When you walk into the Super7 booth (No. 1343) at this year’s New York Comic Con (NYCC), it’s impossible to miss the massive display case that houses a massive, 32-inch playset. Set up with an army of figures to create an intricate diorama, this is the Cobra Mothership.
The latest oversized playset to come from Super7, this spaceship launched yesterday as a crowdfunding project on the Super7 website. It is, according to Super7 owner and founder Brian Flynn, the second-largest G.I. Joe set to ever hit the market, beaten only by the classic U.S.S. Flagg playset from the ’80s.
“It is the mothership from the intro of the original animated series,” Flynn explains. “And part of the reason it never got made is just because it’s too damn big. And that’s exactly why we’re doing it.”
Promo photos for the Cobra Mothership | Source: Super7
Promo photos for the Cobra Mothership | Source: Super7
This set — which costs $495 and is built to scale for both Super7 ReAction Figures and vintage G.I. Joe O-Ring Figures — is the latest oversized, crowdfunded release from Super7. It is packed with features including a lowering ramp, 16 light-up thrusters, and an intricate interior. It is also a notable release because it comes with an exclusive Cobra Viper Gunner ReAction Figure and an exclusive Cobra Viper Gunner O-Ring Figure.
Over the past few years, the company also released a Masters of the Universe Snake Mountain set that was 48 inches wide and a 36-inch Cat’s Lair playset for Thundercats Ultimates! figures. According to Flynn, it’s easier to make “hero item” sets like this now that Super7 can sell directly to customers, without getting retailers to buy in. But he also emphasizes that fans shouldn’t expect multiple oversized sets to start launching for every fandom, because collectors don’t have that kind of space.
“It’s not like, ‘Hey, let’s just make lots of big stuff,'” he says. “It’s like, ‘Hey, the Cat’s Lair was [the hero item] for the Thundercats collector.’ I can’t go back to them with a second giant play set, even if there was one. … These things happened at a similar time, but we’re really looking at these as singular moments. We’ve been working on G.I. Joe now for several years. We’ve built to this and this is a pinnacle moment.”
Overall, Flynn says the company is in the business of finding the white space in the collectibles market and filling it. Sometimes that looks like a massive spaceship that ’80s kids will drool over. Other times, it means making action figures for some out-of-the-box properties, from rappers to Sesame Street and Richard Scarry’s Busy World.
Super7 picks these properties because, as collectors themselves, the team develops the action figures they want to collect. For example, Flynn says the company was chasing Sesame Street for years, knowing that there was a strong nostalgia for the series.
“I had that fold-out Sesame Street Fisher-Price play set with the little figures,” Flynn says. “I love that stuff. So while a lot of time this convention is sorted around what’s tough, cool science fiction, or Marvel, it’s like, no. I feel that same way about Sesame Street! I just don’t get the opportunity to live in that fandom very often.”
Super7 continues to find its place in the collectibles market by living in all types of fandom. The company is also hosting a panel during NYCC and is selling a variety of exclusives during the show.
The Cobra Mothership is available to back now, with preorders closing on Dec. 11. The project needs 4,000 backers to go into production.
