Tag Archives: Cobra Viper

#3916: Cobra Viper

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

COBRA VIPER

G.I. JOE: CLASSIFIED SERIES (HASBRO)

Do you ever have one of those days that just feels like it goes on forever?  Or, like, more specifically, about seven years?  Is that more specifically a me thing?  See, cuz I got this day, I call it the Day of the Vipers, and every time I *think* it’s over….it’s not.  So…for my 11th entry in the seventh year of the ill-named “Day of the Vipers” we’re going back to the beginning.  I mean, like, not really, but sort of homaging, maybe?  Yeah, that’s the ticket.  So, what’s the in depth deal on this guy?  Well, when Hasbro launched Classified Series, it was meant to be a more thorough modernization of the Joe line, rather than just a recreation of what came before, but at a larger size.  As such, a number of the designs from the early run were similar to the vintage ones, but tweaked to better fit the new aesthetic Hasbro was aiming for.  As the line has progressed it has, like pretty much every Real American Hero throwback before it, shifted into just the straight updates territory, and to offset that, Hasbro’s going back and redoing older figures to retrofit them.  The Viper’s taken a bit longer than others, but it’s here, so let’s see how it is!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Cobra Viper is part of the Retro line-up for G.I. Joe: Classified Series.  He hit mid-summer this year, alongside Mindbender and Rock n’ Roll.  This is the seventh version of the Viper under the Classified imprint, but the first not to be build from the exact same bank of parts.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 35 points of articulation.  At this point, if you know the Classified articulation scheme, you won’t really be surprised by any of the figures as the come out.  It’s effectively the same every time.  It works, and also Joes have a tendency to stick to the formula, so it all makes sense.  This one does notably add pinless joints to the mix, which is a first for the Viper, and a nice change-up.  The Viper shares his head sculpt and goggles with the prior versions of the character at this scale.  It’s a firm case of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, so it makes a lot of sense.  The rest of the sculpt is all-new.  Apart from the very different configuration of the roll of the sleeves, it’s not drastically different than the prior sculpt, at least in a broad strokes sense.  Everything is sort of moved around and tweaked to be a more direct translation of the original ’86 mold.  It’s a very sharp mold, and there’s no denying it’s a good match for the original…just, you know, bigger.  His color work is clean and bold.  The last few “standard” Vipers were a bit on the muted side, so I like the slightly brighter palette being in play for this one.  The exact layout is again mimicking the vintage figure, which is generally fine, but I do also kind of miss some of the more varied adjustments of more recent updates.  But, it certainly gets the job done.  The Viper is packed with three pairs of hands (fists, gripping, and a point/open gesture combo), two different styles of rifle, a pistol, a backpack, and a display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve generally run my course on Classified Series, and I’d also kind of run my course on the original Viper mold for the line.  I didn’t mind the departure, but I was hoping to see some more adjustments to the mold as things progressed.  When those didn’t happen, got a bit bored, I guess.  This figure goes for a total rework, which in some ways works, but also, just feels like we’re retreading just to retread.  It’s kind of the doomed fate of any post-ARAH line, I guess.  They just all become retreads.  Where does that leave this guy?  He’s a good figure from a technical standpoint, for sure, and a good recreation of the classic figure.  And, for me, I think he’s a good send-off to Classified Series, closing off on the figure I thought I really wanted, but maybe I didn’t?  Could be worse.

Shoutout to my friends at All Time Toys, from whom I purchased this figure for review!  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3715: Crimson Viper

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

CRIMSON VIPER

G.I. JOE: CLASSIFIED SERIES (HASBRO)

A Cobra Viper!  Does this mean Ethan’s gonna trot out the “Day of the Vipers” gag again?  Eh, I’ll see how I’m feeling on the day.  Oh, today’s actually the day?  Right.  Well then, welcome to the 10th entry in the “Day of the Vipers,” a day which is apparently six years long.  Seems about right.  When I last left off on the perpetuating Day, I was looking at Hasbro’s revisit to 1989’s “Python Patrol” subtheme.  Today’s entry represents some split interests.  See, it’s a Crimson Viper, a concept first officially introduced into the line in 2002, as part of a Joe Con-exclusive boxed set.  The Crimson Viper stood in for the Crimson Guard, whose mold didn’t seem to be around at the time, and was also an excuse to re-deco the Viper into all red.  So, this is a throw back to the 2002 figure, right?  Not exactly.  But, I’ll get to that!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Crimson Viper if figure 85 in Hasbro’s G.I. Joe: Classified Series.  He was notable for being released during the plastic free packaging era of the line (which I honestly didn’t hate the way a lot of people did), and also for being the first time that the Viper got a proper mass release.  Weird when you think about it, huh?  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 35 points of articulation.  Structurally, this figure is identical to all of the other Classified Vipers, for better or for worse.  I generally do like the mold, but when we first got it, I did really think we might see some modifications to it as we moved forward.  But, look how much mileage Hasbro got of the original Viper mold; it it really that surprising that they’d keep using this one?  I mean, I guess they could have maybe thrown the BAT’s legs on it, for old times’ sake?  The change here is signified by the name.  He’s a “Crimson” Viper, so he’s got a more red leaning.  Well, that’s not entirely true.  While the 2002 and subsequent “Crimson” Vipers were all a bright shade of red, this guy’s more of a maroon.  My initial thought was “wow, that’s not as striking” and no, it’s not.  But he’s also got the bandana, in blue this time, and the blue’s also kind of washed out.  And that looks pretty familiar with the more subdued main color.  So, here’s the thing: I think this figure, though named “Crimson Viper” might actually be a throwback to the 1997 Real American Hero Collection Viper, and his weird K-Mart on a Sunday Morning vibes.  Which, honestly? Kinda love that.  Like other Vipers at this scale, this guy gets his removable goggles (which actually sit pretty snuggly this time), the bandanna, his back pack, a pistol, and the updated rifle and removable clip.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

In the greatest act of betrayal I’ve ever participated in, I skipped this figure when it was new.  I know.  How could I?  Well, the reality is I’ve largely quit Classified, and I’m really doing my best to stick to that.  This figure in particular hit right after I got Tunnel Rat, the figure that pretty much killed the line for me, so I wasn’t open to following it further.  I’d already picked up so many Vipers, and I was questioning if I really needed another.  So, I passed.  But, then a loose one landed in front of me at All Time, and I figured I might as well get the Viper I didn’t have.  Yay for completionism.  My initial response was he’s fine but kind of same-y.  However, while writing this all down, and going back into the “Day of the Vipers” stuff, I found myself loving that little twinge of “yes he’s the same, but let me explain the minute differences” which I do truly love.  The referencing of the 1997 ugly duckling Viper also helps a lot, because nothing from that run ever really gets the love it deserves.  So, you know what?  I’m glad I went back for this one.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3304: Cobra Viper

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

COBRA VIPER

G.I. JOE: 25TH ANNIVERSARY (HASBRO)

“Vipers are the backbone of the Cobra Legions. They are highly motivated, superbly trained and formidably equipped. All Vipers are issued a combination assault rifle/grenade launcher; the rifle part of which can function as a short burst assault weapon, a sustained fire cover support weapon, or a long range sniper rifle with an advanced light-intensification night vision telescopic sight with a built-in range-finder. Multi-layer body armor and wraparound acrylic/composite helmets with built-in RTO gear are standard issue.”

Back in 2016, more than two years before “The Day of the Vipers,” a day which will forever haunt me, I wrote my first Viper review, which is thus far the only one of my Cobra Viper reviews not to be shoe-horned into the ever-growing day.  Since today’s offering is more a take-off of that review than of the ones that followed, I guess I’ll dispense with the “Day of the Vipers” pleasantries.  For today’s Viper, we go back to 2009.  Hasbro’s 25th Anniversary line was winding down in preparation for the tie-ins for Rise of Cobra, and Hasbro was going back and doing some slight tweaks to earlier figures from the line.  The online-exclusive “Hall of Heroes” sub-line was used to put out ten figures, all either tweaked or re-releases of tweaked figures that had thus far been multi-pack exclusives.  And, hey, the line had a Viper!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Cobra Viper was figure 6 of 10 in the “Hall of Heroes” sub-line of G.I. Joe: 25th Anniversary.  This marked the 22nd version of the Viper, the seventh under the 25th Anniversary banner.  He’s just a minor tweak on the version 20 figure, which was released as part of a Cobra five-pack earlier the same year.  The figure stands a little under 4 inches tall and he has 20 points of articulation.  Most of this figure’s sculpt is shared with the first 25th release, which is overall a decent starting point.  The only real drawbacks to the sculpt are the head and hands, which are, notably, the parts that are changed out for this release.  The new head takes a page out of the line’s updated Cobra Commander, who added a proper chromed faceplate.  In order facilitate this set-up, the faceplate is a separate head piece, with the helmet/goggles sitting atop it.  It makes the head just a touch larger (and thus slightly better proportioned to the body), as well as making the goggles a fixed part of the helmet sculpt.  They sit just a little wide for my taste, and the underlying head seems just a little too pointy at the chin.  In general, I was always a little bit more fond of the prior head in terms of appearance, but in terms of function, this one was certainly an improvement.  Speaking of improvements, the hands are an unquestioned one; the prior mold had some really awful hand sculpts that made it difficult for him to hold his weapon.  The new ones fix that, giving him a much more secure hold on things.  In terms of paint, the Viper gets the expected change to the face, which is now vac metallized, instead of flat silver, as well as some additional silver on the goggles, and an additional red insignia on the left arm.  Beyond that, the colors are a little bit shifted from the first release, but the application is mostly pretty consistent.  The Viper is packed with his signature rifle (molded in a darker silver than the first release), his back pack, and a display stand molded in a fancy gold.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I skipped this style of Viper at first because I was already invested in the previous look and I didn’t want to inter mingle the two styles.  It was only later that I decided to go more for the one of every style approach for Vipers.  Not too long after I got most of the other Vipers, a small 25th Anniversary collection came through All Time, which happened to have this guy in it.  I was all gung-ho on Vipers, and he was one I didn’t have, so into my collection he went.  The adjusted hands are definitely an improvement, as is the paint.  The head, I remain iffy on, but I like it more now than I did when they first dropped.  And, hey, it’s another Viper!

#3283: Python Patrol Viper

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

PYTHON PATROL VIPER

G.I. JOE: CLASSIFIED SERIES (HASBRO)

Alright, for the ninth entry in this truly maddening concept that is the “Day of the Vipers”….hang on, wait, that was, like, five years ago, wasn’t it?  Well, maybe the Day of the Vipers just keeps going and going and going…you know, not unlike the Energizer Bunny.  Or an exceptionally bad joke that I refuse to let die.  It’s definitely one of those things.  The point here is that I’ve got another Viper to review.  So, I’m gonna do that.  Has to be done.  In 1989, Hasbro repainted a bunch of their Cobra troops in a rather garish new color scheme and dubbed the whole group “The Python Patrol”, who were like the regular troops but “pythonized.”  I’m not even kidding.  “Pythonizing” is used on the file cards and everything.  Though they’re a pretty easy justification for a repaint in more modern lines, they only really surface every so often, probably due to how garish the aforementioned color scheme is.  Classified has decided to tap into the Python Patrol for their latest round of Target-exclusives, and, surprising no one, I have the Viper.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Python Patrol Cobra Viper is figure 42 in the G.I. Joe: Classified Series line-up.  As mentioned in the intro, all of the Python Patrol stuff is Target-exclusive.  The Viper is the second of them, after the B.A.T., although they both hit pretty much in tandem, alongside the Tiger Force Outback figure.  The figure stands roughly 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 35 points of articulation.  Like the three-pack from last year, this guy is built from the same selection of parts as the initial Cobra Island Viper.  It’s a pretty solid selection of parts, and it keeps all the Vipers consistent across the board.  It also makes perfect sense for the Python Patrol figure to be a straight repaint, because all of the other Python Patrol Vipers have been, too.  The main change-up here is the paint, which makes the expected shift to grey, yellow, black, and red.  The layout of the colors works out pretty well with the newer mold; some of the details wind up shuffled around a bit, but the overall look reads very similar to the original.  The actual application isn’t quite as strong as previous Vipers, unfortunately.  On mine, there’s quite a bit of slop, especially on the yellows.  It’s not the worst I’ve seen from Hasbro, but it’s on the lower end for more recent figures.  This figure’s accessory selection is largely the same as the standard Viper, but there are some changes, and none of them are particularly good.  He’s got the goggles, the rifle with the removable magazine, the pistol, the arm guards, and the back pack.  So, on a positive note, the arms guards here are the easiest to remove of all of the uses of this mold so far, which is a definite plus.  Unfortunately, the goggles are the worst fit thus far, and they simply do not want to stay on unless you really jam them on, far past where it really feels safe.  I definitely worry about them breaking over time.  Also, while all other uses of the mold have included the bandana, this is the first one to leave it out.  Given that he’s a total repaint, and retailing above the cost of the original, it feels almost insulting to leave the piece out, especially when even the three-pack made sure that all three Vipers got it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I had mixed feelings about this guy from the start.  On one hand, I wasn’t thrilled about this one being another Target exclusive, but on the other, I feel like he’s kind of the perfect choice, since it’s not like Python Patrol is anyone’s primary look.  Certainly not mine.  That said, I do sure like my Vipers, in all the various colors, so I put in my pre-order when they dropped, and played the waiting game.  I was half expecting the order to get cancelled, but it just showed up at my door one day.  Of the five Vipers we’ve gotten in the line, he’s the weakest.  He’s not bad, mind you, but his execution definitely feels a bit lacking.  Still, it’s another Viper, and I won’t complain about that.

#3254: Cobra Viper Officer & Vipers

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

COBRA VIPER OFFICER & VIPERS

G.I. JOE: CLASSIFIED SERIES (HASBRO)

Does this count as the eighth entry in the Day of the Vipers if that day actually wrapped up four years ago?  Eh, I’m gonna count it.  I love me a continuing bit.  So, for Part 8 of the exceedingly long Day of the Vipers, we’re jumping to the far-flung year of 2022.  Woooo.  The future is now.  After revamping the brand and moving to a 6 inch scale in 2020, Hasbro added an updated Cobra Viper to the line in the form of a rather impossibly hard to find Target exclusive, which hit in early 2021.  It was decidedly not so much fun for the fanbase.  To make it decidedly more fun for the fanbase, Hasbro decided to follow-up the initial Viper with a whole pack of Vipers.  I am much excite.  Very much excite.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

The Cobra Viper Officer and Vipers three-pack is a stand alone release for G.I. Joe: Classified Series, and is numbered 47 in the line-up, fitting the continuing trend of absolutely nothing in the Classified Series going un-numbered.  It’s still kind of amusing to see it on such a large-boxed item, though.  The pack includes the Officer and two rank and file Vipers.  All three are built on the same sculpt as the Target-release Viper, with the Officer receiving a complete paint overhaul and the two Vipers getting some minor tweaks.  Of note, all three uses of the mold have a slightly different composition on the plastic for the goggles, so they fit a little bit better than the first release.

The Cobra Viper Officer is actually a rather new concept, since the Vipers have classically been seen as the lowest on the totem pole, meaning their commanders would just really be any other Cobra officer.  When the Viper molds were re-purposed to be a Cobra Officer and a Cobra Trooper in 1998, Hasbro added a little bit of ranking with the colors, but not officially applied to Vipers proper.  Our first taste of the concept for Vipers originated in 2006’s Viper Pit set, which amongst its six Vipers included one with a golden face plate, albeit with no denotation of any added rank.  In 2014’s 50th Anniversary line, we got our first proper Viper Officer, who got not just the changed face plate, but a whole new color scheme as well.  That figure seems to have served as the primary inspiration for the figure seen here, though they do both seem to take at least a page out of the 1998 Cobra Officer’s book in terms of coloring.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 35 points of articulation.  Since the sculpt is the same as the first release, the main change-up here is the colors.  This guy pretty much just copies the 50th color scheme, translating the officer to primarily light grey, with some red accenting, as well as the expected gold for the visor.  The application is generally pretty clean, though there’s some fuzziness on some of the change-overs, as well as a bit of slop at the edges of the forearms.  The depth of detail on the paint is also a little more involved than on the prior figure, with things like the lenses of his goggles getting their own coloring as well, which gives him a little extra polish.  The Officer gets the same scarf used on the Target figure, as well as a backpack in an updated color scheme, and a unique pistol, which even has a port at the front for effects pieces.

Backing up the Viper Officer, there are two lower tier Vipers.  By design, they’re meant to be interwoven with the Target-exclusive release, allowing those who already got some of those to not have to start over from square one.  Exactly how well that works is up to some debate, though.  There are a few little changes, not just from that release to this one, but also between the two figures in the pack together here, as well.  As with the Officer, these guys share their construction with the standard Viper, with their color scheme being the differentiating thing.  These two are very similar to the standard Viper, but the reds and blues are both shifted to be a little less saturated and just a touch darker.  It’s nothing major, and something that can be easily missed when not comparing the releases side by side.  But, if you’re some sort of weirdo that has to have every possible version, well, I guess you’ll see it.  The application is largely consistent with the prior release, but there’s the extra detailing again on the goggle lenses, to match up with the Officer.  I really like it.  While the standard Viper, as well as all prior Vipers from the brand up to this point, stuck with a consistently lighter skin tone, this set adds in just a little bit of diversity to the Cobra ranks, with one of the two Vipers sporting a noticeably darker pigment to his neck and forearms.  The other Viper is *supposed* to be lighter skinned, but, well, that’s not exactly how it worked out.  The neck is the intended color, but the forearms are the same darker brown as the other guy, meaning his skin tone doesn’t match.  I at first thought it was a fluke on my set, but after checking out a few additional sets, it appears this is an across the board issue for this release.  It’s not the end of the world, since the forearm bracer’s totally hide the issue, but it’s frustrating that you don’t get the option to go sans-bracers, since that’s kind of my preferred look.  Both rank and file Vipers are packed with the scarf, the back pack (with slightly tweaked colors), and the same sidearm as the Target Viper.

In addition to the parts that are clearly tied in with each of the specific figures in the set, there are also a selection of accessories that can go with any of the three.  There are two of the rifle included with the Target Viper, three different styles of more realistic assault rifle, a silencer, and nine different blast effects, which can be fitted onto all but the standard Viper sidearms.  The extras here are really great, because they do a great job of selling the army building potential, given how many options there are here with weaponry.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Have I mentioned that I really like Vipers?  Because I do.  I was not thrilled about the first one being a Target release, since it made doing any sort of army building pretty much impossible.  By a stroke of luck, I got two of those, but I was certainly not counting on getting any more.  I was very happy when this set was announced, and I like being able to just get a squad in one swoop.  The Officer’s a fun concept, and I like his uniqueness.  The two standards are just different enough to be different.  I do like the new colors and the improved paint apps, as well as all the cool new goodies.  I’m not thrilled about the mix-up on the one Viper’s forearms, and I’m curious to see how that pans out in the long run, and if Hasbro chooses to address it in any way.  I’m not expecting it, but I’m curious.  As it stands, that’s my one flaw on a set I otherwise really, really like.

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with these figures for review.  If you’re looking for toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#2692: Cobra Viper

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

COBRA VIPER

G.I. JOE: CLASSIFIED SERIES (HASBRO)

Alright, so, for my seventh entry in my crazy, insane “Day of the Vipers”–wait a minute! It’s not 2018 anymore, is it?  I…I already made it through the Day of the Vipers, didn’t I?  Right.  Sorry.  The “Day of the Vipers”, it did things to me, you guys.  I still haven’t fully recovered.  When I last left off with the Vipers, it was 2003, and the Joe line had just done a re-brand into it’s Spy Troops incarnation.  That line would lead into Valor Vs Venom, which got its own brand new Viper mold.  After VvV, the 3 3/4 inch line went on another hiatus at mainline retail, and moved to Direct To Consumer markets, until returning in 2007 with the 25th Anniversary line.  The Viper would gain an additional seven figures from that line (the first of which I reviewed here back in 2016), and then another revamp in the Pursuit of Cobra/30th Anniversary style.  The 3 3/4 inch line again went into hiatus following the franchise’s 50th anniversary, but Joes have returned once more, now in a 6 inch scale, and with an all-new Viper figure to boot.  What could possibly go wrong?  Yeah, about that…

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Cobra Viper is the other half of the second “Special Misions: Cobra Island” assortment of G.I. Joe: Classified Series.  He’s officially figure 22 in the line, the highest numbered figure so far in the line-up.  He follows the trend set by the Cobra Trooper of standard Cobra army builders being exclusives, which isn’t very cool.  Hopefully he’ll also get a second release in the main line, just like the standard trooper, because as of now, he’s even harder to find than that one was. The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 35 points of articulation.  The Viper’s design is unquestionably an update on his V1 design.  Most Vipers since the ’00s have worked from this same reference material, so there’s been a lot of smaller tweaks to it over the years.  This one follows suit, with its own handful of tweaks, but does honestly stick closer to the original design than a lot of the Classified figures so far.  Most of the tweaks are of the rather minor variety, changing up some of the specifics of design, to modernize and somewhat utilitarianize the look, while still kind of hitting the same ending mark.  Things like the ribbed section of the shoulders on the original figure have now been adjusted to be straps holing things in place.  Same end result visually, but a more practical rational for it, and one that fits a bit more with the aesthetics of the line.  The biggest change to the character’s visual is on the arms; rather than the tightly rolled up sleeves of the original figure, this one’s arms are almost entirely covered in the default set-up.  The changes that cause this are two-fold.  Firstly, the new add-on pieces for the wrist guards are designed with removing them in mind, so they wrap solidly all around the arm, rather than leaving most of the forearm exposed like the original design.  Secondly, the sleeves come much further down the arms than the original, almost exactly meeting the guards.  This bit is caused by the figure’s only re-use; namely, he has the upper torso and arms of the Duke figure.  It’s not the worst choice of re-use, even if the sleeves aren’t quite right; it changes things a little bit, and removing the guards entirely helps to sort of simulate the old look in its own way as well.  He also gets Duke’s holster for his leg, giving the Viper a side-arm he doesn’t classically have.  The rest of the figure’s sculpt, apart from the arms, is all-new.  It’s a pretty solid sculpt, with quite a bit going on, and quite a few layers.  The helmet is a very clean piece; its shape is slightly sharper and more stylized than the classic helmet, but it fits well with the rest of the figure’s design.  Much like the 25th Anniversary figure, this one’s goggles are a separate piece, and much like that figure, there is some difficulty keeping them in place.  With a little bit of doing, you can get it to sit a little bit more securely, but I’ve heard that it’s prone to breakage, so I was quite careful.  Even so, mine’s started to split a bit at the back, so I don’t foresee it holding out terribly longer.  Ultimately, the removable goggles are an intriguing idea, but much like the 25th, I’m hoping Hasbro uses later releases to offer up a version with the goggles attached directly to the helmet.  The goggles are an interesting experiment, but they always seem to introduce extra problems, and honestly, how many people are really looking to display the Viper without the goggles?  It winds up as the one really annoying feature on an otherwise enjoyable figure.  The paint work on this figure is pretty decent.  It follows the usual set-up for the color scheme on a Viper, with a touch of extra red detailing worked in.  The flesh tone on the arms is a little sloppy around the edges, and misses the mark, as well as having a spot in the middle of one arm.  These parts aren’t really meant for being seen, I suppose, so it’s not the *worst* possible place for issues to occur.  The Viper’s accessory selection includes the previously mentioned goggles, a removable bandana piece, a back pack, Duke’s pistol (to match the holster), and a rifle with a removable clip.  The rifle’s not quite the distinctive silhouette of the classic Viper weapon, but it’s not an awful looking update either, and is a cool looking gun on its own merits.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Readers of the site may have *slightly* picked up on the fact that I’m quite a fan of the Vipers.  I’ve been anxiously awaiting their addition to Classified, and I was…less than pleased about the Target exclusive move.  Nevertheless, I was determined not to miss this one, but also not to pay scalper pricing.  I wound up stalking Target’s site for a couple of hours the day these dropped, and was actually able to get one pre-ordered in the less than 5 minutes they were actually in stock.  It wasn’t fun.  What also wasn’t fun was his delivery getting pushed back three separate times, all the while people were finding them in-store, and the aftermarket price was skyrocketing.  Fortunately, they actually came through, and he actually arrived, but Target *really* needs to work on that pre-order system…or maybe just not carry quite so many exclusives?  I don’t know.  It just seems like a bad set-up.  At least the actual figure turned out pretty nicely.  The goggles are annoying, but otherwise, I really like him.  And I’d really like to be able to have a few more of them, so maybe a mainline release?

*The classic Viper rifle above was actually given to me, along with a few other classic Joe-esque designs, by Mark2Designs, whose work is quite impressive, and can be seen on his Instagram page!

#1821: Cobra Viper

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

COBRA VIPER

G.I. JOE: SPY TROOPS (HASBRO)

“Ripping up the roads on their COBRA VENOM CYCLE vehicles, COBRA VIPER members like to think of themselves as a biker gang with the most technologically advanced hogs on the planet”

Here we are at the finish line.  Just one more entry in my insane 6-in-1 Day of the Vipers reviews!  Oh yeah, I did it!

In 2003, the G.I. Joe line once again rebranded, taking on the heading “Spy Troops.”  Joes and Cobras were given infiltration gear and disguises, and it was all very spy-y.  Well, it was mostly spy-y.  Some of it was not at all spy-y at all.  The the Viper’s one release during the line’s run fell into that non-spy area.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Cobra Viper was released as a pack-in figure with the Cobra Venom Cycle, a small-scale vehicle from the Spy Troops line.  The cycle was undoubtedly the selling point, but I don’t have it, I just have the Viper.  For I am a mad man.  He’s the same basic figure I’ve looked at three previous times today, the tweaked V5 Viper mold that Hasbro would continue to use for another three years after this.  Hey, they had a good formula down, right?  The big difference, of course, was the paint scheme.  He’s got this olive sort of thing going on, which is right in line with the overall look of most of the Spy Troops figures.  At first glance, he looks a little bit like the Turquoise Viper from ’02, but if he’d been left out in the sun.  That being said, I do actually quite like this color scheme, and have generally found myself kind of drawn to this figure.  Since he was just a pack-in with a vehicle, the Viper didn’t come with any accessories of his own.  Maybe he’s like the pacifist of the group, or something?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This was the last figure I dug out of the collection at All Time.  I had just about called it on getting any more Vipers, and I looked down and saw this guy staring at me.  With no accessories of his own, he was an easier grab than some of the others, and I’ll admit, I was just thoroughly broken at that point.  There’s not really anything to distinguish him from the rest, but he’s a Viper, and a kinda neat one at that.  He rounds out the set nicely.

So, there you have it: nine new Vipers, courtesy of my friends at All Time Toys.  If you’re looking for old Joes (provided that you don’t want Vipers, because seriously, I’ve cleaned them out) or if you’re looking for other cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay Store.

#1820: Cobra Vipers

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , ,

COBRA VIPERS

G.I. JOE VS COBRA (HASBRO)

“COBRA VIPERS are the grunts of the COBRA legions.  If there’s a dirty job that needs doing, these guys are first in line.  They wear multi-layered body armor and wrap-around helmets with built-in radio telecommunications gear, and carry multi-burst laser pistols, commando rifles and grenade launchers.  They know that they’re looked down upon by the more elite COBRA groups, but that just makes them fight harder so they can prove to everyone that plain rottenness gets the job done as well as fancy training.  They’re ready at a moment’s notice to cause harm and do damage anywhere that COBRA COMMANDER sends them.”

For part 5 of The Day the Vipers, we move to 2002.  An important year for G.I. Joe, as it returned fully to mass retail, relaunched under the G.I. Joe vs Cobra banner.  The first assortment of vs Cobra figures sported all-new sculpts, of a radically different styling than the vintage line.  However, when the initial line-up proved successful, Hasbro wanted to follow-up as soon as they could, and re-purposed a number of vintage-styled sculpts for a quickly thrown together second assortment.  Included amongst those figures, was the Cobra Viper, who had been absent since 1997.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

The three Vipers here were available in two different ways.  Turquoise was available at mass retail, with Indigo as his color variant, both of them packaged with Mirage.  The Crimson Viper, on the other hand, was packed with 11 identical Vipers, a Tomax, a Xamot, and a Baroness, as part of the 2002 Joe Con-exclusive Crimson Strike Team boxed set.  All three figures were built on the V5 Viper mold, but now used a slightly higher quality of plastic than V5 and the Officer/Trooper did, resulting in figures that not showcase the sculpted details better, but also stand up a little better to play.  All three are sporting wholly unique paint schemes.  Turquoise and Indigo are the more similar two, mostly just palette-swapping from each other.  Turquoise’s overall lighter coloring means the handful of details that have gone unpainted are a little more obvious than they are on the much darker Indigo.  Both of them leave the hands unpainted, which don’t hate, but I do which they’d have at leas painted the edge of the glove to make it look like a strap, rather than some weird skin tag, but that’s quite minor.  I dig Indigo’s blue visor, as well as the swirly, molded camo on the fatigues portions of their uniforms. Crimson rivals only the V1 Viper in terms of quantity of painted details.  Just about every sculpted element is properly painted, and very sharply handled at that.  He’s definitely a very good looking figure.  In terms of accessories, Indigo and Turquoise are each packed with a sniper rifle and a back pack, both different from the originals.  Crimson gets the same backpack as prior Vipers, but yet another rifle, which is probably one of the best when it comes to his ability to actually hold it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After finding the original Viper in the collection that All Time Toys bought, it was actually the 2002 bunch that really grabbed my interest.  2002 was the year that got me into the small-scale Joes, and though I never actually owned these figures, I’ve still got a soft spot for them.  In particular, I’ve wanted at least one of the Crimson ones for quite some time.  All three figures here are a lot of fun, and while the original Viper might be objectively the best Viper I got, these three are my favorites.

Thanks goes to All Time for helping me out with these.  If you’re looking for old Joes or if you’re looking for other cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay Store.

#1819: Cobra Officer & Cobra Trooper

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , ,

COBRA OFFICER & COBRA TROOPER

G.I. JOE: THE REAL AMERICAN HERO COLLECTION (HASBRO)

“The COBRA Officers are “officers” in name only.  The only real rank they have is over their own little squad of Cobra Troopers.  They are among the meager handful from the teeming ranks of COBRA Troopers that, for some reason, whether it’s previous experience, personal ambition or dumb luck, manage to show some level of initiative, organization or leadership skills.  Ultimately, somebody has the keep the ranks together and moving with a purpose, so that even these bottom-of-the-barrel COBRA forces can achieve their given objective, because nobody else wants the job.

The COBRA Troopers are the most basic, bottom-of-the-barrel soldiers in the COBRA regime. They have to work their way up to even become Vipers. They come from all over the world. They are thugs, mercenaries, pirates and assorted lowlifes that have committed so many atrocities that they only organization that will have them is COBRA. They are given the most basic level of training, which amounts to little more than organizing a handful into a reasonably cohesive group, giving them the most basic of uniforms, handing them equipment, and telling them to go out and cause trouble. The COBRA Trooper divisions were the first of COBRA’s notable forces. They’re not specialists. They’re not qualified for anything than the most low level of infantry. They only advantages they have are pure nastiness and sheer numbers.”

For part four of the Day of the Vipers (!), I’m not actually looking at Vipers at all.  Weird, huh?  Yeah, there were *technically* no Vipers released in 1998, but I’m focussing pretty heavily on that “technically.”

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

The Cobra Officer and two of the Cobra Troopers were released as one of the three triple-packs of figures from the second year of The Real American Hero Collection.  That’s a lot of numbers going on there, isn’t it?  Don’t worry about it too much. The key thing about these two figures is, that despite the name they may be sporting, their both effectively Viper figures, using the Viper/B.A.T. hybrid body introduced with the V5 Viper.  Presumably, the original Officer and Trooper molds were lost, and, as with so many other figures in the 97-98 lineup, they had to improvise a bit, grabbing the just recently frankensteined Viper from the preceding year.  So, they’ve still got those square butts.  Poor guys. 

Paint is what differentiates them.  The Officer is grey, which was a change for that rank, but makes him easily distinguishable.  The Trooper goes for a more familiar dark blue.  The Officer has larger sections of silver, with gold accents, while the Trooper gets the reverse.  Curiously, neither of them actually gets a Cobra sigil.  Maybe they’re trying to be more covert?  Both figures included the same accessory selection.  A pistol, a rifle, a stock, and a backpack.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

These guys are absolutely on the “Ethan was already buying a bunch of Vipers” train.  I wasn’t planning to get them, given their comparatively bland appearance, but I was already getting 7 others, so what difference did these two make?  I was actually a bit baffled by them at first, since I wasn’t able to find any reference to Vipers in this style, but eventually realized they weren’t Vipers at all.  So I didn’t have to buy them.  Great.  Nah, I’d probably have bought them anyway.  I actually ended up liking both of these more than I’d expected to.  That said, in my mind, I’m always going to consider them Vipers.

Once again, All Time Toys helped me out with these.  If you’re looking for old Joes or if you’re looking for other cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay Store.

#1818: Viper

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , ,

VIPER

G.I. JOE: THE REAL AMERICAN HERO COLLECTION (HASBRO)

“Vipers are the backbone of the COBRA Legions. They are the bottom of the pyramid, which leads to the hierarchy of material wealth and power within the organization. When COBRA received word that G.I. Joe operations had been shut down by U.S. Government, he promptly began recruiting more soldiers. Within weeks, the most cruel, greedy, back-stabbing lot – joined the ranks; tripling the original size of their ground forces. All Vipers are issued a combination assault rifle/grenade launcher, along with a three day field pack. Multi-layered body armor and wrap-around acrylic/composite helmets with built-in radio telecommunications gear are standard issue. This equipment and a bad attitude makes them very dangerous opponents. Vipers are highly motivated, and superbly trained. However, to make them follow orders, the punishment for failure is to be left on the battlefield when the B.A.T.S. (Battle Android Troopers) are deployed. This is due to the fact, these Androids are programmed to shoot and incinerate anything that moves in front of them. That is the last thing any Viper would want, better to take his chances with the real enemy. Vehicle Specialty: COBRA Flight Pod a.k.a. “Trouble Bubbles.””

Man, Hasbro really likes that thing about the Vipers being the backbone of the organization, don’t they?  It’s the Day of the Vipers part 3!  The Vipers, having been a regular feature of the line, made a reappearance every couple of years.  After 1989’s Python Patrol offering, the Viper’s tried out that bright colors thing in 1990, and then got their second new mold in 1994.  The less said about the latter, the better.  Fortunately, it was more or less a return to form for Version 5 of the Viper, which I’ll be looking at now!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Version 5 Viper was released in 1997, the 15th Anniversary of the A Real American Hero incarnation.  After a three year absence from stores, G.I. Joe returned, albeit in a slightly different form, all under the heading of The Real American Hero Collection.  The Viper found his way into one of the three Mission Packs, where he was released alongside one of the Flight Pods, or “Trouble Bubbles”, mentioned in the bio.  This figure marked an important change for the Vipers.  He uses the same upper body as the original figure, but for the first of many releases, the Viper is actually sporting the legs of the B.A.T., rather than the proper Viper gear.  In the years since the original mold Viper had been seen, it seems the mold for his legs had been lost, necessitating a replacement.  The B.A.T. legs work in a pinch, I suppose, though it does mean this guy ends up with a really squared-off backside.  He also got a brand new paint scheme, almost an inversion of his original.  It’s predominately a brownish red, with a blue vest.  It’s ugly is what it is.  Perhaps its due to my figure not being in quite as good shape as the other Vipers, but he just feels kind of washed out, ratty, and generally not as cool.  He reminds me of a supermarket on a Sunday morning.  He’s all florescently-lit, and pale, and full of that oddly dark and murky sort of despair…sorry, I went a very specific place there, didn’t I?  The V5 Viper mixes up things slightly on the accessory front.  He gets the same backpack as before, but a new, slightly less distinctive, sub-machine gun as his firearm.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The V5 Viper was not on the list of ones I was really looking for.  Truth be told, I didn’t actually know he existed.  But I found him while digging through all those Joes that All Time just got in, and at that point I was just too far into the Viper’s Den to say no.  He really lacks the flair of the last two, and I’d have preferred to find the V3 release, but another Viper’s another Viper, right?

Again, thanks goes to All Time Toys for helping me get this guy, and if you’re looking for old Joes or if you’re looking for other cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay Store.