1993 Headhunter

In December of 1992, I walked into a crowded Toys R Us store just a few days before Christmas.  I was there to buy a couple of G.I. Joe figures.  I was in college and confident enough to be a collector, even if I was an adult.  I was on my lunch hour from the deli where I worked.  So, time was a factor.  When I found the wall of Joes, it was overwhelming.  I hadn't really spent any time looking at Joe toys in over 4 years.  I had no idea what was available or who, really, any of the newer characters were.  I did find a Gung Ho and Destro, though.  And, the familiar character names with solid designs made them must buys.  In looking at various cardbacks, though, one figure really jumped out at me: the Headhunter.  The design just looked amazing.  But, I didn't find any Headhunter figures that day.  And, I didn't return to a Toys R Us store for another year.  The Headhunter fell out of my mind.

At the end of 1995, though, I visited a friend in the town I now call home.  His local K-Mart had some Joe figures.  (The K-Mart is long gone, torn down and replaced by high end condos and apartments.  Honestly, it's much better.)  Here, I found Mace and Muskrat.  It was on their cardbacks where I, once again, found the siren song of the Headhunter.  I would never, though, manage to actually find one at retail.  As the 1990's wound down and online marketplaces became a thing, my ability to find pretty much any G.I. Joe figure increased.  Slowly, I ticked off my most wanted items until I came down  to the Headhunter figure.  By this time, I knew there were two versions: the brown 1992 and the green 1993.  And, really, I didn't care which one I could find.  

In mid 1999, I found a massive lot of over 200 late run Cobra army builders on Ebay.  It included a whopping 4 Headhunters!  I had never found a single Headhunter in any of the 1990's lots I had purchased.  They were hard to find.  So, this lot seemed like a dream.  I bid over $300 (an unimaginable sum at the time!) on the lot.  On Saturday, I went to check to see if I was still winning.  But, I found that the seller had pulled the auction and sold it to his local comic shop.  The bids weren't large enough for his liking...even though the auction was days from ending and everyone knew the price jumped at the last minute.  I was left, once again, with no Headhunters.  In the fall of that year, I took an entire Saturday to scrounge every local comic shop and flea market in a vain attempt to find the figure locally.  Again, I was shut out.  Left with no other means to acquire the figure quickly, I turned to the only Headhunters that were, reliably, available: the multitude of carded versions that were overpriced and didn't sell on Ebay.

Here, I broke down and bought a carded Headhunter.  I could not, though, bring myself to open it.  But, with this figure in hand, the floodgates opened up.  And, within just a couple of months of acquiescing to an expensive purchase to get one of the figure, I now had several loose versions of both the 1992 and 1993 versions.  In hand, the figure didn't disappoint.  Not only was the mold every bit as good as I had wanted but, his accessories were even more amazing that I could have imagined.  In a lot of ways the Headhunter was a nearly perfect figure.  And, I promptly didn't use him much at all.

Originally, I planned to profile this figure back in 2013.  You can see him in the photos from the 1993 General Hawk profile I did at the time.  I just didn't find the right things to say about the figure.  So, that write up never got off the ground.  And, it's taken over a decade for me to come back around to the figure.  The main reason for that is that the Headhunter is very much like the 1985 Snake Eyes.  Both figures are amazing pieces of sculpting that include awe inspiring accessories.  They are so well done that it's difficult to come up with things that are worthy enough to show off the full quality of their design.  I've struggled to take pics of both figures just because they never look as good in the photos as the figures do in real life.  That disappointment leads me to not use them.  Not because they are bad.  But, because they are, actually, too good.

Back in the late 1980's, I read Spider Man comics pretty regularly.  In one issue (Amazing Spider Man #279), a character named Silver Sable appeared.  She had an army with her called the Wild Pack.  They dressed in orange and grey outfits.  This look resonated with me and I thought they would have made for great G.I. Joe figures.  For some reason, the Headhunter has always reminded me of that image from my youth.  In looking them up today, there is no resemblance between the characters.  But, the memories languishing in the darkest recesses of my brain connected the two.  So much so that I went to confirm it for this profile and was instantly able to find the exact issue from my childhood that contained the images of the characters.  It's not something pertinent to the history of the Headhunter.  But, speaks to a reason as to why this figure always captured my imagination...even if it was just from the small artwork on the back of another figure's card.

The reality is that collectors tended to dismiss this 1993 Headhunter as "neon".  And, for years, there was a large price disparity between the 1992 and 1993 figures.  Slowly, those have ironed out.  And, collectors have come around on bright figures.  It is the bright green, though, that is this figure's calling card.  It hearkens back to an era where kids loved audacious coloring and wanted toys that were fun.  The "modern, gritty realism" that's infected any property that's beloved by adults had left a generation of kids with dull, boring play things.  It's a shame.  And, one of the reasons why fandoms struggle to attract younger generations of fans.  (It's also why LEGO kicks ass in the toy aisle for both adults and kids.)  

Headhunter's accessories are amazing.  He features an amazing shotgun that can be holstered into his backpack.  the pack is full of amazing little details that showcase the sculpting prowess of the Hasbro designers of the time.  He also includes a spring loaded missile launcher, missile and battle stand.  The spring loaded weapons aren't great.  But, they are more than made up for by the quality of the standard gear.  Personally, I like to add an Alley Viper rifle to the Headhunter's ensemble.  (I also give Headhunter gear to the Headhunter Stormtrooper.)  It's a nice complement to the shotgun.  If you're a sadist, the Headhunter's shotgun is available in a variety of colors in Brazil for you to seek out, too.

The Headhunter had a strong life.  There is the 1992 and 1993 versions released by Hasbro.  In 1998 or so, a member of the Joe newsgroup found an early site for Estrela Toys in Brazil.  Here, you could find some promotional photos of the late waves of the Comandos Em Acao line.  If you could get the photos to load (that was hit or miss) you could see that Estrela released a Headhunter, too.  This figure wouldn't become widely known for another three or four years when the Brazilian line was better documented.  After that, the Headhunter disappeared.  There were rumors that the molds had been lost in Brazil.  But, in 2008, Master Collector found the Headhunter mold and used it for Convention releases.  Here, we got the oddball Headhunter Guard and the Headhunter Driver.  Of the five uses of the mold, 4 use an all black base.  Only the Guard is different.  Through the years, factory custom makers have teased Headhunters as a possible release.  And, seeing the mold in Cobra blue is enough to warrant their appearance.  But, as of 2024, it hasn't happened, yet.  While I'd love a blue version of the Headhunter, that's really the only paint job I'd care for.  

1993 Headhunter figure pricing is very volatile.  You can still find carded figures for under $20 if you are constantly looking and quick on the draw.  At the same time, you'll see mint, loose and complete with filecard figures sell for $40.  Dealers are really trying to drive up the price of these figures.  But, left to market forces, the figure is worth about $30.  But, it will take you a while to find even one.  It's a far cry from the days when the carded figures wouldn't sell for $8 each.  And, the 1992 Headhunter is definitely a better figure.  In fact, of all the Headhunter releases, the 1993 is probably the worst.  But, it might also be my favorite.  I wouldn't want to pay today's prices for one.  But, I'm grateful for my little squad as they are a reminder that cool things can be made for kids.