Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Alexx Shorts: RoC Neo-Viper (7/8/09)


Well, this is it: I've finally decided to start reposting my old "Alexx Shorts" G.I. Joe reviews.  They're the reviews that lead to what eventually became this blog!  I'll be posting them in straight copy-and-paste format, separating them with bold dotted lines so you know where they begin and end, and then I'll post some final thoughts on what I think of the figure currently. 

For those unfamiliar: I used to take random pictures here and there, but by the time the Rise of Cobra toys came out, I was getting annoying with how much people had been bashing the figures which were clearly better than the previous 25th Anniversary offerings.  I set out to show people how awesome they were, and things went from there, forming into "Alexx Shorts", named so because I thought I was going to keep to a short format with a few pictures.  I did not do that.


Usually the best of any group of figures (for me): The grunts!  What had I thought about the new look for the Neo-Viper?

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Alright, the new Cobra troops for the movie! Sounds like these guys are pretty tough, when compared the fodder that those dudes in blue shirts ended up being. They also sound kinda similar to the Neo-Vipers of JvC! Pumped up and ready to party! Also, sounds like they are mostly mind-controlled (the only way to control!)

Anyway, these guy already looked cool to me from the start, but I like 'em even more now that I have them in hand. I don't know if people have a problem with the helmet (it's my favorite part) but it seems like folks don't like the armor on 'em. I can understand that, but it really makes these guys look ready to rock more than any trooper before them! The only thing the armor does poorly is impede the inward arm movement a little bit, but you'll see that they can pull off some good stuff. One consistent thing is that the stocks on the rifles always seem too long, and it comes into play here. He does come with a fantastic little rifle, though, and it fits the best out of all of them so far!





 This rifle doesn't fit as badly as some, but it doesn't have too many useful poses, because of the long stock.


This one fits just right!

In fact, it fits well with B.A.T.s, too! Just looks like it goes with them, honestly.


Then, of course, there's this awesomely simple backpack where the weapons are stored! I would have preferred little slots so that I could put other weapons back there, but this works just fine.

Now, regarding the armor, it comes off (of course) and the figure looks really cool without it. In fact, if you folks don't like the armor, just about anything will look good on this guy. Here are two of my favorites:



I'll understand the distaste for the armor (though I love it) but you gotta love that awesome helmet! Man, that was built to win stare-downs! My only problem with it is the same problem I've had with Cobra grunts for years: it's too cool! Do I want to get some more of these guys and use them as new troops, or do I want to leave it with the one and make him some new badass? 

One thing is for sure...the missile launchers never get old:


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I think I can stand by my old statements: The helmet is cool, the armor is weird, but in an awesome way.  They're kind of...organic?  I think that's right.  I don't know what kind of organism, but certainly something crustacean. 

For some reason, I don't find myself going back to these as often as I thought I would.  I'm getting the warm-fuzzies from looking at him, and reposting the review made me pull a few out to mess with them again.  I don't know why I haven't messed with one in awhile!  They're still sturdy and fun to pose, creepy looking, and unique among grunts.  Better than the previous attempt at a Neo-Viper, anyway.  I mean, the old one was more Cobra-looking, but "neo" means "new", so I imagine that it should be something totally new.  I still feel like these Rise of Cobra Neo-Vipers should have a place in any little Cobra army (or Cobra-La army?), but they also fit in with just about anything in this scale.  They could even be sorta fantasy-ish, with how organic the armor looks.

These shouldn't be hard to find at all, if you're still interested.  I doubt they gained that much popularity, even though the sculpting is fantastic and it makes a great toy.  Check one out if you get the chance.

17 comments:

  1. I felt the figure did quite capture the film design. Not just a missing gun belt. Had he been bulky and beefy as say the Pursuit of Cobra Iron Grenadier then I think that might have worked better. But that's hindsight.

    Maybe I should stick the gear on a Marauder TASKFORCE body?

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    1. Yeah, Marauder has SO much stuff that I actually haven't tried many Joe items on them yet! I imagine it would fit well (it should, anyway).

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    2. Did you see the new tooling pictures at this weekend past's Joecon?

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    3. Not sure! I saw something about an exo suit. Was there more?

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    4. Male versions of the upcoming valk vests, unarmored long sleeve male lower arms. New Heads and ethnicity options.

      Baseball bat with what looks to be optional barbwire wrap piece.

      A Super-posable 1/18 German Shepard and accessories for it.

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    5. Am I crazy for being the most excited about a fully articulated doggie?

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    6. Nope, I AM TOO (I believe we should have well articulated animals in every toyline possible).

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  2. I'm glad these re-runs are happening because seeing the stuff due out in November has me pretty excited for the brand again :D

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    1. There's certainly a few good ones, but I've got SO MANY Joes sitting around that I'm still finding it hard to be excited for the couple new things.

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    2. I can feel that, definitely. But seeing actual NEW CHARACTERS for the first time in ages is an absolute delight. The fact that they're re-issuing everyone's favorite SE and SS is sort of a boon too, I know I already have them both but damned if I know where they are anymore.

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  3. These Alexx Shorts back on the old forums were the best, back in the day. Big reason why I follow your stuff was because of how much fun these reviews were.

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    1. Thanks man! But man, that makes me feel old. Alexx Shorts being "back in the day!" Not that I don't agree, just YEESH, I did these awhile ago, didn't I?

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  4. I dig these guys! I have three of them I got on a clearance rack back when ROC was starting to fade from the limelight. I like the design and the overall action figure. The rocket launchers are awkward, though!

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    1. There were certainly a lot of awkward launchers, but I guess that's no different than the 90's. Except the 90's produced some cool launchers from time to time, like this awesome boxy one that attached to figure's arms. Hell, any launcher that attached to the arm was cool, to me!

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  5. ROC sure was a bag of strange ideas, wasn't it? The Neo Vipers' helmet and body armor feel almost chitinous to me, like they are organic. Didn't the movie have their rifles firing some sort of kinetic blasts, too? Gosh that was a weird time.

    (As a side note, I feel that I'll have similar thoughts about Hasbro's upcoming "shared universe" deal, once it's all said and done)

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    1. Yeah, they were....crap, I can't remember what the guns fired. I thought they had some technobabble behind it. At any rate, it reminded me of childhood and how nearly everything fired energy of some sort (even if it wasn't supposed to! I just liked energy guns). As for strange ideas...yeah. I really miss that, honestly. That was the 90's, sorta, and the RoC stuff felt like a tiny resurgence of that, at least, for a few figures.

      And yeah man, I have NO idea what to think of the Shared Universe thing yet. Just seems like a strange batch of choices to share, but...yeah, whatever happens, happens. Should be interesting, one way or the other.

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  6. Kind of a clunky figure but fun. I don't have that version, but it's chrome red counterpart! He's pretty much the same but with different accessories like a snake in a box! These guys kinda look like Star Wars generic background aliens, so if RoC ain't your thing, they still can be useful!

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