Rarities - Unproduced 2003 Wal Mart Sky Patrol Figures

Back in 2003, Wal Mart worked with Hasbro to release an exclusive 6 figure set.  The toys were expected to be released around the 2003 holiday season.  The original plan was for the figures to be vintage inspired o-ring figures who would include working parachutes.  It was a novel idea and one that was sure to be a hit among collectors.  Hasbro went so far as to show off hand painted samples of the figures at various shows.  Collectors got excited about the figures as any new vintage style figures were always welcomed.  But, something happened between the planning and production stages for the figures.  And, the o-ring figures were cancelled and replaced by a hasty set of JvC style figures that included one urban camo Cobra and a desert clad Joe.  In the madness that was 2003 Joe retail, these figures were still quickly gobbled up and even commanded premium pricing for a while.  But, the real story was the demise of the more highly anticipated o-ring figures.

Supposedly, the reason for the cancellation was that the parachutes that were planned for the figures would not pass safety tests.  Why this lead to the demise of the entire wave of figures instead of just the problematic accessory is anyone's guess.  (At the time, the 2003 Ripcord was supposed to include a parachute.  His accessory was also removed.  But, the figure was still released, albiet a couple of weeks delayed.)   We would, though, later learn that Wal Mart wasn't as keen on vintage style figures as they were the newer sculpting style of the JvC designs.  And, Wal Mart would later take a lot of blame for vintage style Joe completely disappearing from retail assortments and being relegated to Toys R Us exclusives and Comic Packs.  How much of this is true and how much was just Wal Mart being a convenient scape goat isn't really clear.  But, a highly desired wave of 6 figures became something of an afterthought when it was changed to something completely different.

You will note that collectors often refer to these figures as "Sky Patrol".  There is no official documentation to back that up.  It was just an easy moniker applied to this set since we didn't know their official names.  The figures that replaced them at Wal Mart did not have any special markings on them and they were just packaged as standard Venom Vs. Valor releases.  So, the "Sky Patrol" is a colloquialism meant for quick reference to this series since the "Cancelled Wal Mart Exclusive O-Ring Figure Wave that Would Have Included Parachutes" is just too cumbersome to say.

The story wasn't over, though.  First, someone found a weird pack at retail that featured an oddly colored Snake Eyes and Stormshadow in a two pack.  The figures were pre-production samples of the Wal Mart figures that had, accidentally, gotten packaged and slipped through quality control.  Shortly after this, tons of the 6 figures began to appear from Asian sellers.  As 2004 progressed, the stock didn't dry up.  And, for a while, most of the Wal Mart figures could be had for under $15 each from Asian sellers.  Despite that heavy supply, the Wal Mart figures now command a premium and run in the hundreds of dollars each, even though they exist in ample supply.

We'll start with one of the original images from a Hasbro display.  There are many things of note in this photo.  Duke appears to actually be a paint master for the 2000/2001 figure.  While he's hand painted, the coloring is nearly identical to the earlier retail figure.  There's some differences.  But, the pre-production Duke is vastly different.  Snake Eyes is just a straight up production figure from the 2002 BJ's set.  The Hiss Driver/Rip It features a gold chest.  This would be changed.  Low Light is pretty close to his final colors.  The Alley Viper is blocked out in this photo.  But, he appears to also be drastically different from the final pre-production figure.  Stormshadow isn't featured at all.

Now for the individual figures.  Each  of these are full production level figures that were widely available.  It is noteworthy, though, that there are variants of most figure.  They exist in different blue hues and some have painted logos that others don't.  There's even a hair color variant on Duke.

Snake Eyes:

Snake Eyes is the least interesting of the figures in the set.  He retains the mostly black body.  He features red goggles.  This would have been a new look for Snake eyes.  But, it doesn't really match up and isn't visually appealing.  His arms have their weird blue forearms and rivet joint.  This might have been cleaned up had the figure gone to production.  It makes Snake Eyes look like he's half trying to be a Cobra.  When the Wal Mart figures were available, Snake Eyes was always the cheapest since he offered nothing new or interesting.  Had he been released, this figure would be as ignored as the 2002 BJ's version.

Stormshadow:

The Stormshadow figure wasn't shown in some of the convention displays.  He uses the 1992 Ninja Force mold.  Hasbro had used this mold in the 2002 BJ's set.  It was an OK figure.  The mold also returned in 2004 in the Urban Strike set.  A 2003 release would have been overkill.  The blue on this figure is different, though.  And, the color scheme was well liked by collectors of the day.  Had this figure been any other Stormshadow mold, it would be better remembered and a bigger loss.  

Low Light:

Low Light was the second most anticipated figure from this set.  And, as the army building nonsense of the 2000's died down, he's supplanted the Hiss Driver as the most interesting figure in the set.  The main reason is that this is the only use of the V1 Low Light mold that Hasbro offered for retail.  We got the 1991 Low Light in 2001 with his parts also appearing on other figures.  But, the V1 Low Light didn't appear until he was released as a convention exclusive in 2008.  

It really made no sense why Hasbro didn't get this mold into the Desert set in 2004 or the arctic set in 2005.  Both would have been great slots for Low Light and would have allowed him to replace a lackluster figure or character in each of those sets.  You'll note that this Low Light uses the same paint masks as the Slaughter's Marauders version.  So, Hasbro didn't spend a ton of money to update his painted details.  In general, this is a solid look for Low Light.  And, him including his real accessories would have been a big plus that put him over the top for collectors of the day.  (You'll note his rifle later appeared in some TRU sets.)  He's very much a more muted Slaughter's Marauders figure and would be a fairly popular figure had he seen wide release.

Alley Viper:

The Alley Viper was the most popular figure when this set first showed up on Ebay.  He would command the highest prices and always sell.  This was due to the extremes of the army building mentality among collectors of the day.  They would overpay for any army builder.

This figure, though, is among the weaker in the set.  While his colors blend with the other Cobras, the reality is that they are an inferior mix to figures that had just been released at retail.  If you wanted a light blue Alley Viper, there was a great one in Wave 1.5 that was cheap and easy to get.  If you wanted a red Alley Viper, there was one in Wave 2 that was well done.  (Though, it was shortpacked and somewhat harder to find than the blue version.)  This amalgamation of the two color schemes is a nice  middle ground between them.  But, it wasn't a figure that was really needed.  And, had it been released, it would have overlapped with the Wave 7.75 blue Alley Vipers at retail and been followed up with the Urban Strike Alley Viper.  There are some variants of this Alley Viper in terms of the coloring hues and if he has a Cobra sigil or not.  So, be on the watch for that.

In short, this figure would have been even more oversaturation of a figure mold that collectors were tiring of.  I don't think we lost anything with this figure's cancellation.  But, his popularity of the time suggests that I was not representative of collecting as a whole with my sentiment.

Duke:

The Duke figure from this set is the one I lament the most.  It would have been a great Duke.  Duke has the greatest variants among the unproduced figures as there are brown haired and blonde haired heads.  There are also green pants or brown pants.  You can see both versions of the figure below.  (There are likely more, subtle variants, too.)  The green pants version is a close take to the 1984 color scheme on the 1992 mold.  Hasbro should have made more figures like this since they had so many later versions of classic characters.

Duke had a bunch of accessories.  He included an exclusive helmet.  He then came with a black version of the Snow Serpent backpack and either one or two rifles.  The common weapon between the versions was a black Beach Head rifle.  Some also included an Ambush rifle.  The accessories were decent and worked with the figure.  The brown hair were the, likely, earlier figures with the the blonde hair figure being the one we would have gotten at retail.  A blonde Duke with the green pants would have been the best Duke released during the repaint era.  It's sad we didn't get it.

Hiss Driver (Rip It):

The Hiss Driver mold was the most anticipated figure in the set.  Collectors had gotten a couple of very easy to find retail Alley Vipers.  But, the Hiss Driver mold hadn't been seen since late 2000/early 2001 when it was included in the Toys R Us exclusive Hiss III.  Collectors were keen to army build it, especially in these colors.  

It is a near certainty that this figure would have been released as Rip It instead of as a Hiss Driver.  Hasbro was keen on characters.  So, this would have likely been one rather than a nameless army builder.  But, sans an official release, the figure simply became known as the Hiss Driver.  As he was readily available and not overly expensive back in the mid 2000's, many people were able to get a few of them to drive their armies of Hiss Tanks.  The blue was close enough to the classic Cobra color that everyone wanted for every single Cobra figure mold that Hasbro had in their library.  

There is a variant of this figure.  Some are darker blue.  And, some have Cobra logos on their arms while others don't.  Neither seems more rare than the other.  Hasbro never got the Hiss Driver mold to retail, again.  There was a short run 2007 Convention Rip It, tough.  That figure is notable as it uses an inverse color scheme to this Wal Mart Hiss Driver.  Together, the two figures are a great looking pair.  But, it would cost you nearly $1000 to get both of them, today.

In the end, it's a shame collectors didn't get this set.  But, with how quickly the Wal Mart exclusive Valor Vs. Venom figures sold out, it's also likely that many collectors would have missed these at retail and they would have commanded a premium on the secondary market.  As the Joe line cratered in 2007 through 2010, collectors might have been able to get the quantities they wanted.  But, these figures would have remained highly desired and expensive today, even if they had gone to retail.  

Today, the figures command premium prices.  Most newer collectors are unaware that these were available for several years from Asian sellers.  Most of the figures were available for under $15 each for quite a while.  Some collectors army built the Alley Vipers and Hiss Drivers.  So, the figures are out there in numbers.  It's just that they are mostly held by collectors who have little interest in selling them.  Many of the figures have reached nearly $500 each in recent sales.  That's too much for these figures.  But, sanity over recently released and somewhat common items has completely left the collecting world.  So, for most collectors, their closest way to experience these figures is through photos and stories from earlier times.

1983 Hiss Tank - Around The Web

The Hiss Tank is the single most iconic Cobra ground vehicle.  It is a staple of every collection and is the perfect combo of being a toy and a collectible.  It's been released time and time again.  So, everyone has a shot at it.  Not much else to say other than to check out all the great content that features it.

1983 Hiss Tank Profile

Hiss Tank Diorama

1983 Hiss Tank by steelbrigade

1983 Hiss Tank by thedustinmccoy

1983 Hiss Tank by gijoe_guy

1983 Hiss Tank by theoldnerd

1983 Hiss Tank by tituslester32

1983 Hiss Tank by Darkstar Vintage

1983 Hiss Tank by gijoe_guy

1983 Hiss Tank by sintechness

1983 Hiss Tank by fosilru

1983 Hiss Tank by viper_space

2000 Rip It

The 1983 Hiss Driver isn't really an iconic figure.  He often sits in his tank and simply hides in the cockpit: away from prying eyes.  But, as an early release, he is often held in higher regard than he would be were he released a decade later.  Since the figure is relatively common (it was a mail away for years and the Hiss was super popular) there has never been a great clamor for multitudes of repaints.  But, the Hiss Driver was also a case where Hasbro accommodated early collectors by dropping a repaint into the A Real American Hero collection.  The new character of Rip It was an interesting take on the Hiss Driver mold that was somewhat neutered by the fact that a classic army builder was now a character.

Collectors immediately attacked Rip It's name.  Being released at a time when most collectors were in their early 20's ensured that the juvenile jokes doomed the character.  18 years later, you don't hear as much of the ridicule.  But, Hasbro's new characters of the early 2000's were so embarrassingly bad that they have been rightfully discarded on the line's scrap heap.  Rip It was no different and the opportunity to create a new Hiss Driver Commander was wasted on a guy who will leave his unit to fight G.I. Joe on his own and who learned his expert tank operation skills by playing golf.  (I wish I was making that up....)

At his core, the Rip It figure was designed to be more "Cobra" in the sense that Cobra was understood by Hasbro in 2000.  But, the practical release of Rip It was not Cobra blue and, instead, a purplish blue that really doesn't fit with any other Cobra releases of the day.  Offset by globs of red paint, Rip It seems like a really cheap knockoff of the Hiss Driver instead of something interesting and fun.  Because the figure screams of minimum effort and unfulfilled potential, though, he perfectly fits with the ARAHC figure of 2000 and 2001.  This line had so much promise...which was never delivered.  Collectors were so happy to have figures at retail that many of the flaws were overlooked at the time.  But, by 2001, the cracks were there and the Hiss III (something that should have been a sure thing at retail) stuck around at nationwide Toys R Us stores for months. 

While Rip It is considered a 2000 release, he didn't actually show up until January of 2001.  But, the timing of the 2nd wave of the ARAHC happened to coincide with the new year.  I had found all of the Wave II figures in late December of 2000.  So, the Hiss III was was the only thing really new to me as 2001 dawned.  I found it at a local TRU store and quickly bought one.  But, as soon as I got it home, the paint job and driver underwhelmed.  At the time, vintage Hiss Tanks and Drivers were plentiful and cheap.  The Hiss III was a downgrade from the original Hiss and Rip It was a flawed figure. My original plans to buy 5 or 6 of the new Hiss Tanks quickly turned to just the one and I never really regretted not picking up more for the $9.99 retail price.

It should be noted that Rip It features a different waist than the original Hiss Driver.  It's not as noticable as some other waist replacements on figures from the 2000's.  But, is something that creates a bit of incongruity if you army build both original Hiss Drivers and any subsequent release.  Rip It also has no accessories.  But, as he's supposed to be encased in the glass cockpit of a cheap and disposable tank, you can forgive the lack of gear. 

Rip It figures started cheap and remain so to this day.  Aside from the fact that the Hiss III was available for quite a while at Toys R Us, large quantities of Rip It figures were available for many years from Asian overstock sellers.  It was easy to buy up lots of 5 or 6 Rip It figures for a couple of bucks.  Many collectors of the mid 2000's partook in these lots and then proceeded to RIT dye the figures in various color combinations.  You can still find photos of many of these creations and they all showcase the unfulfilled potential of the Hiss Driver mold.  Hasbro used it just three times: in 1983, for this Rip It and then again on the 2007 Convention release.  There is also the 2003 unproduced Wal Mart Hiss Driver that is out there.  But, in the end, two of the four Hiss Driver uses are rare and exceptionally pricey.  He remains a possibility for factory custom makers just because there would be demand for all black, real crimson, desert and arctic repaints of the figure.

If you want a Rip It, dealers often price him high: mistaking the pricey Convention and unreleased Wal Mart figures for interest in the character rather than being indicative of their rarity.  You'll find plenty of loose figures at $18 price tags: with no buyers.  Left on his own, this is a $5 figure.  But, he's a lot harder to find on his these days.  Sadly, boxed Hiss III's have climbed in price.  So, it's not really feasible to buy up boxed items and open them to get cheap loose toys.  With patience, you can build a nice little army of Rip It figures.  But, there's no real reason to do so.  The figure lacks iconic colors, has flaws and sits in the shadow of the 1983 Hiss Driver.  But, it's at least an alternative paint job for a classic mold.

1983 Hiss Driver

For many years, I was not a fan of the Hiss Driver. The bright red color, odd leggings and bug eyed head all made for a figure that simply did not do anything for me.  Even as a kid, I replaced my Hiss Drivers with Hooded Cobra Commanders since they better matched the Hiss Tank and Cobra Troopers/Officers of the day.  (To be fair, the Hiss Driver did get matched with my Crimson SMS Hiss Tank, but only until a third Crimson Guard's thumb broke and he then became the full time driver.)  I always found the figure lacking.  In more recent years, though, my opinion of the Hiss Driver has changed.  While he's still not the excellent design of the Cobra Trooper, the mold has merit.  Plus, the fact that he's so iconic as the driver of the Hiss Tank has left me more room to appreciate the figure and the character.

I have two main memories of the Hiss Driver as a character.  The first is that he was not introduced into the comic until Issue #30.  But, in this issue, the uniform was used as a FANG pilot rather than a Hiss Driver.  Honestly, it's not a bad use for the mold and this is a figure I would use in FANG's today over superfluous Cobra Troopers.  The second, and more endearing memory is from Special Missions #2.  Here, a Hiss Tank attacks Alpine, Airtight, Snow Job and Breaker on the tip of an iceberg.  In the battle, the Hiss Tank falls over the cliff, leaving the driver clinging to a ledge above the frozen ocean below.  The Driver's grip breaks and he falls to his death.  The piece about the story that captured me was the Driver's knowledge of his own, unpreventable death.  He knew, when clinging to the bit of ice, that he was dead.  There was no escape or hope of rescue.  He would meet his painful end in icy water below.  Whenever I see the Hiss Driver, this is the image that comes to mind.

As a kid, the Hiss Driver did get some use.  He helmed the Hiss Tanks with great skill, for a while.  But, in 1984, the Hiss Driver was replaced by the Hooded Cobra Commander.  (My brothers and I had three of this figure, so he quickly manned the Hiss cockpit, gunner station and the ASP that it towed behind it.)  At some point, I acquired a second Hiss tank.  When this occurred, the Cobra Commander's went to the gunner stations and I reintroduced the Hiss Drivers to their intended specialty.  Here, they would be armed with Destro or Major Bludd pistols from the Battle Pack.  Upon their return to their given duty, I often incorporated situations similar to Special Missions #2 where a Driver would be in a situation where his demise was a forgone conclusion.  In fact, the reason I outfitted the Drivers with accessory pack weapons was due to a story where a Hiss Driver was trapped in the cockpit of a burning and disabled Hiss Tank.  His agonized screams as he burned to death were broadcast over the entire Cobra battlefield and were extremely demoralizing.  So, Cobra gave all drivers pistols they could use to shoot out of the tanks in extreme circumstances.  To this day, Hiss Drivers displayed in the driver's seat of version 1 Hiss Tanks have accessory pack Cobra pistols in their with them.

Hiss Drivers, though, fell out of favor.  When I found my childhood Hiss Tanks tucked away in an attic, it was Hooded Cobra Commanders who were in the seats.  As I amassed large quantities of figures in the late 1990's, Hiss Drivers were rarely part of the hauls. I got a few here and there.  But, in those days, I had a scoring system on figure lots where certain figures were scored a 0, 1 or 2 based on their desirability to me.  I would bid on lots where the score correlated to a certain price.  (Usually, about $3 per point.)  Most army builders got a score of 1.  But, I had Hiss Drivers with a 0 as they were not a figure I cared about enough to acquire in quantity.

Now, though, I appreciate the Hiss Driver for his charm.  Sure, the figure is still deeply flawed and easily the worst designed Cobra from 1982 through 1984.  But, in the grand scheme of things, he's still decent enough.  I will maintain that had the Hiss Driver been first released in 1993 instead of 1983, he would be as neglected and cheap a figure as is possible.  Collectors would hate him.  But, he was a 1983 release and that paints him with a nostalgic picture that is hard to escape these days.  So, I have a real Hiss Driver in command of each of my Hiss Tanks.  I even have one in my SMS.  He's not a figure I army build beyond needing one for each Hiss Tank.

The Hiss Driver mold was used by Hasbro for a long time. After the Hiss Tank's retail run was over, the figure was offered as a mail away by Hasbro Direct for many years. So, even kids who came into Joe long after the Hiss was gone from retail had a chance to own both the tank and the figure. The mold was finally repainted in 2001. But, rather than being a new Hiss Driver, the figure was a newly created character named Rip It who was included with the Toys R Us exclusive Hiss III Tank. This purple and red figure was interesting, but not cool enough to really do the mold justice. In mid 2003, though, Hasbro showcased some upcoming Wal Mart exclusive paratrooper figures. Among this 6 figure set was a newly painted Hiss Driver. It's likely that the figure would have been named Rip It as well. But, the blue base and golden chest painting looked very solid. Unfortunately, the Sky Patrol figures were cancelled due to safety concerns.

Fortunately, though, some early samples of the figures were available from Asia in 2004 and 2005. These Wal Mart Hiss Drivers are in a blue that is a bit lighter than Cobra blue and have a red chest. They are a marked improvement from Rip It and are probably the best Hiss Drivers ever made. In 2007, Master Collector released a new Rip It with a black base and blue highlights. (Basically, the figure is the inverse of the Wal Mart Hiss Driver.) Limited to about 500 figures, it's a great use of the mold, but too hard to find and expensive to ever become the de facto driver for a Hiss army. The figure's torso was also used in 2005 as one of the terrible "Greenshirts" exclusive set. Sadly, these are the only uses for the mold. And, the two best are extremely expensive and hard to find. So, aficionados of the Hiss Driver mold are left with few choices for the figure. It's unfortunate as the mold had such untapped potential. But, at least there's something to look for.

It is difficult to find Hiss Drivers with no emblem wear, uncracked elbows and pefect silver visors. The silver paint rubs easily and tends to wear on many figures. The upside, though, is that there were so many Hiss Drivers produced that the volume helps to offset the fragility. The result is a figure that is less expensive today than he should be were he only released in 1983 and 1984 and not also as a mail away.  You can get high quality figures for $12 or so.  But, truly mint figures tend to sell closer to $20.  Though, to be fair, you can often get a Driver and a Hiss Tank for the $20 price tag, too.  There are tons of bagged Hiss Drivers out there and they tend to sell in the $30 range.  So, there are a lot of options for Hiss Driver fans.  (There are also decent restoration kits for Hiss Drivers out there.  So, you can buy an off condition figure for $4, restore it and have a nice display army for cheap.)

2003 Unproduced Wal Mart Hiss Driver

While there are many unproduced Joes in the modern line, very few of them can be traced back to original Hasbro documentation proving their intended existence. Probably less than 10% of the total number of unproduced figures that have surfaced since 2002 have published origins. This isn't to say that they are the best of the unproduced figures, but they are the ones that, long term, will have the most publicity. They have the paper trail that will put them in a different category for many future collectors. In the meantime, though, we are given a chance to enjoy some figures that were never released. In the case of this unproduced Hiss Driver, that is a very good thing.

Prior to my acquisition of this figure, I was prepared to down play its significance. I was going to say that collectors really didn't miss out on much by not having this figure released. I've never liked the Hiss Driver figure and didn't think that a simple color change was going to sway my opinion. As it turns out, though, I was flat out wrong. What a difference the coloring makes for this mold! The dark blue base is just so striking that it completely eradicates all my distaste for the Hiss Driver mold and suddenly makes this figure somewhat significant in my collection.   To be fair, it is unclear if Hasbro intended this figure to be an army building Hiss Driver or if they intended it to be another version of Rip It. As the Sky Patrol set already included one other army builder (the Alley Viper,) I think this figure was going to be a nameless, faceless army builder. It would have made the set more popular among collectors. As such, in my collection, this figure will be the simple Hiss Driver.

If you look through the photos I've published over the last 7 years, you will often see Hiss Tanks among my Cobras. However, you will rarely see Hiss Drivers at the helm of those tanks. Instead, that specialty is handled by Track Vipers. This isn't because I don't have any Hiss Drivers in my collection: quite the contrary. It is simply a function of the fact that I have never liked the Hiss Driver mold. Ever since I got my first one in 1983, I have felt that the Hiss Driver in no way lived up to the quality of the vehicle which he was supposed to drive. When I acquired several mail away hooded Cobra Commanders in 1984, those figures became my de facto Cobra vehicle drivers. They drove the Hiss Tanks, manned the Asps and flew the Fangs. I liked the Cobra blue far better than the bright red. (In fact, I still maintain that had the Hiss Driver first been released in 1993 instead of 1983, he would be reviled by collectors today.) This lead to Hiss Drivers simply being ignored. As I got older, nothing changed. Though I could not, in good conscience, use hooded Cobra Commanders as Hiss Drivers as an adult collector, enough time had progressed that Track Vipers were readily available. So, the bright red Hiss Driver never had a real role in my collection.

The release of Rip It did little to change that. When that figure was first released, many collectors simply planned to buy many Hiss III's and use Rip It as a new Hiss Driver. In fact, I planned the same. But, when I bought my first Hiss III in early 2001, I found that I was not that enthralled with the tank or the figure. The blue had too much of a purplish tint to it. On some figures, this works, but it did not on Rip It. So, I did not buy any more Hiss Tanks and my lone Rip It went into a drawer and has not emerged since 2001. As you can see, this didn't offer me much hope that I would have any other feelings toward the Wal Mart Hiss Driver. But, that is not the case. The deep blue which comprises his main body is a nice fit with the sea of standard Cobra blue Infantry and Viper figures. The silver goggles and black face mask blend better with the rest of the body and really meld nicely with the overall look. The red chestplate is dark and muted and offsets the dark blue base. It also allows the white Cobra logo on the chest to really pop.

The unproduced Sky Patrol figures were shown by Hasbro at a toy convention in early 2003. The figures shown were early hand painted test shots. As such, the Hiss Driver shown was actually a V1 Hiss Driver that was painted. So, it had the wrong waist. The other distinguishing difference is that the original figure had a gold chest plate and no Cobra logo. Now, it's likely that the lack of Cobra logo had to do with the fact that the figure was hand painted and that is a detail that was probably beyond the scope needed for Hasbro to showcase the figures. The gold chest plate is a definite downgrade from the red chest on the production figure. It's likely that the change was made early on. But, it is a subtle difference between the original, showcased prototype and the actual production item.

Truth be told, even if it would totally diminish the collectible value of this figure, I would love to see it actually see retail release. The figure is simply the best version of the Hiss Driver ever produced and it is a shame that more collectors don't have access to them. It is even more a shame that it is simply not feasible to acquire enough of these figures to have them be the backbone of any Hiss Driver contingent. The figure is that good. The Hiss Driver mold has only been used by Hasbro. It appeared in 1983 and was then used for many years as a mail in in the US. The bulk of the mold then appeared in early 2001 as Rip It. It's hard to remember that this Wal Mart Hiss Driver would have been so close on the heels of Rip It. But, Rip It was the last time the mold was used for a released product. (It should be noted that Rip It featured a different waist from the original Hiss Driver and the Wal Mart figure is actually the Rip It mold.) Since the appearance of these Wal Mart Hiss Drivers, no one has used the Hiss Driver mold. It is pretty much a given that this mold is available to Hasbro right now and they could easily produce either this figure or one very similar to it at any point. But, with the number of ARAH style Joe releases dwindling all the time, it is unlikely that they will go back and revisit this character as the Hiss Driver isn't, at least at this time, a heavily clamoured for character.

***Update 5/20/08***

For the 2007 G.I. Joe convention, Master Collector dusted off the Hiss Driver mold and offered collectors a well done repaint of Rip It. This figure is significant, though, since it is almost a mirror image of this unproduced Hiss Driver. The black and blue colors are reversed and this new Rip It makes for a perfect commander for a cadre of these Hiss Tank drivers. (This Rip It also featured the return of the original Hiss Driver waist piece.) Unfortunately, this Rip It sold out rather quickly and is pricey on the aftermarket. These days, you'll pay about as much for a Rip It as you will for one of these Hiss Drivers. But, while they might be expensive, they make for one of the best blends of color for a commander and his troops in the history of the line.

***End 5/20/08 Update***

The 6 unproduced Wal Mart figures (Low-Light, Duke, Snake Eyes, Alley Viper, Storm Shadow and Hiss Driver) were going to be part of a Sky Patrol like subset. They would have been sold in 2 packs and included working parachutes for each figure. However, the parachutes failed safety tests and could not go to market. Instead, Wal Mart received an exclusive 6 figure wave that featured new sculpt urban Cobras and desert Joes. That wave, though, sold very well and was gone in a matter of weeks. As such, it has always seemed odd to me that rumours persist that Wal Mart was the retail giant who gave up on the Joe line. The timing would have made it occur less than 18 months after the release of these successful exclusives. As such, I still think there is a lot more to the story than we will ever know. But, the result is that these Sky Patrol figures were never produced.

In late 2003, though, test shots of the figures appeared in Asia. They went for ridiculous prices. But, at the time, they were the first unproduced figures we had seen and no one had any idea of how many had been produced. As such, the prices made sense for the time based on the market conditions and what information about the figures that was available. In time, though, the supply got more continuous and prices fell. For a time, you could get pretty much all of the Wal Mart figures for under $15. But, those days are now gone and collectors who did not take advantage are now left with fewer options when searching out these figures. That's not to say the figures are not out and can not be acquired. But, they are a bit harder to find and you will pay a premium price for them.

If you want a Wal Mart Hiss Driver, they are out there. For a long time, this was among the most expensive of the unproduced figures, but he was available for almost a full year. As such, many collectors have him in their collection which is why this is one of the few unproduced figures that is still available for decent prices on the second hand market. With shipping from Asia, you should be able to get this figure for under $40. Considering the figure's quality, its rarity and the fact that this is a legit unproduced item that has Hasbro documentation to back it, that's probably a bargain. Long term, figures like this simply won't stay affordable. We've already seen some of the rarest and most desirable unproduced figures become very pricey. In time, others will follow. Were I to venture a guess as to the most probable figures who will become expensive in the future, this Hiss Driver has all the qualities. As such, if you can get one now, do it. Even if he costs a bit more than you tend to pay for figures, he is well worth it.