this I'm not gonna edit any of this because I want you to see what this experience is like and Decide whether you want to Have such an experience yourself Okay. Oh, no Almost got the second missile on but like pressing the missile on causes the The landing skids to flex a little bit which causes the other missiles to fall off. It like squeezes the pegs Until they pop out I may I may give up. I don't want to give up I want to do this so I can show you what this is like This may be a longer video than I anticipated Because I'm not cutting. I'm not editing this You guys need to see this. We're not even at the point yet of Getting the stickers on This is just a matter of attaching the missiles this Should be Relatively easy. It's not really even assembly. It's just attaching the missiles Missiles, which you know if you were playing with this as a toy You would take off and pretend to to fire at At the enemy in battle But once you fire them, do you really want to go through the trouble of putting them back on? this This is not an improvement This is not an improvement on the vintage I'm I'm frustrated. Okay. I have three of four missiles on Can I get it? Oh? That is so So difficult Okay, I think I got it it. Oh well Not very solidly No, no, I don't have it The top missile almost came off I Tried to press it back on and of course I knocked off the bottom missile. I hate this. Oh, there they go They're top missiles off now Now I have to get these missiles on without knocking off the missiles on the other side. I'm not cutting this I'm not editing this hasbro This is this is why? This is why hasbro will never send me anything to To review this is why I will never have any sponsorship deals with hasbro And and that's unfortunate because I like hasbro's products I like what they are doing with GI Joe not everything, but I like a lot of it but when I get something like this Where Simply putting on the missiles is an ordeal I can't not point that out and if assembling a toy Makes me feel angry and frustrated. I am not gonna hide that from the camera. No, I don't have it on yet I don't I don't I've got to line that up and then I've got so I think I think lining up the back peg first is The best way to do it, but there's no good way to do it Okay, okay four missiles This should be a Bit easier This just has two two pegs on the bottom Just push that in and there we go. That's fully assembled now We get to put these on with the help of this instruction sheet We have seen in the past that these Sticker instruction sheets have not been 100% accurate So I'm curious how accurate this is going to be in helping me put these on the sticker assembly is usually the most Zen Part of this experience Unfortunately, it's something I have to do on this side of the vehicle and I have to turn it around to show you the progress But let's do it Unfortunately, it looks like there are stickers that have to be put on the missiles I do not want to take the missiles off to do that because Then I will want to smash this thing and I don't want to do that to a lovely gift That was sent to me. Thank you for this. Please don't let my frustration with Hasbro's engineering of this thing Make it seem that I'm not grateful for fuck's sake Grateful for the gift. I am extremely grateful for this I I Needed this experience. I needed to see what the experience of putting this together Was really like and I could not have done that without The generosity of a viewer. So thank you Not only has that viewer helped me by showing me what this experience is like hopefully He's helped you as well To see what it's like and to help you make a choice on whether or not you want to buy this thing and put it together All right, so I'm putting the stickers on the red missiles first because They're good. That's gonna be the biggest pain And I wanted to get it over with I want to get it over with all right that is Why is it upside down? I don't know don't Don't think about it. Don't think about it. Just put it on Just put it on Okay, so these are flat stickers of course going on a round object So of course that's gonna not be easy and of course them this I am I have just gently gently touched the the Sticker onto the missile Trying to put on no Put no pressure on it whatsoever and this missile still wanted to fall off Next let's try to line it up Try to put the missiles on basically in the same spot on each missile if possible But honestly if if it's too difficult, I'm not gonna bother. I Not gonna bother See the right thing to do Would have been to put the stickers on before put attaching the missiles, but ah Didn't know there were gonna be stickers on the missiles Of course, I could have looked at the box The box shows stickers on the missiles if I had looked at that first I might have made that choice, but it's too late now It's too late now but there's Stickers on those missiles now. Let's go through this again on the other side These stickers are die-cut but They could stand to be cut a little bit deeper because they can still be a pain to Peel there we go. So What happened? Oh, of course, of course the missile fell off. Okay, hang on I've got this sticker off of the sheet and I don't want to Lose it So one thing I don't care for is that this black box On the missiles on one side it's Facing toward the rear and the other side is facing toward the front. Don't care for that Means the missiles will not be uniform If you put them on the same side of each missile that would make it uniform but When you actually attach them to the if you do it did that and you then you attach them to the Vehicle then The stickers on one side will not be facing out So to have the stickers facing out on both sides Yeah, yeah, of course, of course by putting those missiles on Wait, where's that hold on? Okay, I hate this. I hate this. I don't care if this is a long video. You need to see this You know that this is journalism right here. This is New York Times call me this is news You know, this is this is hard-hitting journalism right here investigating The engineering of this toy vehicle see like you press it on and You get it on but it it does it's not firm enough. It's not on firmly enough for it to stay on with even very gentle Pressure just moving the thing around and I know this is a problem with the vintage Faying as well. I know that it is I pointed that out but This was issued in 2021 Not 1983 and You've got an opportunity. I mean you've changed it anyway, right? You've changed the body like look at the difference in the body shape between these two Look at them. So you've changed it anyway So why not fix this? Why not fix this if you're gonna change it anyway? okay Yep, missile is trying to fall off when I just Barely place any pressure just to lay the sticker on so We have missiles successfully stickered and I will now try to get through the rest of this process without touching Any of them what's next? Oh Of course, there is a sticker on the underside that'll be a pain It looks like all of the cobra emblem stickers are the same. That's helpful actually so it doesn't really matter where We put these Each one can go in any of the spots where there is a cobra Emblem, come on. There we go. Come on. There we go. Now, let's put this one on the tail fin Why so there's that and Although I'd like to Work on the tail fin a bit more. I actually think I need to put The sticker on the underside. There's a sticker that's supposed to go right here that looks like it's Going to be a pain to do So let's let's do the difficult parts first Are you the type person to do the easy things first or to do the difficult things first? I am a difficult things first kind of person. I Like to get the hard stuff out of the way So then I can breeze through the easy stuff I'm actually uncertain if that is in fact a better way to do things because what can happen what often does happen is You get bogged down doing the difficult stuff and You never get to the easy stuff. Hold on a second Okay, we've run into a problem So this sticker is supposed to fit right there according to This instruction sheet, but this instruction sheet on that spot does not have the molding The molded details that the actual vehicle has and there's not enough room. There's not enough space To put it like above that The only space there is is to put it like way down here So that's what I'm gonna do Otherwise I would have to place this and it doesn't fit it doesn't fit in that little That little shape there I'm gonna put it down here because it's the only place. It's actually going to Fit there There's that that's in the wrong place According to this According to this it should be up here up here in other words Right there But you cannot put it there genius genius. I love it next Let's put the the Cobra stickers on this bomb thing One on each side Then let's move on These stickers are not numbered on the vintage blueprints and assembly instructions the stickers were numbered and The diagram would have The number for the sticker pointing at where it's supposed to go and I like that Because Even though you can identify a lot of these stickers visually based on this This is not always accurate and sometimes Visually some of the stickers look very similar another thing it helps if you have numbers on the stickers is that you can go through this and go through this and Make sure you haven't missed any That's particularly important with these modern stickers because a Lot of these are white on white So it would be very easy to miss one of these stickers on On the actual sticker sheet. So what's next? So there's a crap load of stay-clear stickers that are supposed to go on The propeller on the propeller blade I'm using this more as a help to See where they go because here It's just On the profile which doesn't show you the top of the blades where which is where you're actually supposed to put these So let's figure it out that way, huh? All right, it looks like All right, this should be a right. This is supposed to be like the This is supposed to be the leading edge of the blade and this is supposed to be the trailing edge of the blade and the Stay-clear stickers are supposed to be pointed toward the Trailing edge of the blade got it got it. Let's see. Let's see how that actually works in practice It looks like there should be one two three Three of these stickers per blade for a total of six And these they are tiny And they don't want to come off the sticker sheet It's been a long time since I have assembled a vintage GI Joe vehicle out of the box they're getting harder to come by You know and I would not as I would not open a sealed Vintage example of something that's rare Wouldn't want to do that. There are people who collect vintage sealed vehicles and If if there's something that's rare, I'd rather it go to them That's not something that I typically do If it's not rare though, I don't think it hurts anything to To bust one open and take a look at it But nowadays even the ones that are pretty common Are becoming harder to come by and the prices on them are getting a little ridiculous I mean guys, they're they're not rare They are not rare There are many many of them floating around out there. All right one two three stay clear stickers on the trailing edge of The helicopter blade Three more on this side, and then we've got some red stripe stickers that go on the kind of the nearly the outside tip of the blades Let's do it Okay Hey, one actually came off relatively easily. Let's try to put it close to the same spot It's on the other blade. It will not be perfect. If I wanted to make this perfect. I would break out a ruler and measure each spot But as old Sandy used to say it's good enough for the girls I go out with I Ballot here. That's two. No three. Am I getting this in frame? Just try to keep it in frame There third and final So, okay, it's maybe too tiny to see but there you go six stickers on the blade There we go. Now we're gonna need two more of stickers on the propeller blade. These should be easy These should be easy and if these for any reasons are too Long these could wrap around the blade. So that would be okay It's okay for it for these red stripe stickers to be a little bit imprecise So there's this it goes like this Hold on. I've got to pull this a little closer so I can see it a little better Trying to get it straight trying to get it straight All right Yeah There's that One more time on this side and this does mirror some stickers that are on the vintage one So that makes sense So close so close These vinyl stickers are a little more forgiving than paper stickers Which meant that I could peel that back up and replace it that is That's as good as that's gonna get so all right propeller blades are Are done Next all right. Let's look at from my perspective this side next One thing that I noticed right off the bat is rather than have the Red plastic roll cage over the engine which I do not have attached to this one. It's in a box It has it's just a painted on red Stripe which means it can't pop off get broken or get lost. I think I approve of that I I don't think I have a problem with that actually Okay, let's do this side Let's try to find that one. This is what I'm talking about These four stickers here two are larger two are smaller. Which one goes where? Which one goes where I need to See if I can figure that out On the instruction sheet, they're the same size But on the sticker sheet, they're not I IIII Okay, I think I think the smaller one Will go on Well, hold on Okay, we got another problem Because it looks like some of these smaller stickers are supposed to go right here on the fuselage But on the instruction sheet it looks like there's plenty of space to put that there On the actual toy, there is a rivet detail Right there right there Right where you're supposed to put the the sticker I've noticed on the The prototype that they photographed here That rivet detail is not there. So of course they could put the sticker where it belongs On there on their prototype But on this On this that's not going to be so easy. All right, let's figure it out. Let's figure it out I think the small one should go in front And it will be It doesn't it also isn't The way it appears the the sticker is not how it appears on here either Because See that doesn't make sense That doesn't make sense If if I do it the way that it shows on here Then it'll have both small stickers on one side and both large stickers on the other I'm going to do it that way. I'm going to do it that way, which means I've got to spin it around I'm not I'm just going to do it the way it's instructed here Even though it's ah even though it's kind of wrong. Okay, this is a tiny tiny sticker Let's get that let's try not to put my fingerprints on it This goes here Yeah, it's going to cover up a couple rivets. It's going to cover up a couple rivets. What can I do about it? Nothing Nothing and there isn't really even a space near it To put it. Well, there is There is actually If I put this in the wrong spot, there is there's enough room for it, but here's the problem again If I put both of the small stickers on this side And large stickers on here, there's not enough room in that space. So all right new plan new plan I'm putting the small stickers here Which is the wrong spot But we're doing it anyway Let's straighten that out straighten it out straighten it out There now that is terrible that is awful Can I fix it? Yeah a little bit. Okay So now what I think I need to do is To avoid covering up rivets Which would not Provide a Good flat surface for the sticker. I need to put the sticker in a different spot So and the only way that works is if As if the small stickers go here Which is not Where the instructions say to put them But once again on one of these retro vehicles the instructions are not correct You you actually can't do it the way the instructions say to So there's that There's that I want to I want to focus on this side and try to get this side done So let me focus on this get that done And then I can turn this around And you can See the results This is genius. This is genius. So just to show you very quickly Geez, okay That was terrifying to show you very quickly this fang 76 x 3 dash 6 sticker that goes on the side here That's actually impossible to put that on without it covering up some of the molded details there Which means the sticker is not going to sit flat and On the prototype box. It does actually have that sticker going over Some of the molded detail in their prototype. You guys know that doesn't work, right? You know that that leaves gaps in the sticker for like gunk and dust to get in there and to allow it to peel up That that you know that doesn't work, right? Another one another one check this out Check this out this Uh danger hot exhaust sticker that goes right here move this guy that goes right here Um as it's shown on the On the instruction sheet it looks like it almost looks like it goes on the top of This exhaust piece which where of course it wouldn't fit In fact it actually goes According to this and the prototype directly over This rear stabilizer fin. That's the only space for it. And yes, that does cover some molded detail and rivets and stuff But one thing that I notice is those um Those tail stabilizer fins are not actually depicted on the instruction sheets. They're just not there They're just not there. They're on the toy itself. They're not on the diagram. I love this I love this. We're not done. I got to do a little bit more on this side maybe Maybe I should cut Hasbro some slack right, maybe I should cut up some slack They have to produce these toys on a budget They are for adult collectors Not for kids kids aren't likely to be playing with this And and I should cut them some slack For producing these toys at a reasonable price And some some corners had to be cut I maybe I should cut them that slack, but I'm not going to because What does budget have to do with it? How does it? Make this toy cheaper and more affordable To have the diagram point to the wrong spot for the sticker. How's that saving them money? All right, how is that helping Hasbro's budget? Right? Um Also, uh I won't cut them slack for that on these modern vehicles nor on vintage vehicles When they were made for children when they were designed to be assembled by children or their parents and then played with Won't cut them slack for that because in that era These were meant to be toys. They were meant to be played with and while I can understand Cost-cutting measures while I under I understand budgets Uh, not one single child ever got any enjoyment Out of Hasbro's saving money Nobody ever looked at The corporate balance sheet And got a smile on his face Because Hasbro's books balanced Uh that cannot be the standard of a good toy Yes, a toy meant for children Should be produced On a reasonable budget To be affordable And fun But you can cost cut your way out of a good toy You can cut the costs to the point that That you no longer have a fun toy You have a budget Piece of junk and there are lots of toy companies that Made profits doing it that way lots of those knockoff toys The ones we kind of make fun of sometimes You can run a toy company that way if you want to However, if you want to you know use the label gi joe which has a long and storied history And if you want to have a higher standard than that then you get to be held to the higher standard So it looks like there are some stickers that actually do go on this exhaust piece Um, yeah, okay, so let's do that There's one on each side Father is really not much room to put it there though, but we're gonna do our best it Barely fits Barely fits Barely barely barely fits, but it does fit All right, so Is that all for this side? Let me see let me show you this while i'm taking another gander at that Let's see. We got that that that We got that that that that That that that okay. All right. I think this side is done Now we can do the same See that side is done and I even got the The nose cobra sticker So now we do the same on this side. I just noticed something else. I love about this on this sticker sheet There is this is going to be hard to see This black text writes right here. It says all pink color is clear All pink color is clear What this seems to mean is that This having a pink backing Allows you to see the white letters They don't want you to think that the the background color of the sticker is pink It's just the background of the sticker sheet the color itself Or the backing itself is clear And that would be really helpful that would help you see The white stickers the white letters on these stickers on a clear background, but what's missing here guys What's missing? It's not pink It is this off-white yellowy color which makes the white letters Nearly invisible. Can you see it? Can you see it? I have to look pretty closely to see it To see the white letters So this is what i'm talking about. This is not a budget thing They could have made the backing pink instead of off-white. They could have made the white letter stickers easier to see Does that realistically cost them more what that realistically have added To the cost of this vehicle? I don't think so Maybe engineering better pegs for these missiles might have been a budget buster As frustrating and annoying as they are I will grant them that But there are some other issues with this thing That have nothing to do With cutting costs and everything to do with Uh, I I hate to use the word lazy. I think that word is thrown around too much but Definitely there's was not enough care Put into certain aspects of these retro vehicles and Could have been Could have been done very easily Could have been done without any additional cost But they weren't done. Why were they not done? I like the gijo Team that hasro has right now for the most part. I think they're doing a bang up job I think the classified series Is great. I think they've done better than Expected with the classified series. I have to give credit where it's due and In general I think what they're doing with the gi joe brand Is really good Not only do they have an excellent classified series. There's also a ton a ton ton Of licensed product out right now So there's a lot of variety of gi joe product that you can pick up There's the role-playing game. There are some high end Deluxe figures That you can pick up there's like many figures and vehicles That you can get You know, they've got things in different scales. There's the the haz lab projects The sky striker With new o-ring figures. So if you wanted o-ring back, you're getting your o-ring back There's gi joe and transformers crossovers, which is not my thing. It's not Really my cup of tea, but I know a lot of people do like Transformers and gi joe crossovers And the megatron his tank took absolutely no time at all to sell out So You know, there are some folks that want it I am sure that some of the buyers Only picked it up to sell it on the secondary market But and as much as I I don't like People Not being able to get what they want For the regular retail price If people are picking up something like that to sell it for a higher price on the secondary market It at least means they expect there to be demand for it on the secondary market We are we are almost done here. I think We have only two more. It's hard to tell. It's hard to tell, but I think We have only two more and I think I'm gonna do the hardest one first And that's this one that goes on The engine exhaust Come on It's so close. Just peel off for me There we go So I I'm not bitter at hasbro And I am not one of these guys out here trying to play monday morning quarterback and And I'm not one of these people who Seems to hate all the things that he allegedly loves. I'm not that guy For the most part The vast majority of new gijo product that's out there. I think it's excellent I think it's excellent These retro vehicles though Are a bit hit and miss we we've seen a couple that are not bad Even pretty good I would say but This fang on the one hand extra effort went into it, right? They did not just reissue The vintage fang they re-engineered and redesigned this thing This Is is a fatter fang. It's like a guppy fang Not quite as thin and spindly as the original they at some point decided If they're going to reissue the fang they need to make it beefier. That's extra effort the retro his tank was basically a straight reissue of The vintage his tank a couple of differences a couple of changes But mostly It was a His reissue This however has some new engineering A whole new body basically no Reissued parts from the vintage fang everything is different on this even the things that are similar such as the missiles are different they are They are different to fit on new pegs pegs that were Uh created specifically for this version of the fang re-engineered pegs for these missiles that work just as badly as the vintage version This is the last time i'm putting these missiles on if they fall off again I am leaving them off and they will be left off for all eternity because I will never Go through the trouble of putting that back on There's the thing Fully assembled all the bombs and missiles and junk. Here it is side by side with the vintage fang Which one is better? I think it's a wash honestly The vintage fang had some shortcomings The re there's a reason why the missiles and the roll cage are not on this one because they are a pain um, I I maybe like the Sleeker thinner design of the body on the vintage fang but The retro fang fixes A couple of things It's a bit chunkier a bit uh A bit sturdier at least the body is You have the the red Line you have the color effect of the roll cage on the vintage fang But without having the piece that can come off and break or get lost So I think that's actually not too bad the details on the engine also really good Uh details on the the seat and the joystick also really good. Remember the joystick On that vintage helicopter is just a very thin little stick there that there's no detail whatsoever It has a sticker on the control panel for some control details and so does this But maybe a little bit of an improvement on the cockpit there On the downside is the uh the landing skids are just as delicate As these the missiles Just as difficult to put on and easy to knock off as on the vintage So where there could have been improvement There was not So for that reason even though This one has a couple improvements over The vintage version. I still prefer the the body style of the vintage fang and Again where there could have been improvement there wasn't so I think it's a wash. I think They're both You know about unequal footing as far as my personal preference goes Let's turn our attention now to the figure to the creatively named Cobra pilot And this is the figure It has a blue flight suit It has a red Helmet that is removable It may be a little too easy to remove. It doesn't Doesn't stay on too well He has an air mask with a hose that attaches to the chest. It looks like That Air mask is not removable. Yeah, that is molded on. I guess that's fine. You know one less accessory to To lose and this is a faceless cobra trooper So who cares really what his face looks like? He's gonna be an army builder The red helmet Does not really go With the blue uniform, but I think I actually like that I mean, it's a little ugly, isn't it? But it's ugly in A way that I find kind of endearing It's ugly in a way where it looks like A first draft of a vintage figure A first draft that would have been scrapped and improved upon before Release But it's just that kind of sort of imprecision about it That I kind of dig So I don't think I have a problem with the figure looks like he has yes He has a removable pistol in this holster So he does have an extra accessory a left-handed holster surprisingly So apparently all cobra pilots are left-handed So there's that of course it is a modern figure with modern articulation and all of that Modern sculpting Not bad The problem I have with this figure is not with the figure itself It's with it's what the fact that it has no figure stand That means they are expecting you to display this figure in the fang Not outstanding on its own so That Might be fine. It's a vehicle driver though, right? So maybe they just want you to put the guy in the vehicle and just leave him in there But if that's the case Then they would have expected that maybe with the his three driver This guy kind of the same blue color as our pilot This guy which included a figure stand Maybe they would have expected the same thing with another vehicle driver crankcase with the retro all striker which also came with a figure stand stand So Yeah, I know it's a vehicle driver and maybe you can just display it In the vehicle, but if you want to display it on a figure stand like nearly every other Modern gi joe figure. Sorry. You can't it doesn't come with one Let's go ahead and put the cobra pilot in the fang So we can properly display him. I'm gonna take off the helmet because this is gonna fall off Anyway, I'll put it back on when he gets in And oh my gosh, okay Small quality control issue we have a boot that has come off He has lost his His leg Below the boot line. I can peg it back on It's loose though Okay, so quality control issue all I was trying to do was bend the leg as is necessary To fit the guy to fit the legs into those holes Inside the cockpit And part of his leg came off so To really do this. I think one hand needs to also go on The joystick you can put a vintage figure's hand on the vintage fangs joystick You should also be able to do that with A modern figure. Oh my god. I'm gonna lose A boot inside this thing, aren't I? You shouldn't be able to do less with a modern figure than with a vintage figure Okay, there is a backpack For a modern figure on the seat of the fang Much like there is a backpack for a vintage figure On the vintage fang. I guess he's gonna have to Have his legs kind of extended like that in order for me to fit him on And like I said, if I knock these missiles off again, I'm leaving them off forever Forever and ever. I will never I will never put them back on Let's see if I can keep them on there. I I'm genuinely gonna try to do this without knocking off the missiles Okay, I'm trying to line up The figure the hole on the back of the figure With the peg on the seat And this is proving Quite am I supposed to take the feet off? Am I supposed to take the feet off in order for him to fit in here? Is that is is it a? A feature not a flaw Almost almost almost almost he's seated all okay. I got it. I got it I got it The backpack is in the figure's back the legs are a bit awkward, but we're gonna work with that now I'm going to try to put the right hand On the joystick So he can fly the fang Will it work? Will it work? It's sort of works Sort of So let's put the left hand over here Right hand sort of on the joystick. Uh I say sort of that's only sort of All right, let's try to bend the arm in a more natural pose Okay, hey, I got it. I got it. Let's put the helmet on Let's put the helmet on and we will have achieved the impossible We put the cobra pilot in the retro fang it is done Here we go We did it check that out. Is that not The best thing you've ever seen That is totally worse all the trouble And I'm not being entirely sarcastic here. It it does it does look all right I'm fully put together with everything attached. It looks okay. It really doesn't it's it looks substantial One thing that doesn't look great Is the screw holes on this side? That's a little unsightly, but hey, we can turn it around we can display it on this side without the screw holes We can do that Um the functionality. Oh, that's weird The ball joint the the ball gun on the front Doesn't seem to be a true ball joint. It like okay. It goes vertical It you can twist it and it can go side to side But it is not it's not a free ball joint That you look like look at this for instance look at The vintage fang. Here's the vintage fang. Here's the ball gun on the front That can go any which way you want you can go around up and down side to side You can twist it and turn it because it's just a ball resting inside a cup Inside the body of the fang. Okay This is different. This doesn't do that like okay. I'm trying to push it this direction Can't do now if I twist it then I can move it that way What have they done What have they done? I don't know I would have to I would have to unscrew this thing and look at it to see Why it does that? And this is an unboxing an assembly video. It's not a disassembly video, but you know what? I'm just enough of an asshole to do that all right This is going to be extended video because I'm taking this thing apart. It has screws. It's coming apart right now Okay, I got this screwdriver. No not that one this one. I think this screwdriver should work Uh, we went through all the trouble to put this thing together And we're just going to tear it apart But this is this is the value added stuff you get on this youtube channel your average youtube guy Is just going to put this thing together and complain about it But no, I am going the extra step here. I'm gonna take the screws out And see if we can disassemble this because I've got to know how how They took something as simple as putting a ball inside a cup So that it would move freely Like this as simple as this. How did they do this? Basically, it just moves on one axis It only moves on one axis and then if you twist it, then you can move it on another axis So like if I want it to move to move it side to side, I have to kind of twist it There seems to be just like just a swivel like Across so I can move it that way But I can twist it and now I can Well, no Yeah, if I twist it there. Yeah, now I can move it up and down. How did they do this? This is the this is the simplest Possible thing you can do. How did they turn it into something complicated? I've got to know we're going to find out right now Yeah, of course the missiles are going to you know, the missiles are going to fall off and just take them off Take them off. They're going to get in the way. They're just going to fall off anyway Just get get now they now they want to stick on now. They want to stay on tightly Come on Okay, there missiles off, of course, they're going to stay on tightly when I want to remove them Okay, let's see. Let's find the screw. Let's find the screw Uh, I can't see There it is. Okay. All right. We are taking this screw out. I'm going to use the box tray Put them in there so I can keep track of them There's one next Oh, no, we've got another one here toward the front. Let's move remove the bomb to Get all the extra bits out of the way. I would take off the Blade two, but that is on a mushroom clip and that might break it If it's possible to reassemble this I will But I'm not bothered. I am going to have to peel This front cobra sticker up a bit in order to take this apart If it'll even come apart, I don't know that it'll come apart It may be assembled in such a way that It will not come apart, but if if it doesn't I'm going to show this anyway. I'm not going to edit this out It's it's entirely possible that these pieces it has In the center kind of straddling the halves of the helicopter like the front seat and the engine and the Landing skids they may hold the thing together even when it's unscrewed. I don't know if this will even work But we're doing it anyway. Did I get that one? No, I did. Let's do it. The screws are coming out. It's not that hard to Unscrew but let's see if it'll actually come apart it certainly isn't Showing any gaps or any split down the center with these screws unscrewed so I don't know this one is One to be a butt head and not fall out. Come on. I think it's completely undone. It's just sort of It's just sort of wedged in there. All right. Come on. It's it's loose. It's out It just doesn't want to fall. Come on. All right. Let's just move on. Are these trapped screws? I'm not sure But they ah, there we go. No. No Let me come out. This one's just Being a butt head and not Come out. It's it's loose. It's totally unscrewed. It's it's gotta be But oh, there it is. There it goes. Got it. Uh, let's see last one last one at the tail Once I do this, then I will use the the tweezers to peel up The cobra sticker at the front Um, I'll see if I can just peel it off And put it back on the vinyl sticker sheet so I can have some hope of Of replacing it. All right. Let's try not to damage it. I just need the tiniest edge There and these vinyl stickers Are more forgiving. Oh, I should have I could have used a heat source to melt the The glue but I didn't think of that but it's okay. It's off already. I'm just going to put it there on the corner Put this over here. All right All the screws are out Let's see if we can split this thing and there is a gap here at the front Is there a gap toward the back? Yeah, yep. Yep. Okay Uh, this may have some clasps or clips or something. Oh, there's another sticker. I need to remove this bottom sticker that I complained about so much This is this is riveting stuff here. Why would you want to watch Your law and order or your murder she wrote or whatever TV show When you could be watching this You could be watching this. Let's carefully place that back on the sticker sheet So I can peel that back up And put it back on if I can get it this thing Reassembled who knows Okay, so we're gonna carefully Work this apart Hopefully All the way apart Oh, there we go. Okay There's the ball jointed thing Um, I don't think I need to take the rest of this apart because this is what I actually wanted to see I see I see okay, so this is what they've done This is what they've done So they have the cannon coming through to the back end of The gray ball and there is just a slot in it just Let me see if I can do it. It just moves from side. Oh, yeah, okay. Just this tab then the tab Okay, so it moves like this this tab only moves from side to side All right only like that Okay, and this tab goes in This little notch right here So, um, basically it's fixed like that, right It's fixed and it only moves from side to side, but it's it's a it's a round It's a round knob there, right That's a round post. So if you turn it like that Then this slot is in the up and down position. So now we'll move up and down. So that's how they did it This is completely unnecessary and I don't want to hear anything about cost cutting or budgets or anything like that they had to Do extra engineering to do this, right? They had to mold extra parts In order to make this happen to make it less functional than a simple Gray ball in the cup in the body with a red A gun barrel Stuck on the end of it This simple cost effective more functional this Extra parts extra engineering less functional genius guys genius That was the unboxing and assembly of the walmart exclusive retro cobra fang I hope you enjoyed it. Uh, for those wondering, yes, I did get it reassembled I did put the missiles back on I did put the pilot back in it can be reassembled Even after taking out the screws and I know I can't complain about this a lot There's a lot to complain about but I have to admit I feel better. This is very cathartic. I got to get a lot of my frustrations out I feel like a million bucks. So I got a hand it to hasbro for that Taking out my frustrating frustrations building this thing Actually made me feel better This is is therapy not the kind of toy therapy that you would expect But it actually works. So should you buy this thing? And take it out of the box and assemble it It's certainly up to you. You've got to make your own judgment call If you want a good toy that a child could play with This is not it if you're wanting a good display piece For an adult collector Well, you know, you might want to glue the missiles on It'll be more than a little frustrating to assemble. So again, it depends on what's important to you, but Are you feeling down? Are you feeling low? Are you feeling a little frustrated with life? And you just you just want to take it out on something This is not a bad idea for therapeutic purposes. I absolutely recommend the gi joe retro collection walmart exclusive cobra fang. That's all for now. Thank you very much for watching Blah blah blah be right back sometime soon blah blah blah gi joe only gi joe yada yada. See you next time