Old Snake w/ Advanced Stealth B.A.T. Drones (2015 Transformers Club/GIJOE Club Joint Exclusive)

Price: $79 (in addition to membership) (U.S.)
Allegiances: Decepticon/Cobra
 

Old Snake

Color Scheme: Dull leathery tan, black, dark blue, and some silver, light fleshy pinkish tan, moderately dark dull red, and light pale blue

    I'm not used to reviewing G.I. JOE figures-- I'll leave to that to the experts who collect these figures, so in terms of an actual numerical rating I'll leave Old Snake alone and focus on his features. "Old Snake" is from a Season 3 episode of the original Transformers series, in which Cobra Commander is old and in hiding-- hence the Cobra Commander silver mask for a face, but he has an old hat and trenchcoat on. The hat and trenchcoat are pretty much perfectly colored, being just the right shade of tan to make it look it's made of leather (or at least faux leather). He's got black fingerless gloves on, with a bit of his skin color showing through, but underneath his jacket you can see a bit of Cobra Commander's uniform still there-- beyond the obvious aforementioned mask, he's got a bit of light blue underneath the collar, dark blue pants, and high black boots. As one final little "hint" as to who he is, he has red bands around his arms. He has what I assume is the standard JOE articulation, with movement at the neck, shoulders (at two points), elbows (at two points), wrist and mid-body rotation, and movement at the hips (limited because of his trenchcoat), knees (at two points), and ankles (at two points), so he's pretty poseable. As far as accessories, he comes with a small handgun which can be stored in a little pouch on the side of his trenchcoat, and a backpack which can be strapped around his shoulders and plugged into a slot on his back. However, the backpack straps seem pretty cheap-- simply trying to put it on, the straps snapped, and I wasn't stretching them that much. That was kind of a bummer. As with all Fun Pub G.I. JOE figures, he comes with a base with little pegs for the holes on his feet to plug into, with a COBRA symbol on the base along with his name on the front.


Old Snake Bio:
SEDITIOUS MASTERMIND
File Name: (CLASSIFIED)
Primary Military Specialty: Intelligence
Secondary Military Speciality: Ordnance (Experimental Weaponry and Technology)
Birthplace: (CLASSIFIED)
Grade: Commander-in-Chief
Once resigned to slither back into the shadows and live out the rest of his life coiled in quiet solitude, an encounter with four heroic Autobots-- extraterrestrial robots from the planet Cybertron-- changed Old Snake's vision of retirement. Gone was the reverie and aimlessness, cut down by the sharp return of an ambition for absolute power. With the incarceration of crime lord Victor Drath, a power vacuum in the underbelly of society gave Old Snake access to the perfect collection of condemnable and reprehensible individuals whom he could use to shape the new face of COBRA. For true muscle in the new day and age, however, he still needed something with the might to challenge any adversary, be it G.I. JOE, Earth Defense Command, or Autobot. Focusing on his expertise in experimental weapons technologies, Old Snake set about building the next COBRA army with steel plates and circuit boards rather than flesh and blood.
"Old Snake is hatred and evil wrapped up in years of bitterness and acerbity. He is not to be underestimated nor his unscrupulous tendencies underrated. Even as he advances in years, he is still one of the most dangerous men alive!" -Marissa Faireborn, EDC

 

Advanced Stealth B.A.T. Drones
Stealth B.A.T. Drones (Both Modes)
Size: Deluxe
Difficulty of Transformation: Easy
Color Scheme: Black, orangish "cheesy" yellow, and some dark red, silver, moderately dull forest green, and transparent cherry red
Individual Rating: 9.4

(NOTE: Because this is a repaint, this is not a full-blown review. This mainly covers any changes made to the mold and the color scheme, and merely compares it to Prime "Robots in Disguise" deluxe Soundwave. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of Prime the "Robots in Disguise" deluxe Soundwave figure here.)

    This set comes with two identical Prime Soundwave redecoes, which are meant to be transformable versions of COBRA B.A.T. drones, which basically look like vanilla robot drones with jet wings on their backs. Thus, the jet mode and the red paint app on the front of the nosecone looks like the faces from the "original" B.A.T. drones. As for the rest of the color scheme, it SEEMS to just be based on something that looks cool and not referencing the B.A.T. drones directly, given from what little info from the TF Wiki I've been able to glean. I could totally be wrong about that, though. Regardless, The black and orangish yellow color combo is pretty close to your "Reverse Bumblebee" redecoes in terms of the amount of each, and it's a fairly decent color scheme, though a more straightforward yellow would've looked better, methinks. It's not a huge downside, though, since most of the yellow is used on small parts or wings, so there isn't one huge area of yellow on the drones. There's also some nice DeceptiCOBRA symbols on the wings in this color. There's some silver on a few of the robot parts, like the claws and chest, which works pretty well against the black; not so much against the yellow. One oddity about the B.A.T. drones is that on their upper chest, the left side is painted yellow while the right side is painted black. Not sure what that's about; mirroring a chest strap perhaps? The best part of the drones' color schemes are the really nice paint apps of red and dull forest green on the "Nightshriek" drones that pop out of the chests. I really wish that dull forest green was used more on the toy, it's a really neat color. Another neat color is the transparent cherry red used for the "faces" in robot mode, which both mirror the paint apps on the nosecone in vehicle mode and just look cool against the black and silver.
    No mold changes have been made to the B.A.T. drones.
 


Advanced Stealth B.A.T. Bio:
STEALTH BATTLE ANDROID TROOPER
Primary Function: Espionage
Secondary Function: Assault and Target Elimination
Old Snake's first attempt to harness a strength similar to the Autobots, that he once tried to capture, resulted in varied results. The hulking robot of Old Snake's creation truly did possess brute force as well as great intelligence, however, the interference from former General Clayton "Hawk" Abernathy and the Earth Defense Command caused the loss of any semblance of control over Serpent O.R. Not willing to commit the same error again, Old Snake decided to forgo intellect in his next endeavor. Mimicking the programming from COBRA's prolific but now-outdated Battle Android Troopers, Old Snake upgraded the COBRA B.A.T. with added size as well as the ability to disguise themselves as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Although not quite the height of the Autobots, the lithe and agile Stealth B.A.T. can maneuver in ways that most of the robots from Cybertron cannot even imagine. To further aid in espionage as well as assault operations, each Stealth B.A.T. also features a detachable bat-like Nightshriek remote unit that can access small spaces and create havoc through sabotage and data breaches.
A Stealth B.A.T. has the potential to become the truly perfect soldier, with the sound of their mighty steel boots causing fear and panic wherever they march. With each attack that they commit, COBRA comes closer to regaining the greatness and glory it once possessed!

    Although this is both a GIJOE and Transformers club joint exclusive, this set appeals vastly more to JOE fans. As a Transformers fan I have basically no interest in Old Snake, and although the Stealth B.A.T. drones take a great mold and give it a better color scheme, as far as characterization they obviously have none and I had no idea what a B.A.T. drone was before this set, having not followed GIJOE. As such, unless you're desperate for more Prime Soundwave redecoes or really have an attachment to that one episode of G1 where Old Snake appears, this set is probably a pass for most TF fans.
 

Reviews by Beastbot

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