G.I. Joe Classified Series Cobra Range-Viper review – (No. 76)

Hasbro has been delivering a lot of product over the last few weeks from all its lines. The Cobra Ranger-Viper is my 10th new addition in the G.I. Joe Classified Series figure in the last month. It’s a crazy output, but I won’t complain about getting more Classified Series characters.

By the time the Ranger-Viper was added to the line, some of the early fans were checking out. The Real American Hero line still had some cool figures although about 90 percent of them were wild Viper specialty troops. In terms of inspired designs, the Ranger-Viper was right up there with the Alley Vipers, SAW Vipers, Night and TARGET Vipers.

Hasbro has been rolling with the Cobra army builders so I’m perfectly fine getting these survivalist specialists in the mix especially since they have a Joe counterpart in Outback to battle.

Let’s see if these guys need to get stranded in the woods or join the Cobra army builder Hall of Fame.

Package: I’m looking forward to the window packaging again but appreciate the artwork for the figure with the Dark Energon laying in the background. The artwork fully conveys the terrifying helmet these guys sport. I wish the QR code actually led to something beyond the main Hasbro product page as it feels kinda worthless.

Hasbro Pulse includes the bio of the characters on the order page now:

Range-Vipers have an unusually high tolerance for discomfort. They subsist on the vermin they catch, must procure all their own supplies, and build their own shelters. Once dropped into the field, they don’t cost anything to feed, clothe or arm making them ideal cannon fodder.

The stat readout is now super tiny, which is another reason I miss the dedicated Joe page having bios and stat breakdowns.

Range-Viper’s stats are as followed: 3-stars in Recon, Stealth and Environmental Specialist and a 2 in Launcher.

The back just shows the included accessories. I wish Hasbro would add a key to explain all the various accessories.

Likeness: Range-Vipers look so cool they even manage to still look menacing in the DIC cartoons. It’s all about that wild helmet with the brain cap and heavy metal style skeletal mask. The deep sunken red eyes also add to the intimidation factor.

Fittingly, the Range-Viper uses the Outback body, which is wider and thicker than the average character. That makes sense seeing as how they would want to be similarly attired for hostile environments.

The Classified Series team has done a solid job of staying as true as possible to the RAH look while making changes as needed. I mention that as I preferred the full knee length boot of the original design as opposed to the kneepad and armored boots. The foot pads on the top of the book are retained from the RAH version.

Range-Viper gets a new setup with chest armor harness with presumably ammo pouches and grenades on the left shoulder.

This wasn’t an essential addition, but it’s extra gear for a character that might be in the mountains for unexpected weeks. As usual, it’s got some solid detailing with buckles, seams and padding.

Hasbro also added some leg pouches/holsters to help hold his gear.

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Paint: Range-Viper has “sloppier” paint apps than the standard Classified Series. Typically, the paintwork on my figures are just about flawless. The Range-Viper’s chest armor pouches are the biggest issue with the tan having some bleed through and the straps not having tight linework.

There’s just a little bit of grey creeping through on the blue mask.

Scale: The new head didn’t give Range-Viper any extra height so he’s about the standard size while looking up at taller characters. That’s fine as the RV looks enough like a horror villain and doesn’t need to be 8 ft tall.

Articulation: Similar to Outback, as a wilderness specialist, the Range-Viper needs to have major articulation with no restrictions to be able to hit the best possible poses.

The vest is not nearly as restrictive as you might think thanks to the chest armor harness being split. He can hit all the deep crouches and sneaky poses I was looking for with him.

 

Range-Viper has:

• head
• neck
• shoulders (butterfly)
• elbow (double-jointed)
• wrist
• wrist hinge
• mid-torso
• torso
• waist
• hips (ball-jointed)
• drop down hips
• knees (double-jointed)
• ankles

Accessories: The Range-Viper wasn’t lacking for accessories with his RAH figure. And not surprisingly the Classified Series version is pretty loaded as well.

To Hasbro’s credit, they really geared him up surpassing the count from the RAH figure. They’re not junk accessories either as Hasbro matched most of the accessories from the original with a few new additions. Let’s start with the modern updates first.

Range-Viper’s bandana was a sculpted piece on the first version and is now a separate accessory to give it a bit more depth.

Next up is his large backpack. This is a sized-up update with more paint apps but the overall setup is exact to the original from the small antenna and tube around the top. Just like the RAH backpack, this has a small hose that connects into the Range Viper’s helmet. Maybe to pump in some Cobra supplements?

The Range-Viper’s main weapon was a grenade launcher, which carries through to the update.

Maybe the logistics are a little weird since in both versions, these wouldn’t be very large grenades being shot through the barrel. There’s a chamber piece you can swap in and out.

Hasbro’s Classified Series team realized the original design was a tad overkill as his secondary weapon was a missile launcher. Now, his secondary weapon is a machine gun.

This is a smart aggressive weapon for a wilderness trooper. There’s an extra ammo clip for this well.

For close quarters combat, he’s got a smaller semi-automatic pistol.

The sai has been upgraded and allows for a bit more reach than the original. Finally, he’s got a pickaxe, which makes sense for a wilderness trooper.

It’s always helpful when the figure can hold all their gear and Range-Viper can basically carry everything depending on your main weapon preference. There’s always the storage locker to carry the rest, which is a nice addition.

Worth It?  The standard price for Joe Classified figures is $24.99. Considering the obvious attention to detail and accessory load out that seems like a fair price. I didn’t get these guys on sale but feel like this is a fair value. Since this isn’t a figure that Target is carrying, don’t wait up for a big discount.

Rating:  10 out of 10

With a slew of accessories, highly functional articulation and a killer sculpt, the Range Vipers make for a tremendous army builder and I could probably add two or three more to my collection.

Where to Get It?  The Range-Viper is a Wal-Mart/Hasbro Pulse exclusive so that means a lot of website stalking.