2006 Viper (Cobra Viper Pit 6-Pack)
I’ve thought about discussing this set for awhile, and being that my blog shares a name with this set, it seems right to talk about the Cobra Viper Pit at some point. The amusing thing is, I really just liked the name and thought it seemed unique for a Joe blog, but I’m not the biggest fan of the set. That isn’t to say I dislike the figures by any means, however.
The Cobra Viper Pit set and it’s Vipers are somewhat infamous in the GI Joe collecting community at this point. Namely, the reason for that is due to how incredibly fragile the figures are, and how poorly they’ve aged in comparison to other delicate feeling figures no one thought would last long.
The main problem with this Viper is that the crotch, sans modification, will almost be guaranteed to break. This is because the thighs are newly recast Viper thighs, while the waist is the same one from the BAT that Hasbro used on all Viper repaints from ‘97 onward. As it turns out, these parts are not a great fit, and the t-bar puts enough pressure on the crotch that sooner or later, it breaks.
The problem is compounded if you leave the factory o-rings in this figure, though twelve years to the release of the set and it’s mildly hard to find any still intact. Hasbro used undersized o-rings in these and they should be immediately replaced upon acquisition of the figure.
To correct the crotch issue, one can use a nail-file and grind down a portion of the inside of the figure’s crotch. This alleviates the pressure issue and seems to help the range of motion in the figure’s legs. I’ve owned four of these Vipers for about four or five years now with no problems thanks to this, though it’s a serious shame a figure needs modifications just to prevent it from breaking.
It should be mentioned as well, that these Vipers inherit the neck bar from the 1997 line, a modification intended to limit the head movement down to left and right like all of the pre-1985 figures. It’s dumb, and has been an annoyance on all of the Vipers released since then, and it’s present here too.
These glaring quality issues are a huge damper on what could’ve otherwise been one of the best GI Joe items of it’s era. A set of 6 Vipers, all in classic colors with decent parts and great painted details, it’s a premise that’s hard to screw-up, yet Hasbro somehow found a way to do just that.
The painted details of this figure is where they really shine in my opinion. The colors are very similar to the V1 Viper’s, but a lot of details are highlighted on this version that were easily overlooked on the original Viper. The goggle lenses, gloves, vest buckles, grenades, they’ve all been swapped out from large swathes of red and black for additional colors. I think it looks so good, I’d dare to say they’re an upgrade to the V1 Viper, visually.
The parts really aren’t bad either. 2000‘s GI Joes are known for coming with random, tired and terrible parts (good example: The Cobra Infantry Forces), but these guys come with a little variety of new and old guns in appropriate colors. Four of the Vipers in the set have Ambush’s bullpup in light gray, while the other two each got a black LMG from the DTC SAW Viper, and a light gray MP5 like the one from the DTC Range Viper. As well, the set included four backpacks from ‘92 Gung-Ho.
With all that said, these should be great figures. But, requiring modifications just to work as intended makes them a failure of a product. Still, I really like these Vipers and enjoy using them in photos from time to time. With current Joe market pricing, I see full sets of these, carded or loose, running between $30 to $50. Like all of the other mid-2000‘s GI Joe sets, the supply of these have really dried up, and prices have gone up accordingly. Personally, I think you’d be well advised to spend your collecting dollars elsewhere, as at the moment these just have too many problems and cost way too much.
I remember quite a few of these lingering at Toys R Us stores back in the day. Compared to the Cobra Infantry set, this one was not in demand. After the quality issue came to light, I stopped getting them.
This is the worst 6-pack they made just for quality reasons, when is should be competing for the best spot. You mention all the problems. It’s a real shame to have to mod figures to prevent breakage. I never filed down all the insides of the ones I opened. Also, what most people don’t also realize is those recast viper thighs are not even safe to use with the original Viper waist from 1986. I was tinkering around replacing a vintage Viper’s o-ring and decided to compare parts and the recast thighs are too tight.
Hasbro should’ve spent the money and recast the entire waist and legs. Or been cheaper, left the BAT legs and just fixed the damned neck. There was no excuse for that mold to have been issued that many times with that “stuck looking down” head. But then they’ve done the same in modern style with their current Cobra Trooper kit bash. They made the parts but don’t realize all parts cannot be swapped out and things just work!
I find their gear…good on paper, but disappointing. They just can’t aim the bully pup rifles. If Vipers use SAW’s, then why are there SAW-Viper?
The horrible quality was a real turn off. I know lots of collectors of the era quickly soured on them and limited purchases below their original intentions.
Despite all that, this set actually got 2 production runs. The first sold out fairly quickly. But, just as prices started to rise, the second run hit and dropped them down. You could get loose sets for $15 as recently as 2011 or so. At that price, you didn’t mind the quality issue. But, at three or four times that, these things should be perfect.