REVIEW: GI Joe: Pursuit of Cobra - Arctic Threat Destro

Arctic Threat Destro | Produced by Hasbro | Released October 2010

Destro supplies weapons to Cobra and designs highly advanced weaponry that he sells to the highest bidder. He uses a frost cannon of his own creation, of course - to flash freeze ambushed GI Joe troopers during a battle at a Cobra manufacturing plant in a remote area of Greenland.

Packaging Shots

Arctic Threat Destro

Anybody who's ever looked at the Pursuit of Cobra GI Joes on the racks in their local store will, I'm sure, have seen an Arctic Threat Destro. For some reason - be it due to over-supply or poor demand - you'll always find at least a couple of Arctic Threat Destros warming the shelves. Is it because he's a poor-quality figure? Read on and find out.

Destro is dressed in sub-zero survival gear - a bulky parka and thermal clothing over a suit of body armour. The sculpt is very good, with Destro having a lot of nice detailing, such as pockets and protective armour plates. The parka - the body of which is removable - is very nicely sculpted, with the tunic and sleeves matching without too much of a visible join and the details, such as the hood, paneling and pockets all look great.

The head is - as ever - clad in Destro's silver mask. There's a pretty hard mold join across the top, but given this is a metal mask, maybe it's intentional and supposed to represent the two halves of the mask.

Articulation is a little problematic, mainly due to the parka jerkin. His shoulders feature armoured plates that block any attempts to raise his arms outward due to the jerkin. It's rather difficult then to pose him in any kind of wide-open arms positions. The jerkin does not, however, inhibit his leg movement (it's quite flexible) so you'll have no troubles getting him to kneel or sit.

Destro's real strength is his paint job. He looks superb, with his clothing (and even his masked head) having a frosted-look, thanks to the light spray of white/grey paint and the weathering on his parka's sleeves, jerkin and shoulders. It's a simple but great-looking effect and I defy you not to feel a little chilly when you look at Destro.

Detailing on his boots, kneepads and head are all cleanly applied, too.

Extras

Arctic Threat Destro comes with some fun accessories.

As mentioned, his parka's jerkin is removable. It's a great-looking, nicely-produced piece that doesn't inhibit movement too much (except for the shoulder-pad issue) and paint is neatly applied around the hood's fur lining. There are also various plates and pads on the sculpt that really give it an interesting look.

Destro's main weapon is his frost cannon, which includes a back-mounted tank. This can be a little difficult to attach initially (the back port is just below his hood and it takes a little trial and effort to get the peg in) but once in place it's staying there. A clear plastic tube then connects to the rear of the cannon, piping the whole system in. Interestingly, there's a large button on the pack. I think the backpack can be used to store water, which can then be shot out of the tube, but I didn't try that. 

Perhaps my favourite accessories are the ice blasts he comes with.

These flexible plastic pieces can be clipped onto Destro's target when he blasts them with his ice cannon. They fit well and are painted to give the impression of being ice. They work very well and are a fun little extra.

Destro also comes with a pistol (that looks like a paint spray gun), two ice tools/axes, goggles and a hand-held boring tool. Like all Pursuit of Cobra figures, he includes his own stand.

Final Thoughts

I'd seen the online comments about the number of Arctic Threat Destros to be found in stores and held off Reviewing the toy, believing most people weren't interested. Having opened the toy and played with it for some time, I can safely say that anybody not interested in Arctic Threat Destro is doing themselves a disservice. This is actually a really good figure.

The frost effect is exceptional. Destro really looks as if he's just stepped in from sub-zero temperatures and the colouring all works well, with muted greys, black and red being used to great effect. OK, so the parka does restrict his shoulder movement a little, but it's not like he's completely immobilised because of it and the rest of his articulation is just fine.

His accessories are also very good. The ice blasts are an especially fun pair of pieces that I can imagine kids enjoying. They'd also be useful in dioramas. The ice cannon is also very cool and the tube and backpack pieces all fit together well. All his accessories fit well into his hands and there's no danger of him dropping them.

I can only assume there are so many Destros on the shelves due to Hasbro over-producing the figure. Destro is, after all, one of the main villains in the GI Joe universe and given that there's no Baroness in the line (yet, I hope) the manufacturer presumably produced a larger run to meet the demand they expected. Because after looking at Arctic Threat Destro I can safely say there's nothing at all wrong with this figure and would recommend him to anybody.

Scores

Sculpt	A
Paint	A
Articulation	B-
Production Quality	A-
Final Score	A-

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