#774 G.I.JOE – SUB-ZERO, STRETCHER and ROCK VIPER (1990)

Interestingly, this is the first entry dealing with G.I.Joes from the 1990’s wave (which made number 9). This wave is considered by many to be the last greatest on the ARAH era.

The reason is simple, the main series (that is, leaving out sub-teams like the Eco-Warriors or the Air Commandos) are figures with great sculpts, nice paintworks (many colours in the same figure) and realistic colours. You probably know that G.I.Joe fans are sometimes quite purist when it comes to flashy outfits and strange filecard stories.

Subzero is, in my opinion, one of the best figures in this series: immaculate white uniform, lots of accesories and nice story/filecard. It looks like a real snow trooper, very realistic, some might say.
The small grey missiles and the rifle's bipod are often missing due to their size. The backpack can carry the rifle.

Stretcher, on the contrary, is one of the figures I dislike most in this series. It is supposed to be a doctor, like Lifeline or Doc, but the uniform is strange and the accesories are quite ridiculous (some kind of air skiff to cross swamps and water surfaces). The mini-vehicle has fragile "legs" and the control bar and plastic windshield are also very easily broken.

Rock Viper is considered one of the most interesting Cobra troopers and is usually among people´s favorites. I like very much his rock camo and climbing accesories (the rifle is unfortunately oversized), but I think Hasbro should have released it without moustache. Many people armybuild it, and it looks bizarre when every guy in the troop has one. This figure has a very fragile crotch.

Something most people don't know about Spanish filecards is that starting in 1990, many filecards have been rewritten an tell completely different stories from our favorite heroes. One example here i Stretcher/Tórax, whose story is all made up. Not a single fact from the original filecard has been respected.

In the case of Syb-Zero, only the name and birthplace have been changed.

The translations are also sometimes not 100% accurate, but what I meant in the previous paragraph is not a translation error, they are completely new stories. This makes Spanish cards somehow very interesting for other international collectors.

EXTRA: More pictures of loose figures

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: SUB-ZERO, STRETCHER and ROCK VIPER
• Alternate Name: BAJO CERO, TÓRAX y VÍBORA DE ACANTILADO (Spanish)
• Toy Line: G.I. Joe (Wave 9)
• Year: 1990
• Company: Hasbro (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: 9,5 cm (3 3/4'')