Secto-Viper (1988)

The BUGG is one of the absolute funkiest vehicles in the Cobra arsenal. An impressive underwater and shoreline attack craft, as well as a truly amphibious personnel carrier, it featured a removable mini-sub as well as deployable jet skis. With its bulbous front end, the thing also looked like a bug.

Secto Viper naturally follows suit with a wild  design that evokes elements from his own vehicle. Most prominent is the clear bubble shaped helmet. It’s a real throwback to the dive suits of old, a kind of Cobra meets Jules Verne look that is impressively fanciful. It’s the sort of design that puts a great Cobra spin on a real world outfit, and adds a touch of weirdness for good measure. There’s an odd sort of otherworldly look to the weapon. I think overall, the figure itself has a kind of aquatic alien look to it, like it could have come from some sort of waterborne version of Cobra-La.

Though the color palette is limited, there is quite a bit of fine detail here, with an array of textures and hoses all over the suit. It’s too bad this never saw a repaint in a con set, with more painted detail. Speaking of repainting, the mold was reused in 1997 as part of Olmec’s Bronze Bombers box set. Given an even simpler two-tone paint scheme and renamed Firebomb, it again highlighted the high quality design and sculpt of this mold.

 

12 comments

  • He looks like mr freeze

  • There’s a Secto-Viper in pieces at the flea market table I usually visit–maybe I’ll pick it up…

  • “…some sort of waterborne version of Cobra-La.”
    I agree!

    • I don’t see it. Secto-Viper looks like a variant on an underwater human diver, like a submarine Viper further down than Eel scuba set-up would allow.

      • Hydro-Viper seemed more like a character originally designed for Cobra-La.

        • Hydro Viper was more another “advanced” trooper like the Strato Viper or Star Viper, to me.

          I can see how the organic shapes on the Secto-Viper, as well as the name, conjures up images of Cobra-la. Not to mention the odd pistol.

  • Lots of unloved texturing on such a detailed figure. A rich Cobra blue with red and bronze/copper highlights would have been something. The BUGG always rocked although I’ve never owned one and the Secto-Viper is one of the most complimentary drivers ever.

    • This is a figure that I’ve never seen in person, but I can see some of that texture. I think 1993 Law is a figure that had a lot of interesting texture that just didn’t come across to me in pictures.

  • I really liked Secto-Viper except for his exposed nose. It bothered me so much that I felt compelled to alter it which is not a decision I made lightly. Check out my review here if you like. I hope you don’t mind me plugging my blog her Rob. http://mikescollection.wordpress.com/?s=secto-viper

  • Nice looking figure that’s pricey & hard to find.

  • The “organic” sculpting molded into his uniform gives me a Cobra La vibe, too. There’s a drawing in the YoJoe archives of a cancelled Cobra La motorcycle that Nullifier was originally designed for, so it wouldn’t surprise me greatly if SectoViper was originally slated for that group, too. I think they were planning on Cobra La to be a much bigger thing, but the movie sortof played that out.

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