Cobra Hiss Tank Pursuit of Cobra 2010

 Cobra Hiss Tank Pursuit of Cobra 2010

I am currently snowed in and injured my back over the weekend. Ah the joys of getting old. So I figured I would take a look at the 2010 Hiss Tank. As you can see my first actual post has nothing to do with ARAH, although one o-ring figure was damaged during the making of this post. Sadly, a 2003 Spy Troops Viper's leg snapped as I was trying to pose him for this. Obviously, the photo above has an AI generated background. I am light on real background effects and am at the mercy of my basement for photos at the moment.

My collecting GI Joes has been pretty cyclical and as mentioned prior I invested heavily in each iteration of GI Joe. The "modern era" was really my last hurrah (everyone's actually) in terms of going to brick and mortar stores Joe hunting. This was honestly one of my favorite pastimes from 2000 right up to 2015ish when GI Joe ended at retail. At about the same time as Hasbro stopped making figures I made the decision to jump back into the vintage o-ring figures, the scale that has always held the most sentimental and nostalgic value for me. Of course as I was going through all the mental gymnastics of my new found collecting philosophy and decided that vehicles from the modern era were allowed as long as they worked within my vision for how I wanted my respective Joe and Cobra armies to be built out.

On whim I came across a one of these new in box on Ebay last week so I figured why not? At one point or another I have had either the black or crimson version of this vehicle and have offloaded them. Here is it back in my collection but this time in desert brown. Hasbro for the most part has been kind to the Hiss in terms of all the releases. For the most part they have stuck with the iconic 1983 mold that has seen several re-releases over the years. The Hiss II offered a larger version with troop transport capability albeit in less desirable colors, the Hiss IV was not great (this coming from a self professed fan of the new sculpt era) and the DTC Hiss is arguably one of the best Cobra vehicles released.

With the modern era Hasbro did some pretty great and innovative things. The modernizing of the Cobra Hiss being one of them. This version of the Hiss has the identifiable traits of the original (namely the treads) but has given the design an upgrade that even 16 years after it's release still looks modern yet futuristic. The sleek, angular, aggressive almost gunship like main body is very well done. The armament is a little more robust than the twin cannons of the original but certainly not overdone. It still has the look of a high speed sentry tank. The spring action gimmick is my only critique of the Hiss V5. It's a cool spin on the classic but can never replace the icon. I immediately regret having a non ARAH era vehicle or figure as my first write up. I will remedy that soon!

RIP 2003 Spy Troops Viper! Although I have a feeling I will just find him new legs at some point.

Trying out this Blog thing

 

    I've long debated starting out my own long form blog dedicated (mostly) to GI Joe A Real American Hero. Going back to the early 2000s I loved the Web 1.0 era of GI Joe - places like the Bivouac, General's Joes, Yojoe.com, Evil Face's 4th circle of Hell, Joedios etc. As time has passed many of those sites have evolved, become inactive or just victims of circumstance as Web 1.0 was left behind.

    From the mid 2010s through early 2020s my main fix for GI Joe was found on youtube mostly via the great Formbx257 and HCC788. However, the long form blogs/essays and ruminations about GI Joe has really become my favorite way to enjoy the hobby. I have long been a fan of Mike T's Forgotten Figures, Nekoman's Viperpit and The Attica Gazette. I look forward to their content and obnoxiously post long winded ramblings in response to their great write-ups.

    So I have decided to take the plunge myself albeit with a much more rudimentary blog. For the past decade my collecting focus has returned to it's roots - GI Joe 3.75 O-ring A Real American Hero. I've been an active participant (for  better or worse) in every iteration of GI Joe that Hasbro has churned out this century. The Real American Hero collection coincided with me becoming an adult collector back in 2000, I supported the New Sculpt era with reckless abandon, welcomed the Modern Era with an open wallet and collected it from 2007 through the 50th anniversary releases that came out a decade ago now. Once 2016 hit though I just came to the realization I wanted to go back the ARAH GI Joe era - the one from my childhood, the toyline that was with me as a far back as I can remember and had remained with me through my formative years, college and adulthood. Most fans of GI Joe can attest to how the toys can evoke long buried memories and nostalgia. It's a fascinating phenomenon and one I have experienced on numerous occasions.

I don't intend to reinvent the wheel and my write-ups and joe musings will pretty much follow the same format as the aforementioned leaders of the long form GI Joe blogs. I will do reviews, some action photos, dio type photos and try to showcase my collection. I hope to post something decent at least once a week.