Night Viper - Grey (Black Major Version)

We can argue whether the default Cobra color is blue, red or even purple.  (Seriously, there's more purple Cobras than other colors.)  But, everyone will agree that Cobra's principle color isn't green.  There were just two vintage green Cobras that both appeared in 1989: the Aero Viper and the Night Viper.  Both figures are highly regarded as the color can work in small doses.  The dark green palette works for the specialty of the Night Viper.  But, there are many other color schemes that would have also fit the mold.  Hasbro never saw fit to repaint the Night Viper and he remained one of the more desirable vintage army builders for many years.  In the late 2010s, factory custom maker the Black Major released several series of Night Viper repaints.  All showcased the untapped potential of the Night Viper mold.  The paint job I've found most useful, though, is a grey and black color combo.  The grey hearkens back to the Stinger Driver from the vintage line and fits with the iconic Cobra vehicles from the line's early years.

I've recounted my discovery of the Night Viper before.  He was, though, the only figure I purchased at retail between early 1988 and December of 1992.  His pristine cardback with bubble still attached sat inside a small Banana Republic brown paper shopping bag on the top shelf of the closet in my childhood room for nearly two decades.  While I never really got to use the figure, his top notch design kept him as someone that held more value to me than most of my post-childhood Joes.  As an adult, I acquired a nice squad of Funskool Night Vipers that were my core Cobra army for a few years while we waited on Hasbro to finally get some diverse army building molds into production.  

In time, though, that novelty waned.  I had less interest in a Night Viper army because I had other figures that became available.  But, when I liquidated a huge chunk of my collection in the early 2010's, I kept all the Night Vipers.  I saved my four vintage figures.  And, kept my entire Funskool army.  (It helped that Funskool figures were worthless at the time and I've have sold them for less than my $4/figure cost.)  So, even as the figure fell out of favor from a usage standpoint, it remained a viable army in my collection.  Every now and then again, I get the urge to get the old Night Vipers out and relive their heyday as the pre-eminent Cobras in my legions.  But, you'll see that Night Viper appearances are few and far between.  Heck, the photos in this profile are at least 3 years old and I don't have any newer ones to supplement them.

This figure is pretty basically colored.  His body is a silverish-grey with black highlights.  Aside from a small, silver belt buckle and the small green and yellow logo on his left arm, the figure is two tonal.  But, in this context, the figure works.  His paint masks match the vintage Night Viper and this figure very much feels like something Hasbro could have made during the vintage run.  While additional painted details would have been nice, they are less necessary for some repaints due to their ties to the vintage figure's appearance.  

For gear, the Black Major Night Vipers match with the vintage figures.  He includes the classic rifle: complete with strap to go over his arm and the weird holes to affix the rifle to the Night Viper's legs.  The Night Viper backpack is there, though it's kind of underwhelming due to the original design.  The figure features both the face shield and the monocle that attaches to it.  The face shields are the biggest source of consternation for these figures.  The shields are difficult to get on and can either break or snap off the pegs that are on the figure's helmet.  Some colors work better than others.  But, they are all tight fits and take a bit of patience to get onto the figure's head without breaking something.  

The result of all this is a really nice repaint of a classic figure.  I'd hesitate to say that this grey Night Viper is better than the green version.  It's just different.  The green has many uses.  But, this grey version does, too.  He fits well with the Stinger, Hiss Tank or even the Night Watch.  And, it is nice to have a a grey figure from some of the later years to fill in gaps on Cobra vehicles when you want to use other figures who were released after 1984.  More importantly, it's a sensical color for both the mold and the character's specialty.  Grey and black is about as classic "night" as the Joe line gets.  So, seeing it on this Night Viper mold makes this release feel like it could have been a vintage Hasbro design.  For me, that's a huge plus when it comes to factory customs.

At this point in my collection, knowing that this figure exists and that I have a couple is where the value in him lies.  I don't really see me taking this guy out and using him in extensive photo shoots.  And, it's hard to get proper night shots where the figure really makes sense.  I like to take him and mingle him with 1989 or Funskool Night Vipers.  But, I rarely find the occasion warrants any photos to commemorate it.  I do enjoy the Night Viper mold.  It's one that I've never been able to fully appreciate because I had the figure in my teenage years but couldn't really appreciate him.  That's carried over to today and I generally feel that the Night Viper is a figure that I really should use more often.

Hasbro released one vintage Night Viper.  Some of his parts were used on the 1992 Heli-Viper: but in very odd colors.  After that, the mold went to India.  Funskool released the Night Viper for many, many years.  The figure was colored in similar style to the American figure and was a staple of online Joe dealers during the Funskool heyday.  (Funskool Night Vipers would sell out routinely throughout 2001 and even into 2002.  Guys bought them by the dozens.)  There are a few minor coloring variants on the figure and accessories.  But, the figure's main design doesn't stray from Hasbro's vision.  Hasbro got the Night Viper back in April of 2003.  His parts were then used for the 2005 Iron Grenadier convention figure.  And, in 2006, the club released an exclusive "not an army builder" Night Viper that was...in green.  So, even the newly painted version didn't really bring anything new to the mold other than some painted details.  Due to the club's use, the Night Viper didn't get picked for any retail sets...even though he was a natural fit for the Night Watch set.  Factory Custom makers re-creating the mold, though, has finally brought about the Night Viper repaints we've always wanted.  You can now get them in grey, tan, red, gold, blue, black, python patrol and even colored like the Alley Viper.  At this point, every Night Viper you could ever want is available.  So, the mold finally got its due.

The Night Viper series debuted as a higher price point figure from Black Major.  And, it's never really come down.  These days, it's pretty easy to find the less desirable Night Viper colorways.  They don't really seem to sell.  The earlier figures with many of the more collector friendly colors are much harder to track down.  You'll end up paying between $25 and $30 if you can find one.  Which, is probably too much.  As the market cools down, figures like this will be less desirable and should come up, from time to time, at cheaper prices.  You just have to be ready to pounce when one appears.  Until then, there's lots of other Night Vipers that are just fine to tide you over. 

1989 Night Viper

I did not buy any G.I. Joe figures in 1989.  I was simply out of the game.  I did swipe a 1989 Snake Eyes.  You can read that story in his profile, though.  But, even my younger brothers were pretty done with G.I. Joe.  My youngest brother got a Scoop figure.  But, that was it.  None of the other 1989 figures existed in my collection.  In 1990, my brother got a Bullhorn figure.  But, I was not only now old enough to drive myself to stores, I also had a full time job providing, for the era, a good deal of spending money.  I usually worked 3:30 to midnight with a thirty minute lunch.  There was only one store close enough to drive to, buy something and get out.  It was a nearby Kohl's.  

While they still had a hefty toy department and full selection of Joe figures and vehicles, the end was near as the entire stock they had was from 1988 and 1989.  But, among these figures, I had the pick of the litter.  While I had dreamed of getting a Rock and Roll or Downtown, there was another figure that caught my eye.  I had never really seen the Night Viper figure.  But, here, in front of me, the green and black Cobra was something completely new to me.  And, he included a great looking rifle (with a strap!), a face shield and a backpack that looked like they'd make for a perfect addition to my collection.  I bought the single Night Viper and snuck him into my house when I got home from work after everyone was asleep.  Here, I opened the figure and found he was everything I wanted him to be.

What I did not want, though, was for my younger brothers to find the figure.  They had a bad habit of pawing through my room when I was not home: looking for toys I had stashed in the closet.  They had found the purloined 1989 Snake Eyes.  And, they would take him from the red Lego case in which I stored my saved Joes that was buried in the back of my closet.  With the Night Viper, I had opened the package carefully, to preserve the bubble.  I had an old, paper, Banana Republic bag that was on the top shelf of my closet, above the reach of my siblings.  So, I put the Night Viper card into this bag.  It stayed there until 2013 when my mother moved out of the house.  Yet, I don't know what happened to it after that.  I can't imagine me throwing it away.  But, it's not in my collection any longer.  It was probably put into a box of comics that I ended up giving to my nephews.  But, it was a shame for it to survive so long and then disappear after I was a full time collector.

The figure, though, was a different story.  First, I tried putting him the Lego case.  But, of course, my youngest brother found him in due time.  Avoiding the questions of the figure's origin, I tried hiding him under my bed or among the boxes of baseball cards that now adorned the shelves in my room.  In time, my brother forgot about him.  With the figure in hand, though, I came to a realization.  I no longer really had the capacity to play with a toy any longer.  I would pull out the Night Viper from time to time.  But, I'd mostly just look at the exquisite detailing and design that went into him.  I really didn't have the capacity to act out adventures with him any longer.  That was probably the turning point for my transformation into a collector instead of viewing Joes as toys.  

That didn't mean, though, that I appreciated the figure any less.  In fact, he was something I really enjoyed due to his overt quality.  Despite that, though, I didn't buy any more Joes until the end of 1992.  The allure of sports cards was too great and my disposable income from my teenage years went to those.  As the card market has exploded even moreso than the Joe market since 2020, it's probably a break even choice as to which was better.  But, I would have enjoyed 1,000's of dollars of retail Joes more than I do the boxes and boxes of commons that once filled an entire closet.

In the late 1990's and early 2000's, though, I got lucky with Night Vipers.  I was one of the few people specifically looking for lots of 1989 - 1994 figures back then.  And, I'd get a lot of collections for under $2 per mint and complete with filecard figure.  I was able to get several Night, Alley and HEAT Vipers in these lots.  As the Funskool figure became available, the price on Hasbro Night Vipers dipped a bit.  And, I was able to fill out a squad of them.  Even during my great purge in 2010 where I liquidated my massive armies of 1989 Cobras, I kept my squad of 6 Night Vipers, even though I had another 8 of the Funskool versions.  The figure was too cool to get rid of.  And, I figured that I'd one day have a way to display the figures to finally fully appreciate the mold's greatness.

With the Night Viper, less is more.  The figure is just two main colors: green and black.  There is a bright green Cobra logo, a gold belt buckle and flesh around the eyes.  The minimal paint masks, though, work due to the intricacy of the figure's sculpt.  Whereas you don't tend to see great paint wear on Night Vipers, that's more than made up for by the the oft-broken pegs that hold the rifle on the figure's leg or the visor on the figure's head.  Both of these parts are brittle and get broken very easily...even when the figure was new.  I still don't know why a rifle with a strap that allows it to be held over the shoulder or across the backpack needed to also he holstered on the Night Viper's leg.  But, it's a great little detail that added to the figure's mystique.

Accessory wise, the Night Viper was well equipped.   Along with the aforementioned rifle and visor, the figure also included a backpack and a monocle.  The backpack is small and compact.  It's purpose isn't entirely clear.  But, that's the joy of a figure like this.  It allows you to make the pack whatever you want or need.  The monocle is the most lost accessory on the Night Viper.  And, many that were affixed to the peg on the figure's visor were snapped off, with the peg forever trapped in the monocle's hole.  With all the brittle features and one easily lost accessory, it's a miracle that so many Night Viper's survived childhood playtimes.  But, they did.  And, collectors are better for it as we have another awesome army builder available to us.

The Night Viper did not have much of a life.  Hasbro released the figure in 1989 and 1990.  In 1992, the Night Viper's body was used for the oddball kitbash Heli Viper figure.  As it was in purple and red, few people even really consider that it was the Night Viper that comprised most of that figure.  From there, the mold went to India.  Funskool started producing Night Vipers around 1995 and produced them through April of 2004.  At that time, the mold was returned to Hasbro.  They then used it as the body for the ill fitting 2005 Iron Grenadier.  The final use was the 2006 Operation Flaming Moth Night Viper.  It was green, expensive and not really a hit with the collector community.  The mold then died off.  Around 2017 or 2018, though, Black Major produced Night Viper figures.  These exist in 20 or more color combinations.  And, now, collectors can get Night Vipers in pretty much any color scheme they would want.  Black Major didn't really suck all the demand for the Night Viper out of the community, though, and I'm sure that any release of the Night Viper in the Pulse era would be embraced by the collecting world.

1989 Night Vipers got super expensive in the early 2000's.  It was first Cobra army builder to break $30 for a mint and complete specimen.  But, slowly, the massive quantity of Funskool Night Vipers sated the army building demand of the collecting world.  By 2003, the price of a complete Night Viper was under $15.  In 2022, though, the stupidity of the Joe world has also caught up with the Night Viper.  Incomplete figures will fetch $30.  Dealers will sell an appalling amount of mint and complete figures for more than $50.  And, in the event you can find a mint and complete figure left to open pricing, it will still usually cross over $40.  But, as the cheap Funskool figures have been absorbed, there's no longer an alternate outlet for those who want a Night Viper army.  

Funskool Night Viper - Around The Web

Starting in February of 2001, Funskool figures were massively imported into the collecting community.  Within a few years, dozens of dealers offered Funskool figures for $3-$5 each.  Of the many army builders that Funskool offered, it was the Night Viper that grabbed the attention of the collecting world.  At the time, Night Viper figures were starting to get incredibly expensive.  For a short time, he was the most expensive army builder in the line.  But, the supply of Funskool figures helped solve collector demand for the character since the Funskool was very similar to the Hasbro release.  Collectors army built these figures in droves.  And, it was one of the very few figures that would still sell out at online dealers into 2002.  There's not a ton of material on the figure out there.  But, here's the best I could find of the Funskool Night Viper from around the web.

Funskool Night Viper Profile

Russian Funskool Figures Including Night Viper at Dragon Fortress

Funskool Night Viper by Nekoman

Funskool Night Viper by JoeMotion Videos 82

Funskool Night Viper by Prince Adam

Funskool Night Viper by silentinterlude

Funskool Night Viper by toynostalgia1982

1989 Night Viper - Around the Web

Between the beginning of 1988 and the end of 1992, I bought just one G.I. Joe figure.  It was the Night Viper.  Check out the best of him on the web to understand why.

Funskool Night Viper

In the early 2000's, collectors were army builder crazy. Hasbro couldn't put out enough army builders fast enough to satisfy the demand. As such, collectors were starved for new offerings that gave them figure molds they desired in colors that were acceptable. In early 2001, an enterprising group of collectors mass imported Funskool Joe figures and sold them directly to the online collecting community for cheap prices. While there were many gems of figures in this initial offering of around 40 different figures, it was the opportunity to acquire some new, cheap army builders that really go collectors interested. One of the most popular Funskool offerings was their take on the Night Viper.

Colored almost identically to the American figure, the Funskool version only had two issues: a neon eye piece and a neon backpack. As the figure was still the awesome green and black, though, collectors were forgiving of these two, minor shortcomings. As such, the initial shipment of Night Vipers sold out in a matter of hours. In June of 2001, when SmallJoes.com opened, their stock of Funskool Night Vipers also sold out in the first day. There was just a huge demand and it took most of the rest of 2001 before Night Vipers would remain in stock for more than week at the major online Joe dealers. But, the figure lived up to the hype and was one of the most popular army building figures of the early 2000's.

At its core, this figure is pretty much the same as the American figure. There are differences in the yellow logo, the general plastic colors of the greens, flesh tones and blacks. But, these figures integrate very easily into American Night Viper collections. While the pack is bright orange and the eye piece is bright yellow, these aren't overly essential accessories. So, the figure with just the black rifle and green headpiece avoids all the trappings of neon and helps these figures integrate more seamlessly into American armies. And, that was the appeal of the figures from the start. Of all the Funskool army builders made available, the Night Viper was the most similar to the American figure. And, in the case of the Night Viper, the American figure was a well regarded and somewhat expensive member of Cobra for collectors to acquire when the Funskool figures first appeared.

For me, the availability of the figure lead him to a greater role in my collection. While I had acquired an American Night Viper in the summer of 1990 (my only Joe purchase between 1988 and 1992), I had never viewed the figure as an integral part of my Cobra army. But, the cheap masses of Funskool Night Vipers changed that. The figure's mold is just cool enough to warrant large inclusion in a collection. So, having them available for cheap simply made that dream a reality. With my ranks swelled by Funskool Night Vipers, the figure became me de facto jungle and forest Cobra. Here, my armies would tussle with Joes and you can see the figure as a staple in many of my earliest photos. Today, that still remains the same as my Night Viper army survived the purge of my collection and these figures remain a display piece that outweighs their availability.

There are variants to this figure. The most notable are the accessory variants. From the 1990's through 2003, most Night Vipers were packaged with a black rifle. However, in late 2001, for a very short time, Funskool changed the rifle color to grey. While the grey rifles are harder to find, this was during the time of mass Funskool imports, so quite a few of them got to collectors in the U.S. Along with this gun variant, the figure's themselves show subtle color differences across different production runs. So, it's possible to acquire Night Vipers that were made over several years and see very distinct greens or flesh colors in each figure. It's not a variant that's overly exciting, but it is something that can add some diversity to an army.

For many, many years, this figure was available for $4 for a carded version. In 2004, though, the supply started to dry up and prices rose. Still, through the 2000's, it was very possible to get this figure for under $8 for a carded version. And, since so many collectors had opened up armies of these Night Vipers, loose figures were available for about 1/2 that amount. Now, though, the supply is further absorbed by the collecting world. Carded figures run into the $16 range, though you still can find them for cheaper. Loose figures are not as ubiquitous as they once were. But, mint and complete with filecard versions will go for $6 to $8 per figure. It's a small price to pay for a figure of this quality. And, I don't think that the price difference between the American and Indian versions are enough to justify an army of the Hasbro figure over the Funskool offering.

1989 Night Viper

Back in 1989, I took a family vacation. One of our stops was at a friend of my mother's home. Her children were younger than I was and had tons of the new Joe toys from 1989. I had stopped buying any new figures in 1988 (even then I had only bought about three of them) and had only picked up the new Snake Eyes figure in January. Beyond that, though, I was totally unfamiliar with the new Joe releases. While visiting, I saw the Heat Viper and Annihilator figures. I thought them both very cool. However, I didn't take the next logical step to buy any more figures. In the summer of 1990, though, I was old enough to drive and had a job bagging groceries at a local supermarket. One day at lunch, I decided I was going to go buy a new Joe figure. After seeing one of the '89 catalogs, I wanted either Downtown or the Annihilator. One day, during my 30 minute lunch break, I drove down to a nearby Kohl's store. (I knew they had Joe figures. Kohl's doesn't carry many toys anymore, but they used to be a great source for Joe figures.) I stared at a wall of '89 Joes and found the Downtown I wanted. However, another figure caught my eye. He was a remarkably colored Cobra who came with great accessories. I put the Downtown back on the shelf and bought the subject of this profile: the 1989 Night Viper.

There is little about this figure that you can not like. First off, he is colored is dark green and black that creates a menacing presence. He is slung with bandoliers full of intricate detail and sports one of the coolest unit insignias that was ever created for a Cobra specialty Viper. The thought of these guys slinking around in the night was a concept that I just wanted to capture. The look of the figure was just so striking that it took me a while to fully appreciate the intricacies of the mold. His accessories, with the face shield, subtle pack, useful monocular, and awesome gun perfectly complemented both the look and purpose of the figure. The mold has a detail level that requires full examination to fully appreciate. He moved beyond the simple mold of the Annihilator and remains one of the better sculpted figures during his era.

One thing I've always lamented about the Night Viper is his specialty. This guy is just too cool to only use at night. That's why I've made my Night Vipers more versatile. Sure, they are still primarily responsible for night time operations as well as security. (They often team with Python Patrol Vipers and Alley Vipers to form my complete night time forces.) However, I've also found many uses for these guys during the day. Their guns, with the attached grenade launcher, make for decent infantry weapons and the green and black colors lend themselves to forest and jungle operations as well. As such, I'm able to use my Night Vipers in a variety of elements and they (along with Range and Alley Vipers) remain the core of my basic Cobra forces. I've never liked the Viper and have long thought that a more flattering colored Cobra would be better suited as Cobra's main ground forces. With the Night Viper, I got that.

I don't think I'm alone in my expanded uses of the Night Viper. It seems that many other people out there have built large contingents of a Viper whose specialty lends itself to small numbers. This speaks to the popularity of the mold. Overall, the Night Viper is one of the most popular Cobra army builders that was ever produced. Whether used as a small, elite unit, a single specialist who supports other Cobra operations, or as a basic infantry soldier good in any situation, the Night Viper figure works wonderfully and has enjoyed a wide acceptance among modern collectors. He remains one of the most oft requested characters to be in line for a new sculpt in the Joe vs. Cobra line and I think he would make an excellent candidate.

I've got some bad news, some good news and some more bad news and some final good news about the availability of the Night Viper. First, the bad news. Back in late 2000, Night Vipers with even only their face shield and gun were selling for $25-$30 each. This made them about the most expensive Cobra army builder of the time. There was some serious pent up demand and the prices reflected this. Now for the good news. In early 2001, Funskool figures became widely available in the U.S. for the first time. Among these figures is a nearly identical repaint of the 1989 Night Viper. As these sold for $4 each, collectors snatched them up with incredible zeal and sellers would sell through their Night Viper stock in a matter of hours. By the summer, though, the pent up demand had been sated and cheap Night Vipers were available all the time. As such, the prices of American figures dropped significantly. Now, you can get a mint, complete Night Viper for under $15 without too much trouble. But, if you're building armies, why pay this much? The Funskool Night Viper (which can be seen intermingled with American Night Vipers in the pics below) are nearly identical to the American version and can be had for a price that allows a collector to amass 6 or 7 of them for the price they would pay for 2 American figures. Taking this route is a great way to pick up Night Vipers for your collection. Now, though, for the final piece of bad news. $4 Funskool Night Vipers will soon be a fond memory. Commercial Funskool shipments to the U.S. have been halted and online sellers who wish to replenish their Night Viper stock will have to incur greater expense to do so. As such, once the current stock of Night Vipers sells through, you will see prices on these figures rise. When that happens, the American figure will follow suit. However, there is one final piece of good news. Many collectors, myself included, have satisfied their Night Viper army building requirements via Funskool. As such, there still won't be the demand for the American Night Viper that existed before the Funskool stuff was widely available. Also, there are many new collectors who have flocked to Joe in the past year. Many of these people have quickly built Cobra armies via retail means and have huge stockpiles of Funskool Crimson Guard Immortals, Neo Vipers, Cobra Claws, and any other recent retail Cobra figures. The fact is, when Joe's popularity diminishes (It WILL happen. It happens in every collectible market.) many of these people will liquidate their collections. As it will likely happen in a very short time frame, you will see many large lots that contain multiple Funskool Night Vipers as well as the other figures. During that time, many collectors who are in for the long haul will be able to get many nice deals on loose lots of some of these more recent Cobra figures. In the meantime, I'm enjoying my Night Viper armies. He's long been a favorite of mine and nothing about that has changed. Once you have the figure in your collection, I think you will see why.

Night Vipers are great, but I'm set for what I need of them. Who is your favorite 1989 Cobra army builder? Let me know.