2002 Crimson Viper - Convention Exclusive

2002 was a banner year for the G.I. Joe brand.  While the A Real American Hero line had fizzled out at retail in 2001, it was also a harbinger of greatness to come.  2002 brought a new style of G.I. Joe figure to the market that was better competition to other toy lines of the age.  Hasbro didn't forsake collectors, though.  2002 also introduced the first wave of toys released by a major manufacturer only to online vendors.  The year saw the return of vehicles to toy shelves.  And, there were some special collector themed sets and variants as well.  The biggest surprise of 2002, though, was the release of an exclusive set of figures for the 2002 G.I. Joe convention.  The set came out of the blue and blindsided many collectors.  When the set's contents were revealed, it was a wet dream for the collecting community of the time.  Tomax, Xamot, the Baroness and a full dozen Cobra Vipers painted in a crimson color scheme was about the most amazing item Hasbro could have sold.

I've spent lots of time talking about how army builder crazed collectors of 2001-2005 were.  I can't understate how the notion of army building dominated the hobby.  Pretty much everything else wasn't secondary, it was far down the list.  Collectors seriously talked about how waves should be army builders only.  The derided any Joe figure, no matter how well done and wondered why Vipers, Cobra Troopers and BATs weren't released in every single wave.  So, seeing a set with a full 12 army builders was something collectors never considered that Hasbro would release.  The fact that the figures were collector favorite Viper molds painted in an theretofore unseen and collector favorite crimson color just made them even more desirable.

Of course, this desire also lead to anxiety about pricing.  Many collectors of the time were freaked out at their initial ideas that the figures might cost as much as $5 or $6 each, bring a set total to a range of $75 to $90.  This price seemed exorbitant.  And, many collectors balked at the thought of having to spend nearly $100 at one time to get some army builders.  But, then, the real pricing came out.  The first set was $210: $14 per figure!!!  This would buy you four figures at retail at the time.  And, you could buy pretty much any army builder other than an '86 Viper, original BAT, 83 Cobra Trooper or '83 Cobra Officer for less than that.  There was a kicker, though.  If you bought a boxed set, you could get another bagged set for $90.  This was only $6 for an additional figure (which tells you how much profit was built into the boxed set...), but the total package was 30 figures for $300, or $10 per figure.  This was an amount that collectors nearly revolted over.  Even die hard army builders threw up their hands at the pricing and resigned themselves to never owning the set.

But, upon the set's release, many songs changed.  The figures were cool.  The characters could be sold to recoup nearly the full cost of the bagged set and Hasbro never released a retail Viper with either the color scheme or the upgraded paint masks again.  Army builders relented as they simply couldn't let a modern release elude them and quickly absorbed the leftover sets after the convention.  In short order, real Crimson Vipers climbed in value, even surpassing the 1986 original figure.  Before wave after wave of "secret" Fuchsia Vipers came into the market, the desire for real Crimson figures intensified.  By late 2003, it wasn't unheard of for Crimson Vipers to fetch $40 per figure...making it one of the most expensive figures in the line.

As for the figure itself, the Crimson Viper is great for what it is.  The figure uses the exact same parts combination and paint masks from the 1998 Cobra Troopers/Officers.  The '98 paint masks were excellent.  (Hasbro didn't start skimping on the masks until 2001.)  These figures, though, got the added benefit of a Cobra logo.  They also included the original Viper backpack (missing since 1989) and got a better rifle, Red Star's AK-47.  The package is a well built figure that looks amazing and has the quality to stand with even vintage Joes.  (There are some issues with the head/chest combo, though, that leads to odd head positioning.  But, that's afflicted every Viper since 1997.)

There's another fun little story with this figure.  Originally, the A Real American Hero collection was to have five waves of figures in 2001 and early 2002.  However, the spectacular failure of Wave II at retail changed those plans (Big Ben and Whiteout forever doomed another arctic themed set.) and the failure of Wave IV cemented them.  While we did get a fifth wave as an Internet exclusive, that release was pared down.  However, early solicitation lists from Hasbro did leak out.  Among the figures listed as a release was a Crimson Viper.  Of course, collectors focused on that name and anticipated his release.  But, as the line started to fail and Hasbro's approach changed, the figure fell out production.  It is likely, however, that the convention figure started out, conceptually, as a retail figure with the other parts later added in.

A certain fan website, though, began to mock the lists of unreleased figure names.  In a move of consistent dickery that continues to this day, these "fans" gloated that the figure would never be released and then offered 1000 (or some such ridiculous number) to everyone if they happened.  Then, when the figure showed up in the convention set, this contentious group played semantics (you'll notice the beginning of several patterns, here...) saying that they didn't have to pay up since the names weren't exact and the convention figures weren't "released to retail" or some such nonsense.  Those of us who called this out were shouted down and ignored as collectors allowed themselves to be degraded as long as they got a couple of army builders.  But, I don't forget because I'm a bitter old collector who firmly believes that had this crap not been allowed, we'd have gotten a lot more good stuff in the repaint era instead of so much garbage that Hasbro foisted upon us.

So, a few things happened with this set.  At first, the convention sets didn't sell out.  After the convention, Master Collector still had sets available.  However, right after the convention, a set sold on Ebay for double the price from Master Collector.  Within days, the remaining sets sold out.  By the end of 2003, Crimson Vipers were $40 figures.  It looked like they might become the most expensive army builder out there.  But, Master Collector also lied about the numbers of Fuchsia Vipers that were made.  And, tons of secret Fuchsia sets were quietly sold to dealers who could then dump them into the community.  With Fuchsia Vipers available for $12-$15 each, collectors lost interest in the Crimson sets.  Why buy 4 figures for $120 when that same money would get you 10 figures that were, basically, indiscernible in dios and displays at the time?  Prices of Crimson Vipers plummeted and were below $20 until the price spike that started in early 2018 set in.

Even now, though, Crimson Vipers aren't as expensive as many other convention figures.  Most of the sets that collectors bought to display or hold have been broken up as collectors have begun to maximize space.  Rows of 20-50 of the same figure seem passe, now.  But, the general increase in Joe prices has lead to dealers getting $50 for Crimson Vipers with open market figures selling between $30 and $40.  That's a lot for a mold that was so frequently used between 1997 and 2006.  But, the Crimson Viper is the equal of the 1998 Cobra Trooper in every way and is an excellent paint scheme that everyone should have.  The need to build an army of two dozen of them is a relic of their release era.  But, a small squad both makes sense and works within the confines of Cobra.