Pursuit of Cobra Beachhead review
By Loran
Hey look, a Joe I forgot to review!
Beachhead is a character I’ve always had mixed feelings about. I don’t hold him in the contempt I do for Duke, but I always felt that he could never stand up to Stalker as the team’s #1 Ranger. Maybe it’s because of my distaste for the Sunbow cartoon (of which he was rather overused) or my preference for Stalker’s backstory in the comics, but Beachhead just never did it for me. Regardless, I know an important character when I see one, and I always try to keep them active in my collection.
Too bad most of his figures up until now kinda sucked.
Released in the first wave of Pursuit of Cobra figures as a part of the City Strike assortment, Beachhead is one of the few figures that didn’t need any cosmetic changes. While some like Duke got a new head to move away from the movie likeness, others like Ripcord had to be made into entirely new characters. Being an offscreen character that wears a mask, Beachhead ran into no such problems. I’m glad, too, since the one we got with the Snarler Cycle during Rise of Cobra was really lame, and made even lamer when placed against the AMAZING Airborne repaint he came with.
Beachhead’s base figure very much has the “five minutes into the future” aspect that Pursuit of Cobra was going for. He’s actually one of the few vest-wearing figures I’ve seen that looks good without it. With a few more paint applications, he’d be able to stand well enough on his own.
One issue I have with the base figure is this weird… meter thing on his leg. I’m not sure what exactly it is, but it’s more trouble than it’s worth. It always pops out and won’t stay at all if you try to bend his knees. Maybe it’s like the bombs the Predators use whenever everything goes wrong, so like if he gets stuck behind Cobra lines he can blow himself up? I dunno. Continue reading