NECA C.Viper Review

I actually ordered Crimson Viper and the Marvel Universe Mystique at the same time.  After I added Mystique to my cart, Amazon recommended NECA's C.Viper for about ten dollars.  I couldn't resist since I have Amazon Prime's free two day shipping.  I should have bought the Ken and Ryu toys when they were cheaper, but gone are the days when me and my friends would spend drunken weekends playing fighting games. 

In comparison when I see NECA toys in stores they are usually at least fifteen dollars and I've never seen the Street Fighter line in any name brand store.  Buying a NECA Guile, Ken, or Ryu from the same Street Fighter 4 line commands double, triple, or even quadruple the price of what I paid for C.Viper.  Sometimes I get lucky on BigBadToystore.com because they have some great bi-monthly sales.  I have to be quick about getting a figure  because BBTS is a popular toy website and stuff sells out fast. 

***FEEL FREE TO SKIP THIS PARAGRAPH.  DOESN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE ACTUAL REVIEW***

What I've found myself doing this year is buying the female figures for a toy line because they are a lot cheaper than the male figures. Female figures have the similar articulation and quality control as their male counterparts.  I also use the cheap female figures to gauge on whether or not I want to shell out the extra money to buy the main characters I really want.  This method worked with DCUC Power Girl who was only an amazing five dollars on Amazon.  I've gone on to own eight more DC figures, with most of those being female since they only cost around eight to twelve dollars.  On the other hand I bought a Play Arts Yuffie from Advent Children for only ten dollars on Amazon.  I really wanted the Cloud with motorcycle but he costs about fifty bucks.  Once I got Yuffie I was happy with the figure but I really can't see myself shelling out the extra forty dollars for Cloud.  I like to think of these cheaper female figures as an inexpensive sample of what's to come.  Plus I never noticed how many "male" figures I have in my collection. 

 

Here is C.Viper in box.  Trying to take a picture of her in box proved to be difficult because of the glare.  I also do not own a light box or have lights set up to take pictures just yet so please bear with me.  Having C.Viper in package did her no justice.  She didn't look too appealing and almost too dirty in some places.  The pose she came in looked like she didn't want to fight and had her staring off into space. 

 

 The back of the box.  Showing off some of Ryu's articulation in the picture.  The Ken and Ryu figures pictured actually have more articulation than C.Viper.  She has twenty-seven points of articulation while the guys have thirty-one. 

Bio card on the back.  I like how her fighting style is espionage.  I've never heard of that fighting style.  I must learn this secret art so I can be the number one Street Fighter!!!

 These images were on the side of the box.  Some of the cool poses you can put C.Viper in.  Too bad she doesn't come with any accessories like lightning or fire to simulate her attacks. 

 Here is C.Viper out of the box.  My goodness how bad that new toy smell was.  Almost made me gag.  This picture does her no justice as she looks much better out of box.  Because she wears heels and her feet are small it makes it hard  to have her in a standing pose.  I wish she came with bigger feet or some kinda stand so I would have to worry about her falling over.  I also had to crack her joints as the paint had made them all stiff except for her ankle rotation.  A quick warning about the figure for her left arm's shoulder rotation is a little loose.    It looks like I might be able to break it or snap it off if I don't move the arm at the base of the shoulder. It might just be my toy but a quick heads up anyway.

Articulation:  27 points!!! Let's see if I can list them all.
-Head is on a ball joint
-2 shoulder hinge joints?  I'm not sure what to call these just yet. (This counts as four)
-2 mid shoulder rotation joints.
-2 double jointed elbows (This counts as four)
 -2 ball jointed wrists
-chest has a joint right below her boobs to allow for ab crunch as well as rotation
 -Waist rotation
-2 sets of leg joints which allow kicks to the front or sides (this counts as four)
-2 double joined knees (this counts as four)
-2 ankle rotation joints.

Something's not adding up or I'm forgetting something, I'm sorry.  But yes C.Viper can do all these crazy poses just be careful to bend at the base of the joint to avoid breakage. 

 Size comparison time!  C.Viper is a little over seven inches making her taller than Henkei Optimus Prime!  Prime is confused at how a human got so tall.  C.Viper has really long legs meaning 3.75 in lines like Marvel Universe will only come up to about her waist.  If you're worried about shelf space she takes up about the same a Transformers Animated deluxe figure. 

***BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN HANDLING HER HEAD.  I'VE SEEN YOUTUBE REVIEWS WARNING PEOPLE NOT TO MESS WITH GLASSES BECAUSE THEY CAN POP OFF***
The paint applications are really good for a fifteen dollar toy.  Since she gets into street fights,har har, her figure looks a little dirty in some places.  Her hair has the best paint apps but I'll talk more about that in the following picture. 

I need to get some better lighting.  What you can't see is how each hair is sculpted and it's dirty washed with black to make each strand show.  I don't know painting techniques so I'm not sure if that's the real name for the technique.  But I really like how detailed the hair is.  My gosh does she have a lot of hair too.  It reaches from a little above her head all the way down to the tops of her knees. 

 These are C.Vipers only accessories. (Unless you count her sunglasses which can pop off if not careful.)     One set of closes fists to lay a smackdown on other fighters and one set of open hands to simulate her winning pose, grabbing someone, relaxing, or whatever comes to the imagination. 

 

"Why would you cut my hands off Batman???"

 "Daft woman you are just under the influence of my Yellow Lantern Ring!"

"Oh yeah well taste my punch!"

"Now a kick." 

 "Say uncle you jerk!"

"I win, time to adjust my gloves!"

For the ten dollars I paid this is an awesome toy.  I think C.Viper is the coolest new Street Fighter so it was well worth it.  Her biggest flaw in my opinion is how she isn't able to stand on her own.  I would imaging a figure stand would be cool.  I would have gladly paid full price for this figure but try to avoid paying anything over twenty five dollars if you can. 

COLLECTORS:  If you really love Street Fighter 4 then by all means pick this figure up.  I'm not sure how many C.Viper figures there really are but this one will not disappoint.  She can pull off a lot of poses but the lack of a stand really limits how to display her.  She does have peg holes on the bottom of her feet so doing some research is necessary to find the right one for her to stand on. This will also make a great gift to someone you know who loves street fighter. 

PARENTS: The bottom of the box says 3+ but I really wouldn't get this for a child under 12.  This figure isn't meant to be played with at all and I am almost certain a young child will lose her glasses the first day of rough play.  They may even break off a arm or leg after a week's worth of rough play.