Japanese vinyl monsters: Bemstar?!

I'm almost positive this guy's name is Bemstar...does spelling count? Anyways...I've had a growing appreciation for Japanese vinyl monsters and figures for years. Problem is...MONEY! Damn, but these figures are hard to find for a reasonable price. I'm no expert...sadly...so the world of vinyl toys is very foreign to me. I've love more, but that world of collectibles is so seemingly vast to me, that I doubt I'd ever be a hardcore collector. I used to have a bunch of Ultraman monsters I had gotten sporadically in college. They were cool, but I ended up selling 'em to avoid further mania. Plus, they were more "realistic" in style. I really love these goofy, uber-colorful ones that often are not show-accurate or just generally kitschy in look. Bemstar is also an Ultraman foe. This one is made by Bullmark, I believe...and I'm not sure of the year. He's about 8 or 9 inches in height with minimal limb articulation.

Trust me...if these were easier to obtain (and cheaper)...I'd have a shit-load of 'em!

Weird, two-headed dinosaur...

A weird, two-headed dinosaur...it's that simple...I guess. Eh, I dig this stuff...what can I say? About 8-9 inches high, solid (well, hollow...maybe), vinyl. No manufacturer mark to be found, but probably made in the 90s or 2000s...who knows how many variations or version exist. I've seen others of his/her ilk before, but this is the only one I own of this kind. That's that!

Galaxy Rider

Looking through old, unused photos I had saved for blog posts is a tad confusing. Had to make sure I didn't redo any! Hey, my memory isn't that sharp these days.

Anyway, this toy is a Galaxy Rider. I believe they went by other names as well. Can't remember the manufacturer, but they were made in the 80s. Considered to be a form of Masters of the Universe knock offs or bootlegs...mainly since the rider has a very He-Man look to him...mainly the head. Kinda small, the figure is only a few inches high. Same scale as Dino Riders and Bone Age and such. I'm not sure how may varieties exist. I've seen bikes with dragon heads, lion heads, and bird heads. You press down on the front and it goes forward as is rises. Many came with weapons that attached to the side bike. Mine may not be complete. I do have a riderless blue eagle bike lying around. Some riders were caucasian while others were metallic like this dude...and flamboyantly dressed! I've seen riders decked out in giant collars and other garish garb...all metallic. Just a neat thing to have it you love goofball toys. I've never been super serious about tracking 'em down, but wouldn't mind getting a full collection some day.

TROLL VILLAGE by Marx

See this thing? Well, I actually no longer own it. Plastic playsets are cool...even cooler when they are vintage...and even cooler still when they are odd and distinctive. I mean, look at that damn box! You know this thing is boss just by the image on the package. Honestly, Marx made so many cool toys and playsets and things in the past (gee...are they even still around?), I find it hard to keep track. There's a wealth of information out there and tons of collectors of such things. Me? Not a hardcore Marx collector but at least a softcore fan. You probably hear about all the cowboy & Indian playsets and such before you hear about the Troll Village, but that makes the set even more sweeter!

I stumbled across this thing...uh...um...I actually forget how I learned of it's existence, but ended up paying somewhere in the range of 100+ dollars for it. Yeah, expensive for plastic junk toys, but I kinda knew I was gonna eventually sell it after I got my jollies from it. Yep, and I did get my money's worth and resold it...making out even, I guess. Eh, can't remember. Anyhow, I talked about it elsewhere on the internet, and now I'm gonna talk about it in retrospect, now that it's gone. Luckily, I took and saved a new batch of pics for just the occasion!

There she be! All set up! I don't have it in-hand to give you a measurement. The box was smaller than I expected when I first received it in the mail. I assumed it was the size of your average board game box, but it was only half the size. Almost the range of a carton form a model car. But, it was as big (set up) as I expected. The mat it sets on is paper. Most play mats for plastic figure playsets like these are made of a cheap vinyl or plastic these days. Since this set is form the 60s or 70s, it's kinda old. Antique, even! Note it's made by the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong. So olde timey! I'm pretty darn sure this set was about 99% complete. I think it was missing a tuft of grass, but that's it. Then again, I'm no expert. Look at that baby! WOW! So neat...tee hee hee hee!

Man, I just wanna shrink down and live in there...don't you? You get a slew of little figures, scenery and props. I'm not sure how this came packaged since mine was not mint in packaged...sealed on anything. Did you have to break the pieces off of plastic sprues like a model kit? Naw, it is hand painted by artists, after all, so I doubt it. Plastic baggies? Maybe. Who knows, for sho'.

The only piece that sorta requires some mild assembly is the big mountain cave thing. Comes in two halves. The rest are solid pieces...well, the house and barrels are hollow. Oh, and the cart's wheels move. Oh, and the trees need some work. So, I guess some assembly required. No paperwork came with this set aside form the paper mat is rest on. So mysterious! Oooooh! Aaaaaaah! Eeeeeee! Ayyyyyyyyy!

Damn, but I wish we got a couple more little houses with this thing. That one, plus the odd earthen hut (or hogan) are the only living quarters we get...unless you count the cave.

I don't quite know what the sculptor or designer was thinking. Man, I'd love to read some kinda interview> I'd love an inside scoop behind the creation of the Marx Troll Village. Troll dolls, themselves, had varying levels of popularity throughout the years...most recently in the early 90s. I was lucky enough to be and 80s baby and a 90s kid. I like to think I saw it all those days. Trolls were girlie garbage to me back then, but I couldn't shake the secret fascination that eventually grew inside me. Nowadays, I have much greater appreciation for kitsch than ever. Most of the trolls are recognizable as the trolls I'm familiar with. Other look like odd cavemen or something out of a Ziggy cartoon. The one looks like a Flintstone knock off with t tiny toucan on his shoulder! Jeez...so wonderful, this set. Why did I sell it? Oh...for money...to buy more new stuff! Ho!

Gotta love the odd fish that kinda looks like an alligator gar or something. The set comes with other lifeforms aside form the various species of trolls. There are weird donkeys (or mules or asses) but they may be meant to be horses since there is a road sign included which refers to a canyon of wild horses. There are also dwarf giraffes and humanoid elephants. Weird, huh? Just the way I like it.

Oh, and don't forget the camels! Such a diverse range of flora and fauna in the troll village. By the way, the trolls themselves are under two inches...a plastic army man can probably take 'em...or can they?

Two of my favorite figure sculpts. See? Indeed painted by artists! That hair is real, by the way. By real, I mean fake...fake scruffy tufts of faux fur glued onto their widdle biddy heads. Nice, huh? I had seen jumbo rubber version of the caveman type before on eBay...but I lost out. Crap! I forget how much it went for. When I sold this, I had hoped to one day find some loose troll figures...you know...just to have. I'd have loved that jumbo one. Some day...*sigh...some day......

Well, there's a parting shot of the whole gang. Troll Village...whatta place, no? I had my stay, and I moved on to other things. Neat playset to have, at least for a little while. Trust me...lots of other cool places to explore. I have no regrets.

*WHEW*...It's been a while!

Damn. It's been a time and a half since I updated this blog o' mine, huh? What...March? Yep. Soooo what happened? I dunno. Things...I suppose. You know how sometimes you just fall out of the groove of something and lose interest? That's sorta what happened. Plus, my personal life seems to get more and more lame and aggravating that I'm afraid of an outpouring of negative-ass crap. Eh, so totally emo, so I didn't want to log on and start venting about work or dumb stuff. Then, I suppose I just got out of the habit. I've meant to jabber about toys and stuff for some time, but...eh...like I said before: fell out of the groove. Anyway, found the courage to log back on. Let's see how long this happens.

LAW & ORDER

I know I had vowed not to get and of the Renegades figures from the G.I. Joe line...but I caved on this one. See, I had passed on this guy several times...kinda liked it, but "no". It grew on me every time I saw it. I had noticed some of those hard to find Joes trickling into certain stores...I wanted to SCREAM since I coulda got Airtight and Lifeline for retail! ARRRRRGH! Eh, oh well...what's done is done. Anyway, I got Renegades Law & Order since I though they just looked great and I didn't have a modern version of them. So, there you go.

Anyway...the character is not called "Law & Order". The human Joe is just "Law" and the dog is "Order". See? Not many animal characters have a true name, let a lone one mentioned right on the package front in the G.I. Joe line.

As you can probably tell, Law is a military policeman. See that vest, that honkin big badge, that helmet? Yeah, you did...you saw it all! Back in the day, Law was pretty much the same deal...aside from a new sculpt and general look. The new version has a full, modern vest and has an older, more wisened look to his fave. The older one looked happier and uh...younger. In the animated movie he kinda had a Hispanic-sounding voice. I haven't seen the episode of Renegades with the new Law yet.

Here's Order. Back in the day, Order was just a solid plastic doggie you could put a rubber leash onto. The new Order has a ball-jointed neck (articulation!) and a sculpted-on protective vest. Much more modern! The leash is attached to the dog head part...sadly...since it's made of the same hard material as the toy and not very flexible...kinda looks weird. Although Law is standard cool, both in terms of look and usual articulation, Order needed to be put into an action pose...in my opinion. Order is just sculpted standing and looking happy to see you...I want an attack dog to fight off Cobras! Eh, not that horrible, though...just sayin'.

Law comes with an array of accessories...two black guns, a billy club, and some handcuffs. Sadly, the cuffs really don't fit nicely on any of the figures. He also has two silver pistols...both can fit in holsters on his personage. The one has a removeable barrel, like that on the Cobra Trooper I talked about earlier in other posts.

Well, we may never get a true classic style Law & Order and a movie version is a mystery, so I'll settle for this one...they're cool enough for me!

WHO LET THE DOGS OUT!!! WOOF! WOOF-WOOF-WOOF!!!

Oh, and yet another Tomland alien...

Holla at ya boy, Zang! Yepper...another addition to my Tomland aliens collection. The last time I showed off some of these guys, I had scored some weapons (swords, to be exact). Now, I got one with a belt! Now I just need a gun for him to clutch. Anyhoo, Zang here has quickly made his way into my cold heart. Just look at the guy...er gal...or maybe it? Whatever...Zang's an alien, so who cares? Scope that head design. Zang seems so happy. Sure, he's got big ol' fangs and will probably lure you into his home and suck your innards out, but he'll do it with a smile! He seems to be wearing a visor or sunglasses...the big granny kind that fit over your normal glasses.That big honker looks as if it belongs on a character from the Doug cartoon, and his head or perhaps headgear looks like a cross between an old time judge's wig and a demonic pharaoh headdress. Neat. I like Zang...I like him a lot.

Movie Review: JOHN CARTER

Hadn't seen a movie in a while and ended up passing up a lot of interesting flicks, but HAD to see this one in theaters. The film is Disney's JOHN CARTER...which is based on Edgar Rice Burroughs classic pulp character.
Yeah, he was mostly famous for Tarzan, but John Carter was probably his second most well-known character. The tale is actually really old, too! We're talking before the 1920s! Yeah, it set the stage for sci-fi adventuring and inspired alotta future writers. I never got me that chance to actually read the originals, but had known about the character even before the internet age. I read and have read some of the various comics about John Carter. Trendmasters even made a line of Tarzan/John Carter toys back in the mid to late 90s...which I sadly gave up...but were still cool. Anyway, I dig the whole John Carter mythos, so I just HAD to see this right away.

It's Disney, so I always have a bit of a stigma for anything they put out. Eh, a lot of times it's uncalled for, but that's me. Hell, I loved Pirates of the Carribean! Well, thankfully, the movie stayed true to most of the original concepts and characters...I was impressed. They even kept a lot of jargon and stuff in the language...awesome. It's a movie, so I didn't expect them to get super detailed and heavily into all the subtle stuff surrounding the Barsoom mythos. Still, all the names, characters, creatures, races, technology...all there! Loved the characters...I mean, as always, anything can be better...but I was happy. A great action fantasy. I'd say sci-fi too...but that term kinda only sort of applies. Like the original Star Wars flicks, its truly more of a romantic action movie. Speaking of Star Wars...I really wish a movie like this would overshadow the market for such films and stories. I'm kinda sick of the Star Wars stuff. I really wish John Carter and the Barsoom chronicles would get big in a pop culture way. Sadly, the theater was not packed, even for a Saturday night. I'm sure John Carter will also be forgotten due to all the later blockbusters coming out in the spring and summer. Bummer! I really wanna see more. There is more...just not in movie form yet. I sure hope so.

Great flick...fun time...nice adventure...go see it! Maybe you won't be so keen on it as I, but I think it was a fine piece o' cinema!

Juyba "Space Riders" Bootleg

Remember waaaaaay back when I first started this damn blog? I rambled on about my love of Masters of the Universe knock offs, and my special love for the Spanish Jinetes del Espacio figures. This is apparently a bootleg of one of those figures. This is the second Juyba bootleg I own...did I talk about the other one? Jeez, I gotta check back! Anyway, the mold from the figure was totally lifted from the Juyba product except for the arms, it seems. Only thing? Although it looks to be fully articulated...it is not! The arms and head are separate pieces, but seem very hard to move. Typical bootleg crap! I still love it, though. It's that weird techo-Egyptian lion-leech guy, originally done up in red, with blue and green paint apps. This guy is done up in a pastel green, with fleshy head and arms (well, caucasian flesh)...with some blue paint apps. Makes me think of toothpaste for some reason!

Another couple o' Tomland aliens...

Even more for the pile! Yep, here are two more Tomland boys to show off. The first one is Haza, and the second is Newt. Haza uses the more detailed body sculpt, obviously...he's made to pretty much look like your classic semi-clunky sci-fi robot. Not that I'm complaining. I'm not sure if that weapon goes with him or not. As usual, so many versions...plus, my collection is in its infancy. Since these are considered a type of Star Wars knock off, it's almost a given we'd see a weapon somewhat like the light saber. Oh yeah, these are my first specimens of Tomland accessories! I'm pretty sure they are meant to glow, but mine don't really seem to...gotta look into that. Newt appears to be a robot guy as well, but he's a bit more organic-looking. You can see evidence of rivets on his noggin, little sensor ear thingies, and even a robot-like mouth. He has what appears to be a goatee under his chinny chin chin, too! Makes him more evil! Moo hoo ha ha haaa! Again, I'm not sure if that big ol' sword goes with him. I actually love that damn thing. Not very "spacey" or futuristic a weapon, but it just plain looks cool. I really like Newt's color scheme and overall look, in general. It's hard to pick favorites...especially at this point...but I'm leaning to this guy as one of my top faves.

ZOMBIE VIPER

FINALLY!!! I got me a mess o' Zombie Vipers, indeed! As you may know, if you either keep track of this here blog of mine or just read older posts...I've been hankering and moaning for these G.I. Joe figures for some time. Back when they were shown off at either some convention or toy show, and  saw the initial figure images online, I knew I had to have several! Being a fan of both monsters and G.I. Joe meant that the Zombie Viper character was right up my friggin' alley, baby!

These were supposed to be part of the last wave of new Joe figures for 2011. As some may know, G.I. Joe stuff nowadays can be hard to find...it depends...I won't bore you with the grim details, but I know I was scared of never finding even one of these awesome Zombie Viper figures. As the Christmas season drew closer and time seemed to burn down to the wire, my hope admittedly diminished. It had been a good while since finding a figure gave me that good old fashioned fanboy squeal of dork-angst. As the new year came and most stores reset their shelves, I noticed G.I. Joe had vanished from many Wal-Marts. K-Mart hadn't carried Joe for a long time, Target seemed to barely stock new stuff and/or only have tons of Renegades figures, and Toys R Us still had the same scant selection of mixed old figures as well. My own hometown Wal-Mart was the only store for miles that actually kept Joe on the new modulars! What luck, right? Wrong! I eventually found out the on-hand counts were wrong...they got fixed, though. I'm actually not sure if they got ordered, to tell the truth. At any rate, it seemed even Hasbro's own site hadn't had the last wave up to order, so I came to the conclusion that they were probably not gonna be seen in stores. I had kept tabs on the eBay front for a while...just in case...and eventually broke down after I found a seller with a bunch of the Zombie Viper figures for sale at about ten bucks apiece...not bad considering other sellers either wanted or were getting $15+ dollars for the damn things! Bah! I bit the bullet and got six from one reputable seller. Normally, I hate scalpers, but sometimes (I hate to admit it) they are a necessary evil. Anyway, after a near Hellish week or so of waiting...they were mine!

Okay, with that said and done...onto the figure review and showcase!

Up until now...eh...I really never bothered showing of the packaging on my new Joes...simply because I collect loose figures, so part of me has no real care for showcasing packaged toys. Also, I tend to have little patience...I usually rip 'em right open! Since I had six...by the time the last one came up, my patience had mustered and I decided to snap some still-packaged shots of the specimen. That she blows! The small scale Joes' packaging has pretty much stayed true over the years...at least with the single packs. Still has the ol' filecard on the back you can clip out. I actually stopped saving them, since they take up a lot of space when you amass 'em! Eh...if I need to look 'em up... there's always the internet.

Part of the other reason I no longer "clip 'n' save" is because the more modern Joe files don't have that old fashioned special feel to 'em. They don't do it like Larry Hama used to. If you can' see it in the photo...Zombie Viper's file reads:

ZOMBIE-VIPERS are COBRA infantry troopers who have been given a mysterious chemical substance, Compound Z, that has turned them into drones. Wiped of all thought, the follow orders mindlessly and cannot be reasoned with or sidetracked. They have retained their skill at combat; in fact, their desire to fight has been increased, making them more dangerous than before. In other words, they are deadly zombie warriors.

Eh...not too fancy...kinda straight forward in the character bio. Leaves a lot to the imagination, I guess. So far these guys are "toy only" characters and have yet to appear in any cartoon, comic, or otherwise...at least none I know of. One might think this is Hasbro's attempt to jump on the zombie bandwagon, but not really. Back in the early 90s, we got the Toxo-Zombie character...a Toxo-Viper infected by a mixture of chemicals due to a faulty protective suit. This new zombie character is actually purposely exposed to an agent and not created by accident...so maybe it is kind of an attempt at keeping up with pop culture...I dunno. 

The loose figure seems to use the same core body parts as the actual Cobra Trooper...torso, upper arms, thighs...so can we assume this is a Cobra Trooper exposed to Compound Z or is the filecard reference to this guy originally just being an agent of Cobra selected/hired for the job of becoming a Zombie Viper troop? I hardly think anyone would be willing to become a mindless drone...no matter how evil or crazy they are...uh, then again......hmmm? I like to think becoming a Zombie Viper is either a punishment for insubordinate troops or a "trick" assignment. Maybe Zombie Vipers to be are just captured enemies or civilians? Who knows? The mind boggles! One of the reasons I came to love this character. With no other media to explain a back story, the possibilities can pour out of your own mind!


The figure itself is awesome...arms, legs, and head are all-new sculpts...as are the accessories. Like many new Joes, this guy has removeable web gear...a tattered harness with ports down the back for insertion of Compound Z bulbs. I kinda wonder if they planned a typical rotted, gory zombie but pulled back when they realized that wouldn't fly on toy shelves. Part of me thinks the whole Compound Z thing was an afterthought, as was the odd bluish color scheme. It's neat, but I wouldn't doubt if the Hasbro designers were gonna make this your typical shambling reanimated corpse, but decided this more kid-friendly, mutated "living" zombie type would be better. You can see mottled flesh and festering boils, as well as exposed muscle tissue and even some bone. Veins pop out as well. I would love to hear some behind-the-scenes details or stories on this figure's creation and see if my assumptions are correct!

If you remove the web gear, you can see a big ol' Cobra insignia on the jumpsuit chest. There are also smaller Cobra symbols on the upper arms, but you can see them clearly without taking the gear off. My only gripe, sculpturally, is the decay pattern on the head...part of me wishes it was more generic so if you troop build, they don't all look the same. That was the problem with the old Toxo-Zombie. At least only part of the head stands out. Eh, oh well. If we hadn't gotten all those accessories, maybe alternate heads would have been sweet to have, but I'd rather the other parts and gear. 

You get a Compound Z bulb which is a blue container with a hose attached to it. This plugs into one of the four ports on the back of the harness and into the back of the containment helmet. The helmet has three small holes on the back near the base of the skull area. Interesting how it is referred to as a "containment helmet". Can we assume Compound Z is a gas and is forcefully administered into the helmet? I guess that means that if it goes airborne, we're all screwed! Maybe the fumes, or whatever, disperse quickly and need to be directly fed into the test subject. I would assume the effects of the gas a permanent? Eh?! Ooh, almost forgot to point out that the skin of the Zombie Viper on the card art is blue, while the actual toy is grey with blue highlights. Hmmm...interesting. 

On the prototype images, we saw a figure with multiple Compound Z bulbs attached...obviously, there's room for four (but only three helmet holes...d'oh!). I guess this was a cost cutting measure. The figure is still great as is, but if you wanna achieve that effect, you can do so if you decided to troop build as I have! Looks more bad-ass, if you ask me. Another note about the prototype...no blue highlights on the skin, and the jumpsuit was a much darker green as opposed to the faded military fatigues the actual product now has.  Funny how things change from their original conception. 

Last thing to talk about in terms of accessories are the alternate arms. Yep, Zombie Viper's lower arms can pop off and be replaced with these big tentacles! The little bits of tattered sleeves are separate pieces, so watch you don't loose 'em. Just replace the normal humanoid hands with the big mutated one. Presto! Mutated zombie! I guess we have to assume this zombie is indeed "alive", since I don't think dead matter could grow...unless Compound Z is magic juice or something. This thing reminds me of something outta the Resident Evil franchise. I'm not a huge gamer, but did play the first three or so games (or watched someone else do it). Didn't the T-Virus have different stages or something? Eh, can't remember...I dunno for sure. Anyway, with the weird helmet and the tentacles, this guy reminds me of a Resident Evil foe. I like to image that the more Compound Z a subject gets exposed to, the more mutated the Zombie Viper becomes. Neat! I wonder what a "final stage" Zombie Viper may look like!


You can see the arm and hands are sculpted to look elongated as if morphing into long tendrils...the skin on the arms seems to pull and tear as if dead and no longer able to contain the now mutated musculature beneath. Cool! The tips of the fingers turned tendrils resemble the ends of squid tentacles. Further proof of the inhuman mutative properties of the mysterious Compound Z.

One other piece of gear mentioned on the file is barbed wire. Barbed wire? We don't get barbed wire with the figure. I know several past figures came with a small coil of barbed wire, but not this one. Maybe it was planned, but cut out as another cost cutting measure, but never omitted on the filecard. Hmph! Eh...I can live with it. 

Now that I covered the Zombie Viper figure as is, I can elaborate on him. As you now know, the toy has the removeable web gear. It kinda ticked me off initially that the jumpsuit had the various Cobra sigils in it. This ruined the possibility of being able to make the character a non-Cobra agent. However...add some gear and accessories from other G.I. Joes and you get some very nice possibilities! Behold!

The arm insignias can be sort of overlooked, but you can cover up the chest insignia with web gear or armor from other Joes as well as add hats, helmets or other gear. Nice.

You can also pull the ol' head swap routine and make zombified versions of your favorite (or most hated) Joe and Cobra characters! You kinda gotta pick characters with no exposed skin...otherwise they'd look funny. Hey, quick, paintless customs! That's my bag, baby. 


......c'mon...you always knew Cobra Commander was secretly a zombie under that helmet, right?!


I had these toys for a good week or two before I posted this...I screwed around and played with 'em somethin' fierce before I talked about them here. These are really fun figures. I could just imagine all kinds of cool play scenarios. Man, how I wish I had these as a kid! 

Here's my little zombie laboratory scenario. Obviously, Dr. Mindbender's involved...since he's Cobra's resident mad scientist. Those other guys are Hazard Vipers. They were released a few waves earlier as sort of heralds to the coming Zombie Viper figures...they came with cases of blue bio-hazard canisters as well as backpacks that squirted water ("Compund Z"). The mysterious compound was even referenced on the Hazard Viper file card.

I don't imagine the Joe-verse zombies as being flesh-eaters...just violent as all Hell. There is never any mention of typical flesh eating on the Zombie Viper filecard, anyway. I also don't picture the usual zombie plague with these guys. I see Compound Z as being needed to be directed forced into a human to turn them. I don't really see any viral infection in regards to the Joe-verse zombies. I also imagine the process can be reversed as long as the subjects mind and body are not "too far gone". Hey, it's G.I. Joe! I was raised on the classic "quick fix" problems on the 80s 'toon. So sue me for being cheezy!

I don't really see the Zombie Vipers as proficient with weapons like guns...they are feral, close combat troops. I don't suppose they'd talk or anything like that either...hey, the are essentially mindless, after all. I kinda see 'em like the fleshy version of the Cobra B.A.T.s (battle android troopers), which were humanoid robots, cheaply made and essentially "machine guns on legs" that just fired upon friend and foe alike...completely unreasonable. I imagine the Zombie Vipers as being shipped in to clear out enemies in tight spots or bat cleanup in certain combat zones.

I kinda wonder if Compound Z, being the mysterious substance that is is, is just blue Kool-Aid. I picture the whole Zombie-Viper program as being orchestrated by Dr. Mindbender as some high-end mind control experiment and the supposed "compound" is really a placebo. Imagine if Mindbender wanted to prove that the human mind was indeed quite powerful, and that the test subjects actually willed their bodies into becoming these "zombies" just because they though the compound was real. Hmmm...a real "thinker", eh?


I also like to imagine another fanfic scenario where Compound Z is actually derived from Cobra-La mutation spores. Ever see the 80s animated movie? You'll know what I'm talking about if you did or do see it. I know most fans hate the animated stuff in general, but it would be a neat concept!

It's too bad the Zombie Viper figure seemed to have a very stunted release. So hard to find! Hopefully we'll get a re-release of some kind after the new movie toys had their stay. Maybe we'll even get a modified version in the future! I kinda wish they'd have gone with a zombie-themed subset in the G.I. Joe line...kinda how the did that stuff for the Pursuit of Cobra figures not too long ago...the jungle, desert, arctic, and urban themes. Wouldn't it have been cool to see a G.I. Joe biological threat task force or something to that effect? 


At any rate, the figure was worth the wait...and arguably the extra cost. Oh, who am I kiddin'? It wasn't worth the extra cost. Joe figures are already expensive! Still, I loves me some Zombie Viper.