Mortal Kombat Movie Edition Shang Tsung

While there are lots of unproduced vintage G.I. Joe items, two sets have been widely known and sought after since the line's cancellation in 1994.  The first is the Manimals.  While they aren't most people's cup of tea, their unproduced status made them legendary and collectors who hate Star Brigade were still driven to seek out a Manimal.  The second set is the Ninja Commandos.  This planned 5 figure subset was going to be released in 1995 and got very close to seeing production.  Production level sample figures exist in the community.  And, toy magazines of the 1990's had photos of carded mock ups.  (Rumors that thousands of cases were produced, but not released persisted into the late 2000's.  But, they have never proven to be true.)  Unlike Manimals, though, much of the Ninja Commando tooling was actually used in 1995.  It was just not used in the now defunct G.I. Joe line.  Instead, the parts found use on various figures in the Mortal Kombat Movie line.  But, one figure in that line was more than a use of parts originally planned for the Joe line.  The youthful version of Shang Tsung was a straight repaint of the unreleased Ninja Commando Budo from 1995 and has remained a sought after supplement to many Joe collections.

In the mid 1990's, I was on a crusade to find any bastions of Joe figures that were left at retail.  In general, this required a lot of time and resulted in little reward.  This was due to the fact that most of the figures that you could find from the standard, retail line were the same figures over and over again.  So, once I acquired a Dr. Mindbender, I had no desire to buy him again, even though I'd find him at several stores.  It was also due to the fact that I simply disregarded any Street Fighter, Ninja Force or Armor Tech figure as a viable option for my collection.  These figures were not the standard construction of my childhood Joes and I had no interest in acquiring them...even if they were the only Joes left at retail.  In my toy store sojourns of that time, though, I would only look at one other toy line: Star Wars.  So, there was zero chance that I would run across these Mortal Kombat Movie figures.  Even if I had, though, they would have been dismissed for the same reasons as Street Fighter and Ninja Force.  It's possible that I would have acquired a Guile repaint or two, especially had I come across the Arctic Guile that used the Blizzard Body that would have been familiar to me.  But, as my stops in the toy aisle were limited to dwindling G.I. Joe shelf space and expanding the Star Wars aisle, I never saw these Mortal Kombat figures at retail.

But, I don't feel I really missed out on much by not finding this figure at retail.  The non standard construction and martial arts theme are a lethal combo that kills my interest in a figure.  Even as a kid, I was never big on Ninjas.  Stormshadow was fun for a while.  But, his swords were more of a novelty than anything really dangerous.  Stormshadow saw more use as an infiltrator or assassin than a ninja.  Quick Kick and Jinx never mattered to me. And, Snake Eyes was simply a commando who happened to also have a sword.  The bulk of both the figure and his accessories would have been a detriment to display, especially since the larger scale would have looked out of place were this figure opposing one of my childhood figures from the 1980's. While it's generally true for me that more figures are better than fewer figures, there are some who just don't really offer anything and would have been nothing more than newer cannon fodder.  

Shang Tsung includes three accessories: a large bladed weapon that was included with many other figures, a hooked, double bladed sword and a unique helmet.  It's likely that the Ninja Commando Budo would have included a dark green weapon tree full of various martial arts weapons that were common with Ninja Force figures along with some newly sculpted parts.  The weapons included with Shang Tsung were not part of that tree and were chosen specifically for this release.  (They were also included with many other Mortal Kombat Movie Edition figures and were likely produced in large quantities to reduce the cost of the figures.)  It is likely that the helmet, though, was designed to be included with Ninja Commando Budo.  It is unique to this Shang Tsung figure and is a fun addition that gives the figure more life.  It is well designed and fits the head very nicely.  It is also the most often missing piece of Shang Tsung's gear and is a piece whose absence makes the figure weaker.

Another cool element of the Mortal Kombat Movie figures is that they featured packaging that was similar to what G.I. Joe would have been in 1995.  The mock up carded Ninja Commando figure features a full display bubble just like that of the Mortal Kombat Movie figures.  While this is a drastic departure from the traditional side carded Joe figure juxtaposed from his card artwork, it is also visually striking.  I find myself hesitating to open carded Mortal Kombat figures because the card presentation is so nice.  (But, the beat up, bend cards help make that easier.)  You can clearly see the figure and most of his gear.  But, you keep some unique elements to the figure.  This Shang Tsung oddly features the artwork from the old man version of the character.  (Which is a different figure in the Mortal Kombat Movie line.)  It's much smaller than traditional Joe artwork.  But, it kept the homage to Joe's roots and would have been a cool way to showcase the 1995 G.I. Joe figures had they actually been released.

Shang Tsung figures have typically been more expensive than the other Mortal Kombat Movie figures of equal availability.  It's relatively easy to find a loose figure with no accessories.  Complete figures are tougher to come by and will run between $20 and $25 depending upon how well the figure is labeled.  But, you can get carded versions of Shang Tsung for around $30.  Lots of Mortal Kombat Movie figures found their way to dealer stock in the 1990's, though.  And, while most of it has since been resold into the collecting world, you can still find lots (from time to time) that have several MOC Mortal Kombat Movie figures that sell for substantially less per figure.  If you can be patient and are willing to spend time looking, you can still get cheap Shang Tsungs.  But, the Mortal Kombat Movie figures have gotten substantially less common in the past couple of years.  So, those deals are getting harder and harder to find.  Personally, I don't find the figure worth those prices as I view Shang Tsung as a curiosity more than a vital part of my collection.  It's nice to have him available and he gives photos of later ninjas some depth since he's so recognizable.  But, that's about the end of his value.

Sonya Blade Mortal Kombat Movie Edition

In the late 1990's, there were a few staple customs in the Joe world.  Red Star's body was used to create most of the Oktober Guard.  Stormshadow was painted red for a Red Ninja.  And, any half decent custom of Daina used the head from the Sonya Blade figure.  Originally released in the Mortal Kombat line, Sonya Blade has since become a figure that can stand on her own and has found a home in many Joe collections.

The Mortal Kombat line was Hasbro's foray into licensing in the post G.I. Joe world.  The popularity of multi player fighting games provided them with an avenue to use existing molds and technology on a line with a built in fan base.  As a strategy, it wasn't terrible.  The games were immensely popular, especially among kids who were prime ages to still be interested in toys.  And, the figures produced are perfect complements for the Joe line due to their usage of G.I. Joe parts.  Originally, the Mortal Kombat figures were going to be part of the Joe line, much like the first series of Street Fighter figures.  But, that plan was scrapped and we got stand alone Street Fighter Movie and Mortal Kombat lines: even if they borrowed from what G.I. Joe would have been.

The original line consisted of a few video game characters.  Included in this was a Sonya Blade figure wearing a green outfit.  This figure was a full body repaint of the 1987 Jinx figure with a new head.  Shortly after this series of figures debuted, Hasbro released the Mortal Kombat Movie Edition figures.  Included with this series was a newly repainted Sonya Blade wearing an all black ensemble.  Along with the color change, she also featured one part swap on the lower legs.  Gone were the Jinx legs with her foot exposing slippers.  Instead, the Movie Edition figure uses the lower leg molds from 1994 Flint figure.  She also sports dirtier blonde hair.

Sonya Blade Mortal Kombat Movie Edition MOC

The Movie Edition Sonya Blade includes some familiar accessories.  Her knife is a repaint of that originally included with the 1989 Stalker figure.  Her gun is a black version of the odd weapon that debuted with the 1991 Cobra Commander.  She also includes a dark blue missile launcher and grey missile.  The launcher first showed up in 1993 in different colors with the 1993 Dr. Mindbender figure and the 1993 Alley Viper.  It was recolored again in 1994 with the Viper and the Alley Viper.  But, Sonya's launcher is a unique color to her.  The missile was first colored in black with the 1992 Headhunter figure and also came with the 1993 version of that character.  This is the first release of the mold in a grey color.

The Mortal Kombat line borrows heavily from what G.I. Joe would have been in 1995.  The packaging  window uses the full card width to better show off the figure and accessories inside the bubble.  We saw this coming on the packaging mock ups for the 1995 Ninja Commandos.  Speaking of those Ninja Commandos, the Mortal Kombat line also gave us 3 of the 5 planned body molds from the cancelled Ninja Commando line.  Famously, the Movie Edition Shang Tsung uses the entire mold that would have been the Ninja Commando Budo.  But, the Movie Edition Rayden uses the body from the Ninja Commando Flint and the Liu Kang figure uses parts of the Ninja Commando Road Pig.  These are great insights into how far some of the '95 Joe line got into the production process.

As for Sonya Blade, she got two figures in the line and disappeared.  The Jinx body that comprises most of her was released again by Hasbro as Vypra in 1998 and then appeared again in 2004.  The Flint figure from which her lower legs were taken was used in 2001 before disappearing again.  Sonya Blade's head, though, kind of made another appearance.   In 2010, a convention exclusive figure of Natalie Poole was released.  While the figure was based off an Action Force character from Europe and the UK, the figure's head was based on Sonya Blade.  Sadly, this figure is really, really terrible and only its scarcity keeps it from being more ridiculed.  It was a sad fate for this Sonya Blade head and Hasbro might have found better uses for it as an updated Quarrel or new female character.  

The Mortal Kombat figures are kind of tough to find in the wild as part of loose, childhood collections.  They were late run figures and most kids who had them acquired them as gifts of non-Joe related purchases.  However, by 1995, there were tons of toy dealers who scoured liquidation and close out stores for bargains.  When KB Toys lowered the prices on their vast inventory of unsold merchandise, the dealers were there to gobble it up, box them, place them in their storage area of choice and sit on it: hoping for a pile of gold.  Well, enough of them did that that the Mortal Kombat figures are actually very easy to find still MOC, even 20+ years later.  Green Sonya Blades figures can be had for around $10 MOC.  The Movie Edition figures are a bit harder to find and will usually sell in the $20 range.  Though, you can get them cheaper if you are patient.  As novelties of the era, these aren't bad prices.  And, as Sonya uses 1980's Joe molds with the new head, she's a much better fit into a classic Joe collection than some of the ninjas from the line who used later molds from the 1990's and incorporated actions features.

Sonya Blade Mortal Kombat First Series Figure MOC

As there is a dearth of female figures in vintage Joe style, have Sonya Blade available is helpful.  Being, mostly, a Jinx repaint does limit her.  But, the vastly different color scheme and the new head help to mitigate that.  This black Movie Edition figure works as a unmasked Vypra since the 1998 Vypra figure uses black as the base for a Jinx repaint, too.  The green version can work as a Joe, too.  So, there's quite a bit of versatility with the figure variants that are available.  The figure's head is a bit large, though, for the body.  So, be aware of that.

For me, figures like this are fun to have and nice ways to grow a collection.  At this point, I'm not a completist and don't consider these figs to be essential to my personal Joe collection.  But, as my Joe needs are crossed off, I'm sure I'll be looking to both the Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat lines for a way to keep growing.  I like Sonya Blade as she's a figure that's useful to have around since she can be used as either a Joe or Cobra and she's cheap to acquire.  That's a solid combo for any figure.  Since she's not, technically, a Joe figure, the interest in her will always be muted.  That allows for the modern collector to still get a bargain on a figure that doesn't show up as often as you might expect in the collecting world.