With the rebirth of GI Joe in the 25th anniversary line, the viper was reborn as well - much to the scorn and derision of GI Joe fan. Odd sculpting, poorly poseable legs, and those hands - those horrible hideous hands. Was the viper to be lost forever and only remembered as this 25th anniversary nightmare?
There was a new attempt at retooling the viper, but it was not much of an improvement.
Fortunately, Hasbro revisted the Viper for the Pursuit of Cobra line after the Rise of Cobra movie line. The sculpting job was incredible, but still the fan boys were whining. The new version was not close enough to the look of the original viper. Fan boys wanted the red gauntlets. Also, due to poor distribution and running changes, that blue gloved viper was very difficult to find.
Thankfully, Hasbro reissued the Viper as a part of the 30th Anniversary line, now with red arm guards, similar to the 1986 original, and an assortment of weapons. The body made use of exsisting pieces from other Pursuit of Cobra/30th Anniversary figures and the vest of the 25th Viper. Nearly everything worked. Joe fans now had an awesome update to the classic 1986 Viper.
An exceptionally sculpted assault rifle, it works extremely well with the new Viper. Two problems - I don't think Marauder is producing the gun any longer and I only bought two.
Damn...
No worries, Marauder Gun Runners has a huge assortment of weapons that work great with all of your GI Joe figures.
Scored my 8th Viper tonight. Sweet!
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