2002.
OK, I only like the old ARAH sculpt figures and I am curious which of those you like best so I only picked them ARAH figures for this poll. I'm almost done with the figures from all the years, next are the teams and conventions followed by the vehicles.
I'm not planning to make polls for any other Joes like new sculpt, Sigma 6 or 25th Anni so if people want polls for them, feel free to do so! I won't!
Convention figures are not in.
Let everyone know what figure you like best (and please explain why)!

http://www.yojoe.com/action/02/

Tim 121RVC

I don't expect much of a contest here: Shock Viper v1.

I like the orange & yellow Ice Cream Soldier, but Shock Viper is something we don't usually see: a Joe repainted as a Cobra. Of course, the entire head being a helmet makes this an easier transition

No question about it -- SHOCK-VIPER, the first version. I'm no Ice Cream Soldier hater, but that overall uniform design was very well suited to being a Cobra trooper, and it worked out superbly well. The second version of Shock-Viper honestly looked a little too much like ICS, though.

Close seconds would include the BJ's Fast-Blast-Viper, cool color scheme on an interesting "frankensteined" trooper, and Skullbuster, which gave us an interesting new character and an interesting new color scheme on an existing mold that really needed a new color scheme.

(Edit) -- Oh, yeah, the blue-purple Viper was pretty impressive, too!

I like the Shock Viper figure quite a bit. It was a the way that all ARAH repaints from 2000 on should have been done. However, now that we're a few years removed from it, I realize that I don't use any of my Shock Vipers any more. And, while they're well colored, the bluish-purple doesn't really blend as well with many other Cobra army builders or vehicles. So, they often stand out too much for my taste.

As such, my choice is the Serpentor figure. Bar none, this is the best version of Serpentor ever released. The metallic tint to the cape makes it look like chain mail. And, the dark colors make him more menacing than gaudy. This figure made Serpentor relevant to my collection again and is the one figure from this list that I consider imperative to any collection.

(And, considering that he was probably produced in lower numbers than convention army builders, I still consider this Serpentor and the Shock Viper to be largely underpriced.)

_________________

Hindsight is 20/20 I guess...I clamoured so much to get these and while looking at this list, there wasn't a single figure that popped out at me as an obvious choice.

For me, it came down to Shock Viper or Slice. The colors are nice, but even after 2 releases I still see the Ice Cream Soldier mold as a Joe. Ice Cream Soldier is one of those guys who adds a lot of head-scratching enjoyment to the line. And to see him changed into a Viper with a redundant specialty wasn't something I was too thrilled about. Cobra flamethrower troopers are Incinerators.

But looking at Slice, I know that the character is said to have been one of the Red Ninjas. And in one of the Ninja Force battles with Red Ninjas in the comic, they were depicted with a lot of grey. For that reason, I think that it adds some value to the mold. I can't figure out if I like to think of it as Slice's Red Ninja outfit or if it is better as a Red Ninja army builder that Slice would naturally look like. But either way, it is a good repaint.

Some pretty good repaints this year, I like a lot of them.

Alley Viper V6 (red) got my vote. I love that red, it somehow emphasizes his coolness. A fine combination with the grey, black and the few white stripes.

BJ's Cobra's were all repainted in a beautifull way, but some of them seem to lack the right equipment despite their "purpose".
Fast Blast Viper, why do you still have these rocket holders on your boots if you don't have the rockets?
Undertow, where's your diving gear?

BJ's Firefly looks very terrorist, actually more like an average terrorist trooper, the way his mask is different from the outfit. They could function as Firefly's men.

Shock Viper is indeed very Cobra. Too bad they only gave him the flamethrower, but not a hose and backpack.......

Purple Vipers work as Vipers by night. The purple + black suits them for that kind of work.

Tim 121RVC

The Serpentor figure is well-done, but its still Serpentor, and thus fails. I do like the Shock Viper, but I like the red version better. Passed on the poll.

I went with the blue/grey Alley-Viper. The Alley-Viper figures had always been cool design-wise, but prior to that point only the 1997 version had a non-neon color scheme (and the 1997 version was only available with the Rage). Of course, I would prefer that the figure didn't use the Duke legs and came with a better gun, but at least Marauder Inc. has solved the gun issue.

I actually think that Shock-Viper v1 is more of an improvement over the previous use of the mold, but I don't use that figure much and therefore decided not to give it my vote.

I also feel that Serpentor was an outstanding update.