Viper (30th Anniversary)

by KansasBrawler

The Pursuit of Cobra Viper was everything I wanted in an updated version of the Cobra Viper. I have fond memories of the Python Patrol version, but all the 25th Anniversary versions (save the Hall of Heroes version and one in a multipack that was on the spendy side) had those terrible pre-posed wrists. When Pursuit of Cobra fixed that problem with some different arms, I was happy. However, that version of the Viper came out in the end of Pursuit of Cobra phantom wave. Mercifully, Hasbro made a great decision—the hard-to-find army builders from that wave were getting rereleased in the first wave of the 30th Anniversary line (with some different paint choices) so we’d have a second chance (or first in some cases) to get them. The early 30th Anniversary product was pretty prevalent in my area, so I was glad to add this version of the Viper into my collection.

The parts making up this figure are the same as the Pursuit of Cobra version, meaning we’ve got a Viper head (with vac-metal faceplate…yay!), the torso, waist, upper arms, hands and upper legs from the great Pursuit of Cobra Shock Trooper, the lower arms of the Rise of Cobra Arctic Assault Storm Shadow and the lower legs and feet of Pursuit of Zartan. That’s a great recipe and I really like Vipers sharing a lot of parts with the Shock Troopers. It gives the Cobra infantry forces a nice degree of synergy. I do wish that the upper arms had a cuff to makeit look like rolled up sleeves since I prefer my Cobra troopers having rolled up sleeves as opposed to short sleeve uniform shirts. It’s a little odd to see. Throw the standard Cobra Viper vest over the gear and you’ve got a guy that’s clearly a Cobra Viper, but there are enough nods to the standard branch of the Cobra infantry that it’s clear they’re being outfitted by the same command structure. The Viper head still looks sharp and I’m really glad after their experiment with removable goggles for the first couple of 25th Anniversary releases that they’ve gone back to molding the goggles on to the helmet. It looks a lot better that way.

The paint jobs between the Pursuit of Cobra and 30th Anniversary versions are quite similar, but unlike the Iron Grenadier, I think the 30th Anniversary Viper has the edge. The paint job is fairly basic—standard Cobra blue for the body, and black and red on the vest. However, a nod to the classic Vipers of old, the 30th Anniversary Viper has red bracers as opposed to the Cobra blue bracers the Pursuit of Cobra version had. I never would have thought such a minor paint change would make the figure so different (and better in my opinion) but it really does. The photos I’ve seen of the Pursuit of Cobra Viper look a little bland, but that red on the bracers really pops on the 30th Anniversary version and I like it. It really helps make the homage to the original version stronger. I’ll admit, the paint on my version’s red bracers is a bit sloppy, with some red paint on to the flesh, but it’s not bad and something I didn’t really ever look for at that point in my Joe buying history. I’ve never been super anal retentive on paint unless it’s a badly glaring error (say the scuff of my Retaliation Cobra Commander’s face plate) but I have seen other reviewers talk about some shoddy paint work on those bracers, so I feel I should mention that mine does have that flaw. Paint detailing on the vest is great, with the belt buckle and clasps on the vest getting some red paint. There, the detail work is nice and crisp with no bleeding. Given the choice, I’d rather have that detail be nice and crisp since it’s front and center on the figure.

The biggest different between the Pursuit of Cobra and 30th Anniversary Vipers is in their weapons load, and once again, I think the 30th Anniversary Viper has a far better weapons load. The Pursuit of Cobra version got the standard Viper rifle and picked up Resolute Firefly’s really nice spring-loaded missile launcher. It’s a great piece and I’m glad Hasbro found a way to get it to a larger market, but the 30th Anniversary Viper has enough guns to equip a small army (and did so when he willingly lent the submachine gun that first came with the 25th Baroness to my Renegades Cobra Trooper so he had a more realistic looking firearm). His gear consists of the standard Viper rifle, a rifle that looks to be an M-16 variant with a bottom-mounted shotgun (or possibly grenade launcher), the submachine gun that the 25th Baroness came with, a silenced automatic pistol with a butt stock, and a very nice rocket launcher with a removable rocket. It’s a great kit and anyone who army builds has a lot of options for equipping their squad of Vipers. The Viper rifle is still a nice piece and I really love it in a dark gunmetal gray. The added wrist articulation also allows the Viper to get in some nice firing poses with that rocket launcher. He also gets the standard issue Viper backpack. It’s a great modern update of a classic piece and the added paint apps on the grenades (which the Pursuit of Cobra version also had) look really nice.

It really is surprising what a few small changes can do to change my opinion on a figure. The Viper has always been the backbone of my Cobra forces since I was a bit too young to enjoy the original Cobra Blueshirts. However, the original 25th Anniversary design left me cold. Yes, they did eventually fix its shortcomings, but they did so in two formats that were hard to find in my area. Seeing the 30th Anniversary Viper on the shelves really did make me smile. It’s all I ever wanted in an update of the classic Viper. He’s Cobra to the core and the colors do a great job of referencing the original look. While I was always a little on the fence about the Pursuit of Cobra version even before I was unable to find it, something about the 30th Anniversary version just really spoke to me. Between its paint job that fit the Viper look just a little bit better and his impressive weapons cache, I really don’t feel like I missed out on too much by not being able to find his Pursuit of Cobra brother. The minor changes made between the two iterations make the figures different from each other at a glance and I really think the 30th Anniversary version does look a bit sharper and more like the original Viper. Kudos to Hasbro for making me actually want to buy another Viper again.