Terror Drome

The Cobra Terror Drome (sometimes spelled Terrordrome) is a playset from Hasbro's G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toy line.

Toys

Promotional Image of Cobra Terror Drome.

The playset was first released in 1986, and is basically the prefabricated easily set up fortress/headquarters for Cobra. Each playset comes with three vehicle service and refueling bays, munitions depot, a prison cell for a G.I. Joe action figure, tower-mounted cannons, and a launch silo for the Firebat interceptor mini-jet.[1] The original playset also included an action figure - A.V.A.C (Air Viper Advanced Class) intended as the pilot of the Firebat aircraft.[2]

The Firebat fighter jet - minus the action figure - was later made available by Hasbro as a stand alone mail order-only vehicle.

A version of the Cobra Firebat came with an A.V.A.C. as part of the Built to Rule Headquarters Attack in 2004. The forearms and the calves of the A.V.A.C. figure sported places where blocks could be attached.[3]

Cartoon

In the cartoon series, the Terror Drome is portrayed as the premiere Cobra headquarters. Here, it is much larger in design, and houses more troops, vehicles and equipment. The interior as seen in G.I. Joe: The Movie reveals it to be a much more complex structure than the toy design, with the inclusion of a throne room and a maze of corridors.

Comics

Marvel Comics

In the comic series from Marvel Comics, the Terror Drome is a small pre-fab fortress, sold by Cobra to third world countries and developing nations for defense. Cobra personnel are required to run the Terror Dromes, providing ways for Cobra to infiltrate the country.[1] Two Cobra Officers, Dr. Mindbender and the Baroness, would have the chance to reflect that it was not designed to deflect a ground assault.

A Terror Drome located on Cobra Island is the site of many important events in issue #46.[4]

Issue #56 features a battle for control of a Terror Drome located in the fictional country of Sierra Gordo. Despite the efforts of Tomax and Xamot and an explosive trap, the Joes gain possession of the Terror Drome and begin dismantling it. The crew includes Tripwire, Recondo, Roadblock, Flint and Scarlett. Using explosives and a self-made loading device, the pieces were sorted and, according to Cobra spies, loaded on a train. The train was destroyed soon after it left, but it was a decoy, as Flint had sacrificed his uniform to make a dummy pilot. This allows the Joes to remove the technology safely. It was acceptable to the Joes to lose some of the pieces as a majority of a typical Terror Drome are three repeating sections.[5]

The pieces the Joes retrieve are seen in #57 being analyzed by Mainframe, Flash and Dial-Tone.[6] Clues lead to M.A.R.S., the munitions company controlled by Destro, a Cobra officer long-thought dead. Destro assists a Joe team in retrieving Terror Drome plans held on his property; Major Bludd, impersonating Destro, had been striving to steal the plans for himself.[6]

In issue #68, the dozens of Terror Dromes littering the countryside of the fictional Frusenland were used to artificially incite the citizens to riot and thus, hopefully increase Cobra's sales of weapons even further. One of the Battleforce 2000 team members discovers that loud music assists in neutralizing the angry feelings and a counter-offensive is now possible. The group then neutralizes all of the Terror Dromes in Frusenland.[7]

In issue #69, a Terror Drome and its Firebat are destroyed by one of Destro's pilots. All the Cobra soldiers still inside the facility are killed.[8]

This did not stop the Terror Drome efforts. Later, Clutch and Rock 'n Roll would assist Canadian police officers in intercepting another shipment of Terror Drome pieces.[9]

Dreamwave

In the Dreamwave 2003 Transformers G.I. Joe limited series, a WW2 version of the Terror Drome is central to the plot.

Stephen King's The Tommyknockers

The Terror Drome toy receives a brief mention, along with the M.O.B.A.T. in the Stephen King horror novel 'The Tommyknockers'. The context is a young child bargaining with God to give up all his G.I. Joe toys in order for a loved one to return.[10]

References

  1. 1 2 Bellomo, Mark (2005). The Ultimate Guide to G.I. Joe 1982-1994. Krause Publications. p. 75. ISBN 978-0-89689-922-3.
  2. ↑ Santelmo, Vincent (1994). The Official 30th Anniversary Salute To G.I. Joe 1964-1994. Krause Publications. p. 109. ISBN 0-87341-301-6.
  3. ↑ Headquarters Attack w/ Snake Eyes and A.V.A.C. at YOJOE.com Retrieved 2012-04-24
  4. ↑ G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #46
  5. ↑ G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #56
  6. 1 2 G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #57 (March 1987)
  7. ↑ G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #68
  8. ↑ G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #69
  9. ↑ G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #97 (February 1990)
  10. ↑ King, Stephen (2009). The Tommyknockers. Paw Prints. p. 275. ISBN 1-4420-0618-8.
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