I just recently got my G.I. Joe Classified Torpedo, so I’m pretty happy these Eels landed a bit early in order to give him somebody to fight! Let’s take a look at the G.I. Joe Classified Cobra Eel!
The plastic free packaging is going away soon, but I’m enjoying these while it lasts. I really like the painted portraits on the front insert, left side, and figure tray as well as the digital scene of the Eel in action with the fun nods to the old Sunbow cartoon and snazzy submarine setting. There is a QR code on the right hand side of the box that leads you to the hasbro toy shop G.I. Classified section which is fine, but it would be cool if that actually lead to some more bio information, file cards, or even a comic featuring Eels.
The Eel comes with a scuba tank, a helmet, a knife, flippers, and a harpoon gun. Most of this is familiar if you have the Torpedo figure already.
The knife is the same as the one that comes with Torpedo and is cast in black plastic with a painted handle. It fits securely into a thigh sheathe.
The flippers are the same as Torpedo’s flippers and hook onto his feet. They are a fairly soft plastic and have no paint detail and stay on fairly securely. There is a hole in the flipper bottom so that you can still use a figure stand with foot pegs on the Eel.
The spear gun is, you might guess, the same as Torpedo’s spear gun. It’s a fairly soft plastic and likes to bend. The gun has nice detail with the spear painted gold and the leash painted the same red as the Eel’s red wetsuit. I’ve been trying to figure out how he should hold the spear gun as it seems to me there is a line that you probably wouldn’t want to put your hand on when firing right where you would normally support a rifle with your second hand. It also occurs to me that the piece below the barrel might just be some extra line stored there and fine to hold.
The pack is Torpedo’s with a twist. There are little jets attached to the bottom where you could attach Torpedo’s gun on the bottom. I do miss the more overtly sci-fi look of the vintage pack and the way it added more tubes to his overall design.
The highlight of the set for me is the helmet. It has tubes that attach to the pack from the front mouthpiece and translucent lenses so you can see the intense stare through the helmet. The one downside of Torpedo for me is that you couldn’t see his eyes through his mask, so I’m glad they went with the translucency here. The helmet is super tight to the figure’s head so it stays on securely and the head can move and hold position without the tubes moving the head or the helmet repositioning.
The sculpting is really nice and while he re-uses most of the excellent Torpedo base body, there is enough new stuff (shoulders, helmet, harness, forearms, sheathe, lower torso, head and helmet) to differentiate him from Torpedo. It’s probably the most super-hero like base body in this line since a wetsuit is very similar to full body super-hero togs, but the anatomy isn’t too grossly exaggerated and unrealistically muscular. My one quibble is that the shoulder harness does bulk up his traps a bit and therefore make his shoulders seem oddly lower than they should be.
The articulation is standard for the classified line and allows the figure a great range of movement. The only limitation really is that I wish the head could look up better. The hinged neck would have been nice on this guy to let him look forward more naturally while in a swimming position. The shoulder movement seemed limited at first due to the size of the shoulder pad, but you can finagle it into the socket for full range. The Eel has:
- Swivel/hinge shoulders, wrists, hips, and ankles
- Hinged mid-torso and butterfly pectorals
- Ball and socket head, lower neck, and waist
- Double hinged knees and elbows
- Bicep, boot, and thigh swivels
The paint is mostly solid, but there is a little bit of slop around the helmet and pack detail separations that mostly stand out magnified in photos, but are less visible in-hand.
Overall, I’d say this figure is clever re-use to effectively make the version 1 Eel in Classified form. He has a very classic feel that I appreciate and the only thing I’d change would be a different tank pack with the more sci-fi feel of the original figure. Additionally, it is a bummer to see a classic army builder figure like this as a store exclusive. I was able to secure the amount I wanted, and I hope they make enough so everybody can get them.
