A look at the Cobra Eel from 1985 to 2024

[Train]

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Welcome to The Outpost. Today I’m taking a look at the Cobra Eel. One thing is for sure whether you are an old school Joe fan, a new fan, or middle of the road fan, the 1980s Joes were all pretty awesome. One of the coolest figures in 1985 was the Cobra Eel. We already had Torpedo from 1994 and we would soon get Wet-Suit in 1986, so having the Eel was perfect for the underwater battles. I did not have an Eel as a kid but I remember dreaming of him. I had the battle pack that came with blue swim fins, pack, and spear gun from the 1988 Cobra Battle Gear accessories pack. I still have those today and display that on my Eel. I also have a very rough looking Eel that would be what mine would look like today if I had him back in 1985 and still had him today. I like minty figures, but on the other a beat up figure holds a lot of value in my book. I think about how many hours of enjoyment someone had with this guy. He probably got tossed around, jumped into the toilet, and maybe even tried to fly over the moon, but he survived, well some of him survived and he is one tough soldier. Over the years the Eel stood strong and there was a couple updates in 1992 and 1993. I do have one each of these and they are really cool. The 1992 version has one of the coolest projectile weapons that is a shark. This would have been a cool figure to use in the cartoon and having several of these sharks to do his dirty work. Mine is missing the tail fin but is still really cool. In 2008 the 25th style Eel was a masterpiece. This is one of my all time favorite figures from all of the Joe lines. The original look plus a removable helmet and all the rest of his gear was one look I loved. I’m happy they put this guy on a single card and I was able to troop build him. There were several modern figures that were all the 2008 figure repainted. In 2009 there was a really cool 12 inch version that I was able to find one of a couple years ago. He was missing his gear but still looks awesome plus I had plenty of extra gear for him. I made up a backstory for mine where he washed up on shore and had amnesia. Law and Chuckles found him and brought him in, but he doesn’t know he is Cobra and becomes a Joe. That’s a story for another day though. Onto the new craze, 6 inch figures. The 6 inch figures have been pretty successful from what I see. I held out quite some time on pulling the trigger on this figure. He is a solid figure. I’m not sure why he along with other figures are priced so much higher, other than we as consumers are willing to pay extra for those figures. Essentially he is Torpedo with an added helmet. Don’t get me wrong he is a nice figure, just I don’t get how the pricing on these are picked. One thing I immediately thought of with having this helmet on this Eel is we will get a Wet-Suit at some point, hopefully soon. Overall the Eel has been an awesome figure over the years and I stand firmly on the 2008 as the number one Eel. Who loves the Cobra Eel? Make sure to check back next week for the next chapter at The Outpost.

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[yorktownjoe]

One of the best!!

[yorktownjoe]

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[Kal-El]

A couple other fun eels

[john shaft]

OG Cobra Eel is definitely one of the best Cobra troop builders out there. I never had an '85 version but did have several of the 25th anniversary ones. Since these are Cobra's elite sailors I always wondered what a version dressed in standard fatigues would look like? They would only be outfitted in a diving suit for missions that require insertion by that method. I imagine using the 2008 25th Para-Viper outfit (sans the military free fall gear) with some webgear since the Para-Viper is an Eel.