Rarities - Unproduced 1995 Big Ben & Snow Serpent

The 1995 Joe line would have been pretty great.  Had it come to be, many of the items would be held in the same regard as precious items from the line's heyday in the 1980's.  And, with the lower production runs of the line's final year, many of the items would likely be super expensive to acquire today.  While the line featured a solid array of new figures, it was also going to include many repaints of earlier releases.  Two of these would have been the figures included in the planned 1995 repaint of the Tactical Battle Platform which would have been called the Battle Station.  For some reason, this set piece was going to include repaints of Big Ben and the Snow Serpent.

You can tell from the photos that both of these figures are hand painted prototypes that were used the 1993 mail away figures as their bases.  As such, you see production colors on the legs.  It's unlikely that the final figures would have matched these concepts, exactly.  But, they'd have been close enough.  So, you get the general idea of what the designers were trying to do.

Oddly, the concept art for the Battle Station doesn't actually feature the figures who would have been included with it.  Instead, it is a smorgasbord of unreleased 1995 figures and likely reissues of 1994 releases.  This would imply that the figures included with the set were more ways to just use molds that were available rather than really spice up the design.  But, the Battle Station concept art also showcases many of the figures in the cardart poses with positioning that suggests placeholder design.  So, it's likely that they box art would have changed upon release and probably featured the figures included with it.

I find it interesting that concepts from both of these figures did, eventually, see release.  The 1998 Snow Serpent borrows elements from this unproduced 1995 figure.  And, the 2001 Big Ben was an arctic repaint in the vein of this unreleased Big Ben.  So, it's nice that some of the work was eventually used...even if it was by a different team looking to save a few bucks rather than an homage to the founders of the brand.  

Seeing current prices of the 1993 mail versions of these two characters makes me shudder at what these 1995 figures would cost today had they seen release.  Being in a low production, high dollar playset would have made acquisition unlikely for many kids...meaning fewer figures going into the secondary market.  I take solace, though, knowing I'd have forked over the money for a Battle Station had it been released...just because it included these two figures.  I had a rule that I'd buy vehicles with figures included.  And, Big Ben was one of my earliest grail figures.  So, the Battle Station would have called my collection home.

Sure, it would now be yellowed and decaying in a box in the closet.  But, I'd have these figures and enjoy them for what they were.  I still maintain that collectors would hold the 1995 line in high regard had it seen production.  But, there were forces at work that were far beyond the G.I. Joe brand.  So, we're left with tidbits of what might have been.  Repaints like this aren't nearly as interesting as newly designed, unproduced pieces.  But, they would have been an important supporting cast for the planned new figures.  I'd still love to know if any of the 1994 molds that debuted that year would have gotten updated paint jobs for 1995: as was Hasbro's habit at the time.  I'm sure some would have been cool and others would have been...less so.  But, more figures are better than fewer.  And, we really missed out with the line's cancellation occurring in 1994.  

1995 Sgt. Savage Iron Stormtrooper

There was no greater letdown than walking into a Big Lots store in 1995 and, from afar, seeing the glint of a massive display of G.I. Joe packaging only to, once closer, realize that the entire wall of toys was not A Real American Hero figures and vehicles but Sgt. Savage.  Sgt. Savage was Hasbro's post ARAH foray into larger format figures.  And, it did not go well.  Floor to ceiling walls of them went up at discount and close out stores all over the U.S.  But, the figures weren't really discounted enough.  And, many of them hung around for quite a while, teasing people like me who were hoping to stumble across the occasional ghosts of the ARAH line that would pop up from time to time.

On the surface, the Savage line should have been successful.  But, it suffered from trying to be too many things to too many people.  In 1994 and 1995, toy collecting was becoming a thing among adults.  The drivers of it, though, were the 40 year olds who had grown up on classic 12" G.I. Joe figures from the 1960's.  While some of them were attuned to the smaller version of Joe that was introduced in 1982, many older collectors had also disregarded it as it wasn't the toy line of their youth.  Sgt. Savage tried to toe the line between kids of the day who wanted larger action figures and the burgeoning adult collecting scene who wanted gritty military realism to shape their collectibles.  Sgt. Savage was Hasbro's attempt to appease both.

And, as is often the case with overly ambitious projects, Savage failed to meet either of its goals.  Kids just weren't into a World War II inspired toy line when they had Ninja Turtles, a great line of Kenner superheros lead by Batman and the newly introduced Power Rangers to attract their attention.  While adult collectors swooned over the Joe Kubert packaging artwork, the toys themselves weren't what they were looking for.  Sgt. Savage introduced a larger figure buck to the franchise and the 3 3/4" figures grew to 4 1/2".  On top of that, the construction was altered and the o-ring did not appear.  Honestly, the o-ring wouldn't have been a big issue had the new figure line been 3 3/4".  All this change, though, left Savage stuck in the middle with no fans to be found.  The toys were instant clearance fodder and dominated the toy aisles at regional and national discount stores for years.

As for the story of the toy line: it was a Captain America rip off.  I mean, it was such a blatant rip off that I'm not sure why Marvel didn't sue.  Maybe if Savage had become a bigger hit.  But, the characters were archetypes and they lacked the panache of the recently cancelled 3 3/4" Joe line.  The good guys blended together and the bad guys were watered down Nazis.  The problem with this is that once you base your villain on the Nazis, you have to make them worse than the Nazis.  And, that's pretty hard to do without either making the story far too dark for kids or having to delve into cartoonish super-villainy.  So, Savage went with super villains.  General Blitz created a doomsday device and went with cybernetic henchmen to spare the kids of the gory death of war.  The filecard of the IRON Stormtrooper specifically mentions that they are thawed out Nazis that were given cybernetic enhancements.  There's no real reason why.  But, we are left with an army building bad guy.

There really is only one reason to own this figure: the black trenchcoat.  I've looked at the coat before.  It was released in white with the Street Fighter Movie Edition Dhalsim figure.  A black version was also released with the Mortal Kombat Movie Shang Tsung figure.  But, the easiest way to acquire the coat is with this Iron Stormtrooper.  As the coat was designed for 3 3/4" figures, it is a tight fit on the Iron Stormtrooper.  But, once removed, it works perfectly as an accessory for Cobra Commander, Dr. Mindbender or even Destro.  Cloth accessories were extraordinarily rare in the vintage Joe line, even as Kenner started to perfect them in Joe's opening days.  So, having a way to get one that doesn't cost a ton (see Serpentor's capes!) is nice and allows you some customization potential with some of your higher up Cobra figures.

Really, the only interesting thing about the Sgt. Savage toy line is that it has a few pieces that were designed for the cancelled 1995 G.I. Joe line.  The IRON Panther tank was originally a toy for the Battle Corps Rangers.  The Arctic Stormtrooper includes gear that was planned for the 1995 Frostbite figure.  The Cryo Chamber from the Cryo Freeze Sgt. Savage was originally a mini-sub for the 1995 Dr. Mindbender.  There are other examples as well.  In 2007, the club co-opted a bunch of Sgt. Savage accessories and included them with the convention exclusive figures.  The weapons meant for 1995 Joes fit relatively well.  But, the larger weapons developed for Sgt. Savage were grossly oversized and look out of place.  But, they also meant that all of the Sgt. Savage molds were likely available if anyone wanted to lose a bunch of money by resurrecting the line.

When looking at the Iron Stormtrooper's gear, you also see some limitations.  While his weapons are meant to be based on historical gear from the World War II era, they fail in that they are just oversized, even for this larger figure body.  If you look at the machine gun, rifle and pistol in the photos below, you will see that the weapons are excellently detailed.  But, they are extremely large.  It's unfortunate as, had they been scaled to the Savage figures, they might have had a little more value for standard 3 3/4" Joe figures.  The Stormtrooper also includes 3 hoses that affix to holes in his body as well as some stick grenades.  The grenades can work with smaller Joes.  But, the rest of the gear will just shatter thumbs if you try to use it with vintage Joe figures.

There's not much else interesting about the Iron Stormtrooper mold.  Sans coat, the body is really pretty lame.  He's wearing a brown shirt. (Not subtle with the context there, were we, Hasbro?)  And, he's covered in some silver details that are meant to convey robotics.  The exterior hoses imply that he's be pretty easy to stop since you could just slice the hose and he'd lose some important function that the hydraulics provide.  The best part of the figure is probably the head.  He has a silver microphone over his mouth, though.  So, the head doesn't really look robotic or cybernetic.  The 1993 Cyber Viper did a much better job of conveying that the character was a cyborg.  As a bad guy, this figure is fine.  With the coat on, though, his articulation is limited.  And, without it, he's much more boring.  Non of the Sgt. Savage characters really had any demand for a return in the nostalgia drenched club figures that reused anniversary Joe parts.  Even a G.I. Joe Extreme character made into that line.  But, Savage was shut out and it's probably for the best.

One key point of Sgt. Savage figures is that they use softer plastic than 3 3/4" Joes.  The hands are more pliable and the overall plastic quality is softer.  This allows for the larger weapons to not be an issue with the figure's hands.  It's also an interesting update to the plastic Hasbro had used since 1982.  The 1997 G.I. Joe repaints featured some softer plastic that made the hands more pliable.  But, they are not as soft as the Savage figures.  It may be that the size of the Savage figures allowed for the softer plastic as the size allowed for its use.  But, it's an interesting update to the material quality, especially as Hasbro was still using the more rigid plastic for Street Fighter Movie and Mortal Kombat figures at the same time they were producing Sgt. Savage figures.

The upside to the Iron Stormtrooper is that he's a decent enemy design.  The 1982 Cobras (as well as Imperial Stormtroopers) were heavily based on Nazi tropes.  In time, Cobra moved away from that imagery.  This Iron Stormtrooper brings back the memory of the greatest evil the modern world has ever known.  While the filecard doesn't mention Nazis, it specifically calls out that they are enemy soldiers from World War II.  And, were the figure in the classic G.I. Joe scale, collectors would have long globbed on to this figure and made him a key part of the rogue's gallery of Joe villains.  The robotic nature of this character also allows them to be killed with less guilt than seeing standard humans being mowed down in combat.  But, it's also a design that collectors tend to love for their armies.

The verdict on Sgt. Savage is that it was trying to get kids interested in World War II toys because that's what many of their dads and grandfathers had grown up on the 1960's.  The marketing material and even filecards are full of references to the 1940's that no 9 year old would pick up on.  The entire concept was done to fulfill what was perceived as a void in the toy market.  It was a void that the green wave of 1982 Joes filled quite well.  But, that line didn't get so stuck in the past.  Sure, there was a bazooka guy decades after the weapon was retired.  But, you also had jet packs, lasers and other things that pulled kids in without burying them in historical fiction that required a knowledge of 50 year old pop culture references to really understand.  And, the 1983 Joe line moved forward in a way that didn't mire it down with realism.  The Savage line went the other way and we're left to wonder if the 1995 A Real American Hero line might have come to pass if this pet project of Savage hadn't gotten in the way.

Dealers will sell carded Iron Stormtroopers for $20-$25.  You can get carded versions in the $10-$12 range, though, if you're willing to wait.  The massive overstock of Sgt. Savage carded figures that used to pervade online marketplaces and local antique malls/flea markets has largely been absorbed.  So, the once frustratingly ubiquitous carded figures have gotten less common.  Most are locked away in boxes in comic and toy shops or sheds and basements of older collectors from the late 1990's and early 2000's.  They are awaiting the day the figures get pricey.  But, that's unlikely to happen...even in the stupid Joe market of 2022.  If you can find a loose, mint and complete Iron Stormtrooper, it will run you under $10.  So, just buy a carded version if you want one or an army of them.  

Funskool Beach Head

As my collection has grown, I find that my preferences for figures changes.  While I once held the figures from my childhood in the highest esteem, I am now more open to their flaws.  And, as such, I've discovered that some of my childhood favorites are simply no longer even considered as candidates for photos or profiles.  Many later acquisitions, though, have held up better.  But, even figures I first acquired in the 1990's have suffered from my expanding roster of figure options.  It doesn't mean these old favorites are bad.  I just like other options better.  This became very evident to me, though, when I recently commented on a photo of the Funskool Beach Head figure.  This figure has now been in my collection for so long that I consider him a staple who feels as if he's always been there.  And, in a fleeting moment as I typed, I realized that the Funskool Beach Head, in his lime green glory, has completely and utterly replaced the 1986 Beach Head as the de facto version of the character in my collection.  As my profile of that figure from 2014 is dated and sparse, it gave rise to an opportunity to revisit a figure that, truly, has become one of my favorites in the long and vast history of the Joe line.

We first have to look at the history of the Funskool Beach Head in general.  He is one of the earliest Funskool offerings, dating to at least 1995 and maybe even earlier.  From the beginning, though, the figure was not colored like the American release.  This is rather odd.  We know that Hasbro was very adamant in maintaining consistent looks for certain characters.  This is why the oddly colored Funskool releases in the early days were accompanied by other variants of the figure that were more in line with the original coloring.  Only characters that Hasbro no longer cared about were left to be fully "Funskooled" with bright colors.  Beach Head doesn't seem a candidate for this treatment since he was prominent in the early cartoon and was always a collector favorite.  But, you can also make an argument that his departure from the more muted greens of the Hasbro release are less a change than something like a bright yellow and blue Major Bludd.  Early Beach Heads had some darker green base colors.  But, they were offset with a bright yellow vest with matching blood red highlights and head.  These monsters are rare and expensive.  So, in contrast, the lime green variants that came later seem more in line with the U.S. figure.  

Once the lime green figure came to be, they were released for a long time.  During the years preceding 2001 or so, Funskool produced tons of minor variants of the figure.  There are brown eyebrows, black eyebrows, dark grey highlights, light grey highlights, black hands, green hands and various colors of vests, blue cammo and brown pants.  If that's not enough, there are black guns, light grey guns, dark grey guns, dark green backpacks, black backpacks, lime green backpacks and hard and soft satchels.  It's probably impossible to document all the combos any more.  But, there are dozens of variants.  But, when Funskool imports to the U.S. began at toy dealers in 2001, Beach Head had been out of production for a while.  A few lucky collectors were able to find old bagged samples as vehicle drivers in the influx of Funskool vehicles of the day.  But, generally, Beach Head was out of circulation and hard to find.  But, in 2002, Funskool brought back a few old favorites.  Along with Flint, Airtight, Scrap Iron, Zarana, Buzzer and Ripper, Beach Head returned to production.  Between 2002 and 2003, there are, again, many slight coloring variants.  In 2003, Hasbro got the mold back.  And, thus ended one of Funskool's most popular, enduring and iconic figures.  

So, now, we revert back to before all that happened: to 1986.  In this year, Hasbro released Beach Head.  The figure quickly became a favorite of all my Joe collecting friends.  He was kind of like Snake Eyes with the masked head.  But, he had very militaristic gear and definitely filled a different role than the Joe's silent icon ever would.  And, he became one of my favorite figures, too.  He and Leatherneck formed a team that lead many adventures in my room, my grandparents' backyard or the front steps of my grandfather's home in Buffalo.  He went everywhere and was a vital part of my collection.  Until he wasn't.  One reason is that I left a Leatherneck figure in the hemlock bushes next to those limestone steps in Buffalo.  I didn't get a new one for a year.  Another reason is that I broke Beach Head's ammo pack and I hated breaking accessories.  I then used the figure as pieces for new, custom characters.  Eventually, I replaced both Beach Head and Leatherneck and had solid versions to use.  But, by then, the 1987's were overtaking my collection and Beach Head kind of fell away.  As an adult, I was slow to take the figure back up.  He was a figure that looked cool.  But, I had lots of newer options that filled the same purpose when I went to take photos.

In very early 2002, long before Funskool announced the figure would return to production, I was able to trade for a bagged vehicle driver Funskool Beach Head.  He arrived in my mailbox one snowy Saturday and the figure immediately captured my attention.  The lime green was just as striking as I had imagined (there were few photos of the figure online in those days) and he was everything I wanted in a foreign repaint.  Suddenly, I found this figure appearing in some of my photos...photos that would never have included the American figure.  The brighter colors popped against dark backgrounds.  But, at the same time, the general overall hues worked.  He wasn't the Funskool Wild Bill, all decked out in orange.  He had the basics that allowed him to be useful along with more traditional Joe figures.  But, he had added visual appeal that garnered attention when he was showcased.  When the carded Beach Heads were released a few months later, I picked up a couple to get both his gear but also a carded sample of a classic character.  In the ensuing years, I acquired a few more and now have half a dozen samples here that remain a hallmark of my photo repertoire.  

Because of all that, I now view the Funskool lime green version as the default for Beach Head.  I rarely even consider the U.S. figure at all any more.  It's an interesting phenomenon as it speaks to the changing nature of being a collector.  I've owned this figure for nearly 20 years.  In that time, I've taken thousands of Joe photos.  And, I've easily spent more time on the hobby in that time than I did between 1986 and 1987: when the American Beach Head would have been at his apex.  But, the more exuberant green has turned the Funskool figure into my main vision of the Beach Head character.  When I see the Classified Beach Head as an homage figure, I first think that the color is wrong.  Then, I remember that the lime green I associate with the character is actually his foreign variant.  It's weird.  But, it also is normal.

My main interest in the figure is the striking visual he represents when placed in various photos or when combined with other figures.  But, also, the more vibrant Funskool colors allow for me to really appreciate all of the subtle details on Beach Head's mold.  His red shoulder really stands out.  And, the lighter browns and blues that comprise his legs also seem to be better offset against the brighter color.  In short, he's just more fun to look at.  And, because of that, this Beach Head has found a very valuable place among my most used figures.  He drives vehicles, sits in the background or dominates a photo.  I have a couple just so I can display in different locations all at once.  While he may not hold this presence over other collectors, he does to me.  And, so, for that reason, he is Beach Head in my collection.

The upside to Funskool was that they included all of Beach Head's original gear.  The Russian figures and the 2002/2003 re-releases all include a dark green backpack.  It's tough to see at times.  But, it's definitely green and also allows you to better see the details of Beach Head's pack.  The rifle included with the Funskool figure is lighter in color than the Hasbro release.  There are versions that can be darker and tougher to differentiate.  But, the later releases are visually distinctive and can be flimsy at times.  Beach Head's ammo pack is also brittle.  It will snap if you toss it over the figure's chest too many times.  And, it's not unheard of to find dried out ones that have already snapped while still on the card.  So, the Funskool accessories really aren't better than the 1986 Hasbro versions.  But, they are easier and cheaper to acquire...kind of.

Beach Head got the standard two year release by Hasbro.  He then disappeared.  A huge number of 1986 molds were released in Brazil.  But, Beach Head was not among them.  As he appeared early in the Funskool line, though, there's more than enough to collect.  You could probably find 100 Beach Head variants if you looked long enough.  And, much of his mold was also used on the Funskool Skydiver figure, offering you some additional parts colors to play with.  Funskool returned Beach Head to Hasbro in 2003, though.  Collectors wanted the figure, even though he was readily and cheaply available from US importers.  In 2004, the club released a Tiger Force Beach Head.  The figure is interesting and actually looks great next to the Funskool version.  Sadly, this figure didn't include Beach Head's original gear.  Which, was odd since the Dreadnoks who had also been recalled from India and were first used in this set did have their original weapon molds.  In 2004, Hasbro dropped Beach Head into the Toys R Us exclusive Night Force set.  Again, his original gear was gone.  And, that was the end.  A desert Beach Head would have been cool.  As would have an Arctic Beach Head.  So, there's still life in the mold since he's such a popular character.  Perhaps we'll see him from Pulse.  But, that will likely be either a 1986 homage or a cartoon appearance color scheme.  (Which, would be OK.)

Funskool Beach Head pricing is based on the variant.  Some bagged vehicle drivers just missing the gloves will fetch $300 or more.  But, the reality is that carded figures from the 2002 - 2004 production runs (including a widely available Russian exclusive) were heavily imported.  Collectors bought up the figure in droves due to the classic gear and the fact that, at the time, American Beach Heads were substantially more expensive than the $4 that a carded Funskool version would set you back.  Tons of collectors bought the Funskool figure just for the gear and used it on their American figures.  Now, that popularity has lead to a more common and easy to find Funskool offering.  Carded Beach Heads remain common.  But, they will run you between $30 and $50 depending upon various nuances or impatient buyers.  Loose figures are harder to find and still command a premium.  You'll probably spend $20 or more to get a mint and complete version.  But, seeing as how American Beach Heads appear to be $50 loose figures these days, even the carded price is a palatable option.  

Rarities - The Great 2021 Ninja Commandos Lot

In November of 2021, a lot of over 100 figures appeared on Ebay with a $4,000 BIN price.  At around $40 per figure, this probably wasn't a great deal.  Except, when you looked at the lot, there were over 60 unproduced 1995 Ninja Commando figures included!  On top of this, there were vintage test shots as well as some other oddball items.  A collector bought the lot.  But, unscrupulous people reached out the seller, offering much more than the selling price.  The lot purchase was cancelled.  And, it's likely that we'll see the figures parsed out and sold individually for much higher prices in super secret sales at some point in the future.

The one thing this lot proves is that there were more Ninja Commandos that reached full production than we ever thought.  Around 2002 or so, a collector friend of mine was able to visit Hasbro.  There, they had a bin of figures that they used to kitbash figures for the early 2000's figure releases.  In this bin of abandoned figures were several production level Ninja Commandos.  So, it's likely that Hasbro HQ got a ton of them and they just floated around: no one really knowing that something as desirable as an unproduced set of figures were collecting dust with the rest.

Here are the photos from the auction.  It's amazing that finds like this still exist out there.  You will note the following:

1. 14 Ninja Commando Budo figures
2. 12 Ninja Commando Road Pig figures
3. 14 Ninja Commando Knock Out figures
4. 14 Ninja Commando Stormshadow figures
5. 13 Ninja Commado Flint figures
6. 1 M Bison figure with blue hands
7. 2 Clear Ken Masters pre-production figures
8. Lots of bagged figures from late in the line.  Tough to see the details on them, though, for oddities.
9. Multiple Ninja Commando brown weapon trees. (Some unproduced sculpts on there.)

And, thus, another Rarities Month comes to an end.  I liked this year's group as I had more time to work on them through the year.  The archives are running low.  But, I've got one more good year in them.  Oddly some of the posts did really poorly.  Like, historically poorly in terms of overall views.  But, that could just be a function of too many posts in the last week or just the stuff got buried in all the other Joe news of the month.  Regardless, I hope you all enjoyed it and we'll see you next June!

Rarities - 1995 Ninja Commando Road Pig Production Sample

Yes, had the 1995 line seen production, Road Pig would have become a Ninja.  We don't know how this happened.  But, it would have occurred.  (It's likely that Road Pig's comic popularity lead to a new version of the character, even if his inclusion in a ninja subset made no sense.)  His card art would have featured him wielding a huge sword.  If you let the ninja angle go, though, you see that this Road Pig would not have been a terrible figure and fits with the previous look for the character.

Really, the only thing not to like about this figure would have been his weapons.  But, the rest of the figure would fit perfectly with any Dreadnoks just like the 1988 and 1991 versions.  He would have had Ninja Force type construction, though, with an action feature and a sealed back.  So, that would have limited his use.  If you're a customizer, though, you could make a good approximation of this figure.  The chest and arms were used on the Mortal Combat Movie Edition Liu Kang figure.  So, you could take an existing Road Pig head and use it with those parts to get a good enough version of this unproduced oddity.

There's actually lots of these figures out there.  And, after November of 2021, there were even more.  (You'll read about that on Thursday, June 30th, though!)  So, this figure is attainable and doesn't tend to sell at the $2000 or so that dealers price him at.  Sadly, though, most of the samples are in the hands of people who get more mileage out of the ownership than actually selling the figure.  So, it may take a bit to find a price that's right for you.

Rarities - 1995 Ninja Commando Flint Production Sample

Years ago, I showcased an unpainted 1995 Ninja Commando Flint as one of my first Rarities posts.  Now, here is the figure in his full production glory.  Generally, the muted colors of this figure are pretty strong.  And, while the notion that Flint is now a ninja is ridiculous, it doesn't take away from the fact that this is a decent ninja sculpt and a very solid figure.  I'd have probably bought this one for the colors had it been released.  

For customizers who want to make a Flint, the Mortal Kombat Movie Edition Rayden uses the entire body of this Flint.  Only the head never saw a production use.  It should also be noted that this figure has flesh colored lower arms.  There are many production figures that have full brown sleeves covering in the lower arm.  The painted two-up also features the long sleeves.  So, this pictured figure may be unfinished or an unintentional variant.

The Ninja Commandos have been well known in the community since the early days.  But, surprises still show up from time to time.  The most interesting aspects of them were the character choices and they way they would have bridged into the updated presentation for 1995.  In general, the standard Ninja Commandos are relatively muted and would meld well with the 1992 Ninja Force.  The planned set of repaints feature brighter colors, though, and would have been a great update to the 1993 Ninja Force.  With Hasbro back in the ARAH style Joe game, I do hope they look at some unproduced concepts from 1995.  But, I hope they are Battle Corps Rangers instead of Ninja Commandos.  But, at this point, I'll take anything that we never we got at retail.

Rarities - 1995 Ninja Commando Storm Shadow Production Sample

The 1995 Ninja Commandos were right behind the Manimals in terms of almost making it to production.  While packaged and loose samples of the Manimals exist, only loose samples of the Ninja Commandos are out there.  But, they are full production versions and even feature accessory trees.  Originally, the set was to be 6 figures.  But, it was reduced to 5.  The biggest name in the set was Storm Shadow.  This new version isn't a terrible look for Storm Shadow.  And, had I come across this hanging on a peg in 1995, I'd have probably bought him, even while I left other Ninja Force figures behind. The colors are subtle.  And, the figure kind of looks like Storm Shadow.  The more muted appearance would have been attractive to me as a neophyte collector.  

Did you know that there was also going to be a variant Storm Shadow released in the Ninja Commando line?  There is a second set of color masters that show some significant variants were planned for Ninja Commando figures.  Storm Shadow was one them.  The variant figure featured bright orange grenades and an orange cloth on his right leg.  The shoulder pauldron is grey and the figure's mask is all white.  It's actually a better Storm Shadow and would have matched nicely with T'Gin Zu.  Alas, neither figure made it to production.

After ignoring these figures for a long time, I've become fascinated by the Ninja Commandos in recent years.  Their designs are not bad.  And, they would have been a nice supplement to the sparse Battle Corps Rangers releases that would have also graced the shelves in 1995.  While I would have likely skipped Road Pig and even the Flint, this Storm Shadow would have been a good enough match for other figures that he would have called my collection home.  For years, rumours speculated that an entire production run of Ninja Commands were produced and were rotting in a warehouse.  After 25+ years, these figures aren't going to magically appear and the rumour was likely just wishful thinking by collectors of the day.  

But, as a fun aside, in the early 2000's, a collector visited Hasbro.  There, the Hasbro team had a bin of loose figures that they used to kitbash and paint up to developed repaints for the JvC and Toys R Us line.  In this bin were loose Ninja Commandos.  The Hasbro team had no idea they were rare, unproduced figures.  Sadly, though, we never got this figure at retail.  And, the dreams of one day owning a set of Ninja Commandos are now reserved for high dollar collectors who will treat them as museum pieces instead of the toys they were meant to be.

Chinese Toxo Zombie

Eco Warriors are awesome.  They have been awesome since 1991 and the fact that it took nearly 30 years for the rest of the Joe community to come around on them shows how little taste Joe collectors tend to have.  Zombies were never awesome.  They were kind of interesting.  Then, they got stupidly overexposed and are more cliche than scare-vehicle these days.  But, the intersection of the two from 1992 is awesome.  It's awesome because the Eco Warriors neon purple outweighs overdone zombies.  But, it's also awesome because the character isn't an undead.  Instead, it's a toxic mutated Toxo Viper who has lost his humanity due to a rotting body and mind.  Sure, it's a bit out into the sci-fi realm.  But, Joe has always been sci-fi, despite the best efforts of military purists to re-define it.  And, the notion of the Toxo Zombie works quite well in the context of the super-villain like Cobra.

In the mid 1990's, Hasbro produced Joe figures for release in China.  Most collectors know these figures from the Chinese Major Bludd, Flint and Duke variants.  But, there are also several other figures: some common and some really rare that were produced.  The series of figures produced in 1994 are the most common and remain easy to find to this day.  This is due to the fact that many were sold to American discount retailers in the 1990s and were actually available in the US.  There are other series, though, that are harder to find and didn't see the same US distribution.  Among these is the Toxo Zombie figure.

As a figure, the Toxo Zombie is pretty good.  The entire premise is that a Toxo Viper was mutated into something less than human.  As such, the Zombie uses the Toxo Viper's uniform and replaces parts with worn away pieces that show the rotting flesh beneath the compromised suit.  The pinkish color with light green highlights make the figure look like a bleached out Toxo Zombie who fell into terrible chemicals.  Grisly grey flesh is exposed on the figure's left arm and foot.  Some of the armor is worn away and the pants are pock-marked.  The face shield is cracked to reveal a dismal visage with pink flesh, a sunken eye and a permanent grimace of pain.  For 1992, the sculpting is amazing.  But, must of the detail is lost by lack of paint applications.  This was also common in 1992.  With a differently colored face, blackened teeth and more hollow eyes, this figure could have been a work of art.

I've long been an Eco Warriors fan.  And, the 1991 Toxo Viper is among my preferred later Cobra army builders.  It was fun to have a single Toxo Zombie around to enhance photos.  But, I never really found a lot of use in an army of them.  With a few in hand now, though, there is some fun in having a Joe or two flee from a horde of brain dead monsters who only have evil intent.  But, it's also something that has little substance.  The idea of Dr. Mindbender or Cesspool having a few of these creatures in the basement of some warehouse is fun enough.  But, making them an essential part of a Cobra army doesn't work.  With no cranial capacity left, the Zombies are just listless masses that meander around the battlefield.  You could drop one or two into a Joe base for some chaos.  But, they would also be quickly dispatched since they don't really have any abilities beyond the scare factor.

It's here that my interest in the Toxo Zombie kind of ends.  I have no real story built around them.  Instead, the purely visual treat that is the pink and green help bring some photos to life.  So, I do tend to use them with some frequency as they bring much needed life to many displays and photos.  And, for that reason alone, the figures are very valuable to me.  It's always nice to bring color to a photo and the Toxo Zombie works for that end.  Maybe if they were $10 figures, I might be inclined to pick up a few more and find something to do with them.  But, the zombie craze made all Toxo Zombies desirable and the relative scarcity of the figure has helped his inflation outlive the fad.

There are a few noteworthy features about this figure and his card.  The first is the most obvious.  This Toxo Zombie includes a gun and backpack.  They are the same weapons that were included with the Sludge Viper and Toxo Viper from 1991.  It never made sense to me that the Toxo Zombie didn't include accessories.  So, seeing them here seems more correct.  The next noteworthy detail is that the card is printed in Chinese.  In many cases, foreign cards feature stickers placed over American carded figures.  That is not so in this case.  The card is printed in Chinese, just like the more common figures that were released in 1994.  This brings up the final point.  The cardback features a 1995 copyright.  So, this figure was produced by Hasbro in 1995.  Now, we don't know if the figures were leftover stock from the 1992 run or a new production run altogether.  But, this late date is very interesting since the line had been cancelled in the US by then.

American Toxo Zombie figures have never been easy to find.  But, they have gotten much more desirable in the past couple of years.  Carded American figures sell in the $40-$60 range.  Loose figures are offered by dealers in the $30-$40 and an appalling amount of them sell for that price.  Left to their own devices, Toxo Zombies are around $25 figures on the open market, though.  This Chinese version is both somewhat common and also obscure.  You can get carded figures in the $75-$100 range.  Though, the price will ebb and flow based on the number in the market.  The figures are the same and loose versions are, supposedly, indiscernible from the American releases.  So, loose, the only real differentiating factor is that this figure would have gear (that could have been pilfered from a Toxo or Sludge Viper) and the unique filecard/cardback.  It's doubtful anyone would pay an extreme premium for that.

P-40 Warhawk - Sgt. Savage

As the Joe line died in 1994, Hasbro tried a lot of different things.  One such concept was the Sgt. Savage line of toys.  Originally, Sgt. Savage was designed as an "entry" line to the G.I. Joe world.  In retrospect, this seems silly.  Sgt. Savage was based on a World War II timeline, was a slightly different scale than the ARAH Joe line and really wasn't a kid friendly theme.  It was, instead, a more gritty line firmly rooted in military realism that hearkened back to adult's vision of what G.I. Joe was "supposed" to be.  Even at the time, it seemed to me to be an attempt to pull the burgeoning 12" collecting community into the world of smaller Joes.  Despite the generally decent ideas behind the Sgt. Savage line, it was an utter retail disaster.  The toys did not sell and throughout 1995 and 1996, walls of them appeared at every discount retailer in the country.  While collectors tend to lament G.I. Joe Extreme and the damage that concept did to the brand, Sgt. Savage might have been a worse retail scenario that decimated the Joe's brand appeal even more than Extreme.

The 1994 G.I. Joe line was short on vehicles.  The main line had just 4: the Blockbuster, Manta Ray, Scorpion and Razor Blade.  There were 2 Star Brigade mechs and a space capsule, though I really don't count that as an actual vehicle.  So, one area where the Sgt. Savage line did do OK was in their vehicle assortment.  While it only had three full vehicles released as companions to the figures, that was fairly substantial when you consider how small the line was overall.  The line featured the Grizzly jeep (which would later be released under the standard G.I. Joe header in India by Funskool), the IRON Panther which was a bad guy vehicle salvaged from the unfinished 1995 G.I. Joe line and the P-40 Warhawk plane.  In my desperate days of searching for the last dregs of G.I. Joe at retail, I twice succumbed to buy a Sgt. Savage vehicle.  First, it was the IRON Panther.  It was a staple of my Cobra army for a while.  But, it's not a great toy and was, eventually, sold off.  The second was the P-40 Warhawk.  With it, I found a toy that was more fun than many planes from my youth.  But, also found my full frustrations with the Sgt. Savage line as a whole.

It's pretty likely that I bought this P-40 at a KB Toyworks store in Lafayette Square mall in Indianapolis in the summer of 1996. It could have been 1995.  But, 1996 is the more likely timeframe.  Either way, at the time, there was a huge endcap of Sgt. Savage toys.  The endcap was floor to near ceiling of figures.  Stacked on either side of the endcap were boxes and boxes of vehicles, also stacked to nearly the ceiling.  It was the only G.I. Joe product in the store.  But, this massive overstock of Sgt. Savage toys was not unique to KB.  Local Big Lots stores had the same endcaps full of figures with vehicle boxes stacked nearby.  There was no greater tease than approaching the toy aisle in a discount store and seeing the glint of familiar G.I. Joe packaging colors only to get closer and realize that they were, entirely, Sgt. Savage toys.  These walls sat for quite a while, slowly dwindling until Sgt. Savage finally just went away, taking the last tie to the vintage Joe line with it.

During the mid 1990's I would still have fun with my toys now and again.  Usually, I'd blow off steam as various characters met horrible fates.  Many of these involved pilots getting destroyed in aircraft.  The fascination with this is two fold.  First, Star Wars remained an indelible film memory.  And, the notion of the Rebel pilots getting incinerated in space was simply captivating.  The second reason, though, is more personal.  In the late 1980's I learned that my grandfather had died on a bombing run over Anzio in World War II.  He was a bombardier and his plane was shot down on a mission.  I spent much time contemplating that.  Imagine being trapped in a crashing warplane, knowing death was imminent, but unable to do anything to stop it.  How would your last moments be spent?  As I explored the thoughts and emotions that would go into events of this nature, toys like the Warhawk helped me visualize scenarios.  

In my collection, items that arrive into it in near proximity become linked.  It still happens to this day.  When I got the Warhawk, some recent figure purchases were a few 1993 Star Brigade figures.  Quickly, the 1993 Ozone found himself as the pilot of the Warhawk.  If you spread his arms and legs just so, he would fit into the cockpit without flopping around.  Here, he died a great many deaths.  Most of them involved him leaning forward Star Wars style as his plane exploded from behind him.  At times, he'd be shot down over water and would plummet to a resting place far below the surface, still trapped inside.  Crews from the Shark 9000 would try to save him while a few Cobras might attempt to shatter the canopy...instantly pulping the pilot under the massive water pressure.  In this regard, the Warhawk was kind of interesting.  I had no real other planes available to me at the time.  So, the Warhawk filled a role.  And, it being the sole aircraft around, was more forgiven of its limitations than other toys would be.

One of the great follies of the middle stages G.I. Joe management was that they desperately tried to tie the legacy of the 12" figures to the 3 3/4" line.  In the early to mid 1990's, the burgeoning 12" G.I. Joe collecting community was vibrant.  And, for a while, Hasbro catered to them in terms of new products as they chased adult collecting dollars.  One thing Hasbro never realized was how different 12" G.I. Joe collectors were from what 3 3/4" Joe collectors would become.  Toy concepts like Sgt. Savage show how threading that needle was fraught with peril.  12" collectors didn't really flock to the brand as it was too much like the 3 3/4" figures.  But, kids and the emerging 3 3/4" collectors ignored it because the throwback didn't really resonate.  So, Hasbro missed the mark on both fronts and created an epic ocean of pegwarmers that damaged the brand for a couple of years.  Really, it took until 2002 before retailers were ready to fully take on the brand again.  But, even then, Hasbro's failure to understand a new generation of collectors bit them and the community was heavily alienated just three years later.

As a toy, the P40 is pretty nice.  It has an interesting blend of old school and more modern play patterns that work for enthusiasts of both genres.  You get some standard missiles that are on pegs under the plane's wings.  But, you also get two that can launch from the guns on the bottom of the wings, too.  The propeller and gun move when you push a button under the tail.  The gun lights up, shoots missiles and makes noise.  And, if I remember correctly, it makes a lot of noise.  It also features sturdy landing gear that fold up and tuck nicely underneath the wings.  The entire body, though, is massive.  While it only fits one figure, it takes up a huge footprint.  You can get an idea of the scale of the entire aircraft in the photos below where you see it towering over figures in ways many other vintage Joe planes did not.

The plane is an odd evergreen color.  The early prototypes and catalog images show the toy in a deeper, more military olive green.  While that color is more historically accurate, the released color makes this feel less like a then 50 year old design.  The mold is detailed and the entire plane is bulky and well put together.  I've not really cared about the Warhawk in 25 years.  It's been moved dozens of times, often in less than stellar packing just because I take shortcuts on toys I have little interest in.  Yet, the plane has survived to this day in better condition than my Shark 9000 or Blockbuster: two vehicles that I did care for through my nomadic existence.

The Warhawk included a pilot figure.  I desperately wanted this figure or his accessories to be compatible with my classic Joes.  But, he's not.  The 4.5" construction is just too big to work with vintage Joes.  The WW II era inspired machine gun included with him looks great.  But, it's out of scale for vintage Joes and will snap thumbs without hesitation.  The figures are differently articulated than vintage Joes.  They move differently and have unique joints.  Really, they are more akin to 2020 era action figures than even the JvC figures from 2002 to 2006 are.  All the details that drove the quality in the vintage Joe line are present in the Sgt. Savage figure designs.  But, the oddball new scale leaves them out of place with anything but themselves.

The Sgt. Savage line included many concepts that would have been found in the 1995 G.I. Joe line.  The IRON Panther being one.  But, many of the figures in the Savage line included gear planned for 1995 Joe figures.  The Arctic Stormtrooper in particular included gear intended for the 1995 Frostbite figure.  Along with that, though, the full window packaging that was used to showcase the figures and all their gear during the retail shelf presentation would have also been a hallmark of the 1995 Joe line.  (You see the same style in the Street Fighter Movie and Mortal Kombat figures, too.)  I can only imagine a world where the sea of discounted overstock Sgt. Savage toys were actually 1995 Battle Corps Rangers, Ninja Commandos and Star Brigade figures.  I had the money to buy back then and enough space that it's likely I'd have had quite a collection of the line's final year.  And, instead of a review about this P-40 Warhawk, it would be something about the Sea Wolf.  But, we don't live in that timeline.  And, instead, I have the disappointment of Sgt. Savage to fill memories of otherwise spectacular years of my life.

Dealers sell an appalling amount of boxed P-40's for around $130 or more.  But, left to the market, boxed sets are about $60: a huge disparity.  Finding a mint, loose sample is pretty hard as the toys are heavily concentrated in the "serious collector market" that left them boxed or the kids who had cheap parents and bought them on clearance camp who pretty much decimated the toy.  Really, the P-40's value is pretty limited.  It doesn't really fit with the aesthetic of G.I. Joe and it's not really compatible with them, either.  I still feel I overpaid for it back in the '90's and I would have been much better off buying overpriced vintage Joes at the flea market.  But, having something like this is another mnemonic device to bring back floods of memories from 25 years ago.  

Rarities - Unproduced 1995 "Star Brigade" Falcon

In 1999, Whiz Bang Collectibles sold off some of their pre-production G.I. Joe pieces.  These had been acquired from ex-Hasbro employees and they remain the primary source of most of the resin prototypes of unproduced 1995 items.  If you were willing to spend the money on one of their auctions, they offered you the chance to also buy some ancillary items.  One such piece was listed as "Star Brigade Falcon".

Whether or not this figure would have actually been Falcon, or even Star Brigade, is probably open to interpretation.  Many of those early prototypes were mis-labeled or simply unknown.  But, it is generally accepted that this figure is as advertised.  You will note many missing parts in the photos.  Hasbro only sculpted new parts for their pre-production pieces.  Falcon would have used some existing tooling for the remaining parts.  In this case, the waist and legs were rumored to have been the 1987 Payload.  However, that figure was planned for a full repaint in 1993 and Hasbro could not find the mold.  So, it's likely that, had this figure made it to production, it would have had different parts used to complete him.

In the years since this figure appeared, the parts have been cast and made available to customizers.  You can see one such cast that was painted up on JoeCustoms.com.  The colors on this figure are the artist's interpretation.  And, to my knowledge, we have yet to see any official coloring from Hasbro.  So, we don't really know what this guy was supposed to look like. But, the painted details give you a better look at the quality of this mold and the amazing sculpting job that Hasbro did on it.

While Star Brigade may not be every collector's passion, this Falcon figure appears to have been very well done.  It's likely that, had he been sold at retail, that he would be relatively sought after today.  The Joe line, in general, would have been better off had the 1995 figures come to light.  And, were it not for the victorious Kenner forces in the boys action figure division after their Hasbro acquisition, these figures would have seen the light of day.  Instead, we got G.I. Joe Extreme.  It's nice that we have looks into what might have been.  While the bad of 1995 gets most of the press, figures like this Falcon show that the good might have been worth it.

Photo From Whiz Bang that was offered with the 1995 Dr. Mindbender resin prototype.

20th Anniversary Key Moments - 1995 Unproduced Dr. Mindbender

In 1999, I dropped way too much money on a figure that was sold as a 1995 Battle Rangers Flint prototype.  I missed out, though, on the figure I really wanted: the unproduced 1995 Battle Rangers Dr. Mindbender.  The person who bought it had every intention of hiding it away and keeping it from collectors.  But, a cool thing happened: turns out the dealer selling the prototypes had an extra Mindbender and he sold it to another collector who kept photos of it in the community.  As luck would have it, this person wanted to sell his right at the time I was in position to buy one.  And, with a little negotiating, the 1995 Dr. Mindbender entered my collection in May of 2001.

I like weird figures.  G.I. Joe's appeal to me was that it wasn't just some random military line where every guy was in the same color and basic uniform.  Really, it was super heroes that happened to be in the military.  And, wacky figures that stretched the boundaries of realism were what attracted me to the line and kept me in to this day.  This Dr. Mindbender would have been the culmination of that tradition.  The figure is an homage to the self-mutilating 1993 Dr. Mindbender while also having roots in the iconic 1986 version.  It would have been the perfect benchmark villain for 1995.  But, that never got to be.

The Joe line died before this figure saw the light of day.  Many collectors deride the 1990's as moving off topic of the classic Joe of the 1980's.  But, really, only 1993 heavily strayed from the military fantasy of the bygone decade.  1994 did have Star Brigade and Hasbro was going to go heavy on the aliens and Manimals in later 1994 and 1995.  But, the core of the Battle Corps Rangers would have matched with the 1994 Battle Corps in that it was pretty true to the line's roots.  And, 1995 would have seen many classic characters return to the line...just like we saw in 1994.  In short, it wasn't the neon or a loss of focus on Joe's core that derailed the line.  G.I. Joe had just run it's course after 13 consecutive years of retail release.  1995 would not have saved the line.  But, had it seen production, it's likely that collectors of 2020 would be hugely over-paying for the lower production runs that surely would have accompanied the 1995 retail releases.

This Mindbender really started a trend for me showcasing more and more rare figures.  Mostly, I branched into foreign Joes as those became my focal point after my acquisition of this Mindbender.  And, from the summer of 2001 through 2004, the site became known more for foreign and rare releases than the actual lesser appreciated figures that had driven the first 18 months of the site's life.  It was a reputation that lasted for a long time.  In the past 5 years, though, I've exhausted my supply of rare releases.  So, I've turned more to the site's roots of finding uncovered gems or just odd figures that no one cares about.  Each focus was aligned with my collecting philosophy of the time.

I no longer own this Mindbender.  He was a casualty of my collection purge in the early 2010's.  I simply didn't have a need to own him any longer and got a good enough offer that it made sense to liquidate him.  In some ways, I regret it.  This figure is great and it was always fun owning a piece of Joe history.  But, in other ways, it made no sense to hold onto a figure that was barely a display piece.  My collection is focused on loose toys as that's what I played with as a kid and appreciate today.  This Mindbender wasn't painted and, therefore, wasn't all that useful to me beyond being a conversation piece.

Since 2001, a lot more of these figures have surfaced.  We even have found hand painted samples.  And, Hasbro released the intended card for this figure a few years ago.  So, we know a lot more about him than we did 19 years ago.  But, the age of social media is swallowing the Joe knowledge that's out there.  And, photos, info and stories of figures like this Mindbender are lost in private groups and the poor search functions that plague sites whose only purpose for existing is to get users to constantly share new content (so they can sell ads).  The Joe world is losing its collective archive and most of the discoveries of the past decade are not well documented in a place that's easily accessible to Joe fans.  I bought this Mindbender to help prevent that from happening.  For a while, things were OK.  But, the past few years have turned the tide and the secretive nature of the Joe world has won out and collectors of today simply don't have access to the recesses of the Joe line's history and many gems like this Mindbender will simply never be known to the Joe collecting public.  And, that's too bad.