Data Viper Review

What the hell is this guy supposed to be?

This is the Data Viper, Cobra's newest soldier on the battlefield, now equipped with a high-tech suit that keeps the data networks flowing at all times.

And he's seriously weird looking.

Since the file cards are gone from the packages and I don't have the info blurb in front of me, I'll have to rely on memory and imagination in regards to what this troop can actually do.

I see the Data Vipers as a link to the battlefield that would allow multiple streams of data to flow to one individual as an integrated command and control unit. 

Data vipers would be very vital in any area of combat, especially an urban environment in which they may be able to hack into the already pervasive network of surveillance cameras throughout many large cities. By gaining control of those networks, they would be able to give a distinct tactical advantage to Cobra troops.

The Data Viper comes equipped with... stuff... and things... I really don't know what to make of his gear, but I'll give it a try.

The helmet is supposed to give the troop a virtual 360 degree field of visibility. I'm not really sure what the chest piece is supposed to do. I suppose there are data storage and processing units built within the chest piece.

The black shoulder units appear to be mini-missile launchers. Each unit appears to contain 14 small missiles. They remind me of the missile launching components of various bits of mecha from the Robotech/Macross incarnations. These type units have also been used in a variety of other battle suits as well. I would see these as primarily being anti-personnel in nature. Smaller vehicles would be tempting targets, but heavily armored opponents would shrug off the mini-missile assault. Close range aerial targets could be in danger, but the range of the missiles would probably be limited.


Without all the gear, an interesting head sculpt is given to these guys. The base body has also been reused for the new version of Lift Ticket from the new Tomahawk helicopter and the Sgt Airborne figure from the "Tactical Ninja" 3-pack.

The head alone is pretty damn impressive and still appears to be of a decent size to be able to imagine an actual human head within.




He has these "things" that he is able to hold in each hand. One part clamps onto the wrist with a control stick for each hand, while there is another piece that sort of snaps into the forward section. A red hose loosely connects the two components. Very loosely. Matter of fact, all of the Data Viper gear just sort of hangs on the troop. The chest piece just sits on his shoulders and is very loose. the two wrist units are very flimsy and fall apart very easily. I think that some light non-permanent adhesive would be beneficial to the wrist units.

There are also a couple of antenna that plug into the back of the chest piece. One appears to be perhaps a long range antenna and the other is a dish. The Data Viper also comes with the drone that is shared with the Ultimate Duke figure. There's a color and logo difference as well as the wings being placed on it backwards for purposes of differentiation.
The history of the Data Viper nearly led to extinction. A few years ago, Hasbro featured the Data Viper in a display case along with Kwinn (more on him later) at the national GI Joe convention. I think the Data Viper was to come out as part of the Pursuit of Cobra or 30th Anniversary line. Expensive tooling costs were the supposed culprit and he was supposedly cancelled. 

The Data Viper finally made it to retail life as a part of the Retaliation toy line. Having no part in the film, the Data Viper just fell under the broad scope of the GI Joe brand.

I have two of the Data Vipers and have no desire to do any serious troop building with this figure. He's cool, but just not that cool. I would think a Data Viper would need some support/defensive troops very close by in the event of attack. I'm sure the Joe team would be targeting the Data Vipers pretty quick once they are located in a combat area.

Within this current set of figures (wave 3.5), there is another Cobra troop builder. That figure is the Cobra Ninja Trooper. The use of the word ninja, while excessive in this line, is necessary to differentiate from the wave 1 Cobra trooper - which sucked pretty bad. Collectors snatched those troops up pretty quick from various online retailers. And I ain't even mad. I really wasn't impressed with them. Just an odd repaint of the Cobra Shock trooper body along with some new head gear. I really don't need another Cobra trooper. I'm already pretty well loaded for Cobra troops.

I've got 16 Cobra Blueshirts (PoC, 30th), 12 Cobra Blackshirts (DG), 6 Cobra Blueshirts (DG), and 14 Cobra Vipers (PoC, 30th). Plus various other assorted Cobra troopers and specialist from the 30th, Pursuit of Cobra, and Rise of Cobra lines. My Cobra army is big enough!

Wave 3.5 "Ultimate" Duke

When pictures first started appearing online for the GI Joe: Retaliation "Ultimate" Duke, I figured that he was going to be a pretty decent figure. Loaded with gear and ready for some easy custom work.

Duke comes with a huge assortment of various weapons plus an extra head for troop building. The drone that is included is pretty cool. It has a couple weapons attached to the wings that are removable and can be held by Duke.

Duke is also burdened by the Tatum head sculpt, but, thankfully, that can be easily swapped out. 

I was able to pick up two from Kokomo Toys and almost got a couple more, but hesitation caused me to miss adding a couple more to my team. Oh well, maybe they'll actually hit a local retail chain someday.

Three Walmarts, two Targets, and a Toys-R-Us and no one has them on the shelves. Target apparently dropped GI Joe from their action figure side counter. That's fine, gives me a reason to avoid Target for a while.


Overall, Hasbro produced a pretty damn good figure. Using the vest and helmet initially seen on Agent Mouse and legs from the RET GI Joe Trooper get him moving in the right direction. I'm sure his torso and arms are from someone else, but I'm not focused enough to figure out where they came from.
The biggest drawback is that his arms can't be moved in close to his body. The vest inhibits movement and also makes it a little difficult for a two-handed weapon pose.

The extra head comes from the Night Fox figure/driver from the Ninja Combat Cruiser. Such a piece of five-point articulated crap. Well detailed, but just crap. 

The problem with the head is that the Night Fox figure is actually quite a bit shorter than a standard Joe. So when you use his head on a different body, the head appears much smaller. Given that it is helmeted, this guy has a tiny head!

Nice try, Hasbro - seriously. But these extra heads are going into the parts bin along with the other Night Fox heads.


These guys make for a great addition to the Retaliation team. When I took this picture, I had not come up with a decent head to swap. I finally decided on the Dollar General "Duke" figure as a good substitute. The skin tones are pretty close and the helmet fits nicely on the head. While both figures have Duke heads, neither will be Duke in my weird world of GI Joe.

The picture also shows what I have done with the two extra Mouse figures. One has the only redeeming piece from the Tread Ripper train wreck - the driver's head. The other has General Hawk's head from the Rise of Cobra line. So is this guy General Hawk or is the Pursuit of Cobra version General Hawk? That's a topic for another post for another day. 

Two thumbs up for GI Joe: Retaliation Ultimate Duke! Well done, Hasbro, well done!

GI Joe Retaliation Alley Viper

GI Joe: Retaliation spawned an interesting odd set of figures. The early waves ranged from nearly tragic to odd and peculiar to incredibly awesome. The Alley Viper falls in the odd and peculiar category.

I have always liked the Alley Viper concept even as far back as the neon orange original O-ring version back in the 80's. Throughout the life of the small Joe figures since that initial figure, the Alley Viper has been around in various styles as well various colors.

The modern Pursuit of Cobra series produced an excellent Alley Viper, but I found fault with its pin head. The head under the helmet just seemed too dang small for an actual human being. That resulted in a mash-up of the POC Alley Viper and the red Cobra trooper from the aborted GI Joe:Resolute line. (Argh!) 
Hasbro once more brings back the Alley Viper name on a new version. Does it have all of the coolness of the POC version? Not quite. The pin head is still there, so that is strike one!

The primary differences between the POC and the Retaliation versions are the vest/webgear and the torso. Okay, yeah, the colors are different, but Alley Vipers are all about the wild colors! The original vest that came with the POC Alley Viper just kicked serious amounts of ass. Bulky and loaded with gear, it was still constructed in a way that allowed for excellent arm movement.

As you can see with my custom Alley Vipers, the vests just really look so much better.

The Retaliation AV's come with the web gear from the Jungle Duke figure from the POC line. Which is okay, because that web gear kicks ass too! It just doesn't seem to work as well with the concept of the Alley Viper - at least not to me. I've always considered the Alley Viper as an assault troop in need of some solid heavy gear. The web gear just seems to leave the AV too exposed.

The torso is new for the RET version, using the torso from the 1st versions of Duke and Flint. Less said about them is better. The torso works for the AV as an armored body, but it's just not bulky enough. 

I've only bought two of these guys and really don't feel strongly enough about them to do any serious troop building. They just don't work with my custom AV's. Their fate seems to be destined for the fodder box. The web gear has already been surrendered to the Joes. Unsure what to do with them right now. I just need some toy time to play, I suppose. 
The RET AV also comes with the AV two-part helmet, the shield w baton, and the small submachine gun. Oh yeah, and one of those crazy-ass rope thingies. I believe that is the official terminology.

GI Joe Microforce!

Seriously? I'm going to review those silly little G.I. Joe Microforce figures? But they are just so frikkin' cute!

I suppose I should explain why these silly figures have entered my collection. I bought a couple packs a few weeks ago - just because...
I picked up Duke, Hit & Run, the Dark Ninja Master, and a Red Ninja. First thoughts - kinda' cute! And I was pretty much done at that point.

Fast forward a few weeks and Target clearances their remaining stock. Fine, whatever. Then the next round of markdowns and prices reach the point of zero resistance. I picked up all of the two-pack blind bags and, the next day, I go back and pick up the three five-packs. Cleaned that store out!

I picked up a couple doubles of just a few and got a decent selection of a variety of figures. I'm really surprised by these guys, because most of the designs are based on concept case figures from Hasbro. The 2012 G.I. Joe Convention featured a spectacular concept case from Hasbro featuring some wild designs of figures. You can check out a write-up of the case at General's Joes - http://generalsjoes.com/2012/07/03/g-i-joe-convention-2012-names-and-identification-for-concept-figures/#more-15440. (Stupid browser is acting up, can't use Blogger tools properly. I'll get my NSA caseworker on it.)


Oversized heads, short, stumpy bodies. What's not to love?

Ninjas, ninjas, ninjas. Enough with the ninjas!

Lowlight - one of the more amazing figures. These guys are tiny, okay? There's a butt-load of detail in these tiny figures.

This is Grunt and an amazing Grunt he is. Sure, he's just a tiny little thing, but the potential in just the character design makes me want him in the regular scale.

This is a Beast Ninja Soldier, whatever that is supposed mean. Arashikage nonsense, but still cool.

Shockblast? yeah, whatever - he's Shockwave. Coolness!

Duke - not a favorite of this line, but pretty well done. I don't like his face, but then, who does?

Roadblock - one of two versions. Very nice! I really like the headsculpt on him. Looks almost scale to 4" figures. If I had an extra, I'd cut his head off and try it out on a standard Joe body.

Cobra Viper! You know I'm digging this one! I'm always psyched about the Cobra Viper. My favorite Cobra troop builder ever!

Cobra Commander in all of his battle helmet glory.

This guy is refered to as Cobra Trooper Big Blaster. I guess because he has a rocket launcher? Fair enough!

Red Ninja - nice!

Lt. Stone? Looks kind of like Falcon to me, but I guess he'll do as Lt. Stone.

Snake Eyes in commando gear. Sweet!

Zombie Cobra Commander? Very cool!

Dark Ninja Brawler. Why is he a brawler? Doesn't matter, still cool.

This is the Snake Master. I wonder what the back story Hasbro had in mind for all of these new ninjas?

Hit & Run. Yeah. paint his face green and call him Hit & Run.

Another Red Ninja.

Arashikage Samurai. Looks more like the new version of Budo from wave 3.5 due out any minute.

Dark Ninja Master. Okay...

One of two Ghost Ninja Henchmen. Yeah, right...

Gold Ninja Assassin. Do we have a rainbow assortment of ninjas yet?

Barbecue!

Lady Jaye - maybe based on concept case version? Looks cool!

Timber! Snake Eyes' pet wolf gets all cute and shit. Very nice!

Snake Eyes v2 with his trusty wolf buddy!

I've got a decent chunk of this first, and possibly only, wave of the Microforce figures. If I can get by another Target that still has them on clearance, I'll probably take a chance and pick up some more. But then again, if the awesome wave 3.5 "Ultimate" figures show up soon, all my toy $$$'s are going to them.

Overall, I think this line is pretty cool, but it just didn't seem to have any traction in sales. Collectors of all things GI Joe probably bought them. I didn't go for them when they showed up because I would rather focus on the 4" figures. It's tough to resist Target's rock bottom clearance prices.

They are a decent part of my collection and if I don't get any more, I think that I'll manage to survive!

Eaglehawk thoughts

This thing is so cool!

As a kid, I grew up with models. I built 1/72nd scale military vehicles, the legendary Prehistoric Scenes models (yes, I'm that old!), and various other film and fantasy models. Planet of the Apes, Star Trek, Star Wars, Space 1999, Battlestar Galactica, the Black Hole, all sorts of stuff.

I think that's one of the reasons that I really liked the vehicles from the original small GI Joe line - you had to assemble a good chunk of the toy. Plus you got to put the stickers on yourself, according to the directions or on your own. 

I don't know what has happened lately. Toys come largely put together. Hell, models are a damn disgrace because they are usually pre-painted snap-fit kits. Not much skill involved there. Okay, yeah, not much skill in putting together the Eaglehawk either, but it's a toy, where models are supposed to involve some work to put them together.

I'm thrilled by the Eagelhawk and am really glad Hasbro added Tomahawk to the stickers rather than its new name. Good job, Hasbro! The construction was simple and fun; an easy build. The stickers weren't too bad. Not like the madness of the stickers for the new SkyStriker!

The new version of Lift Ticket is great, very much like a traditionally military uniform. The Airborne figure from the Tactical Ninja 3-pack with Mouse has the same body, so you can use him as a co-pilot. I've got Flint's head on there for now, mainly because the first movie figure of Flint is a wreck based on the body style that was used for him.

The new Tomahawk closely matches the vintage Tomahawk in size and details. The interior is very different with the new one. Stationary seats, lots of foot pegs. I don't get it on the foot pegs on the floor of the cabin. No one can stand up in it. With no restraints, it's tough to get figures stable in the cabin.

With the taller size of the new figures, the small size of the new Tomahawk is very noticeable. It just looks a bit too small.

Ultimately, I don't care. I think it's a damn fine update and am so glad to have it in my collection. Will I ever buy another? I don't really expect to. The SkyStriker showed up at Ross in limited numbers at a discount. I don't really like the idea of GI Joe toys headed back to Ross, especially with such a small retail/public presence. "Deth of teh line" and all that crap. 

If it shows up at Ross/Marshall's/TJ Maxx and I can get another? Yeah, I'll do it. An olive drab custom would rock!