In late 1985, the elite G.I. Joe anti-terrorist squad took control of the seas with the launching of the USS Flagg aircraft carrier. Not to be outdone, the Joes' serpentine enemies, COBRA, struck back in 1986 with the fearsome Terrordrome, a secret base and launching pad for the Firebat rocket fighter, affectionately known by Cobra fighter aces as the "Pocket Rocket" (at least, that's what it said on the box). Sure the USS Flagg was about three times larger, but there was only one of it. According to the box, Cobra was secretly building hundreds of Terrordromes all over the world!
Although it will always be compared to the USS Flagg as the nearest Cobra counterpart to that G.I. Joe megaplayset, the Terrordrome was an awesome toy. Not only did it come with the Firebat fighter rocket and the AVAC firebat pilot action figure (one of the coolest-looking Cobra figures ever), but it also had loads of other cool features, such as two MASSIVE "white laser" cannons, several "vehicle refueling stations" and a prison that could hold up to two do-gooding Joes (Why only two? I think the Cobra planners were getting a bit pessimistic after all those pummelings the Joes were handing them at the time). And lets not forget those awesome sliced-melon launch bay doors that slid back to reveal the firebat in all its glory! Evil had never looked so cool, at least to a six-year-old kid like myself.
The playset was quite capacious - the roof alone could hold four sitting and eight standing Cobras (plus plenty of other space marked "Stand clear!" and "No standing" if you really wanted to pack 'em in). The fold out refueling stations looked rather lame when folded out, but the interior corridors were rather cool-looking and Death Star-like. In fact, the whole set had a rather noveau-Death Star aesthetic, which definitely added to the terror that was the Terrordrome. All in all it was a base that a beleaguered Cobra trooper could take heart in. In fact, it's only discernable weakness was that all its guns only faced in one direction, providing the perfect approach for a G.I. Joe sneak attack...