Neo-Viper (2004)

Oh Lemon Yellow Neo-Viper, how I love your Day-Glo goodness. It’s like you stepped right out of 1993. What can I possibly say that this picture doesn’t? Doesn’t it take you back to your first lemonade stand back in the day? Or maybe it reminds you of the hard hat you wore on your old construction job. You know, I’m always searching for ways to fit figures into my Joe universe, and now I’ve got it…

Yellow this bright can only mean one thing: it’s the Safety Viper. His fellow troops have no doubt about his intentions when he steps into the Terrordrome to perform his weekly safety inspection. What? You think that just because Cobra Commander is the leader of an evil terrorist organization, he wants to incur the wrath of OSHA?  Just one willful OSHA violation can set you back $70,000. That’s not chump change for any business, especially one that’s Determined To Rule The World.

Safety Viper is sent across the country to Cobra’s hidden fortresses on missions of safety awareness; eliminating slip, trip and fall hazards, promoting lockout/tagout and making sure that Cobra HQ has the appropriate MSDS sheets on file for the MASS Device’s catalytic elements.

Originally the driver of the Battle Hornet, a bee themed Cobra vehicle, the figure is based on the O-ring version of the GI Joe vs. Cobra Neo-Viper mold. Again it’s got that comic book style which was so prevalent in the early 2000’s Joes. It’s a decent enough figure for the time, and I especially like the fact the arms are molded to allow him to cradle his weapon at the ready.