[jlw515]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sapperldr

These are fantastic, I really like the presentation with the file cards, photo and parts lists.

Love your concept of Flak_Viper, though not sure how I feel about the light blue. IT both works, and makes me wonder if other colors would fit in better. Its still a awesome figure, just that one detail

I really like your idea of rebranding all the blue shirt troopers as Vipers. IT fits with out how the Viper was described in 86 as the entry level cobra.

I didn't even think about painting the Data-Viper rig. I could probably do a wash in dark grey to dirty it up a bit which would tone down the lighter blue color. Thanks again for the comments and suggestions.

I think Hasbro has toyed around (all puns intended) with blue shirts merging into Vipers. In 1998, they released a Viper in "blue shirt" colors as a "Cobra Trooper" and a grey Viper as a "Cobra Officer." I'm sure from a marketing point of view to keep both the characters and uniforms fresh the Viper (1986) was meant to be a replacement of the old "blue shirt" Cobra - sort of how Dial-Tone was meant to be a replacement for Breaker.

The idea of a totally new character (new name and uniform) is probably more marketable than simply upgrading an old character (for example giving Breaker Dial-Tone's gear) because consumers (particularly kids) would be like, "eh, I already have that character."

However, given the fact that the "blue shirts" represented the Cobra Infantry from 1982 to 1986 it's not hard to understand older fan's affinity to them. Thanks again.

Jason

[paraviper]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlw515

I didn't even think about painting the Data-Viper rig. I could probably do a wash in dark grey to dirty it up a bit which would tone down the lighter blue color. Thanks again for the comments and suggestions.

I think Hasbro has toyed around (all puns intended) with blue shirts merging into Vipers. In 1998, they released a Viper in "blue shirt" colors as a "Cobra Trooper" and a grey Viper as a "Cobra Officer." I'm sure from a marketing point of view to keep both the characters and uniforms fresh the Viper (1986) was meant to be a replacement of the old "blue shirt" Cobra - sort of how Dial-Tone was meant to be a replacement for Breaker.

The idea of a totally new character (new name and uniform) is probably more marketable than simply upgrading an old character (for example giving Breaker Dial-Tone's gear) because consumers (particularly kids) would be like, "eh, I already have that character."

However, given the fact that the "blue shirts" represented the Cobra Infantry from 1982 to 1986 it's not hard to understand older fan's affinity to them. Thanks again.

Jason

I have always preferred the blueshirts and I love how you mixed the Viper concept with officer and Soldier. Vipers are a little bit more advanced. It seems as time went on COBRA got better Tech but the original blue shirt and officer will always have my vote over the 86 Viper even though I like the 86 Viper.

[jlw515]

Oh man! Been under the weather so haven't felt up to posting. So, today will be kind of a posting overload before the Christmas holiday.

First up is the Saw-Viper



This update to my custom "Blue Shirt Legion" Project is a very simple parts swap. I think a project like this better compares to original O13 "green shirt" Joes and how the characters' uniforms only varied slightly based upon their Primary MOS. Since the Saw-Viper serves as the "anti-Rock-n-Roll," I wanted him to have the ammo bandolier like the ARAH Rock-n-Roll figure.



I apologize for the brightness and saturation of the second picture, but given the dark blue plastic of the original Shocktrooper figure, this was the best I could do to show the slight change to the knee pads.

Speaking of the knee pads, the only reason for the change in knee pads is because I had swapped them with the 50th 3pk (Wolf Pack) Outback figure for my Resolute Gung-Ho custom. I thought the smaller knee pads still looked good on the Shocktrooper figure and looked similar to the ARAH Cobra knees.

I glued the MTF ammo bandolier to the shoulder and chest. I like how the Shocktrooper has the small Cobra logo on the left side of the chest so that even with the bandolier you can still see the Cobra logo. The bandolier is flexible enough that it doesn't hinder the arm articulation.

Interestingly, there is actually a Cobra Machine Gunner, with an M60, in the Marvel animated commercial #19.

Jason

[jlw515]

Next up is the Night-Viper



Once again, I like the whole concept of certain Cobra troopers being an "anti" counterpart to a particular GIJoe character. The Night-Viper represents the "anti-Low Light" of the Cobra Legion. The 50th Night-Viper action figures are good figures in and of themselves and they basically appear in a "blue shirt" design. I just felt for a "night" operations sniper a darker color than neon green or red was more appropriate.



So, this is another simple parts swap, which a lot of Hasbro figures are simple kit-bashes from various parts and accessories. The base figure comes from a Dollar General black Cobra with the helmet, head, backpack and rifle from the green Night-Viper. I swapped out the grey "Cobra Officer" web gear for the black and green Jungle Ops Duke web gear since some of the green is the perfect match to the helmet and rifle.

Jason

[jlw515]

Ok, for fans old enough to have witnessed G.I. Joe the Movie on VHS back in 1987, how cool was that introduction?! Seeing all of those Cobra Paratroopers dropping onto the Statue of Liberty was uber cool!



So, YUP, this is simply a POC Cobra figure with the parachute rig from the 50th DVD Battle Paratrooper. That Paratrooper in the DVD set was basically a 25th figure with a POC head/helmet (which looked awkward to me) and parachute rig. So, why not update the figure totally with a POC/50th style body? And if Hasbro released this as a single carded figure, I'd buy several of them!



Jason

[jlw515]

This is more of the HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) variant of the Para-Viper. This guy represents the "anti-Ripcord" of the Cobra Legion.


The 2008/2009 Para-Vipers are some great figures with a ton of accessories. I just wanted a closer "blue shirt" style Para-Viper. The upper body is a Dollar General blue Cobra with legs from a Skydive v. 3 figure. I painted the legs Citadel Kantor Blue to match the upper body. The helmet fits the DG Cobra head just fine.



Jason

[jlw515]

This here is a super easy accessories parts swap. As a kid, I loved that the Techno-Viper came with all these cool accessories. I'm not sure that the Techno-Viper actually represents any "anti-Joe" character in particular. I can't really think of any G.I. Joe character that serves as a battlefield technician or mechanic.



I didn't want to waste that nice purple "blue shirt" Shocktrooper/50th Saw-Viper body. The Techno-Viper head and accessories swapped over nicely to the Saw-Viper body without any modifications. I actually like the way the different tones of the purple look on this figure. However, I've never really been fond of that head sculpt. To me, it's kind of a cross between a Cylon Raider and Darth Vader.



Jason

[jlw515]

With all the various types of Viper (snakes) in the real world, you would think that Hasbro could have come up with a better code name than "Jungle-Viper" for the Cobra Jungle Trooper. Kind of redundant in my opinion. Bush vipers are actual "jungle" snakes who live in the tropical regions of Africa. So, I thought the code name "Bush-Viper" had a better ring to it. Thus, the Bush-Viper serves as the "anti-Recondo" of the Cobra Legion.



Since the Steel Brigade Delta figure is simply a green version of the Cobra Shocktrooper, I felt this represented the perfect base for a Cobra Jungle Trooper. I painted the face mask grey and the helmet green. I gave him the web gear from a Senior Ranking Officer Cobra (I acquired in trade) since it has kind of cream look to it like the arm pockets on the SB Delta figure. The Cobra logo is a sticker from TFKingdom. Lastly, I slapped on the ghillie suit from the Jungle Viper, but I also have a cloth ghillie suite in a fodder box that would probably work better.



Jason

[jlw515]

Hasbro introduced the Medi-Vipers way after I had originally stopped collecting G.I. Joe toys. I think my son, Caleb, was playing with Joe toys by this time. The Medi-Viper is a specialty that definitely makes sense on the battlefield. I love how Hasbro added the twist that these guys were almost like "chop-shop" mad scientists who were basically patching up the wounded and sending the rest off to Dr. Mindbender for experiments. The Medi-Viper represents either the "anti-Doc" or "anti-Lifeline" (or whichever Joe medic you prefer) of the Cobra Legion.



The upper torso is from the green Night-Viper figure since it utilizes the "blue shirt" style torso. The head, medical gear, skirt piece, and knee pads all come from a DTC Medi-Viper figure. I trimmed off the ball-socket neck from the head and Dremeled it out to fit the neck post of the Night-Viper torso. I also Dremeled down the chest-piece, apron thing and knee pads from the DTC Medi-Viper figure. I carefully sliced off the chop-saw attachment and glued it to the Night-Viper right hand.

For the legs, I went with the Dollar General green Shipwreck since the thighs are similar to the POC/50th Cobra figure, and (to me) they look similar to medical scrubs pants. Instead of a holster on the right thigh, I added another pocket. I figure this guy needs all the medical supplies he can carry.



Well, that's all for now until after the holidays. As usual comments, critiques, questions, and even goofball posts are all grealy appreciated. Thanks for stopping by.

Jason

[shakka85]

Sensory overload! So much good stuff that I am not sure where to start! These newest ones are inspired. Love that you have kept a common thread with your Viper/Trooper Corps. And I agree, the Techno-Viper helmet looks Vader inspired! Keep up the great work!!!

-Todd
Shakka85