2002 Cobra Viper

Posted on July 28, 2020 by mwnekoman

2002 Cobra Viper

The collecting community in the 2000‘s was all about army-builders; especially the coveted classic Cobra Troopers, BATs, and Viper. The first two I mentioned Hasbro struggled to deliver on, though Viper repaints were put out in numbers not too different from Firefly figures. This Viper was one of the first recolors after the Cobra Infantry Team in ‘98.

A lot of the appeal of this figure is lost now because of the subsequent repaints that came after him, and the availability of some more interesting factory customs. In it’s own right, this is a passable Viper repaint that I think looks pretty good for it’s lighter, desaturated greens compared to the similar olive one from 2003. Another thing that makes this repaint nice to me, is that Hasbro kept the visor silver rather than painting it some weird color like they did on the later repaints.

The paint masks are really questionable on this figure, particularly referring to his lower legs. Because the figure uses BAT legs instead of actual Viper legs, the designers decided to paint the entire lower leg piece, including the knee above the boot, solid grey. The idea was to simulate the look of the classic Viper’s knee-boots, but it really looks horrible here. On many of my figures I removed the paint on this part which improves the look slightly, though I hate doing mods like this.

Of course, the figure also suffers from all of the classic tooling issues that plague almost every Viper repaint post ‘97. That includes the tab on his neck that makes him permanently look down, and using BAT legs instead of Viper legs. The head tab doesn’t bother me that much, but it would’ve been nice if they could have removed it. Why is it that it’s always too expensive to remake lost molds, but they can modify a mold at a moment’s notice for an obscure set of reissues made in smaller numbers?

The Viper really suffers from the poor accessory choices you saw often in the 2000‘s. Included here is ‘84 Baroness’s gun, and the backpack from the SAW Viper; generic items used extensively in later 00‘s releases. I’ve really softened my views on the Baroness rifle in recent years, as it’s not really a terrible gun, but just an okay one that was really overused in this period. As a kid, it was my go-to weapon for the Python Tele-Viper, and it has the benefit of being a relatively easy weapon to hold. The SAW Viper backpack was also not that bad of a part, but really just didn’t feel appropriate here. Even among a catalog of parts Hasbro frequently used at the time, there were better items that could’ve been chosen for this figure.

In all of the uses of the Viper mold in the 2000‘s, I really like this one for it’s colors. The 2002 Crimson/Fuschia Viper is probably the best looking use of the mold, but it’s niche and expensive. Another blue recolor came out in ’02, which was pretty nice, but it was also very darkly colored and somewhat bland. Three more were released in separate colors under Spy Troops, which all looked a little phoned-in to me. Then you had the Viper Pit set come along in pseudo ‘86 colors, which had it’s own series of problems associated with it. Putting all that in context makes me realize that Hasbro never did anything very interesting or curious with the mold, despite that the Viper is ubiquitously popular and would’ve fit well into a TRU 6-pack. To a certain degree I’m glad we didn’t see it again though.

One of the last benefits you can attribute to this figure, is that it’s a common and relatively cheap Viper. They’re a little tedious to look for among so many Viper releases, but you can get them often with the Mirage he was packed with around $10, and if you look long enough, you can get this guy by himself for around $6 or $7. Even just a few years ago this was a cheap and fun figure you might get as a toss-in purchase, though it’s a little less often now with the current market.

gi joe arah joe vs cobra 2002 vintage hasbro viper vs mirage

2002 Cobra Viper Links:

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Photo by Cradea2

Photo by Scarrviper

2020 TBM Eels (Copperhead Colors)

Posted on July 21, 2020 by mwnekoman

2020 TBM Eels (Copperhead Colors)

So after a good amount of hype, The Black Major’s latest project has finally arrived, and this time it’s the 1985 Eel mold. There’s quite a few interesting color schemes floating around, though a popular one and the one I liked best was this color scheme based on ‘84 Copperhead.

GI Joe TBM The Black Major eels copperhead vintage arah

In general, I’m not someone who was overly excited for Eel repaints, and that’s for a handful of reasons. The Eel was a good figure that serves it’s purpose, and similar to the Snow Serpent, there’s not much need for a repaint of a character so specialized. Because of this, I think a lot of the repaints went in a more novel direction, which doesn’t work for me with this mold. I also just don’t like this mold as much as other people though, so there’s that too.

This color scheme is very good however, and very useful to my collection. As a personal choice, I don’t like imagining that they have much relation to Copperhead (he’s a rogue agent), but rather are just an Eel division in swamp-centric colors. This to me, makes them a little more unique and gives them a more distinct role in my collection. This way it provides some new opportunities, like giving them the Dreadnok Swampfire, or having someone for Muskrat to fight.

The quality of these figures is very good, maybe the best I’ve encountered from factory customs. In general I don’t judge these figures too harshly for quality, as with their third-party origins and small production runs, it’s usually going to be the case that a figure won’t be perfect. With that said, these are simply excellent. The paint, joints, and even the numerous parts have a solid feel to them, which surprised me, as I was expecting the flippers or mouthpiece at least to have some problems. Instead, everything’s very snug and almost on par with vintage quality.

You get the original Eel’s full assortment of gear, including the two-piece backpack, speargun, mouthpiece and flippers. All of the parts are cast in a winter green color, which looks pretty good. Personally I think black parts might’ve contrasted better with the figure itself, but I really like these oddly colored 80‘s accessories, so I’d rather have them like this than be perfectly attuned to my esthetic sense.

It seems like with factory customs, you get about a year or so of seeing the figures float around plentifully before things start to dry up. These particular Eels are the cream of the crop from this set, so I didn’t chose to wait around on them. However, I’m pretty sure a handful of these will be available into next year, at which point I’ll probably dip my hands into a few more color schemes. I expect you’ll see these particular Eels for at least the rest of the year at their normal $15 to $18, which they’re well worth.

1987 Falcon

Posted on July 13, 2020 by mwnekoman

1987 Falcon

Falcon came along in ‘87, and despite not receiving many subsequent releases, is a pretty popular figure. When you consider his obnoxious portrayal in the cartoons, the fact that he’s from an otherwise unpopular year, and that he was intended to replace Duke, it seems like a surprise that Falcon’s so well liked; that is, if you ignore the quality of this figure.

If you’re mostly a cartoon guy like me, Falcon’s pretty hard to get into as a character. The movie pretty much made him the worst character in the franchise, and DIC used him as a junky in the Headhunters two-parter. I’m under the impression the comics made him a lot more likable, but I’ve not read those issues yet, so I don’t know. Despite all that, he’s relatively popular with fans and I can imagine a few reasons why.

1987 was not a very good year of figures, and is a jumping-off point for most older GI Joe fans. It’s pretty fair to say the line jumped the shark with this year, as most fans don’t like Cobra La (though I do a bit…), or other cringe-inducing classics like Crystal Ball and Big Boa. The Joes from that year were mostly better than the Cobras, though many could be seen as a step down when compared to figures from years before.

Then you wind up with Falcon, who as a toy is pretty much great. There’s nothing too crazy going on with his design, and overall the figure looks like quite a down to earth Green Beret. The sculpted detail is easily on par with classics like ‘85 Flint, so you can see why the figure’s so popular.

Of course, the colors are fantastic too. Several cool repaints came out later, like the Night Force version and the Sonic Fighters repaint, but if I could only have one, I think this one might be the best. He features a rich green color for a base with splotches of dark camouflage, while other little details are painted separate colors, like his hat, scarf, knife and his radio. Nothing really feels overlooked here, which is why I think later versions don’t compare as well (even if a few of them are really cool).

His parts are excellent too: you get a Mossberg shotgun, backpack, knife and antenna for his backpack. The shotgun’s a pretty distinct and nice looking weapon. It has this odd foregrip-like handle he holds it by which allows him to pose better with it, though the weapon’s actual grip is thin enough he can hold it there too. The knife looks good, and nicely it stores in his backpack, which was a feature you hadn’t seen too much until this point.

Mint complete Falcons go pretty routinely around $25, these days. If you really want one, I think the figure’s worth it, though once prices calm down he’ll probably be worth half of that like he used to be. It’s a great enough figure I think he’s worth having even if your collection focuses on figures from the earlier part of the line.