Elite-Viper

This is another guest review with Carlos of JoeBattleLines, with my own .02 of course.

CARLOS: In Wave 3 we get four army builders, three of them are Cobras. Elite Viper right away looks a bit different than the other Cobra troopers we've gotten so far. Does he stand out or does he fall inbetween the cracks. Read on for my review.

CARLOS: Elite Viper shares the same body/torso as his other Cobra brethen but thats all. Elite Viper sports a new head, arms, and legs. Boy what a difference these new parts make! I'll get to that later on, though. Their bio describes them as Destro's personal guards and strict enforcers of his orders. I dont know about you guys but that gives me the impression of some bad ass troops. These guys make sure anything Destro commands is obeyed and carried out plus they protect him. Awesome! Is the figure just as cool.... Heck yeah, he is.

JUSTIN: I couldn't agree more. Most of the COBRA army builders to date have left me a little dry. Some cool aspects, but by and large they didn't really execute in the ways I'd want them to as COBRA troops...well, the Elite-Viper absolutely does. He's the best troop builder of the line, and it's not even close.

CARLOS: Elite Viper exudes coolness. It was hard to capture his details because of his dark colors but I can tell you he is one bad mother... Seriously, this guy looks scary and menacing. Molded in solid black, his headsculpt is full of details including a visor. He has plated armor on his shoulders, elbows, gloves, and removable armor vest, all weathered to look used and abused. His belt/holster has pouches and a radio molded in. Just great detailing all around.

JUSTIN: I absolutely love the elbow pads, shoulder armor and thick metallic gloves. It makes him look very "SWAT" like, and ready for combat. I know the standard troops all have those funky pads on their arms and shoulders, but it just doesn't look as cool as it does on the Elite Viper.

CARLOS: What about his gear? Well take a look. He has two assault machine guns which resemble UMPs. They are small but work. He has the standard Cobra hand gun with holster. He also has an awesome modern axe. This thing looks like it could give the Joe's BBQ a run for his money. He also has a backpack with some nice detailing and a place to hold his badass axe in. I love it when a figure can store/hold all his gear and this guy can do it. Round it up with his belt/holster and removable armor and you have one well equipped trooper ready to throw it down with whatever comes his way.

JUSTIN: I love his mini submachine guns...it's really nice to see a COBRA Trooper out there that doesn't have the oversized pulse rifles that most of the other Viper troopers do. His weapons are actually real, and they're impressive as well. I really can't quite figure out the whole axe thing, though. In fact, a lot of Joe and COBRA figures are coming with these real world tools and I really have no idea why. Axes, shovels, etc... I have no idea what the idea is here.

CARLOS: He has an awesome color to him. A dark blue base with black thrown in for detailing. Then the armor has a realistic look to it thanks to the drybrushing. Just check out that picture of the back of his armor, awesome detailing that wasn't even necessary due to his backpack. I like it when Hasbro goes beyond the basics and they sure did here. They could have just repainted the basic R.O.C. trooper buck but instead we got the new arms and legs. It helps break up the monogomy of the same old troop. He has no identifying marks, no Cobra symbol or MARS insignia.

CARLOS: So is he all good? Well I dont know... if I have to quible its that he is a top ranking MARS agent but doesn't have any hi-tech MARS weaponry. But am I really asking for some huge bulky weapons? No, Im not, especially if its going to be like the stuff the Neo Viper comes with. Oh, the removable armor only has one latch unlike all the other amors before which have two. This means you'll have to work a bit harder to remove it. It also means you get a much tighter fitting armor since you only get one clasp bulge on the side instead of two. The belt isn't really removable unless you pull it under his legs but when I did that I felt I was stretching it. Its probably best to just leave it on. His articulation is top notch and is hardly hindered by the armor. You can get him into several types of positions.

JUSTIN: Yeah, I can't find a whole lot to complain about here. I'm happy that his weapons are more understated, and even with just one clasp, the armor has incredible detail and does not limit his poseability in the slightest. This is, without a doubt, my favorite army builder of the line to this point. The colors, the tooling, the gear...it's all great. This figure is an absolute winner and if this is any indication of what we might be getting in the future, I think whether you like The Rise of Cobra film or not, there's plenty to be happy about coming down the pipe.

I cant seem to get enough of this guy. I recommend him, Big Time. Get a pair of him while your at it. He is a great trooper and I hope to see him in action in the movie. I'll let the pics do the rest of the talking.

Buy this figure at Big Bad Toy Store!

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