How Is The Quality On The 97 And 98 Tru Sets?

[Cobra Command]

I have heard of issues in QC on these and was wondering what they were? I have been thinking of picking up some Infantry sets. I also like the Baroness from the Cobra Command team. I`m waiting on a Stormshadow from the Commando set to arrive. Are these good figures or what?

[JoeRhyno]

they're okay... you want them loose? I have some of them loose.

[Cobra Command]

PM sent! #US1#

[JMAN178806]

The 97 and 98 joes are pretty much what sucked me in to collecting joes. As far as quality goes, the plastic was a little flimsy, but I actually prefer most of the paint apps over what they are releasing today. I hated the swirled paint of the 2000 rereleases. And most of the vehicles from 97/98 were awesome.

[boogerviper]

The quality on about the whole series was crap. The plastic was cheap and the paint apps and colors were pretty bad.

 

The Torpedo figure however was great.

[Cobra Command]

Was the plastic brittle at all? Were they more prone to broken thumbs and crotches than Rah figures?

[JoeRhyno]

nah, the plastic is pretty soft.

[Cobra Command]

Oh ok, so they are more like todays figures right?

[Patrick A. Riley]

Here's what happened to some of mine:

 

The crotch of 97 Storm Shadow broke off easily (and he didn't get much play)

 

Snow Job's forearm ripped off just before the elbow joint

 

The back half of Gung-Ho's right shoulder joint peeled off

[Iron Snake]

The '98's are pretty good. The stuff from 1997 is pure crap tough. Bad plastic, weak joints, just overall horrible quality.

[pesatyel]

But take into consideration they all came with (or tried to) the original equipment. Even with the weak plastic, that was one of the things I really liked about those sets.

[Draven79]

Even with bad plastic they are some great figs mixed in there. Especially if you are just a display collector.

Draven

[Three Storms]

I have heard of issues in QC on these and was wondering what they were? I have been thinking of picking up some Infantry sets. I also like the Baroness from the Cobra Command team. I`m waiting on a Stormshadow from the Commando set to arrive. Are these good figures or what?

Plastic was weak and opaque.

 

Elbows tended to stick and were difficult on some figures to turn.

 

unpainted shoulder rivets on the 1997's

 

Sloppy paint details like cobra logos

 

Stickers to vehicles peel easily, especially the 1997's.

 

poor distribution of many, leaving some missing out on what few they did want (I wanted the camo rattler ).

 

an over-whelming "WTF" look on the faces of a lot of people expecting the advertised V.2 Snake Eyes and V.1 Destro and Cobra Commander only to get worst versions.

 

 

Overall they look like bootlegs, especially the 1997's

[Cobra Command]

Yikes!

[flint069]

As said above, if you display your Joes they look nice, for the most part.

 

Gung-Ho is my fav of the bunch. Lady Jaye, Baroness, Snow Job, Thunder, Vypra, and polar Firefly are standouts.

 

Duke has brown hair...blech. The Stars and Stripes set is junk. The set looks cool on the box but you you don't get that. The vehicles were cool except for the stickers. They were made of paper. So cleaning them ruins the stickers.

[thoughtcrime]

I quite liked the '98s. I missed out on the '97s but the '98s started me on collecting Joes.

[Jack]

That Stars and Stripe set and the Commando set kept me from buying any 97 stuff. I saw the protos in a magazine that showed the V2 SE in the Commando set and Flash in the S&S set and what they gave us made me vomit. It left a bad taste in my mouth that finally went away when I saw the Oktober Guard and the Viper packs.

[Toiletmonkey1]

Even with bad plastic they are some great figs mixed in there. Especially if you are just a display collector.

Draven

I agree! but i thought they were pretty playable too! inspite of thier flaws i love em'

 

 

TM

[joeseller]

i don't know if it was just mine, but all of my 97 and 98 figures' o-rings broke a week or two after having them. i had to put in new ones, and all they did was sit in a display case.

 

overall, the 98 figures were good in concept, but the execution was off.

[robot_sonic]

The '97 figures can be hit and miss. While many have had QC issues with figures from that year, I have not. My '97's have stayed together and don't feature the poor paint apps that others have found. The '97 vehicles are garbage, though. They tend to fall apart and just feel inferior to the earlier versions. I'd avoid these, but would go after some of the figures as they are quite nice.

 

The '98's are a marked improvement over the '97's and are really close in quality to the '00 ARAHC figures. Those figures have less QC issues overall and have stood up really well. The vehicles were a bit better, but still nothing to get excited over. I have a decent cadre of infantry troops and still consider them to be the best release of the Viper mold that Hasbro has ever offered us. The colors and accessories just made that set the best army builder ever offered. (Plus, it was pretty easy to get as Hasbro released them in 3 separate production runs in Winter of '98, Summer of '99 and again in Winter of '99. So, you had lots of chances to get them.)

 

Personally, I would definitely go after a few of these figures. While the comic packs have rendered a lot of the '97 Stars and Stripes figures moot, there are still other versions of molds that were released then and especially in '98 that have never been improved upon.

[Guest McBragg]

The only vehicle I got that entirely sucked was the Slugger. won't stay snapped together. the 1997 figures ive gotten were hit and miss for sure. cobra commander shoulders pretty much crumbled until the arm fell off, others had cracks. some were fine. some had very hard to move swivel arms and shoulders. really sad these should've been great.

 

1998 was better, but from what i read and saw dumb hasbro made twice as many oktober guard and navy seal sets as the cobra packs. the oktober guard set with the ugly volga was a peg warmer into the year 2000 in some Toys r us stores.

[Draven79]

The A10 is still my fav released RAH vehicle since 97.

Draven

[pesatyel]

i don't know if it was just mine, but all of my 97 and 98 figures' o-rings broke a week or two after having them. i had to put in new ones, and all they did was sit in a display case.

That was pretty funny. I had a bunch of Joes and Cobras on display in "battle." A lot of the 97/98 figures had the O-rings break on them so it looked like "casualties."

[joeseller]

my rage from 97 is still in good shape.... but i will say one thing. all my 98 vehicles were pretty sound. the rattler 4wd/stinger and the conquest had, as the boxes purported, "sturdy construction for rugged play."

 

and i'm sorry, but the viper pack and the polar force were some of the best repaints since 1997, and still are.

[DPrime]

Yeah, my Cobra Command Team's o-rings broke too, but that's no biggie. Otherwise I thought the quality was fine - wish I had bought some of the Viper packs as well.