Copperhead (1984)
I don’t always have a good memory for the old days of toy buying as a kid, but I can still remember when I got the Water Mocassin. Near our neighborhood was a small shopping center, with a couple of larger stores. One of the stores was a local grocery store chain and the other a TG&Y, a department store from before the days of WalMart’s seeming takeover of all shopping opportunities. TG&Y had a decently sized toy section, and I remember picking up other 80’s toys there, like Voltron, Transformers, and Mighty Crusaders. There was even a sizable selection of knock offs. I think I picked up a phoney baloney Insecticon at one time.
Anyway, I remember being excited not only for the vehicle, but for the driver as well. At that point I had a HISS and a VAMP, and while I liked Clutch quite a bit, the HISS Driver was not a favorite. Copperhead quickly became my favorite Cobra driver, and I even used him a lot outside of his vehicle, a rarity for me.
This figure has just the right amount of menace, and a great uniform design that still resonates today. The exposed eyes of the helmet have a kind of simplified comic art look to them that is simple yet expressive. I’ve talked about it before, how I find the early figures with only exposed eyes to be very interesting, in a graphic sense. The bulk of the figure also drew me in, as many figures in the line at that point still had a tendency toward thinner sculpts. Copperhead had a solid and imposing stature, with larger arms and a barrel chest. The uniform is a great blend of function and symbolism, with its wet suit look and snake belly motif on the inside of the legs.
I didn’t discover the variant, with darker green gloves and armbands and solid colored helmet, until the days of the internet. It’s an interesting look, but I don’t really care for the missing paint apps on the helmet.
Why do they keep calling the variant’s gloves ‘darker green’? They’re the same blue as the helmet!
Other than that, this is one figure I know was at my local flea market that I aim to pick up.
Because they are darker gloves than the more common version, which had light green gloves.
Thanks for the TG&Y link to Google Images. I love these “point of origin” stories like crazy and those old store pics bring back great memories.
I didn’t have the Water Moccasin, but I did get Copperhead as part of a mail-in driver set in the late 80’s. I like him better as an actual character who never got his due in the comics. In fact, I was reading the first issue of European Missions (the UK Action Force reprint title) and there were some dudes in Copperhead suits carrying about like Vipers or Cee Gees as if Water Moccasin drivers were yet another Cobra troop division.
I used Water Moccasin drivers as nameless troops, because my brother had 2 of them (that I inherited after he quit on toys) and I had a mail in one. So I needed more boat drivers. The Python Copperhead became the character.
IIRC, Copperhead himself also appears in Action Force, in a story involving Cover Girl and a comics only villains named Weaponsmith.
I never cared for this figure. Python Patrol Copperhead yes, orignal Copperhead no.
Legendary Cobra action figure!
To quote toyfare magazine “Those must be nice gloves”
His exposed eyes, and the helmet shape, make it look like he’s just about to cry. Which is insane considering how much fun the Water Moccasin was to play with at the beach.
I loved this guy. His playability went well beyond driving the Moccasin.
He’s #20 on my top 25 Cobras.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/the-gi-joe-museum/my-top-25-joes-and-cobras/454117664644799
I had a mail-in one. The mail in versions had a glossier finish.
He’s pretty a neat character considering he’s wearing a tank top.
His tank top seemed appropriate for someone who would drive a “swamp cruiser” (see the box here: http://www.3djoes.com/cobra-water-moccasin.html).
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This is definitely a nice figure all around. I much prefer the version with the light green accents.