I'm sure we all remember the VIPER PIT set -- the six-pack of figures that featured five Cobra Vipers plus one more Viper, presumably some sort of officer, with gold trim instead of silver. For my money, one of the finest instant army-builders ever made in the G.I. Joe line, and I wish I'd had the money to get more of them.

So this morning, I had to do a little work on one of these Vipers that required disassembly. And the figure literally shattered. The upper torso practically crumbled. I couldn't believe it. I have NEVER had this happen to a G.I. Joe figure.

I inspected the figure further, and noticed that the knee joint peg for one of the legs had also broken, probably at some point in the past.

I do not recall reading at the time of these figures' release that they were especially fragile. I think the most I ever heard was that maybe the crotch piece was a bit prone to stress cracks, but not that the figure was inclined to fall apart. I'm scared to touch the rest of the team at this point!

Has anyone else encountered fragility to THIS degree on these particular figures? Was a different sort of plastic used on them? I'm wondering if the especially dry climate around here affected them (not that there's much I can do about that).

And, uh -- anybody got a really great, maybe even mint condition (silver trim) Viper from the Viper Pit set that they don't want that they'd be willing to mail in a well-padded box...?

I know there were issues with the crotch where there was a piece of flash or something that made it rub and break. Also the knees you mentioned were crap and one of the casters out there had replacements. But this is the first I've heard of a torso shattering.

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I have a bunch of the Viper Pit packs myself. They were an instant army-building set at a time when army-building hadn't worn out it's stay yet. So I must have at least 6-7 sets and I never had one of them shatter like you describe. Broken o-rings were the biggest problem which is common from those years.

The closest I have see to what you describe was a 1997 Commando Strike Team Snake Eyes that was still MOC. The o-ring appeared to have snapped in the package. Since the bubble was coming off the card a bit anyway, I just opened it up. The o-ring was fine. What happened was the screw hole peg that the o-ring wraps around broke away from the torso.

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I recently got 10 of these figs loose off ebay and when i set them up and put the back packs on everything was going fine till with out any effort the back cracked and i was like then very carefully set up the other 3 with out issue. so i share your pain. Guess being a viper can be stressfull...

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On mine, the shoulders kept snapping apart, like the rivets were too tight for the brittle plastic.

Not sure why I even bought them in the first place, since I haven't collected ARAH since 1986 - guess I thought they'd be compatible with the newer stuff at the time. I ended up tossing them in the trash.

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On paper it was great. The actual set, as you now know, is rife with problems, some going back to the 1997 kit-bash Viper/BAT parts and some new ones.




No, the crotch the same BAT one they had been using since 1997. It was the recasted "original" Viper thigh pieces that were too big for the waist joint. (They are too big for the original Viper waist piece, too, beware customizers!) This led to some fans sanding down the back of the crotch strip for a better fit. We'd have been better off if they'd just kept using the same 1997 Viper, thin thighs and all.

I think the o-rings being too tight can break the torso. "New sculpt" era figures seem to suffer from cracking chests, either from o-rings or the neck joint design. Night Creeper and Zarana are two of the worst offenders.

Sounds like there have been some problems, but none quite like mine. It was as if the plastic was (or had become) brittle. It does worry me for the sake of the others, but I suppose there's not much to be done for it.

I was glad that they remade the upper legs to look more Viper-ish, but I suppose they should've checked the fit. Honestly, though, I think it's a great set, but what happened this morning was very discouraging.

Still in the market for a replacement Viper, too...

I've got over 100 of those guys and the only issue i've found is the O-ring breaking.

Trekker, I've got an extra for you.

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Most of the set I got the o rings are broken, and had broke by maybe a year old.

My 2001 Cobra Commander had a similar issue. I keep o-ring figures in those clamshell snap cases. One day I was looking through and saw him in pieces. I thought the o-ring had snapped. But instead, it was the cylinder the o-ring goes around that had completely snapped out of his back.

I have to wonder how the pressure of the 97 neck mold changes has affected things.

I've never had it happen to a viper pit set viper, but I've had torsos shatter into pieces or develop cracks. Both vintage ones and ones from comic packs.

PA seems to be a strange area for Joes, because when these came out, I never saw them.

But, I did have a Special Mission Brazil Dialtone whose back "peg" that the o-ring hooks over snapped and the whole body crumbled. So, it's happened before.

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I can testify to the spytroops era having figs with cracking torsos, buth my zarana and switch gears had large cracks right down the middle

Never got that set though, i was purely a new sculpt guy at that time.

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When ever I try to customize figures of this era I find the screw threads in the torso are very weak and the torso rarely fits back together for long.

I think they used different plastics than the original figures.

I have 2 sets and haven't had one break like that on me. The biggest issues with mine, and with others, seems to be the waist issue and the problem with the head rotation.

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