Ninja Force is a bit of a tough nut to crack for me. The figures have really grown on me over the years. The mold designs and colors are all top notch. But, old biases and disappointments from finding them on the shelves back at the time of their release also linger. My main retail letdowns, though, were the 1993 series of Ninja Force. The debut year of 1992 was long gone. And, it's been from these 1992 figures that much of my renewed interest in the figures has sprung. Most of the figures in the line were sculpts I had ignored. So, upon finding them again, I was floored at how well done the figures tended to be. But, in the end, the figures are still defined by their spring loaded action gimmicks. And, that really costs some figures that should have been amazing...such as this 1992 Stormshadow.
I was out of Joe collecting in 1992. But, I was still religiously reading the comics. Really, a lot of the plot from that era just blends together for me, now. I should go back and re-read the last 50 or so issues, just to re-familiarize myself with the happenings. But, at the time, I did think that some of the Ninja Force designs were pretty cool. I thought Slice would be a great toy. But, on my one trip to Toys R Us in December of that year, I was too focused on some other familiar names and bought Destro, Gung Ho and General Flagg instead of anyone else. This cycle repeated when I started buying up collections of figures in the late 1990's. I'd focus on lots with figures I liked (back then, you had the luxury of being choosey) and I'd skip many lots that were heavy on Ninja Force figures.
Eventually, by chance, I acquired all the Ninja Force figures. I bought way too many lots of 1992 figures when I was after Flak Vipers, Eels and Headhunters. So, in time, I picked up this Stormshadow. And, promptly, tossed him into a drawer and never looked at him again. I was so blase about the figure that I didn't even realize that the 1997 Stormshadow (a figure I liked) was an homage to this 1992 figure. And, it was only in the mid 2000's that I realized that collectors actually had a fondness for this color scheme on Stormshadow, even if they still hated the actual figure mold. But, the mold's uses in 2000 and 2002 brought some spotlight to the sculpt and helped normalize it among the more hardcore collectors who comprised the community in the early 2000's.
I remain steadfast in my belief that Stormshadow only works as a Cobra. He's necessary as a foil to Snake Eyes. Without the ying to Snake Eyes' yang, the Joe team's ninja/commando/superhero is just too overpowered. He lacks the worthy adversary that can keep him from just killing Cobra Commander at any point and ending the whole, pointless conflict. As I've grown older, I'm also more leery of redemption arcs. While there's some value in the entire notion, the reality is that you really can't rehab a truly terrible villain. Once someone will corrupt their morals to follow a dark path, their actions can't be erased by later good deeds. Stormshadow slashed Gung Ho. While the physical wounds would heal, every time Gung Ho saw the sword slash scar on his back, he's not be as forgiving of Stormshadow as a new ally. Sure, you can find some conflict in that story. But, the entire notion of the anti-hero and the redeemed bad guy have lead us to moral uncertainty where society is unable to grasp that, in real life, bad guys are bad guys and are not to be trusted...especially with power.
While this figure uses just three basic colors (black, white and gold), the visual that they create is stark and memorable. You have the white upper body that blends into the black midsection before spotting into white, again for the figure's lower third. The transitional splotches work really well. And, it's all offset by the golden highlights painted on the figure's torso. Stormshadow's arms turn black...allowing for the figure's hands to be unpainted black. This reduces paint wear. But, it's also an example of how cost cutting on paint applications can be done in such a way to be un-noticeable. Stormshadow has no paint applications on his lower arms. Hasbro designed the figure, though, to make this paint savings appear as part of the overall design. Stormshadow is no worse for not having paint applications because the blending was so well done. When you compare this to the cost cutting moves of the 2020's era Hasbro, it's appalling apparent the difference in design skill and approach. Today's Hasbro isn't afraid of making a stupid looking arm to save a few fractions of a penny. The vintage Hasbro team did it in a way that no consumer would notice. And, that's a big reason why the original Joe line resonates so much, even 40+ years after its debut.
I'll go out on a limb and say that if this Stormshadow mold used traditional construction, it would have surpassed even the 1988 version in the collector zeitgeist. The figure is amazingly detailed and the headsculpt is an even better execution of the design that was introduced on the '88 release. The body is detailed enough to be interesting. Much moreso than the blander '88. But, it's not overdone. The figure suffers from an oversized torso that's designed to hold the spring loaded action feature that was the hallmark of the entire Ninja Force series. Sans this feature, the figure would be better proportioned and more in line with other vintage figures. It's a shame the figure has the action feature as it dominates an otherwise excellent Stormshadow figure.
The 1992 Ninja Force figures actually look amazing when all displayed together. The color theory used to create the entire series works very well. Again, this was all intentional on Hasbro's part. How figures looked when displayed together on retail shelves was of utmost importance. And, seeing all the first series Ninja Force figures together creates a sum greater than the value of the parts. The 1993 series is similarly constructed. And, once you see it with a full set, you realize how visually impactful all the colors can really be.
Stormshadow included three accessories. The first is the standard black battle stand. From there, he includes two, white bladed weapons. He has a long, thin white sword. It is in scale with the figure and is more lithe than most of the other swords in the Ninja Force line. The final accessory is my personal favorite. It's a white scythe with a spiked handle end. While you can debate the practicality of a weapon like this in real life, it's a really cool weapon. It's also small enough to be easily wielded by any figure. It's is somewhat of a legacy weapon, too. The original Stormshadow included distinctive accessories that helped define the figure. The 1988 figure included the unique bow and claw. This 1992 figure has the scythe that carries on that tradition. And, even with just two weapons, Stormshadow has originality that hearkens back to his origins.
This Stormshadow mold was used too many times. While Stormshadow didn't get a 1993 repaint, the entire mold was reused for T'Gin Zu. Hasbro then gave the body parts a new head and used released it for two versions of Ken Masters in the Street Fighter II subset. Stormshadow returned in 1994 when the mold was used in the Shadow Ninjas set. In 2000, Hasbro decided to release a new Stormshadow using this mold in the first wave of the ARAHC series. The mold returned as a Red Ninja in the BJ's set in 2002. It was planned for inclusion in the ill-fated 2003 Wal Mart parachute figure set. Plenty of the unproduced figures made their way to the collecting community, too. In 2004, the mold was finally retired after it was released in the Urban Strike set. It's worth noting that there are two unproduced variants of Stormshadow from this set: both of which were also heavily imported from Asia by collectors of the early 2000's. So, there's plenty of this mold available.
If all that's not enough, though, this figure's paint design is homaged on several other figures. The first is the 1997 Stormshadow. The coloring then appears on some anniversary figures. And, in the 2020's, Black Major had co-opted the colors and released them on several different bodies. So, if you like the way this figure looks, but not the actual parts which were used, there are alternatives to get the visual appearance into your collection, too.
The upside to this Ninja Force Stormshadow is that he remains cheap. While dealers will fail to get $30 for a mint and complete figure, you can get really nice versions for around $12. Just the figure will run you slightly more than half of that. But, I recommend getting the figure's gear because it complements him so well and is only a slight premium from the loose figure. Be sure to watch out for discoloration on the white plastic. And, look out for loose o-rings as they are extremely difficult to replace and will require you to slit the figure's glue apart to fix it. For the money, this is a worthwhile acquisition, though. It's a neat look for Stormshadow, even if the actual toy is lacking. But, standing on the shelf, that's less of an issue than it was in the days when everyone used their new figures for photos, dios or other showcases.
