Does anyone collect these? I remember playing with them and figuring out why Golobulus left his people behind and the earth instead of reconquering it like he said?

Some people do. Everyone I knew considered Cobra-La to be "Jumping the Shark" and decided Joe had become too far-fetched. I hung on and still bought some stuff, but I was pretty much done too.

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The ME Nemisis Enforcer and Pythona figures are worth collecting to me, but I just use them in a different reality in my own Joe-verse.

I don't mind the concept, but yeah, it was a bit of a "jump the shark" idea to have this group be the reason for Cobra and so far removed the organization from their comic book origin. Up until that point, the cartoon and the comics could have more or less been in the same universe.
I think The Movie would have done well to have made Cobra-La a threat to Earth as in an alien invasion where both Joe and Cobra forces would have had to both fight them, possibly joining sides.
I really do like the characters and their organic way of life (damn hippies!), just not too crazy in the way they were presented.

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The movie presented some amazing animation, but the storyline was pushing it. The figures proved to be so horrifically unpopular that according to some reliable reports I've heard, Golobulus was regularly referred to, and not in a flattering way, as the "G.I. Joe Plant Spike" by Hasbro personnel. I remember seeing Cobra-La three-packs being clearanced for $2.00 at one point.

Unfortunately, the massive unpopularity of the concept resulted in two items being killed off that were intended for release in 1988. One of these was a vehicle called the Insecticycle. I saw drawings of it at the 1993 G.I. Joe Convention. If you picture a vehicle that's equal parts motorcycle, armadillo, and cockroach, you've about got it.

The other item, sadly, was Pythona. She would've been the main female figure in 1988.

As far as I'm concerned, the biggest blunder Hasbro made with Cobra-La was this -- the three-pack should've included Golobulus, Nemesis Enforcer, and Pythona, who was clearly the most prominent and dynamic Cobra-La character, while the Cobra-La Royal Guard should've been individually carded as an army-builder.

I think some people have tried to army-build the Royal Guard a bit. I have, I think, five or six of them myself. And I am very pleased that the modern line has given us, first of all, a Nemesis Enforcer that looks like the one in the movie, and despite a too-slender build relative to the original figures, at least is of a proper size. And of course I am truly delighted that the Club finally brought us Pythona, even in the modern format, although traditional would've been better, but I'm sure that was impossible. (Hey, at least we got Big Lob in the traditional).

I believe that the movie is a little better respected these days, and certainly I believe that many if not most of the fans out there would agree that Big Lob and especially Pythona deserved their figures, and Nemesis Enforcer deserved a better one. And we did finally get them.

The concept needed a little polishing to me. I have the COBRA - La personell as part of COBRA's genetics program with The Venom troops (Golobulus, Pythona, Nem. Enf. and the Scientist who impersonated CC and was turned into a lizard man are working with Dr. Venom, Ven. Maximus, Razorclaw, C. Crusher and friends)( The Cobra La Royal guards are just Venom troops who were spliced with Insects)

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Nothing unfortunate about that.

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Since my 'verse is an 'All-in-One', Golobulus and his peeps are a rogue division of Marvel's Deviants, split off from General Kro's forces to retake the surface world before Kro thinks they're ready. Tying them to COBRA Cmdr's origin is obvious hogwash nonsense and I relegate it to a delusion he suffered as part of being a victim of Golly's 'Deviantizing' experiments.

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Audio clips at 3D Joes of former Hasbro executive Kirk Bozigian reveal that Cobra-La was forced onto the GI JOE toy team and none of them were crazy about it. The cartoon producer love the concept and he was friends with the head of Hasbro, and he was also head of their then marketing firm, Griffin-Bacall. (And it all goes back to Buzz Dixon trying to explain Serpentor's existence when Hasbro dumped the Cobra Emperor on the scene.)

Word is that Nullifier was meant to be the insecticycle driver. He does have an odd look, though it's not as organic as the 1987 figures.

Of the Hasbro art designs for Pythona I've seen, none match the movie design. I wondered if they'd have Baroness'ed her. How Baroness was made with her now-definitive 1984 look by Hasbro, not her original blue uniform.

Didn't that become Darklon's Evader?

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[quote="alleyviperelite]

Didn't that become Darklon's Evader?[/quote]
Could you be thinking of this?
http://www.joecustoms.com/customs/custo ... secticycle

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...I love ARAH

The ridiculous creativity of yesteryear is missed.

...I love ARAH

The ridiculous creativity of yesteryear is missed.

That is a picture of the official Insecticycle artwork. As for the Evader being derived from it, it's possible, but I think it would've needed a lot of work between one and the other.

That'd explain it. I did sort of wonder where it came from.



Where have you seen Hasbro art designs for Pythona?

5 concepts of her here.
The Pythona that almost was

Various Kirk Bozigian sound clips here:
Kirk Bozigian at 3DJoes

All are worth a listen, IMHO.