Great review! This figure reminds me of a Robocop and WWE's "Hillbilly Jim" crossover. This is the first time Mindbinder survived the missile launcher challenge. The cobra version of "Gothic America" intro was pretty funny.
I know everyone hates on spring loaded missiles and neon. But I was a 90s kid. As such, I loved them! This viper was my favorite figure because he was the only one with two missiles. I had both the blue and pink ones.
Wow that figure had really bright colors! The beginning of this video is why I watch, great humor! Ok after HCC ending rant, another name for this figure, Toddler Viper!
This is the rare neutral example of using bright colors--not great, but not terrible. They mostly go together, I think the orange and green better than the blue and green, but they mostly work and they're offset by the dark grey.
Another great video hoodie. I have probably mentioned this before, but the reason 90's Joe figures looked so odd and have just come back from a rave party. Is because they were phasing out the military realistic after numerous incidents supposedly inspired by the 'Rambo' films. You can't legislate sanity though. My late brother and I were avid G.I. Joe/ Action force fans and we grew up to be perfectly well adjusted men. It is for this reason that I limit my collection to AF and 80's Joes as they are more real world realistic. a bit of fantasy is OK to break up the monotony, but many of the figures are so off the chart, I don't know how my brother and I would incorperate them into our playtime.
The 2004 "Nullifier" release of the Flak Viper was my preferred version of this mold. My preferred use for that figure was as a vehicle driver or gunner of some sort. The Operation M.O.T.H. Flak Viper I never had but that one seems like faded shades of all tan that makes the rather unexplainable 1992 mold details that you pointed out almost disappear. With Vipers, I think the accessories are what made these bad guys more than just bad guys. With Vipers, they became weapon systems to themselves, to an extent. I just never felt anything "anti-aircraft" about this 1992 figure, though. I wonder if this figure had a different role but cost-reducing and action gimmicks took away some sort of anti-aircraft gear that would have been more inline with the 1991 figures, such as Mercer 1991, where the actual launchers did have some detail. The card art for Flak Viper's backpack does not look like what we get in toy form but more like 1990 Metal Head's rockets. The light blue is not that bad, but is that shade of blue anywhere else in the figure line up? It just doesn't fit as I see it. The green is a solid green, but even that green just doesn't feel like it fits. Is there a green of that shade on any other figures in the Cobra ranks? The Battle Copter Ace also has leggings, and opposed the Heli-Viper (the Snow Serpent/Night-Viper mix) with the Battle Copters. The Flak Viper's skin tight suit over a rather large muscular form makes me wonder if Flak Viper may have been intended for another role. It's strange that the Heli-Viper is a mixed figure in a year of ALL-new retail figure releases to me.
The grey parts on his torso and waist piece brings to mind a wrestler’s singlet. Something like Andre the Giant. His head reminds me of a bootleg Robocop head.
Was my favourite figure i loved it, some prick of an older kid flushed mine down the toilet. I got Flak Viper and a arctic sled/buggie with harpoon car vehicle. Safe to say i adored the thing.
My favorite deco of this mold was the 2004 Nullifier v2 from the Cobra Strike Team - Urban Division set. BUT that one didn't come with the right accessories. Second best, and BEST version of the accessories, was the 2006 Flak-Viper v3 from the Operation:Flaming MOTH: Desert Theater set.
Sky Commanders! That's the first thing I thought of when I watched this review. All the Phaeta Seven mines must have dried up after '88 and the Sky Commanders could only find employment with Cobra. Love it! Now Flak-Vipers are my favorite 90's Cobra figures.
I have a theory about the one-shoulder unitard. Perhaps this figure was initially going to have a shoulder-held missile launcher which ended up being changed to a backpack at the last minute? If so, you might only need to protect one shoulder from backblast. The bayonet's not actually fixed on the rifle, for what it's worth. It's a weird way to carry it, but you can see the mount for the bayonet underneath the blade. If it were mounted, it would make the weapon that much more unbalanced, so storing it where it does still helps - just not as much as having a separate scabbard (or, y'know, not having a bayonet on a sniper-rifle-like weapon at all).
I have this figure coming. It's pretty cool. The "overalls" as you call them look like they're ripped, like maybe he was in a fight. I think the kill marks on his chest are cool. He looks decent enough. Better than the orange one.
I'm one of those fans of FLAK-Viper version one! I loved that thing as a kid and had a lot of fun with it! FLAK-Viper version 2 however was just gaudy as all hell and I hated it! So I never picked that one up!
To be fair, by calling them "Tail-Biter" missiles, it kind of sums up a lot of information about them in those two words. Namely, that they have a passive homing system of a "fire and forget" nature. Where instead of being used by bouncing off signals between the user and target, or the missile and target, they zero in on their intended target by infra signatures and heat... IE, the exhaust being put out by the aircraft. So when it explodes, it's basically going up the "tail pipe." However, being as these were intended for kids, they probably went with the "Tail-Biter" name to convey all of that, to get the kid/s to imagine it, without using confusing (For a kid) terms, like "Infra-Signatures" or "Passive Homing." Also, "Tail-Biter Missile" just sounds cool.
You're not wrong for having reservations about the 90's figures. The 80's ones were lighting in a bottle, but by the late 80's Hasbro knew they were done and their only hope was to rehash things over and over. ( ...like Hollywood today. ) I stopped buying sometime after the USS Flagg was released because to me that was jumping the shark. All waves that came after that were just jumping the shark with another shark, being ridden by a third shark. I threw in the towel the day they released the Ass Viper and their commander, the Total Ass Viper.
I had version 2 of the Flak-Viper. As a kid, I thought the missile launcher backpack was cool. Looking at it now, it is a bit ridiculous and impractical but it was a fun action figure.
Maybe the anti-radiation gloves were worn to protect him from his laser rifle - as with Flash and Grand Slam’s padding. Or is that giving 90s designers too much credit for thinking things through?
this figure is one strange amalgamation of sculpts . its like they started sculpting the figure and then went " to hell with it he can have chaps" lol its not one I would pick up myself even if I was still collecting the vintage era stuff. I do like that Desert Convention repaint of him as he does make him a little better but not by much .
I was finished with GI JOE by 89 but around 92 when I was at High School me and a friend were walking through a department store and I saw Flack Viper and Snow Serpent II and I thought they looked great...30 years later I own them. I'd love to see what his head looks like on Sci Fi as they are similar 🛫🛬✈..Cobra recruited "Gamers" to shoot down enemy airplanes hahaha that cracked me up 🤣✈🛬🛫
I will give the filecard credit it dose advertise a vehicle that was around at the time rather than advertising a vehicle that was no longer in stores.
I have a couple theories about the shoulder pad. One, he's left handed. Two, he takes out a plane with the missiles and points the rifle at a steep angle to fire at the ejected pilots.
Robo viper? With tail biting missiles? Hasbro's way of calling them Butt Munchers without getting into trouble. Aside from the singlet and colors being all over the place, the sculpt and textures on the figure weren't bad. The backpack looked huge, almost as big as the sonic fighters or the talking commanders from that era. My son had a rifle very similar only in black. It looked like a cheaper grade of plastic so we assumed it came from a knock off figure.
These guys look really good in Terrordrome turrets. I think that's their role. Any color, blue Nullifiers especially. All the covers keep them warm in the turret.
It’s odd that the missiles in the diagram were shorter but they were probably lengthened because apparently American children are unable to not choke on small toy parts
As a 90s kid, age 7 when this one came out, the helmet makes up for everything. I loved this helmet, its pretty sweet if you wanna repaint it and kitbash a cooler joe together. Great review!
Also, I think the significance of the yellow planes is that they are his kill-counters, like when you'd seen nazi and imperial japan flags on an allied plane in ww2. He's shot down that many planes maybe?
More or less a Cobra AA gunner, only with impractical gimmicky SAMs on his back...Maybe no one told Hasbro that flak doesn't come from missiles, but rather from guns?
One of my favorite figures from the Joe line when it came out and I still feel that way. Despite being a Cobra, I always thought the figure looked like a superhero. Figure would look amazing with some dark recolors as well.
It's okay HCC788, since you repeatedly acknowledge that you know that there are indeed fans like myself who like the Flak-Viper, I take no offense that you don't. In fact, I would say that most of your issues with him are quite fair. In fact, I hated all the spring loaded missile launchers, including the Flak-Viper's, and never used them. On the other hand, the lack of Cobra logos were an advantage to me, as it allowed me to use them as non-Cobra villains. For a time, for instance, I used them as Darklon's mercenary army, referenced on his filecard. I thought that the design of the figure was a solid one, though the colors could indeed have been better and more cohesive. In fact, have you seen the repaints of the Flak-Viper from the early 2000's? It was used first in 2004 as a "Nullifier" in the TRU Urban Division Strike Team set in a gorgeous dark blue and black, then in 2006 by the Club as part of their Operation Flaming MOTH sets as a Flak-Viper in desert colors. Both show the true potential of the mold. Though neither ignores the "overalls." And I loved his rifle, but you are right about the placement of the bayonet. Great review dude!
Great review! This figure reminds me of a Robocop and WWE's "Hillbilly Jim" crossover. This is the first time Mindbinder survived the missile launcher challenge. The cobra version of "Gothic America" intro was pretty funny.
I know everyone hates on spring loaded missiles and neon. But I was a 90s kid. As such, I loved them! This viper was my favorite figure because he was the only one with two missiles. I had both the blue and pink ones.
My favorite GI Joe toy as a kid.
See, that's what you get for pulling a "Falcon" on Mrs. HCC788! 😂🤣😅
I actually like the orange colored one better. I was a 80's kid.
Had to give a thumbs up for this video because you drudged through it like a true trooper.
Awww being in Cobra in the 90’s was crazy and fun. Good video sir
Wow that figure had really bright colors! The beginning of this video is why I watch, great humor!
Ok after HCC ending rant, another name for this figure, Toddler Viper!
It seems like the action gimmicks still work on all these toys. That seems pretty cool.
Love the cameo of Stanley Spadowskis clubhouse on UHF!
The fact that UHF was filmed in HCC's home city of Tulsa was discussed at length in a live chat one week. I'd like to think it's a callback to that.
One of my favorite later year cobra figures, I had a couple of these and they were a mainstay in my Cobra legion
It’s Robocop’s wrestler brother.
1) Serve the Marks
2) Protect the Kayfabe
3) Uphold the Rules
Funny enough Flak Viper pulled double duty for me as a wrestler.
Cool video review of the Flak Viper, I had that one a long time ago and I had fun playing with him and shooting the missiles in the air.
An excellent review as always.
This is the rare neutral example of using bright colors--not great, but not terrible. They mostly go together, I think the orange and green better than the blue and green, but they mostly work and they're offset by the dark grey.
I've never noticed the stormshadow tattoo. Right on!
loved the review man, Thanks for all the hard work man.
You have done well saying the word "Flugabwehrkanone" ... Greetings from a german Action Force Collector :-)
Another great video hoodie. I have probably mentioned this before, but the reason 90's Joe figures looked so odd and have just come back from a rave party. Is because they were phasing out the military realistic after numerous incidents supposedly inspired by the 'Rambo' films. You can't legislate sanity though. My late brother and I were avid G.I. Joe/ Action force fans and we grew up to be perfectly well adjusted men. It is for this reason that I limit my collection to AF and 80's Joes as they are more real world realistic. a bit of fantasy is OK to break up the monotony, but many of the figures are so off the chart, I don't know how my brother and I would incorperate them into our playtime.
The 2004 "Nullifier" release of the Flak Viper was my preferred version of this mold. My preferred use for that figure was as a vehicle driver or gunner of some sort.
The Operation M.O.T.H. Flak Viper I never had but that one seems like faded shades of all tan that makes the rather unexplainable 1992 mold details that you pointed out almost disappear.
With Vipers, I think the accessories are what made these bad guys more than just bad guys. With Vipers, they became weapon systems to themselves, to an extent. I just never felt anything "anti-aircraft" about this 1992 figure, though. I wonder if this figure had a different role but cost-reducing and action gimmicks took away some sort of anti-aircraft gear that would have been more inline with the 1991 figures, such as Mercer 1991, where the actual launchers did have some detail. The card art for Flak Viper's backpack does not look like what we get in toy form but more like 1990 Metal Head's rockets.
The light blue is not that bad, but is that shade of blue anywhere else in the figure line up? It just doesn't fit as I see it. The green is a solid green, but even that green just doesn't feel like it fits. Is there a green of that shade on any other figures in the Cobra ranks?
The Battle Copter Ace also has leggings, and opposed the Heli-Viper (the Snow Serpent/Night-Viper mix) with the Battle Copters. The Flak Viper's skin tight suit over a rather large muscular form makes me wonder if Flak Viper may have been intended for another role. It's strange that the Heli-Viper is a mixed figure in a year of ALL-new retail figure releases to me.
The grey parts on his torso and waist piece brings to mind a wrestler’s singlet. Something like Andre the Giant.
His head reminds me of a bootleg Robocop head.
That was scfi for me
I was thinking Judge Dredd, myself.
Jerry "The King" Lawler also wore a singlet. He even had a gimmick where he'd pull the strap down and go into 'berserker mode'.
All of the 90s toys look like they belong at a rave.
a blue bodystocking with wooly corduroy overalls with chaps... pretty brave choice! Hugo Boss is weeping!
Another great video man! Just got a huge lot, so will be seeing a lot of me. Flak check!
Great video! I can't help but wonder what the other figures were in the poll that this one beat
Was my favourite figure i loved it, some prick of an older kid flushed mine down the toilet. I got Flak Viper and a arctic sled/buggie with harpoon car vehicle. Safe to say i adored the thing.
This one looks like he has on a Judge Dredd helmet.?
I'm pretty sure Hasbro reused that launcher for the Series 2 Dr Grant bolo launcher from the Jurassic Park series.
The planes on his chest were supposed to be targets that he has destroyed or military kills...I guess. Thanks for another great video!
My favorite deco of this mold was the 2004 Nullifier v2 from the Cobra Strike Team - Urban Division set. BUT that one didn't come with the right accessories. Second best, and BEST version of the accessories, was the 2006 Flak-Viper v3 from the Operation:Flaming MOTH: Desert Theater set.
Sky Commanders! That's the first thing I thought of when I watched this review. All the Phaeta Seven mines must have dried up after '88 and the Sky Commanders could only find employment with Cobra. Love it! Now Flak-Vipers are my favorite 90's Cobra figures.
all the vipers were amazing as a kid
Love the American Gothic skit in the beginning.
I do like the red and green one. Christmas Viper.
I have a theory about the one-shoulder unitard. Perhaps this figure was initially going to have a shoulder-held missile launcher which ended up being changed to a backpack at the last minute? If so, you might only need to protect one shoulder from backblast.
The bayonet's not actually fixed on the rifle, for what it's worth. It's a weird way to carry it, but you can see the mount for the bayonet underneath the blade. If it were mounted, it would make the weapon that much more unbalanced, so storing it where it does still helps - just not as much as having a separate scabbard (or, y'know, not having a bayonet on a sniper-rifle-like weapon at all).
I have this figure coming. It's pretty cool. The "overalls" as you call them look like they're ripped, like maybe he was in a fight. I think the kill marks on his chest are cool. He looks decent enough. Better than the orange one.
I'm one of those fans of FLAK-Viper version one! I loved that thing as a kid and had a lot of fun with it! FLAK-Viper version 2 however was just gaudy as all hell and I hated it! So I never picked that one up!
I got two of them with Duke. My first and only attempt at army building in my youth. I remember the HOF booklet said that was firefly's symbol.
Flak viper has a third version he comes in a set called "operation flaming moth" and has a desert motif
He looks awesome in desert camo
Yep I have that one. It came in a two box set with a desert themed Range Viper. It’s pretty cool.
To be fair, by calling them "Tail-Biter" missiles, it kind of sums up a lot of information about them in those two words. Namely, that they have a passive homing system of a "fire and forget" nature. Where instead of being used by bouncing off signals between the user and target, or the missile and target, they zero in on their intended target by infra signatures and heat... IE, the exhaust being put out by the aircraft. So when it explodes, it's basically going up the "tail pipe."
However, being as these were intended for kids, they probably went with the "Tail-Biter" name to convey all of that, to get the kid/s to imagine it, without using confusing (For a kid) terms, like "Infra-Signatures" or "Passive Homing." Also, "Tail-Biter Missile" just sounds cool.
You can find almost any color combination in the G.I. Joe toy line.
I like that there is a cobra anti-aircraft trooper.
I have both still from when I was a kid. I went through all my old toys and it made me want to collect all the old Joe's. Still alot of them I need.
You're not wrong for having reservations about the 90's figures. The 80's ones were lighting in a bottle, but by the late 80's Hasbro knew they were done and their only hope was to rehash things over and over. ( ...like Hollywood today. ) I stopped buying sometime after the USS Flagg was released because to me that was jumping the shark. All waves that came after that were just jumping the shark with another shark, being ridden by a third shark. I threw in the towel the day they released the Ass Viper and their commander, the Total Ass Viper.
Curious where I can find replacement decals on gijoe vehicles ?
OMG UHF!!!! One of my favorite movies! Weird was a genius, too bad they didn’t have one of his songs in the GI joe movie.
Was? He still is a genius.
I had version 2 of the Flak-Viper. As a kid, I thought the missile launcher backpack was cool. Looking at it now, it is a bit ridiculous and impractical but it was a fun action figure.
Maybe the anti-radiation gloves were worn to protect him from his laser rifle - as with Flash and Grand Slam’s padding. Or is that giving 90s designers too much credit for thinking things through?
Yea, that's what I was thinking as well.
this figure is one strange amalgamation of sculpts . its like they started sculpting the figure and then went " to hell with it he can have chaps" lol its not one I would pick up myself even if I was still collecting the vintage era stuff. I do like that Desert Convention repaint of him as he does make him a little better but not by much .
Never had this 1...& honestly, i dont think it would have appealed to me back then.
Side bar- how much fun did Mrs HCC have with that intro?!? 🤣😂🤣
That's what he gets!
@@susanlower9932 yes ma'am!! 😁
Have you seen the Operation Flaming Moth version. It does correct some of you issues.
Have you seen the Latest video of BLACK NERD COMEDY, Whe he talked about the MASS Device mini series?
It seems he gave you a shout out.....
LOL. ^_^
I didn't mind this figure, as Cobra desperately needed some dedicated anti-air assets.
i actually liked this guy.
think i still got the back pack somewhere lol had these all
Well done
This Viper Was One Not So Mean Mother Frak-er....ouch that pun kinda hurt
You must have blocked out the great colors of Ice cream Soldier. lol, the colors and design is a little out there, but hey, he is a COBRA!
I was finished with GI JOE by 89 but around 92 when I was at High School me and a friend were walking through a department store and I saw Flack Viper and Snow Serpent II and I thought they looked great...30 years later I own them. I'd love to see what his head looks like on Sci Fi as they are similar 🛫🛬✈..Cobra recruited "Gamers" to shoot down enemy airplanes hahaha that cracked me up 🤣✈🛬🛫
I didn't have Flak-Viper back in day but if I had I might had liked it considering that I had Barricade and I did like that figure.
I will give the filecard credit it dose advertise a vehicle that was around at the time rather than advertising a vehicle that was no longer in stores.
I remember buying this figure for my brother! It was one of his first G.I Joe figures.
Flak-Vipers would have blown themselves in half after firing just one missile! This figure would have looked great in '86 Viper colors.
Another great & funny video.
Flak-Viper was a pro wrestler before Cobra recruited him ;-)
You say that like recruiting from pro wrestling into the military wasn't actually a canonical thing done in that universe.
I have a couple theories about the shoulder pad. One, he's left handed. Two, he takes out a plane with the missiles and points the rifle at a steep angle to fire at the ejected pilots.
Robo viper? With tail biting missiles? Hasbro's way of calling them Butt Munchers without getting into trouble. Aside from the singlet and colors being all over the place, the sculpt and textures on the figure weren't bad. The backpack looked huge, almost as big as the sonic fighters or the talking commanders from that era. My son had a rifle very similar only in black. It looked like a cheaper grade of plastic so we assumed it came from a knock off figure.
I have Both and love them
These guys look really good in Terrordrome turrets. I think that's their role. Any color, blue Nullifiers especially. All the covers keep them warm in the turret.
So,you know how Kenner put out Boba Fett and his rocket didn't fire,well,a Cobra Flak Viper could be a nice little substitute.
That intro is so funny.
There's also a third version with desert cammo paint.
Hey doctor mindbender...you get to drink from the fire hose!!!!!!
lol the uhf reference!
This was the last figure I bought as a child, I thought it was weird then and it's still weird lol
Hilarious intro!!!!! 🤣🤣
Garanimal Viper?
It’s odd that the missiles in the diagram were shorter but they were probably lengthened because apparently American children are unable to not choke on small toy parts
MY MOP!
GAMERS RISE UP, and join Cobra.
Nice use of the movie UHF.
I like the orange one.
Its Robocop dressed for wrestling?
Looks like a BF 2000 figure.
Stanley Spadowski cameo!!!
I had both
The Nullifier from the Urban Division had much better colors.
I had him he was cool to me
I see his leotard and I think Captain Caveman
As a 90s kid, age 7 when this one came out, the helmet makes up for everything. I loved this helmet, its pretty sweet if you wanna repaint it and kitbash a cooler joe together. Great review!
Also, I think the significance of the yellow planes is that they are his kill-counters, like when you'd seen nazi and imperial japan flags on an allied plane in ww2. He's shot down that many planes maybe?
More or less a Cobra AA gunner, only with impractical gimmicky SAMs on his back...Maybe no one told Hasbro that flak doesn't come from missiles, but rather from guns?
I think they meant to try making this viper look a bit more like a wrestler......oh, I mean, a FARMER wrestler.
Being in the army, I can only imagine all the back problems and VA claims after carrying something like that.
I’m sorry. I voted for this figure, with full knowledge of your reaction.
One of my favorite figures from the Joe line when it came out and I still feel that way. Despite being a Cobra, I always thought the figure looked like a superhero. Figure would look amazing with some dark recolors as well.
One of your favorites?🙄
an old timey strong man leotard with chaps?....so among all the other crimes Cobra committed crimes against fashion was high on their list
Great review I forgotten about this figure
Had this figure, it had to have been a gift as I cannot imagine I would have picked this figure out. I hardly used this figure. Horrible
Definitely a weird one
It's okay HCC788, since you repeatedly acknowledge that you know that there are indeed fans like myself who like the Flak-Viper, I take no offense that you don't. In fact, I would say that most of your issues with him are quite fair. In fact, I hated all the spring loaded missile launchers, including the Flak-Viper's, and never used them. On the other hand, the lack of Cobra logos were an advantage to me, as it allowed me to use them as non-Cobra villains. For a time, for instance, I used them as Darklon's mercenary army, referenced on his filecard. I thought that the design of the figure was a solid one, though the colors could indeed have been better and more cohesive.
In fact, have you seen the repaints of the Flak-Viper from the early 2000's? It was used first in 2004 as a "Nullifier" in the TRU Urban Division Strike Team set in a gorgeous dark blue and black, then in 2006 by the Club as part of their Operation Flaming MOTH sets as a Flak-Viper in desert colors. Both show the true potential of the mold. Though neither ignores the "overalls." And I loved his rifle, but you are right about the placement of the bayonet. Great review dude!