- 5 months ago
Hasbro G.I.JOE Retro Card Cobra Viper Figure Review
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00:00So it looks like Cobra is now recruiting in retro. Here's a look at the Hasbro G.I. Joe retro card Cobra Viper.
00:07Vipers are the backbone of the Cobra legions. They are highly motivated, superbly trained, and formidably equipped.
00:32If you want to get anywhere in Cobra, you start at the bottom as a Viper. Cobra doesn't reward success with parades or medals. They offer material wealth, power, and an outlet for terrible urges.
00:43I was thinking if your career path includes Cobra, then a bad background check may better your chances of getting the job.
00:48Before we find out what job this guy does, we'll first, of course, take the tape measure and see how tall the figure stands.
00:53Did you know at all that the Cobra Viper is my all-time favorite Cobra Trooper? So I'm super stoked to get a retro card back of him.
01:00We'll be also bringing in a couple of retro card figures in a second, but of course, we don't want to get ahead of ourselves.
01:06The Cobra Viper is going to stand at six inches in height. He is. You can see it for yourself.
01:11That's going to translate, though, to a figure that's 15 centimeters tall.
01:14For a seven-inch scale, my Cobra collection may be considered modest by most.
01:18Here's what the figure looks like, though, with a retro card back Cobra Commander out of his plastic prison.
01:24Here's also just recently, we also looked at the Classified Series, now a retro card back Dr. Mindbender.
01:30Mindbender, I don't think, is one for hiring troops. He's all more for building troops.
01:34Here's what the figure looks like with a Classified Series Battle Android Trooper, just because I also had him nearby.
01:39Here's also what he looks like with a Classified Series Road Pig from the Dreadnoughts.
01:43And because I was such a big fan of the Cobra Viper, this isn't a vintage Cobra Viper, but it's the closest thing.
01:48This is the 25th anniversary Cobra Viper, one that I still have in my collection.
01:53It's one of the few that I still have.
01:55Speaking of what I have, look what the Cobra Viper has, all of these accessories.
01:59One thing you may not, though, see is the figure does also come in clear with a retro card back.
02:03Several different languages, a totaling of five, are all featured on the back.
02:07It makes, though, for much larger file cards, so if you're trying to hope to have this about the same size as the vintage file cards,
02:13you might be a little bit more disappointed.
02:15At one point, I was really collecting all. I even went on to eBay.
02:18I went through this crazy, stupid period in life where I was buying up old, like, vintage G.I. Joe file cards,
02:24and I had a whole stack of them. I was just buying them up from eBay.
02:27I would have noticed, though, that this would have been a lot larger.
02:30I would have not been able to fit that into my index card,
02:32which, actually, the index cards, if they still sell cases, were the ideal size for file cards.
02:38Does anybody really even care?
02:40No. You care more about the figure.
02:41Okay, that's fine.
02:42The figure, if you are caring about that, does come in clear with a display stand.
02:46Obviously, you already know what he's hired by.
02:49It's a Cobra logo, so there's that on the top, and there's pegs on either side.
02:53That could plug into either one, or both, for that matter, boots of the Cobra Viper.
02:57Super, super shiny.
02:59The figure does also come in clear with a backpack, more akin to the vintage figure.
03:02In fact, actually, where is my Cobra Viper?
03:05Here's my 25th anniversary Cobra.
03:07You can see, like, a backpack is very similar.
03:09It has, like, a sleep pack on the top.
03:12It's missing a few grenades, though, but I think it's still pretty close.
03:15I will say one thing, though, about the peg that they've put on the back of the backpack.
03:20I think you really have to factor that in when it comes to attaching these onto the torsos
03:23of your figures.
03:25Normally, though, a figure would have had just the plastic body, the top of the torso.
03:30So, like, just attaching a peg would be so much easier.
03:33The moment, though, you start adding things like vests, it's going to also create, obviously,
03:37the density.
03:38It's going to make the figure a lot thicker.
03:39I find, though, that the backpack just barely attaches.
03:43Any little bit of movement, I mean, you can even see how loose the backpack...
03:47Well, obviously, you're just pulling it off.
03:49I know, I know.
03:50But if you plug it in place, I don't feel it's secure enough.
03:53I really do think that they need to make the peg a little bit longer.
03:57Of course, if you are familiar, though, with the Cobra Viper, you know that he also has
04:00goggles.
04:01What real purpose does a Cobra Viper have to need goggles?
04:04I mean, it's not like if things get dusty and he can't really see where he's going,
04:07he would just drop the goggles down in front of, what, his visor?
04:11That makes no sense.
04:13But this is something, though, that they started to trend with the 25th anniversary.
04:16I think, actually, the 25th anniversary of Cobra Viper was the first one that started doing
04:20this, where the goggles were removable.
04:23Now, they fit friction-wise, so I don't think there's much of a worry that you're going to
04:28have that the goggles are going to fall off.
04:30Unfortunately, though, like with the 25th anniversary, just as a comparison, these goggles
04:34always frequently fall off.
04:35You can also see some additional detailing done on the back of the helmet.
04:39This one doesn't have that.
04:40I don't really think it needs it, either.
04:41I think the silver just kind of took a little bit away from it.
04:44Yeah, while the goggles are something that is removable, it's not like you can really
04:48have them lower down.
04:49I mean, what, again, what purpose do they really serve when it comes to a character, a
04:53trooper, that already has something to protect his face?
04:56Spinning this around, though, so you guys can see.
04:58Oh, no, let's just fix the back a bit.
05:01Yeah, I think, really, once this thing is on the figure's head, I have no plans at all
05:05have ever taken the goggles off.
05:08While he's standing over there with an unknown reason to wear those, some of the other accessories
05:12that the figure does also have is a pistol.
05:15The pistol is molded here all in black plastic.
05:17You can see that the handle has been given just a little bit of brown.
05:20You can either fit this into his hands.
05:22The cool thing, though, is also on the back of the Cobra Viper, there's a holster right
05:26here.
05:27It involves, though, moving the torso back just a bit, but you can actually take the pistol
05:31and holster it.
05:33In fact, that's the only thing that is removable on it.
05:35I thought for a second that the flashlight would be detachable.
05:38It is not.
05:39It is not.
05:40But at least you have yourself a place to put the pistol.
05:43Sorry for spitting on everybody.
05:45The figure does also have, before we jump to the other guns, the figure does also come
05:48and clue with a couple of swappable hands.
05:50Yeah.
05:50Right now, trigger-firing finger hands are on the ends of his forearms.
05:56Those can, though, be swapped out so easily with a pair of close fists.
06:00Good for up-close punching Joes.
06:02The figure does also come and clue with a hand for holding the understock of the gun.
06:05And he also comes and clue with a pointing hand.
06:08I don't really know what he'd be pointing at, necessarily.
06:10Maybe he's pointing at Cobra Commander or pointing at Destro.
06:13No, you never point at Cobra Commander.
06:15Pointing at Destro, asking where his current paycheck is.
06:17Because you're never going to see that paycheck, my friend.
06:20Then on to his guns.
06:21Now, I've got to say right away, I'm a little disappointed the figure didn't come and clue
06:24with the vintage gun.
06:26If you had the original, what, like 1985 Cobra Viper, one thing that you would notice,
06:30though, is that that Cobra Viper had a gray gun that had, like, the magazine clip, the
06:35clip on the front.
06:36They chose instead to give you a gray gun, but it's not the same one.
06:40Actually, maybe we'll come to this one in a second.
06:42The closest thing I have to this is this one right here.
06:45It's close enough, I think, to resembling the vintage gun.
06:49I think, though, just as a nod to the original toys, it would have been fun if they included
06:53it.
06:53Now, what's neat, though, about this is that you can remove the clip.
06:57I mean, there's no paint or anything on the end of it, not that it needs it.
07:00And you can also take off the silencer.
07:03Once you take off that, I guess it's the closest thing to resembling it, but it's not
07:08right there.
07:08It's not quite.
07:09It's not quite.
07:10This can, of course, fit into either of the figure's hands.
07:14Just like that.
07:15And, of course, with the bend that he has, a double bend in the elbow.
07:19Ah, there we go.
07:21You can just have him holding the gun that way.
07:22I just miss the original 80s gun.
07:25Why could he not have included that?
07:27He does also come with another swappable option, this black gun.
07:31Now, this gun also does have a removable clip, so you can take that off.
07:34It doesn't have a silencer, however, though, you can take the silencer from the other gun
07:39and plug it onto the end, although it does clearly look like you're just borrowing the
07:43accessories from some other guy's gun.
07:45And if he goes looking for that accessory, he's then going to realize, hey, wait a minute,
07:49is that my silencer?
07:51And realizing that you have a black gun and his silencer was gray, you can be like, no,
07:54I have no idea what you're talking about.
07:56Go talk to the Dreadnoughts.
07:57I'm sure they probably stole that.
07:59So I guess there's some swappable options available.
08:02I don't love the look of this gun, to be honest.
08:04I mean, I guess they went with more of a realistic look to it.
08:07I just would have preferred the 80s gun myself.
08:10Moving all those accessories, though, out of the way and taking the gun out of the Viper's
08:14hand, let's get a closer look at the figure.
08:17Now, if you're familiar with the Cobra Viper from the 80s days and Arise Cepent or Arise,
08:22I don't think they really have changed all that much to modernize the look of the character.
08:27He has, like the large visor, very inspired by Cobra Commander.
08:30Of course, he does have, like, just the tattooing glasses.
08:33What's with the goggles?
08:35Anyways, he's got that.
08:35So that was still on the original toy.
08:37The black vest, nicely done.
08:39We've got some grenades there, none of which are removable.
08:42So don't worry about pulling these off and popping the pins.
08:45It's also got a Cobra logo off to the far side.
08:47Some nice additional red that they've added here as well.
08:50I thought initially, though, that a lot more of the mold would have been borrowed over from
08:54the Classified Series Python Patrol Viper, which we've also had a look at.
08:57Like, not having that figure anymore and looking online, I don't think there's anything at all
09:03that's been borrowed over.
09:04I was kind of thinking maybe even the legs, but, like, the vest is different.
09:08The legs are different.
09:09Everything about that figure seemed different from what we're getting here.
09:12So this looks to be like they're probably...
09:13Now, again, somebody that has been collecting extensively the 7-inch scale would likely be
09:19able to tell me down below in the comments section if, in fact, they are using any of the
09:22body parts from any other figure.
09:23But from what I can see, at least, we're getting brand new Viper pieces.
09:28I like the look of the blue.
09:29It's classic to the character.
09:30Got the red gloves there with the guards on the front of the forearms.
09:34Got some nice red on the inside of the vest.
09:36Some nice red down the side of the legs.
09:37It's classic, classic Viper, just on a larger scale.
09:41Hasbro clearly went through a period of time where they really tried to reinvent the 7-inch
09:45G.I. Joe figures.
09:47Realizing then that collectors my age just really essentially wanted the exact same figure,
09:51just larger scale.
09:52I mean, to look at this figure and look at the original 25th anniversary, there isn't
09:57really much at all that does change between the two.
09:59This one's a little bit darker in color, but the colors are still classic.
10:03And I feel like, not to keep being the old person that says, if it ain't broke, don't
10:07fix it.
10:08I don't think there was anything really broke with the Viper's design in the first place
10:11that modernized that would only do a disservice to the character.
10:14For the figure's articulation, though, the Cobra Viper does have a ball joint in the head.
10:19Now, the head does move only just a little bit up and down.
10:21More down, really, than up.
10:23You can also rock the head back and forth.
10:25The problem that you may be dealing with, though, even though as secure as you may think
10:29that they're on, when you start to move the head around, you find yourself, I find myself,
10:34so of course I'm speaking for everybody.
10:35I find, though, when I'm moving the head around, I end up pulling inadvertently the goggles
10:41and then they start lifting off the forehead.
10:43This, I feel like, if you're just going to make the figure look, even call this retro card-backed
10:48Viper, clearly you know that you were trying to design a character to look like the original
10:5380s one.
10:54With that in mind, I don't know why removable goggles should have not even been an option.
10:59Unless you have plans to use that goggle with another figure, if it's going to stick with
11:03the Viper, I think they should have just molded or glued it onto the figure's head.
11:07Still, though, the figure does have a full rotation on the head.
11:10Just careful that you don't knock the goggles off.
11:14The figure does have a swivel in his arm, so yeah, of course you can rotate those around
11:17as well.
11:18The figure does successfully pull off even more than a 90-degree angle bend.
11:22There is also, in addition to that, a swivel.
11:25Now, the swivel isn't here.
11:26It's swiveled, actually, on the cuff that's rolled up for the sleeve.
11:30A nice way to hide the joint.
11:32There's no hiding at all.
11:33The figure does have a double hinge in the elbow.
11:35It's a little harder to pull off.
11:37He's also got a swivel in the hands.
11:38Now, the hands are a hard thing to do.
11:40I haven't yet changed them out.
11:42But when you are changing them, you have to pop the hand off.
11:47Careful, careful.
11:48You have to pop the hand off.
11:50And then these guards are something that's removable.
11:52So if you don't really like the look of the guards, you can easily take them off if you
11:56want.
11:56But putting on the new hands can be a little more difficult, especially if you want to
12:01make sure that they're all the way on there.
12:02So the figure should really have a ball joint underneath the torso.
12:06It's not really something, though, that you can see because he's got the vest over top
12:09of it.
12:10But you can see by just me moving it, the figure does have some decent posability in the top
12:14of the torso.
12:16The legs do split out.
12:17You can also as well, and you may have already seen these, you can drop the legs down too.
12:22Normally, by default, they start here.
12:24You can also pop the legs down if you want a further range for motion.
12:28You can also split the legs out as well.
12:31There is a swivel, and the swivel is just above the pocket.
12:34So it's kind of hidden there as well.
12:36You can swivel the leg back and forth there.
12:38The figure does have a double hinge in the knee.
12:40He does have articulation here in the boots.
12:42So that's a separate piece altogether.
12:44An ankle pivot up and down.
12:46An ankle rocker back and forth.
12:48I know I had mentioned this earlier, but the figure does also have pegles in the bottom
12:51of his feet.
12:52Even though, like the display stand, I still don't know why they choose not to put the
12:55figure's name on the front.
12:57There clearly seems to be a flat section on the front of the stand that would accommodate
13:01the figure's name.
13:02And the figure doesn't necessarily need to have his real name.
13:05Once you basically enlist with Cobra, you're just a Viper or Cobra Trooper.
13:08But what a nice Cobra Viper we end up getting here.
13:11Let's just get this guy in his display stand.
13:13It's exactly what I would have wanted.
13:15I know I'm so, so set my ways by saying this.
13:18Yeah, you could have reinvented the characters.
13:21I mean, even with the G.I.
13:22Joe live action.
13:23You know, I'm just going to leave it off the display stand.
13:25With the G.I.
13:25Joe live action movie, they felt the need to upgrade and change the look of the Vipers.
13:29I would have really been fine if they just made the Vipers look like this or original
13:32Cobra Troopers.
13:33In the end, though, it's exactly what I would have wanted.
13:36Nice, of course, a Trooper then that Dr. Mindbender could lead, Cobra Commander could lead.
13:42I'm almost even tempted to get a couple more of these just because it's my favorite Cobra
13:45Trooper.
13:46Strato Viper certainly would be a nice fun figure to get as well.
13:50What's your favorite Cobra Trooper?
13:52You can certainly let me know down below in the comment section.
13:54Now, this is certainly more into the mid-80s.
13:56If we back it back a bit, there's also going to be a Televiper.
14:00I can't wait to get that one because it's going to have, I think, a different swappable
14:03goggle options.
14:05Nice, nice figures.
14:06Now, again, I know that the newer collectors of G.I.
14:09Joe probably would then look at this and think to themselves, like, really, Hasbro could have
14:12reinvented the Viper.
14:14But, you know, I think really you have to also understand the market.
14:16You have to understand the kinds of collectors that are getting these figures in the first
14:19place.
14:19I myself just really want a larger scale version of the original Cobra Viper, which, again,
14:25I know it's not the original Cobra Viper.
14:26I just really want a larger scale to this.
14:28And I essentially got that.
14:30He doesn't have, again, the one thing I really wish he could have had, and that's the original
14:3480s gun.
14:35You've got a gray gun, but it's not quite there.
14:38Everything else, though, for the Cobra Viper, it feels complete.
14:41Feels like he did from the 80s.
14:42And that's a good thing in my eyes.
14:44Hasbro gives all this armory to the Cobra Viper.
14:46What's it really going to amount to?
14:48Even if they successfully shoot at anything Joe-related, the Joes are only going to get out of any
14:52vehicle before they blow up.
14:54One thing, though, with obviously 80s cartoons, we couldn't show anybody really dying.
14:59The closest thing we did get to that was the 80s G.I.
15:02Joe movie, where some death did occur.
15:04Oh, wait, no, it didn't.
15:05Duke was only just in a coma.
15:07Everybody, Duke is going to be fine.
15:08Duke is going to be just fine.
15:10The Cobra Viper looks the part, and that's not a bad thing at all.
15:14If I feel you don't need to necessarily redesign the look of the character, I think, if anything,
15:18collectors are really just only asking for larger, scaled-up versions of the original toys that they
15:23had for kids.
15:24I had several of these Vipers as a kid.
15:27I mean, in fact, actually, for my Cobra building, Cobra Troopers and Cobra Vipers were the ones I
15:32had the most.
15:33I think, from what I remember, I got up to about five Cobra Vipers, just more succeeding from
15:38finding them at local garage sales.
15:40My parents would never shell out something if they knew I already had the toy.
15:43But to find a $0.25, $0.35, I know, I know, you were buying G.I.
15:48Joe's for $0.35?
15:49Yes, I was.
15:51Garage sales were a goldmine back in the day.
15:54When kids got to that age, they didn't really need G.I.
15:56Joe's anymore.
15:57Then came along a kid that were just right for that age of collecting G.I.
16:01Joe's, and we walked away like bandits.
16:04The Cobra Viper, though, while still having a stupid need for goggles on top of his head,
16:08I still feel like the goggles should have just been adhered to the figure's forehead.
16:12I mean, if you don't, I don't think I have any purpose at all to ever remove them.
16:17I can't really, again, speak for collectors.
16:19Do you guys feel like there feels to be a need to change off the goggles to remove the goggles?
16:24I guess if you wanted to have a main Cobra Viper that's leading the rest of the troops
16:28and all the other kind of lower underlings to him, don't wear the goggles.
16:32Then I guess you could differentiate between the ranking of the different Cobra Vipers.
16:36In the end, though, my Cobra Viper will always have the goggles on top of his head.
16:40He'll have the backpack barely holding on to the back of the figure's body,
16:44and he'll probably only have one of these guns, because I think two is a little excessive.
16:48What do you guys, though, think of the retro card back Cobra Viper?
16:51Let me know down below in the comments section.
16:53Do you feel like Hasbro is sort of stuck in the past,
16:56not really wanting to reinvent the looks of the characters?
16:59Or do you like the idea that these are just scaled-up versions of the original vintage toys?
17:03Let me know what you guys think down below in the comments section.
17:06If you guys did also enjoy this video, you can do this all and throw it a like.
17:10You guys want to stick around for more so?
17:12I hope so. Yeah, I hope so.
17:14Hit that subscribe, turn on that bell, so you're going to get the reminders every single time a new video posts.
17:19And if you still need a fix for G.I. Joe, popping up at the very end of this video will be a playlist.
17:24Feel free to give that a watch, or all those videos a watch, if you have a little bit of time on your hands.
17:28As always, guys, thanks for watching.
17:30See you guys next time.
17:36See you guys next time.