Crimson Guard Immortal

Well I couldn't very well put up a Joe without putting up a Cobra as well, right? To tell you the truth, looking over all the figures in my collection, for the most part I prefer Cobras, so don't be surprised if you see more snakes than Joes in this section.

When I was a kid, 1991 was a GOOD year to be a G.I. Joe fan, that was for sure. We got great new versions of Hawk, Dusty, Grunt, and Snake Eyes, four of the classics, plus a great assortment of new nasties. This guy is quite simply the nastiest. In my opinion, Desert Scorpion runs a close second, and in almost any other year, he would have carried the line on his back. But this year, there was one better bad guy, the Crimson Guard Immortal. This is quite possible one of the only cases that I can think of where the second version of the character is close to if not better than the original. The '85 version of Snake Eyes is about the only one I can think of, but this guy is an absolute beauty. If the original Crimson Guard wasn't so cool, this guy would have easily run away with the best Seigie ("CG"...Crimson Guard) rating, but as it stands, he and the original are neck and neck. Where the original CG was a somewhat brighter, regal red, this one is a deep, dark, nasty blood-red which betrays his evil nature. In my world, these boys are the last line of defense between Cobra Commander and the rest of the world. Yes, occasionally they get sent on missions, usually as shock troops, but most of the time, the Commander's life lies squarely in their hands.

Unlike Downtown I liked these boys the moment I set eyes on them. From their silver embossed Cobra emblem on their head, to their wickid silver goggles and mean black facemask, they just eminate lethal energies, and are truly legions of the nameless and the soulless. Then we get to the silver body armor. Not mere kevlar, but a metallic armor of a sort, either for bullet-stopping for the Commander, or to protect the CGI's as they storm an unsuspecting army base, I can see the sparks flying as these boys simply wade through enemy fire, blasting away. As a kid, I loved these guys so much, that in one of my little adventures, they actually assassinated General Hawk! Of course, he was better by the next battle, but these Immortals were the key to Cobra's major defeat against the Joe team.

The detailing on these figures is quite simply superb. It is simple, and yet elegant, showing a regal authority and rugged toughness at the same time. From the pair of molded Cobra sigils to the assorted knives, straps and grenades, the whole CGI package is a great one, both in a kid's mindset and an older collector's mindset. The colors are perfect, even the silver works, despite its brightness.
But, unfortunately, there is a downside to this wonderful sample of GI Joe greatness...his weapons. They just did not work for me. Little hand held rocket launchers just seemed a useless weapon either as a bodyguard or as a shocktroop. As a bodyguard, they took the chance of taking out the person they were protecting, and as a shock troop, close quarter combat was pretty much out of the picture with missiles flying around. Myself, I preferred to equip them with the original Snow Serpent's AK-47, which unfortunately, over the passage of time has been lost. I really couldn't find another gun that suited them as well, but some replacements were dug up which do suffice. I believe the weapon in the picture was the rifle that came with the Sky Patrol version of Airborne and works very well as a heavy assault rifle. Great for protecting his majesty, and perfect for swift and ruthless close quarter combat assaults.

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