 This episode of HCC 788 brought to you in part by the Dicast Enterprise. Join us each week as we discuss the sexual proclivities of Commander William T. Riker. The bravado comedy of Lieutenant War. And the adorable monkey shines up one Wesley the Sweater Crusher. Or maybe we'll just talk about the golden girls. Or hairstyles. Or cartoons. That's equally likely. We also like G.I. Joe. There, we tied that in nicely. Well done everyone on that. By all our play sets and toys. HCC 788 here. Ready. Ready. Ready. Silence. Kill. This is Captain Hooded Cobra Commander of the Starship Second Prize. I have been transported to this wilderness planet by a mysterious alien life form. But I am not alone. I am being hunted by... No weapons. Only this recording device. There doesn't appear to be any signs of civilization anywhere. This is a special episode and one that I've been planning for a long time. You've probably noticed advertisements that I run for the Dicast Enterprise podcast. Well the fact is I love the podcast and the people who run it. You may have also noticed that for more than a year now I have been giving special thanks to Jeff Adams. Jeff is a host of the Dicast Enterprise podcast and he has been a solid friend of this channel. He has supported me in more ways than I can describe. And more than a year ago Jeff did me a major solid by being a guest host on this channel. He did the Cobra Buzzboard Review as the face-plated Cobra Commander. Jeff is one of those rare truly good and decent people that come into your life once in a blue moon. He is thoughtful, he is intelligent, he is talented, he is unselfish. And whether or not he recognizes those qualities in himself, those around him definitely do. I owe Jeff a debt and back when he did the Cobra Buzzboard Review, I asked him what I could do in return and true to his character, he didn't think of himself, he thought of his co-host on Dicast Enterprise, Foley. Foley is a Python Patrol fan and Jeff asked if I could do a Python Patrol review. Well true to my character, it's taken me over a year to get to it, but here it is. So Foley, from Jeff, this one's for you. HCC788 presents the 1989 Python Viper. This is the Python Patrol Python Viper. It is the Python Patrol Assault Viper from 1989. This figure was first available in 1989, was also available in 1990, and was discontinued for the year 1991. This is the second version of the Cobra Viper released in 1986. Even though this is not technically called the Viper, it's called a Python Viper, but despite the naming convention, this clearly is a new version of the Viper. It entirely reuses the 1986 Viper's mold just with different colors. Even though this figure is usually called the Python Patrol Viper, that isn't really its name. The file card calls it a Python Viper. The combination of the words Python and Viper is an oxymoron. A Python is a genus of non-venomous snake. A Viper is a venomous snake. What is Python Patrol? It is a sub-team within Cobra that launched in 1989. I have the top of the card for this figure, and on the back it has a description of Python Patrol. It says, Python Patrol is a select group of Cobra mercenaries that utilize high-tech re-outfitted vehicles and sophisticated camouflage for venomous strikes against GI Joe. All of the Python Patrol figures are illustrated here, and one thing you may notice about Python Patrol is none of them are new. These are all old figures that have been reissued with new colors. The most obvious comparison on the GI Joe side would be Tiger Force, which came out the year before Python Patrol. And like Python Patrol, Tiger Force just reissued older GI Joe figures and vehicles with new paint jobs. Also like Python Patrol, the recoloring on Tiger Force figures was hit and miss. You had some that were pretty good, and others that were downright awful. On Python Patrol, you had some decent figures like the Python Viper, but the recoloring on some other Python Patrol figures, which we will review in the future, is so bad that they don't really look like real, released figures. They look like knockoffs. Let's look at Python Viper's weapon. He came with what the card contents call an RTD-7 assault rifle with grenade launcher. This is a very substantial weapon. I don't think it is based on any real-world weapon, but it looks really good. It has a foregrip here, and this part here in front, I believe, is supposed to be the grenade launcher. Python Viper's assault rifle is a reissue of the one that came with the original Viper, except in black instead of light gray, and it looks really good in black. I'd have to say I probably prefer it in black. Out of curiosity, I gave the black assault rifle to the original 1986 Cobra Viper, and it looks really good. It looks great in black, and the original 1986 rifle doesn't look too bad with the Python Patrol Viper. It kind of fits with that overall gray uniform. Python Viper's other accessory is his backpack, and his backpack is black. It has some decent detail on it. It has a canteen, a couple of grenades. It has a sculpted Cobra symbol there on the top. This is a decent-looking backpack. Once again, this accessory is a reissue of the backpack that came with the original Viper. Even the color is the same. These two backpacks look almost identical. If there is any difference, the only difference I can see is the original Viper's backpack had a slightly glossier finish, and the Python Viper's backpack is maybe slightly more of a matte finish, but that is very subtle. Let's take a look at the articulation on Python Viper. He's a reissue of a 1986 figure, so he had the articulation that was standard for 1986 figures. He could turn his head from left to right and look up and down. He could swing his arm up at the shoulder and swivel at the shoulder all the way around. He had a hinge at the elbow that allowed him to move at the elbow about 90 degrees. He had a swivel at the bicep, so he could swivel his arm all the way around. The figure was held together with a rubber O-ring that looped around the inside. That allowed him to move at the torso a bit. He could move his legs apart about so far. He could bend his legs at the hip about 90 degrees and bend at the knee about 90 degrees. Let's take a look at the sculpt design and color of the Python Viper starting with his head. Of course, this head is a reissue of the original Viper's head. The original Viper had a silver faceplate with a blue helmet. The Python Viper has a black helmet with a deep red, I'd almost say a blood red faceplate and goggles. These colors really work pretty well. I'm not sure if they're quite as good as the original, but these colors are excellent. That deep red and black go very well together. On his chest, he has a gray uniform with a couple black grenades. He has yellow highlights on his shoulders, on his chest, under his arms. And then he has this all over lattice pattern paint application that is supposed to be the radar resistant and infrared resistant camouflage. On the original Viper, it was clear he was wearing a vest over a blue shirt, but it's not so clear on the Python Viper because the chest and the sleeves are the same color. It looks like he's wearing a gray shirt rather than a vest over a shirt. On his arms, he has gray sleeves with that lighter gray lattice pattern paint application on them. And then moving down his arms, he has black gloves and black wrist padding. That black looks really good. What doesn't look so good is the lack of paint application on the inside of his wrists. Those straps were painted in on the original Viper. They are unpainted on the Python Viper and that's a big knock against it. On his waist, he has a yellow belt with a cobra belt buckle. He has some pouches and that yellow belt doesn't look too bad. It actually fits pretty well with the yellow running down his sides. On his legs, he has gray trousers, the same color gray as on the top half of the uniform, but that Python camouflage pattern does not continue to the bottom half of the uniform. We do get the yellow stripes down the side of his legs that go around his gray pockets. We round out the uniform with some tall black boots and those boots do have small knee pads. We will look at the file card in a moment, but let's take one more look at the Python Viper. This peculiar color scheme is part of the Pythonizing process, which is supposed to make the Viper invisible to radar and infrared. But he's got all this yellow on him, which makes him more visible to the naked eye. The original Viper's color scheme had some red in there, but this color scheme overall would have worked well for night missions. The whole point of Python Patrol is camouflage, but the Python Patrol Viper is less camouflage than the original. Let's take a look at the Python Viper's file card and the text of this file card is very similar to the original Viper's file card, but you might say this file card has been Pythonized. Anywhere that the original file card mentioned Cobra, they've just replaced that with Python or Python Patrol. Also, instead of the gray background, the Python Viper's file card has this orangey background that was used on all Python Patrol file cards. This top paragraph says the Python Viper is the backbone of the Python Patrol. He is highly motivated, superbly trained, and formidably equipped. Due to the Pythonizing process, this particular Viper is equipped with stealth-like capabilities whereby he can penetrate enemy areas undetected. There's an asterisk here and there's a footnote that describes the Pythonizing process. It says a process in which personnel and or vehicles are outfitted with a primary layer of radar-resistant blackball paint then blanketed with a thermal wave dispersal grid. Blackball paint is referring to a type of radar-absorbent material, or R-A-M. In the real world, aircraft are coated with ironball paint, which absorbs radar energy and converts it into heat. I don't know if that's ever been tried on a uniform, and I'm not sure it would work. Reading on, it says his combination rifle grenade launcher has been retrofitted with a passive infrared seeker, and the barrel rifling has been changed to accept hyper-velocity discarding ammunition. This top paragraph, where it talks about this particular Viper, almost makes it sound like it's talking about an individual rather than an army builder. However, the second paragraph negates that. It says, if you want to get anywhere in the Python patrol, you have to start out as a Python Viper. That's the bottom line of the pyramid, and serving in the Python infantry is a small price to pay to gain access to the glittering prizes at the top. The Python command doesn't reward success with parades and medals. They offer material wealth, power, and an outlet for the terrible urges that drive those who are greedy, envious, and cruel. If that doesn't make the Python Viper a dangerous opponent, nothing does. I am staying one step ahead of the Gorn, but he has an advantage. His species is known for its hunting ability. I do not wish to kill my enemy. Starfleet abhors all senseless violence against any alien species, even really ugly ones that are totally not bangable. A snake! It was so well camouflaged, I didn't see it. I nearly stepped on it. This gives me an idea. Perhaps if I can reconfigure my recording device, I can transfer the animal's natural camouflage ability to myself. It just might work. Now for the transfer. It worked! I've been Pythonized! Sound Patrol appeared in the later G.I. Joe animated series by Deke in Operation Dragonfire Day 4. The Viper does appear in that episode as well. Cobra Commander used the Dragonfire, a secret weapon Serpentor stole from a monastery to change animals into Cobra Warriors. Later he used the same device to alter vehicles and uniforms to form Python Patrol. He used the device to transfer animal traits to his weapons. This doesn't make a lot of sense. The whole idea behind Python Patrol is that their mesh pattern uniforms are resistant to electronic detection, such as radar and infrared. But snakes don't have those properties. In fact, you can detect snakes on thermal and infrared cameras. Python Patrol had a different origin in the G.I. Joe comic book. They first appeared in issue number 88. It was set in the border area between two fictional rival countries while Cuckuckland and Darklonia. That issue also introduced Darklawn, an associate of Destro. Both countries had purchased surplus G.I. Joe and Cobra equipment. The Pythonizing process was invented by Dr. Meinbender to make vehicles and uniforms invisible to infrared and radar. The Viper's refer to their uniforms as Wraith suits. Wraiths was probably a prototype name for Python Patrol. On their prototype file cards, the Python Patrol trooper was called a Wraith Viper and the Televiper was called a Teler Wraith. A Wraith is a ghost or ghost-like image of a person. Looking at the Python Viper overall, it is one of the better Python Patrol repaints. Python Patrol, like Tiger Force, is kind of hit and miss. Some Python Patrol figures are almost as good as the originals, but you have to keep in mind nothing in Python Patrol is original. They are all repainted older figures. And for that reason, it's nearly impossible for any of them to rate as high as their original version. Comparing it with the original Viper, the Python Viper stacks up remarkably well. The colors are dramatically different, but the blood red visor and the black details add plenty of depth and I can even almost tolerate the yellow. The original Viper wasn't all that well camouflaged, so the yellow doesn't make it much worse. I will say this figure sneaks into the middle tier. It is not bad for a Python Patrol figure. There are other Python Patrol figures that are much, much worse. There is so much still to explore about Python Patrol. We can only scratch the surface in this video. We will revisit this odd sub-team in the future. That was my review of the 1989 Python Patrol Viper. I hope you enjoyed it and fully, I hope you enjoyed this video dedicated to you, which was so long in the making. Jeff, thank you for your support. It means a lot to me. I encourage everyone to check out Jeff's work, his comic strip on nonstoppop.com, and his Star Trek The Next Generation podcast, The Dicast Enterprise. Thank you everyone for watching. I'll see you next week. And if you'll excuse me, I am still trying to not be eaten by the Gorn.