G.I. Joe Convention 2016 Cobra Heli-Viper
As a guy who really embraces the funky whacked out colors of the 1990’s, the COBRA Heli-Viper is a figure that should be right up my alley, but honestly, it really isn’t. It’s not necessarily the brightness of the colors that gets to me, it’s the placement of the colors and the fact that the purple/red combination is so all encompassing without any decent detail breaks or interesting trim colors.
Believe me, I wish I knew why some figures appealed to me, but others don’t. Why can I wholeheartedly love the crazy yellow and pink Mega-Viper, yet the classic Heli-Viper, for some reason, just doesn’t float my boat?
I don’t have an answer.
One thing I can say, though is that the Collectors Club did a decent job taking the framework of the classic Heli-Viper and bringing it forward into a modern format. It wasn’t anything extraordinarily complicated, after all, Hasbro already did their version of the Night Viper and their version of the Snow Serpent. the Club just had to take those two figures and mesh them together with the right paint scheme. In that way, the figure isn’t especially inventive, but it is well executed. The articulation from the relatively recently released Night Viper works well, and though I’m not a huge fan of the MARS Officer webgear, it’s the same that was used for the Night Viper(s) so it makes sense to use it here, too.
Accessories
Where the Heli-Viper truly excels is with his accessory compliment. Although the webgear is somewhat lackluster, he does come with a cool pistol for the holster, a great machine gun, and the same phenomenal helicopter backpack that Ultimate COBRA Commander did back in the Retaliation line. I love the sheer size and aesthetic of the helicopter (with its removable bombs and everything) and I am ecstatic that the Club included it with this figure. A very cool touch. It even fits!
Heli-Viper has never resonated with me in spite of the fact that I usually embrace loud colors in later generation figures, and the updated version isn’t necessarily my cup of tea either. This three pack is almost saved, however, by some terrific accessories and the mere fact that we’ve now got these guys in a modern format.
Cobra Heli-Viper
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Character
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Sculpt
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Articulation
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Paint Deco
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Accessories
Summary
This wasn’t my favorite vintage figure, and as such I’m likely not going to fall in love with the modern update either, but given what they had to work with I think the Club did a good job. They manage to salvage the character nicely with some terrific accessories.
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