2005 Imperial Processional Baroness - Around the Web

The 2005 Imperial Processional set is just weird.  It's got a bizarre amalgamation figure who operates as an army builder, offbeat colors and throne that's barely enough to lift a figure off the floor.  But, it kind of works.  2000's Joe was so banal that anything that took even a remote chance remains a bit more interesting, today.  

This Baroness figure used to be the most unique look for the mold.  But, Lady Jaye Toys rendered this figure moot with their dozens of Baroness mold repaints in the past two years.  This figure does have the alternate head.  But, I'm not sure it's better.  

Regardless, check out the content on her, below.  You'll  find a nice mix of items written upon her release as well as more modern takes on the figure.  I have a real profile that will drop on Halloween.  It should be pretty easy to guess which figure it is.

2005 Imperial Processional Baroness Profile

2005 Imperial Processional Baroness by atwooddan

2005 Imperial Processional Baroness by yovalleyjoe

2005 Imperial Processional Baroness by gen_liederkranz

2005 Imperial Processional Baroness by gi_joe_y2k

2005 Imperial Procession Set Review at General's Joes Reborn

2005 Imperial Procession Set Review at Joe Battle Lines

2005 Imperial Processional Baroness by gi_joe_y2k

2005 Imperial Processional Baroness by rexglewis1982

2005 Imperial Processional Baroness by yovalleyjoe

1984 Baroness - Around The Web

Back in the mid 1990's, dealers convinced everyone that female figures were super rare and valuable.  Fortunately, Ebay proved that she was no more difficult to find than any other 1984 figure.  The market corrected and Baroness figures have never been hard to get.  But, Hasbro bought into the Baroness hype and produced nearly half a dozen versions of her over the years.  Some were good.  Some were bad.  Now, we have factory custom Baroness figures available, too.  So, if you're a Baroness fan, there's more than you could ever want from this original mold.

Being relatively popular leaves Baroness with a large amount of content out there.  So, check out the links below for your 1984 Baroness fix.

Baroness Profile

Baroness by thevintagetoylife

Baroness by strikeforce_codename

Baroness at JoeADay.com

Baroness by gi_joeisthere

Baroness by jonita_rodriguin

Baroness by steelbrigade

Baroness by yojoeonline

Baroness by gi_joeisthere

Baroness by incrediblebulk

Baroness by nostalkid

Baroness by viper_space

Baroness by u.n.i.t._gijoe

Baroness by viper_space

1997 Baroness - Around The Web

 The 1997 Joes have actually fairly well.  Despite their unpopularity at the time of their release, the general color schemes and original accessories have lead to a series of figures that are held in much higher regard today.  One of the main reasons is that several of the figures who appeared in the 1997 series never got another repaint that surpassed the 1997 release.  One such figure is the Baroness.  Her 1997 figure offered a nice shade of blue that allowed the Baroness to seamlessly blend with other early Cobras.  

1997 Baroness Profile

1997 Baroness by Nekoman

1997 Baroness at the Dragon Fortress

1997 Baroness by gen_liederkranz

1997 Baroness at Nekoman's Viper Pit

1997 Baroness by bruxovigo

1997 Baroness by Nekoman

1997 Baroness by bruxovigo

February 2022 Hasbro Pulse Reveals (Cobra Army Builders and the Baroness)

It's hard to believe that we now get some new G.I. Joe news about once per month.  Today revealed a whole bunch of new 6 inch figures.  But, those aren't anything in which I have interest.  So, instead, I'll focus on the meat of the new info today: the ARAH anniversary homages.

The first new reveal was additional images of the upcoming Cobra Trooper and Cobra Officer 2 pack.  There's really not much unexpected here.  It's the same Trooper and Officer we all know and love on the cardback inspired by their vintage design.  The set is now $41.99 and goes up for pre-order today.  The only real reveal is that they will include a mortar, stand and green bazooka so you can kind of recreate the JC Penny Cobra 3 pack that very few kids actually owned and few collectors actually care about.  

In this case, the homage part actually gets in the way of something useful.  The bazooka would be MUCH better in black or blue plastic.  In green, it just looks like you stole the bazooka from a Zap because you lost the Cobra Trooper's rifle.  The club used to do this type of stuff where they'd sacrifice quality so that something would be a "proper" homage.  I'd rather have a weapon that looks better and is more useful than something that references a release so obscure that it wasn't properly documented until like 2015.  Maybe we'll get lucky and get another darker green, A-1 bazooka, too.

Next up is the reveal of the filecard and code-name for Ace's co-pilot in the Skystriker.  The new character is named Fail-Safe.  As names go, it's better than what Hasbro cooked up in the early 2000's.  And, the filecard isn't bad as it's focused on his specialty.  It's more believable that someone is an expert in one aspect of training than also believing he's perfect at everything.  

The final reveal is the one I struggle with.  I don't really care for the Transformers.  But, they had a bunch of G.I. Joe crossovers, so I understand the fascination with them.  And, as Transformers is a much larger brand than G.I. Joe, combining the two helps bring in some additional fans to buy Joe toys.  But, in this case, if you want a brand new Baroness figure, you have to spend $89.99 and also get a transforming Megatron.  Sure, he turns into a full sized Hiss Tank that can hold figures.  But, it's not a toy in which I have interest.  And, you can be sure there are a ton of Transformers fans out there who have no interest in paying an additional $20 for a Baroness figure.  

But, there's lots of interest in stuff like this.  While I don't, personally, care for it.  This will sell a lot better than a Baroness and a Retro Hiss Tank mold for $50.  And, I ended up buying one.  You'll note that Baroness will come carded in the box.  So, you'll have to get one for a full carded collection.  This isn't scheduled to ship until January of 2023.  Maybe it will come earlier.  But, it will be a while before we see it in hand.  

2005 Imperial Processional Baroness

 In 2004, Hasbro created the concept of Comic Book packs.  This product feature three classic G.I. Joe figures along with a comic for the low, low price of $9.99.  The main selling point of the comic packs, though, was the figures included would be updated to reflect their comic book appearance.  For the initial wave of figures, this meant almost all new heads were used on the figures.  Among the newly sculpted heads was an updated Baroness.  This design featured longer, flowing hair, an improved face sculpt and, most importantly, the ability to wear removable glasses.  Despite the ambitious attempt at re-doing a collector favorite figure, Hasbro fell a bit short with the design.  Collectors didn't really warm to it and the Baroness/Cobra Commander/Cobra Trooper packs quickly backed up around the country...even though they included a popular army builder.  As the Joe line died in 2005, Hasbro attempted to reduce costs of their Toys R Us exclusive offerings.  The figure mold choices included in the final four sets was not inspired and the accessory complement was even worse.  In the Cobra Imperial Processional set, the new Baroness head appeared again.  This time, it was atop an oddly colored body that was a shade between red and copper.  Once again, collectors ignored this Baroness design and this 2005 has fallen into the abyss of figures that have been left behind by today's collecting world.

One of the things we know about the Hasbro designers of the Joe line in the early 2000's is that they somewhat resented vintage Joe figures.  They couldn't build their resumes in the industry working on two decade old toy designs.  This was why there was far more effort spent on the JvC figures and, later, the anniversary figures than the vintage repaints could have ever imagined.  This is a big reason why the repaints of that time aren't very inspired.  At times, though, the designers got to do something new on vintage figures.  One of those items was the removable glasses for the 2004 Baroness.  In theory, this was an amazing idea.  Taking one of the character's hallmarks and turning it into a changeable part of the figure was somewhat ingenious.  But, just because you can do something doesn't always mean that you should.  And, while the idea behind removable glasses is good, the actual execution left much to be desired.  The glasses are bulky, cloudy and generally ruin the aesthetic of the Baroness's new head sculpt.  Another example is the Baroness' hair.  While her updated hair is more detailed than the 1984, compare it to the 2005 Cover Girl who was released the same year.  It's a night and day difference in what the designers were capable of creating.

The Processional set was another idea that was probably pretty good.  But, the execution wasn't great.  The figures feature and odd copperish-red color that doesn't match with any other Cobra figures in the line.  Cobra Commander and the Baroness made sense for figure inclusion.  The idea of 4 guards wasn't bad.  But, the molds combined for the guards were just a bit too offbeat.  Had this set included a Serpentor and been done in green and gold, it probably would have been substantially more popular.  Were the figures even in a more classic red, they'd better fit with other figures and be more key to collections.  As a stand alone figure, this Baroness isn't that great.  The 2002 Convention figures are substantially better and work well with more figures.  This figure can work as a cheap alternative.  But, that's about the extent of her value.  The new head isn't a perfect match for the body and I prefer the original Baroness head in every release.

Baroness' gear is crap.  The glasses are small and easily lost.  But, since most of the figures are in collector hands, they are not hard to find.  But, they really look bad on the figure and there's no real need to have them.  They are difficult to affix to her head.  And, once on, the glasses look far more like goggles than corrective eyewear.  Again, a good idea whose resources should have been spent on better weapons for the figure.  Aside from that, she includes a crappy silver pistol that was originally released with Ambush.  She can't really hold it well and it appears oversized with the figure.  Baroness never really had any great accessories.  And, this release is no different.  The entire set lacked accessories.  And, Baroness included the only firearm among the 6 figures.

The Baroness mold has a short and long history.  In the vintage line, she was released just once: in her classic black outfit in 1984.  This same figure saw packaging in European and Japanese markets, too.  In the mid 1990's, Funskool acquired the Baroness mold.  They released a figure that was a direct homage to the American Baroness for a few years.  (Funskool Baroness figures are relatively easy to find in comparison to her Funskool contemporaries.)  As some point, Funskool released Rednok in the Complan Commandos line.  This was a low quality red Baroness that is exceedingly rare.  Hasbro got the mold back in 1997.  That year, they released a nicely done blue Baroness figure.  She wasn't quite cartoon colors.  Nor was she quite Cobra blue.  But, it's a nice repaint.  In 2000, the mold was redone in black and red but released as Chameleon.  Again, this is a solid figure and the color scheme was based on the unreleased 1995 Baroness that was planned for Battle Corps Rangers.  In 2002, a crimson Baroness was released in the initial convention set.  This, and her fuchsia variant, are excellent releases.  After that, the quality dropped off.  This new head debuted in the 2004 comic pack.  This figure was also blue.  But, generally, didn't stand up to the 1997-2002 figures.  The mold died with this 2005 Processional figure.  Hasbro never gave us a true cartoon colored Baroness.  Nor did they give us a grey and black version.  In short, we got two poor Baroness figures instead of something collectors would have enjoyed.  And, the new head really shortchanged the 2004 and 2005 figures even more.

The Imperial Processional Set was a dud.  It was a dud in retail stores.  It was a dud online.  It was a dud with collectors.  And, it was a dud with kids.  It sat and sat and sat.  Eventually, sets were sold at Amazon.com for around $6 each.  Even at that price, it took them quite a while to finally sell out.  Even today, these sets are relatively easy to find and Baroness remains cheap.  Because the market is crazy and many buyers are dumb, you see dealers, from time to time, get between $15-$21 for a mint and complete with filecard figure.  Left to her own devices, though, the same figure will sell between $5 and $7.  If you want a Processional set, you can get a complete one for around $30 and that's probably the way to go.  Outside of the matching figures, this Baroness has little value.  For a figure that Hasbro used quite frequently in the repaint era, the quality of Baroness releases diminished after 2002.  That's too bad as the mold has potential and cartoon fans are left without a definitive version.  This figure remains just another reminder that Hasbro of that time simply couldn't get it together when it came to collector themed releases.

2000 Chameleon - Around the Web

As a character, I'm not big on Chameleon.  But, as a solid Baroness repaint, this 2000 Chameleon is top notch.  It might be the best version of the Baroness mold that Hasbro ever released.  She was a bit of a pegwarmer upon release and remains relatively cheap to this day.  Which is a good thing since collectors can get a rock solid Baroness without breaking the bank.  There's less on her out there than I remember.  But, much of the Joe fan content from the early 2000's that featured her has been lost to time.  Here's the best of what I could find on the 2000 Chameleon around the web.

2000 Chameleon Profile

2000 Chameleon by R.T.G.

2000 Chameleon by G.I.Joe4Life

2000 Chameleon at GeneralsJoesReborn

2000 Chameleon by yotothejoe

2000 Chameleon by Slipstream80

2000 Chameleon by G.I.Joe4Life

1985 Battle Gear #3

In very early 1983, I found the first G.I. Joe Battle Gear on a peg at a toy store in Buffalo, New York.  The weapons were similarly colored to the guns included with the carded figures.  But, the helmets and backpacks were drastically different.  In 1984, a new set was released.  This filled in the gaps from the prior year with the inclusion of Zap's bazooka and Short Fuse's mortar.  As 1985 dawned, I was excited for the Battle Gear pack that would surely be released.  The 1984 series of figures were amazing.  And, through heavy play, I had lost gear to Mutt, Firefly, Scrap Iron and Blowtorch, broken gear for Roadblock and simply wanted more Ripcord parachute packs and masks.  The Battle Gear would solve many of my desires for a reasonable price.  Then, though, I found the actual pack that was released.  Looking at the list of figures above, you can imagine my disappointment.  None of the gear I actually needed or wanted was included.  Despite this, we had at least three of the sets in my childhood collection.  And, when reviewed outside the context of my childhood disappointment, this set has some redeeming factors.

The 1985 Battle Gear includes a lot of 1984 gear.  It is also missing quite a bit.  The first Battle Gear pack did not include three pieces: Zap's bazooka and Short Fuse's mortar and stand.  The 1984 release was missing Tripwire's mine detector and all of Torpedo's gear.  1985, though, omitted quite a few pieces of gear.  Included in the set was red versions of: Baroness' rifle, Firefly's rifle and walkie talkie and Scrap Iron's pistol.  There were tan versions of Recondo's backpack and rifle, Spirit's rifle and pack, Roadblock's pack and ammo box as well as Blowtorch's backpack.  There were 4 grey helmets: Mutt's, Blowtorch's, Ripcord's and a standard 1982 style helmet for use with Duke or Roadblock.  There were 2 green battle stands.  And, finally, a deep, rich green array of weapons and gear that include Mutt's pistol, Torpedo's spear gun, Blowtorch's flamethrower, Ripcord's rifle, Zartan's pistol, Duke's binoculars, Thunder's monocular and two new visors.  The visors were not opaque versions of the classic 1982 release.  They featured a nose notch like the goggles included with Thunder.  But, Thunder's piece required his earmuffs and their elongated pegs to affix the visor to the helmet.  These visors were stand alone.  The black version of them is similar to the one included with Starduster.  But, the design debuted in this 1985 Battle Gear set and never appeared again.

What's missing from the set, though, is more notable.  Thunder's earmuff's and visor are absent.  There are no Cobra backpacks at all.  So, Baroness, Firefly, Scrap Iron and Zartan are left unaccessorized.  No animals were included: nixing Freedom and Junkyard.  None of Duke's gear aside from the binoculars (and helmet) is included.  None of the masks included with Mutt, Ripcord or Blowtorch are present.  Roadblock's machine and tri-pod are absent: despite the inclusion of his backpack.  Ripcord's parachute pack is a no-show, as is Mutt's nightstick.  But, the most glaring omission is that there is no repainted Stormshadow gear in the entire set.  In 1985, edged weapons for Joes were nearly impossible to track down.  Getting a repainted Stormshadow sword or two would have been great.  Everyone lost or broke Stormshadow's bow.  But, it's not here.  (It's my guess that Stormshadow was popular enough that kids would get parents to replace that figure entirely so his accessories weren't wanted in Battle Gear that might blow another figure sale.)  It's an appalling amount of missing gear for a set and it started a trend that would continue through the rest of the Battle Gear's retail life.  This was a likely function of the fact that 1984 figures started including more gear and many pieces that were far more intricate than anything that had come before.  But, it was an unfortunate shift for kids of the time.

As 1985 began, I had lost my Zartan's pistol.  Firefly's walkie talkie and backpack cover were long gone.  Mutt's mask and night stick were distant memories.  Roadblock's pack peg was broken, a stand was broken away from his tri-pod and his machine gun had been snapped in two.  A friend I was outgrowing had stolen my Scrap Iron's missile table.  And, Blowtorch's air mask had ripped and was no longer usable.  Of the 10 items I needed to rehabilitate my 1984 Joes, this Battle Gear pack included just 3.

What was great, though, was that the set did include some pieces that were useful.  I loved Recondo's backpack.  I wanted more of my figures to wear packs that carried more supplies.  The neutral color of the pack make it more useful for many other figures.  (It's also still commonly mistaken for Recondo's real gear by dealers who aren't Joe specific since the colors of the pack and the Recondo figure match up.)  Having a few additional walkie talkies was fun since it gave all my figures ways to communicate.  The long range sight devices were another useful inclusion since advance teams always needed them.  (The binoculars also became standard issue in the cockpit of the Whale for Cutter to use at any time.)  Additional Mutt and Zartan pistols were also nice since the color wasn't terrible and small pistols were always getting lost.

The biggest value of this set, though, was realized when I started to take apart my old, broken Joes and frankenstein together some new figures.  At first, Battle Gear helped to simply flesh out figures who had no other gear.  But, as 1985 moved into the summer, I began to paint many of my creations into new designs.  Along with this, I painted accessories.  I didn't want to waste "real" gear on this endeavor.  So, Battle Gear was the logical choice.  My favorite was a Ripcord helmet painted blue with white "fur" lining the edges.  As I used cheap paint, the helmet quickly chipped.  But, this became part of the character of the commander who wore it.  Slowly, that character turned into the leader of the Joes and became the character that is represented by the General Flagg figure today.  I actually still have 2 pieces that I painted as a kid, including that Ripcord helmet that you can see below.

In the days when slightly off condition Joe figures were cheap and plentiful, Battle Gear weapons were far more useful.  Customizers abounded and they were always in search of cheap gear they could paint, cut apart or combine into new pieces.  Battle Gear was a cheap and easy way for the customizers of the early 2000's to build out and re-accessorize their creations.  Now, they are weird colored items that take up space and cross an item off a list.  In this era of factory custom figures, though, things like the helmets, visors and even weapons will match up with some of the figures we've seen.  That has given these sets a new niche in which they have value.  But, there's still so many of them that even new uses does little to move the large surplus of these items that are still out there.

While some individual items from this Battle Gear pack are more desirable than others, the truth is that the entire set is not overly expensive.  You can still get complete sets for around $10.  Duke's binoculars, Zartan's pistol and the green visors are, far and away, the most expensive and desirable items.  And, they are often the pieces most often missing from sets.  But, the non-standard colors and general ubiquity of the gear has left it an undesired piece of Joe collecting.  If you bought collections of figures at any time in the past twenty years, you have plenty of Battle Gear weapons lying around.  I still find the deep green a fun visual treat.  But, they don't really work with any figures.  The childhood disappointment still clouds my vision of this set: 35 years later.  But, you have to give Hasbro credit for understanding that kids lost gear and trying to give them a way to fix that.

2000 Chameleon

In the late 1990's, one of the most expensive figures in the entire line was the 1984 Baroness.  There was a perception that female figures were extremely limited.  So, dealers marked the figure up to stupid prices and it was common to see Baroness figures offered, and even sell, for around $50.  In 1997, Hasbro released a new repaint of the Baroness as a way to help get her into collector hands.  This figure, though, did little to sate the demand.  While the internet was slowly showing collectors that vintage Baroness figures were neither rare nor even hard to find, Hasbro's plans for Joe's relaunch in 2000 pretty much had to include the character as a way to show that the line was "for collectors".  However, Hasbro decided to go in a different direction.  Rather than just release a Baroness with colors that were inspired by the unproduced 1995 Battle Corps Rangers Baroness figure, Hasbro created a new character.  Thus, was born the twin sister of the Baroness named Chameleon.

There are many problems with the notion of the Baroness having a twin sister.  First off, the Baroness's hatred of Snake Eyes was entirely a result of his incorrectly blaming Snake Eyes for her brother's death.  The relative closeness of the family would imply that any twin sister would have been present when the Baroness and her brother were together.  Being a twin in a rich, European, aristocratic family pretty much dissolves any hope of Chameleon being a long lost sibling.  The Baroness's reliance upon her family in her origin makes a mysterious twin a soap opera like suspension of belief.  But, more importantly, the Baroness is an incredibly evil and conniving person.  She would not be so sloppy as to leave an identical twin out in the world were she not 100% sure of that twin's allegiances and feelings.  If the Baroness felt any sibling would have put her in jeopardy, she would surely have eliminated that threat.  So, the existence of a twin sister for the Baroness is basically anti-thetical to her character and is, on it's face, ridiculous.

But, that doesn't mean the character doesn't have some merit.  For me, the very early Joe team was somewhat desperate to learn more about Cobra: especially as Cobra was expanding.  One of the main intelligence gaps was that Joe did not know how Cobra obtained their funding.  It was believed that they were financed by foreign governments.  But, that had limitations, especially as the Russians also found themselves opposed to Cobra.  So, Joe intelligence had to find a way to determine Cobra's money making arm.  Joe double agents were usually sniffed out.  And, the fanatical followers of Cobra who were captured would give their life before meting out secrets of Cobra's operations.  This left few options.  But, the Baroness's unfortunate injury in the Hiss Tank explosion in Washington, D.C. gave Joe an in.  Joe operatives were able to acquire medical records for the Baroness: including x-rays detailing her facial bone structure.  This meant that the Joe team could create a credible doppelganger for the Baroness: especially since few Cobras would have seen her new face in the first few months after she returned to action.  The Joe team just had to find a volunteer....

This is where I've inserted the Chameleon character.  General Austin and General Flagg were able to find a woman with similar bone structure to the Baroness who had been convicted of confidence crimes and was serving a life sentence.  In exchange for freedom, the woman agreed to undergo the surgery to take on the Baroness's countenance and use it as entry into Cobra where she could find the source of their money.  This Chameleon took on the challenge and infiltrated Cobra operations in the Pacific Northwest.  In short time, she was able to gain entry to a small cell and start providing intelligence back to the Joes.  But, after General Flagg's death, General Austin was not close enough to the ground to fully understand Cobra Commander's paranoia.  In short order, Chameleon was found out.  Cobra Commander killed her and sent her body, packed in ice, to General Austin at the Pentagon.  Chameleon was not successful in her mission and lost her life in the process.  Austin took this failure to heart and began to re-assess the long term plans for the Joe team.

As a figure, Chameleon is fairly well done.  The black base is hard to screw up.  But, the red paint is applied very judiciously.  The crimson highlights bring out the intricacies of the Baroness mold in a way that the basic black never could.  The Cobra logo is created in relief.  It is another way that the figure differs from the original and helps set this figure apart, even though the basic color palette is similar.  Chameleon has some visual depth to her without being too busy.  She is a solidly balanced figure from an era where Hasbro could go from too bland to too busy within the same two figure pack.

Accessory wise, Chameleon is fine.  She includes the original Baroness accessories, also cast in solid black.  There is a difference in plastic so that you can tell them apart from the originals.  In 2000, Baroness rifles had yet to become the bane of collector existence.  And, as it was tied to this figure mold, it was great to see the complete set of gear available.  Along with a black figure stand, Chameleon also included a black version of Firefly's phone.  In 2000, the only release of this phone was with the original Firefly and the Battle Gear packs.  Getting it in black was of great interest to collectors of the day.  And, having Hasbro include it with multiple figures made the accessory more desirable.  Within a couple of years, the black phone would be overused.  But, the newness of it with Chameleon helped give the figure a little something extra.

If you simply take this figure as a Baroness repaint, it has quite a bit of merit.  The Baroness's original, all black look was both iconic and limiting.  Hasbro's planned 1995 figure, though, introduced a splash of red to the Baroness wardrobe and helped keep her grounded in her original look, but also making her slightly different.  Chameleon takes that idea and uses it effectively.  She easily works as a new version of the Baroness or can be used as Chameleon.  This figure takes no risks, but is different enough that it gave collectors something different in 2000.  Hasbro somewhat played it safe with the ARAHC releases.  And, that backfired as the line quickly stagnated at retail.  But, to be fair, this Chameleon was part of the problem.

The first wave of the A Real American Hero collection was shipped in cases of 12.  But, there were only 5 unique packs in the wave.  The result was an uneven case ratio.  All the packs were shipped 2 per case except for Snake Eyes/Stormshadow and Cobra Commander/Chameleon who were each three per case.  The ninja pack was a good choice.  Snake Eyes and Stormshadow were two of Joe's most popular characters.  And, the pack, even at 3 per case was quick to sell out.  Had it not been carried over to wave 2, it would, likely, have been even more expensive than the Firefly/Undertow pack in 2001.  Cobra Commander/Chameleon, though, was a bit of a miscalculation.  Hasbro was still going from old stereotypes of collectors from the mid 1990's.  So, they eschewed army builders and focused on characters they thought were considered "rare".

But, they miscalculated the demand for Chameleon.  She quickly backed up retail throughout the U.S. and was the only Wave 1 figure pack that didn't sell out and remained available into 2001.  Unlike the hordes of Big Ben/Whiteout packs that became the scourge of collectors for the remainder of 2001, though, the Chameleon pack, eventually, sold out.  The terrifying influx of new Joe collectors in 2000/2001 was able to absorb the overstock.  (People talk about 2007 bringing in a rash of new collectors.  But, it paled in comparison to the deluge that flooded the community in 2000/2001.)  So, Chameleon did disappear.  But, she never found any cachet as a "desirable" figure since she spent so many months collecting dust on retail shelves.

The Baroness mold didn't have much history until the 1990's.  It was used by Hasbro and released in the U.S. and Europe in the '80's.  In the mid 1990's, she showed up in India where Funskool used her for their Baroness release.  (Funskool also sold her under the Nilco brand in Egypt.)  It turns out, Funskool also used her for the Rednok figure that was released under the Complan Commandos banner.  Hasbro got the mold back in 1997 where they used it in the 15th Anniversary releases.  This Chameleon showed up in 2000.  In 2002, the Baroness was used in a Convention set and has both Crimson and Fuchsia versions available.  In 2004, Hasbro sculpted a new head for the Baroness body and released it in a comic pack as well as the Cobra Imperial Processional set in 2005.  So, modern collectors saw the mold quite frequently: even if the overall general appearance of the figures were not overly diverse.  There's still some potential left in the Baroness mold.  But, it's unlikely we'll see any of the fulfilled any time soon.

Chameleon figures are neither popular nor hard to find.  Due to the over packing in her original case, the figure never saw aftermarket appreciation like the Firefly/Undertow and General Tomahawk/Dialtone packs did after they were discontinued in 2001.  Even today, the figure is cheap.  You can easily get a mint, complete with filecard version for $5.  You can even get carded versions for that price from time to time: though those usually run in the $12 range.  For the price, the figure isn't bad.  There's really no way to use the figure in any capacity other than the Baroness.  But, this figure works as an alternative look for Cobra's original villain-ess.  I'd go so far to say that this might be the best repaint of the Baroness mold.  (The crimson convention release is pretty strong, though.)  She is true to the character's roots, but different enough that you kind of want to own her.  Were it not for the stigma of it actually being the Chameleon character, I think this figure would be substantially more popular.

Rarities - Funskool Complan Commandos

Collectors have long known that some Funskool figures were among the rarest figures in the line.  It was not uncommon for "new" figures to be discovered well into the early 2000's.  But, after around 2004, that seemed to end.  Sure, there were lots of new variants being found.  But, completely unknown figures seemed a thing of the past.  Still, a few collectors had found some odd parts in lots they had acquired from India.  Most were written off as discolored figures or maybe some color variant of a released figure.  But, around 2009 or so, that changed with the discovery of the Complan Commandos.

The Complan Commandos were a series of five figures released by Funskool as a promotion for a kids drink.  The set consisted of Striker, Rocker, Cross Country, Rednok and Canary Ann.  Each of the figures was made from repainted G.I. Joe parts from early waves of Funskool Joes, with the male figures all being amalgamations of multiple molds.

The figures were packaged under the Complan Commandos banner.  They were done on the cheap and feature almost no paint masks and extremely minimal accessories.  Supposedly, they were a premium related to a chocolate drink available in India.  Though, I'm not sure if they were available in stores, or just as some kind of promotional item.

High quality Complan Commandos are very rare.  With that rarity comes expense.  Mint and complete versions of some figures will top $3,000 and even more.  Even really beat up samples will fetch over $100.  But, some of the early rarity was due to collectors asking for G.I. Joe only and these figures being ignored.  As collectors learned what questions to ask, more Complan Commandos appeared.  Not enough to make them common.  But, enough to make them available to more than two or three collectors.  

The first and probably most interesting figure in the lineup is Canary Ann.  She is a straight repaint of the Funskool Lady Jaye.  As the name suggests, though, the mold is repainted in a canary yellow.  Topped with a red cap, this is the most drastic look deviation of any use of the Lady Jaye mold.  The lack of paint masks are a tough miss to overcome, though.  It appears she's wearing a yellow undershirt.  It's not completely out of whack.  But, it's odd.  Her all black waist, though, is too much.  It kind of ruins the figure.

Canary Ann included a black version of Lady Jaye's gun.  You can see her filecard below, too.  The filecard is actually rather interestingly written.  It's far and away better than the Funskool exclusive filecards we say in the Joe line in the early 2000's, even though it incorporates much of Lady Jaye's filecard info.

Next up is Cross Country.  He is an amalgamation of Scrap Iron with Zap's head.  The all red body with black highlights is rather Cobra.  He likely included a version of Firefly's gun.  You will see his filecard below.  It is heavily derivative from Beach Head's filecard.

Rocker is next.  He is a blue Firefly body with a Short Fuze head.  The blue plastic is EXTREMELY prone to discoloration and most of the few Rocker's out there are heavily discolored.  The figure included a version of Torpedo's harpoon gun.

Rednok is the second female in the 5 figure set.  She is a red repaint of the Baroness.  Prior to 2002, this would have been an extremely in demand figure.  However, we have seen many red Baroness repaints in the 15 years since then.  And, as such, this version with no painted highlights just looks cheap.  But, as it's a Baroness repaint, Rednok will always maintain collector demand.  She likely included a version of Major Bludd's pistol.  Her filecard steals from both Jinx and Low Light.  This is odd as neither of those characters ever appeared in India.  So, you wonder where Funskool got the information.  The fact that her glasses are fake are also a different character trait.

The final figure is Striker.  He is a green repaint of Gung Ho with a black haired Short Fuze head.  The figure looks a bit odd without the Marine Corps tattoo on his chest.  But, it's a different look for the mold.  (There is also an olive drab version of Gung Ho that was available as a Funskool vehicle driver that may have been a recolor using the paint masks from this figure.)  Striker included Gung Ho's grenade launcher.  His filecard steals from Big Boa.  I love that Bowling Ball was changed to Cricket Ball for the Indian audience.  The connotation changes quite a bit with this little detail.

These figures exude cheapness and would be hated were they not among the rarest figures ever released anywhere in the world.  Even then, they aren't appreciated for their quality but their rarity and value.  The card artwork and filecards are, for me, the most interesting part since they take so much from around the Joe world.  But, for the hundreds to thousands of dollars these guys cost, those traits aren't enough to get me really interested in the figures.  Sometimes rarity trumps something cool.  Other times, though, it masks something that's kind of lame.  And, in the case of these figures, were they common, no one would touch them.  But, since they are extremely rare, collectors care and give them due they would not earn on their own design merits.

Rarities - Unproduced Copper Cobra Imperial Processional Figures

Hasbro produced a lot of exclusive vintage style Joe figure sets for Toys R Us in the 2003-2005 timeframe.  These sets were extremely popular with collectors and proved to be the only real outlet for vintage Joe aficionados to acquire new releases at reasonable prices.  Some of the sets were great.  Some were terrible and most were in between the extremes.  However, just about all of the sets had some unproduced and pre production variants.  While many of them are well known and common in the collecting world, others are more obscure.  A case in point are the copper figures from the 2005 Imperial Processional set.

Below you see the Baroness and the Cobra Imperial Guard figures.  The Baroness is noteworthy for the missing Cobra sigil on her chest.  But, both figures are a much duller copper color than the figures that were released at retail.  The full production figures were more red and had a generally brighter hue.  These copper alternatives seem like color tests from early runs.

These figures are somewhat dull.  But, the Processional figures were dull even as production releases.  I'm not sure if one set is really that much better than the other.  But, these copper releases are fairly rare and are not often seen when you search out unproduced figures from this era.

Unproduced Imperial Processional Baroness

Unproduced Imperial Processional Cobra Imperial Guard

Diorama - Chopper Base

In the fall of 2001, I got out a Mamba and took these pics.  I've never been a huge Mamba fan, even though it was the last toy I got as a kid.  Sadly, I still have this Mamba and a companion.  But, both have been pretty much destroyed since these photos.  The Mamba's large size makes it difficult to box up and move, especially when you're in a hurry.  But, the fact they aren't worth much and aren't much fun also makes me less careful with them than I would be with something I liked more.

Rarities - Alternate Comic Pack Figures

The Comic Packs were a collector hit in 2004.  Unfortunately, the rest of the market didn't agree and they were clearance fodder within a year.  But, the packs endured for a while and gave collectors some really nice figures.  Like most products from that era, though, there were alternate and unproduced variants of many of the figures that were available from Asia.  Most were relatively small changes like missing production dates, or slight color differences.  Some of them, though, are awesome.  Others are mundane.  And a select few are...just...weird.

First up are some basic figures that don't have much in the way of differences.  Destro and Duke are baically the same as their production releases.

The following figures all have smaller, but still full production heads.  It seems that Hasbro had two different sized heads for their new, comic pack head sculpts.  Clutch is the most obvious as the smaller head is drastically smaller.  (There are actually three Clutch head sizes.  Here you see the smallest and the largest.  There is a third size in between these two.)  But, both the Baroness and Cobra Commander also feature different sized domes.  You will also note the different head insignia on Cobra Commander.

We now come to the very odd.  When the comic packs debuted in the summer of 2004, pack #3 was delayed.  While it ultimately pegwarmed around the country and found it's way to clearance and discount stores, this delay lead to rampant speculation on the pack when it first appeared.  A few weeks later, though, an alternate pack showed up in Asia.  Along with the small head Clutch figure, this new pack featured heads with reversed races for Stalker and General Hawk.  Unfortunately, the bodies still retained the correct skin color.  So, the figures had a mismatch.  But, the Caucasian Stalker head and African American Hawk head were an interesting release.  (I've long used the Hawk head for my Skeres figure.)

You will also see two Destro figures below.  One with a chromed head and another with a charcoal colored head.  It's possible that Hasbro planned for this Destro release to have an actual chromed head.  The figure is greatly improved with it.  The charcoal head is different and gives the figure an alternate look.  I'd have preffered either of these variants to the actual figure we saw at retail.

Finally, we see a comic pack Hawk with a green chest.  If he had green arms, too, the figure would somewhat useful, especially with a simple leg swap.  But, the production release with a brown chest was far superior.

This brings us to the final figure: a green haired Serpentor figure.  Frankly, this green hair makes no sense.  Green eyebrows and eyes are very Joker.  But, when you consider the overall oddness of the Serpentor character, the green hair actually kind of works.  I greatly wanted this figure.  But, put him off to acquire other, more desirable variants.  By the time this guy's number came up, though, the figure was sold out and I never got around to picking him up.  It's just another odd example of what collectors could find in 2003 - 2005.  But, stuff like this Serpentor was more fun than anything Hasbro was doing at the time.