So, this started out as a Random Photos of the Day post. I thought I'd write some things about him. And, the thought train kept going. Suddenly, it was a full blown profile. Sure, I've looked at the figure, before. But, that was 24 years ago. Since then, this figure has risen, fallen and settled into a niche in the collecting community.
The golden Sonic Fighters Viper isn't a figure I should like all that much. I'm not a huge fan of the Viper mold. And, figures with rich, brown base colors can be tough to love. But, the updated Viper from 1990 really works. The color combo of gold and brown creates the visual of a Viper leader. And, back in 2001, that was a specialty that was sorely needed in the Joe line. As collectors were in the beginning stages of building their collections, individual pieces were of far more value. Everyone was busy buying up all the 1986 Vipers, 1983 Cobra Troopers and 1986 Bats they could find. They needed someone to command those troopers. And, at the time, the notion of wasting a Cobra hierarchy slot on a duty as mundane as leading Vipers wasn't appealing. That made this Sonic Viper a fairly desirable figure for many collectors to acquire.
As the early 2000's spawned the hobby of Joe photography, the golden Viper was a staple of troop building photos. He may have been inspecting a line of soldiers. Or, he might have been barking orders in an action shot. But, he was a common presence among creators of the day. The Sonic Viper brought some visual diversity to a photo. And, his gold coloring offset the blue, red and black of the standard Cobra army. This lead to him being a fairly pricey figure. He quickly started to cost the same as, or even more than, 1986 Vipers. When faced with a choice of buying up additional Sonic Vipers or adding to armies of the classic blue and red figures, collectors didn't really make a choice. The 1986 figures were always the preferred acquisition. There was always a need for more basic troops and most collectors could feign contentment with a single centurion figure to lead their army.
And, with this, the Sonic Viper's popularity ebbed away. He wasn't an army building staple. And, as armies grew, the need for the figure to appear in photos began to diminish. As the 2000's turned to the 2010's, the Sonic Viper became less common to see. His diminished cache was simply a function of his narrow specialty. If people could only fit 8 figures in a photo, it would be 8 of the same army builder. With more experience, the creators of the 2010's became more ambitious in their photos, too. Action shots contained more action. And, they were more frequently the subject of photos. The notion of a gaudy leader for cannon fodder legions of Cobra was less plausible when they team was in action. So, the Sonic Viper began to fade away. He wasn't as important as he'd once been.
And, this leads to the figure today. Now, the Sonic Viper is somewhat obscure, again. Sure, he's a guy that everyone owns. But, you don't see him in the sparse G.I. Joe content that's out there. And, even in the boasting posts of new acquisitions that are the staples of many communities, the Sonic Viper is a rare entrant: even as people continue to acquire other versions of the Viper. The Sonic Viper has just become one of those figures that everyone seems content with just owning one or two. And, after that, there's not much reason to seek out others. It's not a bad fate for a figure. He continues to be appreciated. But, he's not nearly as popular as other, more commonly seen Viper figures.
During the late 1990's, I was one of very few collectors who focused on acquiring lots and collections from the early 1990's. They were hard to find. But, it was fun to track them down. In my years of building up my collection, regular Sonic Fighters weren't overly common. Somehow, though, I still managed to acquire three loose versions of this Viper figure. As if that weren't enough, I also, randomly, acquired a carded version. The fun thing about buying lots in that era is that you were usually buying some kid's childhood toys. So, stuff they outgrew and never opened, like a carded figure or two, would pop up among the loose figures and vehicles. The collections hadn't been curated to remove the rares and desirables. Guys were just clearing closet space for some beer money. The notion of these being collectible hadn't really ingrained itself into Gen X culture. By 2001, that was mostly done. And, you'd start to see collections broken into Joes and Cobras to maximize revenue. Now, lots like that are all gone. You see attempts at defining lots as "childhood collections" in the various sales arenas. But, they all follow the same pattern of missing army builders, lacking key characters or simply crossing too many years. It's an innocence lost as you can't really recreate a childhood collection. But, it was fun while it lasted.
The coloring on this Viper is fantastic. While most people refer to him as a golden Viper, the reality is that his base color is a rich, deep brown. It's similar to the color found on the 1988 Charbroil. It's a color that's relatively rare in the vintage line. Were this figure offset by tan highlights instead of gold, we'd have an amazing desert Viper. But, instead, Hasbro went with the golden color. And, the results are striking. Against the brown base, the gold paint pops. It gives the figure his regal appearance. Outside of the gold, though, there's not much else going on. You have a bit of black on the figure's belt and gloves. And, there's a red Cobra sigil to match the red faceplate. That's the end of the colors, though. As far as paint masks go, the Sonic Viper is simple. But, when you get a match like the brown and gold, the fact that there aren't many other paints doesn't matter. And, this figure proves that strong color matches can render additional paint mask obsolete.
The Sonic Viper includes a nice cadre of accessories. The upside to the premium price of the Sonic Fighters was that Hasbro tossed in a bunch of extra weapons. As a kid, I'd have loved a way to pick up more guns than 1 figure could use. But, this didn't start happening until after my time had passed. Regardless, the Viper includes four uniquely colored weapons. There are golden colored versions of the 1988 Hit and Run Rifle, the 1988 Shockwave pistol, the 1989 Annihilator's pistol and all three pieces of the 1989 Downtown's mortar. The golden color works for this Viper. But, it's less useful in outfitting other figures. Along with those weapons, he includes the massive Sonic backpack. I'm not sure the full complement of gear was worth double the retail price in 1990. But, more weapons are better than less.
The Viper mold was used just three times in the vintage line: on the 1986 original, the 1989 Python Patrol figure, and this Sonic Fighters version. The full mold never appeared again. But, Hasbro did make mostly Vipers in 1997, 1998, 2002, 2003 and 2006. If that wasn't enough, Red Laser Army made some very nice, removable helmet Viper flavors between 2016 and 2018. And, then, Black Major recreated the mold and has released over 50 additional Viper colorings. As such, you can get any and every flavor of Viper you ever wanted. It's a far cry from the army building starved days of 2001 when it was inconceivable that there could ever be enough Viper figures. It's still baffling that the Viper didn't make the cut for the 2022 Pulse era figures. I can't help but wonder how much better a Viper/BAT two pack would have sold over the Trooper/Officer set. We'll never know, though.
While this figure's time in the sun has passed, that doesn't mean he's a cheap acquisition, these days. Sonic Fighters exist in lower quantities than other 1990 figures. And, there's an argument to be made that the Viper is most popular among the subset. While the figure isn't hard to find, you'll pay for him. Loose versions with an accessory or two will run you $20-$25. But, complete figures trend around $50. Which, is odd, since carded figures can be had for around $75. There seems to be a lot of value in the accessories. Since collectors of the early 2000's often separated the sonic backpacks from the figures to save space, the packs became disassociated with their figures when it came time to liquidate some spare army builders. So, you now have a somewhat premium accessory complement. The upside is that a loose figure isn't terribly priced. And, it's easy to get better gear for the figure. So, that's the way to go.
For me, this is a figure of another era. I still really like. He looks great in photos and is fun to have around. But, I don't use him like I used to. The notion of a Viper leader is passe, now. I'm more wont to use a squad of identical figures with a character leading them. With so many Vipers coming out in the past two and a half decades, the uniqueness of a golden leader for the faceless Viper corps is less useful. You can easily assign the duty to a character and achieve the same result. You can find better Vipers to guard Serpentor, and their golden colors more closely match the Cobra Emperor. So, this guy now kind of sits around. At some point, he'll get my attention, again. But, until then, I get to enjoy the memories associated with this figure and the collecting world's evolution around him.
