Head: 25A Serpentor
Torso, arms, upper legs: Resolute Roadblock
Hands: DC Infinite Heroes- Bizarro
Lower Legs: 25A Serpentor
Feet: Thor- Frost Giant


Design:

The 1993 Monstro-Viper and its sister figure, the Bio-Viper, are perfect examples of the ARAH line jumping the shark. Oversized and silly, they didn't look like they belonged in the same toy line as other GI Joe figures. They were supposed to be Dr. Mindbender's scientific handiwork. The genetically-enhanced schtick was better handled years later by Hasbro during Joe's NS era, in which altered Cobra Soldiers were altered to have animal attributes. In the NS figures, the "venomized" characters had some gimmicks (like the translucent "Electric" Eel), but did so without having their human proportions changed. That's comparative, as most NS figures were poorly proportioned in one way or another.

With this figure, I'm taking a more nuanced "venomized" approach with the reworked Monstro-Viper. The oversized feet provided a bit of height and deformed brutish appearance. Otherwise, the figure is a large-but-normally scaled modern era figure. The horns, demon face, and hair tufts are gone, but the armored/bionic hand and neon eyes stayed. For those of you who like the ARAH Monster-Viper in its ten foot glory, see this custom as a proto-Monster-Viper.

Colors & Paints:

Based on the '93 figure. The skin is mottled dark grey instead of straight black. I considered changing the pants to Cobra blue, but the orange makes more sense in some ways. Maybe the Monstro-Vipers were inmates used for experimentation.

Sculpting & Modifying:

The arms were extended at the wrists to balance out the oversized hands. The hands were glued and blended to the arms. The armor on the hand is sculpted.

Dedication:

This figure is dedicated to the memory of late brother-in-law, Ryan, who lost a brutal battle against cancer. Though not a GI Joe fan per se, he loved pop culture, particularly gaming and miniatures. The Monstro-Viper is a character reminiscent of the medieval fantasy creatures he liked. It seems only fitting to dedicated a GI Joe figure to him.

Ryan's painting of miniatures was rock solid, a skill I was happy to learn that he shared with his father. Ryan painted things like Warhammer and D&D-style stuff, whereas his father skillfully painted miniature metal soldiers of the Civil War. It's not that they painted different things that matters, but that they both painted as a hobby. Sometimes our silly hobbies are what define us and link us to others. I'm sorry that you won't get to paint anything else, Ryan.

Thanks for looking.

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