 Hello everyone welcome to week three of Cobra Convergence. I hope you are enjoying the event this year for this week's episode I am reaching into the bottom of the barrel or really the bottom of the toolbox This toolbox contains the last of my childhood GI Joe collection It mostly just has a bunch of random parts and accessories in the last year or so of collecting GI Joe as a kid I did a lot of customizing with my friends. We didn't like the trend of bright colorful Non-military Joe's at the time so we made our own. We had a name for our own team the Wolverines That name was taken from the movie Red Dawn Okay, so we weren't the most creative. We also weren't very skilled customizers our Customizations mostly consisted of swapping parts around and painting them after going through all the parts in the toolbox I was only able to fully assemble one figure and that figure is the subject of this week's review Okay, Commander 788 here. It's time for another vintage Cobra review And let me start by thanking Chris Pierce for the title card image for this video And he is a Cobra Convergence contributor. He has his own YouTube show comic tropes Make sure you check out the Cobra Convergence video. He put up on Sunday July 8th I have to thank a supporter of this channel Byron Kellogg He has his own YouTube channel Joe motion videos 82 He does stop motion and toy reviews and he's been a supporter of this channel for a long time because of his support on Patreon I need to give Byron a codename. All right Byron This is a tough one. His name reminds me of Lord Byron and Kellogg cereal Lord Raisin bran. No, no, I've got it. He is the Rice Krispies Malaway Byronic viper. Thank you for your support Byronic viper as a kid. I loved GI Joe I played with the toys all the time and I tried to get as many of them as I could I was also into action and war movies in the 80s. I couldn't get enough of them They were exciting and to a kid they seemed realistic I wanted my GI Joe guys to be like the army guys in the movies and they often were but GI Joe always Included some fantasy elements some figures had crazy colors that would never work in the real world and the younger me Wasn't having any of it if Hasbro gave me a figure that was poorly camouflaged I would paint it a better color and that's apparently what I did with toxo viper I was never a fan of toxo viper. I loved figures like tunnel rat Footloose Falcon and stalker give me camouflage for that reason I was surprised that the only GI Joe figure from my childhood that I can piece back together was toxo viper That makes this figure special to me It's the only figure that I can hold in my hand now that I held in my hand 30 years ago HCC 788 presents the Cobra Convergence 3 review of toxo viper This is toxo viper Cobra's hostile environment trooper from 1988 This figure was first available in 1988 and was also available in 1989 and was discontinued for 1990 This was the first version of toxo viper There was one other version in the vintage era the 1991 version 2 toxo viper from the eco warriors subseries The look of version 2 was different from the first version, but some of the colors are similar You can picture version 2 as an evolution from version 1 Toxo viper continued a trend of giving Cobra highly specialized troops and adding the viper suffix to their code names In 1988 they got the astro viper the hydro viper and the star viper the year before They had the techno viper the gyro viper and the ice viper by 1988 They had a lot of vipers as a hostile environment trooper Toxo viper's most logical counterpart on the gyro team was airtight the hostile environment trooper from 1985 Airtight was discontinued long before toxo viper was released Toxo viper didn't have a proper gyro opponent until the launch of eco warriors in 1991 Then gyro had an entire team of hostile environment specialists You may have noticed that the toxo viper's dominant color is purple Cobra is mostly known for wearing blue But if they had a second signature color it would be purple in 1985 the televiper wore mostly blue But also had some purple in 1987 the techno viper was entirely purple with some silver as was the sea slug Cobra laws nemesis enforcer also purple in 1988 the hydro viper was very purple This was a nightmare for the poet vipers because nothing rhymes with purple Except for nirpal. There's a major difference between the toxo viper and his gi Joe counterparts instead of operating in hostile environments and cleaning up Toxins so regular troops can advance the toxo viper's job is to make the environment toxic That's a job. They may not be motivated to do very well. We'll discuss the reasons why later in 1991 the second version of toxo viper fit perfectly in the eco warriors set His specialty was a natural fit with the Cobra sub team that wanted to destroy the environment also in 1991 Cobra got these sludge vipers in the eco warriors line The sludge vipers would spray toxic sludge on their enemies unlike the toxo vipers who would Also spray toxic sludge on their enemies. All right. I'm gonna say it toxo vipers version 2 is redundant It's so great working for sesh pool. Maybe I'll get a driver septic tank Look at that sludge viper. I wonder what his job is Hey, toxo viper happy to have you aboard our team of eco terrorists Unfortunately, we'll have to change your codename Really? I guess that's okay Your codename is now Redundant viper. Well, that's not a very good codename You're redundant. Oh, I don't under you're fired Let's take a look at toxo vipers accessories and let's start with his helmet the contents of the card call this an Environmental helmet. It's a large Insectoid helmet that fits over the whole head it fits over the action figures entire head and actually attaches to the chest on A ring collar this helmet is very stylized and futuristic It is distinctive you can't mistake this for anything else though. It is bizarre. It is a special accessory It has paint which was unusual for gi joe accessories Not only does it have paint it has three paint colors This is one of the most colorful accessories we ever got next. Let's look at his weapon the card content simply call this a Pistol I don't know exactly what this is, but it is definitely not a pistol. There is nothing pistol-like about it It's a two-handled weapon and it has a wide barrel on the end here And it has a small knob here on the top near the back for the hose attachment although There's no description for what this gun does based on the toxo vipers job description I assume this gun shoots toxic gas from the tanks on his backpack next We have what the contents call an air hose Which is about four and a half inches of standard black flexible hose this type of hose came with a lot of gi joe figures It's pretty standard this hose connects the gun to the backpack There's a knob on the back of the gun where the hose connects and then again on the backpack There's a little knob here on the back and in the other end of the hose connects to that so now he can Fire toxic gas from these gas canisters on the backpack with his gun And finally we get to what the card content simply call a backpack without any further description But it has gas canisters on it So I assume they are filled with toxic gas that is sprayed by the gun It also has a couple tubes that reach up and around Toxovipers shoulders it looks like they could spray toxic gas too if that is the purpose of these top hoses You would really want your gas mask working well if you're gonna have toxic gas Spraying out that close to your head. Let's take a look at the articulation on Toxovipers He had the articulation that was standard for gi joe figures by 1988 Meaning he could turn his head from left to right and look up and down His head was on a ball joint. 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 so he could bend 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 so he could move at the torso a little bit He can move his legs apart about so far He could bend his leg 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 Toxovipers starting with his head on his head He's wearing a purple mask that covers his head and mouth his forehead eyes and nose are exposed And he has kind of a hooked nose He has painted Caucasian flesh tone and because the nose is exposed and the figure wears a hard plastic helmet You will have to watch for paint wear on the nose He has some molded-in details on the mask on his chest He has a base purple color and he has a ring collar that the helmet fits over On his chest. He has a device that is blue. I'd say that's kind of a turquoise blue Attached to that device on his chest He has some hoses that go over his shoulders and around his neck He also has straps that go under his arms and around his lower back And on that device on his chest. He has some wires dangling down This is probably some kind of breathing apparatus since his backpack doesn't seem to do that for him on his arms He has loose-fitting purple sleeves. He has red gloves with bubbles around the cuffs Looks like he wrapped bubble wrap around his forearms on his waist piece He has a molded in but unpainted ring around his hips This is probably where the top and bottom halves of the suit meet He has no belt on his legs. He has loose-fitting purple trousers with no other details on the legs He has tall black boots with blue ridges on the back. This suit is intended to be a hazmat suit It's supposed to be sealed to prevent any hazardous material or gases from getting to the wearer Since it is a hazmat suit the color isn't necessarily a problem real hazmat suits tend to be bright colors Cobra tends to not do camouflage very well anyway Gijos hazmat suits also tended to be colorful clean-sweep suit was bright yellow Even the earliest Gijos hazmat suit air tights was also yellow The file card points out that this suit didn't always do a good job of protecting the wearer before we move on I'd like to take a closer look at my childhood Toxoviper. I honestly have no memory of this specific figure Obviously, I had it and obviously I used it for customizing I must have thought the parts had potential but I didn't like the color the figure is covered with green Modeling paint which is mostly worn away now the head isn't painted Which probably means I put a different head on the body even though I don't remember this figure This is how I would expect to find it my friends and I we had pretty firm ideas about what gi Joe should be a Purple figure just wouldn't work for us. We liberally used modeling paint to cover the offending color You know sometimes people think I'm too harsh on these old toys Well, maybe but the fact is I'm much easier on them now than I was 30 years ago as a kid I was brutal on figures that were too sci-fi or too colorful if you think I'm harsh now It's nothing compared to how harsh I was at age 11 and 12 I've softened a bit on the weird stuff But I still prefer the grounded military themed gi Joe that hasn't changed in 30 years Let's take a look at Toxovipers file card His file card had his faction as Cobra and a portrait of the Toxoviper here and his helmet looks properly Weird in that artwork his codename is Toxoviper hyphenated. He's the Cobra hostile environment trooper This is not an individual character. This is an army builder So there is no biographical information on here It just jumps right into the description and this top paragraph says Cobra Toxovipers are thrust into battle situations Mainly to create a foul and unsuitable environment Thus giving the upper hand to Cobra seems like we're missing a step here exactly How does it give the upper hand to Cobra? Is Cobra more prepared for the hostile environment than gi Joe? Is that how it gives them the upper hand their battle suit is moderately airtight and resistant to most Solvents if the suit was made completely impervious to atmospheric dangers It would be awkward slow-moving and most importantly expensive Cobra leaders feel that Toxovipers should be encouraged to get their jobs Done as quickly as possible Unburdened by heavy and expensive equipment Do they really need to be encouraged to do their job quickly in a hostile environment? I would be pretty motivated to hurry even with the heavy and expensive equipment Cobra simply does not care about the safety of their own personnel This bottom paragraph has a quote. It says needless to say being a Toxoviper is not something a Cobra trooper Aspires to be in fact the assignment is needed out as punishment for major offenses The mere threat of being transferred to the leaky supergade is enough to keep even the most Upstreperous troops in line if you've already had discipline problems with these soldiers Can you trust them to handle hazardous material? I think Toxovipers would not be very well motivated The environment is not toxic when they go in and their job is to make it toxic And they're wearing a suit that may not protect them very well after they do their job So they should not be motivated to do their job very well Looking at how Toxovipers was used in GI Joe media He didn't appear in any animated episodes in his version 1 uniform He did appear in his version 2 uniform in the deek animated series He was in the same three-part miniseries that introduced the eco warriors I don't want to go into too much depth on that because it's really about version 2 I'll save that for when I review that figure. There isn't much to talk about anyway Looking at the Toxovipers appearances in the comic book series published by Marvel Comics His first appearance in the comic book is a little harder to pin down If anyone knows the exact issue where Toxovipers first appears Please leave a comment in this video. There is one issue though that is memorable to me After Cobra commander trapped his enemies in a landlocked freighter and buried it under a volcano The freighter was eventually opened up and explored A few people managed to escape. Most of the commander's enemies died How did they die? Not by suffocation or starvation According to the Toxovipers analysis They died of botulism which they contracted from eating old ham and lima bean sea rations The ham and lima bean was the most hated of all the sea rations Larry Hama the writer of the comic book apparently hated it so much He made it kill a lot of characters In that issue number 115 the Toxoviper is shown with electronic gadgets attached to his uniform Which is fine. I guess kind of makes sense The Toxovipers sort of fills the role he's intended to fill He's not making the environment toxic, but he is analyzing a toxic environment The Toxoviper would be needed for that role too In fact, he would probably be more valuable analyzing hazardous materials And making the environment safe for Cobra troops I mainly find this appearance amusing because it shows Larry Hama must have really hated the ham and lima bean sea rations Toxoviper was on the cover of special missions issue number 20 He was in the gunner seat of the Cobra wolf In that issue he fires the wolf's missiles I don't think they needed a Toxoviper to do that By the time Toxoviper was released Cobra had many specialized vipers It's not surprising Toxoviper didn't get a lot of attention Looking at Toxoviper overall, is this a top tier figure? No. Is this a middle tier figure? Also no. I always struggle to find a place for this guy He fit fine in the eco-warriors line, but I was out of GI Joe before that was released Aesthetically it seems like it's missing something I don't hate purple per se, but this shade of purple seems a little weak Compare it with another purple figure, the Toxoviper, and the Toxoviper just doesn't measure up The Toxoviper has layers of purple, including a darker shade that is enhanced by the silver highlights The Toxoviper just doesn't have that You know what else is missing on the Toxoviper? A Cobra emblem I did not notice that until just now So why is this figure underrated if it's not a great figure? It's underrated because for me it's a survivor As kids we didn't just collect GI Joe, we played with them We played hard, we were not easy on our toys We didn't intentionally destroy them, but we expected them to endure tough battles When the figures didn't meet our standards, we changed them We draped camouflage cloth on them, we painted them green and brown and black We swapped the parts around, we deconstructed them and created something new Maybe in all that creation we lost some of GI Joe We were just trying to hold on to something that we loved While Hasbro was spinning out toys that just didn't fit in our imaginary universe Somehow Toxoviper survived He came from the toolbox, he came from leftover parts All the pieces in the toolbox are pieces of my childhood They're the last remaining evidence of how important GI Joe was to me at the time All the toys I've reviewed have been toys I've purchased as an adult None of these guys survived Toxoviper is the only one that made the bridge from one era to the other That's why Toxoviper is special to me If you're watching this, you probably played with GI Joe toys What happened to your childhood toys? Do you still have them? Do you have a lone survivor like my Toxoviper? Are they all gone? If you could have one back, which would it be? That was my review of the Toxoviper, I hope you enjoyed it Cobra Convergence 3 marches on This week we have some incredible creators bringing you Cobra Convergence video We have two returning creators from Cobra Convergence 2 and one new one On July 18th, you will be getting a Cobra Convergence video from GI Joeberg I love those guys And on July 20th, Strident will give you a Cobra Convergence video I'm thrilled to have that guy back for another year Then on July 21st, you will get a Cobra Convergence video from Retro Blasting I'm thrilled they jumped into the event this year Make sure you watch this space to see which Cobra Convergence videos are coming up next You'll be getting Cobra videos all month You can find me on social media, on Facebook and Twitter You can support the channel on Patreon And you can visit my website, htc788.com For an index of all my GI Joe review videos Every week I'm asking you to make your own Cobra creations And send them to me so I can put them in my videos Every week I'm doing a montage of your Cobra stuff Just send me an email at this email address right here And make sure you put cc3 in the subject line Check out all these fantastic contributions to Cobra Convergence I hope to hear from you soon I'll be back next week with another vintage Cobra toy review And until then remember, only Cobra is Cobra Make sure you watch this space to see which Cobra Convergence videos are coming up next You'll be getting Cobra videos all month Make sure you watch this space to see which Cobra Convergence videos are coming up next Hello everybody I'm Cyber Tiger here I heard about an event that HCC788 put together Cobra Convergence 3 And I was so excited It brought me out of the time And I'd like to share with you as part of this amazing event the action force version of the Cobra with action force, the British G.I. Joe. Cobra with the enemy. Convergence. So here we have the box. Of course it comes completely with the ice flipper. Very nice looking figure. It's just some other side of the box. Final card there of the ice flipper. So this is my contribution being ever so humble to Cobra Convergence 3. I'd like to say that the G.I. Joe community as a whole is awesome. And what a crew HCC has assembled for this third Cobra extravaganza. Bigger, better, badder. To quote WrestleMania 3. Well done guys. Have a great time. You've got an amazing crew together there, Hoodster. I'd like to wish all of you the very best of luck. You all deserve it and I hope your channels continue to grow. And in closing I guess I can only say all hail Cobra. God bless everybody.