2010 Black Major Blue Cobra Mortal - Random Photos of the Day

In the case of this figure, I couldn't do an around the web feature.  The reason is that there's nothing out there.  So, instead, I'll just post some of the various photos I've taken of him over the years.

Back in 2010 or so, when this figure first showed up, I thought that the Cobra blue body combined with the chromed head created an incredible visual.  Back then, factory customs were pretty new.  And, there was only a couple of dozen total figures.  So, this figure felt very fresh.  It seemed like something that could have been released.  And, it was actually much better than any official version of the Cobra Mortal character that had seen production.

Now, the figure seems almost quaint.  When compared to the current crop of factory customs, this figure is akin to comparing a 1982 Joe to one released in 1992.  They have evolved to a degree that the originals are easily recognized.  And, I kind of like that.  It shows that there is still work to do in the Joe world.  Despite that, these early figures retain a type of innocence from their early design period.  

2010 Convention Flint - Random Photos of the Day

About a decade ago, convention figures were just ignored.  Even the now sought after characters were cheap and unimportant.  Joe characters would sell for under $20.  I even missed the green version  of the 2010 Convention Flint that sold for about $4.  But, the stupid market of 2020 impacted convention figures more than pretty much any other group of Joe toys.  Now, even common, unliked army builders are $50 figures.  And, named characters can run over $700!  That's just ridiculous.  But, guys are hoarding figures, especially those with low production runs and there just aren't any in the market.  They're going to come in the next couple of years, though.  Until then, I'll just watch the insanity.

The parachute drop figures at the conventions were, at best, a mixed bag.  Some were great.  But, many were just outright bad.  The 2010 Convention Flint is somewhere in the middle.  If you have a liking to the character and great colors, he's great.  But, if you hate fun, you also probably hate this figure.  Which is why so few Joe collectors actually use him in any photos.

Content using this figure is pretty sparse.  There was a time when  this Flint appeared frequently enough.  But, that was 12 to 13 years ago.  Now, I can't even find enough content featuring him to fill an Around the Web post.  So, instead, I'll just drop some random photos of this Flint.  I've found he's a great complement to the under-rated 2002 Paratrooper Dusty.  And, he works well with many figures of the repaint era.  

20th Anniversary Key Moments - Black Major Cobra Mortal

 Around 2009, bootleg Cobra Troopers began to show up.  At first, the figures were all Cobra blue and made to match the original Hasbro release.  Slowly, though, new, exclusive color schemes began to appear.  Collectors quickly adopted the new designs and the first factory custom figures were a huge success that flourished among collectors of the era.  Around 2010, the second figure mold for factory customs appeared.  This time, it was a V1 Snake Eyes mold.  While this may seem odd, the figure was quickly painted into Cobra Invasors and Cobra Mortals and sold to collectors who craved these characters in cheaper and more useful color varieties.

One of the first figures I reviewed when I restarted this blog in 2012 was the Black Major blue Cobra Mortal.  This figure resonated with me since the Mortal character worked better with both a less ostentatious outfit and also colors that were more in line with early Cobra from 1982 and 1983.  This blue figure fit both criteria and quickly became one of my prominent figures in photos from the time.  

Even today, this remains one of my favorite Black Major figures.  The blue matches the classic Cobra Trooper blue.  And, the swivel head also matches pre-1985 figures.  In short, it's a perfect match for early Joe figures.  Early Cobra was short on characters who wouldn't become main characters.  So, having a chance at some figures to represent foreign characters that could fill in middle management roles in Cobra is welcomed.

In the years since, there's been a small, vocal contingent of collectors who are against Black Major figures.  But, in the past decade, these factory customs are all vintage Joe collectors have left.  Hasbro turned their backs on that style and not even a "retro" line was enough to bring back the classic look.  So, fortunately, these figures exist to keep collectors engaged...even if Hasbro doesn't care.

Cobra De Aco - Black Major Version

There was a time in the Joe world where information was scarce.  We now know that the reason for this is that many collectors like to hoard information and keep it to themselves.  This gives them "credibility" in the Joe community.  The side effect of this is that bad information can quickly take on a lift of it's own.  And, in some cases, left unchecked, the bad information is perpetuated by an "official" release.  In the case of the Brazilian Cobra De Aco, bad information lead to a perception that the figure was among the rarest in the world.  Time has proven that false.  But, the damage was done as the figure remains far pricier than many of his harder to find contemporaries.  Fortunately, the Black Major dropped a version of the De Aco about a decade ago so that every collector would have a shot at the character.

So, as I held this figure for the first time, something dawned on me.  One of the reasons that the De Aco is so out of place is because of his color scheme.  Yellow isn't, traditionally, a Cobra color.  So, he's very distinctive when viewed through the lens of early Joe releases.  However, the Cobra De Aco was likely released in 1986.  If you look at the 1986 American releases, there is a figure that is very similar to De Aco's color scheme: the 1986 BAT.  It seems an unlikely coincidence that Brazil would release a figure with a chrome head and a color scheme to match the American android in the same year as that figure's debut.  Is the De Aco based on early renditions of the BAT?  Or, was the color scheme adopted in an attempt to have a release in Brazil that matched the American BAT?

International exclusive characters remain one of the great mysteries of the Joe world.  How did exclusives like the De Aco, Manleh, or even the European Mutt come to be?  Seeing the De Aco's similarity to the BAT, though, makes me think that the foreign companies had access to either abandoned Hasbro designs or to successful color palettes that were being introduced simultaneously in the U.S.  We have gotten a lot of great stories about the origins of the American line from some of the Joe creators.  But, we have not heard much of any collaboration with foreign Joe licensees (assuming such communication even occurred).  

Harsh reality time.  The Cobra De Aco isn't a good figure.  (The Cobra Mortal isn't, either.)  Were this an American release, collectors would deride it.  Were this an American release from the 1990's, the figure would be a joke.  But, because the De Aco was an exotic oddity, a mystique built up around it.  That aura was augmented with the 30th Anniversary card set released in 1994.  Here, the De Aco made his most famous debut with the tagline that "no mint samples have been identified thus far".  This made many collectors think the figure simply didn't exist.  But, the explosion of the internet proved that wrong.  By 1998, it was well known that the De Aco was very obtainable from Brazil and that another figure featuring a chrome Snake Eyes, the Cobra Mortal from Argentina, was both rarer and more interesting than the De Aco.  

If you were around online Joedome in the late 1990's, the De Aco vs. Mortal was a common thread where people would argue vehemently about the rarity of one of the other.  As photos were much harder to take, scan, post and send in those days, there was little proof.  But, as digital cameras and broadband permeated the collector base, it was quickly shown that the De Aco was, really, a common Brazilian release that was readily available.  The popularity of the figure and the aura built around it in the years prior, though, kept the price high.  But, as the economic crisis in Argentina in the early 2000's brought a decent amount of the rare 2nd series Plastirama figures (the 6 (SIX!!!!) figure wave that included the Mortal) to the market, it was proven out that the Argentine figures were rarer, more desirable and would forever be more expensive than the once mighty De Aco.

For me, this figure is useless, though.  Sure, he has visual appear.  But, he's straight arm.  I don't collect straight arm Joes.  I don't collect them because the simple addition of swivel arm battle grip was the difference between G.I. Joe being a few month fad in 1982 and being a nearly 40 year long obsession.  I don't own Joes for collectibility.  I own them for the toys they are.  And, straight arm figures are bad toys.  

All of this leads to the baffling question as to why this figure features straight arms.  At the time, many customers clamored for a swivel arm version.  But, for the sake of authenticity, those calls were resisted.  And, we got a straight arm figure.  As repaints of the figure became available (some of them amazing updates that are way better than the original....) they began to include alternate heads.  Modeled on the Gas Mask Trooper, these heads allowed the De Aco bodies to be used for troop builders.  Had they come with an alternate pair of swivel arms instead, these figures would have sold out far more quickly than they did.  With the straight arms, the various repaints of this mold were available for years...often at or below the original prices.  It's only been since 2018 that they have dried up.  Red Laser also make a version of the De Aco.  It was meant to have swivel arms to fill the gap left by this Black Major original.  However, a factory mix up resulted in Red Laser's figure also having straight arms.  Today, there is no version of the De Aco available with swivel arms.  There are Cobra Mortals with swivel arms.  But, no De Acos.  It remains a huge hole in the collecting world.  But, as we've had two homages released with straight arms, it doesn't seem likely that a swivel arm De Aco will ever be a thing.

And, that's a shame.  I love having new characters in pre-1985 construction to mesh with my early Cobras.  The early Black Major Cobra Invasors and Mortals are excellent ways to augment the sparse early Cobra field leaders.  Having De Aco would further expand their ranks in excellent ways.  And, I suppose, standing this figure among Cobra hierarchy would work.  But, that's not where I find value in figures.  I enjoy posing them, photographing them and letting them appear as toys.  With a straight arm De Aco, I can't do that.  So, the character has died on the vine and has no relevance to me.

Collectors still think that 2007 was the heyday of modern collecting.  Some will even argue that it's happening right now, in 2020 with the Classified figures.  But, the real pinnacle of the online Joe collecting era began in 2001, expanded through 2003 and didn't really die off until after the 2005 G.I. Joe convention.  As Joe started to become something that had collecting buzz around it, dealers took notice.  Quickly, they jumped into the Joe world, thinking it was going to be Star Wars or Hot Wheels.  And, for a short time, it was.  Back then, you could still find large collections at garage sales, thrift stores and even comic shops for paltry sums.  So, dealers could get stock.  But, those trying to get ill-informed toy show prices for figures soon learned the perils of the cheap Joe collectors.  Nonetheless, some dealers tried to buy their way into the market by leading with rare figures.  But, as these dealers knew little about Joe, they'd make gaffes along the way.

Starting in late 2001, I and other collectors started getting emails from various toy dealers.  They were almost always peddling Cobra De Aco figures.  They'd repeat the no known mint versions line in an attempt to sell the figures.  One major toy dealer (he's still around, today) reached out to try to sell me a De Aco for $1,000.  I told him, at best, his figure was a $200 example.  He dropped the no mint figures line.  At which point, I sent him a link to Ebay listings with five or six De Acos, all sold for less than my quoted price.  The dealer never contacted me again and the De Aco sat on his website for many, many years.  Many of my friends reported the same.  Along with these dealer inquiries, we'd get unsolicited offers from Brazilian Joe sellers all the time.  Funnily enough, they'd lead with the De Aco.  But, then, you could get '90's era Brazilian exclusives (many MOC) from them for absurdly cheap prices.  It was through one such interaction that I acquired several of my now expensive Brazilian figures for peanuts.

You would think that the guys who fancy themselves the "Guardians of Joe" would have been up in arms about this De Aco.  They weren't.  Why?  Simple, none of them own enough De Acos to worry about the impact these Black Major and Red Laser figures would have on the market.  Besides, it's been proven again and again that factory customs tend to increase the values of the original figures upon which they are based.  But, all the anti-Black Major guys were silent on this figure.  Only Starduster upset them.  That should tell you all you need to know about their true intentions.  The upside is that a lot of collectors got a chance to own both a cheap version of De Aco, but also a version that could be used for photos, dios and other activities.  That's always good for the community.  And, this figure has given the De Aco a chance to grow out of his status as a rare oddity and into something that has some value to the Joe world.  If he only had swivel arms....

Fun fact, the mold used for this De Aco is the same chest mold used on the Sightline figure.  The De Aco has an extraordinarily large backpack hole.  This feature carried over to Sightline and is why Sightline can't wear his backpack without some modifications to make the backpack peg bigger.  This larger hole is also the obvious tell on the factory custom De Acos over those made by Estrela.  Aside from that, the yellow is different, the Cobra logos are a dead giveaway, there's a tag on the figure's leg and the entire mold feels very different from an Estrela figure.  In short, there's no mistaking this figure for an original.

20 years ago, a real Cobra De Aco would have cost you $300.  Now, a real Cobra De Aco will still run you around $300.  It's a pretty steep fall from grace for a figure going from one of the most expensive Joes in the world to not even the most expensive figure from Brazil.  If you want a Factory Custom version, you can get them in the $20-$25 range.  Most of the figures that are currently available, though, are the Red Laser's Army version of the De Aco instead of this older Black Major figure.  I have not owned a Red Laser version, so I can't speak to the differences between the two.  But, the later releases will keep prices of the Black Major version in the same ballpark.  If you don't mind straight arms, that's not a terrible price to get something like De Aco.  But, for me, the limiting construction also limits his value and it's unlikely you'll see this figure appear in many photos going forward.

Black Major Viper Pilot

Factory Custom figures generate a lot of passion in the Joe world.  Collectors, in general, fall into three camps.  The first is the anti-everything guys.  They just hate the notion of factory customs and don't want any to exist.  These collectors usually either see themselves as "defenders of Hasbro" (like Hasbro cares!) or they are "serious collectors" who believe that toy collecting is a pursuit on par with feeding the hungry in terms of its value to society.  This group is extremely small, but overly vocal.  And, they have created echo chambers in large segments of fandom to reinforce their unpopular opinion.  

The second faction is larger.  They are collectors who are OK with factory customs that are of figures Hasbro never released.  But, are not OK with figures that reproduce Hasbro designs.  These guys are fine with a Crimson Cobra Trooper.  But, go apoplectic over a Cobra Blue trooper that is an homage to the 1983 release.  The final and, fortunately, largest group are collectors who are fine with the customs and are happy to have them available.  The customs fill in gaps that Hasbro never addressed while also offering them the ability to army build or simply acquire figures that they would otherwise never have a chance to own.  For this profile, I'm going to review a figure that tends to really piss off two thirds of these groups: the Black Major Viper Pilot.

There are multiple production runs of the Black Major Viper Pilot.  The sample I'm reviewing is from the first production run from around 2009, 2010 or so.  This is notable because the figure features a mold that is slightly smaller than the production Hasbro figure.  And, as such, the peg holes in his feet will not accommodate any figure stand pegs.  More importantly, the figure can not wear a backpack.  This seems innocuous until you realize that this also means that he will not work with the Cobra CLAW or even the classic glider.  This leaves this Viper Pilot as a ground trooper.  (Though, he can work in the FANG.)  But, that's not a terrible fate.

Like everyone else, I use the silver logo Viper Pilots as squad leaders for the Cobra Troopers.  Unlike most collectors, though, I'm not a big fan of the Cobra Officer mold.  So, I actually have more Viper Pilot derivatives than I do Cobra Officer figures.  So, for me, Viper Pilots are more important since they really represent the leadership of the Cobra army's backbone.  They serve as the field commanders for the more common red logo-ed Cobra Troopers.  Even in cases where other types of troopers are in the fold, the Viper Pilots retain command.  He looks really good leading a pack of 1986 Vipers.  But, due to the fragility of the original figure, I rarely take him out for use.  This Black Major version, though, has found himself a nice stand in when I want to use a slightly different classic Cobra trooper without risking damage to a vintage Joe that's hard to find.

The Viper Pilot included no accessories.  But, through the years, you will often find Black Major Viper Pilots offered with either the black AK-47 or the classic Dragunov sniper rifle.  It's nice to get a weapon with the figure just because my main use for him is as a leader for the red logo'ed Cobra Troopers.  You can assign the weapon to him or not. But, due to Black Major, these weapons are now both relatively easy to find and cheap on the secondary market.  They are not close to the vintage weapons and are easy to spot.  So, no worries on that front.  But, you can now get access to high quality weapons for the Viper Pilot that were once overly desirable and expensive.

Some people hate figures like this.  I love it as this figure is easy to distinguish from the original but still lets me use a Viper Pilot without worrying about dropping my original when I want to get a photo of him in action.  It's a placeholder that lets me use the figure.  Many will scoff at this as a valid reason for wanting a figure like this.  Mostly, though, those collectors are only worried about the value of their collections.  While they'll claim that customs like this Viper Pilot drive down prices, most of the evidence proves the opposite is more likely true.  Collectors who are willing to drop major money on a Viper Pilot aren't going to spend less since this figure is available.  Instead, more collectors have access to the Viper Pilot and can expand their collections.  This is a good thing.  

The intent of these figures is not to deceive.  It is to expand.  You'll note that no one really gets up in arms about this figure because none of the big collectors were able to buy up hundreds of loose Viper Pilots in order to corner the market.  They only got mad at Starduster because there's a few guys who have dozens and hundreds of that figure stashed away to pay for their retirement or some other bullshit.  I find that anyone who says they're looking out for you in the community is actually looking out for themselves while keeping you a potential future customer for their overly marked up goods.

We are now in an era where mint Hasbro Viper Pilots are $150 to $175 figures.  In this market, that's actually kind of light as gem Viper Pilots are actually harder to find than Stardusters.  But, it's still a super pricey figure and one that, due to its fragility, doesn't lend itself to anything other than careful display.  Black Major Viper Pilots, though, have also become harder to find.  Despite there being two separate production runs of the design, you don't find them all that often anymore.  You'll see some being offered at astronomical prices.  But, they don't sell.  This is, probably, around a $30-$50 figure and you might be able to find him cheaper...especially if you're doing a bulk buy.  At 20% the cost of an original, this is a good way to get a cool update to the classic Cobra Trooper in your collection.  But, it's still a price that I find high for a factory custom figure.  But, the Viper Pilot holds a mystique over the collecting world.  And, you tend to pay for mystique...even if the figure does't otherwise warrant the price.

Red Shadows Cobra Invasor - Black Major

When G.I. Joe was exported to Brazil, most of the major characters went with it.  On the Cobra side, though, the Estrela toy company forewent Cobra Commander (likely because Hasbro kept the mold) and created two new characters for their toy line.  The Cobra De Aco and Cobra Invasor would later be joined by the Cobra Mortal from Argentina to make a triumvirate of exclusive Cobra characters from South America.  They all used Snake Eyes parts as all or part of the mold.  Across the Atlantic Ocean, a slew of repainted Joe figures were incorporated into the enemy faction of Action Force: the Red Shadows.  The two combined to make great extensions for enemies of G.I. Joe.  In 2010, though, the Black Major forged the two together and released a Red Shadows Invasor using a repainted Snake Eyes body but colored all in red and with the iconic skull and bones logo of the European Red Shadows.  This figure tied together some fringe elements of Joe canon and gave collectors a spectacular way to expand their collections.

The Snake Eyes repaints were the second mold produced by the Black Major.  They followed the Cobra Troopers and had some of the same issues as the Cobra Troopers did.  The body mold is slightly smaller than a real Snake Eyes figure.  So, the figure will neither fit onto vintage Joe figures stand nor be able to wear a backpack.  On top of that, the figure uses the large crotch that appeared on the 1982 straight arm figures rather than the more streamlined piece that debuted with the swivel arm upgrades.  It creates an odd visual for the figure.  And, the greater likelihood of breakage is still there.  But, these are collector figures so there aren't many kids who have gotten a chance to break them apart.

There are a large number of Snake Eyes variants.  Some were Invasors.  Some were Cobra Mortals.  Some had obscure logos tampo-ed on their chest.  Some were useful in odd ways like the desert Snake Eyes variants.  Others were just over the top.  But, this Red Shadows Snake Eyes is the one that works best for me.  The main reason is that this figure seems like something that could have existed.  A repainted Snake Eyes figure was released in the Action Force line.  And, Red Shadows features repaints of Cobra figures.  To me, it's within the realm of possibility that a repainted Snake Eyes could have been used in the Red Shadows line.  (He wasn't, though.)  So, in looking at this figure, he seems less like a fan creation and more an extension of what Hasbro and its licensed subsidiaries might have developed.

From that visual appeal, though, this Invasor works for me on a different level.  In the early issues of the Joe comic, we saw several anonymous Cobras whose look differed from standard troopers and officers.  The characters  appeared in background panels starting with the first issue.  It stands to reason that early Cobra would have had several "named" leaders to help corral the troops and lead Cobra military operations.  In the days before Destro, Major Bludd and Zartan, Cobra Commander still needed top operatives to carry out his orders.  This is where characters like the Invasor, Mortal and De Aco come into play for me.

I see the Invasor as one of those early Cobra operatives who was brought over in the Red Shadows merger.  For the Shadows, he operated all over the world.  But, once within Cobra, the Invasor was relegated to European duty.  Here, he recruited defectors from the Cold War east and shuffled them into Cobras ranks.  Their malleable personalities, military training and anti-American upbringing made them perfect pawns to take up arms against the U.S. military.  However, by the time Cobra Commander ended the Red Shadows as a faction and globally branded his evil enterprise as Cobra, the Invasor was long dead.  I've yet to come up with a story that ends with his demise.  So, I'm still unsure if he dies at the hands of the Joes or due to a double cross from his own allies.  But, the Invasor is no more and is completely forgotten within the modern ranks of Cobra.

Red Shadows Cobra Invasors are no longer easy to find.  They appear very infrequently.  Typically, you will pay around $40 for one.  But, left to open market, the figure will likely go for more.  Back in 2010, all of the Invasors and Mortals were pretty easy to find.  So, if you were around back then, you could have easily bought one for around $10.  There's just not as many of those guys still around as there used to be.  Which is why this Invasor and many other flavors don't show up all that often.  I'm grateful I had a chance to get this figure and have found him to be one of the best acquisitions I've made in the past decade.

2010 Convention Exclusive Flint - Orange Parachute Drop Figure

In 2002, Convention go-ers were surprised when they picked up their 15 figure Crimson army building sets.  Along with the announced Vipers, twins and Baroness figures, Master Collector snuck in a special release.  A repainted Dusty figure was showcased as the first parachute drop figure.  This parachute figure would become a convention tradition and every set going forward would feature a special parachute figure as a bonus for each 15 figure set.  Some have been great.  (See the Air Viper.)  Others have been really bad.  Most, though, follow along with the general convention figures where they are neat, but not spectacular.  In 2010, the final vintage style parachute figure was released: Flint.

I like orange figures.  I have since I first saw a photo of the 1994 Star Brigade Roadblock.  I am distinctly in the minority on this opinion, though.  Orange is not a popular color among Joe collectors outside of maybe BBQ or Wet Suit.  In general, it is loathed.  The Club's decision to produce an all orange Flint was both odd and interesting.  But, collectors quickly seized on the color and disparaged the figure from the start.  To be fair, the criticism is warranted.  While the orange is bright, eye catching and unique, it also makes for a figure that's tough to use in any capacity.

It was made apparent in 2010 that the convention exclusives would be the swan song for vintage style Joes.  Personally, I hoped for a tremendous send off that would be fitting of the line's legacy.  The first figure to leak out, though, was the terrible Red Shadow Torch figure.  Immediately, that raised flags that the set might not be great.  Slowly, the other figures were revealed.  The Interrogator and the Black Major were typical convention figures: not bad, but not great, either.  They just sort of exist.  The Red Shadow figures, though, made up for it all.  They were, generally, perfect for what collectors wanted.  (And, aftermarket pricing continues to prove that.)  The figure to which I was most looking forward, though, was Flint.

The minute I heard Flint was the set, I had dreams of a V1, Action Force green Flint figure.  Flint was a major player in the Action Force comic and getting his classic look in the iconic European green would have created a figure that I would have army built.  This, though, was not be be.  When the first Flint was revealed, it was a a redone V1 head on a 1993 Duke body.  My first reaction was terrible disappointment.  There was simply no way that any figure other than the V1 Flint mold was going to hold my attention.  To me, the mix of a classic 1985 head and a 1993 body didn't seem very congruent.  And, in many of the photos of the figure, the construction looked awkward.  So, my interest in Flint was diminished and I put the figure out of my mind.

When the convention occurred, though, the images of this parachute drop figure surfaced.  Again, the construction looked a bit odd, but the figure was bright orange!  To some, this was a detriment.  To me, it make the figure interesting.  We hadn't seen an orange bodied figure outside of Tiger Force: and even that had been six years prior.  This oddity was exactly the type of figure I tend to enjoy.  And, he was of my favorite character to boot.

In hand, the figure is less awkward than he often looked.  The Flint head on the Duke body is an imperfect fit.  And, the figure has brown hair instead of black.  That seems like a fairly lazy mistake.  But, the overall package isn't bad.  The bright orange makes for something visually interesting.  Since we have the mold combination in more militaristic green, too, the figure doesn't seem like such a waste of  a figure slot.  Many saw the figure as a prisoner.  But, the silver grenade and leg pistol kind of make that an implausible use.  What's left, though, is a solid Flint figure for a base or co-pilot position.  It's not the most glamorous role.  But, it allows for some usage of the Flint character without taking up one of his higher quality releases.

As a figure, this Flint is OK.  The paint masks are sharp and crisp.  But, they are also sparse.  You have the black highlights, the silver metal implements, a white undershirt and a splash of red on the figure's beret.  Collectors tend to expect more from convention releases in terms of paint masks.  But, this is a case where less i more.  The green, regular set Flint is a mish-mash of cammo with a green base and black splotches all over him.  It's a busy disaster that takes away from the potential of the mold.  (It may also be a subtle homage to a planned 1995 repaint of the Duke figure that was supposed to be in green cammo.)  This orange version is cleaner and showcases the general character without burying him in unnecessary colors.

Accessory wise, this Flint isn't great.  But, mostly, parachute drop figures have only included a parachute pack (usually a recolored Jinx backpack) and a parachute.  And, that's exactly what was included with Flint.  The strings from the silver parachute can be tied to the sword holders on the Jinx pack to simulate an open parachute.  It works for what it is.  In a perfect world, it would have been cooler to get a Parachute Pack complete with air mask for the figures.  But, that's the type of pipe dream that was squashed in the early 2000's when it came to repainted vintage Joes.  It's easy enough to arm this figure from the multitude of extra weapons included with the figures from 2002 and forward.

I can not get enough Flint figures.  Hasbro could have repainted all of his molds multiple times and I would have bought them all, unless they included that terrible head from the Comic Pack version.  I feel the V1 Flint figure has at least 4 solid repaints left in it.  The Eco Warrior version could have been done in this color scheme and I'd have several.  The 1994 Flint got a solid repaint in 2001, but could have come back at least once more.  Frankly, it would have been cool to just get a full Duke repaint for this figure by foregoing the Flint head.  That would have been another character and given this underappreciated Duke mold one final use.  But, the Flint is a nice treat.  You'll likely see him manning my HQ for years to come as the color lends itself to that setting.  The mold and colors blend nicely with other 1993 and 1994 figures.  So, this is a good way to bring the classic Flint head into a group shot of these later molds.  Beyond that, though, the figure's use is limited beyond the visual feast of an orange clad Joe.

The orange Flint figures have somewhat disappeared and you don't see them like you used to.  But, that doesn't mean they are overly pricey.  You can get MIB figures in the $30 range.  If you can find figures sold at open auction, you can get them much cheaper than that.  But, you'll wait for a while before you find one.  Being bright orange is going to be a detriment to the figure's popularity and will always make him less desirable than the green version.  But, there are not a lot of new collectors joining the ranks of those of us who focus on vintage style Joes.  Figures with late release dates, like this one, are already heavily concentrated in the collector base.  As such there is simply no demand for many figures like this one.  The general rarity helps to keep the prices somewhat higher.  But, we've seen that modern remakes of vintage Joe molds don't see the upward pricing trends that are more common on different sculpting styles from the same era.  The downside is that figures like this are harder to find.  But, when you do, you can get them cheap.