 The 1990s was a strange time. We had a president that liked McDonald's and interns, alternative music touched the hearts of a generation with droning guitars and mumbly vocals. Saturday Night Live was actually funny, and there was that other edgier, funnier Saturday Night Live. It was also a time when G.I. Joe was trying to remain relevant in a decade of mutant animal ninjas and color-coded superheroes. How well does G.I. Joe hold up in the 1990s? Let's find out in Week 1 of 90s Months. Fourth Commander 788 here, fact Fourth Commander 788 here, and for the entire month of October, we will be looking at G.I. Joe toys introduced in the 1990s. You all know I was an 80s kid. I was born in 1975, so in 1990 I turned 15. I did stick with G.I. Joe longer than a lot of other kids did, but I was well out of it by then. I don't have any personal connection to these toys. As an adult collector though, I have researched the G.I. Joe toys that were released after my time, and for the most part, I find them horrifying. But I don't want to do a whole month of negative reviews. The truth is, there was plenty of cool stuff in the 90s. For me, the greater challenge is finding something to praise from that decade. And I love a challenge. That's what we're doing this week. We are looking at something good. The Cobra Battlecopter from 1991 was packaged with a figure that was surprisingly good. It was so good, they had to hide it in a box with a dinky vehicle. Why did they try to hide a great figure? Let's find out. HCC 788 presents the Cobra Battlecopter and Interrogator. This is the Cobra Battlecopter and the Pilot Interrogator from 1991. This figure and vehicle set were available only in 1991. They were discontinued for the year 1992. Interrogator was recolored and re-released in 1993 as part of a helicopter pilot's two-pack mail-away offer. He was packaged with Major Altitude. Major Altitude was the G.I. Joe counterpart to Interrogator as the G.I. Joe Battlecopter pilot. However, these guys don't really match up well. Major Altitude makes sense as a Battlecopter pilot. Interrogator was designed by Kurt Groen for Hasbro. When writing the file card for Interrogator, Larry Hama tried to downplay the torture angle for this character as much as possible. That was not easy since the figure came with a torture device accessory. His code name was also the pre-production name for Dr. Meinbender. Originally, Dr. Meinbender was going to be called the Interrogator and was going to have exactly the same role as Interrogator, a torturer. Hasbro thought the better of it and he eventually became Cobra's resident mad scientist. The earlier name still shows up on the file card for Serpentor, where it refers to the Interrogator. That was Dr. Meinbender's name before they changed it. Apparently, Hasbro wasn't too shy about the idea of a Cobra torturer in 1991. I'm not aware of any uproar over the Interrogator's presence in the toy line. There are two possible reasons for that. One, packaging him with the Battlecopter made him look like just another vehicle driver. And two, his file card was not printed on the back of the box so parents couldn't read it before they purchased the toy. From the outside, you couldn't tell what this guy was supposed to be. I want to get the Battlecopter out of the way. The figure is what's really important here. The Battlecopter was a peculiar toy. After gliders in 1983, these were meant to be functional toys that would really fly. Reports are mixed about how well it flew. I will test this one to see if it can fly. My example has no stickers. Normally, I don't care about that. In this case, I wish I had the stickers because the Battlecopter had a sweet variation of the Cobra Aircore emblem. The G.I. Joe Battlecopter was also released in 1991 using a similar but slightly different design. The details were different, but the function was the same. As mentioned before, the G.I. Joe Battlecopter came with major altitude. A black version of the Cobra Battlecopter was released in 1992, piloted by the Heliviper. I have shown the Heliviper before. I think it is one of the ugliest figures ever. Let's look at the parts and the features of the Cobra Battlecopter. Up here at the top you have red helicopter blades inside a plastic ring. This is so you don't poke your eye out if it flies into your face. There is a black post connecting the blades to the spinning mechanism inside the body. The body is made of silver plastic with a lot of detail. The detail is impressive. I have to give them that. They really did their best to make this look good. There's a clip to hold the figure on and there's sort of a half seat here. I'm usually not fond of these clips to hold figures onto vehicles, but in this case it was probably a good idea. I don't think a backpack would have been secure enough. They just clip the figure around the waist to hold them on. There are a couple control sticks, one on each side, but they are too thick for the action figure to hold. It has a long tail with a fin, and this tail is thin plastic and often breaks. I don't mind Hasbro making toys that are meant to fly, but what goes up must come down. You have to make them sturdy enough to survive the landing. On the bottom we have the port where the launcher connects, so I guess this is a good time to look at the launcher. This is the launcher. It's made of the same silver plastic as the battlecopter. It has some detail on it, but that probably wasn't really necessary. This is the part that connects to the battlecopter and spins the blades. This long red rib cord is meant to be slid into this slot on the launcher with the teeth facing the inside so it will grab the gears and spin the blades. Slide that all the way in. There's a tab on the launcher that will line up with a notch on the battlecopter, so that's how you will line this up when you're ready to launch it. Can it fly? I have the battlecopter set up as the directions indicate, so I'm just going to step over there, pull the rib cord and see if it goes up. It flew really well. It nearly went over the fence. The adventure person figure dropped off, so I'm glad I didn't use the interrogator figure. I'm going to call this a successful test. It did fly. It flew very well. Let's look at interrogator. Oh yes, this is the meat of the review. Let's start by looking at his accessory. The box for the battlecopter does not name this accessory. It appears to be a submachine gun with an electric prod. This is a combination assault weapon and torture device. The three exposed wires make it clear what this is supposed to be used for. I guess you could pretend the wires are a three-fingered claw, but even then you know interrogator is using it for nipple torture on G.I. Joe prisoners. I'll never be the same man, never. Don't touch me. Oh my god, maybe that's how these guys lost their nipples. Cobra has been torturing their own people. It all makes sense now. Let's take a look at the articulation on interrogator. He had the articulation that was standard by 1991, meaning he could turn his head from left to right and look up and down. He could swing his arm up at the shoulder and swivel at the shoulder all the way around. He had a hinge at the elbow so he could bend at the elbow about 90 degrees. He had a swivel at the bicep so he could swivel his arm all the way around. 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 take a look at the sculpt design and color of interrogator starting with his head. This head has a black helmet with a red face mask and this is one of the best heads of any Cobra figure. The designer of this figure said it was a modified Cobra Commander helmet. I could easily see this as Cobra Commander's head. I'm not sure if he's referring to the Cobra Commander from 1982 or from 1991. I think this head looks like a cross between Cobra Commander and the 1986 Bats. In the Ice Cream Soldier review we talked about the way designs of face coverings can evoke certain imagery. A blank faceplate makes a person look emotionless, remorseless, devoid of humanity. Narrow eye coverings can make us think of the eyes of a predator. Interrogator, like the Bats, does both. The faceplate makes his eyes look narrow and upturned at the ends like a predator. The covering over the rest of the face obscures all agents of expression. This is perfect for an interrogator. The package art shows a Cobra on the helmet that is not present on the figure, but I think the figure looks fine without it. On his chest he has a gray shirt with a collar. He has a blue chest coloring with fringe. This may be an apron. I would imagine he would need to wear an apron to keep the blood off his clothes. He has black straps crossed in the front. They come to a V shape in the back. On the straps he has a couple silver grenades, a silver pistol and a black holster. Looks like he has an extra clip for the pistol. And here he has brass knuckles. The designer has stated that this detail is brass knuckles. This adds to the implied brutality of this character. Unfortunately, with the limitations of sculpting at the time, the brass knuckles are not to scale with the figure's hands. Right there in the center he has a silver disc with a red Cobra emblem. The arms feature long grey sleeves with black gloves and silver cuffs. This design is not overdone. It fits well with the rest of the figure. The waist piece is blue with a continuation of that silver fringe. The belt is not sculpted on the waist piece. It actually goes around the chest and back. The legs are dark blue with a black pistol and a holster on the right leg. That's a second pistol you can never have too many. The pistol on the chest is positioned to be drawn with the left hand, but the other pistol is on the right leg. He's ambidextrous. He has wide red broken stripes down both thighs. He has a couple tall black jack boots with silver studded rings around the top edges. I have to remark about the colors. The colors on this figure are so well balanced and well integrated into a coherent theme. This should be held as an example of the right way to do it. Let's take a look at Interrogator's file card. This file card was an insert in the Battlecopter box. This one has not had the border cut off. We have his faction as Cobra, a portrait of Interrogator. His codename is Interrogator. He is the Cobra Battlecopter pilot. There's no other demographic information here. It just dives right into the narrative. The top paragraph says, his past is shrouded in mystery. Was he a notorious former head of security for a deposed third world dictator, a renegade clinical psychologist, or an IRS investigator? Nobody knows for sure. What they do know is that Interrogator can siphon information out of even the most obstinate prisoner simply by talking to him. Not only is he known for his intimidating interrogation techniques, but he is also an impeccable copter pilot. He can fly through a Siberian blizzard with his eyes closed and still arrive at Cobra headquarters ahead of schedule. The torture angle is definitely downplayed. He's given a less violent way of interrogating. The copter pilot bit, though, seems tacked on. His bottom paragraph has a quote. It says, we think Interrogator has a voice modulator slash synthesizer built into his helmet that works in conjunction with a transinducing LED display. His subjects listen to his soothing baritone voice, stare into the flashing lights, and before they know it, they're spilling secrets. We suspect that he also uses such sophisticated toys as a stress analyst, a retinal dilation sensor, and other instruments that would add up to a reliable lie detector of sorts. His methods are actually similar to Crystal Ball, who used hypnotism to get information. Interrogator's helmet has electronic devices designed to hypnotize and detect lies. In that sense, Interrogator is the successor to Crystal Ball rather than Dr. Mindbender. Except, he's totally a torturer. His helmet is designed to intimidate, not just to hypnotize. He comes with a torture device, as did Dr. Mindbender. He even has brass knuckles. Those aren't for a hypnosis. Looking at how the interrogator was used in G.I. Joe Media, he was not used extensively in the Deke Animated series. He appeared a few times, briefly. He had the most exposure in the episode Long Live Rock and Roll Part 1. Coincidentally, that's the same episode we featured in the last video, the review of Rock and Roll Version 3. In that episode, Interrogator does not interrogate. He persuades people to do what he wants them to do. He deceives a heavy metal rocker into helping Cobra create a sonic weapon. In animated form, the interrogator was the persuader. I haven't been able to find any appearance of Interrogator in the Marvel Comics G.I. Joe series. That's a little surprising because the character seems like one Larry Hama could get his teeth into. Something special could have been done with this guy. Interrogator was underutilized in media during the Vintage Era. Looking at the Cobra battlecopter overall, who cares? Interrogator is a fantastic figure. This guy is totally metal. From the design to the sculpted details to the colors, it conveys exactly what it's supposed to be. The helmet is the best part. It is perfectly designed to inspire fear. It's like a Battlestar Galactica Cylon, but somehow more evil. If there were any part of the figure I could complain about, it would be the Cobra emblem in the middle of the chest. For such an elegant figure, it is maybe a little less than subtle. But it doesn't detract from the overall greatness of the figure, so I can't really even complain about that. The accessory cements the interpretation of this figure as a Cobra torturer. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Having a torturer in a children's toy line is problematic. But I also think sanitizing war and making war look fun sends a pro-war message. Having a horror element makes the universe seem more realistic. And the torturer is a bad guy. And that draws a contrast between the heroes and the villains. 80's children's entertainment taught us many lessons, both good and bad. But one such lesson is there's a difference between the good guys and the bad guys. And the good guys were heroes because they were good. They fought against the villains because they were evil. There were certain things the heroes would not do. Even if it were expedient, that's what made them the heroes. Even in the most ham-fisted Cold War propaganda action movie, the torturers were the bad guys. Our generation seems to forget that lesson from time to time, but it's an important one, especially in a fantasy narrative like G.I. Joe. If there's no moral difference between either side in a conflict, there's no reason to prefer one side to win over the other. If both are evil and doing evil things, it makes no difference who wins. So why should we care about the conflict the storytellers are presenting to us? That distinction between good and evil is vital, especially when dealing with a subject as weighty, as warfare. I don't mind G.I. Joe reminding us that torture happens in war, and the torturers are evil. They slipped that message under the radar, though, by packaging interrogator with a cheesy vehicle that didn't really have anything to do with them. That was my review of Interrogator and the Cobra Battlecopter I hope you enjoyed it. And this is a great start to 90s month. I didn't want to start the theme month by dumping on the decade. There were some great G.I. Joe toys released in those years. So next week will we be looking at another hidden gem from the 90s? Spoiler? No. Make sure you check out HCC788.com. All my G.I. Joe reviews are there, sorted by year, and you can get some cool stuff like an HCC788 t-shirt, which I'm not wearing right now. If you take a picture of yourself wearing your HCC788 t-shirt, I will put you in a video. If you liked this video, please give it a thumbs up on YouTube and subscribe to the YouTube channel so you don't miss anything. Also now I guess you're supposed to click on the bell so you get an alert when a new video goes up. Technology, it keeps on marching along. Please share this video. This channel grows because of you. As they used to tag the old MST3K episodes, keep circulating the tapes. Even though this is all digital and there are no tapes. Like the channel on Facebook and follow me on Twitter. Sometimes there are important announcements that go up there. You don't want to miss those. And social media is a great way to send feedback. Your support on Patreon has helped me improve the quality of this show. Please consider adding your support there if you can. Thanks for watching. I'll see you next week with Week 2 of 90s Month and until then remember, only G.I. Joe is G.I. Joe. It has come to my attention through the comments that some people don't like the way I say the word vehicle. To those people, I say vehicle, vehicle, vehicle, vehicle, vehicle, vehicle, vehicle, vehicle. Bye.