Monday, December 15, 2025

Action Figure Review: Cobra Desert Scorpion & SKRP10N-25 from G.I. Joe: Classified Series by Hasbro

 

   More G.I. Joe: Classified Series figures? Yup. More G.I. Joe: Classified Series figures. I've been looking at a bunch of 2-packs lately and today we're getting another one: Cobra Desert Scorpion & SKRP10N-25. Desert Scorpion was originally a 1991 release in the vintage line and is a character I never owned as a kid. Heck, I've never owned any Desert Scorpion until now. I didn't have a lot of 1991 figures as a kid (only five of them) as I was pretty much just obsessed with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles during that time. I remember Desert Scorpion and always thought he was a cool looking figure so I'm very glad that this troop builder has shown up in the Classified Series. And the simple plastic scorpion the original figure came with? Well, it's been upsized into a massive mutant creation. This is pretty cool stuff and I'm glad to have some more desert troops. There were Desert Vipers in the G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra line, desert Cobra operatives in the 25th Anniversary Extreme Conditions set, and five different Sand Vipers in the Spy Troops and Valor Vs. Venom eras. The Desert Scorpion? He was the first Cobra desert specialist, though. Let's take a look at the Desert Scorpion and his bio-engineered pal, SKRP10N-25, after the break...





The Facts: Desert Scorpion

Height: 6 3/8ths inches

Articulation: Swivel/ hinge ankles, boot swivels, double hinged knees, swivel thighs, balljointed drop down hips, balljointed waist, hinged mid-torso, butterfly pecs, swivel/hinge shoulders, bicep swivels, double hinged elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, balljointed neck base, and a barbell jointed head.

Accessories: 2 swappable faceplates, backpack, tube, prod staff, rifle, magazine, grappling gun, 2 digging claws, cloak, 2 knives, thigh pad, and sheathe. 







The Facts: SKRP10N-25

Length: About 6 inches long

Articulation: 5 balljointed tail segments, balljointed "thighs" (x8), swivel/hinge "knees" (x8), balljointed shoulders, balljointed pedipalps, and balljointed pincers. 

Accessories: None

Non-Scalper Price: $47-$48 dollars




The Positives:

* I'm loving the yellow, tan, and black color scheme of Desert Scorpion. Overall, most of the vintage Cobra troop designs have held up extremely well and Desert Scorpion. This guy is fairly sleek, lightly armored, and ready to launch quick raids in the desert and other hot and dry environments. His shirt has a pretty interesting texture on the sides and looks like it has lots of sand wedged into the textured crevices. His armored chest piece also looks a bit dusty with and impressive stitched leather look. He's clad simply with light armor in some very specific areas, allowing to attack and disappear back into the desert. Interestingly, the vintage file card mentioned that being demoted to a Desert Scorpion is a punishment for Vipers who fail to follow orders and who lack motivation. 






* The mask and helmet combo is incredibly cool. The front of the mask is a swappable faceplate and it reminds me a bit of Snake Eyes' mask; it's armored with a respirator like look to filter out sand and particles, some massive goggles for protection and perhaps vision enhancement, and a small antennae for communications. There's also a brim on the brow to help protect Desert Scorpion's vision from the sun overhead. Nifty!





* There's actually a soft goods skirt on the back of Desert Scorpion's helmet which offers protection for the back of his neck from the sun. Smart choice! I wish Dusty had included a soft goods skirt on his helmet, too. 

* The second face plate shows an unmasked Desert Scorpion. He has a very tan, almost bronze, skin tone, and a dark beard and mustache. It also looks like he has a bit of a scar on his right eye. While the Desert Scorpions have always been troop builders, this definitely seems to be a specific troop. Perhaps he's the leader of the Desert Scorpions, a man native to a desert region and who is responsible for turning some washout Vipers into competent warriors who will thrive in such a harsh environment. 







* Another new feature on this figure is the presence of a cloak, helpful for a disguise during the day and for staying warm during cold desert nights. It's a soft goods piece that goes around his neck (it has a scarf-like set of wraps, you just pop off the head) and is made from a decent material with a tattered bottom hem. 










* The Desert Scorpion is sporting a Cobra logo tattoo on his right bicep and is also geared up with some impressive gloves with forearm plates to protect him from close combat blows or perhaps even from SKRP10N-25. I imagine there's not a lot of comradery between these guys and their scorpions.  









* Besides removable padding on his hips, the Desert Scorpion also has armored plates on his shins that match his forearm guards. Useful so you don't hit your shin or from protecting you from the deadly bites of venomous wildlife in the desert. 









* Two of Desert Scorpion's weapons are reused from the Alley Viper. First up is the classic bullpup Alley Viper carbine. That was one of my favorite weapons in the vintage line and I really do like the Classified Series sculpt. It doesn't work well with every Classified Series figure due to how the magazine sits, but I didn't have any problems with Desert Scorpion holding it. 







* The magazine is removable, so you can have your Desert Scorpion reload in the heat of battle if you desire.





* The second reused weapon from the Alley Viper is the grappling gun. I imagine it's used for scaling buildings in towns and cities or for scaling mountains regions, so it doesn't seem like a stretch to include with the Desert Scorpion.



* Not only does it still have the removable grappling hook projectile but Hasbro went ahead and attached a string to it so it's ready to actually be used. Well, for play and picture taking. You can't really launch it or anything. But you knew that already.








* Two knives are included. I don't recognize them, so I think they might be new sculpts. They're cool with a serrated edge, an interesting shape, and a detailed grip on the handle. No silver paint for the blade but perhaps that's intentional? Maybe the blades are coated so they don't reflect sunlight and give away the Desert Scorpion's position. 










* Both knives have sheathes where they can conveniently be stored. One is around the Desert Scorpion's back while the other is a small sheath attached to the pads on his right thigh.  






* The Desert Scorpion's got claws! Wait, is this yet another Wolverine variant? Nope. On the vintage figure these were listed as digger devices, and I'm wondering if these are intended to be some sort of device that's both a weapon and a tool for digging. Since these guys seem to use the tactics of scorpions in their combat methods, perhaps they sometimes dig into the sand for both shade and heat and also to lie in wait to ambush caravans and convoys. They fit on him easily and can be sophisticated gear or just claws, because why not? Who doesn't love claws?





* The Desert Scorpion's "prod" looks to be a boat hook that has been outfitted with a crude electrical device, thus turning it into a makeshift cattle prod for use with the giant bio-engineered scorpion. There are quite a few paint details on the accessory (the wires, battery, hook tip, and bottom handle) and there's an interesting curve at the bottom of the handle. The RoC Desert Viper came with a boat hook (which I presume was used as a pike), so I wonder if that's where the inspiration for this accessory came from?





* Desert Scorpion comes with an interesting backpack that seems to blend a traditional light storage back (the brown part) with something more technological, almost like a backpack radio. There might be a bit of communications equipment here as some dials are visible, but the pack mostly seems to be for housing the movable scanning device with a mounted gun. The vintage figure had something similar, though with a missile attached. The cord that is attached is removable. It looks like an antenna but it actually connects to the Desert Scorpions helmet and visor. What are the red cylinders on the back? I'm assuming they're smoke grenades.




* Here's the scanner with a small gun barrel underneath. It's on an articulated arm with two hinges and a balljoint for the scanner/ gun combo. What do you think it does? I imagine it feeds right to the Desert Scorpion's vision, allowing them to have an incredibly enhanced idea of what's going on around them. Maybe it's constantly scanning when they're wearing the device and when it notices something unusual, it alerts the troop, allowing them to connect to the scanner's feed and see what's happening, used enhanced optics, and even fire at the target. 






* Here's where the cord on the backpack (which is removable) attaches to the Desert Scorpion's visor and helmet. It's a bit finicky, but it does stay on when you have it on display.












* There isn't a place to store all of the gear the figure comes with but you can carry the prod on the right side via a clasp that will hold it in place.









* I'm going to come back to a few things about Desert Scorpion in a minute but, for now, let's take a look at SKRP10N-25. This is a bio-engineered Cobra scorpion and it's insanely large. It's as large as Desert Scorpion himself! How crazy! This is a really impressive figure and I'm quite surprised Hasbro went all out here considering I can't think of much else they could use this for. Maybe for an Adventure Team subline or something in the future?




* SKRP10N-25 is a creepy looking critter. Those (multiple) green eyes and the teeth on the front certainly give me the heebie-jeebies. I'm not even really that creeped out by scorpions usually, but this guy is disturbing. He's pretty realistic looking and looks like a scale model of some of the worlds largest scorpions.






* Check out that articulated tail and stinger! The tail has five balljoints, some excellent spiky textures, and one heck of a stinger.











* Flip him over and you can see that this guy looks pretty accurate to a real scorpion. Seriously, compare it! Not bad for a bio-engineered scorpion named SKRP10N-25.










* His claws are ready for a battle. I wonder if this guy would be tasty, like a lobster or a crab? Imagine the Joe team taking this thing out and then Roadblock cooks him up for everyone. 





* The pincer is on a balljoint so you can not only open and close it but you can also move it around, too.







* There are four legs on each side (so eight total) and they each have a balljoint at the base and a swivel/hinge joint in the middle. They don't really keep SKRP10N-25 up, but since he basically rests on his stomach you don't really notice. The main body is fairly heavy.








* I'm not sure how to really gauge how poseable a giant bio-engineered scorpion is, but I think this one is pretty good. There are plenty of balljoints, everything is really sturdy, and it seems like you can easily have SKRP10N-25 battle any figures you want. He can take some great and menacing battle poses.








* Desert Scorpion is also quite well articulated. The joints are mostly all quite good and there aren't really any surprises here. He takes two-handed firing poses and battle poses well. 

The Negatives:

* My only problem is that the torso hinge seems a bit loose and the hips are a bit too tight. I figure it's worth mentioning as usually I don't have any problems with figures from the Classified Series, but both of these issues did pop up. I'm not too worried about breakage or anything; it just makes the figure feel off in a way most others in the line don't. 






* The backpack is really cool; it's just a shame that it tends to come off so easily. It feels to me like the peg isn't long enough to really stay securely in place, especially since the peg has to go through his armor and into his back. 
 Like everyone else, I'm not loving the new higher prices on action figures, and on some toylines I can really feel how the higher prices make the figures feel like you're not getting your money's worth. If any line is trying to cram as much in as possible right now, though, it is the Classified Series. Desert Scorpion is loaded with extras, has some really impressive paint applications (the sand in the crevices of his outfit and the stitching on his leather armor), and comes with a massive scorpion. There's a ton of fun to be had here. I do wish the engineering for the backpack peg and the lower part of the body were just a bit better, but there's still so much coolness here that it's tough to get too hung up on it. This is a Great and a 1/2 set and one that definitely should feel unlike much else in our collection.

These are the first figures of Desert Scorpion and SKRP10N-25 that I've reviewed. For more G.I. Joe: Classified Series reviews check out the following:
Destro  
Flint  









Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

What'chu talkin' 'bout?

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)