Sometimes things get overlooked because you can only bring yourself to focus so much when you're glancing over a bunch of crap. GI Joe: Rise of Cobra featured some toys that caused such deep and reverberating distain that many wrote off much wrote off the line as being unworthy of their time and money (although, to be fair, some always do this). For example: Pouty-lips Snake-eyes, Oversized spring-loaded crap everywhere, and it's not like Tatum Channing made Duke any more likeable.....
I'm sure most everyone looked at the Tiger Snake with that same distain, after all, with it's rip-attack launcher it was clearly intended for kids rather than collectors or army-builders. This is unfortunate given that it's a unique little vehicle that is sort of unique and has a plausible purpose. Plus, it's driver, the Street Viper, is a stripped down version of the ROC Elite Viper, which is my favorite army builder of the ROC line. Just pick up a sidearm and a few other goodies at http://www.marauderinc.com/servlet/StoreFront and you're golden.
Let me be clear, in my opinion, this toy is not really worth the $15 normal retail price. However, I found two at TRU for $5 each which was a really great bargain. Now that these toys are over a year old, it might be hard to find that way, but you never know. If you find them for under $10, you might want to consider picking a few up. If I could find a stack of 10 for $5, I would pick up all 10 just for the Street viper since it fits my idea of the "faceless" Cobra army-building I gravitate towards.
Once you possess it , it's hard to notice the potential until you take the launcher and set it aside. By all means, annoy the cat with it's RIP ATTACK functionality a few times before doing so, if you must, but then put it away. You probably won't want it again after five minutes of using it as the manufacturer intended.
The box comes with the vehicle, the Street Viper, the ripcord, launcher, instructions, and a pre-cut file card, which is a nice touch. What the whole thing lacks, however, is some sort of blueprints that gives us a brief run-down of what all this means. This entitles me to make my own:
In case the print in the images are too small, I'll list them out:
Overhead View:
1) Battery heatsink/Road Ploy
2) Diagnostics access panel
3) Main battery cooling system (armored)
4) Steering rack guard
5) weapon release/ammunition feed actuator hatch
6) Access hatch
7) Instrument panel
Side View
1) 40kw driveshaft mounted DC electric motor with regenerative breaking.
2) 2x 15kW driveshaft mounted electric motors with regen breaking
3) .60 cal machine gun with active cooling
4) Ammunition belt and can, 210 rounds
5) Steel reinforced canopy
6) Lithium/polymer composite body
7) Recoil limiter
Weight full: 1435lbs
Weight empty: 1200lbs
Top spd: 125mph
Accel 0-60: 4.1 sec
Accel 60-100: 8.5 sec
Range: 110 miles
Recharge time: 2.5 hours
Some of you may notice that overhead #2 looks conspicuously like a gas cap and ask why I made this an electric vehicle. After all, a gas-powered vehicle would have made this thing much cheaper for Cobra to field and support logistically, but given the space constraints I didn't see where there was room to fit anything more than a very small single-cylinder motor in any place you would think a gas engine could have been placed. The only really significant spaces on this small vehicle are the small areas above the drivers legs and in the wheels themselves, which to me limits this to some sort of advanced electric design, which I took the liberties of adding regenerative braking to. Think about it, three independent motors located in the wheel housings, allowing the rotating wheels to act as a cooling mechanism. Furthermore, electrical engines have a distinct advantage in low-rpm torque allowing for better acceleration and maintenance is more simple. Plus, three engines provide three wheel drive that give it great traction against various road hazards.
The Tiger snake is powered by two sets of batteries: the main battery and the high discharge battery system. The high-discharge battery is contained in the front of the vehicle behind the instrument console and above the driver's legs. This battery engages when pushed above normal cruising speeds or when the main battery has worn down sufficiently. The main battery is integrated into the polymer body. It can by itself maintain a cruise speed of about 35mph before the high discharge battery is engaged, which then supplies power incrementally. The vicious "cowcatcher" like ram at the front of the vehicle fits two purposes: It's a heat sink for the cooling system and clears road hazards out of the way.
The obvious drawbacks to an electric design is that you would have to have a way of supplying electricity wherever the Tiger snake operated, along with a few hours at a time to let each unit recharge, and the range of electrical vehicles tends to be limited. The best environment for the Tiger snake to operate in would be an urban setting close to a depot and it's best use is as a patrol or assault vehicle.
For the weapon system I chose to make the machine gun something with a little more punch than a possible joe equivalent, the Browning M2. At .60 cal, this gun should be sufficient to penetrate and inflict damage to lightly to medium armored and unarmored vehicles. The thickness of the barrel suggests water cooling and sighting would be provided by straight-head iron sights that flipped up out of the dashboard.
Overall, I think the Tiger snake fits well into an urban environment where there is power infrastructure. It's size and speed make it suitable for patrol and pursuit against hostile vehicles on boulevards riddled with hazards that would prohibit full size vehicles from passing through. It's downside is that it has only limited frontal armor, limited range, and is probably fairly expensive to field compared to say, gas powered RVs.
Side View
1) 40kw driveshaft mounted DC electric motor with regenerative breaking.
2) 2x 15kW driveshaft mounted electric motors with regen breaking
3) .60 cal machine gun with active cooling
4) Ammunition belt and can, 210 rounds
5) Steel reinforced canopy
6) Lithium/polymer composite body
7) Recoil limiter
Weight full: 1435lbs
Weight empty: 1200lbs
Top spd: 125mph
Accel 0-60: 4.1 sec
Accel 60-100: 8.5 sec
Range: 110 miles
Recharge time: 2.5 hours
Some of you may notice that overhead #2 looks conspicuously like a gas cap and ask why I made this an electric vehicle. After all, a gas-powered vehicle would have made this thing much cheaper for Cobra to field and support logistically, but given the space constraints I didn't see where there was room to fit anything more than a very small single-cylinder motor in any place you would think a gas engine could have been placed. The only really significant spaces on this small vehicle are the small areas above the drivers legs and in the wheels themselves, which to me limits this to some sort of advanced electric design, which I took the liberties of adding regenerative braking to. Think about it, three independent motors located in the wheel housings, allowing the rotating wheels to act as a cooling mechanism. Furthermore, electrical engines have a distinct advantage in low-rpm torque allowing for better acceleration and maintenance is more simple. Plus, three engines provide three wheel drive that give it great traction against various road hazards.
The Tiger snake is powered by two sets of batteries: the main battery and the high discharge battery system. The high-discharge battery is contained in the front of the vehicle behind the instrument console and above the driver's legs. This battery engages when pushed above normal cruising speeds or when the main battery has worn down sufficiently. The main battery is integrated into the polymer body. It can by itself maintain a cruise speed of about 35mph before the high discharge battery is engaged, which then supplies power incrementally. The vicious "cowcatcher" like ram at the front of the vehicle fits two purposes: It's a heat sink for the cooling system and clears road hazards out of the way.
The obvious drawbacks to an electric design is that you would have to have a way of supplying electricity wherever the Tiger snake operated, along with a few hours at a time to let each unit recharge, and the range of electrical vehicles tends to be limited. The best environment for the Tiger snake to operate in would be an urban setting close to a depot and it's best use is as a patrol or assault vehicle.
For the weapon system I chose to make the machine gun something with a little more punch than a possible joe equivalent, the Browning M2. At .60 cal, this gun should be sufficient to penetrate and inflict damage to lightly to medium armored and unarmored vehicles. The thickness of the barrel suggests water cooling and sighting would be provided by straight-head iron sights that flipped up out of the dashboard.
Overall, I think the Tiger snake fits well into an urban environment where there is power infrastructure. It's size and speed make it suitable for patrol and pursuit against hostile vehicles on boulevards riddled with hazards that would prohibit full size vehicles from passing through. It's downside is that it has only limited frontal armor, limited range, and is probably fairly expensive to field compared to say, gas powered RVs.
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