Tri-State Vipers: Administrative Biographies

Origins

The Tri-State Vipers as we are known today started out as the NYC Vipers, originally born out of the JoeSightings.com forum! It started with Violentfix recruiting future Vipers from the JoeSightings forum and with time the first meet took place between Violentfix, RoyalMarine, and a third Viper (current whereabouts unknown) at a dive bar in Manhattan in the vicinity of 7th Ave. and 45th St.

Violentfix continued to network with future Vipers at a convention in a Bayside hotel, which ended in our first photo together at RoyalMarines family restaurant. Through hosting barbeques and setting up other gatherings, Violentfix and Bill (International Joes) decided to create a forum that the Vipers could call their own. Violentfix wanted a forum that would provide a unique, personal experience for his members; something that he found lacking in the G.I. Joe community at the time. He designed the forum, and Bill hosted it through the International Joes website. Eventually, Violentfix took over the forum and hosted it through Cobra: The Inner Sanctum, his own website. Because most of our members came from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, he decided to rename us the Tri-State Vipers!

Today, the Tri-State Vipers consists of not only members from the general tri-state area, but also from Texas, California, and even reaching so far as Canada and France. We have truly gone global! Our continuing mission is to provide a unique social experience where the Vipers not only communicate through the forum, but also meet up frequently for toy runs, barbeques, and just to hang out and have a good time.

We are growing. We are legion. We are the Tri-State Vipers!


Origins The Tri-State Vipers as we are known today started out as the NYC Vipers, originally born out of the JoeSightings.com forum! It started with Violentfix recruiting future Vipers from the JoeSightings forum and with time the first meet took place between Violentfix, RoyalMarine, and a third Viper (current whereabouts unknown) at a dive bar in Manhattan in the vicinity of 7th Ave. and 45th St. Violentfix continued to network with future Vipers at a convention in a Bayside hotel, which ended in our first photo together at RoyalMarines family restaurant. Through hosting barbeques and setting up other gatherings, Violentfix and Bill (International Joes) decided to create a forum that the Vipers could call their own. Violentfix wanted a forum that would provide a unique, personal experience for his members; something that he found lacking in the G.I. Joe community at the time. He designed the forum, and Bill hosted it through the International Joes website. Eventually, Violentfix took over the forum and hosted it through Cobra: The Inner Sanctum, his own website. Because most of our members came from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, he decided to rename us the Tri-State Vipers! Today, the Tri-State Vipers consists of not only members from the general tri-state area, but also from Texas, California, and even reaching so far as Canada and France. We have truly gone global! Our continuing mission is to provide a unique social experience where the Vipers not only communicate through the forum, but also meet up frequently for toy runs, barbeques, and just to hang out and have a good time. We are growing. We are legion. We are the Tri-State Vipers!


Alan Kaplan has been collecting G.I. Joe ever since the Real American Hero line began in 1982. His father brought home the original straight-arm Stalker one day, and the rest is history. Alan has read the entire Marvel Comics run and, in addition to the Real American Hero line, he also collects the Adventure Team (Alan is obsessed with flocking), along with Masters of the Universe, Transformers, and tons of comics, graphic novels, and baseball cards. Alan is the co-author of True Confessions of a Fanboy ( www.truefanboy.com), which he wrote with his brother, Andrew, under the pen names of James and Johnny Jacobs. In real life, Alan has been working in the publishing industry for 13 years, and he is currently a Project Editor in the ESL department of Cambridge University Press. In his spare time, Alan also serves as a fantasy baseball commissioner for a pay league that he has been a part of since 2001.	Alan Kaplan Kane429

Alan Kaplan has been collecting G.I. Joe ever since the Real American Hero line began in 1982. His father brought home the original straight-arm Stalker one day, and the rest is history. Alan has read the entire Marvel Comics run and, in addition to the Real American Hero line, he also collects the Adventure Team (Alan is obsessed with flocking), along with Masters of the Universe, Transformers, and tons of comics, graphic novels, and baseball cards.

Alan is the co-author of True Confessions of a Fanboy ( www.truefanboy.com), which he wrote with his brother, Andrew, under the pen names of James and Johnny Jacobs. In real life, Alan has been working in the publishing industry for 13 years, and he is currently a Project Editor in the ESL department of Cambridge University Press. In his spare time, Alan also serves as a fantasy baseball commissioner for a pay league that he has been a part of since 2001.

Alan Kaplan
Kane429


Steve Celentano PrimeNYBT	Stephen Celentano (PrimeNYBT) has been collecting GI Joe since 1993 when his uncle took him to a Star Trek convention. At the convention he found dealers selling GI Joe figures for about $2 a figure. Well he just went nuts and spent all of his birthday money that year on Joes. GI Joe was always one of his favorite toy lines and cartoons as a kid. So seeing all of his favorite characters that he never had as a kid was just every kids dream. He would continue to attend more and more conventions and shows and slowly build his collection. Also going to garage sales looking for those great deals. One of which was finding a near complete Terror Drome for only $10. But beyond that good deals were hard to find. As Stephen was starting college a new and wonderful website came into being that would help build his collection to new heights, and that was Ebay. Ebay made it so easy to start finding the figures and vehicles from his childhood. Some of the first items bought off Ebay were the Tiger Force and Night Force figures and vehicles. As Ebay grew Stephens collection grew finding all sorts of plastic goodness. As time has passed Stephen has obtained almost everything the American market had to offer. Now having a complete collection Stephen branched out on to the foreign collection scene. Which at times can be very frustrating. Finding items you dont have for a reasonable price is just hard. Most of the time it just boils down to luck and waiting for the right deal to come along. Stephen has met some of his best friends because of GI Joes. People who like him have a desire to own just a small bit of their childhood. One of the best parts about collecting is meeting people who share your hobby. But the friendships Stephen has made are invaluable and thanks GI Joe for that most of all.

Steve Celentano
PrimeNYBT

Stephen Celentano (PrimeNYBT) has been collecting GI Joe since 1993 when his uncle took him to a Star Trek convention. At the convention he found dealers selling GI Joe figures for about $2 a figure. Well he just went nuts and spent all of his birthday money that year on Joes. GI Joe was always one of his favorite toy lines and cartoons as a kid. So seeing all of his favorite characters that he never had as a kid was just every kids dream. He would continue to attend more and more conventions and shows and slowly build his collection. Also going to garage sales looking for those great deals. One of which was finding a near complete Terror Drome for only $10. But beyond that good deals were hard to find.

As Stephen was starting college a new and wonderful website came into being that would help build his collection to new heights, and that was Ebay. Ebay made it so easy to start finding the figures and vehicles from his childhood. Some of the first items bought off Ebay were the Tiger Force and Night Force figures and vehicles. As Ebay grew Stephens collection grew finding all sorts of plastic goodness.

As time has passed Stephen has obtained almost everything the American market had to offer. Now having a complete collection Stephen branched out on to the foreign collection scene. Which at times can be very frustrating. Finding items you dont have for a reasonable price is just hard. Most of the time it just boils down to luck and waiting for the right deal to come along.

Stephen has met some of his best friends because of GI Joes. People who like him have a desire to own just a small bit of their childhood. One of the best parts about collecting is meeting people who share your hobby. But the friendships Stephen has made are invaluable and thanks GI Joe for that most of all.


Eric Guido has always been a jack of all trades. The U.S. Army, Wall street, the music industry, front man for the industrial band, Violentfix. , and currently a chef, writer and creator of The V.I.P. Table. However, his claim to fame in the world of G.I. Joe is as the creator of Cobra: The Inner Sanctum, The Tri-State Vipers and as the writer, photographer and producer of acclaimed Dio-Stories "Operation Rapier" and "My Brother's Keeper". Eric's interest in Joe started with his Father and the small presents he would bring home from work. A 1982 Cobra Soldier from those days is still part of his collection, even though it's worn and slightly broken, it is a heart felt center piece. Later in life he found GI Joe to be his escape from the stresses of his day job, which sparked the creation of Cobra: The Inner Sanctum. As his collection grew the desire to share his work and experiences with other's led him to create The NYC Vipers, which with the help of his fellow administrators, later grew into The Tri-State Vipers.	Eric Guido Violentfix

Eric Guido has always been a jack of all trades. The U.S. Army, Wall street, the music industry, front man for the industrial band, Violentfix. , and currently a chef, writer and creator of The V.I.P. Table. However, his claim to fame in the world of G.I. Joe is as the creator of Cobra: The Inner Sanctum, The Tri-State Vipers and as the writer, photographer and producer of acclaimed Dio-Stories "Operation Rapier" and "My Brother's Keeper".

Eric's interest in Joe started with his Father and the small presents he would bring home from work. A 1982 Cobra Soldier from those days is still part of his collection, even though it's worn and slightly broken, it is a heart felt center piece. Later in life he found GI Joe to be his escape from the stresses of his day job, which sparked the creation of Cobra: The Inner Sanctum. As his collection grew the desire to share his work and experiences with other's led him to create The NYC Vipers, which with the help of his fellow administrators, later grew into The Tri-State Vipers.

Eric Guido
Violentfix Eric


Pedro Rodriguez CrimsonGuaurdVet76	Hi, Im CrimsonGuaurdVet76. My real name, Pedro. My passion, collecting G.I. Joe, 82 to present. I have also been a degenerate collector of Joes for the last ten years. Back in 2001, I attended a local comic convention in Manhattan where I ran across a loose, complete 84 Duke and 83 Destro. I purchased them for $20 thinking they were purely novelty pick-ups. Let me assure you, there was nothing novel or innocent about them. My newly acquired Duke and Destro sparked a romance with the G.I. Joe property I had not felt since I was 8. My desire for more was tempered by the lack of availability of figures and information on them, but not for long. Out of curiosity I searched Storm Shadow on the internet and lo and behold, Storm Shadow on Yojoe.com. My jaw dropped as I gazed with wonder at the sight of a vintage Stormy, weapons and all! I had found the proverbial gold at the end of the internet rainbow. I rushed home, searched my garage for my old Joes and got back onto Yojoe.com to rediscover my childhood. Unfortunately, most of the figures I still had were in terrible shape and missing at least a couple of accessories. And I hate roughed up, incomplete figures. It was now my mission to replace all of my figures with new ones from eBay. I, however, could not stop there. I needed every figure from 82-88. Then that was not enough. Yojoe.com had beautiful entries for the 89-92 figures that I had to have. Well, since I made it to 92, I continued collecting the 93-94 figures, plus the Hall of Fame 12 inch ARAH figures, vehicles, paperwork, full file cards, stickers, vintage bed sheets, and so on. My collection was complete enough to my liking until I discovered Cobra: The Inner Sanctum and once again my OCD kicked in. Now I needed to army build. Who could resist those beautiful and epic pics of Cobra battalions lined up in rows that went on forever? Better yet, dios with Cobra and Joe forces that were better written than 90% of what is on TV. Yet, the coup de grace was the link to the Tri-State Vipers, where I have been a proud member since 2005. I discovered a place where kindred souls shared my agony and ecstasy of collecting and who I could share a burger and a brew with. The Tri-State Vipers are my friends and family, a bond forged in plastic for life.

Pedro Rodriguez
CrimsonGuaurdVet76

Hi, Im CrimsonGuaurdVet76. My real name, Pedro. My passion, collecting G.I. Joe, 82 to present. I have also been a degenerate collector of Joes for the last ten years. Back in 2001, I attended a local comic convention in Manhattan where I ran across a loose, complete 84 Duke and 83 Destro. I purchased them for $20 thinking they were purely novelty pick-ups. Let me assure you, there was nothing novel or innocent about them. My newly acquired Duke and Destro sparked a romance with the G.I. Joe property I had not felt since I was 8. My desire for more was tempered by the lack of availability of figures and information on them, but not for long. Out of curiosity I searched Storm Shadow on the internet and lo and behold, Storm Shadow on Yojoe.com. My jaw dropped as I gazed with wonder at the sight of a vintage Stormy, weapons and all! I had found the proverbial gold at the end of the internet rainbow. I rushed home, searched my garage for my old Joes and got back onto Yojoe.com to rediscover my childhood. Unfortunately, most of the figures I still had were in terrible shape and missing at least a couple of accessories. And I hate roughed up, incomplete figures. It was now my mission to replace all of my figures with new ones from eBay. I, however, could not stop there. I needed every figure from 82-88. Then that was not enough. Yojoe.com had beautiful entries for the 89-92 figures that I had to have. Well, since I made it to 92, I continued collecting the 93-94 figures, plus the Hall of Fame 12 inch ARAH figures, vehicles, paperwork, full file cards, stickers, vintage bed sheets, and so on.

My collection was complete enough to my liking until I discovered Cobra: The Inner Sanctum and once again my OCD kicked in. Now I needed to army build. Who could resist those beautiful and epic pics of Cobra battalions lined up in rows that went on forever? Better yet, dios with Cobra and Joe forces that were better written than 90% of what is on TV. Yet, the coup de grace was the link to the Tri-State Vipers, where I have been a proud member since 2005. I discovered a place where kindred souls shared my agony and ecstasy of collecting and who I could share a burger and a brew with. The Tri-State Vipers are my friends and family, a bond forged in plastic for life.