Support us on PATREON: / retroblasting RetroBlasting concludes its restoration of the Cobra Night Raven from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero line from Hasbro in 1986! #RetroBlasting #NightRaven #toyrestoration #Cobra #GIJoe
Someone who puts this much passion into something that brings me to the only true happy place I know. The 1980's G.I.Joe its an old passion of mine now im starting a humble collection along with my originals left over. I stumbled across the RB Back to the Future homage now I know it's here where I belong! ! Thank you sooo much
Your mini speech at the end about doing repairs yourself is something I started doing last year when I restored a broken Imperial Troop Transporter. I figured out how to take it apart and get the tiny plastic record player going again. I bought it for $8 at a yard sale, fixed it, replaced the missing stickers and broken blaster cannon, and found the two "helmets" on a Facebook forum for $5. I won't get rich off selling it, but it does work, and it's mine. I've done the same now with the Snowspeeder, an AT-AT, a B-Wing, a 1985 A-Wing, a couple of X-Wings, and at least four TIE Fighters. i'm looking forward to trying this with an imperial shuttle. My first repair ever, the busted Snowspeeder, was a pleasant surprise. Once I cracked it open and got those lights and sounds working, it was really satisfying. I highly recommend repairing these toys, it's a lot of fun, and it can add a lot of value to your collection.
Excellent build. Couple quick things. The cockpit seats are made to come out so that it is easier to put your action figure in. Also the grill on top of the gun mounted on top of the jet is actually the front air break. Excellent job on the build. You really brought the night Raven back to life. Good night Raven was always my favorite jet from G.I. Joe series. Thank you for taking the time to build this.
With the level of detail on these old G.I. Joe vehicles, it's a wonder they were even marketed to children! I wasn't into G.I. Joe back then, but I remember seeing a lot of scratched/ banged up Joe toys from neighborhood kids and school show and tell that you could tell were in the bottom of toy boxes for a while. If made today, Hasbro could easily slap the word "masterpiece" on them and they'd be right to.
When you got yours back in May, it inspired me to go out on the hunt for one. I also never had one as a child, but that's okay because now as an adult, I thank the Heavens Above that I'm able to acquire one for myself. Your gift to us as a restorer of the days of old helps us remember a simpler time when one as a child could run out side with his friend on a summer afternoon and actually PLAY without a care in the world. Thank you Michael and Melinda for all that you do.
+Durango Galvan "...a simpler time when one as a child could run out side with his friend on a summer afternoon and actually PLAY without a care in the world." WELL SAID!
I know G. I. Joe vehicle repairs aren't your thing, but it does my heart good to see an old Night Raven looking good as new. YOu were stressing me out a little bit when you tried to press the cockpit seats in, but you figured out that you can take it out to put the pilot in. You're pretty good at this stuff. Well done.
great stuff I just checked my night raven for the third tire.thankfully both are there.I would not have even known to look if I hadn't watched this.Retroblasting is always informative.
Great points, Mike. I have a few examples of these jets in my collection. Brings me back to the mid-eighties and G.I.Joe toy fun! Nice restoration and outcome!
Great clips! It helped me a lot! The sticker sight very helpful too! I want to leave pilot pit open for displaying but due to reasons. Im creating a base for the pit so placitic won’t stretch or bend. Of course keeping it close is a perfect reason. It’s all about displaying now lol
Hey Michael, great vid and loved how you retrofitted the broken landing gear. I wanted to point out that when ever I have a troubled piece to remove, I use a hair dryer on hot / high much in the fashion of an industrial heat gun. (meant to share that tip in part one). Also 2 things I noticed: the rear fins are supposed to be on the opposite sides and the lower missile pods are supposed to be fitted pointing in the opposite direction (meaning that the missiles point to the rear of the plane and not the front which you'd traditionally have it. That's so the pods are flush with the wings.
Fantastic job on the Night Raven, wish I had this one when I was a kid!!!! one of if not the best Joe/Cobra plane. Or the Cobra Rattler would be an awesome restoration if it's possible!
***** I agree, my childhood rattler landing gears have all bitten the dust, it's pretty much just a shell right now, did you ever get the 25th anniversary re-issue target ex. Rattler? I have it but it's still in the box so I have no idea how fragile it is.
Awesome serious! Loved the restore. I finally finished this trilogy.... months later. Lol. I have a pristine Night Raven with box. Awesome jet with so much detail. The squeaky plastic is music to my ears, but also nerve wrecking. Sounds as if something is about to snap! Displaying the Night Raven is always fun, but fiddling with that cockpit is very tedious and scary business. Lol. Keep the vids coming! Do more Joe if you can. 😎👍
After seeing the entire restoration process I am even more amazed at the level of detail and engineering that went into the vehicle except maybe for the design of the elevator cockpit. I don't know, it's a bit flimsy especially for a part that not only carries the weight of the cockpit and pilot, but also is constantly moving and sliding around every time you remove or place the figure. Anyway, the final product is a sleek, shiny beauty to behold. Another great job!
So glad I saw this review. You guys do great work. I recently got a Sharc and just like this Night Raven they put the decals on all the wrong places. So I just ordered new ones but was wondering about the sticker residue. Now I know to use WD 40 and knowing is half the battle!
Simply fantastic RB (::: My brother still has this great piece hidden away somewhere.. minus the missile launchers I think. I remember many-a-time sneaking into his room to play with this! I'm sure Melinda really appreciates your tlc, Michael ;p
Phew!!! Just checked mine, middle tires were on. Thankfully I was an anal retentive nerd with no life when I got this as a kid. You guys are seriously the best!!
CobraStickers is now selling through ToyHax is anyone is looking for them. Closed temporarily due to the pandemic. They also have some cool stages for displays.
Great series! Loved watching you restore such an awesome toy. One tip - those missle pods are supposed to face rearward instead of forward. I always thought it was strange, but I guess the thought was that it's a bomber, and would need to defend its six o' clock during a bomb run. Great video as usual!
+RetroBlasting I know... A rear-firing cannon and rear firing missle pods. I think it's unique, and even possibly lessens some of the playability as a kid unless you are really into pretending it's only making a bomb run LOL!
Hey Michael, great job as always. The NR is a thing of beauty. While Joe toys are notoriously fragile, the engineering when creating them has no match. This toy line is one of the best, if not the best, ever. I got to thinking, when you were manipulating the bomb bay doors I noticed the typical numbering system that Hasbro used on Joe vehicles (the M-#-# system). Have you ever explained this system in a video or has the system ever been documented for identification purposes? Have always wondered about that. Keep up the awesome videos, always looking forward to more.
If I would've seen a Night Raven in that condition from the get go, I probably would've left it alone in the box. But having access to extra good or passable parts makes any restoration possible. Fortunately I already have a vintage Night Raven in my collection and also a modern version that came out in the POC line. I do have some other restoration needs and am glad I got the information to find stickers and extra parts via Yo Joe outlet. For a minute I thought you were going to give up after breaking the landing gear mount. Great ingenuity on your part to use the metal hinge assembly for the flaps, I would've never thought of that. I am trying to restore several of my vintage vehicles..now I think I can, as long as I find what I need. Where can I find the Novis cleaners at? Again thanks for all you do. My collection has really come to life and I've been inspired to start my own channel featuring my collection, which started in 1967 officially. When I had kids of my own in the early 80s , we collected and played with the 3 3/4 line and it has been a part of all our lives still today. I never thought a badly broken toy could be brought back , until watching you tube and the GI Joe community. Thank you!
hey guys. i noticed a small slot in the rear seat. might be for the seatbelt? never had one of these, but was envious of the kids that did. Its awesome. Great job getting this masterpiece in shape. Also they usually show the drone with a B.A.T.. just incase you wanted some extra show accuracy, and two crewman. yo joe-
Great video series. I love the Cobra Night Raven. I have 2 Ravens, each with different landing gear levers. Straight and hook. I'm not sure how to keep the gear down, on the straight lever, without it falling. I just have it with little wooden blocks under the landing gear. Any ideas and recommendations would be appreciated.
Love the restoration videos. I've just begun doing some for myself but find that several GI Joe toys have noticeable discoloration beneath the decals once they're removed. Especially when they didn't put them on straight. Any recommendation on how to blend that in or is it something collectors live with? Thanks!
Nice job (as usual). Too bad about those scratches on the main fuselage; when I restored my Night Raven over the summer I spent the better part of a weekend sanding the scratches out with 5,000-8,000 grit sandpaper and fine polishing compound. Then I broke off one of the plastic tabs on the back end where the rubber cone goes...do you think epoxy will work?
Loved by Night Raven. Do you remember the alt verson that was all chromed out? On that note have you ever thought about doing a segment of GIJoe AAH's various repackaging gimmicks (Tiger Force, Night Force, Python Patrol, etc) either on the lines themselves or a discussion of them all. While they were gimmicky they did allow me to get my hands on some of the earlier waves when I was a kid.
Great to see the last part of the restoration, glad it worked out with the landing gear tires. Two remarks: 1. it may be a personal preference, but the two large stabilizer wings should be swapped -> they should be bending outwards in stead of inwards. The one with an 'X' on the inside is the left stabilizer wing. 2. it seems the lower hull has yellowed quite a bit when compared to the replacement parts like the strut/ landing gear covers and the bomb rack. You could try a Retro Bright treatment to fix this.
+hofquarters Funny about those rear wings - I used the blueprint as the assembly guide and that was the way they were supposed to be placed. I'm not going to retrobrite the hull. It's too brittle to be chemically treated. And those doors and bomb bay? They're original to the plane as well, they just didn't discolor.
+RetroBlasting Yes, I can understand you are careful with the brittle plastic, a yellowed intact piece is always better than a unyellowed broken piece ;-) You might want to check the instructions again for the stabilizer wing placement.
Look, please don't take my response as rudeness, but I just did check the instructions again (and followed them very carefully during restoration) - the original instructions from Hasbro - and they show the stabilizer wings on the sides upon which I placed them. You can see them over at yojoe dot com. Likely Hasbro printed them in error, but that doesn't help me now, does it? Now I have to buy more repro stickers and consider pulling down this video because nowhere in the online GI Joe community has this glaring error ever been discussed. As usual, RB catches these inconsistencies and continues to prove that Hasbro is just the worst.
+RetroBlasting Couldn't this just be solved with an end note about the wing placement? If Hasbro misprinted it, it's on them and not you. I think a simple explanation annotation would suffice.
Where did you find the blue prints online for sticker placement? I just purchased one and waiting for it to be delivered. Had to get one of these. My older brother and I got one as a shared gift for Christmas. As mentioned older brother so yea it was his. So 35 years later I am getting mine. I notice from the pictures stickers are not accurate and would like them to be. Any help would be appreciated and thanks for all three videos!!!
Do you guys remember a Kenner C-3PO Silver variant? I was just watching a review on the new TC-14 Droid & remembered, back in Kindergarten, I had a friend with a silver colored protocol droid, & I always thought that was the other droid walking with 3PO & R2 at the beginning of the movie...but I never saw it in stores.
This was one of my favorite toys growing up. Beautiful toy and concept, poor execution in the architecture. BTW: you don't need to remove the cockpit section to add the pilot, you put him in head first then side his feet into the leg slots. :)
That annoying red cockpit seating piece never fits into the gray base piece. It because it does not conform to the same contours as the base. There's no way around it. I was almost tempted to try and heat it up with their hot water method or if it is still too hard, to tray a heat gun to soften the red plastic just enough to snug it into the base plate more securely.
please do the Cobra Hydro foil for your next G.I. Joe restoration! I have one and the two tabs on the bottom piece are broken off (probably a common thing) and I have no idea how to fix it.
The people who created this toy were on drugs. This toy is so brittle and fragile that you can sell it only to an adult collector. Even a careful child will have a broken toy.
