Sand Viper w/ Air Assault - Adventure Pack
Toy
name: Sand Viper w/ Air Assault
Assortment: N/A
Price: MSRP $6.99
Availability: March, 2005
I
said it way back when this figure first came out, all the way in Spy Troops,
Wave 6. This figure is AWESOME, but it's relegation to a desert ops specialty
really bugged me. It had so much potential as a shock trooper type figure...a
really scary looking tough-guy COBRA trooper...and as someone who really isn't
a fan of desert troops, I really didn't like the fact that he was colored that
way and stuck in that mode.
Well, I don't have to worry any longer. We now have more non-desert Sand-Viper figures than we have desert ones!
Starting with the ""Value Pack" three-pack a year or so ago, Sand Vipers started coming in some different colors...that release was in a terrific black and red paint job, but I couldn't find more than one. But now, with the release of the single packs and these adventure packs I plan on really building up my Sand Viper army. The single pack one was an awesome paint job, and this one is equally cool. And it actually doesn't bother me that these aren't desert schemes...I mean, he is a Sand Viper, but I don't see any reason why the Sand Viper designation can't just make him a general COBRA Special Ops trooper, and that's pretty much what he's going to be for me. The figure is just too cool to be limited to a desert environment.
Figure Mold
As I've said everytime this figure is released, this mold is fantastic, plain and simple. He comes close to having proportion problems, but comes just under enough to not look unrealistic, similar to the VvV and recent Viper repaint in WAve 7. His legs are a tad long as the others are, but not so much to look stupid (as Alley-Viper does). The oversized boots and gauntlets also help to de-emphasize the long limbs and the figure comes up looking pretty nice.
The sculpt itself is just incredible. From the nicely designed, layered mask look with menacing glowing eyes and a pseudo skull theme, all the way down to the aforementioned boots, this figure is just layered with intricate design patterns and awesome armored composite.
The figure is lanky, yet thick with patterned body armor and ceremonial trimming...the COBRA logo carved into his chestpiece looks terrific, too, and brings out a nice flash against the Sand Viper mold. There isn't a spot on this figure that doesn't have some in depth detail work, and it all comes together to make a really great looking figure.
Paint Applications/Color Choices
Here's another spot where this version of the figure shines. The blue base used is sort of bright, but not too bright. A nice royal, vibrant color, which fits in nicely with the Wave 7 Vipers, but is not an exact match. The brightness of the color is not bad at all, in my mind, and actually comes across nicely subdued. With a gray trim on his limbs and throughout the rest of the figure, he looks just as a COBRA operative should...proudly carrying the COBRA colors, but still nice and dark without any overwhelming brightness.
There aren't a lot of different colors to him, but what colors there are are applied nicely and look very cool.
Accessories
He comes with the typical Sand viper machine gun, but unfortunately no helmet, which is kind of a downer, as the helmet makes up a big part of what makes the figure/character cool.
Of course, he also comes with the monster Air Assault, which is very cool...I always thought the glider made a much better COBRA vehicle than a Joe one, and this pretty much proves it. The blue color makes it look awesome and very COBRA-esque, and the nice COBRA logo on the removable plate and snake-motif missiles. Sand Viper fits it well and looks the part, all in all, the entire set really comes together very nicely.
Final Comments
Not a bad figure set...I really find myself loving the looks of this new Sand Viper, and really don't mind that it is, in fact, a "Sand Viper". Perhaps calling it an "Air Viper" might have been cool, insinuating that this is the trooper that Barrel Roll bases his disguise on. Still, it's a nice figure and a cool little vehicle. I doubt that I have to recommend this very highly, folks are going to buy it, anyway, but it deserves it's recognition...it's a very neat little set.
Ratings (out of 10)
Character: 8.5
Mold : 8.75
Paint Apps: 9
Value: 8.5
Overall score (not an average): 8.75
