Wow! It has been over a month since I last wrote a review. That's kind of a record for me. What's the reason? Well, one, I've been insanely busy with work and have had some new opportunities along with some new challenges. August and the first week of September were wild and I didn't have the extra time to devote to current reviews. I did write some reviews, though, but you just haven't read them yet; I've been working to stay ahead of schedule for the 2026 installment of 31 Days of Toy Terror and I'm close to half way complete there. I've got so many G.I. Joe: Classified Series figures sitting on my desk waiting to be reviewed, so it's time to jump back in and check out another release that I've had since early May: Professor Rottclaw & Cobra Deinonychus. While we have had dinosaurs in G.I. Joe before, Professor Rottclaw is a new character who is obsessed with having a pet dinosaur. Professor Rottclaw (real name Crispin Kilgore) grew up in a wealthy family in Johannesburg, South Africa. While he had everything money could buy as a child, he never got what he really wanted: A pet dinosaur. After studying genetic engineering and paleontology, Dr. Rottclaw has thrown his talents in with Cobra, allowing him access to the tools to make his childhood dream come true. Now armed with a pet Deinonychus, Professor Rottclaw leads the Paleo-Vipers. Pretty wild, right? New concepts are great in G.I. Joe and this one makes a dinosaur work quite well. I thought this guy would be a huge hit but he seems to be sitting on shelves at a lot of retailers. Maybe he was overshipped? Let's check out Professor Rottclaw & his Cobra Deinonychus after the break...
The Facts: Professor Rottclaw
Height: 6 3/8ths inches
Articulation: Swivel/ hinge ankles, boot swivels, double hinged knees, swivel thighs, ball jointed drop down hips, ball jointed waist, hinged mid-torso, butterfly pecs, swivel/hinge shoulders, bicep swivels, double hinged elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, ball jointed neck base, and a barbell jointed head.
Accessories: 2 swappable portraits, whip, revolver.
The Facts: Cobra Deinonychus
Height: 4 inches, Length: 10 inches
Articulation: Swivel talons, swivel/ hinge ankles, swivel/hinge lower knee, swivel/hinge upper knee, balljointed hips, bendable tail, balljointed tail base, balljointed shoulders, swivel/hinge elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, balljointed neck base, barbell jointed head, and hinged lower jaw.
Accessories: Harness, feather attachment, head armor, and jaw armor.
Non-Scalper Price: $52 dollars
* Professor Rottclaw is wearing plenty of armor that does make him feel like a Cobra Trooper, sure, but he's also wearing bits of animal hide with a fair amount of exposed skin, also giving him the appearance of a Dreadnok. Honestly, I could see collectors placing him with either of those two factions. He's a neat character who looks well armored and should fit in with Cobra's oddballs like Croc Master, Raptor, and Crystal Ball. He's not terribly colorful but the blue armor and outfit with red and black highlights looks pretty good. The armor has lots of little scratches and scuffs in it, too, definitely telling the story of how it took some time to properly train the Deinonychus.
* The portrait is really good here, setting Professor Rottclaw apart from any other Cobra agents I'm aware of. Besides a shorter white mohawk, Rottclaw also has some unique designs across his cheeks, down his forehead, and along his brow. Does anyone know if it has been shared that Professor Rottclaw is part of a South African indigenous group like the Khoisan? Notice that he also has feathers around his collar, similar to his Deinonychus.
* Here's a look at the back, allowing you to see more of Professor Rottclaw's various bits of armor. The sash around his waist also looks like it's made from the skin of some reptile, perhaps a giant alligator or crocodile?
* Perhaps in tribute to the talon (the large, hooked claw) on the Deinonychus, Professor Rottclaw also has a long, curved bone or bone-like weapon his his right forearm. I'm presuming this is a melee weapon for when things get desperate.
* A second portrait is included which is intended to represent one of the Cobra Paleo-Vipers, a group of Cobra troopers that utilize genetically engineered dinosaurs and avoid grains and dairy products. The helmet reminds me of the Desert Scorpions and Night Creepers, though the visors look like they offer some heavily modified vision options. Kind of like night vision, thermal, and all kinds of cool stuff. It's a neat design that has some old-school flourishes, too, like the spike on top and the wrappings around the mask.
* How's the articulation? The G.I. Joe: Classified Series has been pretty consistent so it's not much of a surprise that everything works the way you'd expect. Solid joints, fairly smooth articulation, and a useful articulation model. The only complaints I have are that the large shoulder pads do prevent some upwards shoulder motion, but I kind of think the cool look is a fair trade off here for the hit in the range of motion.
* Professor Rottclaw comes armed with a Chiappa Rhino, the same revolver that Harley Quinn Uses in the 2016
Suicide Squad film. This is a coo revolver and I'm assuming Rottclaw uses it for both offense and defending himself if one of his experiments gets out of control.
* The Rhino fits easily into a holster on Professor Rottclaw's back. I'm presuming he's a lefty with that setup.
* Professor Rottclaw only comes with two weapons, the second of which is a whip. I'm guessing it used as part of training the Deinonychus? When you get action figure whips you usually get them completely unfurled, as if they're actively being cracked, or curled for wearing on a belt. This one is kind of in the middle with a loop at the end so you can wrap it around various objects, other characters, or even the Deinonychus itself.
* We've had dogs, monkeys, parrots, crocodiles, eagles, warthogs, and even rats, but now we get a dinosaur in the Classified Series! The Deinonychus is what the velociraptors in Jurassic Park were intended to be, but Michael Crichton decided he liked the name velociraptor better, so we got a Deinonychus with a different name. This guy is fantastic with a very cool, sleek design that shows bits of bird-like feathers scattered about, too. He's also sporting some unique colors around his neck and chin. The sculpt is excellent and is incredibly detailed with some excellent visual flourishes.
* The face on the Deinonychus is really creepy! This is a pretty scary looking fellow! The paintwork really makes this guy stand out, coming off as much more unusual than your average dinosaur toy. I know dinosaurs were probably much more colorful than we typically think so it's cool to see the red and white. Is this really what a Deinonychus would have looked like? Who knows, but it makes for a fantastic Cobra dinosaur companion.
* The jaw opens to reveal plenty of sharp teeth. The Deinonychus has excellent paint applications in the mouth and really looks terrifying!
* You can also upgrade the dinosaur with the addition of a helmet/ armor for the upper and lower jaws. Besides giving this guy more blades, metal teeth, and extra armor, there also seems to be some sort of device over the eyes; perhaps a specialized lens allowing the Paleo-Vipers to see what the Deinonychus sees? Or a way to control the creature, using it as a bio-weapon?
* A bridle of sorts is also able to fit over the dinosaur's neck, giving either Professor Rottclaw or one of the Paleo-Vipers some level of control. I mean, I wouldn't want to get that close and try to control a Deinonychus, but someone might.
* The feathers around the Deinonychus' neck are a separate piece, though there really isn't a reason to remove them or anything. They do make him stand out more from your standard dinosaur, as does he Cobra logo on the left hip. Yes, he gets a Cobra logo, kind of like
how Kenner branded their Jurassic Park dinosaurs so that they wouldn't be mistaken for your average, generic toy dinosaur.
* Deinonychus name comes from Ancient Greek, meaning "terrible claw," and that's certainly not a misnomer considering the hooked claws on the feet. Both of those hooked talons are articulated, allowing the Deinonychus to pin down its prey. That's pretty terrifying, so try to show a little respect, huh?
* The tail has a balljoint at the base and is bendable throughout, allowing for additional posability. There's also a plume of feathers sculpted at the tip.
* The articulation has been really impressive on all of the G.I. Joe: Classified Series animal companions and the Deinonychus is another solid effort. This is just such a fun toy and it's huge improvement over the
A Real American Hero Dino-Hunter Mission Playset dino, which was a T-Rex. This guy is excellent and has a great range of motion. The hips and shoulders could use a bit more lateral movement, but maybe that would be inaccurate to the anatomy of the Deinonychus.
* There are two loops for the whip to be stored on the back of Professor Rottclaw's belt but it's a really odd setup and I'm struggling to find any decent way to store it away. It just looks and feels quite awkward.
I really like the new concepts introduced into the Classified Series and Professor Rottclaw and the Cobra Deinonychus is one of my favorites so far. Professor Rottclaw is a solid figure, though a bit light on weapons. Still, the incredible Deinonychus makes up for that as he's kind of the main weapon himself. It's a cool design with a great color scheme and a few nice extras that you can choose to add or leave off. Professor Rottclaw makes for an interesting new Cobra weirdo and the entire set takes a wild concept and makes it feel natural to the Classified Series. This is a Great and a 1/2 set and the fact that you can currently find him on sale at a few places makes him even better.
This is the first figure of Professor Rottclaw I've reviewed on the site and the first Deinonychus that I've reviewed. For more G.I. Joe: Classified Series reviews check out the following:
Welcome back sir, you were missed. Glad to see you have remained true to your calling and dived back into Classified (was worried you'd sold out and were going to be another annoying YouTube channel).
ReplyDeleteLiking the intense look on this figure, a touch of a younger Joaquin Phoenix in that stare, though the raptor is by far the more frightening (though at least they stopped short of 'Invasion of The Bodysnatchers dog face).
Missed you, and worried if you were OK. Glad to have you back. The day doesn't shine so bright without the thoughts of ol' BBQ.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back! Always enjoy reading your reviews!
ReplyDeleteHey everyone! I really appreciate your kind comments. Yes, I am absolutely OK. I actually received a pretty significant promotion as of August 1st so there was a bit of an adjustment period. A good thing, just I was spending more free time with my family and working on some LEGO projects for a bit to decompress.
ReplyDeleteI also have been working really hard to get most of my 31 days of toy terror reviews in advance so that I'm never feeling the need in October to "have" to get a review done on time. This is really just a hobby for me but 31 days of toy terror is something I'm really eager to keep going as I love it so much and it's such a tradition at this point. From now until the end of September things might be a bit slower than usual, but largely they should be more normal than August was.
Glad you're back mate, it's been a long month without your reviews. Real life has got to come before little plastic men though 🙂
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the promotion 👍
I remember seeing this guy and thinking he was Dreadnok, and thereby being tempted to pick one up. I didn't though.
ReplyDeleteThe dinosaur helmet looks similar to the ones falconers use in their birds, that I assume stops them from getting distracted. The harness I suspect would be along the same lines, they hold the dino with the mask on, give it a smell of their prey, then remove the helmet and let it go.
Lots to observe in this guy, he looks really neat!
The helmet being like a falconer's helmet also makes sense. I don't know, it looks kind of high tech, though, and it looks like it's geared up for battle. What if the helmet has some kind of device that hijacks the dino's brain, allowing a Viper of some sort to control the creature remotely. That sounds like something Cobra would do.
ReplyDelete