The Power of Packaging: 1986 Vipers
Confession time: I didn’t have a single 1986 Viper in my childhood collection. To be honest, I liked the original Cobra and Officer more. Despite my opinion about the figures at the time, I thought the card art was super cool.
The Viper got a lot of use as my Cobra Trooper was dying a slow death from overuse. My two biggest likes of the figure were the rifle with the grenade launcher and the pack. These guys were more long term infantry than terrorist. With them, Cobra turned into more of a military force than a quick strike force.
The artwork is good. But, it’s definitely not the Cobra Trooper art.
I never noticed until I was older that the Rock ‘n Roll card was nearly identical in pose.
I was too young to see Cobra Troopers on shelves, so Vipers were my first chance at a classic Cobra generic soldier. There were Crimson Guards & Tele-Vipers available, but the red didn’t feel entirely suited as Cobra was primarily blue and Tele-Vipers were just Cobra’s telecom arm. The Vipers felt like an instant classic.
I just realized… what’s with the goggles on the helmet in the art?
$3.97? K-Mart was gouging here…
The best cobra infantry
The cartoon probably sold me more on the Viper than the blueshirts. Dunno if it was “seniority”, but my Troopers got to ride in the HISS while my Viper was a ground pounder. I like the cardart, but the Python Viper grips me more somehow. Must be the electro-background on that one.
”86′ Cobra Viper.Can’t beat the appearance. Looks so cool.”