Viper Commando and Serpent Armor

Height: 10cm to top of head(Viper), approx. 11.5cm to top of armor(Serpent Armor).

Articulation:

Viper: 22 points total- ball-jointed neck; 5 points each arm: universal joint shoulder, universal-joint elbow, forearm swivel; mid-torso ball joint; 5 points each leg: ball-joint hip, double-joint knee, universal joint ankle.

Serpent Armor: 6 points total- 2 points each arm: swivel shoulder and forearm swivel; ball-joint hip(when worn by figure).

Colors: Molded black and silver. Painted silver, red, and black wash (Viper vest).

Accessories: Rifles x2, pistol, backpack, suitcase, Serpent Armor with stand, decals and extra arm attachmentsx2, stand.

Release Data: Released as a Target Exclusive in November 2009 with a SRP of $9.99. This item is still widely available at Target Stores.

Author: RAC

(more...)

Cobra Viper Commandos carry out highly dangerous and deadly operations. They attack the convoy transporting nanomite weapon prototypes through a remote desert. Supported by advanced vehicles and weapons, they ruthlessly batter the convoy and the special forces protecting it.

Oddly, this isn't actually a Viper Commando- the name and filecard's description of the beginning of the film both correspond to the other Viper, the one with the lumpier vest. This is technically a Neo-Viper, which I already reviewed in its Crimson flavor. But besides a new paint job, this one has something else, something I wanted more: the Serpent Armor!

If you find a lot of people calling it the SNAKE Armor in various GI Joe forums, that's because that was its name in a past life. Either way, it's Cobra's attempt at powered armor, always a favorite subject of mine. So for an SRP of $10, you get a decent figure with a fair number of accessories and a big, clunky suit of armor for it to wear- or one that can be displayed separately, meaning you have two toys here instead of one. Makes the $8 the regular figures cost look kinda silly, huh? (Doesn't do the $16 for the small vehicle-and-pilot sets much good either.)


The Figure

I probably should've just labelled this a Paint and Deco section, because that's what it'll amount to. There's no practical difference between this and my Crimson Neo-Viper, except that this version has slightly tighter hips and ankles. (Considering how many Neo-Viper variants there are in various boxsets, that's all but miraculous.) The armor vest is dull silver with a black wash, and I can finally get a really good look at that nice crosshatching on there. There's more silver here overall than on the standard Neo-Viper, and the red highlights on the armor pop nicely, and help to dispel the drabness I keep complaining of with these figures. But more striking than the red trim is the effect of the red lenses on the Viper's black helmet- not only does it make him look good and sinister, but it also matches the Serpent Armor's red visor nicely. It's going to spend a lot of time inside the Serpent, but I'd have no trouble displaying him separately either.


Accessories

-Rifle #1

The two rifles that come with the Viper are two different designs; this one has one handgrip and is scoped. I'm pretty sure these are supposed to be some of MARS Industries' electromagnetic rifles as referenced on the Vipers' cards. I'd be surprised if there are real-world analogues to these, anyway- the barrels are square, and there's no ammo feed that I can find. (And they just have that "sci-fi gun" look to them, y'know?)

The enclosed handgrip is a tough fit, and can pop loose sometimes if the weapon is twisted. It's weird, because the grip goes from really solid to really loose in an instant. The stock is too short to quite brace the weapon against a shoulder, but that's superior to stocks that are too long, and so some decent two-handed poses can be managed.

-Rifle #2

No scope, and two handgrips. The stock is too long on this one, and so shouldering the weapon is still impossible. Worse, the foregrip is too far out, and there really aren't any good poses to be had with both hands on the weapon. Furthermore, the Viper's grip on either handgrip is loose no matter what you do. So neither rifle is ideal.

-Backpack

A little bit of tech-detailing on the back, with just enough paint-wash to give it a little bit of depth and break up the solid silver. There's a peg on each side to hold the rifles on the back, and they work okay- it's a little too easy to knock the rifles off when you move the arms, but I'm not sure there'd be any way to avoid that.

-Suitcase

I'm not even sure if this counts as an accessory, but the package comes with a cardboard replica of the suitcase/MacGuffin from the film. It's big enough to hold most of the accessories you're not using from the set, though.

-Pistol

Same as Crimson Neo-Viper's, which I now recognize as the same pistol the Baroness uses throughout the film. It's just as good here as it is there, and has the firmest grip of all three hand-weapons.

-Serpent Armor

Here's the star of the set! It's such an endearingly goofy-looking thing, a big coffin with arms and legs. Compared to the many more streamlined versions of powered armor that have been produced since, it looks like an old-school Dr. Who prop. Though time's not the only consideration here: Marvel had much more streamlined armor than this decades ago in the form of Iron Man. So it's a lot more likely that the clunkiness of the design can be laid at the feet of our dear old friend, play value. And it has a fair amount of that!

The body opens up, as do the legs, and you stuff a figure inside and close it back up. Fortunately, Hasbro made it a bit on the big side back in 1983, so the slightly larger modern GI Joe figures have no difficulty fitting. The arms peg into discs which lock in place between the two halves of the shell- I'm assuming it was easier to mold a stable hollow figure this way.

Articulation is naturally limited after the Viper is stuffed into something so blocky. The Armor's arms swivel (though they're a bit loose), and there's also a swivel below the "elbow," which I put in quotes because there's not an elbow so much as a place where the arm curves. There's certaily no elbow joint. The swivel is practically useless to all the forearms except the claw attachment. The legs do move a bit at the hip, enough to imply a walking motion of some sort at least. And that's it.

Deco is equally simple: it's gloss black with some silver details on the legs and back, and a red visor. All other decoration is accomplished with stickers, which are printed on transparent plastic. One thing I've discovered is that I still really suck at applying stickers, after all these years. Far as I can tell, this mold is always underdecorated; it seems as though Hasbro could really make something impressive out of all the detail on the front if they could budget for more paint. I'm not sure whether paint would draw attention to or [/i]from[/i] the fact that the torso details are rather soft, though.

Even though I'm listing this as an accessory, it has accessories of its own! There are four forearm attachments to choose from: a claw, a large missile, and what I assume are supposed to be guns. Though the instruction sheet shows these attaching at the wrist, they actually attach at the elbow, with each piece attached to its own forearm block. The claw is abstract enough to work as either hand, and the rest are just weapon-shaped enough to be recognizeable. I kind of wish it was possible to pair matching accessories- maybe I'll buy a second Serpent sometime. The other accessory is a rubbery piece that you install inside the armor in lieu of a figure. It keeps the legs attached, allowing you to display the Armor without installing a figure. While it's a lot more satisfying to use the Serpent Armor as armor, you could have damn near anybody in there and you'd never know it. If you lose this piece, there's always one of your excess Snake Eyes or Cobra Commanders...

-Stand

Everybody's got one, and they're nearly all the same. In a nice touch, I hear Desert Ambush Duke's stand looks more like a standard-issue dogtag than the GI Joe or Cobra stands. That's a nice attention to detail, since the Duke represented by that figure isn't a member of GI Joe yet. This stand, on the other hand, is the same Cobra stand I've had nothing left to say about for many reviews now.


Closing Remarks

Let's face it: there's an awful lot of Vipers out there. Whether or not you're willing to spend the extra for this Viper depends completely on how much you like the Serpent Armor. I loved it from the minute I laid eyes on it, and the nice red trim on the Viper figure is therefore a nice bonus. If you think the Serpent armor is dumb and ugly, you don't need this set. If you think it's fun or goofy, it's worth the little bit extra it runs you. It's hard to give this set an objective rating because I really like the thing, but I think the flaws in the Viper's rifles are tempered nicely by the Serpent Armor. I want to call it Excellent, but I think the more reasonable rating is probably Very Good. Either way, if you like the armor design, it's worth owning.

-RAC