The purpose of the "Many Faces of..." series is actually multi-fold (yes I realize that is not a word).  First, it is a review of many of the versions of characters over the years.  Second, and somewhat more importantly, it is housecleaning for me.  A chance to look over my collection and evaluate why certain figures are within it.  Lastly, there is somewhat a catharsis here.  Some of these figures are not going to be in my collection after I write this up.  I am evaluating why I purchased them, why I kept them, and why I now don't want them or want them.  I am re-evaluating my action figures because, well it's time to do it. 

With some of these write ups I have switched out the accessories, especially with figures like Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes (The first two in the series).  So if you see some accessories on the wrong figure that is why.  It is a bad habit of mine, especially with figures that have had very cool accessories but are less than what they could be.  Also I am not at all planning to touch on figures I have already reviewed.  For those use the quick links section of the review section.   In some ways I wish I had done this last year with my first "purge" of action figures.   I could have really covered a great deal of ground and been more comprehensive.

Also this series is purposefully made that I can add to it later.  So if you ever come back and re-read them and they are additions, that is why. 

There is no way I can cover every figure made, these are just pulled from my collection over many years and evaluated.   This is in no way intended to be a comprehensive review of every figure of a character ever made but rather an overview of what has entered my collection, why, and why it should or shouldn't stay in the collection.  

Not that many will pay attention ;-), but Cobra Commander V44 was previously reviewed here. POC Wave 5 Cobra Commander was reviewed in videoon my Youtube channel.

Cobra Commander, the boss, the big cheese of Cobra: A ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world.  

It's been said over and over that a good guy is only as good as his villain and no matter what Cobra operative might be your favorite, they all answer to this guy.  He is the one that leads Cobra into whatever endeavor you might think up.  It doesn't matter what you think his background might be (more on that later), the one constant is that Cobra Commander is the guy who runs the bad guys in the GI Joe world.  

Cobra Commander's background is one of controversy.  In the sunbow cartoon he was kind of a buffoon and bumbler.  However, this was given a worse problem when Cobra Commander was revealed to be a mutant of Cobra-La, something many GI Joe fans tend to ignore (myself included).  In the comic, Cobra Commander was a used car salesman who became fed up with the system and wanted to take over (it was implied that he was being greedy in the process).  There was a ton of things that convoluted this issue further (with forced connections to Snake Eyes among other things).  An interesting fact is that Cobra Commander also had a son who has never received a figure (but there are tons of customs online if you are interested).  

My most vivid remembrances of Cobra Commander come from the cartoon.  No matter what I always imagine Cobra Commander having that same signature voice he did in the cartoon (NOTE: the voice was performed by the Late Chris Latta, who also performed the voice of Star scream in the Sunbow Transformers cartoon).  His character was not the brightest nor most competent in the world.  Of course this was a children's show which, when you think about it, had to have a reason Cobra didn't win.  However, the cartoon depiction wasn't without some merits.  For example, after the creation of Serpantor Cobra Commander convinced Serpy to keep him around as a scapegoat.  This actually is a pretty swift move when you think about it cause it gave the Commander time to work out a plan to get rid of Serpy and saved his life as well.

Cobra Commander's comic appearances are a bit of a mixed bag though.  For a long time he was the aggressive and vile leader you would expect.  However that changed with the attempt on his life by his son.

I'm not sure if it was purposeful, but at this point it seems like the Commander was becoming a sympathetic character.  He had a son who had been convinced to attempt to kill him, and pretty soon his origin was revealed in which he seemed more sympathetic.  He was just a guy trying to make it in the world and lost nearly everything.  The way it was presented you almost didn't blame him.  Maybe that makes the Commander a bit relatable but it just didn't match his character too me.  I get to more of that later though.  

Soon the Commander left cobra and went on a road trip with Destro.  

It was at this point he revealed his Dreadnok look to the world.

I'm not sure if the biker mustache is part of a disguise or not, but I couldn't help but crack up years later when the Devil's Due series made a huge deal out of revealing the Commander's "real" face.  This turned out to be a bad marketing ploy, one I think that hurt them since if they didn't reveal the Commander's face (as they didn't) it would upset the people who bought that issue just to see it.  BUT, if Devil's Due went the other way they would have another huge problem of unveiling something that they insisted was a mystery for so long.  No explanation by DD was ever given for the above picture though so it's hard to tell exactly if this is a disguise or if there was something else going on (like maybe The Commander is a biker which explains why he hired Zartan and the Dreadnoks).  

Of course there is a flashback that seems to confirm that the face we see above is actually Cobra Commander as well.  

Which of course begs the question about the DD series above, did they never read these issues?  Really all that is left out is his eyes, so is that really that big a reveal.  I guess it's moot since the reveal was a fake anyway.  Although it is clear in the DD issue that the Commander now prefers to be bald, at least in that continuity.  

But the whole story tried to further cement the idea that the Commander was sympathetic and tragic rather than a ruthless bad guy.  

Again, for the big bad guy this kind of takes you back.  Imagine Mumm-Ra, Skeletor, or even the Emperor in such a scene.  The possibility here is that they were copying Vader in Star Wars, but that idea would have worked better for Destro rather than Cobra Commander.  

Eventually The Commander was shot in the back by his own Crimson Guardsman, which is pretty significant since the Crimson Guard are supposed to be his most loyal soldiers.  He was even buried, but that wasn't all.  

Soon the same Crimson Guard who shot Cobra Commander replaced him as Cobra Commander.

One of the lamest aspects of this version of The Commander is he had plastic explosives in his helmet.  REALLY, so just loosen the helmet and he is done, yeah I can't imagine anyone wanting to do that one.  I understand preservation of a secret, but at the cost of your life seems a bit extreme and over the top.  

Of course next came the Cobra Civil War in which Serpantor and Cobra Commander went head to head with Destro and the Joes somewhere in the mix.  

Overall this was a pretty good story, but it did have one of the lamest exchanges between two characters in a comic ever.  When Serpantor and the faker Cobra Commander were getting heated, one of them (I think Serpantor) called the other a "has been" and the response was "Better a has been than a never was!"  I mean imagine, the two leaders of the most ruthless organization on Earth using the colloquialisms of a 4th grader to deal with their interpersonal conflicts.  I am sure someone will argue that the comic was geared to that age group, which is fine.  However that should also be pointed out the next time someone calls the comic "more realistic" or "more serious" than the cartoon as well. 

So the faker version of the Commander ran amuck for a long time, that is until:

The original Commander returned.  Yes shot in the back, buried apparently alive and still came back.  The story went something like The Commander had Crimson Guardsmen monitoring him all the time and one saw what the faker Cobra Commander pulled.  The Guardsman dug him up and brought him back from the great beyond.  You would think faker Commander would have caught that the original wasn't quite dead when he buried him, eh.  

This all makes me think the return of the original wasn't planned at all, it seems very forced, has a few holes in the plot, and reads like one of those Soap Opera stars returning after the company figures out how to fix the contract negotiations even though they killed the character cause they figured the star would never return.  Even though I kind of liked that the Orin gal Commander tossed a ton of his enemies into a cargo ship and essentially buried them, the whole thing just felt like a mess.  I kind of quit paying attention to the comic at this point.  Later on I know there was a brainwashing session that brought Storm Shadow back to Cobra which reiterated this stance.  Of course The Commander just switched his record and began being a bad guy again, but in the back of my mind that sympathetic view was lingering and in a way I think it hurt his character from there on.  I get where it was going, but again I just felt it didn't work for Cobra Commander and no matter what he did you felt a bit sorry for him and that is the last thing you want to do.  

I did follow the DD series but got very bored with the "Death for Death's sake" aspect of the comic.  Also I never felt the DD series lived up to what it could be (like when the Joes charged Cobra Island with just mini-tanks even though they had stormed it previously with a varied amount of weaponry).  Then came IDW with another Cobra Civil War that was sparked from Cobra Commander getting shot (NOTE: this is intended to be a different continuity than the Marvel one).

Again, this comes across as a Xerox of the past rather than some new ground.  Sure the details might be different (this time he was shot by Chuckles rather than a Crimson Guard, still they kind of look the same LOL) but the basics are the same: Commander gets shot-big fight-new guy in charge.  Really just switch the big fight to the end and you have the Marvel story.  I'm sure some fanboys are agitated about me saying that, but that is the way I am seeing things.

Like the storylines, the looks of Cobra Commander often seem a bit recycled.  However, in many cases the recycling comes across a bit more like honest attempts to improve on the original designs (sometimes though, that idea fails, but you can see the effort).

So with Cobra Commander himself I ended up tossing out all the other stuff written about him.  For the most part I decided Cobra Commander was best left a mystery.  He wasn't just anyone though (as is implied by the current IDWseries), he was a definite individual but his origin and how he built up Cobra is an unknown quality that will never be revealed.  All of the origins that have been made for Cobra Commander (Former used car salesman, army operative that became a scientist for Destro, head of a major corporation, that Cobra Commander is a title rather than a person, ect) are disinformation put out there by the Commander's operatives to hide his identity.  I even added the fact that the Commander had a son into the fountain of disinformation.  This allows me to use all of the backgrounds given while not being committed to them (Well with the exception of Cobra-La which as I say I ignore).  There probably is some truth somewhere in the disinformation, but discerning it is near impossible and thus pointless.  His true identity and history are lost and therefore I concentrate on Cobra Commander now, the ruthless man with absolutely no remorse who wants to take over the world for his own purposes.  Even his motives for taking over are somewhat mysterious (greed, power, fixing the world, all of the above).  His true motives are his to know alone.  I think that makes him a bit more dangerous and unpredictable.

However, one thing I kept about the Sunbow cartoon is that Cobra Commander has some aspects of baboonery.  Not totally, obviously to build an organization like Cobra he has to have something together.  He has a strong charisma as well and knows exactly what to say to get people to his cause.  However, he isn't as capable as even his persona gives off.  The main reason for this is if he was as competent as he seems he probably would have won by now.  While he is good at disguising it, he is very fallible, probably has no prior military experience (thus he makes bad command decisions that he points to attempts at unconventional warfare), and all around counts much more on his higher ups that even they catch on to.  

Being the main bad guy for Cobra means he (like Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow before him) have had a ton of versions over the years.  According to Yojoe.com there are now 47 versions of Cobra Commander (NOTE: the POC Wave 5 Cobra Commander has yet to be added to their archive at this writing).  As I constantly try to say there is no way for me to go over every single version of the character, this is just me going over the ones I have (or in some cases had and took pics of just prior to selling off).  I am sure someone will (as they always do) try to point out how I am missing a figure and thus this is not as comprehensive as they expected.  Oh well, can't win for loseing I guess.  

But as much as I like the character, this is about figures, so after that long winded intro here comes the many faces of Cobra Commander starting of with the Oringal(s).  

I have lobbed these three together for a couple of reasons.  First and foremost they are the originals, the first looks the character.  These are the benchmark that all the subsequent figures are measured against.  These are the looks you expect when you say "Cobra Commander."  

Version 1 actually has a few variations.  This was the first figure that was available as a mail away for GI Joe.  As such his original version had the variation of a mistake in the Cobra symbol.  This is often referred to as "Mikey Mouse" Cobra Commander in which the symbol slightly resembles a Mickey Mouse symbol (the eyes look like ears).  I had one of these at one time and while neat he adds nothing to a collection.  I sold him off long ago but kept my original.  Of course I ordered the mail away version which has straight arms (as the original GI Joe figures didn't have swivel arms until later).  His other variation is the one released to stores the following year (often referred to as version 1.5 which contained the swivel arm upgrade). 

From the start I loved this figure, he was the bad guy leader and the first personality of Cobra.  He was the guy bossing around those blue guys and the enemy of the GI Joe team.  He looked regal and officer like while also appearing combat ready.  An odd confession on my part but I never realized his gun fit into his back until many years later, but it was a nice additional play feature.  A holster without a holster so to speak.  At the point I had gotten him the Cartoon had not aired yet and I had not checked out the comic.   As such I didn't know the Commander wore a hood in his off hours until the cartoon aired.  Thus lead me to the next figure, version 2.

Version 2 was odd to me in some ways.  He is just a head swap but also had a deeper blue than the Version 1.  It was kind of weird to me cause I had to think up an explanation as to why the Commander's garb changed colors when he put his hood on.  Still that didn't make him a bad figure in the least.  In fact I really liked him as much as the first version.  It's very hard to say too much more about him since he is essentially the same figure as Version 1.  However when I was younger I did try to check under the hood, nothing there though. 

Version 3 was kind of surprise at first, but I did grab him just because he seemed like a combat ready version of Cobra Commander.  While the previous versions were cool, I felt this one was worthy of leading the troops on the battlefield.  When I realized that "technically" this was another guy pretending to be Cobra Commander, I dumped the idea.  To me Fred was another point of misinformation I mentioned above (that is before I decided to just ignore the comic) and a scapegoat for some of the Commander's more questionable orders.  He was a decoy gone haywire taking over Cobra, but he was put down by the real Commander.  The Commander continued to use this Armor as he could lead the troops in it safely.  Later I had an idea to use it as a "Battle Viper" armored trooper when Hasbro re-released the mold a few times.  I dumped the idea later and got rid of the repaints, keeping the original of course. 

So what more can I say here, These are the measuring sticks by which all other versions of Cobra Commander are placed and judged.  They are some of the best of their era and honestly I think they still hold up very well in many ways.  

From here the ARAH line had some interesting versions of Cobra Commander.  V4 had a red faceplate that was removable.  Of course facesclupts back then were less than now so the details of the face were kind of non-descript.  The faceplate wasn't intended to be removable (as it was glued on) but it could be removed with some work, it was strange to say the least. 

Then came the Talking Battle Commander version, or Version 5, which has seen plenty of repaints, while some love this mold I wasn't a huge fan.  The major turn off for me was the short hood that I thought looked like it would fly right off his head if a stiff breeze came about. 

Another notable version was V7 or the Star Brigade Cobra Commander.  He was a cool figure actually, but not a cool Cobra Commander.  I tended to use him as an advanced pilot myself.  The head was reused as the head under the helmet for the re-release of the Crimson Guard years later.  This is notable as some fans have said they liked the idea of the Crimson Guard being surgically altered in the appearance of the Commander.  In a way art imitated life here. 

After this the main Cobra Commander figures were repaints of the Armored or Sonic Fighter Cobra Commanders for some time.  This pattern continued until the "New Sculpt" era beginning in 2002 in which Hasbro gave use these new molds of Cobra Commander: 

Of course there was the HUGE fiasco of the lack of O-Ring which was a staple of GI Joe up until that point.  This prompted the very quick repaint in black below.  This also prompted Hasbro to go back and retro the figure with and O-Ring which brought with it some unfortunate side effects.  One of this figures major flaws is the simian like arms to the body.  The "new sculpt" era was loaded with proportion problems and while this figure avoids a vast majority of those problems the arms are an issue that really is hard to overlook in either version of the figure.  The O-Ring version of the figure wasn't as great an improvement as anticipated as the buckle had to be reduced and gone was the snake on the thigh.  

The Black repaint came quickly but the repaint of the O-ring version didn't come for almost a year.  Still the same problems with the original mold were present in the repaints.  Hasbro had a very strong tendency to repaint in this era of GI Joe and these four figures show that to a degree.  Still one thing that came out of the Repaints is the fact that this mold really does look better in black and in many ways Cobra Commander looks better in black in many cases.  It's an odd thing, but with these molds the details are brought out more with the contrast of red and black more than blue and black I think.  

The feature of this figure that I really wish would have made it's way into later versions of the commander is the hood.  The raised Cobra symbol and great details was one of the things that attracted me to this figure in the beginning.  I do think it looks much better in black, but it is very cool either way.  Sadly none of the later releases borrowed this detail which I thought was one of the bright points of the new sculpt era.  

A kind of cool figure, but has tons of flaws.  

But these were not the only Cobra Commanders from that era either:

Often referred to as the Valor vs. Venom version of Cobra Commander (Although the blue version actually came out in Spy Troops) this is a good battle ready commander.  He has a working holster and a staff (which was different in the different releases).  Ultimately the Snake staff is one most regard as the better staff.  The black version of this figure came with a weird staff with some "venom" stuff (which created the Venom Troops of that year's focus).  This staff is not near as nice as the Snake Staff but is notable.  There is also a brown repaint of this mold (which is easily ignored).  Another repaint had the great idea of a hood or a helmet over a masked head, but the colors were less than desirable.  

The major flaw with this mold is the head, if you begin to think about it the helmet is just too small to contain a normal sized head.  It really doesn't look bad until you think about it though.  

So again a cool figure but with some flaws, it is one of those you can argue about easily.  Still I can't say I give a high recommendation to it either.  Not a bad figure but there are plenty of other better ones.  

Next is one of those novelty figures that just makes one smile, thus I keep it around in my collection.  

Translucent figures are a novelty of course, but sometimes they can be fun as is the case above.  This is Cobra Commander as he is supposed to be in a Holographic transmission in issue #9 comic pack (packaged with Breaker and Scarlett).  Personally I felt this was one of the best comic packs from that run, it had Scarlett with a ponytail, a decent Breaker, and this Cobra Commander who is a great deal of fun.  He is a basic remold of the Issue #1 Cobra Commander and while I have some issues with the mold (ie the barrel chest) this version is a slight bit more fun as he is a bit unique.  

While Star Wars figures have a long line of "hologram" figures, this is the first and only GI Joe one (If one does not count the clear variant of Wraith which since he is technically in "phase" and not a hologram is easy to do, similarly with the clear version of Zartan).  This makes him somewhat unique among the GI Joe world, again not as the only translucent figure but the only one to represent a hologram.  

This mold also got a repaint in red for a TRU Imperial procession set, it was a set that showed that the Commander in all red is very unflattering.  

I have to recommend this figure simply for novelty if nothing else.  Sure you can argue novelty is a lame reason to have a figure, but I have found some figures work great just in that novelty level.  Besides where else can you get a Crest gel version of Cobra Commander.  

Next comes the now infamous 25th anniversary.  

Cobra Commander was one of the few figures that grabbed me in the 25th line.  The primary reason is the fact that he did not have the annoying chest hump that was so prevalent in the early designs (see Duke from the same era).  Some argue about the chest hump not being that bad, but apparently Hasbro disagrees as they go to great lengths to avoid it or hide it.  I have stated a million times that my issue with the hump is an esthetic one and that there are plenty of examples before and since of figures with a similar point of articulation that do not have the problem (Cobra Commander is one of them, of course his is hidden due to the torso coming down so low).  

Like the Original version of Cobra Commander, this one is a repaint of the 25th version of the Version 1.  It works on many levels both in a nostalgic and practical way.  Again there is the color issue (see Cobra Commander's V1 and V2 above).  The one issue I have with the figure is the legs as they come across as too thin for the frame.  But it is a minor gripe to be sure.  

I have to say that if you are a fan of the 25th or GI Joe figures made after that point this is a must grab figure.  There have been several repaints for comic and DVD packs so he should be easy to get.  

While I skipped the 25th V1 (I will go back to remark on that) there were some repaints of that one as well.  One of the most notable is this one:

On paper I should love this figure, but I don't.  There are tons of reasons though, first are the hands, or rather the gloves which are silver on the hands and black lower down.  It's a strange esthetic on the best level.  The gloves should be one color rather than two.  It implies that there is two sets of gloves here.  Also the lack of red is a factor as well.  Unlike versions 12,16, and 17 the contrast of the reds presented a very dynamic figure, that absence is very pronounced on this figure.  The golds and silvers are ok, but could be much more dynamic with some other contrasting color (probably red, but something else to bring out the figure is needed).   Also there is the Cobra Symbols on the shoulders rather than on the chest.  I am not sure why this choice was made but it's something odd to say the least.  The symbols are barely noticeable and without that sharp Cobra symbol the feeling of "Commander of the Cobra forces" isn't that prominent as it should be.

While this figure could work great, it really needs something, or a bunch of something's, to be a really cool figure.  I would have to say pass on it if you can.  

Of course there are three basic looks to Cobra Commander and the 25th line wouldn't be complete without the third.  

Cobra Commander in armor is, of course, a redo of the version 3 obviously.  It's another 25th figure that does not have a hump in the chest which is why I like it.  The mold is cool.  It is a great redo of the original.  One of the better features is the fact that the helmet is removable.  Underneath is a re paint of beachhead's head.  While I tend to not like reuse of parts, in this case it works as the figure is more often helmeted anyway.  Plus what else would be under the helmet besides another mask (well, besides the face of Fred, see below).  

This is one of those figures I have to really recommend cause it's a great redo of a classic.  The legs are a bit long is the only complaint I can make about it, and that is really kind of minor admittedly.  

As I said above with the 25th Hooded Cobra Commander, there was a release of the figure with a helmet, but I held off on bringing it up until now.  I did have the original 25th version but this one from the very hard to find DVD set Best of 80's along with Alpine, A horrible Duke, and a Cobra Trooper.  I really like this one for an easy reason, the chromed helmet.  It really adds to the figure a great deal and makes him pretty darn hard to pass up.  

Granted the parachute is cool but had to be cut off (which I did after this picture was taken).  That kind of knocked it down a bit as I would have liked to have kept the parachute intact, but such is life.

Another Cobra Commander that was a surprise was a comic pack version:

I think this would be a GREAT version of Cobra Commander if he was repainted a bit.  The dull yellow is the one detracting feature to this otherwise great figure.  The sword is a bit cumbersome but not terrible.  The cape has been recycled a few times since but is also very cool.  

The figure uses the body of the Crimson Guard which gives Cobra Commander a regal look while also making him appear battle ready.  The sword is cool as well and he has a working holster.  There is nothing in the holster on the side of the thigh however, but one could easily fit a spare gun from a Crimson Guard although I think it would be even more cumbersome.  Point is this is a figure that could be sooo good, and is very, very close to being great.  

This is one of those figures that can go either way I think.  I love it, but I can see people not feeling as good about it at the same time.  It's a judgment call.  

This figure is a repaint of the above Armored Cobra Commander V28.  However Hasbro added the head from the unmasked Crimson Guard to the mix.  Thus instant Fred impersonator Cobra Commander.  It's a pretty easy and quick switch that I had seen customizers do before.  However it's still kind of cool to have it done in a production figure.  

The only other real difference in the figure is the air hose to the helmet, but it is novel in the fact that it is the version of Cobra Commander that appeared in the comic.  Not much more to say as the figure is nearly exact to the previous release.

This is a figure to get if you want to stick to the comic very closely, but otherwise an easy pass.  A good figure but could be redundant.  

Which is a big problem with many of the 25th versions of the Commander, they are just simple repaints with minor (if any) modifications.  Many of the versions I have skipped were very much repaints.  This pattern is something that makes Cobra Commander so prevalent but also kind of boring as he feels like the same figure over and over.  I am not certain but I do sometimes think he is one of the most often repainted figures in the GI Joe line.  Snake Eyes has plenty of versions as well but often they are (or at least appear to be) less recycled.  

Such is the case with the next version of Cobra Commander, but in this case it works a bit better.  

This is a repaint of the Resolute version of Cobra Commander, however instead of blue and purple we have red and black.  As has been stated above red goes great with black on the Commander and in this case the colors bring out the mold fantastically.  I passed on the original due to the purple as I felt it didn't work with the mold.  Like version 34, he has a sword but it is much less cumbersome.  I think he could have used a holster for the gun he came with, but he also works good without it. 

The skirt and scarf do bring some limits to movement, but at the same time the whole ensemble comes together so well it's easily ignored.  This figure came in a pack with two Resolute Cobra Troopers, A repaint of the BAT and one of the few Duke repaints I have ever liked.  This makes this figure a super-win in my book. 

I would give this one my highest recommendation, one of the best and my personal favorite. 

Next is a version of Cobra Commander that kind of isn't really a version of Cobra Commander:

I don't feel the need to spoil the GI Joe Rise of Cobra movie at this point, it's been well over a year and everyone who wanted to see the movie pretty well has by now.  This is the guy who becomes Cobra Commander in the film, and there never seems to be a solid reason why this guy betrays his friends (Duke and Ripcord) or why he becomes Cobra Commander, he just kind of does.  I suppose an argument can be raised that he go exposed to some mind altering substance in Mindbenders lab, but really he just kind of pops up and says "OHHHH I'm your old buddy BLAH!"

So it should be easy to ascertain I wasn't too pleased with GI Joe the Rise of Cobra at this point, so much so I do admit it gets blocked out of my memory.  I only mention that fact because of the face sculpt on the figure below. 

I could be wrong but I seem to remember his face being much, much more scarred up and grotesque.  Again maybe in blocking out the movie I am forgetting cause the face only appears for 2 seconds as I recall, but this looks tame compared to the ground beef face of the film. 

So as it stands I only keep this guy around as a new character, sort of a rival to Mindbender and not as Cobra Commander.

My major knocks on this figure are the head, not just the sculpt but also the hair attachment.  It literally falls off just looking at it and won't fit back on right.  The arms are a bit skinny for the figure as well, especially since the coat kind of overwhelms the form.  There is also the fact that the figure is rather bland on his own, just a guy in black leather.  In many ways he looks like a dominatrix trick gone horribly wrong.  The mask just adds to the kink factor. 

Really, unless you are a huge fan of the Rise of Cobra movie, I think you can easily pass on this figure. 

Speaking of Rise of Cobra, there is my least favorite Cobra Commander to go:

Just on design alone I dislike this figure.  Jokes about Cobra Commander having a fishbowl for a helmet are prevalent all around the old Sunbow cartoon series, but this time the look really does look like a fishbowl.  The jacket has potential but most of it is lost with the spread out way the Jacket sets on the bottom. The figure doesn't have a very good "Cobra Commander" look to him, he doesn't even have the imposter Commander look to him to be honest.   I suppose most of that could be blamed on the designs from the movie, and I will admit Cobra Commander is hard to translate into live action.  However, I think he could have been much better with an opaque mask rather than translucent and could have also used something to break up the outfit rather than black jacket (that kind of looks like corduroy on the figure in texture) and pants and silver top (I suppose to imply armor).  I also think a cape rather than a jacket would have done wonders.  Add to that it seems the mask has an incectoid shape to it which seems a bit weird for a guy leading the troops of a major organization. 

So to say the least I don't like him, and I am hard pressed to figure out why anyone would like him.  I suppose some do but I have a hard time finding any redeemable features. 

So that is pretty well all the Cobra Commanders in my collection.  Some good, some not so good and some down right bad. 

The next subject for the Many faces reviews, probably a guy people don't want me to review but one of my all time favorites: IRON MAN!

So until next time:  POW! Right in the kisser!