Rock Viper (2000)
Last time I looked, this mold was known as the Range Viper. What happened–did the Hasbro group just have a brain fart, or did they not care? Whatever the case, it’s not too much of a surprise, considering that the Real American Hero Collection would end up playing fast and loose with names and parts choices within a year. Maybe the 1990 Rock Viper mold wasn’t available and they had to go with what was on hand.
The Range Viper is one darn weird figure. I’ve never been able to reconcile things like the helmet design with the specialty. The skull face and exposed brain seem more appropriate for something that would come along in the days of the Mega Marines or Eco Warriors than the regular Cobra forces. 2000 was also the year for emblazoning one’s affiliation on one’s pants legs, as both factions practiced this sort of bold branding. Smudgy paint was also the order of the day in 2000, and this figure gets the worst of it with its helmet paint job. That is one sloppy glob of a deco on his noggin.
To me, Rock Vipers are forever trapezoidal helmet, moustachioed Vipers.
The color scheme for these faux Rock Vipers is ok, though as noted, the paint apps are terrible. The pants with COBRA printed on one leg look like some kind of sweat pants from the 1980s. And yeah, Range Viper’s helmet was always an oddity. I kind of think they were going with a robot/skull look, almost like a Terminator but then a loud color & the odd brain coral texture entered the picture. 1990 Vipers had some interesting design choices.
Depending on when you bought, the paint wipes were better or worse. I can’t recall if it was the first Rock Vipers out of the gate, or the last who, basically, were devoid of paint applications on the head. But, those definitely are the ones to track down.
But, a solidly repainted figure whose original incarnation was relatively unknown at the time wasn’t a terrible choice. I had about 8 of them at one time and they were the bulk of my Cobra Infantry until the 6 pack repaint sets decimated the prices of vintage army builders.
The Major Bludd was cool, too. But, like all the figures in his wave, this guy was a terrible pegwarmer and was available at non-traditional retailers well into 2002 at $4.99 per pack.
Ha! “Like some kind of sweatpants from the 80s”. Exactly! Remember the kind? They’d say like Vikings or 49ers or Miami down the one leg 😀
Although I’d rather have a green Range Viper, I like this repaint a lot. The heavy paint wash works for his specialty moreso than for others. I painted most of the red bits black on mine, and they look pretty good with other blue Cobra Troopers and such.
Anyone notice how this color scheme is almost similar to the ’86 Vipers?
Clearly; he’s painted his bullits red so they go faster.
I´m just glad it was sold down here in old Mexico, i was buying almost anything gijoe i could find back in those days and this two pack didn´t disapoint.
I like Range Vipers and this Rock Viper has filled my “Range” Viper squad. As a figure, one gets the original equipment; something I liked in the 2000-01 Collector series overall.
I would have gone with the 1990 Range Viper mold, but I thought it would be easier to get the newer release in good conditions loose, plus, this Rock Viper has that more modern plastic that feels like it has a little more rugged play wear ability.
I don’t care for the “COBRA” on the leg, but I like this logo here more than the A.R.A.H.C. Snake Eyes that had the G.I.Joe logo on the leg. At least with Cobra, and with a more specialized wilderness, I could reason out a little unit team “flair” being applied to an otherwise not-to-fancy uniform.
The file card sort of takes the “wilderness trooper” and combines it with that of arctic and mountain, too. The range of this Rock Viper was expanded, perhaps?
Overall on the paint job, I like the shades of blue on here, but the loss of details from the 1990 colors does leave me somewhat wanting those.
I always like the mask on the Range Viper. I view it more like a hockey mask over a light netted battle helmet. And for me, Range Viper or Rock Viper here, is a very light infantry unit. The skull face really stands apart from the average infantry Vipers nameless/ faceless plate.
2000-2001 were lean times for Cobra, they had to consolidate their specialists, “Rock Vipers” were a catch all. Undertows replaced EELS. Laser Vipers used copied JOE gear. Even the Baroness was an impostor.