We live in a world fueled by aggressive advertising, where magazines spray perfume in your eyes and billboards practically reach-out and strangle the cash out of you. COBRA knows this, and has begun spreading its venom through these channels as well. The future of our beloved terrorist organization will not be assured by the nefarious use of advanced nanomite technology; it will be guaranteed by stickers, shining like blood trickling from a wound, as sharp as the fangs that produced it.    

Name: "Cobra Command" Chest Emblems (for 3 3/4" Figures (Red & Silver sets))
Manufacturer: www.CobraStickers.com
Released: Late 2007
Price: See store for varying prices

Much like a kid with refridgerator magnets, I found myself wanting to stick these things on everything within sight, no matter how non-metallic the surfaces were. COBRA's message must be spread! And no silly little thing like the Law of Magnetism is going to stop us! Fortunately, magnetic-repulsion buckles under the might of the almighty sticker! Is there anything a sticker can't do? How many times has a sticky object benefitted humanity? Duct-tape, glue, that fat sticky kid you throw in front of bullies to distract them while you run away, the practical uses are endless.

Now, I'm no rocket-scientist, and if I were, I probably wouldn't be the person hired to try and solve how to mail a letter without having it, and it's contents, be mangled in-transit. But somehow, CobraStickers.com has devised a way to achieve this unheard-of feat. They don't use a bubble-mailer to ship your stickers. They don't use a carton, a tin-can, or box. They don't use a plane or a boat or a truck or a goat or a well-padded ox. That would be kind of weird anyway. They use an envelope, a long, plain envelope, as pure and snowy-white as the Canadian Rockies. CobraStickers.com is based in Canada, and for $2, they will ship your order to anywhere in the world! So how do they manage to keep your stickers straight, sharp, and secure? Included in the envelope is a large sturdy insert with colorful graphics promoting their sister-sites, their sexy partners in crime. And you know they're sexy sisters because they're bad, and all bad girls wear tight leather outfits, whips are optional. I guess one of them could be out of shape, like she hasn't seen much combat lately, and has, like, pimples and stuff, but no, I'm sticking with my sexy idea.

 

There are slight differences between the two sets, but their purpose towards our ultimate goal -- to spread our cherished Commander's image across the globe and rally ever-more troops to our cause -- is effectively fulfilled. The Red set is the dominant piece here, clad in classic Cobra-red with a transparent background. The colored-surface isn't perfectly-smooth, it has a slight texture, almost like paper, but the clear parts are smooth. Also, there's an annoying white area in the cobra's mouth that irritates detail-oriented freaks like me. Why is that there? The Silver set doesn't have that annoying white spot, and is perfectly smooth, but has some problems of it's own.

The metal color used on the Silver set is pleasantly reflective, a sharp-eyed scout could spot a figure wearing one of these decals from a mile away...with a telescope, har har. They shine like the reflective strips on those lovely orange vests emergency rescue teams like to wear, bright at certain angles, but dead dull at all others. They're also a pain to photograph, but nice to look at. For some reason, the ink/paint/fairydust used to make the silvers tended to bleed-out a little around the ribs. Many of the ribs are inadvertantly connected to each other because of this. The Red set is flawlessly-printed, making these silvers look like junk in comparison, but they are by no means unusable. No one I've shown these stickers to has had any complaints (the bugs by the window didn't say a peep!), everyone loves them (the bugs even ate a few, so I guess these are also delicious! Stamps are pretty tasty too, I hear). Only the cruelest of critics would call these flawed silver cobras "junk"...aw, shaddap.

 

So, how much stickies-faction can you expect out of these snakey little wonders? The adhesive-backing has more than enough grab to grip any surface you have in mind. Be warned though, once applied, there's no clean, easy way to remove these stickers without, at the very least, creasing or bending them. When applying the stickers, try to hold them by the edges, you're likely to leave a hazy residue if you touch the sticky part, making the clear areas less transparent, ruining the painted-on effect.

 

All the logos are pre-cut, meaning you don't need tiny scissors to meticulously snip them out. Our Commander is as wise and merciful as he is powerful. The circular cuts make them easier to handle, but they don't apply well to all surfaces, especially not wrinkled areas -- like sleeves -- which is, unfortunately, exactly the kind of place where we would want them. Our Commander also believes in building strength through adversity. These stickers don't respond well to heat. I thought maybe firing-up the hair-dryer would soften them to the point where I could conform them to the figure's undulating contours, but it doesn't work. They are best applied to flat areas, like a helmet or a Crimson Guard's chest.

What can you use these stickers for? That's up to you, they have many applications. Most notably, you can use them to replace the worn-out logos on your old figures or to add faction symbols to your customs. If you buy the larger sets, you can decorate your laptop, cell-phone, shoes, coffee-mug, dashboard, whatever! And you blasphemers out there aren't limited to only COBRA-worship, CobraStickers.com currently has about 150 different sets of stickers in-stock, covering a huge variety of G.I. Joe vehicles and playsets. Dreadnoks, Iron Grenadiers, even Tiger Force! They even have the wacky Transformers/G.I. Joe crossover logos, it's a one-stop shop for all the replacement stickers you need to refurbish all those toys you trashed as a kid. And if you want them to look ever trashier, you can also buy the "Battle Damage" set, complete with gunshots and gashes.

 90 / 100 - This is a Fantastic Idea

There are a few nit-picks I have with these stickers, mainly with not being able to apply them comfortably to wrinkled areas, but there's nothing majorly upsetting about them that would prevent me from recommending them for your general re-stickering needs. 

-DrNightmare

A few words from CobraStickers.com:

We started CS in late 2007 because we saw an opening in the market for quality pre cut reproduction GiJoe stickers. The site was launched in early 2008.

There are 4 of us involved in CS. Each member brings a different area of expertise including product design, webmaster, printing/development and customer service.

I currently handle all customer relations and orders as well as stock levels. In addition, I try to seek out original Hasbro material for the design department to use in creating our product. -RJ  

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