The rocket boots way was how I always played with this guy. Just like Lex Luthor had rockets on his boots that let him fly in the comics. I even put the front ones on the right way, because you couldn't put those on upside down because of the feet being in the way, but then as rocket boots they became the braking thrusters. I never minded G.I.Joe toys like this and Annihilator and even (gasp!) Ice Cream soldier because I never played for realism with those. Usually they were all enhanced super suits that the good guys like Duke, Flint, and others would wear to fly around and decimate the bad guys. If you look at Ice Cream Soldier, completely forget the name, and think of him as an Iron Man type superhero, he actually becomes pretty cool.
This figure was also released in Brazil. But it was a bit different. He indeed had a bazooka. It was a device that launched a missile. By pressing a button on the bazooka, it launched a missile. The missile was similar to a dart. I loved that figure. Really cool.
I had this figure as a kid and at first I thought he was weird and is to a extent. Once I teamed HEAT Vipers with Frag Vipers in the backline and Alley Vipers in front that was my Cobra anti-armor and urban assault team
I really liked this figure as a kid because it was the closest thing I had to a faceplated version of Cobra Commander. Interestingly enough, I never "got" that the helmet faceplate was supposed to be bifurcated and always kept the head a bit turned to one side so the faceplate was in front.
The leg bombs as you call it is in fact similar to mortar shells, making the HEAT Viper a mobile one man artillery piece. Muzzle flash would be minimum and wouldn't cause interference with the optics near the muzzle and the weapon position in his hands makes more sense. The weapon bulkiness may suggest a magazine carousel inside of it, probably containing two or three shots due to diameter and ammunition on the figure. He still is an anti armor specialist since all armored vehicles are more vulnerable from the top. In fact there's some intelligent mortar shells designed specifically to be fired upon armored vehicles (they track the target from the air and them adjust to fall on the top of the target). Probably the HEAT Viper shoots the round like a mortar in a very high arc and then paints the target with a laser or guides it with a camera on the gun. It makes more sense if they work in pairs, but I don't believe that Hasbro guys would try to something be rational and practical or they wouldn't be making the figure at all. I think it was in GIJoeburg channel that the backpack pointing things were described as special anti armor ammunition and not as antennae and I am with them. The placement of the shells on his ankles was solved in the 50th anniversary version. You can have it there or not if you want it. I moved them to his arms since the pegs are in a removable soft plastic ring, but it can be entirely removed.
Hey HCC788, great video as always. 1990 Salvo was my final G.I.Joe figure. The reasons why I lost interest in G.I.Joe was first of all, everything broke very easily. Secondly where I grew up the only G. I.Joe figure that became available was the guy I call ‘Satellite Dish Man ‘ as he was covered from head to toe in mini satellite dishes. I don’t know the figure’s real name, but that guy was everywhere. I couldn’t find another figure in any local shop (days before internet) only ‘Satellite Dish Man’. I cannot stress enough how I was plagued with ‘Satellite Dish Man’. Toys R Gone, or whatever the shop was called, was nothing but shelves of ‘Satellite Dish Man’. I even remember once when I was on holiday in France, I was playing in a sandpit and dug up ‘Satellite Dish Man’!! Unbelievable.
GI Joe ARAH 116, Out of frustation with the Joes helping Destro, Cobra Commander took the Heat Viper's launcher and fired it on the Joes himself. "You're asking me? I'm just a Heat-Viper!"
Great review. I had this weirdo and liked him okay. I liked his suit. I didn’t love the orange but the sculpt and idea was cool. I like asymmetrical designs like the HEAT Viper helmet.
What if heat vipers were stationed at cobra bases to repel armored attacks? Many Cobras were killed standing in proximity to the Heat Vipers due to the back blast of his weapon. This lead to a brighter colored uniform being adopted for better recognition, as camouflage on base was unnecessary. They would take up positions on the ramparts of Cobra bases and open fire on approaching armor before that armor could get into range hence the advanced helmet display and targeting systems.
Dispite some people expressing dislike for this particular figure, HEAT Viper was one of my favorites. I agree, the choice of colors is questionable, but hey, it was 1990, and Hasbro wanted it to be appealing to kids. I like the design of his helmet (very similar to Cobra Commander) and the weapons are great. On the other hand, second edition of the HEAT Viper was horrendous! Thanks for the review!
I take it that was a jump cut after you showed Zap, and he didn't just disintegrate on contact with air!! I must say your research is excellent like finding that J.P Penny cobra trooper with the bazooka. I want to thank you on behalf of your fans for organising Cobra Convergence 3, I have loved it so far and am looking forward to seeing the rest. Take care mate and it was nice to see Mrs. HCC too.
Mr.Hcc I been watching your channel for a couple of days now..... and I have enjoyed seeing your collection..... and you sir have sparked my intrest for wanting to make my own collection, but I am very clueless on how to start
Destro got cheap and made a walking target for sell for CC. Around this time in their timeline, CC and D were beginning part ways. This might have been a attempt for D to make a quick last minute sell before taking his leave.
He kinda had a Boba Fett vibe. The colors kinda are like HIT THIS GUY NOT THE NIGHT VIPERS! I think the uniform is blast resistant, and made of materials that are just made in that color. Like it's reflective to maintain cooling. It's a super complex system, so they are like....well catching on fire after launching isn't good...
When I was in 1st or 2nd grade we were coloring a picture of a school bus. Everyone in class colored their bus yellow while I colored mine orange. I was convinced that school buses were orange.
I wish they would have included a peg feature on the modern one like they did this one looks like one of the pegs on the gun on yours is broken though and I think the backpack is a cradle for the gun
Everything about this character says I should not like it, colors are stupid, weapon system is odd at the least...but I love it!! I can see a squad of these guys entering the battle field a laying waste to a bunch of Maulers, Sluggers and Havocs easily. Though maybe a camo style of those colors maybe would work a little better, and those missiles that attach around his ankles look more like mortar rounds, perhaps he would be even cooler as a one man mobile mortar launcher.. Great video Hoodie! See you next tine!! COOBBBRRRAAAAAAA!!!
I think the hate stems from the yellow. If they came in more colors. Like the one that came with the python patrol later on. If it was in darker colors it would be great. Now I think I will start keeping the hoses in its storage bag. I will pretend that the pegs are Bluetooth or some wireless cameras. No more cables.
Who is "Heavy Metal"? You usually get so many obscure facts into a review that it seems weird to see botch that name (especially given the character's prominence in the DiC cartoon). But it is interesting to think of some of the later versions of the mold in the late 90s and how they have the big hose hook onto either the backpack or loop around the weapon.
Great video as usual. Heat viper was over designed and kind of a cluttered mess. Still he looked cool and I bought him based on the sculpt only when i was a kid but never played with him due to the fear of breaking the thumbs.
HCC 788- If we help you remember why you think this is under-rated will we win a no-prize??? Hopefully you can recall why you thought this was under-rated in time for the review for HEAT Viper v.2 and serve as an update for this video. I did have this figure growing up, but he came at the end of my GI Joe experience because I had collected the entire 1989 line as a completionist. I seem to remember not really like this one too much other than "hey another Cobra, hey another target for GI Joe". I will say this about the entire 1989 line- the accessories upped their game for the most part over 1988. Whether you like the figures or not for Heat Viper, Annihilator, Downtown, Alley Viper, Stalker, or Deep-Six, I thought they did come with pretty cool accessories and Sub-Machine Guns!!! Loved the sub-machine guns for Alley Viper and Annihilator! The true melvins of this year for me was Countdown, TARGAT, & Deee- Jay because they weren't interesting enough figures or have interesting accessories.
I have my fingers crossed for that Hydro-Viper review, Great video. Your missile launcher and hose are broken its supposed to have two pegs to hold the camera on and to me the back pack vents the exhaust and has two specialty shells that it carries
Yeah, I can’t wrap my head around it. A specialized Cobra bazooka trooper is a good choice to make but it’s design makes no sense from either a military or play perspective. I’m not going to get one, feel sorry for completionist that feel they need to have one. The big hose should have had connected to the back pack, and the skinny tube to the helmet. But a rocket launcher that big could have contained the cooling system in it. It definitely needed a hollow tube to hold the rockets, and those rockets need to be on a backpack. Who wants to walk with all that weight on your legs?
Great review! I was out of GI Koe when this came out ... GI Joe was heading in a different direction by time I got out ... I honestly don't know if I would have like this figure or not. The bazooka shells on the legs definitely would have been lost pretty quickly. Lol! I definitely would not have liked the multiple hoses on the figure. Great review! I really like Cobra Convergence.
Yeah, I could have done without the shells on the boots. The weapon was pretty cool. But did it really need the black hose too? The backpack made no sense what so ever to me. And I hated the helmet. But I did uae him to bomb the he'll out of my Joes. Till someone, usually Snake-Eyes, took him out. Got to agree here. Lower middle tier.
I always liked these "weird" Cobra troopers. It made sense to me that Cobra would equip their troops with futuristic and untested gear in a effort to gain the edge in the battlefield. It's the color scheme that bothered me. Why was it so hard for Hasbro to stick to the blue and black Cobra colors?
I always wanted to like the H.E.A.T. viper as it was named after real world military ordinance, but i never like the design. Even when reissued in not "shoot me first" colors
I actually like the 2nd version of the figure more than this figure. Not so much the color (although I do prefer the green over this garbage) but the look of the figure.
this is another figure where we disagree sir, HEAT viper top tier all the way!!!! yes..he isn't practical...if we hold cobra to a practicality standard... that would be a sad day for humanity!
Great review, as always. I remember this toy in stores as a kid. I didn't like the way it was designed. The color design was ugly, the bazooka was too bulky, too many hoses, and the missiles on the boots are ridiculous. There were too many missiles in my opinion. This figure should've had missiles peg on the backpack. The 1993 H.E.A.T. Viper was also ugly, too. I never owned these figures , and never will.
My first time seeing this figure and, well.....meh, dont like it. The helmet is awful! Half a faceplate? The orange and purple look cheap, the boots are ridiculous. Oh well. This was late 80s when things started to get weird. Great video though. Keep it up
CORRECTION: Destro's missile specialist from 1990 is Metal Head, not Heavy Metal.
HoodedCobraCommander788 hahahhahahahaaa...I was gonna say something too ... LOLOL
Heavy Metal is one of my favorite animated films. So...there's that.
One of my all time favorites. I was impressed as a kid with all of those accessories and the design. I still like him now.
The rocket boots way was how I always played with this guy. Just like Lex Luthor had rockets on his boots that let him fly in the comics. I even put the front ones on the right way, because you couldn't put those on upside down because of the feet being in the way, but then as rocket boots they became the braking thrusters.
I never minded G.I.Joe toys like this and Annihilator and even (gasp!) Ice Cream soldier because I never played for realism with those. Usually they were all enhanced super suits that the good guys like Duke, Flint, and others would wear to fly around and decimate the bad guys. If you look at Ice Cream Soldier, completely forget the name, and think of him as an Iron Man type superhero, he actually becomes pretty cool.
Those vipers from 1989 and 1990 were some of my favorite Cobra figures.
Me too.
I loved the big 4 of 89 as soon as I saw them Frag H.E.A.T Night and Alley Vipers were and are some of the best Vipers ever released 💣💥
Agreed. I'm a big fan of all the Vipers up until 1990.
Heat viper was another of my favs, also loved toxo viper v2
One of my favorites, and the only Viper I got multiples of.
This figure was also released in Brazil. But it was a bit different. He indeed had a bazooka. It was a device that launched a missile. By pressing a button on the bazooka, it launched a missile. The missile was similar to a dart. I loved that figure. Really cool.
I like HEAT-VIPER. Not my all time favorite, but I certainly don't dislike him. I think he's pretty cool, and you can pose him awesomely.
Keeping an eye out for your ebay sales!
I had this figure as a kid and at first I thought he was weird and is to a extent. Once I teamed HEAT Vipers with Frag Vipers in the backline and Alley Vipers in front that was my Cobra anti-armor and urban assault team
alley vipers were my favorite
I really liked this figure as a kid because it was the closest thing I had to a faceplated version of Cobra Commander. Interestingly enough, I never "got" that the helmet faceplate was supposed to be bifurcated and always kept the head a bit turned to one side so the faceplate was in front.
This is one oh my favorites as a kid I wish we agreed on this Hoody but we don’t but that’s how it is
The leg bombs as you call it is in fact similar to mortar shells, making the HEAT Viper a mobile one man artillery piece. Muzzle flash would be minimum and wouldn't cause interference with the optics near the muzzle and the weapon position in his hands makes more sense. The weapon bulkiness may suggest a magazine carousel inside of it, probably containing two or three shots due to diameter and ammunition on the figure. He still is an anti armor specialist since all armored vehicles are more vulnerable from the top. In fact there's some intelligent mortar shells designed specifically to be fired upon armored vehicles (they track the target from the air and them adjust to fall on the top of the target). Probably the HEAT Viper shoots the round like a mortar in a very high arc and then paints the target with a laser or guides it with a camera on the gun. It makes more sense if they work in pairs, but I don't believe that Hasbro guys would try to something be rational and practical or they wouldn't be making the figure at all. I think it was in GIJoeburg channel that the backpack pointing things were described as special anti armor ammunition and not as antennae and I am with them. The placement of the shells on his ankles was solved in the 50th anniversary version. You can have it there or not if you want it. I moved them to his arms since the pegs are in a removable soft plastic ring, but it can be entirely removed.
Hey HCC788, great video as always. 1990 Salvo was my final G.I.Joe figure. The reasons why I lost interest in G.I.Joe was first of all, everything broke very easily. Secondly where I grew up the only G. I.Joe figure that became available was the guy I call ‘Satellite Dish Man ‘ as he was covered from head to toe in mini satellite dishes. I don’t know the figure’s real name, but that guy was everywhere. I couldn’t find another figure in any local shop (days before internet) only ‘Satellite Dish Man’. I cannot stress enough how I was plagued with ‘Satellite Dish Man’. Toys R Gone, or whatever the shop was called, was nothing but shelves of ‘Satellite Dish Man’. I even remember once when I was on holiday in France, I was playing in a sandpit and dug up ‘Satellite Dish Man’!! Unbelievable.
The figure was called ‘psyche out’
😂 Great review! You're pretty funny and make some good points! HEAT Viper is still one of my favorites!
The H.E.A.T. Viper would be the worst person to be trapped in an elevator with. If one of those shells accidentally drop, everybody's doom.
😂😂😂
Scaep iron.... cool character. I think I still remember his raspy voice from the cartoon.
GI Joe ARAH 116, Out of frustation with the Joes helping Destro, Cobra Commander took the Heat Viper's launcher and fired it on the Joes himself.
"You're asking me? I'm just a Heat-Viper!"
He was in the Snake eyes Trilogy. :) That's where I first saw him in action.
The pipes on the backpack are a cradle for the back end of the bazooka. That's why it should go in his left hand.
Great review. I had this weirdo and liked him okay. I liked his suit. I didn’t love the orange but the sculpt and idea was cool. I like asymmetrical designs like the HEAT Viper helmet.
What if heat vipers were stationed at cobra bases to repel armored attacks? Many Cobras were killed standing in proximity to the Heat Vipers due to the back blast of his weapon. This lead to a brighter colored uniform being adopted for better recognition, as camouflage on base was unnecessary. They would take up positions on the ramparts of Cobra bases and open fire on approaching armor before that armor could get into range hence the advanced helmet display and targeting systems.
Want nothing but your frank and honest opinion:-)
Dispite some people expressing dislike for this particular figure, HEAT Viper was one of my favorites. I agree, the choice of colors is questionable, but hey, it was 1990, and Hasbro wanted it to be appealing to kids. I like the design of his helmet (very similar to Cobra Commander) and the weapons are great. On the other hand, second edition of the HEAT Viper was horrendous! Thanks for the review!
I take it that was a jump cut after you showed Zap, and he didn't just disintegrate on contact with air!! I must say your research is excellent like finding that J.P Penny cobra trooper with the bazooka. I want to thank you on behalf of your fans for organising Cobra Convergence 3, I have loved it so far and am looking forward to seeing the rest. Take care mate and it was nice to see Mrs. HCC too.
In the 1991 NES game by Taxan, he was a portrayed as a flamethrower trooper.
Like the Convergence Contributions! Storm shadow was cool, and the Major Blood Hip Hop!
Hey just a heads up. The rocket launcher has 3 pegs not 2. One of the side pegs that connects to the gray hose is broken off on your example
I really love heat Viper, I used his primary weapon as a flame thrower and the the missiles, he threw them.
I love this idea, Captain grid iron has caught several of his spirals and so far has only lost three legs,none were his. 😎
@@rickdavis32 😂
I thought that guy was a flamethrower trooper too until I saw him ..no cobra and a crazy design ...no thanks ...nice review man
Mr.Hcc I been watching your channel for a couple of days now..... and I have enjoyed seeing your collection..... and you sir have sparked my intrest for wanting to make my own collection, but I am very clueless on how to start
Cool video
I guess they got a jump on those neon colors of the 90s.
Also funny the HEAT Viper appears on the boxart flying the FANG II!
Destro got cheap and made a walking target for sell for CC. Around this time in their timeline, CC and D were beginning part ways. This might have been a attempt for D to make a quick last minute sell before taking his leave.
I really do like the heat viper but he's the type of figure that has to have all his accessories to look right. It's complete or nothing with this guy
Thank you for the review!
rapping major bludd is special. treasure him
Thank you for the nice comments. Keep them coming!
He kinda had a Boba Fett vibe. The colors kinda are like HIT THIS GUY NOT THE NIGHT VIPERS!
I think the uniform is blast resistant, and made of materials that are just made in that color. Like it's reflective to maintain cooling. It's a super complex system, so they are like....well catching on fire after launching isn't good...
When I was in 1st or 2nd grade we were coloring a picture of a school bus. Everyone in class colored their bus yellow while I colored mine orange. I was convinced that school buses were orange.
I wish they would have included a peg feature on the modern one like they did this one looks like one of the pegs on the gun on yours is broken though and I think the backpack is a cradle for the gun
Everything about this character says I should not like it, colors are stupid, weapon system is odd at the least...but I love it!! I can see a squad of these guys entering the battle field a laying waste to a bunch of Maulers, Sluggers and Havocs easily. Though maybe a camo style of those colors maybe would work a little better, and those missiles that attach around his ankles look more like mortar rounds, perhaps he would be even cooler as a one man mobile mortar launcher.. Great video Hoodie! See you next tine!! COOBBBRRRAAAAAAA!!!
I think the hate stems from the yellow. If they came in more colors. Like the one that came with the python patrol later on. If it was in darker colors it would be great. Now I think I will start keeping the hoses in its storage bag. I will pretend that the pegs are Bluetooth or some wireless cameras. No more cables.
The "bazooka shells" totally look like mortar rounds... His design is crazy altogether.. so you gotta give them a break..
One could even say that H.E.A.T. Viper is backing some heat.
Who is "Heavy Metal"? You usually get so many obscure facts into a review that it seems weird to see botch that name (especially given the character's prominence in the DiC cartoon). But it is interesting to think of some of the later versions of the mold in the late 90s and how they have the big hose hook onto either the backpack or loop around the weapon.
I always knew that guy as Metal-head
Thanks for a great vid and the inclusion of my submitted photos at 24:30 on!
Maybe one day Hasbro will fix this bastard in a future toy line.
He's not orange, he's ORANGE
Great video as usual. Heat viper was over designed and kind of a cluttered mess. Still he looked cool and I bought him based on the sculpt only when i was a kid but never played with him due to the fear of breaking the thumbs.
12:00 ..... Lol🤣🤣🤣
HCC 788- If we help you remember why you think this is under-rated will we win a no-prize??? Hopefully you can recall why you thought this was under-rated in time for the review for HEAT Viper v.2 and serve as an update for this video.
I did have this figure growing up, but he came at the end of my GI Joe experience because I had collected the entire 1989 line as a completionist. I seem to remember not really like this one too much other than "hey another Cobra, hey another target for GI Joe". I will say this about the entire 1989 line- the accessories upped their game for the most part over 1988. Whether you like the figures or not for Heat Viper, Annihilator, Downtown, Alley Viper, Stalker, or Deep-Six, I thought they did come with pretty cool accessories and Sub-Machine Guns!!! Loved the sub-machine guns for Alley Viper and Annihilator! The true melvins of this year for me was Countdown, TARGAT, & Deee- Jay because they weren't interesting enough figures or have interesting accessories.
Great video... sorry I didn't get to watch it earlier in the week. I agree he's cool but weird. Not the best and not the worst.
Side question,was there ever a Flint Variant with a dirt brown shirt?
I have my fingers crossed for that Hydro-Viper review, Great video. Your missile launcher and hose are broken its supposed to have two pegs to hold the camera on and to me the back pack vents the exhaust and has two specialty shells that it carries
The intro: I resemble that.
Didn't fast draw and salvo come out in the same year?
No way a human being can carry all the gear Salvo carries. Isn't it? What explanation do we have for this in realistic terms?
What a strange figure. I'm Glad I got out of Gi Joe . Way too many Bright colors Great review.
Yeah, I can’t wrap my head around it. A specialized Cobra bazooka trooper is a good choice to make but it’s design makes no sense from either a military or play perspective. I’m not going to get one, feel sorry for completionist that feel they need to have one.
The big hose should have had connected to the back pack, and the skinny tube to the helmet. But a rocket launcher that big could have contained the cooling system in it. It definitely needed a hollow tube to hold the rockets, and those rockets need to be on a backpack. Who wants to walk with all that weight on your legs?
The colors. Ugh, the colors. I had him too. Apart from the color, it was an interesting design.
Great review! I was out of GI Koe when this came out ... GI Joe was heading in a different direction by time I got out ... I honestly don't know if I would have like this figure or not. The bazooka shells on the legs definitely would have been lost pretty quickly. Lol! I definitely would not have liked the multiple hoses on the figure. Great review! I really like Cobra Convergence.
Isn't he called metal-head and not heavy metal? you know Destro's Anti-Tank Specialist
bonecos muito legais sempre quis ter um desses parabens;
i thought he looked yellow.
Yeah, I could have done without the shells on the boots. The weapon was pretty cool. But did it really need the black hose too? The backpack made no sense what so ever to me. And I hated the helmet. But I did uae him to bomb the he'll out of my Joes. Till someone, usually Snake-Eyes, took him out. Got to agree here. Lower middle tier.
Its Metal Head not Heavy Metal :) The former is an Iron Grenadier while the latter is a GI Joe tank driver
Maybe in 1989 Cobra mistook a prison uniform delivery truck for an armored car and ended up with a ton of orange jumpsuits?
It would suck to be a heat viper.
👍😎
For future reference, please read the pinned post. Thatisall.
I always liked these "weird" Cobra troopers. It made sense to me that Cobra would equip their troops with futuristic and untested gear in a effort to gain the edge in the battlefield. It's the color scheme that bothered me. Why was it so hard for Hasbro to stick to the blue and black Cobra colors?
Totally agree. No offence meant to anyone who likes it but that is one hideous figure.
Such a weird figure, this is where Hasbro was starting to run out of ideas and was really hung-up on lurid colors.
Ah, nonsensical technobabble, the staple of GI Joe toys...
I always wanted to like the H.E.A.T. viper as it was named after real world military ordinance, but i never like the design. Even when reissued in not "shoot me first" colors
This is fiction my friend and fantasy so things dont have to be real and that was the point of G.I. Joe.
Why is this figure popular?
I actually like the 2nd version of the figure more than this figure. Not so much the color (although I do prefer the green over this garbage) but the look of the figure.
I agree. The v2 is an improvement.
He looks cool as hell,but his design is kind of rediculous!
this is another figure where we disagree sir, HEAT viper top tier all the way!!!!
yes..he isn't practical...if we hold cobra to a practicality standard... that would be a sad day for humanity!
Great review, as always. I remember this toy in stores as a kid. I didn't like the way it was designed. The color design was ugly, the bazooka was too bulky, too many hoses, and the missiles on the boots are ridiculous. There were too many missiles in my opinion. This figure should've had missiles peg on the backpack. The 1993 H.E.A.T. Viper was also ugly, too. I never owned these figures , and never will.
I never liked this figure, primarily because of the color. They also never said what H.E.A.T stood for!
It was really a mistake, but they should have stated in his file card that HEAT stands for High Explisive Anti Tank.
My first time seeing this figure and, well.....meh, dont like it. The helmet is awful! Half a faceplate? The orange and purple look cheap, the boots are ridiculous. Oh well. This was late 80s when things started to get weird. Great video though. Keep it up