Alley Viper (2002)
The original Alley Viper figure was an unknown to me until I came back to collecting in the early 90s. The concept instantly hooked me, and the color scheme and helmet design were extra touches of oddness that drew me to the trooper. When the Battle Corps versions hit, I was able to build a squad of the yellow and black release.
The first series of Joe’s 2002 relaunch was accompanied by a selection of o-ring molds. The returning Alley Viper (available in two flavors!) became another easy to obtain urban assault army builder. I didn’t have a preference for either color, as both can function well within the various Cobra color brigades. I would prefer the mask in the figure’s main color rather than grey, but it does mesh well with the urban camo elements.
We couldn’t escape a 2000s o-ring Joe without mentioning parts swapping. All the Alleys ended up with Duke legs, which don’t look bad to me, however the fit doesn’t quite match up with the sockets of the waist. As a result, these guys are usually doing a weird side-kick of some kind, unless you’re really careful in posing them. This all goes back to the 1997 version, along with the Dial-Tone rifle. I just had to replace the ugly Tomax/Xamot pistol that came with this figure.
IIRC these guys were 1 per case, but still pretty easy to track down. The accessories were a metallic color that was unique to them, too.
On some level, I got sick of these figures. But, that was just because they were everywhere. I miss the days of easy to find retail toys.
Although the brighter colored Alley Vipers are renown for their specialty, this and the blue version really cemented the AVs in my Cobra forces. No suspension of disbelief or explanation necessary – they’re perfect for that they do. I miss the jackboots a little, but the sidearm would be useful.
What’s funny about this release, is that at least on mine, they painted over blue boots from the previous release. I wonder what happened?
Big Ben that came with him was a good, too. Though like the AV, they simplified his accessories by making them all the same color.
The Battle Corps Alley Viper really only worked for me in black and yellow. Hasbro created some great color schemes in the late 90s and early 2000s but I wonder if they wouldn’t have looked better on the original 1989 mold.
At the time these came out I was starting by more of these two packs to “army build” and ended up with 5 of the blue variety on these G.I.Joe versus Cobra Alley Vipers.
I came across much fewer of these red variety Alley Vipers. I only ended up with the one. Or maybe I avoided buying more of these because I didn’t want another of THAT Big Ben?
So at one point in my collecting history I had:
1-’93 that was my absolute favorite.
1-’94 that I left on card since I got it very cheap on clearance and didn’t want to use it.
1-’97 that came with the Rage (are loose heads common on these?)
5 -’02 blue
1- ’02 red
1-’04 Cobra strike force
The non-matching figures bugged me and so did the Duke legs eventually. Mostly those skinny legs.
I remember wanting that ’03 Alley Viper and Viper set, too, I just don’t remember seeing it or if I did I didn’t have the cash at the time. (Was that the Crimson Sabotage year. too?)
I sold or traded them all away eventually. Now I want my ’93 figure back. (x6)