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After having just studied the pics of the Zombie Viper for the first time, I think I will pick up a few. As you mention, some of the parts might come it handy. It might be useful to have a small army of the undead in this scale for Halloween or Marvel displays. I still think the name is horrible, though.
Zombies are only moronic if they don't fit your personal tastes - most of us think they're pretty cool, and I plan army building them (assuming Hasbro actually decided to make enough of them to be found on store pegs!) Now Toxo-Zombies...there's your moronic idea!
That's okay. You can have my share of them. lol
I've never cared for zombies in general because they aren't a logical threat. Either they're shambling, brainless hulks and easily defeated, or the plague or whatever that made them is so powerful there'd be no survivors to worry about fighting them.
The Toxo-Zombie is a rather corny idea itself, but it has a vintage counterpart (admittedly, it was in what was probably the last year any vintage Joe toy wasn't insanely stupid). But I always interpreted them as Toxo-Vipers who have been so contaminated with, uh, whatever the sludge is that they play around with that they're severely brain-damaged and suffering from a few dozen serious wasting diseases and at least ten forms of terminal cancer. And they get sort of pushed to the frontlines because they're even more disposable than BATs or any healthy human Cobra.
The Toxo-Zombie or cybernetic Zombie Viper I can buy. I can see Cobra punishing their washouts so harshly that they wind up as Toxo-Zombies, or incorporating dead parts into BATs, whether to save a few bucks on components or for the sheer gross-out effect. But raising the dead? That doesn't make sense to me; they'd be unstoppable if they could create and control zombies--particularly if the zombification is contagious.
It is a really nice-looking figure (would've been nicer in actual dead-flesh tones, but I can see why they went this route), but I'd prefer to have a Renegades Bio-Viper.
Of course, having typed that out, I find my eyes going back to the phrase "sheer gross-out effect," and I can totally see Cobra tossing some servos in a corpse for that purpose, and now I want the damn thing. :) I dunno about army building them, though, unless they throw in a running change at some point.
If you've seen the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex series (highly recommended, btw), then you've seen the usage of the term "remote corpse" to describe remote control the dead bodies that were used for nefarious purposes in one particular episode. I think that Sucker Punch also used scientifically reanimated bodies. The combination of MARS, Cobra, and the sinister work of Dr. Mindbender might be able come up with something like that. Despite that, I still dislike the name Zombie Viper.Quote:
Originally Posted by El Chuxter
If you're willing to buy into the fantasy of zombies (which I find to be the same as buying into just about any other type of fantasy - they're no less logical than say Jedis, or for the purpose of this discussion, an elite branch of a snake themed terrorist organization that all have the same face, the same job as accountants, and who all go by the name Fred) they can be all kinds of fun!
Oh, I plan to make some running changes of my own with these guys! It's going to be off the hook, the kind of customizing I'm planning on doing!Quote:
Originally Posted by El Chuxter
Is there still a Joe Q&A, and do we still participate?
There's a question that's bugged me for a very long time, and I'd love to get it asked:
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Hasbro has stated that they like to keep a small group of "core characters" available at all times. This usually is interpreted as being Cobra Commander, Snake Eyes, Duke, and Storm Shadow. And, so, we have gotten a lot of resculpts of these guys since the 25th Anniversary line started, many of them quite similar to one another. However, each of these characters (as well as other important characters) was released many times, in different uniforms, during the lifetime of the original Real American Hero line. Some of the uniforms are best left forgotten (orange mohawk Zartan, anyone?), but several are unique uniforms that would look outstanding re-envisioned with modern technology. Some of the highest-potential designs seem to be 1991 Cobra Commander (with the red mask), 1993 Cobra Commander (seriously, no hooded Commander in black yet?), 1991 Snake Eyes (with the "Jason Voorhees" mask), 1993 Snake Eyes (the first Ninja Force version), 1993 Duke (desert camo and the larger helmet), and 1992 Storm Shadow (black and white pattern)--and that's just those four characters, and not including possible figures based on comic-only or cartoon-only costumes (like unmasked Snake Eyes). What are the chances of seeing any of these (or other updated, unused vintage outfits) in the line, given that we'll be seeing these four characters in new forms as long as the line lasts?
Good question. I hope the 25th style of GI Joe figures is not abandoned for retail. The subscription figures are certainly done in that iteration.
Amazon.com has the Sky Striker jet for $22.99 right now.
If I had room for extras, I'd be all over that like Anakin on Padme. :lipsrsealed: