Action Figure Barbecue: Action Figure Review: Night-Viper from G.I. Joe: Classified Series by Hasbro

1989 might be my favorite year of the vintage G.I. Joe line. In terms of the characters themselves I'm more a fan of the characters between 84-87, when it comes to the quality, design, and engineering of the figures, I find it hard to beat 1988 through 1990. 1986 and 1987 figures were the first years I was collecting G.I. Joe but b7 1988, was actively picking out figures on my own and I can recall looking for certain figures. The Cobra Night-Viper has always been one of my favorites and I'm thrilled to finally have one in the Classified Series. These guys have such a cool aesthetic; they're loaded with the gear they need to move around undetected at night while being completely aware of their surroundings due to both their extensive training and the image intensification equipment they carry. Is this guy going to be a complete win for me? Let's check him out after the break and find out...

The Facts:

Height:6 3/8ths inches

Articulation: Double swivel/ hinge ankles, double hinged knees, swivel thighs, ball jointed drop down hips, ball jointed waist, hinged mid-torso, butterfly pecs, swivel/hinge shoulders, bicep swivels, double hinged elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, ball jointed neck base, and a barbell jointed head.

Accessories: Helmet, visor, lens attachment, pistol, chest strap, armband, 2 knives, rifle, strap, magazine, and backpack.

Non-Scalper Price: $28 dollars

Comparison:

* Here's a look at the Classified Series Night-Viper (left) and my vintage childhood Night-Viper (right). I think he's a pretty good translation of the classic A Real American Hero figure, though I think it helps that the vintage figure still looks pretty modern in terms of his design which was fairly futuristic. I have the visor for my vintage figure (though not the green lens attachment) but I have it off since one of the pegs on his helmet cracked off at some point when I was a kid. His rifle also has a cracked sling.

The Positives:

* I love the look of this guy! His green and black color scheme is really cool as the green manages to still be "realistic" without being subdued, like a standard olive drab. It's quite vibrant and it really pairs nicely with his shiny black armor. He's well armored but it's smartly designed to be lightweight, allowing the Night-Viper to still move and sneak. It's a look that I could easily see working in the Metal Gear Solid franchise which absolutely wins me over. The yellow highlights on his armor look sharp and add just a little bit of visual excitement without making him look like he's ready to glow in the dark or something.

* The Night-Viper is wearing a pretty standard balaclava with a fairly smooth texture. You can see his facial features underneath, though, which is a neat touch. The eyes are all that is visible and they look great with solid printing on them. He looks intense and laser focused on his mission.

* The Night-Vipers spend most of their time in the dark during training (living in windowless barracks) but when out in the field they use a wide variety of optical enhancers. His helmet is sleek, covers his entire head, and has a visor that can fold down over his eyes for when his regular well-honed eyeballs just won't do.

* The visor is excellent with a standard lens of some sort covering the left eye and a long, perhaps telescopic lens covering the right eye. I've always wondered if this is the lens that connects to the special night sight on the bottom of his rifle.

* The longer lens is removable, revealing a shorter red lens underneath. That's pretty neat! Maybe it's some sort of infrared optics?

* Besides the cool logo of a skull with a sword and lightning bolt on the left shoulder patch, the Night-Viper also has a device with a red lens on his left shoulder wired into his vest. I wonder what that is? Maybe it's some sort of camera that actively relays information to the unit in real-time or a device that detects lasers and other detection equipment to help the Night-Vipers remain stealthy and unseen.

* On his right shoulder is a cool logo with a crescent moon, a viper's eye, and a star. This is a new addition to the figure and it looks pretty cool for a figure working under the cover of darkness. He's also wearing an armband with five extra rounds of ammunition. The armband is removable, just FYI.

* Here's a shot of the Night-Viper from the back. I'm really digging how he's sporting some armor on his back and elbows. You can see all of the straps holding his different bits of armor and equipment on, too. It all looks really good.

* The articulation is excellent. While he doesn't have boot swivels due to the design of his armored shin guards, he does have a bottom and top swivel on his ankle joint, so you do get that extra little bit of movement still. Everything else works great. He holds his rifle like a champ and just looks cool. From this series of figures, I think he's tied with Hit & Run for the one I pick up and mess around with the most. He just has a nice, solid feel to him.

* The Classified Series changed up the Night Viper's primary weapon. Instead of a short carbine with no visible magazine, now he's toting a battle rifle of some sort with an incredibly powerful scope. I think this is a Hasbro design based on multiple different rifles. It's a solid piece, though, and it still has the night optics scope on the bottom, which I presume is attached to the extended visor piece. It has a strap like the original, though it's far more pliable.

* Check out the Night-Viper's pistol. What does it look like? Yup! RoboCop's Auto 9 pistol! The prop gun for the film was a modified Beretta 93R so maybe you could say the same about this one? It looks pretty awesome and seems like it would be a worthwhile backup weapon or even a decent option as primary weapon in close quarters. You can see the extended magazine poking out the bottom. Do you think this thing fires caseless ammunition like RoboCop's pistol? That's how he managed to have a 50 round magazine for that beast.

* There's a great holster attached to the Night-Viper's right hip which holds the pistol securely. There's a little pouch right above it that perhaps holds an additional magazine.

* On the Night-Viper's left thigh is a pouch of... well, I'm not really sure. Maybe flares or glow sticks or something? I could see them using glowsticks for marking cleared rooms or areas or maybe even using flares as a weapon to counter enemy troops wearing night vision goggles. Heck, maybe they're just some sort of modern stick grenades. The gadgets aren't removable but they do look cool and add to the amount of gear this guy carries.

* Two knives are included for the Night-Viper. They're both different sculpts, too, which is kind of a cool touch.

* One of the knives fits in a sheath on the chest strap, keeping it close at hand for some close quarters combat.

* The second knife fits into a small sheath attached to the left boot/ shin guard.

* I've always liked the Night-Viper's backpack. It just has a really cool design to it. On the vintage figure, I always assumed that the left "antenna" was actually the handle of a knife that could easily be pulled out by the Night-Viper (look at the vintage backpack and tell me it doesn't look like the hilt of a knife), but here it's a second antenna. The design is great and while there aren't any interactive elements or play features here, it does stay on securely.

* The rifle has a flexible strap that is attached in two spots, allowing you to rotate it for carrying it slung over the Night-Viper's shoulder. It also has a removable magazine.

The Negatives:

* The magazine is rather loose, so take care with it. A little nail polish or glue might help build it up a bit to keep it from falling out so easily.

The Night-Viper is definitely my favorite figure from this most recent series. I've always liked this troop builder and the Classified Series captures most of what I loved about the vintage figure and adds to it in a few areas. I'm not typically one who wants 1:1 copies of the vintage figures but I do wish that a smaller carbine had included as a backup weapon, particularly one that could fit on the figure's thigh, perhaps, as the Night-Viper's gun and how it fit on the vintage figure is so memorable. Still, this guy is an Epic figure and just so much fun to play around with. I'd now love to see the Pursuit of Cobra Jungle Vipers to pair with these guys.