Funskool Desert Scorpion - Random Photos of the Day

I'd love to say that, once upon a time, the Funskool Desert Scorpion was a popular purchase for adult collectors.  But, that was never the case.  Even  during the "everything army builder!!!!!" phase of the early 2000's, this widely available figure never really caught on.  To this day, you almost never see this figure used in any capacity.  A big part of that is that he's kind of hard to find and overly expensive.  This is a function of his unfashionable debut in 2001 and the fact that collectors completely ignored him during that era while they bought up tens of thousands of Funskool Night Vipers, Hydro Vipers, Crimson Guards and, yes, Toxo Vipers.  

I still see this figure as an elite guard for Cobra Commander.  Their big arms, weird design and small, compact weapons make for a role that's more ceremonial than functional.  So, I pretty much only use these guys in this capacity.  And, even then, it's pretty rare for these figures to come out.  You can only do so many "the Commander arrives!" dioramas before it gets played out.  About 1 per decade is usually good for me.  And, you'll see these figures showcased about that often.  It's a sad fate for these figures as I think their absolute wackiness should give them some cachet in the community.  And, were they readily available in 2021 instead of 2001, that would have, likely, happened.

Instead, we're left with a relic of the cheap Funskool import era.  If you were there and got to take advantage of it, it was spectacular.  And, even 20 years later, the aftershocks of those imports define the market for these figures.  What was popular back then is pretty common and relatively cheap today.  The figures that collectors didn't care about during their release window, are now hard to find and can command exorbitant premiums.  With hindsight, I wish I'd been more aggressive in accumulating a nice Funskool collection.  But, what I have left is good enough.  And, figures like this Desert Scorpion still give me a chance to flex that I've been around forever and do have some oddball stuff collecting dust in the basement closets.

2001 Tripwire

Hasbro had a short break between the death of the Joe line in 1994 and its first reappearance as a collector themed line in 1997.  But, really, 1997 Hasbro was a completely different company than the one that existed in 1994.  The people who had made the vintage Joe line were gone.  In their place were new people who lacked the connection to the brand.  And, instead of trying to find a recipe that would have given them massive retail success, they fell upon a select few, elder members of the collecting community to guide their design choices.  The result is a short era of safe, bland and uninteresting figures whose value is almost entirely tied up in the nostalgic ties that barely repaints evoked among a certain set of adults.  The figures of this era aren't, necessarily, bad.  They're just boring.  They take no chances and don't challenge anyone's sense of comfort when thinking about their collecting habits.  

This was the core problem with the A Real American Hero Collection (ARAHC) that was released in 2000 and 2001.  Too many of the figures blended together.  To uninitiated parents and casual collectors, the shelves appeared to be full of the same figure over and over again.  Nothing stood out: either good or bad.  The figures were, though, relatively good.  Collectors liked them and bought a fair amount.  But, the line couldn't compete with the adult collector driven but still kid supported Star Wars line.  A few figures, though, really did work in the muted color schemes.  Among them was the 2001 Tripwire.

You can make an argument that this is the best Tripwire figure.  (Though, you'd be wrong as the Funskool figure is the best!)  But, it's really not all that different from the 1983 version.  The green is a little darker.  The main difference is that the unique grey from the original version has been replaced by a more common black color.  The color lacks the sheen of vintage black figures who still appeared shiny and vibrant and was, instead, a very flat black.  This was the type of thing that the cool, hip adult collectors of 2001 pretended that they wanted.  And, Hasbro gave us a whole line of figures who were almost exclusively the boring green and black colors.  And, that line didn't last a year at retail.  2002 brought a ton more color to the line and it launched the Joe renaissance of the early 2000's where the brand had retail viability for a couple of years.  

The thing about this figure is that the 1983 Tripwire is pretty much perfect.  His lighter green gives him some distinction from some of his contemporaries.  But, his grey highlights were a rarity in the vintage Joe line.  For that reason, Tripwire stood out.  A relatively boring figure became memorable with just a few design choices.  For the 2001 figure, all of that personality was stripped away from Tripwire.  Were he a lone release of this ilk, that would have been OK.  But, most of the ARAHC was ripping the soul from classic figures in order to appeal to a false sense of "gritty, military realism" that NEVER existed in the Joe line.  It left a line of figures that people like.  But, you don't see them used since, in pretty much every case, the vintage figure that was replaced by the later repaint is better.  And, they are not different enough to warrant using the later design.  It would be one thing if this was the only desert tan Tripwire that was released.  That would have been safe, but also useful.  Instead, it's the same ground we tread before: only 18 years later and not as good.

Of the ARAHC figures released in 2000 and 2001, this Tripwire remains one of the most frequently seen in various photos and dioramas (such as they exist in 2023).  He's one of the few figures who often replaces the original.  I suspect this is because this Tripwire is good enough and it offers the exact same aesthetic to a scene that the original figure provides.  Tripwire is great as a vehicle operator or support figure.  And, his covered head also allows you to use him as an army builder.  (Fun fact, the 1983 Tripwire head looks amazing on a Steel Brigade body if you have some part swaps you want to try.)  So, you can have a couple of them if you want.  But, most people like to use Tripwire as the lead: clearing the way for his team mates to safely navigate a passage.

The ARAHC started strong, gained momentum and then completely petered out in about 8 months.  The first figures popped up in October of 2000 and by the summer of 2001, the figures were backed up all over the country.  By October of 2001, the figures were showing up in discount and closeout outlets.  The final wave was cancelled from retail and only salvaged by two online retailers because Hasbro was so far into the production process with the figure wave.  (Despite the angry retorts to the contrary, I still fully believe the Crimson Viper was planned for Wave V but was pulled from there and moved to the 2002 convention release.)  Tripwire and his terrible packmate, Big Brawler, were staples of closeout stores well into 2002.  But, even at $5 for two figures, few people really stocked up on the set and even the army builders from this final retail wave were easy to find for more than a year if you frequented outlet malls or the offbeat closeout stores that still existed 21 years ago.

One huge upside of the ARAHC figures was that they, mostly, included the figure's original gear.  The Joe design team of the 1980's spent inordinate amounts of time matching characters and their accessories.  So, keeping the figure's paired with original gear worked well.  This Tripwire includes his pack, three landmines and minesweepeer that debuted with the original release.  Sans this gear, Tripwire is useless as a standalone figure.  He can still work as a vehicle driver.  But, Tripwire needs his gear to stand out among the other Joes.  For some reason, I've never actually plugged the 2001 Tripwire's minesweeper into his backpack.  I like the look of it still in its rigid, original form.  This makes no sense.  But, you can still pose the figure without this gear actually plugged into the pack as was intended.

Oddly, Tripwire is one figure that really got utilized quite well.  The original 1983 figure is solid.  He was sold all over the world and there are slight arm chevron variants to track down.  In 1985, Hasbro went nuts and gave us the awesome red and orange Listen & Fun Tripwire.  It's completely ridiculous.  Which makes it awesome!  This darker figure appeared in 2001.  From there, Hasbro sent the mold to India where the amazing Funskool Tripwire was produced.  If you want a realistic Tripwire, you have options.  If you want a surreal repaint, you can get one that fits that criteria.  And, if you want a solidly colored but weird figure, the Funskool is there for you.  Sure, a tan Tripwire would have been nice.  But, you've got 4 distinct releases with two of them being something completely different from anything else in the line.  (BTW, I forgot 2 releases, Blades and the Tiger Force Tripwire - Thanks to JRizzo in the comments.)

Tripwire figures aren't all that desired.  While dealers will try to get $20-$25 for a loose, mint and complete figure, the reality is that you can get a carded set for less than that price.  Open market figures are between $7-$10 with deals to be had by those who are patient.  These days, it's far and away the cheapest Tripwire.  And, as the colors are good, it's adequate for the character unless you want something weirder to represent the team's mine detector.

2001 Funskool Red Dog - Random Photos of the Day

It's been over 20 years since Funskool released their version of the Red Dog figure.  In that time, the figure has fallen out of the collecting conscious.  Few people still have the figure.  And, those who do rarely use him.  In photos of the Renegades, it's always the American Red Dog that's featured.  The Funskool figure just isn't used very often.  Despite my lamentation of this fact, though, I don't even use the figure all that often.  

I always hope to see the figure more often.  And, often comment that I'd love to see this figure get used more often.  But, he's just not part enough of collections, though, to really appear that much.  This is too bad as Funskool did a great job creating a figure that's totally different from the Hasbro figure.

Sadly, Funskool Red Dogs are no longer the $4 purchase that they were for many years.  You'll find very few of them for sale.  And, those that you do find are almost always overpriced.  So, that's a big hindrance to this figure ever become a staple of various photos you'll see of the character.  

2001 Destro

So, one of the great failures of the Joe line is that Hasbro has a long history of releasing overly similar figures over and over again.  This didn't happen too often prior to 1997.  But, for some reason, post 1994 Hasbro got into barely repainting certain molds.  This practice hit its crescendo in 2001 when, in Wave III of the ARAHC, Hasbro released a 1987 Cobra Commander homage and 1992 Destro homage that were so similar to their vintage counterparts that it was nearly impossible to tell them apart unless you had them in hand.  This was a frustrating development as, at the time, both the '87 Cobra Commander and the '92 Destro figures were alarmingly cheap and available.  In fact, you could get these figures for only slightly more than you'd pay for the new retail versions.  Worst of all, both figures could have been amazing repaints and we never got an opportunity to explore those possibilities.

The biggest frustration with this 2001 figure comes from the fact that the mold has a number of sculpted details that were not painted on the 1992 release.  But, Hasbro didn't update the paint masks to make a better figure.  A little silver paint on the legs and arms would have gone a long way towards refurbishing the figure and drastically improving it.  The only real difference between this 2001 figure and the 1992 is that the 1992 has red dashes running down his legs.  There is a slight color difference in the collar's red color.  But, it's tough to see without the two figures sitting side by side.  In 1997, Hasbro had given this figure a chromed head.  But, they didn't do that with this 2001 figure.  And, it suffers for it.

The real question, though, is why wasn't this figure at least an Iron Grenadier homage with a golden helmet?  That seems like a no-brainer, especially since Hasbro didn't know they had the 1988 Destro mold available until 2005.  But, in 2001, the Iron Grenadiers were not, yet, a truly accepted subset.  Collectors were still 1987 and prior focused.  And, while Iron Grenadiers weren't hated at the time, they weren't popular, either.  You could get all the 1988 Iron Grenadier figures you wanted for cheaper than pretty much any other infantry type army builder.  

This Destro mold got a bit of use.  He was one of the new 1992 molds that was not carried over to 1993, though.  So, he didn't get a subsequent repaint.  However, around 1994, this Destro appeared on Chinese cards.  These were widely available at discount stores in the U.S.  That Destro is the pretty much the same as the 1992 figure, but includes a different rifle.  The mold then appeared in a great purple in 1997.  It was repainted for this 2001 figure and then the body appeared again in a Comic Pack in 2005.  The Comic Pack had a new head.  But, the color scheme was, basically, the same as the 1992 figure.  The head was used for the 2005 Convention Destro.  But, the body was not.  So, despite 5 uses of the mold, there are really only two color schemes: the original and the 1997.  The mold had lots of potential and it's a shame that it was never repainted in Iron Grenadier colors with a golden mask.

Destro only includes his pistol and a black battle stand.  The spring loaded launcher that was used in 1992 and 1997 didn't make this release.  That's probably not terrible.  Though, Destro's launcher is one of the better and more useful spring loaded accessories.  I do love Destro's pistol.  It's the main reason I bought the figure back in 1992.  But, it would have been cool to see a backpack that was a homage to Destro's 1983 weapon filled pack.  I've found a few smaller pistols that also work well with Destro.  You'll see him with a variety of weapons below to give him a bit more depth.

This Destro isn't worth much.  The 1992 figure isn't hard to find and is relatively affordable.  So, there isn't much demand for the 2001 figure.  Despite the fact that this figure was only released in Wave III and includes the surprisingly good Fast Blast Viper, you can buy carded sets for about $17.00.  Dealers will ask $30.  But, those don't sell.  Mint and complete with filecard loose figures sell for about $2 if they are left to the open market.  Making this guy one of (if not the!) cheapest figures in the line.  Dealers will ask $8 or so.  But, it's better to just buy a carded version to also get the Fast Blast Viper.  If you just want a Destro that looks like this, the 2001 is probably a better option than the 1992 as it's has softer plastic, doesn't discolor like other 2000's era figures, includes proper gear and is substantially cheaper than the 1992 release.  But, if you already have the 1992 Destro, there's simply no reason to obtain this 2001 version.

Funskool Zartan - Around the Web

In 2001, Hasbro produced one of the worst figures in the entire history of the line: the ARAHC Zartan.  Fortunately, just a few months after the Hasbro figure was shown, Funskool came through and released a new version of the classic V1 Zartan mold.  The Funskool figure wasn't too far off from the 1984 Zartan.  He featured a little extra silver and black chest and knee pads.  The biggest change was to the eyes, though.  The Funskool figure has creepier eyes with less paint.  

Sadly, you don't see this figure as frequently as you used to.  Carded figures have greatly appreciated, seemingly oblivious to the fact that thousands upon thousands of these were imported to the US.  So, there's not a ton of content on the figure out there.  But, you can enjoy what little there is, below.

Funskool Zartan Profile

Funskool Zartan at the Attica Gazette

Funskool Zartan at Joe A Day.com

Funskool Zartan by xxteam_cobraxx

Funskool Zartan by R.T.G. at ARAH Gallery

Funskool Zartan by atwooddan

Funskool Zartan by Funskool Rony

2001 ARAHC Big Ben

This arctic Big Ben is the figure that killed the ARAHC line.  It was released just before Christmas in 2000.  But, within just a few months, this Big Ben and his pack-mate, White Out, would ruin what had been an incredibly promising start to a Joe resurgence at retail.  It's not this figure's fault, though.  The reality is that he is an amazing update to a a character who was incredibly obscure at the turn of the century.  But, things conspired against him and a series of bad decisions by Hasbro turned this promising repaint into one of the greatest pegwarmers of all time.

In 2000, collectors fell into two camps: those who felt the line ended after 1985 and those who felt it ended after 1987.  It was nearly impossible to find loose figures made after 1989 as the kids who collected them had yet to really come online.  As such, figures from 1990 and beyond were all but unknown.  One of the reasons I started my site in late 1999 was because I felt that figures from the final years of the line deserved a place that would spotlight them so more collectors would become aware of their quality.  So, when Hasbro pulled out some molds from the 1990's as repaints for the new line of Joe figures at retail, it was, for many collectors, the first time they'd really paid any attention to the figure molds or characters.  And, in the case of Big Ben, they found a decent sculpt with great gear and a useful character.  And, loose 1990 Big Bens weren't exactly common at the time.  So, for many collectors of the day, the ARAHC repaints would be their first interactions with these molds.  While there was some grumbling by the most militant of Joe collectors about the later mold inclusions, they were, generally, welcomed by the community since they seemed like new figures instead of just a standard repaint.

Now, we get to the meat of why this figure destroyed Joe's chances at retail.  In 2000, the first wave of the ARAHC figures saw a modest launch.  They were sold at Toys R Us, KB Toys, and Wal Mart.  I do not recall if K-Mart picked up the first wave.  But, Target definitely did not.  However, the first wave sold relatively well.  While it was never hard to find from October through December of 2000, it also didn't back up very much with the exception of the Cobra Commander/Chameleon two pack.  

The reason those Cobras backlogged, though, was because they were 3 to a case.  So, their overabundance was the result of a deliberate choice by Hasbro to try and help stave off demand.  Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow were also 3 per case, but they sold more quickly.  The remaining figure packs were all 2 per case.  As the waves sold through, the Cobra Commander and Chameleon pack was the only real pegwarmer.  But, if you hit a few Wal Marts or Toys R Us stores in a given day, you'd find every pack from the wave.  

The strong sales both got other retailers (most importantly, Target) to start carrying the line and also expand the retail space allotted for the figures.  So, Wave 2 (it should be noted that Hasbro named the waves with Roman Numerals.  So, from here on out, I'll refer to them by that nomenclature.  This only slightly matters because there were nearly two Wave 5's released in 2002.) quickly started hitting retailers.  And, it hit in force.  Stores got shipment after shipment of them.  And, for a while, they sold pretty well.  But, here's where two fatal flaws in Hasbro's logic converged to kill the line.

In 2001, interest in G.I. Joe surged.  The combination of greater internet access, more children of the '80's coming online, a new comic and even the broader acceptance of buying online at places like Ebay lead to an uptick in interest that still hasn't been matched by the 2007 Anniversary figures or even the Classified 6" series of figures.  Hundreds of new collectors came online every month.  And, they were eager to buy up the memories of their childhood.  Hasbro, was all too willing to meet the demand for these new figures.  The problem was, though, that Hasbro stopped making Wave I cases.  And, as such, only shipped Wave II cases in 2001.  And, the Wave II case breakdown was pretty bad.  It had three new 2 packs: Duke and Sidetrack, Major Bludd and the Rock Viper and Big Ben and White Out (a 1983 Snow Job repaint.)  The figures were all fine.  The case was rounded out with the carry overs of Snake Eyes/Stormshadow and Dusty/Law.  To get to 12 figure packs per case, Hasbro decided to include 4 Big Ben/White Out packs per case.  No other figure pack saw this case ratio.  And, it was baffling.  Sure, Snow Job was popular.  But, in 2001, mint and complete Snow Jobs that were pristine white were still cheap and plentiful.  And, no one really cared about Big Ben.  So, the fact that they got the massive overpacks instead of the army builder was an odd choice.

And, it quickly proved disastrous.  After a couple of months, Big Ben/White Out packs were falling off the shelves of most retail stores.  While the other figures in the case weren't hard to find, you'd often only find a couple of them.  They weren't pegwarming that badly.  Just the extra Big Ben/White Outs were the problem.   But, here's where everything compounds.  For whatever reason, Hasbro didn't have a Wave III ready to go.  So, Wave II cases shipped for 6 months.  With nothing to take their place, the mountains of Big Ben/White Outs grew and grew.  Only, now they were joined by all the other figures in the case, too.  After months of not finding anything new, many casual buyers moved on.  And, the pegwarmers got worse.  By the time Wave III finally shipped in June of 2001, its production run was reduced as there wasn't room at the stores for too many new figures.  Wave III sold well enough.  But, it also wasn't around for very long.  Hasbro dumped Wave IV to discount retailers just a couple of months later and the ARAHC was scrapped.  Wave V was cancelled at retail and became online only.  (At least one pack was cancelled out of this wave.  And, while gate keeping dickheads liked to decry the rumor of a Crimson Viper, the fact that one appeared in a Convention set in 2002 lends credence to the theory that the figure had retail origins.)  

Wave II cases started appearing at regional and overstock retailers.  And, by early 2002, you could still buy all of the figures you wanted from Wave II for about $5/pack all over the US.  But, as hard as it is to believe, the situation in Canada was actually worse.  Canadian retailers got the same case ratios.  But, the figures pegwarmed even harder there than they did in lower latitudes.  Collectors did their best: many buying dozens of Rock Vipers they didn't even really want.  But, the avalanche of Big Ben/White Out figures was simply too much.  Retailers lost faith in the brand.  And, more importantly, they completely lost faith in vintage style Joe repaints.  They felt something new was necessary and that the old molds simply didn't have any more retail life in them.

Looking back, one simple tweak could have saved Hasbro from much of this.  Hasbro had three packs that were out of production in 2001.  And, at the time, the Firefly/Undertow pack would rise as high as $75 on the aftermarket.  General Tomahawk/Dialtone easily fetched $35.  There was huge unmet demand for the discontinued packs since so many new collectors had joined the community after they had disappeared from retail.  (The 3 per case of Cobra Commander/Chameleon helped keep their demand lower.  But, even tossing in 1 of them would have solved a lot of backup.)  Had Hasbro just updated the case ratios to include 2 each of those figures instead of Big Ben/White Out, we likely have a very different history of retail Joe releases in the early 2000's.  But, we also know that Hasbro had plans to scrap the vintage style figures very early on.  And, the retail failure may have given them cover they desired to ensure the transition from vintage figures to the JvC went more smoothly.  (It didn't.)

It was an unjust fate for this figure, though.  I'll argue that this Big Ben repaint is one of the more sensical and useful repaints that Hasbro produced in the 2000's.  Big Ben's sculpt was always bulky.  And, it looks like he's wearing a cold weather jacket.  So, painting in white for use in snowy environments was a natural progression and showed a bit of insight by the Hasbro team of the time.  The gloves on his hand are about the only flaw as they are colored in a way that you can call them gloves.  But, at the same time, they are close in color to Big Ben's face.  So, it also kind of looks like he's bare handed.  But, that's a small quibble with an otherwise strong color scheme.

The coloring on this figure is difficult to determine.  He was always more of a creamy, off white color than a pure white figure like most of the vintage Arctic figures were.  His pack and satchel, though, are bright white.  As the 2000's plastic is discoloring at an alarming rate, it's difficult to determine just how off white this Big Ben should be.  One of the photos below was taken in 2002.  In it, he looks whiter than the figure is today.  But, this could be a function of the overexposed flash that I used when I took the photo two decades ago.  So, be mindful of the coloring on this figure when you look to acquire one.  The upper arms are going to be the first to go and you can see a slight difference between them and the rest of the figure in the newer photos below.  But, the figure always had a cream-ish hue and was never pure white.

One other oddity on this Big Ben is that he features an AT logo on his arm.  This is an homage to Adventure Team.  Except, there's nothing documenting that fact.  So, there's no real reason for this to appear on the figure aside from the Hasbro executive at the time desperately trying to tie the 3 3/4" line to the 12" line of his youth.  It was a hail Mary to attract 40-something aged collectors who had grown up with the 12" line instead of exclusively catering to the burgeoning 20-something collecting demographic that was quickly dominating any Joe online forum.  It's an interesting anachronism.  But, it's also a vivid example of why vintage Joes never made a proper comeback.  They were always made to appeal to everyone except the kids who grew up with them and made the brand so powerful in the 1980's.

Early photos of carded sets featuring this Big Ben showed him including a bi-pod for his rifle.  However, this accessory was removed late in the process and never shipped with any Big Ben that was produced in the 2000's.  This is unfortunate.  As, in my view, the bi-pod fundamentally changes the visual representation of this rifle.  It really made no sense why this wasn't included.  Especially, since 2002 Big Bens included an XMLR rifle that more than offset the cost savings of the bi-pod's exclusion.  It seems the photos of the carded sets with the bi-pod have been lost to time.  Otherwise, Big Ben included all the gear of the vintage figure: a rifle, huge backpack, satchel and grenades.

For me, this figure remains bittersweet.  I was so excited to find one at Christmas in 2000.  I even wanted to take him to snow in the mountains to get some photos of him.  But, just a few months later, the figure was just the bane of my existence as it was everywhere.  And, it was just painful to see the hatred the figure got from a frustrated collecting community when, pegwarming notwithstanding, the figure was actually a spectacular repaint of one of Hasbro's premier designs from the '90's.  This figure was also further diminished when Hasbro released two more decent Big Ben repaints in 2002 and yet another one in 2003 and continued to use his chest and other parts on figures through 2005.  Big Ben overkill helped bury this figure.  And, after two decades, some of that stink still persists despite the actual figure's overall quality.

Dealers now try to sell this figure for up to $30 or more.  You'll see them selling carded versions in the $40 range.  But, on the open market, the carded set is about $20.  If you can find complete figures, they are likely in the $10-$12 range, which seems high.  For a figure that pegwarmed for so long as as hard as it did, these prices seem out of whack.  But, this Big Ben is also a pretty strong figure.  So, some collector interest also makes sense.  If you're a fan of arctic Joes, you need this Big Ben as it's a solid addition to a winter team.  His history as a retail disaster is behind him and for younger collectors who don't recall piles of him at every store, you can look at the figure on his own and appreciate it for the quality repaint it is.

Funskool Wild Bill - Around The Web

So, the whole 1982-1994 thing really burned me out.  That's why it kind of slow rolled to the end and I took a few shortcuts.  As such, April is going to be a light month.  Years ago, I called April "International Joe Month".  It never took off.  But, I'm going to heavily focus on non-US releases in April: mostly with Around The Web and Random Photo features.  I've one or two profiles to release, though.  So, they'll pop up.  Hopefully, that will give me some time to get re-energized for May.  And, if not, I already have most of the work done for Rarities Month in June.  So, there will be 12-15 new Rarities offerings coming then.

Until then, here's some of the various foreign figure content I've had saved up.  A lot of them, like this Wild Bill, don't have a ton of content as there just aren't too many photos out there using the figures.  A lot of the work done in the early 2000's when these figures were common is now gone.  So, I found what I could and encourage those who have some figures like this to get them out and take more photos.

Funskool Wild Bill Profile

Funskool Wild Bill Card Art

Funskool Wild Bill by gi_joeisthere

Funskool Wild Bill at JoeADay.com

Funskool Wild Bill by Funskool Rony

Funskool Wild Bill by toysjoy357

Funskool Wild Bill 2009 Variant by retreat8090

2001 Rock Viper - Around The Web

While this figure is, technically, listed as a 2000 release, the reality is that he didn't show up until about three days before Christmas in 2000.  Most stores didn't see him until 2001 and I have always considered him a 2001 release for this reason.  Sadly, when stores started getting him in 2001, they didn't stop.  Wave II (which included this figure) was massively overshipped and you could find Rock Viper/Major Bludd packs for $5 each into 2002.  It was a sad fate for this figure as it's a solid mold, repainted to mimic a 1986 Viper and includes all his original gear.  Fortunately, lots of people used this figure back in the day when he was cheap and plentiful.  So, there's some great content on the Rock Viper from around the web in the links below.

2001 Rock Viper Profile

2001 Rock Viper by Scarrviper

2001 Rock Viper at JoeADay.com

2001 Rock Viper by gen_liederkranz

2001 Rock Viper by Pit Viper V2

2001 Rock Viper by tonegunsrevisited

2001 Rock Viper at GeneralsJoesReborn

2001 Rock Viper by Scarrviper

2001 Rock Viper by Cobra Freak

2001 Rock Viper by gen_liederkranz

2001 Rock Viper at Icebreaker's HQ

2001 Rock Viper by dantedmc37

2001 Rock Viper by the plasticeyeball

2001 Rock Viper by Scarrviper

2001 Crossfire

Taste is subjective.  All collectors have irrational favorites.  And, everyone has one figure that just bugs them for some reason.  I do not like Crystal Ball.  But, I do see the quality of his overall sculpt.  Big Boa is the worst figure in the vintage line.  But, I also acknowledge that I feel that way because he was such a good character and I was super disappointed that his figure didn't live up to his filecard.  There are, though, a select few figures that are objectively bad and have no redeeming qualities at all.  20 years ago, Hasbro released one such figure.  I was shocked to find, though, that, at the time, a lot of other collectors loved him.  And, even two decades later, people rush to defend a figure that has no intrinsic value whatsoever.  But, I will remain steadfast that the 2001 Crossfire is just a terrible figure and, subjectivity be damned, anyone who likes him is just wrong.

The A Real American Hero Collection (ARAHC) started off with a bang in the fall of 2000.  Joe returning to retail was huge.  But, Hasbro went a step further to find some favorite molds and characters, paint them well and include all their original gear.  The second wave was even better as it expanded the mold library and brought in some later figure sculpts that followed the same formula as Wave I.  But, a troubling pattern started to emerge with Wave II.  Too many of the Joes used the same color palette.  Gone was the retail visual complement that Hasbro strove for with the vintage line.  Instead, all the figures looked the same.  And, when Wave III debuted, the pattern continued into a full blown issue.  Wave II was starting to stagnate at retail.  (Though, that was all the fault of packing 4 Big Ben/Whiteout packs per case.)  Wave III, though, saw a lower production run and, generally, sold through just due to lower numbers.  But, Wave II had done in the line and the banality that was Wave IV heavily found its way to discount and closeout stores.  Hasbro listened too much to some people who had a very limited and narrow view of Joe.  And, the sea of olive green was just too boring to sustain a line at retail.  In 2002, Hasbro moved more towards a vintage Joe approach with coloring and the line was hugely successful for a couple of years.

Backing up to 2001, though, Wave III was actually pretty well anticipated by the collecting community.  It featured two new army builders (always welcome in those days!) as well as a redone Cobra Commander and Destro.  On the Joe side, we saw a repainted Low Light, Wet Suit and Torpedo.  The classic 1984 Roadblock mold returned.  Though, with a new name.  Also in the wave, though, were two "new" figures.  One, Sure Fire, used the amazing 1992 Shockwave body.  (And, kind of sullied that mold for a long time.)  The other, Crossfire, was an amalgamation of parts.  But, like Sure Fire, he included a newly sculpted head to denote the new character.  Sadly, both these heads were just terrible.  Both had receding hairlines and while Sure Fire's head was too small, Crossfire's was too big.  Both look out of place with the rest of the parts and stick out as a newly minted part created by sculptors less talented than those who worked on the vintage Joe line.  

Crossfire suffers from many ailments.  His pasty, balding, middle aged white guy head has always sucked.  In fact, it's kind of embarrassing.  Hasbro designers completed failed on all the new heads in the ARAHC line (We'll toss in Volga from 1998 as well as most of the Comic Pack heads, too.)  If the rest of the figure was good, then the new head could be somewhat overlooked.  But, the rest of Crossfire is just as much a mess as is his head.  His chest and arms are from the 1990 Big Ben.  Remember, at the time, the 2001 Arctic Big Ben was pegwarming all over North America.  And, the colors chosen for Crossfire were reminiscent of the 1990 figure while also being worse at the same time.  He was also given flesh colored hands.  The fact that Big Ben has gloves sculpted onto his hands didn't seem to bother the Hasbro team of the time.  They're not as bad as Dialtone's hands.  But, it is still noticeable.  Speaking of Dialtone, Crossfire uses his legs and waist.  The slim 1986 sculpt is not a good match for the 1990 torso.  So, Crossfire appears off balance.  The legs are also nearly the same green as the 2000 Dialtone figure.  So, again, the entire ensemble just felt tired.

Crossfire's torso and legs are different shades of green.  They are not complementary shades.  They are just different enough to make you think that the top or bottom has discolored from the sun.  He also has gold bullets with silver belt details.  Again, this is a color contrast that makes the whole figure look confusing.  Lots of color is usually good on a figure.  But, when it's clashing colors that simply distract from the mold's details, you realize that this wasn't a figure with a lot thought put into his design.  It was a cheap way to reuse parts and create a "new" character without trying too hard or blowing the budget on a lower production wave of figures.  

The final indignity of Crossfire was his complete lack of weapons.  He didn't include a helmet.  His only gun, the 1991 Dusty rifle and stock, had become commonplace and even overused by 2001.  Personally, I use it exclusively as a Cobra weapon after the 1998 Cobra Infanty was released.  So, it was good to have a spare of two when Hasbro stopped giving Vipers decent weapons in 2002.  Crossfire didn't even have an obligatory backpack.  Supposedly, Crossfire had all sorts of specialties.  But, he got no gear to prove that out.  His pack mate, Double Blast, got a lot of gear.  And, it wasn't uncommon for one figure to have a large amount of gear in the ARAHC packs while the second figure got barely a pittance.  But, with Crossfire, it just stung since the gear added nothing to the figure.  The 2001 Leatherneck's Richard Nixon head was saved by including a helmet.  Crossfire just gets to look like a guy who's slowly drinking himself to death with cheap gin.

Despite three plus paragraphs describing just how terrible Crossfire is, collectors somewhat liked him.  Some used him as a Greenshirt.  Others found use for him in various dio stories of the day.  All of these people were wrong.  Crossfire is a figure that deserves to be ridiculed and should be forgotten on the scrap heap of terrible Joe ideas.  But, things like this are what make collecting fun.  I can jest about others being wrong in their opinions of this figure.  But, it's not malicious.  At the end of the day, I own this figure and am publishing an article about him more than two decades removed from his release.  Those who like him can still like him.  The things about him that bug me may be endearing to others.  And, remember, my favorite figures tend to have neon colors.  So, how valid can my opinion be, anyways?!?  My biggest issue is, knowing the molds that Hasbro had available to them at the time, we got Crossfire instead of Mutt or Bullhorn or Salvo or Rock and Roll.  Any of those figures would have been preferable.  But, in Hasbro's feeble attempts at something "new", they created something completely forgettable.

Crossfire's code name didn't help.  The Crossfire was an obscure 1987 radio controlled vehicle that is most famous for producing Rumbler.  On top of the reuse, though, Hasbro wasn't overly creative with names in the early 2000's.  In short order, they released Crossfire, Surefire, Crosshair, Sideswipe, Side Track and Sidetrack.  The names all blended together into a cacophony of banality that made all the characters lamentable.  

Dealers try to get $20 for mint and complete Crossfires.  But, they won't sell until the price drops to around $10.  Left to the open market, he's a $5 or $6 figure.  You can get carded versions of he and Double Blast for under $20 still, too.  (Dealer pricing hovers around $30, though.)  At $5, I guess this guy's an ok addition.  I paid $4 for him at retail in 2001.  I felt ripped off back then.  And, there's not really a circumstance where I'd have actually bought a Crossfire figure had I not wanted the Double Blast and been a completist two decades ago.  But, your mileage may vary.  Lots of collectors still enjoy him.  And, figures for $5 are almost unheard of in this market.  So, if you're missing Crossfire, it's as good a time as any to acquire him...even if he has no use.

2001 Funskool Crimson Guard Immortal

Twenty years ago this month, the Funskool Crimson Guard figure debuted.  At the time, the Joe collecting community was large, vibrant and extremely army builder focused.  This created a perfect storm of collector desire matching up with a potential release.  Once the figure appeared at stores, it quickly sold out, despite dealers of the day over-ordering in anticipation of unprecedented demand.  Large armies appeared in various collecting forums and the figure appeared to have made an inroads in ways that no Funskool army builder save the Night Viper had done.  Time, though, has left this Funskool release a forgotten relic of the army building era.  Gone are the days of cheap access to this figure.  And, newer collectors see little need for a figure that is inferior to the American version while still costing about the same as one.  

In 2001, the Joe world was on fire.  Collecting forums sprouted up frequently.  And, many were able to grow quite large.  Aside from the larger retail presence Joe started seeing in early 2001, there was also a new comic book.  This fueled the fire, especially as the comic publisher opened a forum that quickly became the most visited Joe community online.  In those early days, collectors were relatively collaborative and tended to all be in the same place.  Most of us were relatively new to collecting and had a shared childhood duration that was heavily focused between 1982 and 1987.  The community always had things to discuss since every Joe topic had yet to be beaten to death.  And, more importantly, there was constant news being released about Joe: be it new Hasbro toys or some new comic.  This Crimson Guard Immortal figure, though, was the first new Funskool figure announcement.  When YoJoe.com started selling Funskool figures in February of 2001, every offering seemed new.  When SmallJoes.com came online a few months later, there was one new figure, the 1991 General Hawk, but photos of him surfaced during the website preview and his discovery was malaise rather than anticipation.  The Crimson Guard Immortal, though, was announced to the collecting world before he would appear for sale anywhere.  Images followed the announcement.  Then, the figure appeared.

Upon the CGI's release, he followed a pattern that would appear on highly popular Funskool figures of the day.  He'd initially sell out almost instantly.  Then, when more stock arrived, he'd last a few days.  After that, the figure was a solid seller, but rarely sold out.  Collectors who had anticipated triple digit CGI's in their collection found themselves not fulfilling that boast.  First, the figure itself has some limitations.  Orange and yellow gear combined with the golden head and spotty 2001 era quality on the initial figures all helped to temper some collector demand.  But, the bigger factor was that right around the time of this guy's release, Hasbro also released the Laser Viper and Fast Blast Viper.  It was followed with the less popular Shadow Viper before Hasbro announced the sculpting change for G.I. Joe figures that debuted in 2002.  In short, the CGI quickly became old news in an era when Joe updates were fast and furious.  In time, you saw more and more collectors saying they "should" get some more CGI's.  But, since the figure was always available, there was no hurry.  By the time Hasbro's heavy army building releases relented in 2005, Joe interest faded away with them.  And, despite having been out of production for a few years, CGI's were still available at retail prices at Joe dealers all over the internet.

In some ways, this was a sad fate for this figure.  The Funskool CGI is pretty solid and a nice replacement for the harder to find and rather brittle Hasbro CGI.  Even the off color accessories aren't really that bad since you can limit the figure to his silver launchers and they match his silver accents quite well.  In the days of cheap army building, there were only 4 or 5 options that surpassed the Funskool CGI that had any kind of legs.  And, as this figure was many collectors first exposure to the CGI mold, it had the added value of expanding some people's vision of the Joe line past figures that were made prior to 1988.  The comeback for this figure is that he remains relatively cheap and easy to find, even while all the other 2001-2004 new Funskool releases have gotten hard to find and even rather expensive.

In general, the Funskool CGI is pretty similar to the Hasbro figure.  The red is a deeper maroon color and is not a match for the crimson red of the 1991 figure.  The Indian version also has much more silver paint used to accentuate the mold's highlights.  The biggest visual difference is the golden paint on the figure's head.  There's no real reason for this paint application to exist.  And, the gold paint isn't as great a match for the figure as the silver.  And, a silver head would have probably worked better for this figure's overall appearance.  But, in general, the Crimson Guard Immortal is a pretty solid design that fits with other 2000's era army builders.

The Crimson Guard Immortal has a short history.  The original figure was released in the U.S. in 1991.  From there, the figure was released in Europe, too.  Some European examples, though, have a 1990 Rock Viper head instead of the head originally intended for this mold.  This is a rare figure.  And, large numbers of fakes were produced in Asia around 2010-2012.  They were bagged and still float around, passed as originals, with alarming regularity.  The CGI's gear was also recolored and released with a 1991 General Hawk in Europe, too.  It's possible that the Rock Viper head CGI's are a function of the fact that the CGI head appears on the 1993 Create a Cobra mail away figure, too.  The mold was meant to go to Brazil.  Estrela cardbacks feature a figure named Flagelo, using the CGI mold.  But, this figure was never actually produced.  (An American CGI is incorrectly listed as Flagelo in some early international Joe guides.)  Funskool then got the mold that went into production in 2001.  Funskool CGI's can have gold painted bullets on their left leg, silver painted bullets or unpainted (black) bullets.  The silver and black are the harder variations to find.  Funskool dropped a final production run of CGI's in April of 2003, right before they returned the mold to Hasbro.  Most of these were bagged, but are the highest quality CGI's that Funskool made.  

In 2003, Hasbro quickly got the mold into production and released it as the driver of the KB Toys exclusive CAT Tank.  This blue version was different.  But, wasn't overly popular with collectors of the day.  In 2005, the body mold was used for the convention exclusive Destro.  It's an odd look for Destro.  And, again, didn't make for a really popular figure.  The mold then disappeared...never seeing use either the Crimson Guard set from 2004 or the Crimson Shadow Guard from 2005.  Hasbro getting the mold back seemed like wasted opportunity...especially since it removed the Funskool CGI's from production.  But, the ubiquity of the Funskool figures has helped soften that blow.

The Crimson Guard Immortal mold has a lot of life left in it.  A Cobra blue repaint seems a no-brainer.  But, a black and silver paint job to match the Shadow Guards would also be a hit.  Alas, these are never to come from Hasbro.  In the late 2010's, though, a factory custom maker floated the idea of CGI repaints.  Spec sheets appeared that showed the CGI in a variety of colors.  Among the excellent blends of classic Cobra colors were also some oddball items with the CGI painted up as Boba Fett and Darth Vader.  I'm not sure of the board appeal of something like that.  But, I'd have probably bought at least one Boba Fett CGI for the curiosity of it all.  As of 2021, though, these figures have yet to materialize.  They may be pipe dreams at this point.  But, they do show that the mold still garners some collector interest and many realize the untapped potential of the design.

So, in an odd bit of irony, the huge popularity of the Funskool Crimson Guard Immortal has made him one of the cheapest Funskool figures to acquire in the 2020's.  Today, you can get MOC figures for around $20.  Loose figures are harder to come by and tend to sell for similar prices.  But, since dealers imported massive amounts of Crimson Guard Immortals in the early 2000's, there's lots of them available today.  Now, figures that were ignored by collectors of the early 2000's have gotten hard to find and, in some cases, stupidly expensive.  The Crimson Guard Immortal, though, remains relatively affordable.  We're two decades removed from the days of buying all of them you wanted for $4 each.  But, because so many collectors did, there's lots of them out there.  And, the collector demand got lots of toy dealers to also buy up overstock as Funskool liquidated the last of their Joes in the mid 2000's.  So, now, we have a figure that's much more common than other figures who were ignored in the Funskool heyday.

That's good since these CGI's are still attainable for a new collector.  But, at collector prices, the usefulness and desire to army build these guys fades away.  You don't see too many Funskool CGI's in photos these days.  There are just better options available and few collectors who came of age in the post Funskool collecting landscape ever paid the figures attention as an army building option.  I still love this figure, though.  He reminds of a great time in the Joe collecting world.  He also reminds me of the silliness that pervaded that era, too.  I stick around because figures remind me not only of childhood but also of collecting related events that were relevant to young adulthood, too.  It's weird to realize that this figure was released and I first reviewed it prior to 9/11.  But, that just shows how much of an impact Joe continues to have on my life.

2001 Double Blast

In early 1984, I found my first three new G.I. Joe figures of the year.  I bought myself Firefly because even back then Firefly was awesome.  My youngest brother got the Baroness.  And, my younger brother got Roadblock.  Roadblock was an amazing figure at the time.  And, while he was somewhat engulfed by the sea of awesomeness that was the 1984 series, he stood apart as something that blended with the prior years of figures while also bringing something new to the Joe line.  He was introduced with Duke in the comic book and quickly became a major player.  In time, though, my Roadblock's accessories broke and he became less and less a part of my daily play routine.  As I got older, limitations of the mold started to be more obvious.  But, as a nostalgic favorite, Roadblock held up pretty well.

Due to his oversized personality in both the comics and cartoon, Roadblock became a fan favorite.  When it came time for G.I. Joe to return to retail in 1997, Hasbro showcased a repainted 1984 Roadblock as one of the proposed Joe figures.  But, 1997 came and went with no Roadblock appearance.  The 1986 Roadblock body appeared on other characters.  But, Roadblock was a no show.  The same was true in 1998.  Then, when Joe returned to retail in 2000, Roadblock was again absent.  By then, we'd seen two Fireflies, multiple releases of the Baroness mold and even some new characters without a Roadblock.  In mid 2001, the version 1 Roadblock mold finally returned to retail.  It came, though, with a twist.  Roadblock was gone and the iconic figure was rebranded as Double Blast.

The reasoning behind Double Blast was copyright loss.  At least, that was the story.  Double Blast featured a file name for a prominent G.I. Joe collector of the era who was well connected with the folks in Hasbro who also created Sure Fire and Big Brawler.  In 2002, though, the Roadblock name was back, though that figure also featured the collector homage file name.  And, it was not until 2003 that Roadblock with the Marvin F. Hinton name returned.  The issue, though, was that this homage figure did not feature a new head.  So, it became rather difficult to use both Roadblock and Double Blast together.  So, the notion of Double Blast died out as collectors adopted this figure as just another Roadblock repaint.  

Double Blast uses the exact mold of the 1984 Roadblock.  So, the lack of size from the original figure carries over.  And, for a man who is supposed to be massive, this Roadblock is rather scrawny.  But, as a kid, you didn't worry about such things.  And, my entire view of the original Roadblock mold is shaped by the opinions of it that I forged as a ten year old.  The figure's arms, though, would become the bane of early 2000's Joe collectors as Hasbro reused them on, seemingly, every single figure they could.  But, in 2001, it was nice to see the full figure return to retail.  He looked a bit out of place among the figures with larger physiques who were later releases.  But, the mold's strength is tied to its release year and Double Blast fits in well with all Joes made of 1984 and earlier molds.

Double Blast's gear, ostensibly, is the same as Roadblocks.  You get the Browning .50 cal machine gun, but in black.  Subsequent to 2001, this weapon would become ubiquitous.  But, this was the first appearance in this dark color.  You get the tripod on which Double Blast can mount the weapon.  A facsimile of Roadblock's original helmet is included.  With it, the massive cranium of the Roadblock figure is less of an issue.  (As far as I can remember, too, this was the final appearance of any helmet based on the original 1982 design.)  Roadblock's backpack is included.  Now in an olive green color, the backpack mold was modified.  First, the peg on which the tripod was hung for easy storage is gone.  No longer can Roadblock realistically carry all his gear.  The second change is that the ammo pack that was removable from the bottom of the pack has been either glued or fused into place.  So, the pack is now a single piece.  This isn't a huge deal as the ammo pack didn't really work and was a fairly obscure feature of early Joe figures.  

The figure's colors, though, are drab and boring.  The original Roadblock featured green and brown, but it was more dramatic and pleasing to the eye.  Double Blast used the dark, drab olive and browns that were all too common in the A Real American Hero Collection figures from 2000 and 2001.  So, the figure disappeared in a sea of sameness of the retail offerings of that era.  Now, it's less problematic.  But, given a choice, I'm going to pick the original Roadblock over this figure every time.  The only upside to this figure is the softer plastic which makes broken thumbs and crotches far less common.  But, it also allows the hands to stretch out and not hold weapons all that effectively.  Double Blast also features the marbelized plastic for the legs.  As such, no two Double Blasts will be identical and you'll find different mixes of colors on different figures.  That's, probably, the only thing really interesting about this figure.

And, that leads to the fact that there's really no purpose for this figure.  Roadblock is a better character.  The vintage Roadblocks are fairly available and are far superior to Double Blast.  Due to the similarities, you can't use the two characters together.  You could take a 1986 or 1992 Roadblock mold derivative and use it in companion with Double Blast.  But, why?  Rock and Roll is a better companion and far more interesting character.  There's no reason for this character to exist.  But, I have to admit that it was better to get this version of the original Roadblock mold with all his gear and the wrong code name than not getting him at all.  (The same is not true of the other homage figures.)  At, in 2001, original Roadblocks were somewhat pricey.  So, collectors of the era were offered a cheap alternative to a mandatory figure in everyone's collection.

Wave III of the A Real American Hero Collection, of which Double Blast is a part, didn't ship for long.  It debuted in the summer of 2001: right as retailers were mightily struggling with massive pegwarmers from Wave II.  (Mostly Big Ben and Whiteout.  But, even the Rock Viper/Major Bludd pack was available everywhere.)  Wave IV would end up at discount, close out and bargain bin retailers.  But, Wave III did not.  While few collectors missed it at retail, the actual release window was short.  Fortunately, the dominant army builder of the wave, the Laser Viper, was carried over into Wave IV.  (The Fast Blast Viper was seen as a specialty Viper by collectors of the time and few people bothered with more than a couple of them.)  But, as Wave IV shipped so quickly after Wave III, the Double Blast wave never really had time to permeate the Joe ethos of the era.  The members of the wave were quickly forgotten and you rarely saw them in photos or dio stories of the day.  

I saw this figure as a Roadblock hack job.  And, as Roadblock had been a childhood favorite, I had no use for Double Blast.  Looking back at photos of the time, he rarely appears.  And, I was always trying to find ways to incorporate new releases into photos during that time frame.  All of the Wave III Joes, though, are relatively scarce.  The wave never resonated with me as the figures were barely rehashes of the vintage figures.  Had Double Blast adopted something like a Sky Patrol or Eco Warriors motif, he would have at least been interesting.  But, Hasbro was falsely lead to believe that collectors only wanted "realistic military" at the time.  And, that was a big reason why the A Real American Hero Collection ultimately failed and was replaced by the JvC era which brought back a far greater panoply of colors and re-invigorated G.I. Joe at retail.

It is my perception that this Roadblock was done to death.  But, truthfully, it saw two vintage uses: in 1984 and in 1988 for the Tiger Force version.  Double Blast debuted in 2001.  The character was then finally changed to Roadblock in the 2002 BJ's Gift set.  He appeared again in the 2004 Night Force set.  After that, Hasbro got the 1992 Roadblock mold back from Funskool and used it for the character with a break in 2005 when the body was used for a terrible Comic Pack figure that featured a new head.  That doesn't seem like much.  But, both the BJ's Roadblock and the Night Force Roadblock have alternate, unproduced variations.  On top of that, Roadblock parts were cannibalized for many other figures including the 2001 Leatherneck, 2004 Flint and even the 2006 Tommy Arashikage.  The arms appeared on too many figures for me to bother to look up.  All of these uses in a short time oversaturated the mold and it lost much of its vintage luster.  But, if you want a good Roadblock, this is about your only non-vintage option as all subsequent releases were missing gear and had limiting paint jobs.

In the weird G.I. Joe world of 2020, carded Double Blast and Crossfire packages sell for about $15.  Yet, at the same time, dealers sell a metric butt-load of mint and complete with filecard Double Blasts for the same price.  Left to the open market, he's about an $8 figure.  So, you're far better off buying and opening up a carded sample to get the figure.  (Crossfire sucks.  Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.  He's one of the worst releases of the repaint era.)  As a Roadblock clone, this figure is relatively worthless.  But, as a new version of Roadblock done in softer plastic, it works perfectly.  And, the price isn't too high where the figure no longer makes sense.  Double Blast is definitely a release that, were I not collecting and buying Joes at retail during his release window, I would not own.  He's not interesting enough to track down for anything other than completion.  But, boring figures can still be nice figures and I do find this version of Double Blast useful to have around for background filler and other mundane uses.