Alley Viper (2002)

The first Alley Viper seemed an odd duck to me, from its color scheme to the strange face shield. Urban fighters outfitted in blue and orange, wearing masks through which it appeared they couldn’t possibly see? But hey, it’s GI Joe, I thought, shrugged my shoulders, and moved on. The later 90’s Alley Viper changed up the sculpt, and included a mask with eye holes. Guess Cobra Commander finally got tired of their bumping into couches and scuffing up the baseboards at the Cobra Temple.

The GI Joe vs. Cobra series was great for classic o-ring collectors looking to do a little Cobra troop building. Vipers, Alley Vipers and Shock Vipers were all cool army builders available alongside the line’s new sculpt offerings, and in some not too garish color schemes. This Alley Viper impressed me purely from a color standpoint. The old school camo patterns, done in a very urban grey and black, were a welcome sight. And the blue complemented the camo very well. The incluson of the Tomax & Xamot rifle was a let down, but one that was easily rectified by a requisition from the weapons bin. The ’83 Duke legs are problematic in that they’re quite thin compared to the arms and torso. They don’t quite mesh well with the waist, and are prone to side kicking, but I don’t lose sleep over it.

I’m still finding these figures carded in my area, and though I already have my fill, I find it hard to resist picking up more of them. I may still grab a few more of the red variant just for fun.

9 comments

  • These guys are still around in your neck of the woods? Man, do I hate living in Southern California. Stuff like that never sticks around for so long here. I have never been a fan of the Alley Viper due to the original color scheme. Even less so, when the Battle Corps sculpt showed up in neon yellow. I was more partial to the ’97 version that was packed in with the Rage. This one is more subdued in the palette department and works okay aside from the side kicking but his ’03 successor is even more faithful to the traditional deep Cobra blue.

  • Best colored Alley-Viper of them all.

  • Sheesh, what could have the molds for the original legs been used for that kept them from being used here?

  • This is a pretty good figure. While Hasbro mailed it in on the Vipers from that era, the Alley Vipers were solid. This version, the deep blue version and the Urban version are all great figures. The craptastic accessories kind of hurt them, though.

    Overall, I still find the ’97 figure to be the best of this construction configuration, though.

  • I miss the orange and blue.

    This is the only other acceptable color scheme though.

  • This is my go-to Alley Viper. They’re easy to come by, fairly cheap, and they look good doing their thing. I feel strangely sorry for all those unwanted Mirages, or whoever the AV came carded with.

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