I think this may be a first—a Cobra Skystriker. Seriously—I can’t recall of another instance in any G.I. Joe mythos where the signature F-14 Tomcat was repurposed by Cobra as part of their Air Corps. When it was announced at the G.I. Joe Collector’s Convention, the switch made sense for a couple of reasons. First, it allowed Hasbro to use existing tooling to produce an exclusive set that otherwise might not have seen the light of day. Secondly, it was unique—a Skystriker deco’ed in a Cobra-themed motif might not work on retail shelves but as a con exclusive it made perfect sense.

There’s no point in talking about the Skystriker frame that functions as the Scythe’s air frame. We’ve seen it before—first at retail, then at the SDCC as both Starscream and Jetfire, and then again at Joe Con as a Night Boomer. Honestly, this is the first of TWO more Skystriker reissues to hit retail this year and I’m just going to say it—I’m tired of the Skystriker. While the 2011 issue of the jet was a nice bit of nostalgia, it’s been done to death. (I won’t even go into the fact that the wing/landing gear mechanism is still unchanged from the original 1983 release which requires a lot of shelf space to display it with the gear down.) While it is a nice update to the vintage jet, I honestly hope that 2015 is the swan song of this particular vehicle.

The real selling point of the Cobra Scythe is its serpentine color scheme. The best way to describe it is to imagine a silver F-14 Tomcat that has been enveloped by the classic Cobra sigil. The deco for the head is found along either side of the nose and the fanned hood pattern adorns the upper surface of the jet. It’s an impressive design that is both incredibly stylish and immediately recognizable as an element of Cobra. To the designer of this particular set I say “Bravo!” Job well done!

The only downside is that there are a myriad of decals that need to be placed on the jet. In addition to the usual plethora of "NO STEP" decals, there are several larger ones that provide some of the more stylish details found on the wings and undercarriage. In some instances, the instructions call for decals to be placed on top of other decals-- something that seems a bit excessive, especially in light of how sharp the overall paint deco is.

Does the Scythe have a place in the collections of Joe fans? Skystriker fans are going to flip for this particular aircraft because of the unique color scheme and paint deco. Crimson Guard aficionados may want to snag one for their Crimson Air Corps. However, more casual fans might not be quite as enamored by what is a straight repaint of the signature G.I. Joe fighter jet from the 1980’s—especially with another version slated to hit Toys R Us in the Silent Strike pack piloted by Ace.