Cyber-Vipers (1993)

I covered this figure once before, but I thought it’s such an interesting and different figure from the usual Cobra troops, and deserves another look. The last time I took shots of the toy, my camera wasn’t nearly up to snuff in terms of capturing the wonderfully bold color and unique details. I know we often think these later figures would look better with more functional paint jobs, but I wouldn’t want these guys to be to subdued. There’s just too much texture to miss, and the brighter plastic really brings it out. I’d say that a wash would do the trick, but I don’t think that style of deco plays well with the o-ring era figures.

Cyber-Vipers are cybernetically enhanced troopers whose main focus is to oversee and initiate the attacks of Cobra’s Mega Monsters. They’re not BATs, although I suppose they are closer to Overkill, just not creepily inhuman like the BAT Commander. All of this modification of troops begs the question: who in their right mind would submit their body to such experimentation? Maybe the pay grade is high, or they get full medical, dental, disability and fully vested in Cobra’s 401k.

9 comments

  • This is a great figure, I want one. I wish Lanard would of gone this route with there ‘Curse’ soldiers instead of some quick cyber paint apps. Thankx for sharing & posting Rob.

  • I love this guy. He was so weird in the comics that I remembered him and wanted to find the figure at retail. But, I only ever saw Clutch and Gung Ho at the stores. He’s gotten pretty tough to find these days, too. They hit $50 for a bit but seem to be coming back down to the $30 range, now. It’s still a lot for an army. But, everyone needs at least one of these guys.

  • The multiple colors help in this case. It’s not some 2 color scheme like Mega Viper, whom I like, but looks half-done/cheap because the limited two color scheme.

    I never understood the hose over the mouth. Reminds me of badly designed Trek alien. Oh, I guess these guys are Borg knock-offs in a sense, not that the Borg were very original.

  • I cant stop thinking that the yellow bit on the arm looks like corn! What is going on with the mouth/jaw? Seems more Cobra-La (not that there is anything wrong with that) .

    Good review!

  • These guys are so crazy that they work. I don’t get the shoulder fins, but it doesn’t matter much. Fun is fun. It could’ve been really crazy to see a more grounded paint scheme in the 2000s like the Sludge-to-Sub Viper repaint. There’d be more appreciation for the design & details.

  • Maybe the pay grade is high, or they get full medical, dental, disability and fully vested in Cobra’s 401k.

    Both, according to Larry Hama.

    • Maybe they were previously injured and Cobra gives them cybernetic prosthetics so they can stay in the fight. Maybe Cobra recruits amputees and other disabled people by promising these (likely illegal) enhancements. Maybe that’s what counts as “full medical” when you’re in Cobra.

  • Here’s my theory. This guy was originally supposed to be a human-vegetable hybrid trooper. As Spiritofthebeachhead said the left arm looks like corn. But also the back of his head looks like a “head” of lettuce. I think at the last minute Hasbro chickened out and decided this guy was a “Cyber” Viper even though nothing in the design looks computer related.

    • James From Miami

      You know something, I was thinking something similar to the comment that you just typed. Actually, to me, this figure looks like it was probably meant to have been a leader character for this Cobra subset(it even looks more like a Cobra henchmen, than a trooper). And the different colored legs, I don’t know why, but they reminds me of Darklon. It must be the green, and red(or whatever color that is).

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