Back in September and October of 2004, McDonald’s Happy Meal promotion consisted of eight G.I. Joe Valor vs. Venom premiums. There were four action figures – Duke, Snake Eyes, Cobra Commander and Dr. Mindbender – and four vehicles. The figures were in scale with their Hasbro counterparts and were well proportioned and beautifully detailed. Oversized operating accessories were included, but could be disregarded. The four vehicles, very toy like in appearance and a sharp contrast to the exquisitely sculpted figures, were also easily ignored.

Cobra Commander came with an optional disk launching backpack, but I stuck with the cape. This needed a lot of trimming to get a better fit on the shoulders and sanding to get a thinner edge. Articulation on the figure was the basic five points. I chose to glue everything solid and filled in the hip joints. The figure was completely repainted using varying degrees of gloss paints for different parts of the uniform.

Completed in 2013.