For me its whats look cool that matters, I see Cobra as a millitant political movement and as such they dress in a way they (and or Cobra Comander) think is cool not necessary what is the best. Also I suspect Cobra does it to save cost, no need for diffrent camos for desert, winter etc when everybody wears blue all the time.
That said in my Joverse i have cobra divided by cells and the reason they have so many diffrent troop types and uniforms (even overlapping eachother in some cases) is because they are getting their equipment from diffrent places.

Ok, time for me to weigh in on this one. I agree with Craig. I like Realism. However, I DO see guys in different uniforms ending up in the wrong environment. How many of you have watched "Generation Kill"? The ONLY MOPP gear they had was Woodland Camo. That's because for 40+ years the military stockpiled that gear for a War against the Russians on the plains of Germany. Do you think they are gonna throw out Millions of Dollars in Gear? No! I could totally see Cobra Commander being greedy and not camouflaging his troops. The joes, that's another story!

I can see Green Vipers in the Desert. I can See Alley Vipers show up in the Jungle outside a Brazilian city or a Snowy forest near Moscow. I could see Eels coming ashore in the desert. But as for the Neon Colors and the Chrome outifts (Supertrooper and Cobra Mortal), I'd rather do without!

As a side note, If you're in a city, no type of Camo really helps, so most red and blue vipers are fine for city fighting!

I watched Generation Kill and the green wasn't ALL that out of place.

About the Alley Vipers, I hope they don't show here. We'll have to kick some B&tts :D.

I've always been a fan of realism. I like my stuff to look like it COULD happen, even on a team with no discernible uniform.

That said, it's difficult to find a "realistic" situation for Bazooka, but he's too cool to NOT use. The same holds true for a lot of Cobra troops, Night Creepers and IGs. Plus, I've gotta' say that if Hasbro came out with the old blue and orange Alley Vipers in the 25th style, you'd see them ALL OVER my shots. Even now I think those are some of the coolest figures to ever come out of Hasbro... unrealistic paint scheme and all.

So, while I'm a big fan of realism, I have no problem putting characters in situations they're not necessarily "dressed" for... providing I like said characters ;)

Have fun!!!

Part of the way I write my dios OR do my 1-shots is taking characters that would be hard to use and make it work. Fans of "Transformations" watched me as I turned a lot of pretty 2D characters into 3-dimensional characters with feelings and what not. At the same time, MOST of the characters involved had decent outfits that catered to the situation. No real outlandish stuff except maybe Storm Shadow who showed up at the end.

So for me to use the RRTS as example in the Hunt finale, it's a challenge if I can make them work in a way people can believe. All my dios, it's worked that GI Joe is facing the unknown. They face monsters that have been created by Cobra. I take sci-fi/horror ideas and incorporate them into. The whole alien thing with Asmodeus and whatnot, ANYBODY whose read Stephen King's "THE MIST" (NOT watched), knows just WHERE those creatures came from. THOSE are the stories I like best from Stephen King. The ones that borderline on realism even if some people can't accept it.

The next story I'm doing, it'll be pushing people even further in how they see the world. But here's the thing. Gene Roddenberry dealt with the concept of genetically engineered soldiers with the Eugenics Wars (ie; Kahn). Captain America has some sort of serum in him to make him what he is, right? So when I push the limits on what I'm doing (mixing the HALO verse with the Joe verse), there'll be a reason why things are the way they are. (don't worry, master chief is NOT showing up)

As I was saying, we've seen Cobra build big funky robots. We've seen them create Serpentor thru DNA. We've seem them do silly putty people (cartoon). They've even changed people into animals (cartoon). Cobra did V-Troops. And there are stories that the Germans tried to splice animal dna with humans in WWII. Cell phones were outlandish in the 60s (ie; Star Trek Communicators) and what does everyone use now? It's entirely possible with what I do.

BUT as I've said in the past, GI Joe is based more in reality than Cobra. It's HOW the Joe team reacts to Cobra's experiments. Being a fan of DOOM and ALIENS, you take normal people and make them face strange enemies. GI Joe is not Capt. Picard who will try to talk the disputes out. GI Joe is at least smart enough to know when to shoot when they are faced with things that want to rip 'em apart.

I don't throw realism out the door entirely. But I want to use certain characters and if they don't GO with the environment, I'll make it work. That's the fun and challenge. But don't push me. I only work with what I know I can handle. In other words, ARAH-colored Saw Vipers will NOT show up, but the DTC will. ;)

Ramblings
 

I thought Gi joe was meant to be in the future. Especially with laser rifles and guys like Flash. I'm all for it only if some thought is put in it. Guys running around in Orange like alley Vipers are great targets for Joes. Characters like Wraith are better written and make more sense. Pyhon Patrol well, that's tour call. Some vehicles are hits. like the Hiss or stinger some are a miss. Gi Joe places you as the ultimate critic.As for Alpine's goggle's, maybe they are lase fire nick proof. As for Bazooka guarding serpentor with a rocket launcher. Call DOD!! That's a way to get a man killed. YIKES!!!!

I like to have a bit of realism in my shots, but there are sooo many cool characters who may not fit the mold for real military. Though you won't see neon in my shots. I don't really think that fits. That being said, I do try to put my guys in environments where they belong, ie you will never see me use my Winter troops in a summer shot (Except one series where I had the troops drop off a wounded Frostbite, exception to the rule) I have Shipwreck and Cutter, who I haven't used yet simply because I want to use them in a Naval environment, although I could use my version of Shipwreck for other stuff.