When I was young and would play GI Joe with my younger brother and one of his friends, the rolls of the Toxo-Viper and Airtight were actually reversed. Back in those days, my little bro and his friend would be the Joes, and I'd play the Cobras. And being little kids, they were under the impression for the first few years that the Cobras were actually lizard people, like the alien invaders in the TV miniseries V. I tried to dissuade them of this, but between Cobra Commander's hissing speech pattern and the Joes constantly referring to the bad guys as snakes in the cartoon, they weren't buying it, and I eventually gave up trying. My brother and his friend, in keeping with V miniseries, had the Joes have their own version of the "Red Dust" biochemical weapon, which they used on Cobra all the time. Airtight was in charge of dispensing it, and I took to saying that every Cobra who had a face-covering mask or helmet had an oxygen mask or filter built into their gear. When the Toxo-Viper came out, their job was to protect Cobra's forces and their civil population on Cobra Island for the use of that crap. Of course, this was just around the time my brother finally accepted that the Cobras were not, in fact, snake people, and we no longer played with that friend of his after his family moved, and it became a moot point. But it still made the Toxo-Viper a special and useful figure at the time. What happened to my old figures? I kept them for many years, until, suffering a great deal of wear and tear, I retired them in favor of the New Sculpt and RAH reissue figures of the late 90s and early 2000s. A few years later, having to move in a hurry, I had to dump a lot of stuff that wouldn't fit in the limited storage I had during the move. It was painful to let most of them go. But here's the happy ending, my adult nephews, who were helping me move, and who had played with our GI Joes when they were young, saved them from the trash and kept them for themselves. And I'm pretty darn cool with that.
Am 20 and I still have all my toys but I wish I had my gi joe retaliation snake eyes but my cousin broke him..I also love my shadow guard and my gi Joe valor vs. Venom storm shadow
The Shadow Guard are indeed quite cool. Both the original Toys R' Us exclusive vintage-style figures, and the modern 50th Anniversary versions. I still have them along with all my New Sculpt and RAH reissue figures. And I really love Valor vs. Venom Storm Shadow. I think that I have every variation of it, including the unmasked mail-away version. I'm sorry to hear about your Retaliation Snake-Eyes.
My first batch of Joes was stolen at my school playground (largely due to my carelessness). My second childhood batch went to my cousin when I purged a number of toys. My He-Men, however, were my main focus and I literally still have dozens of them from childhood, most whole and at least a dozen with complete accessories.
I still have virtually all of them except for minor weapons losses and broken pieces. A complete set of '82-'83, but after that there were holes in my '84-'87 lines that I have tried to fill over the years. I was older when Joe restarted in '82, so I took very good care of them and packed them away nicely in High School where they waited until I was through grad school and had my own condo.
I had the chance to recover my childhood Joes from the person I sold them 30 years ago. When I met them after 3 decades I saw them very fondly but they were damaged to a point they were not desirable anymore, I did not buy them again, it was the end of an era and for me my joes are the ones I have now and I will take care of them for the rest of my life. It does not matter they were not MOC, I purchased the best I could find, they are perfect for me and they are MY Joes now, I love them and I will play with them until God gives me life.
I still have almost all of my childhood figures, including the very first, Storm Shadow. He's very yellow, lots of paintwear and needs a new o-ring, but he's there. My mum got rid of the vehicles and playsets after I moved out though, as it was taking up too much space. It would cost a fortune to replace it now. Great review!
My Joe's were all given to my sister's kids. Except my Dreadnoks ..which I have. But the figure that always means the most ... It's Destro. Mine was given to me at a carnival when I was 6. He was the coolest.
I am now 41, and all my GI Joes (strictly speaking Action Force, as it was known in the UK at the time) are in my parents loft. Thanks to a generous uncle, it is quite a collection. After watching this great video, I feel lucky to still have it.
To be honest I was a bit of a mad scientist as a kid and I really liked the toxo vipers they were a good fit for me and my little "chemical factory i made.
Sadly, the bottom half of Bazooka is the only action figure - of any toy line - that I have left from my childhood. My dad threw all my childhood toys away when I was in college. As far as the one Joe toy that I wish could have back... my 1985 A.W.E. Striker and the condition it was in when I first put it together, before accidentally stepping on it and breaking it the same day. My heart still aches for that 6-yr old version of me.
My old man when he sold his house decided to trash all of my childhood toys that me and my brother had collected over the years. Was a sad day when I found out he had scrapped them. Had 1 son and was expecting another, had planned on giving the Joes to them but alas it was not meant to be.
I gave all old Joe’s to my nephew when I was maybe 15 he was like 4. I kept my Skystriker w/ Ace & my MOBAT with the 83 figures I owned at that time. If I can have one thing back...my MCC Mobile Command Center
I've never owned a Toxo Viper, I've always loved the idea of them though. I still have all of my childhood gi Joe's, I have most of them on display actually.
I don't have an of my old G.I.Joe figures...I had them up until my early twenties but i lost them in a apartment fire. My favorite figures I had that comes to mind is Salvo, Snakeyes, and Stalker. But if i can have one or two back again, it would have to be between Col. Courage, Barricade (Red & Gold variant), Snowstorm (white & Orange variant), & Ice cream trooper :)
I remember this guy and I know it wasn't mine. This review reminded me why. All my old Joe's are gone with the wind. But my first favorite was Flint, until 1LT Falcon came along. Great review man.
Sadly, most of my childhood GI Joe toys didn't survive their years of storage in my parents' attic. I found my lunchbox of Joes when we finally cleaned out the attic but unfortunately, most of them had suffered band rot with the O rings and I didn't know how to repair them at the time. It was disheartening to open the box and find so many of my favorite figures in pieces.
I have none of the toys I played with as a kid, all of them were donated or kindly given away to younger friends. If I could get back one toy from childhood it would be Optimus Prime, that was a fun one and one that a lot of kids aspired to own.
You brought up a very interesting point which was one of my play story lines as a kid. Toxo-Viper doesn't have an Cobra insignia! In this era of GI Joe was the Cobra Civil War in the Comics and the formation of Destro & Iron Grenadiers. When I was a kid I further divided the Cobra's into the Loyalist who followed Cobra Commander **cough,Fred VII,cough, cough**, who all wore a Cobra insignia, and the Descenters, who did not have a recognizable Cobra insignia on them. These included the Dreadknocks (who were a sub-faction anyway), Raptor, Crystal Ball, Gyro Viper & Toxo-Vipers among others who all revolted against the then Current regime for unfair treatment of Cobra personnel and POW's and wished to aid the release captured allies... Basically this was a set up idea for the 1989 toys that were yet to be released. My collection went through an intermediary phase in 1987 and between using GI Joes as stand ins for Marvel characters, trading away, stolen, or swindled, or broken, my pre-1987 figures had been reduced to 1/3 of what it once was. I had lost Zartan by this point and I was hoping Zartan was going to be re-sculpted and released in 1989 so that he would have been the leader of the faction(side note: the leadership was not the best, Zarana Zanzibar & Zandar were prominent leaders from time to time). HCC 788, you said you were rough on your figures, I was ROUGH on my figures. Arms snapped off, knees busted, thumbs broke. I'd never let any character with broken thumbs in battle, they'd have to stay behind or man a turrent or something. To answer your question which one action figure I'd want back the most from my childhood I'd say '85 Flint because he started the phase of GI Joe being exclusive - all other toy lines stopped dead in their tracks to me once the bobble-head GI Joes came out. So much so I felt I took GI Joe for granted i wanted to get as many of the 1982-84 figures, took advantage of all mail-aways and traded with other kids in the neighborhood. It's why I feel 1985 is the best year for GI Joe and 1988 is a close second. I explained to the GI Joburg guys that while a do love the 1988 line, it's close but no cigar when stood up to 1985; I feel that the bobble-head was a play feature that cemented what we look for in modern GI Joes whereas the 1988 line introduced the sub-factions prominently.
Thanks for sharing! My toys were all given away at some point and time. I started getting more and more into comic books, and played less and less with my toys, so they were probably all donated. If I could have 1 Joe back it would be my Sgt Slaughter with the Triple T. I played with that figure so much, the o ring broke. We didn't know it was a realitivly easy fix, so within a couple days Sarge got tossed! I had the Triple T, and posed the Renegades with it.
Fun review of a figure I only got in more recent times and didnt think was interesting enough to try and get when on the shelves in the old days. Nice cameo with Cybertiger giving us a nice moment of his time to participate with the project! As for my collection 99.995% of my original collection survived in my hands and has only grown to multiple times its former size with the advent of the itnernet.
Sadly I sold all my Joes years ago, but if I could have one of my childhood Joes back it would have to be Tigerforce Flint, I loved that version of Flint. Flint was my favorite Joe from day one, and Tigerforce Flint with his silver shotgun is still my favorite version of Flint ever. Great video, brings back lots of memories dude. Cheers... Yo Joe... :)
Excellent review, as always, Commander. The personal element is especially welcome. I know the feelings you express here quite well. My own G.I. Joe collection was also kept in a toolbox, though that one was crappy light blue plastic. I gave the whole thing away to the local rummage mart, ages ago. Hard to say what I'd want back from it, now. Not much. I wasn't collecting when the toys were realistic. However, at the time, I did have an affinity for the subgroup with the lightup missile launchers. I think about reassembling that lot, sometimes.
Grest video HCC I remember buying the Toxo-Viper with my paper rout money along with some other figures. I don't remember what happened to them though. I wish I still had my original star wars figures but I destroyed them. Now I collect 80s joes and vintage star wars but nothing left from my childhood
My Joes collection has moved around with me but stayed in storage until recently. Now I've been actively trying to restore my figures and vehicles. If I had to call out one in particular it would be my Steel Brigade because of the personalaized file card connection. When I played with him he was the ideal adult me so he was always special.
12:59 - Hold on to your original Toxo-Viper! He looks like been hip-deep in a water treatment tank reservoir or a chemical spill that leaked into one of Cobra Island's swamps. And that's a GOOD thing! This was not the "just got his suit from the quartermaster Toxo-Viper". This boy's been put to work!
I still have most of my Joe's. I never had a problem with Toxo-Vipers, I actually made them heavy weapons second specialty. Some figures that were meant to be soldiers/troopers I felt they were more than soldiers, like, H.E.A.T.-Vipers, Incinerators, etc. YO JOE!
I like this figure. I never owned one but I want to get a squad of them. It seems natural that Cobra would be into WMDs. The colors and equipment work for me, though I think a standard gas mask look would be a bit more iconic. The old WWI gas mask are very popular imagery
The GI Joe toys I managed to get are all in the basement with my other toys. You sound like my father. He didn't like GI Joe because he didn't think they looked enough like real soldiers. As a kid, I would have probably bought all the colorful vipers.
Most of my Joes got dismantled and re-assembled into weird amalgam characters. A few have survived and will be handed down to my son once I can bear to let them go.
For Christmas 1989, the only gift I got was scoop. Although not the best figure, I cherished it. I kept it everywhere I went.(very hard story) . After college I no longer had any toys. Fast forward 2005, my wife bought me my first figure. Carded scoop. I have been threatened with in inches of my life not to open him..... but I have him
I had two Toxo-Vipers. I didn't really know what to do with them until my brother got The BUGG. It was easy enough to imagine that their breathing apparatus could be used to survive underwater and they became crew members for The BUGG
You did a good job of that customization when you were younger, I never bought the Toxo-viper figure when I was younger but would have totally bought your version if it was out in the stores then.
Great review. Most of my Joe's got sold at a garage sale. I was growing out of it and running out of storage space. I only kept Maverick and one of my silver Cobra Commander's. I'm pretty sure those were my first two figures. I used many silver CC's as troops. Only the real Cobra Commander used the breathing pipe. (Somewhat ironic now knowing about the comic story.) My Maverick didn't come with the laser, but I got it on cheaper that way. I had him use one of the Commander's backpacks as a jet pack and got a silver version of CC's gun from a weapons pack (probably). If I could get one back that I sold it would be Destro with the gold head because it looks pretty cool.
I still have my original childhood Payload V.2 only had to replace the T-hook on him and the O-Ring is still going strong after 30 years. and he still has his helmet.
Most of my Gi Joes were inherited from my older cousins, they stopped around late 80's to about 90-91 according to that weird neon green Firefly that with the rest. But sadly between playing with them, and friends stealing them all those action figures are gone by now. I also remember seeing Gi Joe on the shelves then disappearing for years before that little 2000 to 2001 wave came out. As for the Toxo-Viper, I always imagined him as the guy to create hazardous areas usually supporting the B.A.T.s and any troops with dangerous environmental gear. And I could see Cobra Commander being a cheap skate like that, gotta have funds for those tanks and planes after all!
Point of note: The gun pictured at about 8:19 is a retooling of the original Toxo-Viper gun. It was produced on a parts tree for Crimson Guard Commander (1993) and Cobra Commander v6 (1993; a repaint of TBC Cobra Commander with a complete back). The original has a slightly more matted finish and the center was hollowed out. Ironically, Crimson Guard Commander came with 2 guns with a post for an air hose -- Toxo-Viper's gas gun pictured above and Incinerator's flamethrower (Rock-Viper's rifle is a maybe) -- but carried no hose nor anything for a hose to connect to.
19:52 When I was about 15 years old, I had my first serious girlfriend. In a blatant effort to appear more mature, I had a firesale for all my toys... I have a vivid memory of accepting 10 dollars for my Trypticon (a 200 dollar toy today) and all of my gijoes for about 20. I've been trying to buy it all back ever since... And the girlfriend lasted until the end of the school year.
Tele-Viper. "How many of you ever thought, that we are the Purple Gang, that Elvis sand about?" Thank for the great code name! I was hoping that you would pick a medic!
I sold some of my Joes when I was young, but I was able to keep most of them. The two things I wish I didn’t sell was my Terror Dome and Whale. The figure I wish I didn’t sell was Scarlet.
Not sure if you ever did one prior but would be cool to see all your Joe customs in a vid. I remember doing one of my own to Globulus because I hated that snake body, could never truly make it stand up well without feeling like it was going to break so I broke it off and glued some grunt legs onto his body. Looking back now that's a pretty rare figure to own in good condition so I wish I never wrecked it but oh well I had fun as a kid and that was the purpose of a toy back then.
I still have my favorites from when I was a kid. I've always kept them separate from the ones I buy, sell and trade. Even though I've bought mint versions of them, I keep the originals I played with in a spot of honor in my collection.
I still have my original, destro, torch, Firefly, big boa, worms, bat, and about 20 more. I have a giant bag of parts. I still wish I had my original slaughter. And I wish my KO hidden force was not missing an arm.
Toxo-Viper was simply a vehicle driver for me, like driving the Imp or the Adder, or another body to stand guard. I wasn't too imaginative with GI Joe stuff now that I think of it.
Thankfully I have all of my earliest figures from when I was a kid, but it was a bit after you lol If I could have one back, I want my Lt. Gorky back. My dad bought me the Oktober Guard set for my 6th birthday and Brekhov and Volga (missing a crotch that I’ve repaired) survived, but he has disappeared. I miss him.
ToxoViper was, IIRC, the first Cobra I got of the '88s. Considering how piss-poor the Cobra pickings were(figure wise) in '87, I was super pleased with all the new Vipers in '88. Sadly I got rid of all my Joes @94/95. If I could have any back it would definitely be my Hoodie, CG & CGI.
@ 20:00 -- I have most of my original Joes, which survived more intact than my vehicles. I've probably purchased about $30.00 in O-rings (#9, #10, #8 and sometimes #41 & #42) since 1995. Of the childhood-era figures I wish I had with my later purchases is my Steel Brigade figure (called "Martial Supreme"). "Martial Supreme"'s file card was well-preserved in a photo album, but I misplaced the figure, along with his backpack and rifle. In spite of that, I can still remember many of the parts variants used in his construction (Duke chest, Crimson Guard rifle). I guess the sentimental value connected was because said figure was meant to represent "me" as a G.I. Joe.
I sold all but 5 of my Joe's and Cobra toys. I got my Steel Brigade Joe. A hooded Cobra Commander. Crank case. A broken B.A.T. And, a broken Cobra officer.
I have all my Joes from my childhood except 3 that i lost when i was a child. All complete with the vehicles. My young brother save them for me with his Joes. More than 100 figures and 30 vehicles, a miracle !?
Had a very busy weekend at the Joe con I was hoping to get to say hello sadly didnt see you..... Joe fest 2019... see you there. BTW I believe that gun for the Toxo viper is the wrong one. I believe it was the remold. The original had an open center in the middle of the Gun... The One you had was solid. it is an easy switch.
2nd time watching this so may have already commented but I love the Toxo Viper he's got a real menacing odd kind of look to him and he looks great in the Cobra Imp
I sold all of my toys at flea markets and yard sales. For the life of me I can't say which one I'd have back if it were possible. Chances are it would be a figure that displayed well.
Wouldn't toxo vipers be useful for area denial? Think about: Cobra's rallying cry is "RETREAT!", and area denial weapons like mines tended to be used to cover retreats and slow down advancing armies. The Toxo Viper's chemical weapons could be used the same way, laying down incredibly toxic poisons to cover retreats and force GI Joe to have to clean up the pollution before continuing their advance. When you look at it that way, Toxo Vipers are like the most important unit in Cobra lol
yaknow...toxo vipers borderline make top tier for me personally. Yeah, the colors aren't great..but i never viewed them as front line or even combat assets to begin with. as a kid, the bright colors were akin to hazmat suits as u mentioned...plus in all that dank and sewage/radioactive waste cobra had to spot them easily for evac. In my child's mind...i saw them as serving two purposes...mucking up ecosystems to indirectly hurt gi. joes and allies or...after a bad exchange (nuclear) maybe sent in to salvage some cobra stuff or detox a base. As for gi.joes i could have back? storm shadow v2 no doubt. easily my fav joe and i know he gets clowned for his grey tetris fan boy garb but he was the best figure in the line in my book HANDS DOWN!
If I could have back one of my G.I. Joe figures from childhood, it would be the misprint Cobra Commander. I did not like it because it did not look like the order form picture. It was thrown into the trash after I got the swivel-arm version the following year.
the cartoon about you is amazing, bravo!!!! for the toxo viper, he should have been another color, dark blue would have been better. purple made them look like clowns, and the lack of a Cobra logo is pretty lame. as concept, the toxo viper is pretty powerful, aside from bats, no one can survive a toxofied room.... since it was never specified, their gas could either knock out or kill joes. conquering the joes s hq is pretty easy if the wind is in your favor, 10 toxo vipers, release their gas, use it as smoke screen to cover your bats, followed by snakes and your toxo vipers, the occupants can do nothing but leave their stations, shooting blindly in the gas is not going to stop the attack. flack vipers can prevent any air cover, once it s gone, fangs and claws can pursue and eliminate the remnants of forces that escape the first wave. when the hq is cleared, if the attack was successful as a surprise, your techno and tele vipers can retrieve infos from their computers before they had time to lock or destroy them. a night attack with odorless sleeping gas can also be quite effective in capturing prisoners and equipment. Mindbender s method is sure to get rid of Duke s insulting smile, ha, ha! as an ex dentist, he s seen other cases before, you know the type.... good work HCC!!!
I'm from The Middle of the 80s and 90s GI Joes my brother is collection plus my own I would have had the Eco Warriors as well as classic GI Joes and Vipers I used to team up the eco-warriors with a mega Marines fighting the giant monster the doctor Mindbender made
I don't like the look of this figure too much, but something about the helmet I've always liked I couldn't put my finger on till now. It looks like one of the masks from MASK, and I like MASK.
I had this guy as a kid and used him as a underwater guy doesn't he kinda look like a diver Brian I mean come on just slap some fins on him and boom their ya go a deep sea diver perfect for fighting deepsix
I didn't use toxo-viper as his intended role. He was my underwater salvage and repair specialist. Part eel, part techno-viper.
When I was young and would play GI Joe with my younger brother and one of his friends, the rolls of the Toxo-Viper and Airtight were actually reversed. Back in those days, my little bro and his friend would be the Joes, and I'd play the Cobras. And being little kids, they were under the impression for the first few years that the Cobras were actually lizard people, like the alien invaders in the TV miniseries V.
I tried to dissuade them of this, but between Cobra Commander's hissing speech pattern and the Joes constantly referring to the bad guys as snakes in the cartoon, they weren't buying it, and I eventually gave up trying. My brother and his friend, in keeping with V miniseries, had the Joes have their own version of the "Red Dust" biochemical weapon, which they used on Cobra all the time.
Airtight was in charge of dispensing it, and I took to saying that every Cobra who had a face-covering mask or helmet had an oxygen mask or filter built into their gear. When the Toxo-Viper came out, their job was to protect Cobra's forces and their civil population on Cobra Island for the use of that crap.
Of course, this was just around the time my brother finally accepted that the Cobras were not, in fact, snake people, and we no longer played with that friend of his after his family moved, and it became a moot point. But it still made the Toxo-Viper a special and useful figure at the time.
What happened to my old figures? I kept them for many years, until, suffering a great deal of wear and tear, I retired them in favor of the New Sculpt and RAH reissue figures of the late 90s and early 2000s. A few years later, having to move in a hurry, I had to dump a lot of stuff that wouldn't fit in the limited storage I had during the move. It was painful to let most of them go.
But here's the happy ending, my adult nephews, who were helping me move, and who had played with our GI Joes when they were young, saved them from the trash and kept them for themselves. And I'm pretty darn cool with that.
Am 20 and I still have all my toys but I wish I had my gi joe retaliation snake eyes but my cousin broke him..I also love my shadow guard and my gi Joe valor vs. Venom storm shadow
The Shadow Guard are indeed quite cool. Both the original Toys R' Us exclusive vintage-style figures, and the modern 50th Anniversary versions. I still have them along with all my New Sculpt and RAH reissue figures. And I really love Valor vs. Venom Storm Shadow. I think that I have every variation of it, including the unmasked mail-away version. I'm sorry to hear about your Retaliation Snake-Eyes.
My first batch of Joes was stolen at my school playground (largely due to my carelessness). My second childhood batch went to my cousin when I purged a number of toys. My He-Men, however, were my main focus and I literally still have dozens of them from childhood, most whole and at least a dozen with complete accessories.
I still have virtually all of them except for minor weapons losses and broken pieces. A complete set of '82-'83, but after that there were holes in my '84-'87 lines that I have tried to fill over the years. I was older when Joe restarted in '82, so I took very good care of them and packed them away nicely in High School where they waited until I was through grad school and had my own condo.
I had the chance to recover my childhood Joes from the person I sold them 30 years ago. When I met them after 3 decades I saw them very fondly but they were damaged to a point they were not desirable anymore, I did not buy them again, it was the end of an era and for me my joes are the ones I have now and I will take care of them for the rest of my life. It does not matter they were not MOC, I purchased the best I could find, they are perfect for me and they are MY Joes now, I love them and I will play with them until God gives me life.
I still have almost all of my childhood figures, including the very first, Storm Shadow. He's very yellow, lots of paintwear and needs a new o-ring, but he's there. My mum got rid of the vehicles and playsets after I moved out though, as it was taking up too much space. It would cost a fortune to replace it now. Great review!
I still have my childhood joes
My Joe's were all given to my sister's kids. Except my Dreadnoks ..which I have. But the figure that always means the most ... It's Destro. Mine was given to me at a carnival when I was 6. He was the coolest.
I am now 41, and all my GI Joes (strictly speaking Action Force, as it was known in the UK at the time) are in my parents loft. Thanks to a generous uncle, it is quite a collection. After watching this great video, I feel lucky to still have it.
To be honest I was a bit of a mad scientist as a kid and I really liked the toxo vipers they were a good fit for me and my little "chemical factory i made.
Sadly, the bottom half of Bazooka is the only action figure - of any toy line - that I have left from my childhood. My dad threw all my childhood toys away when I was in college.
As far as the one Joe toy that I wish could have back... my 1985 A.W.E. Striker and the condition it was in when I first put it together, before accidentally stepping on it and breaking it the same day. My heart still aches for that 6-yr old version of me.
My old man when he sold his house decided to trash all of my childhood toys that me and my brother had collected over the years. Was a sad day when I found out he had scrapped them. Had 1 son and was expecting another, had planned on giving the Joes to them but alas it was not meant to be.
Nice figure, the purple should have been a bluish dark purple. 👍
I gave all old Joe’s to my nephew when I was maybe 15 he was like 4. I kept my Skystriker w/ Ace & my MOBAT with the 83 figures I owned at that time. If I can have one thing back...my MCC Mobile Command Center
I've never owned a Toxo Viper, I've always loved the idea of them though. I still have all of my childhood gi Joe's, I have most of them on display actually.
I would have be glad to exchange my toxo for a hydroviper you may have if so
The Toxo-Vipers were soooo the ones cleaning the porta potty...while the Gyro-Viper were probably on canteen duty.
I don't have an of my old G.I.Joe figures...I had them up until my early twenties but i lost them in a apartment fire. My favorite figures I had that comes to mind is Salvo, Snakeyes, and Stalker. But if i can have one or two back again, it would have to be between Col. Courage, Barricade (Red & Gold variant), Snowstorm (white & Orange variant), & Ice cream trooper :)
I remember this guy and I know it wasn't mine. This review reminded me why.
All my old Joe's are gone with the wind. But my first favorite was Flint, until 1LT Falcon came along.
Great review man.
Sadly, most of my childhood GI Joe toys didn't survive their years of storage in my parents' attic. I found my lunchbox of Joes when we finally cleaned out the attic but unfortunately, most of them had suffered band rot with the O rings and I didn't know how to repair them at the time. It was disheartening to open the box and find so many of my favorite figures in pieces.
I have none of the toys I played with as a kid, all of them were donated or kindly given away to younger friends. If I could get back one toy from childhood it would be Optimus Prime, that was a fun one and one that a lot of kids aspired to own.
You brought up a very interesting point which was one of my play story lines as a kid. Toxo-Viper doesn't have an Cobra insignia! In this era of GI Joe was the Cobra Civil War in the Comics and the formation of Destro & Iron Grenadiers. When I was a kid I further divided the Cobra's into the Loyalist who followed Cobra Commander **cough,Fred VII,cough, cough**, who all wore a Cobra insignia, and the Descenters, who did not have a recognizable Cobra insignia on them. These included the Dreadknocks (who were a sub-faction anyway), Raptor, Crystal Ball, Gyro Viper & Toxo-Vipers among others who all revolted against the then Current regime for unfair treatment of Cobra personnel and POW's and wished to aid the release captured allies... Basically this was a set up idea for the 1989 toys that were yet to be released. My collection went through an intermediary phase in 1987 and between using GI Joes as stand ins for Marvel characters, trading away, stolen, or swindled, or broken, my pre-1987 figures had been reduced to 1/3 of what it once was. I had lost Zartan by this point and I was hoping Zartan was going to be re-sculpted and released in 1989 so that he would have been the leader of the faction(side note: the leadership was not the best, Zarana Zanzibar & Zandar were prominent leaders from time to time). HCC 788, you said you were rough on your figures, I was ROUGH on my figures. Arms snapped off, knees busted, thumbs broke. I'd never let any character with broken thumbs in battle, they'd have to stay behind or man a turrent or something.
To answer your question which one action figure I'd want back the most from my childhood I'd say '85 Flint because he started the phase of GI Joe being exclusive - all other toy lines stopped dead in their tracks to me once the bobble-head GI Joes came out. So much so I felt I took GI Joe for granted i wanted to get as many of the 1982-84 figures, took advantage of all mail-aways and traded with other kids in the neighborhood. It's why I feel 1985 is the best year for GI Joe and 1988 is a close second. I explained to the GI Joburg guys that while a do love the 1988 line, it's close but no cigar when stood up to 1985; I feel that the bobble-head was a play feature that cemented what we look for in modern GI Joes whereas the 1988 line introduced the sub-factions prominently.
Thanks for sharing! My toys were all given away at some point and time. I started getting more and more into comic books, and played less and less with my toys, so they were probably all donated. If I could have 1 Joe back it would be my Sgt Slaughter with the Triple T. I played with that figure so much, the o ring broke. We didn't know it was a realitivly easy fix, so within a couple days Sarge got tossed! I had the Triple T, and posed the Renegades with it.
I like the toxo viper
Fun review of a figure I only got in more recent times and didnt think was interesting enough to try and get when on the shelves in the old days. Nice cameo with Cybertiger giving us a nice moment of his time to participate with the project! As for my collection 99.995% of my original collection survived in my hands and has only grown to multiple times its former size with the advent of the itnernet.
Sadly I sold all my Joes years ago, but if I could have one of my childhood Joes back it would have to be Tigerforce Flint, I loved that version of Flint. Flint was my favorite Joe from day one, and Tigerforce Flint with his silver shotgun is still my favorite version of Flint ever. Great video, brings back lots of memories dude. Cheers... Yo Joe... :)
Excellent review, as always, Commander. The personal element is especially welcome. I know the feelings you express here quite well. My own G.I. Joe collection was also kept in a toolbox, though that one was crappy light blue plastic. I gave the whole thing away to the local rummage mart, ages ago. Hard to say what I'd want back from it, now. Not much. I wasn't collecting when the toys were realistic. However, at the time, I did have an affinity for the subgroup with the lightup missile launchers. I think about reassembling that lot, sometimes.
I'd say Toxo-Vipers had plenty of motivation. Since Toxo-Zombies were a thing.
You remind me of Crystal Ball...probably because of the whitish curl in front...not to mention the villain-arch of your eyebrows.
Never had this figure, but loved the back story/file card. "Leaky Suit Brigade" indeed!
Grest video HCC I remember buying the Toxo-Viper with my paper rout money along with some other figures. I don't remember what happened to them though. I wish I still had my original star wars figures but I destroyed them. Now I collect 80s joes and vintage star wars but nothing left from my childhood
My Joes collection has moved around with me but stayed in storage until recently. Now I've been actively trying to restore my figures and vehicles. If I had to call out one in particular it would be my Steel Brigade because of the personalaized file card connection. When I played with him he was the ideal adult me so he was always special.
12:59 - Hold on to your original Toxo-Viper! He looks like been hip-deep in a water treatment tank reservoir or a chemical spill that leaked into one of Cobra Island's swamps. And that's a GOOD thing! This was not the "just got his suit from the quartermaster Toxo-Viper". This boy's been put to work!
"Fumbles, it was always Fumbles..."
I still have most of my Joe's. I never had a problem with Toxo-Vipers, I actually made them heavy weapons second specialty. Some figures that were meant to be soldiers/troopers I felt they were more than soldiers, like, H.E.A.T.-Vipers, Incinerators, etc. YO JOE!
That green/Purple custom paint job looks nice now!
I like this figure. I never owned one but I want to get a squad of them. It seems natural that Cobra would be into WMDs. The colors and equipment work for me, though I think a standard gas mask look would be a bit more iconic. The old WWI gas mask are very popular imagery
Anybody noticed his boots are size 17? Shaq special. Great camo customization ! Love it!
The GI Joe toys I managed to get are all in the basement with my other toys. You sound like my father. He didn't like GI Joe because he didn't think they looked enough like real soldiers. As a kid, I would have probably bought all the colorful vipers.
Most of my Joes got dismantled and re-assembled into weird amalgam characters. A few have survived and will be handed down to my son once I can bear to let them go.
For Christmas 1989, the only gift I got was scoop. Although not the best figure, I cherished it. I kept it everywhere I went.(very hard story) . After college I no longer had any toys. Fast forward 2005, my wife bought me my first figure. Carded scoop. I have been threatened with in inches of my life not to open him..... but I have him
I had two Toxo-Vipers. I didn't really know what to do with them until my brother got The BUGG. It was easy enough to imagine that their breathing apparatus could be used to survive underwater and they became crew members for The BUGG
Would love to have back my figure Hit&Run as well as my vehicle Havoc. Great video. Keep em coming.
You did a good job of that customization when you were younger, I never bought the Toxo-viper figure when I was younger but would have totally bought your version if it was out in the stores then.
Great review.
Most of my Joe's got sold at a garage sale. I was growing out of it and running out of storage space. I only kept Maverick and one of my silver Cobra Commander's. I'm pretty sure those were my first two figures.
I used many silver CC's as troops. Only the real Cobra Commander used the breathing pipe. (Somewhat ironic now knowing about the comic story.) My Maverick didn't come with the laser, but I got it on cheaper that way. I had him use one of the Commander's backpacks as a jet pack and got a silver version of CC's gun from a weapons pack (probably).
If I could get one back that I sold it would be Destro with the gold head because it looks pretty cool.
I used to take rit dye to the colorful figures to darken them.
I still have my original childhood Payload V.2 only had to replace the T-hook on him and the O-Ring is still going strong after 30 years. and he still has his helmet.
Most of my Gi Joes were inherited from my older cousins, they stopped around late 80's to about 90-91 according to that weird neon green Firefly that with the rest. But sadly between playing with them, and friends stealing them all those action figures are gone by now. I also remember seeing Gi Joe on the shelves then disappearing for years before that little 2000 to 2001 wave came out.
As for the Toxo-Viper, I always imagined him as the guy to create hazardous areas usually supporting the B.A.T.s and any troops with dangerous environmental gear. And I could see Cobra Commander being a cheap skate like that, gotta have funds for those tanks and planes after all!
Storm Shadow was my #1, sadly everything from my childhood is gone
I did like that with the Eco-Warriors the back card art had explanations for each accessory and sculpt details
The design of this figure reminds me of the Art Nouveau & Art Deco art styles.
Point of note: The gun pictured at about 8:19 is a retooling of the original Toxo-Viper gun. It was produced on a parts tree for Crimson Guard Commander (1993) and Cobra Commander v6 (1993; a repaint of TBC Cobra Commander with a complete back). The original has a slightly more matted finish and the center was hollowed out.
Ironically, Crimson Guard Commander came with 2 guns with a post for an air hose -- Toxo-Viper's gas gun pictured above and Incinerator's flamethrower (Rock-Viper's rifle is a maybe) -- but carried no hose nor anything for a hose to connect to.
I never had a hard time accepting weird colors and weird designs for Cobra. I never has Toxo-Viper as a kid, but I thought he was kind of cool.
Great channel brother brings back a lot of memories.
Interesting custom color job.
i have all my original joes-including my first.A stright arm zap,but i also have 8,000 other 3 3/4" figs to keep him company.
19:52 When I was about 15 years old, I had my first serious girlfriend. In a blatant effort to appear more mature, I had a firesale for all my toys... I have a vivid memory of accepting 10 dollars for my Trypticon (a 200 dollar toy today) and all of my gijoes for about 20. I've been trying to buy it all back ever since... And the girlfriend lasted until the end of the school year.
Tele-Viper. "How many of you ever thought, that we are the Purple Gang, that Elvis sand about?"
Thank for the great code name! I was hoping that you would pick a medic!
Hey, i didn't know you were going to besmirch the good name of the leaky suit brigade. I redact my montage photo! ;)
I sold some of my Joes when I was young, but I was able to keep most of them. The two things I wish I didn’t sell was my Terror Dome and Whale. The figure I wish I didn’t sell was Scarlet.
Not sure if you ever did one prior but would be cool to see all your Joe customs in a vid. I remember doing one of my own to Globulus because I hated that snake body, could never truly make it stand up well without feeling like it was going to break so I broke it off and glued some grunt legs onto his body. Looking back now that's a pretty rare figure to own in good condition so I wish I never wrecked it but oh well I had fun as a kid and that was the purpose of a toy back then.
I still have my favorites from when I was a kid. I've always kept them separate from the ones I buy, sell and trade. Even though I've bought mint versions of them, I keep the originals I played with in a spot of honor in my collection.
I still have my original, destro, torch, Firefly, big boa, worms, bat, and about 20 more. I have a giant bag of parts. I still wish I had my original slaughter. And I wish my KO hidden force was not missing an arm.
Toxo-Viper was simply a vehicle driver for me, like driving the Imp or the Adder, or another body to stand guard. I wasn't too imaginative with GI Joe stuff now that I think of it.
Nice review! I remember quitting Joes, when they got too colourful.
He was also in Special Missions #17
Thankfully I have all of my earliest figures from when I was a kid, but it was a bit after you lol
If I could have one back, I want my Lt. Gorky back. My dad bought me the Oktober Guard set for my 6th birthday and Brekhov and Volga (missing a crotch that I’ve repaired) survived, but he has disappeared. I miss him.
gave them to toys for tots boy i miss them now 5 yrs of gi joe
ToxoViper was, IIRC, the first Cobra I got of the '88s. Considering how piss-poor the Cobra pickings were(figure wise) in '87, I was super pleased with all the new Vipers in '88.
Sadly I got rid of all my Joes @94/95. If I could have any back it would definitely be my Hoodie, CG & CGI.
@ 20:00 -- I have most of my original Joes, which survived more intact than my vehicles. I've probably purchased about $30.00 in O-rings (#9, #10, #8 and sometimes #41 & #42) since 1995.
Of the childhood-era figures I wish I had with my later purchases is my Steel Brigade figure (called "Martial Supreme").
"Martial Supreme"'s file card was well-preserved in a photo album, but I misplaced the figure, along with his backpack and rifle. In spite of that, I can still remember many of the parts variants used in his construction (Duke chest, Crimson Guard rifle). I guess the sentimental value connected was because said figure was meant to represent "me" as a G.I. Joe.
I sold all but 5 of my Joe's and Cobra toys. I got my Steel Brigade Joe. A hooded Cobra Commander. Crank case. A broken B.A.T. And, a broken Cobra officer.
Great show. Where can I get a shirt like? It’s awesome.
I have all my Joes from my childhood except 3 that i lost when i was a child. All complete with the vehicles. My young brother save them for me with his Joes. More than 100 figures and 30 vehicles, a miracle !?
Sold my toys in a garage sale. I would love to have Duke back lol. I know not your favorite.
Had a very busy weekend at the Joe con I was hoping to get to say hello sadly didnt see you..... Joe fest 2019... see you there. BTW I believe that gun for the Toxo viper is the wrong one. I believe it was the remold. The original had an open center in the middle of the Gun... The One you had was solid. it is an easy switch.
2nd time watching this so may have already commented but I love the Toxo Viper he's got a real menacing odd kind of look to him and he looks great in the Cobra Imp
I sold all of my toys at flea markets and yard sales. For the life of me I can't say which one I'd have back if it were possible. Chances are it would be a figure that displayed well.
his mold isn't too bad! He would look good in Cobra blue with black accents
Did Cobra ever have Windshield Vipers?
Excellent review my friend never had this one .. interesting design though .... despite the weird choice of colors
Wouldn't toxo vipers be useful for area denial? Think about: Cobra's rallying cry is "RETREAT!", and area denial weapons like mines tended to be used to cover retreats and slow down advancing armies. The Toxo Viper's chemical weapons could be used the same way, laying down incredibly toxic poisons to cover retreats and force GI Joe to have to clean up the pollution before continuing their advance.
When you look at it that way, Toxo Vipers are like the most important unit in Cobra lol
Hydro-Viper was cool. I also liked Night Viper.
yaknow...toxo vipers borderline make top tier for me personally. Yeah, the colors aren't great..but i never viewed them as front line or even combat assets to begin with. as a kid, the bright colors were akin to hazmat suits as u mentioned...plus in all that dank and sewage/radioactive waste cobra had to spot them easily for evac. In my child's mind...i saw them as serving two purposes...mucking up ecosystems to indirectly hurt gi. joes and allies or...after a bad exchange (nuclear) maybe sent in to salvage some cobra stuff or detox a base.
As for gi.joes i could have back? storm shadow v2 no doubt. easily my fav joe and i know he gets clowned for his grey tetris fan boy garb but he was the best figure in the line in my book HANDS DOWN!
Did you review Astro-Viper already? He was my first GI Joe figure.
Anyone else remember the old foreign funskool figures from India that had this dude for cheap.
The one figure I would love back it may sound silly but I want the 1990 Bullhorn
If I could have back one of my G.I. Joe figures from childhood, it would be the misprint Cobra Commander. I did not like it because it did not look like the order form picture. It was thrown into the trash after I got the swivel-arm version the following year.
the cartoon about you is amazing, bravo!!!!
for the toxo viper, he should have been another color, dark blue would have been better.
purple made them look like clowns, and the lack of a Cobra logo is pretty lame.
as concept, the toxo viper is pretty powerful, aside from bats, no one can survive a toxofied room....
since it was never specified, their gas could either knock out or kill joes.
conquering the joes s hq is pretty easy if the wind is in your favor, 10 toxo vipers, release their gas,
use it as smoke screen to cover your bats, followed by snakes and your toxo vipers,
the occupants can do nothing but leave their stations, shooting blindly in the gas is not going to stop the attack.
flack vipers can prevent any air cover, once it s gone, fangs and claws can pursue
and eliminate the remnants of forces that escape the first wave.
when the hq is cleared, if the attack was successful as a surprise, your techno and tele vipers can retrieve infos
from their computers before they had time to lock or destroy them.
a night attack with odorless sleeping gas can also be quite effective in capturing prisoners and equipment.
Mindbender s method is sure to get rid of Duke s insulting smile, ha, ha!
as an ex dentist, he s seen other cases before, you know the type....
good work HCC!!!
Toxo-Viper II - Toxic Infantry Viper
Sludge Viper - Toxic Crimson Guard
Cheetor From best Wars I do have three of my Bonical figures from my child hood now up in my room just green ones though .
Is it just me, or does his mask make him look like a sad Howard the Duck?
K B definitely a duck face.
I'm from The Middle of the 80s and 90s GI Joes my brother is collection plus my own I would have had the Eco Warriors as well as classic GI Joes and Vipers I used to team up the eco-warriors with a mega Marines fighting the giant monster the doctor Mindbender made
Quick kick ,footloose and v2 zartan managed to survive.id wish for my airtight figure I really liked him for some reason
Hi Mate . don't forget to do a review for Toxo Lab
Could review the lamprey figure.
excelentes miniaturas;
I don't like the look of this figure too much, but something about the helmet I've always liked I couldn't put my finger on till now. It looks like one of the masks from MASK, and I like MASK.
Obstreperous? Classic Hama.
Have read the kindle book G.I joe most dangerous man world a lost classic Gi joe episode by buzz Dixon I’m reading it now and it’s great 👍
10 I have about 10 left ... and about 10 Star Wars. And last year they all got new O rings ..except 1... I could not open him.
I had this guy as a kid and used him as a underwater guy doesn't he kinda look like a diver Brian I mean come on just slap some fins on him and boom their ya go a deep sea diver perfect for fighting deepsix