The G.I. Joe FSS 5 previews continue today with a look at the mock-up for the Battle Corps Cobra Viper!

COBRA BATTLE CORPS: COBRA VIPER
(Based on the 1994 Battle Corps action figure!)

Includes: assault rifle, grenade launcher, backpack dagger, pistol, and figure stand.

NOTE: All images are Photoshop representations, final product, accessories and/or colors may vary!

I’m not going to lie — I’m not really a fan of the 1994 Cobra Viper design.  Yes, Hasbro tried something new in that final year and I’ll applaud them for taking some design risks but it just wasn’t my cup of Joe.  (Pun so obviously intended.)  I’m not saying that I don’t like the design aesthetics as I think they were so elegantly repurposed years later as the 2005 Iron Anvil paratroopers.  Instead it’s just that this design doesn’t scream “Cobra Viper!” to me.

Now that my own preferences are safely out of the way, I have to say that this isn’t a bad update at all. I had expected the 2015 “Peril in Paradise” Iron Anvil trooper in a 1994 color scheme.  Instead, this appears to be a Pursuit of Cobra Jungle Viper with what appear to be Retalition Cobra Trooper arms.  This works “well enough” for G.I. Joe FSS 5 because it keeps tooling dollars down and still makes what is essentially an end-of-the-line design available for those who want it.  Fans of the later-era figures are going to be pleased, even if troop-building this figure is going to prove to be a financially challenging scenario.

Five days, five figure previews.  We’ve pretty much knocked off the first five figures revealed at Joe Con 2016.  Does this mean that Salvo is up for Monday? Continue reading →