Heavy Water (2003)

New Cobra troopers are always welcome in my collection. Going beyond the regular blueshirts was exciting to me as a kid, whether they were generic troops or named characters. The Eels and Snow Serpents were the first specific duty troops that got me hooked on Cobra’s increasing diversity. Later in the 80’s, it seemed like Cobra had a new specialist or personality to counter almost any of the GI Joe team. The Heavy Water troopers are an offshoot of the Toxo Vipers, and appear to be much better equipped than the infamous “Leaky Suit Brigade.”

Heavy Water is a pretty intricate figure in terms of its attachments, even for the 2000’s line. The backpack with hoses and the chest piece all plug into the figure’s body. Sometimes this sort of thing works poorly, and cuts down on articulation, but not in this case. Often plug-in hoses can have a tendency to slip out, but these don’t.

The figure features the stylized comic book design that was so prominent, particularly in the Cobras, during the 2000’s. Many of the figures of the era look like they could have been Spider-Man or Iron Man villains, especially this guy. I don’t begrudge it and I enjoy the fact that the line was branching out and taking some chances in terms of design.

Heavy Water also has separated trigger fingers on both hands, something I didn’t remember about the figure until I dug it out again. While they’re common now, I can’t recall too many of this era with this extra detail. The mold got one step cooler when the Collectors Club later issued a repaint featuring glow in the dark details.

12 comments

  • I bought the Collectors Club one at Joe Con last year. It is awesome.

    It should be noted my collection doesn’t really go beyond 1994, so this is quite an exception.

  • This is hands down one of my favorite Cobras from that era of the Joe line. The design was solid, it was a new trooper but a natural outgrowth of an old Cobra specialty and the gear looked cool on him but didn’t hamper his functionality. Add in the cool filecard quote and characterization (something I appreciate and listing their motto as RADIATION IS OUR FRIEND, CARELESSNESS WITH SHIELDING IS OUR ENEMY, which made me smirk when I first read it) and you’ve got a character that really hit well on all cylinders, at least in my book.

  • This is one trooper I would love to add to my collection. I find the harpoon gun (the same as the one from Depth Charge) to be an odd accessory choice for a HAZMAT trooper like this guy. It’s funny, I think I have the black Ambush pistol he came with–if anyone’s got a Heavy Water missing this item, let me know, and we’ll talk….

  • The club had a sale of the glow in the dark version late last year and I almost bought him. One of these days it’s gonna happen. He makes for a fine named character outside of the Joe line as in, say, one of Hasbro various 3 3/4 Marvel lines.

  • I picked up this guy in the two pack with HEAVY DUTY. He is definatly the better one of the set while HEAVY DUTY looks silly with those extra long legs.

  • With all the extra padding from uniform and gear details, a figure like this would really fit well with an old-school o-ring (o.s.o.?) dominant collection. The name of the figure and the pack-in figure with it kept me from taking a closer look at the time. (It is great to see the mix of figures here!)

    (A lot like a B.A.T. from almost any generation of ‘Joe looks right in any mix since it is a robot.)

  • Hmmm, are we getting a snow-themed figure tonight?

  • This is a great looking trooper figure–lots of detail, good sculpting, cool hoses and backpack, interesting colors, even a GITD variant! A real highlight of the era, I wish I had picked one up when they were on the pegs.

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  • Very odd figure but was a favourite at the time. Should have been a deep dive trooper especially with the underwater gun rather than radioactive materials specialists. Should be updated in the modern line but with colours akin to the Toxo Vipers if they want to continue that link.

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