Hasbro has delivered a lot of product over the past few weeks, from all of its lines. The Cobra Ranger-Viper is my 10th new addition to the GI Joe Classified Series figure in the past month. It’s a crazy result, but I won’t complain about having more characters from ranked series.
By the time the Ranger-Viper was added to the lineup, some early fans were checking it out. The Real American Hero line still had some cool characters, even though about 90 percent of them were Savage Viper specialty troops. In terms of inspired designs, the Ranger-Viper was right up there with the Alley Vipers, SAW Vipers, Night, and TARGET Vipers.
Hasbro worked with the builders of the Cobra army, so I’m perfectly comfortable with these survival specialists, especially since they have a Joe counterpart in the Outback to fight with.
Let’s see if these guys should end up stranded in the woods or join the Cobra Army Builders Hall of Fame.
Wrap: I’m looking forward to the window packaging again, but I appreciate the figure’s artwork with the Dark Energon posed in the background. The artwork fully conveys the terrifying helmet these guys are wearing. I wish the QR code actually led to something beyond the main Hasbro product page, because it seems a bit worthless.
Hasbro Pulse now includes character bios on the order page:
Range-Vipers have an unusually high tolerance for discomfort. They subsist on the vermin they catch, must obtain all their own supplies and build their own shelters. Once dropped into the field, they cost nothing to feed, clothe, or arm, making them ideal cannon fodder.
The stats display is now very small, which is another reason why I miss Joe’s dedicated page with the bios and stats.
Range-Viper’s stats are as follows: 3 stars in Recon, Stealth and Environmental Specialist and 2 in Launcher.
The back simply shows the included accessories. I wish Hasbro would add a key to explain all the different accessories.
Resemblance: Range-Vipers look so cool that they even manage to look menacing in DIC cartoons. It’s all about this wild helmet with the heavy metal style brain cap and skeletal mask. The deep, deep-set red eyes also add to the intimidation factor.
Fittingly, the Range-Viper uses the Outback’s body, which is wider and thicker than average. This makes sense given that they would want to be dressed similarly for hostile environments.
The Classified Series team did a solid job of staying as true to the RAH look as possible while making necessary changes. I mention this because I preferred the full knee length boot of the original design as opposed to the knee pads and armored boots. The pads at the top of the book are retained from the RAH version.
Range-Viper receives a new configuration with a chest protection harness with presumably ammo pouches and grenades on the left shoulder.
This wasn’t an essential addition, but it is extra equipment for a character who might spend unexpected weeks in the mountains. As usual, it features solid details with buckles, stitching and padding.
Hasbro also added leg pouches/holsters to help hold his gear.
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Paint: Range-Viper offers more “sloppy” paint applications than the standard Classified series. Generally, the paint on my figures is pretty much flawless. The Range-Viper’s chest protector pouches are the biggest problem with the tan bleeding and the straps not having tight lines.
There’s just a bit of gray seeping into the blue mask.
Ladder: The new head didn’t give Range-Viper any extra height, so he’s about the standard height while looking taller on the characters. This is good because the camper looks enough like a horror villain and doesn’t need to be 8 feet tall.
Joint: Similar to the Outback, as a wilderness specialist, the Range-Viper must have major articulation without restrictions to be able to strike the best possible poses.
The vest is not as restrictive as you might think thanks to the split chest protection harness. He can do all the deep squats and sneaky poses I was looking for with him.
The Viper Range has:
- head
- neck
- shoulders (butterfly)
- elbow (double joint)
- wrist
- wrist hinge
- mid-torso
- torso
- size
- hips (ball jointed)
- lower your hips
- knees (double jointed)
- ankles
Accessories: The Range-Viper did not lack accessories with his RAH figurine. And unsurprisingly, the Classified Series version is also quite busy.
To Hasbro’s credit, they really set him up to top the RAH figure count. These aren’t unwanted accessories either, as Hasbro has matched most of the accessories from the original with a few new additions. Let’s start with modern updates.
Range-Viper’s bandana was a sculpted piece on the first version and is now a separate accessory to give it a little more depth.
Next comes his large backpack. This is a large update with more paint applications, but the overall setup is exact to the original from the small antenna and tube around the top. Just like the RAH backpack, this one has a small hose that connects to the Range Viper’s helmet. Maybe to inject Cobra supplements?
The Range-Viper’s primary weapon was a grenade launcher, which has been updated.
Maybe the logistics are a bit weird since in both versions these wouldn’t be very large grenades fired through the barrel. There is a bedroom piece that you can exchange.
Hasbro’s Classified Series team realized that the original design was a bit overkill because its secondary weapon was a missile launcher. Now his secondary weapon is a machine gun.
This is a smart aggressive weapon for a soldier in the wilderness. There is an extra ammo magazine for this well.
For close combat, he has a smaller semi-automatic pistol.
The sai has been improved and allows a slightly greater range than the original. Finally, he has a pickaxe, which makes sense for a soldier in the wilderness.
It’s always useful when the figure can hold all of its gear and Range-Viper can carry pretty much everything depending on your primary weapon preference. There’s always a storage locker to carry the rest, which is a nice addition.
It’s worth it? The standard price for Joe Classified figures is $24.99. Considering the obvious attention to detail and load of accessories, this seems like a reasonable price. I haven’t listed these guys for sale, but I feel like it’s a fair value. Since this isn’t a figure offered by Target, don’t expect a deep discount.
Rating: 10 out of 10
With a plethora of accessories, highly functional articulation, and a killer sculpt, the Range Vipers make a great army builder and I could probably add two or three more to my collection.
Where to get it? The Range-Viper is a Wal-Mart/Hasbro Pulse exclusive, which means a lot of stalking on websites.