The years 2000 through 2002 were somewhat odd ones, for both G.I.Joe and Cobra. The figure supplies were fairly minimal, and Cobra seemed to especially suffer for a lack of troopers. Although we would see recolored versions of Cobra Commander, Major Bludd, Destro, Zartan, and other notable characters, the trooper offerings were a little on the peculiar side. We had new versions of the Laser-Viper and Rock-Viper, the latter a recolored Range-Viper, certainly a strange choice, and one of the most interesting new Cobra troopers, the Shock-Viper, was part of a final assortment that almost didn't come out! Times didn't seem to be very good for Cobra.

But there was one interesting new Cobra trooper, that even though he, like everyone else during these years, used previously established molds, had an interesting name and an interesting enough look to him, managed to rise above the crowd a fair bit, at least in my opinion.

This was the FAST BLAST VIPER. He came out as part of the 2001 assortment of figures.

Described as a part of Cobra's "Field Combat" division, the Fast Blast Vipers' specialties included Hand-to-Hand Combat, Field Weapons, Martial Arts, Demolitions, and Night Recon. Yeah, there's someone you want to be on the wrong side of.

Their file card went on to say that they were equipped with specially designed battlefield bazookas (like there's somewhere else you'd want to use a bazooka!?), and that each Fast Blast Viper was trained with withstand excruciating battlefield conditions and obey every order given to them by Cobra Commander.

As if that wasn't enough, to make them even more formidable, each Fast Blast Viper has a computer chip implanted at the base of their skull to neutralize any fear-like emotional response to attack, while enhancing their aggressive tendencies. Oh, yeah -- here's someone you want to tick off...

The figure used the body molds of the original HEAT-Viper, a figure released in 1989. He also used the weapons, since the HEAT-Viper was another character that used a big whopping bazooka-like device -- and this was in the days before spring-loaded accessories.

The color scheme was dramatically different, however, which I believed sincerely helped the Fast Blast Viper attain a certain independent identity. Whereas the original HEAT Viper's uniform was a rather bright yellow-orange with dark purple trim, the Fast Blast Viper's uniform was black, with dark grey and pale grey trim.

This was in keeping with the practice at the time of using more subdued color schemes in G.I.Joe, since some of the brighter colors that had cropped up in the later years of the line hadn't always been well-received by the fans and collectors. Cobra could arguably get away with a more extensive color scheme than G.I.Joe, since Cobra was an entirely fictional organization, as opposed to G.I.Joe being technically tied to the United States Armed Forces, but during these years, even Cobra kept its color palette a little more under control.

Even better, in my opinion, since the Fast Blast Viper's uniform was predominantly black, it escaped the highly annoying practice that cropped up all too frequently during this time of "weathering" a figure by smearing watered-down black paint on it.

The head used for the Fast Blast Viper was not that of the original HEAT Viper, although that head would turn up some years later when the HEAT Viper joined the second incarnation of Python Patrol, and in a color scheme that -- Python patterning notwithstanding -- was actually not too far removed from the Fast Blast Viper.

The head used for the Fast Blast Viper was actually that of the Undertow figure, a diver figure originally developed for Destro's Iron Grenadiers, and later used for a second Undertow figure that was assigned to Cobra during the 2000-2002 run. It was a fairly basic-looking head, basically having the appearance of a head with a mask pulled over it, leaving only the eyes exposed. Of course, for Cobra, this worked perfectly.

The Fast Blast Viper's uniform was, as I said, black, with pale grey ridged stripes running down the front and the sleeves, and painted on the back, as well. The leg straps and holster were painted pale grey, with a silver gun showing from the holster. The shoulder straps, belt, and gloves were painted dark grey, and the boots were a mixture of pale grey and dark grey.

Almost impossible to see on most Fast Blast Vipers, since it probably should've used a more color-intensive paint or ink or whatever, is a red Cobra emblem on the forehead. Unfortunately, stamped on black, it doesn't show up all that well.

There is actually a second version of the Fast Blast Viper out there, something that certainly didn't happen with a lot of characters specifically from the 2000-2002 era. This second Fast Blast Viper was part of an exclusive eight-pack of figures that was released to a warehouse store. The four Cobras in the set, which also included an Undertow, Storm Shadow, and easily one of the most strangely-colored versions of Firefly ever, all had red as the dominant color of their uniforms.

In the Fast Blast Viper's case, his former light grey and dark grey trim was now mostly black, although the center stripe on his uniform, as well as the arm stripes and the gun in the holster, were metallic gold. Interestingly, the stripe on the back is missing entirely.

And this time, the Cobra emblem shows up very nicely, imprinted in white on the red face mask. It's a very cool second version of this impressive Cobra trooper. Just for myself, I've designated this red-uniformed version to be the Fast Blast Viper Commander, since presumably he's fewer in number and harder to find than his more widely-sold counterpart. However, that's just something I did, Officially, he's strictly a second version of the Fast Blast Viper.

On the whole, though, the Fast Blast Viper is a cool and impressive addition to the ranks of Cobra. His color scheme (either one of them) is different enough from the original figure molds used to set him apart, and certainly the head makes him look different.

The COBRA FAST BLAST VIPER is a true highlight of the 2000-2002 series, and of the Cobra organization in general