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.
