What was better than one GI Joe figure when you were a kid? Two. Especially if it was a two-pack, as was the case way back then with this double trouble set of Cobra twins.
Tomax and Xamot might not have come packaged together this time around, but at least they made it out in the same wave. It just wouldn’t have felt right to get one twin without the other.
It was pure happenstance that I got a decent passel of Crimson Guard this week and promptly received the Crimson Guard Commanders only a few days later.
The beauty of the vintage Joe designs is in full effect here. It’s so simple to have a toy and then have the mirror image of that toy. It’s so simple to have one bearing a mysteriously-acquired scar. It’s so simple, but it’s still ingenious, right down to the names. Tomax. Xamot. Both names made up of letters that—in their capitalized forms–look exactly the same when held up to a mirror, just as the file card suggests.
Damn brilliant.
The Classified update to the vintage figure is…not really updated at all, from design standpoint. This is the vintage design done to the high standards of today’s modern 1/12th scale action figures. It’s simple and faithful. I’m a broken record about this, but it is exactly what I want.
The figure carries forth the usual articulation scheme for the Joes, and continues the trend of what feels like much-improved stability in the hip joints. The last handful of these figures I’ve had in hand have felt far more durable, meaning I don’t have that undercurrent of worry that I’m going to break my toy.
Free from vests or tactical gear that can occasionally hamper the Joes, these are quite limber figures. The combination sash/shoulder pad does tend to ride up if you move the shoulder too far, but the plastic itself is fairly soft so it’s not too big of an issue. The paint is mostly decent, but I had some red missing on Xamot’s sash, so the gray is poking through. I’m going to have to do something about that at some point, if I can match the paint well enough.
The sculpting is excellent, with subtle fabric wrinkles and sharp armored elements. This pair has knee scales and thigh vipers and even crotch vipers and they all look great.
I like the smarmy jackass smirks that the twins have. You just know that anybody and everybody that comes in contact with them calls them douchebags once they’re out of earshot. They’re like twin Patrick Batemans. These guys are definitely critiquing your business card.
Both twins come with the same set of weaponry (of course). They each have a pair of serpentine daggers that can be sheathed on their hip and leg, and both come with an SMG with removable silencer and magazine. The silencer slots into a hole on the end of the muzzle and stays secure. They have up/down hinged wrists on each hand.
I love these figures. The core Cobra ranks are growing larger and larger, and the figures themselves are getting better and better. As I said, I love the faithfulness to the original designs. The twins were an instant favorite when they debuted in the comic, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on them when I was a kid. Opening up a brand new set of them is like being a kid all over again.
