G.I. Joe Pursuit of Cobra Wolf Hound

Let us visit the Arctics in this 2-part pic review of some G.I. Joe Pursuit of Cobra Arctic Threat Mission toys!

With the Pursuit of Cobra line, Hasbro has chosen to divide the toys into different missions which showcase different locations. I’ve seen 4 different missions so far: City Strike, Desert Battle, Jungle Assault and the one we’re taking a look at today, Arctic Threat. The Arctic Threat’s mission is, according to the packaging, as follows: ” The G.I. Joe Team breaks into a Cobra Base that’s hiding powerful new technology! ” Pretty simple right? I personally like it, it gives kids (and adults) a starting point for play. We got the Joe vehicle Wolf Hound (with White Out) for the first installment, then we get to Destro and Snow Job for the second one.

On to the Wolf Hound pic review!

Let’s start off with the Wolf Hound’s box. The front shows some dynamic artwork of the Wolf Hound on the attack and blasting some missiles. You also get a peek at the bonus White Out figure. The back shows the actual Wolf Hound toy in an icy diorama scene, while showing the vehicle’s features. You don’t get to see what’s inside the box itself, as the vehicle itself needs assembly. White Out’s I.D. card can be found in the bottom side of the box.

My thoughts on the packaging: I like it! The dynamic art and the diorama pic can start off any kid’s (and some adults) imagination. I remember when I was a kid, I would always look at the packaging of my Joes over and over and over again. I loved looking at the artwork and I loved seeing what other toys they had available. If I were to add anything to the Wolf Hound’s packaging, I would’ve tried to advertise other toys from the Arctic Threat Mission, like Snow Job and Destro.

Assembly of the Wolf Hound is pretty basic, there’s an instruction handout, and everything pretty much attaches easily. The only problem I had was attaching the missile launcher to it’s base. The illustration had it the other way around, and it confused me for a couple of minutes. On the other side of the instructions is a guide on where to put the included stickers. The assembly and stickering, while pretty basic, is a nice touch, it provides some great interaction with the toy. It feels like you’re building the thing, and you’ll be rewarded by the finished product. I can imagine kids will enjoy this part, I know I have fond memories of stickering my toys in the good old days.

The Wolf Hound really resembles the old 1985 Snow Cat Joe vehicle. I’m kinda curious as to why they didn’t just call this by that name, it looks almost exactly like the old vehicle, and it even has that Snow Cat label on it’s side. I’m assuming it’s a slightly modernized design of the old Snow Cat, but from the pics I saw online of the old one it looks pretty close!

I’m not an expert on military vehicles, but the vehicle design does look cool and believable. You got a missile launcher in the back, you slide the small switch on the top of it, and all four missiles will launch, one after the other. You also got two rockets on skis on both sides, no launching features there, just slide them away yourself!

The two front wheels are free-rolling, but the back treads are stationary though. They just have two tiny wheels underneath that let you roll the vehicle around. This was the only disappointment I had with the Wolf Hound. I’m not sure if it was a costing issue, but I sure wish they had found a way to include working treads. It just feels weird that I’m rolling the Wolf Hound around and back treads are slightly raised and not moving.

The windshield wiper is movable and the canopy also raises so you can get the White Out figure in the driver’s seat! Also the steering wheel moves up and down (it doesn’t rotate though).

The old Snow Cat’s driver was Frostbite. With the Wolf Hound, you get White Out. He’s a fairly generic Arctic Joe figure. I’m sure the body has been used before, either in the Rise of Cobra or the 25th Anniversary line, but hey, he is a bonus figure, and I’m glad the vehicle came with a driver! You can see from the pics his legs are kinda funky, moving away from each other. As far as sitting in the vehicle, you just have to adjust his legs the right way and he’ll fit right in. You can pose him with one hand on the wheel and the other on the shift stick, or he can drive “Look Ma, no hands!” style.

There are a couple of foot pegs on the sides and on the back for those extra Joes who want to hitch a ride on the Wolf Hound. There’s also the passenger side for those who like riding shotgun (why didn’t I take a pic of that…).

Not a lot of paint applications on this baby, everything’s pretty much casted in colored plastic. The white parts are casted with some scattered grey streaks to act as camouflage. The stickers/labels do make the Wolf Hound look better. I love the little “Caution” labels and part descriptions, they make the vehicle seem legit, and they break up the white and grey color scheme well. I also like that the missiles and rockets are colored yellow, they provide some nice yellow accents to the almost monochromatic color of the vehicle’s body.

Getting off the vehicle is probably not that easy, White Out’s trying to figure the best way down!

The Wolf Hound in this review was provided by Hasbro. I haven’t seen these at Target, but I’ve seen it at Toys ‘R’ Us at the price of $24.99.