Today I finally after 30 years fixed my original viper. He had a broken waist hook. I ordered some of those bad boys from eBay along with some orings and screws. He is finally on the shelf where he should be. 😍😍
Always one of my favorite Cobra army builders. And it looks like the new Classified 6" Viper is staying pretty faithful to this vintage version, which is a smart move by Hasbro. Even in 1986, the Viper already looked like he was equipped for a 21st century battlefield.
Viper was always one of my all-time favorite designs. The faceless mask, the detail on the vest and limb armor/pads. Just thought it was on the more realistic side and they looked tough.
I had 10 of these guys. I bought one every time I could. One of my all time favorites, I saw the Cobra Trooper as Infantry, The Viper as a Heavy Infantry. Their version of Army Ranger.
In my head-cannon, Vipers are like the real-world Marines. They’re a step or two above the regular Cobra Trooper (Army Infantry) but are NOT Tier 1 Special Mission status.
Ah, glorious 80s, a great time to be a kid and enjoy a beautiful childhood with G.I. Joe, Transformers and other Saturday morning cartoons! 1986 was a very good year for G.I. Joe figures, and Viper is one of my favorites. The version 1 is still my favorite and will stay that way. Very nice design, helmet was beautiful, reminiscent of Cobra Commander's helmet, weaponry and accessories are amazing. You just can't have enough of these guys and they are great as a single figure as much as army builders. As always, your reviews are the best, please continue whenever you get a chance, you have our full support!
The Viper seems to me to just be an updated Uniform and Gear. When I joined the Air Force in 07 we were given the old Woodland Camo in basic, and I'd see enlisted and a few officers wearing it but anyone being deployed somewhere else got digital camo. They did tell us eventually it was going to be the standard (Like it is now.) but at the time we got the old stuff.
HCC, you finally did it my friend, The Viper v1 is my all time favorite, out of all of Cobra. I can die a happy man. I even like The Python Patrol version. Then Hasbro had to take piss out of the figure, in the 90s, with the waco purple Viper and its weapons tree. WHYYYYY!!!???? The 90s were hurtin' for good ideas. The moral being, don't bugger up a good thing. You rock my friend!!
You said in your comment: "The Viper v1 is my all time favorite, out of all of Cobra." You said nothing of 1986 in particular. You said "all time." Look above.
My all time favorite Troop Builder! I have over 100 :D I always pretended the goggles were a set of high tech, specialized lenses that are directly wired into the helmet to feed information into the HUD on the inside of the face plate and provide night vision or heat signatures like Predator sees; there was no need to reposition them to utilize them (they can stay where they are on the helmet and still function as intended). In my Joeverse the Vipers acted more like the Marines and the Cobra Soldiers were like the Army.
That's a great idea about the "goggles"! I really like that concept. I personally use them as "extra battery packs" to power the Viper's integrated RTO and tech gear
I think the vipers are a upgrade of the old "blue suits". Some of the books i've read state that CC reorganized the troops and updated their gear and training.
A wild Mercer v1 appears! Please review him some time soon! :) Or preferably the full Sgt. Slaughter's Renegades trio. Such underrated figures (probably due to their equipment). Once you hold them in your hands you feel that they're of the "good ol' gi joe quality".
The intro to the GI Joe Movie had the Vipers in less use than the Soldiers/Officers and even B.A.T.S alongside them and clearly appeared to be a more elevated/elite unit. I always considered them more or less the newest Cobra's wearing the new gear while the Soldiers/Officers were just waiting to get the new equipment assigned to them.
Love your videos! This trooper is awesome! It's the only sideshow collectible i have because of the tactical imagining of the Viper is just incredible. 👍
In my Joeverse the blue shirts are the bottom of the pyramid, Vipers are the next step. However battlefield belongs to Vipers, blue shirts are used more as support troops (property masters, cooks, warehousemen, Cobra facilities guardsmen, etc.), they have a basic military training and they know how to use guns as well. After some probation period and a special course they can now wear the vipers uniform and receive their equipment.
You and Mr Hama can both be right; Vipers are indeed the bottom of the barrel, the original blue-shirt Cobra trooper was named Cobra, Code named, The Enemy. The Viper is a retcon to the original file card. Both trooper variants still exist in the same uniform. The '86 uniform is combat fatigues, worn when in a combat unit. The blue uniform, no backpack, a very nice rifle for ceremony that is actually what all Vipers train to use first. Older and not as advanced optically as the newer weapon, they only get the newer weapon once mastery of the old one is achieved. The same trooper, but utilized differently within Cobra.
"Why would they be released like this?" Simple: Hasbro didn't think of Viper before Tele-Viper. I really liked that chrome face and tried as hard as I could to keep it from getting scratched. This started the intention to collect all -Vipers that I could. I simply figured Cobra upgraded the gear of the basic Cobra infantryman.
I would love to find about 50 of these . I love them that much . I used to have one of these when i was much younger . I also used to pretend that i was the action figure or more so that was of me . lol . Wish Cobra had a mail in for us Cobra fans .
Hadn't watched this review yet, and since Retroblasting used this figure for a small part in there video for Cobra Convergence III... Figured now was a good time to watch it. COBRA!!!!
Awesome, been anticipating this review for a while. Great job as always! Next on my want list would be the Crimson Guard, which I don't think you've done yet (??).
despite what mr. Hama says about the vipers, I still personally consider them to be a higher rank than the blueshirts, or at least better trained, and equipped. blue shirts in my verse are technicians and guards, whereas the vipers comprise the main assault force, taking a more tactical role in cobra's army than the basic snakeling.....
Always loved the Vipers. I had them as a little more like the elite. Just under the Crimson Guard. Destro's army was always separate. They had one of my favorite rifles also. I used to agree that the goggles were quite unnecessary, then I got a modern figure were the goggles weren't attached. Looks kinda weird without them. So...... Good review.
I also used to think of the Cobra Vipers to be the Special Forces equivalent for Cobra. However, I now regard them as being separate branches of their military, so to speak. The Troopers are their Army equivalent, while the Vipers are more like the Marines.
Thanks for throwing the cartoon clip in at the end. I loved the Vipers as my favorite Cobra infantry, but that episode is the absolute worst, my most hated of the series. The clip is hilarious though.
I like to think of the Cobra Viper the same way as a Scout Trooper from Star Wars. They share the same rank as Storm Troopers and have fairly similar attire while both being ground troops. The Scout Trooper has more specialized training and more experience with vehicles just like the Cobra Viper. This comparison fits well too, since Scout Troopers were far more rare in combat (like the viper in the show and comics) than Storm Troopers and considered themselves to be superior to Storm Troopers despite sharing the same rank.
The goggles are very versatile, they see infrared, enhance night vision and help with targeting. They are intended to be used without the helmet but have to be stored on the helmet because the viper's pockets are full and the viper thinks it looks cool on the helmet.
l thought the difference was that Blue shirts were basic troopers basically ment to get the shots whereas Vipers were a priviledged elite chategory to aquire by those best fitted and luckiest
In my head canon, the Cobra Troopers were merely basic cannon fodder and easily replaceable. The Cobra Vipers were obviously higher grade soldiers and not meant to die.
Great review! I always wondered if the Cobra were replaced by the Viper then what happened to the Cobra Officer? Did they get replaced by the Crimson Guard or something else?
As far as I can tell, the Cobra Officer continued to exist. There's at least one comic book in which it looks like a Cobra Officer in his traditional uniform is commanding Vipers.
I guess that Blueshirts and Vipers are just in different uniforms. I would think due to their combat roles, such as a sniper rifle with a Blueshirt Trooper. Blueshirts would be support and Vipers are frontline.
as far as i am concerned....the "blue shirts" were the common soldier/infantry unit...and these guys were essentially the response to army delta force. In other words these guys were heavy commando's that could take make shift leadership roles. In my play sessions the "blue shirts" were nothing but walking shooting targets, while these guys were harder to kill.
@@gaulergolf You're out of your mind. There are many great Vipers after this Viper. Techno-Viper, Astro-Viper, Star-Viper, Aero-Viper, Toxo-Viper, Rock-Viper, Saw-Viper, Ice Viper, etc. You're nuts.
From the file card saying they are the bottom of the pyramid, then you have to build the pyramid up from them. so how would they branch out? I would think these are the basic training grunts. a secondary soldier unit that just has to survive to graduate to being a full cobra trooper or officer, which is the main cobra army. if they show talent or interest in any specialized field then they graduate in that direction, such as night viper or rock viper. that would explain them being interchangeable on the battlefield with troopers, and why there are so many hyphenated viper names.
the viper is a great figure. beautifuly sculpted. a top tier figure, you betcha. vipers were just blueshirts with better gear, about time you designed better uniforms destro. from the sound of it you're going to review the pogo or one of the lesser cobras.
+HoodedCobraCommander788 woohoo!!!! so it'll be th cobra rat. or eels v2 with the shark sans laser. oh you meant something spectacular not special ed cobras.
The only problem that has bro had with this whole design is the fact that they have rubber bands it would break down after time but you can buy them on Amazon now back in the day you had to use an old rubber band tie a knot in it unscrew the back of the toy placing it all back together and hope that you get it back in the proper position
Always loved the bikers always considered them to be cobra commanders elite troops and then above them would be the crimson guard but sadly in reality they are just troops still if I'm gonna build a diorama I'm still making them elite troops
The tela vipers are communication experts ,cryptologists,jamming & anti jamming ,readouts ect. ……there not troops you would take one with you on a small mission maybe a handful on a larger you would find them more at the terror drome on cobra island and such places
Well officially the Vipers and Cobra soldiers are the same but not in my joeverse. In my universe The cobra soldiers are the basic troopers and Vipers are Elite infantry. Vipers are better trained, paid and equipped. How does a basic trooper become a Viper? They have to earn it.
Had this figure too. I agree with you about the face plate and the goggles. Once you got used to him he would be good. Personally I like both the Tele-Viper and the original cobra soldier better.
