Toy
name: HISS IV w/ Pit Viper Assortment: Valor vs. Venom
Bravo Vehicle Price: MSRP $14.99 Availability: June,
2005
Key Features
- Pit Viper
figure included
- Canopy raises for firing”
- Cockpit opens
- Launching missiles
- Troop compartment holds two troops
- Firing gun turret
It
would have been tough to tell fellow Joefans that here and now, in June, I'd
still be doing G.I. Joe reviews even a month ago. It was the "deth of teh
line"...Joe was going on hiatus, fans were certain "hiatus" meant
"demise"...even publications like Toyfare ran with it without fully
understanding the facts. Now, here we are, a few months after the supposed "hiatus"
and new stuff continues to come out, and as we gear up for Convention time and
July, promises appear on the horizon for newer and cooler collector-oriented
single pack figures. It's a great time to be a Joe fan, and I only hope the
sales of the Direct To Consumer stuff AND the Sigma Six stuff end up strong
enough to support it. If not, well, at least it will go out with a bang, not
a whimper.
Well, unless you look at
this particular vehicle...it doesn't whimper, it whines and cries. :/
The HISS is the venerable
COBRA vehicle. The backbone of all COBRA forces, and up to this point was a
nice and simple, moderately stylized fast attack tank, as it should be. The
first version was a great simple two-man assault vehicle. Nothing elaborate
or complex...just sloped armor, a reinforced canopy, two sets of treads and
a BFG up top. The second version of the HISS took everything that made the first
one cool and improved on it, if you can believe that. The same wicked sloped
armor, but with much more detailing and sculpting involved...a bigger, nastier
cannon on top with twin support machine guns and twin missiles...heck, even
a transport section for four troops in back. How can you get much cooler than
that? Well, apparently you can't, because the HISS IV took a big step in the
wrong direction.
Back when it first came out,
it wasn't a BAD vehicle per se...after all, it was one of the first new sculpt
vehicles we got. But now, when compared to how cool the stuff they release now
is...well, this vehicle just doesn't compare, even with an updated color scheme
and retooled top cannon.
Design and Playability
I can see where
Hasbro was coming from with this new design...they're trying to take the basic
angular appearence of the HISS and really spike it up with a snake motif. The
idea is nice...the execution, well it kinda works, but not really. Actually,
the Snakehead cockpit is really my favorite part of this entire vehicle. The
beady eyes, angular serpent features, and pronounced fangs are all really cool
and have some great potential. But a couple of things hurt this vehicle overall.
First of all, the more rounded than angular overall look of the vehicle severely
affects it's cool factor, I think. One of the best things about the previous
two HISS tanks was the solid intimidation of the angled armor...it just looked
tough. This one just looks...well, not so tough. And I'll tell you, the single
worst part of the vehicle, even with this updated version, is the top turret.
This thing just looks horrible.
I know Hasbro took our queue
from the first version when we said it lacked power...but I'll tell you, power
is important...but look is even more important, I think. You could have just
a single cannon on top...but it better be a sleek, streamlined, and punchy looking
cannon. Both the original version and this version look rediculous with this
strange, jutting obtrusion popping up out of the hunch back of the tank. It
doesn't matter if it's a small cannon, or a trio of small missile launchers.
The turret itself looks clumsy, awkward and useless. They tried to improve on
it, but really, there is no improving it without chopping the whole thing off
and trying again.
Then we have the whole play
value of the raising cockpit...it's all right, I guess, but nothing terrific.
I can imagine it would lift up like that to get a higher angle, and a better
field of fire on incoming troops. The only problem is, the two missile launchers
on the cockpit are tiny and ineffectual in appearence. They just don't seem
that dangerous, so this feature seems useless to me. The two-man storage compartment
in back is a nice concept, as is the entire vehicle...but again, it just doesn't
execute well and doesn't add any real flair to the vehicle.
To be fair, the paint job
here is a vast improvement over the original...so if you really need to own
one of these HISS's, I heartely recommend this version. But the new black and
blue paint apps aren't enough to really make this a desirable vehicle to me,
as it still suffers from a lack of armament, and a non-threatening design. The
concept is neat...the snakehead cockpit is pretty cool and inspired. But nothing
else is, and the overall vehicle just falls flat. Aboslutely nothing compared
to the two originals (especially the second one).
Figure
and Accessories
This is one
upside, though. Ever since they first appeared, I've been a huge fan of the
Pit-Vipers. The out of the ordinary uniform design really grabbed me from day
one. I love the high collar, silver shades, open mouth face mask, and the combination
super villain/snake themed uniform. The only thing about the first ones I wasn't
wild about was the light tan trims on the uniform. The gray fit...that light
color did not, and I couldn't really see how they wore those uniforms as "infiltration
specialists".
But...this figure is a vast
improvement on all fronts. The mold is proportional and the uniform design is
fantastic. I love the padded armored uniform and the mask design. The COBRA
theme throughout the figure is effective and well-executed and I just love the
figure completely.
When you take the great mold
of the original Pit-Viper, and now produce the figure in solid blacks, rich
blues, and dramatic silvers, you really have a winner...this figure is a winner,
completely. He is so cool, I am almost tempted to grab a few HISSes just to
end up with a small squad of Pit-Vipers, but the HISSes are just bad enough
that I just can't do it. Instead I'll use this Pit-Viper as a senior officer
and single character. I think he works really well there, and the uniform design
has enough personality that this can be a single character and really function
as such. Great job on the figure, substandard job on the vehicle itself.
Final Comments
Upon first glance
of this vehicle you can instantly see just how far Hasbro has come in a few
short years. Vehicle designs these days are worlds better than they used to
be, and unfortunately, this particular HISS just does not translate well into
the current design scheme. I found this to be true of pretty much all of those
vehicle prototypes that Hasbro showcased on their site a short while ago...the
HISS was probably the best one of the bunch, and judging by the final execution,
I think I'm glad they shelved the rest of them.
The figure is really very
nice...but not really nice enough to warrant a $15 price tag. I don't see any
reason really to recommend this vehicle at all...but if you know you love the
HISS IV design, at least get this one instead of the original. If it were up
to me, I'd say save your cash for the DTC launch and get some really cool stuff.
It
would have been tough to tell fellow Joefans that here and now, in June, I'd
still be doing G.I. Joe reviews even a month ago. It was the "deth of teh
line"...Joe was going on hiatus, fans were certain "hiatus" meant
"demise"...even publications like Toyfare ran with it without fully
understanding the facts. Now, here we are, a few months after the supposed "hiatus"
and new stuff continues to come out, and as we gear up for Convention time and
July, promises appear on the horizon for newer and cooler collector-oriented
single pack figures. It's a great time to be a Joe fan, and I only hope the
sales of the Direct To Consumer stuff AND the Sigma Six stuff end up strong
enough to support it. If not, well, at least it will go out with a bang, not
a whimper.
