One & Done - LASER-VIPER

COBRA LASER TROOPER - LASER-VIPER

    Cobra Introduced their Laser Trooper to the battlefield in 1990. The G.I. Joe Team had already utilized troops with this specialty since the beginning with Flash in 1982 and again with Sci-Fi in 1986. Though a bit late to the game, Cobra was now ready to take the fight to the Joes and the Iron Grenadiers with the Laser-Viper.

    While the Laser-Viper's are fully capable of using their laser weapons, the file card explains that their main purpose on the battlefield is "target illumination".  The Laser-Viper can be positioned in a hidden, remote location, well outside of the range of enemy munitions.  He then will shine a special beam on specific targets. Then, the missiles or bombs fired from Cobra H.E.A.T.-Vipers (Bazooka Troopers) or Cobra Condor Jets can lock-on and follow the beam to it's designation.  The laser weapons they carry are only useful at close range.

    The Laser-Viper wears a gray protective body suit.  On his torso, he has blue straps and belts holding a device in the middle of his chest.  The device looks like and old Lazer Tag sensor.  It has a textured silver circle in the middle.  I imagine this is where he projects his light beam from.  Other details include blue gloves, dark gray boots and silver pockets on his belt.  His face is covered his a gray balaclava mask that matches his body suit.

    The figure has several accessories that all connect together.  He has 2 laser mounts that plug into the top of his backpack.  Two laser units fit into the mounts with two small hoses running from the lasers to the backpack.  Both laser cannons can elevate and rotate individually.  An adjustable handle is attached to the backpack's side and can fit in the figure's hand.  Last, he has a silver helmet with a black visor.

    The Laser-Viper has an odd position in G.I. Joe.  He shared the same problem as the Joe Laser Troopers... in the cartoons everyone used lasers.  So he wouldn't have much of a purpose.  This may have been why it took Cobra a while to introduce them.  

    Despite his awkward place in Cobra, I like this figure.  His look is not as flashy as some Cobra Troops.  I imagine that his color palette is more subdued to not call attention to him while he's out stalking his targets.  His backpack is the highlight of this figure though.  You can position the lasers in multiple directions, OR they can be removed to place in the figure's hands as well.  The idea that the handle can be adjusted to fit his arm is great.  I think the helmet is really cool looking too!

    I also really like the how the purpose of the trooper interacts with other Cobra characters.  His role as support to the Aero-Vipers (Condor pilots) or H.E.A.T.-Viper was a clever addition to the file card!

    The Laser-Viper was basically the last figure I got. If memory serves, I got this figure for Christmas 1990. I was already done with G.I. Joe and this was the lone toy I got as a present. I didn't ask for it, but it was a welcome surprise... kind of a send off to the toy-line I once loved. My other Joes were long boxed up and put away, but this figure proudly stood on my shelf for a few years!!

    So where are we at with the Laser-Viper?  He's not flashy, but he has great accessories.  His position in Cobra can be considered totally redundant or extremely valuable.  Add in the fact that he has a cool helmet and sentimental value to me...  I'm going to give our pal the Laser-Viper a rating of 4 out of 5 80's Style Lazer Tag "Star Sensors"!  That's pretty high, I know.  He should have got a 3, but I caved on the sentimental value part...

    This was the only figure the Laser-Viper got in the 1982-1994 toy-line.  He would re-appear in future lines in various forms.  One later figure was a member of Python Patrol, which is a good idea.  My thought is, this would have been a great figure to add to the Star Brigade line.  Hasbro passed on that opportunity though.

What do you think of the Laser-Viper?  How did he fit in your battles?  Was he going toe-to-toe with Sci-Fi?  Helping Cobra troops zero-in on G.I. Joe armor?  Or using his lasers to heat Overlord's leftovers for dinner?  (yeah, I said Overlord instead of Cobra Commander.  Overlord is the one introducing the Laser-Viper's in the commercial).

This, that and the other about the Laser-Viper:

--- It's strange the light device on the chest of the Laser-Viper looks like a Lazer Tag sensor.  Lazer Tag came out in 1986, surely the hype had faded by 1990.  

--- For some reason, I thought the 2008 Matt Trakker (M.A.S.K.) G.I. Joe figure had the Laser-Viper helmet as his "Spectrum" mask.  Thankfully, I was wrong!  There is a similar idea going on, but they are very different!

--- Another strange fact about the Laser-Viper... the Sonic Fighters sub-group debuted the same year.  Most of these figures had "laser" sound effects.  They could have slid him over into that line and he could have had some wild laser sounds in his backpack!?!?  Just a thought...