SAW-Viper is a figure that came out after my era, so he was never particularly high on my want list, but the rendering of this guy looks pretty good to me. They beefed up the character’s tactical gear and armor, but the wacky colors and sci-fi helmet kept it firmly rooted in the heightened world of Spec Ops. Let’s take a look at the GI Joe Confidential SAW-Viper!
The SAW comes in the new standard box, and the thing that reminds me the most here is that the rendering of Doc’s helmet in the lower right corner is a bit messy, since the SAW Viper is the one that kills Doc (among others). 》Issue 1.
The Viper comes equipped with a large rifle with a detachable mini chainsaw, a pistol, a knife, detachable helmet, backpack, and bandolier. This rifle is not what I would normally consider a SAW, but I’m not really a shooter either. It’s set up more like how they made Roadblock’s rail and gatling guns earlier in the Classified series, with a large, almost wand-like grip and an articulated stabilizing handle for two-handed shooting.
The weapon has a detachable mini chainsaw that mounts to the gun like a bayonet. The chainsaw/SAW-Viper is a little trickier, but I like that kind of thing. Plus, it can be used as a short sword, which is fun.
The gun has a detachable purple ammo box that feeds via a belt attached to the backpack. Again, I’m not a shooter so I’m not sure if attaching both the bandolier and the ammo box is the right thing to do, but it looks better to me so I kept it.
The pack looks like a reuse of the recent Tiger-Force Roadblock, and it works very well. The gun can be attached to the pack near the chainsaw hole on the Barricade M2 stand, but it looks silly since it’s not designed for that, and I wouldn’t recommend it as it makes the chainsaw attachment a bit loose. I do wish Confidential would have included some soft plastic slings for these larger guns.
The knife and pistol are made from solid black plastic, fit nicely in the hand, and come with a scabbard and holster.
The helmet fits pretty securely and the position of the helmet can be adjusted to your liking so you can push it lower or higher depending on your preference. I love how the bright neon green contrasts with the purple outfit. The helmet does interact a little with the removable collar, but it’s also soft and unsecured, so there are some flaws there.
This guy’s sculpting skills are amazing. I like his overall super armored look and how they made another balaclava head in a way that’s interesting and different from the others. The open mouth with the audio headset gave me a generic action movie horror vibe that I wouldn’t mind seeing again on another character.
I like the overall “tank” feel of this armored look, but you can remove the collar, shoulder pads, and forearm guards to get closer to the V1 SAW-Viper. As an army builder the customization options appeal to me, I think I’d like a bit more to swap out the armor and offer smaller weapons like the Big Ben rifle and have one heavily armed like a heavy soldier .
Articulation is a fairly secret standard, except that there is no swivel mechanism in the trunk. The rest of the action is fine for such a big guy. The waistband is separate from the tank top, so you get better abs crunch and back lean than I would expect from such a bulky piece of clothing. The helmet does interact with the collar, but even if it didn’t, his neck range of motion isn’t very great. I did notice that I feel like this gun is better suited for a lefty since his right wrist hinges up and down and to the left in/out. This allows you to move your right arm more towards your body but articulate your wrist for a better grip on the support handle.
The paint is standard stuff, although I think the Cobra symbol on the black area on mine is a bit misplaced, and there’s a bit of flesh-toned paint spillage on the tip of his communication device. These errors are less important in hand, but will show up more on close-up photos.
Although I tend to associate this soldier with one specific SAW-Viper, the customization options make it a great army builder. I love the overall effect of the clunky armor and guns and the shocking purple color. I think the only thing missing is a more specific character portrait that I would have liked to see added, with a bit of an evil smile to represent Joe’s most infamous SAW-Viper in history. I think for those who are super fans of the military aspect, a gun that looks like a real military saw might be a good choice.
