Cobra Ninja Trooper (2004)

Cobra Ninja Trooper (2004)I love ninjas. They’re wonderful in movies, even more fun in the GI Joe mythos, and fascinating from a historical context. By the way,  am I using the correct plural form of the word? Is the multiple of ninja still ninja or ninjas? Someone please research this and get back to us. I’m sure the community is wondering.

Part of an army builder two-pack with a fairly snazzy repaint of the era’s Night Creeper, the Ninja Trooper is itself an homage to the mail-in Ninja Viper. I’ve had a soft spot for that particular teal terror since the 90s. What’s not to like about a version one Storm Shadow redeco? As such, I army built the heck out of this guy when I saw it. Probably not the wisest decision, but a dozen of them lined up looks pretty neat.

Strangely enough, the primary military specialty of the trooper is mercenary, with ninja coming in second. I suppose this stands to reason, as the file card explains that the corps is recruited from the basic Cobra Neo-Viper ranks. I always wondered how Cobra managed to find so gosh-darn many existing ninjas. They must have been thick as flies back in the 1980s. By 2004, the fad must have passed, and they had to create their own.

The mold itself was interesting to me because the Storm Shadow on which it was based was one of the initial relaunch figures that weren’t given an o-ring refit. Maybe I should break out the red and white paint and make up my own. I certainly have enough extras to try.

Cobra Ninja Trooper (2004)

6 comments

  • Great colour scheme on him.
    A couple of years ago, i found the Stig Mospeeda [Thats Scott Bernard from Robotech for the people in the west] 1/12 bike kit and i had to mix up that same tone of green/aqua as Games workshop didnt have one at the time.

  • He even came with the same blades as that Storm Shadow. Give him the ’89 Snake Eyes uzi that came with his pack mate the Night Creeper, and you have the full compliment.

  • In the IDW run, the Hard Master still lives and he stated the plural off a ninja is ninja. That’s definitive enough for me!

  • The mask on this guy seems looser than the usual ninja headwear. He’s a neat figure that seems to be much more available than the ’92 mail-away.

  • Odd they designated him Mecenary, when Ninja Troopers are the Cobra ninjas that are NOT mercenaries, but recruited and trained from Viper ranks. Maybe they mean Cobra hires these guys out as mercs?

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