Don’t look now, but the Figure Subscription Reviews continue unabated here at GeneralsJoes.com!
Today we’re taking a look at Charbroil and the COBRA Viper, the first two figures that hit mailboxes for FSS 5.0.
You can check out the reviews on the G.I. Joe Collectors Club Review Page or click the links below.
I’m going to start this review with a confession, though it’s a confession that will likely not come as a surprise to many.
I love me some neon G.I. Joe. I always have. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t love the figures because of the neon, I enjoy them in spite of their garish colors, and in most cases actually would prefer it if the kickass 90s molds would use slightly tamer, more realistic color schemes. That being said, I will never look down on a figure because of its brightness, and the Battle Corps COBRA Viper is a perfect example of that.
Yes the figure is purple and orange, and yes he would be a huge target on the battlefield, but from a pure sculpt perspective the figure is incredible. The awesome narrow, sloped helmet with embedded visor, along with the built-in rebreather is an amazing design aesthetic, looking somewhat insect-like but also like something that could completely exist in the real world. I think that’s what I’ve always loved so much about A Real American Hero, the fact that they take this outlandish concepts and manage to build figures around them that make them seem realistic.
As one might imagine, after modern era format figures have been around going on seven years, we’re starting to run out of credible updates…so the Collectors Club is having to dig deep into the vaults, and with the COBRA Viper I think they made a great choice. The choice makes sense as well, considering the Iron Anvil that was released for the 2015 G.I. Joe Convention. Once that figure was revealed, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that the character’s predecessor from the vintage days would appear somewhere along the line as well.
Interestingly, rather than duplicate the spectacular build for the Iron Anvil, the Collectors Club went their own way, and I think the results are mixed. I’ll never be one to admonish trying to develop new concepts rather than just repaint what’s already been done, however the Iron Anvil figure build, frankly, was superior to this one in every way. The sculpt and tooling for the G.I. Joe: Retaliation Snake Eyes works a lot better in my mind, and allows the figure some better range of motion and an appearance of being more streamlined.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have anything against the Jungle Viper torso and legs we see here, the look is just thicker and more bulky, and overall I prefer the nimble appearance of the previous iteration. Also, the use of the G.I. Joe: Retaliation COBRA Trooper arms means the wrists don’t get the extra articulation, which is a shame as well.
Looking at the color scheme, they did a decent job matching up the vintage ’94 COBRA Viper, while muting the tones somewhat. You can immediately tell where the inspiration came from, but they manage to dial down the neon to a degree, which is a good combination.
Accessories
The G.I. Joe Collectors Club chose some neat weapons for the COBRA Viper as well. I’m a huge fan of the assault rifle that he comes with, I’ve loved it ever since it was released with G.I. Joe: Resolute Destro and I’m happy to say the COBRA Viper hands fit it really well. He’s also got a purple knife inspired by the crazy blade that the original Viper came with, though since this knife is one that generally plugs into a hole on a figure, it has a huge rounded peg on it. Without having some place to plug it in on the Viper, that seems a bit odd, but it’s not terrible. Lastly, he has a pistol that fits neatly into the holster on his ankle. He doesn’t come with a lot of weapons, but what he comes with makes sense and look pretty neat alongside the figure itself.
I’m a huge fan of this version of the COBRA Viper and I have been for a long time. I was really looking forward to seeing what the Collectors Club did with it. Unfortunately I ended up slightly disappointed in the build, though the overall color scheme and accessory compliment (almost) make up for that. It’s a fun figure and a nice addition to the modern era collection. Now someone get me a Crimson Guard Commander dammit.
Summary
I will happily take more Battle Corps figures and the COBRA Viper would have been near the top of my list. Love the colors, love the accessories, though honestly I prefer the build from the Iron Anvil from a few years back. That being said, I’m glad to see the Figure Subscription Service starting to dip its toes more deeply into the 1990s waters.
[wpebayads]
If you’d asked me at any point over the past several years if we really needed an update for Charbroil, I would have said “hell no”. In the 21st Century the need for flamethrower troopers seems unnecessary, and Charbroil isn’t even the number 1 flamethrower trooper on the G.I. Joe team. Not only that, but we’ve already received two Charbroil updates, though one was Rise of COBRA and one was Night Force, so we never really got the 1988 update that some folks might have thought we needed.
I would have disagreed.
However, throughout doing this review and realizing just how many 1988 figures have now been released, it’s kind of cool to see the group shot and Charbroil does fill a hole in that roster, which is cool to see.
Charbroil himself is a decent figure. He uses pretty much the entire base figure for the G.I. Joe: Retaliation G.I. Joe Trooper (like the Night Force version did) but done up in colors more accurate to the 1988 version. The shade of brown for the uniform is a decent match for the ’88 original and the yellow trim does a good job complimenting it now as it did 19 years ago.
One curious choice, however, was that instead of reusing the same unmasked head that we got with the Night Force version, instead this Charbroil has a balaclava. I’m not entirely sure why that decision was made, though I would have much preferred the unmasked head here as it was with the Convention set.
If I have a gripe, while the sculpting on the legs is exceptionally well detailed and looks really nice, the ankle joints don’t work especially well (as they really haven’t since 2012) making it tough to keep the figure standing, either on the battle stand or off.
Accessories
This figure comes with the accessories you’d pretty much expect, including the familiar helmet, backpack with flamethrower (and removable flame) and pistol. Honestly there’s nothing especially revolutionary or different here, and nothing that wows or impresses. The weapons are fine and they make sense, but beyond that they’re just kind of there.
As a character, Charbroil has never really held an interest for me, and as we sit here in 2017, the concept of a flamethrower trooper seems unrealistic at best. It’s nice to have another entry in the 1988 figure roster filled, however, and I will admit I geeked out just a little when I shot that group shot that keeps on getting just a little bit larger every year.
Summary
I don’t need a third Charbroil update, but the 1988 roster appreciates another hole being filled. The figure mold is the same as the Night Force version and the colors are updated to match the vintage, as one would expect them to be. At the end of the day, it’s a fine update, but doesn’t do anything amazing or out of the ordinary, it just kind of ticks those normal boxes that you’d expect to be ticked.
[wpebayads]