The Rankings - 1998

The 1998 line might be perfect.  Not that it was all things to all collectors.  But, it had everything right going for it.  The toys were cheap and plentiful upon their release.  Hasbro offered collector themed sets that were still fun.  The figures featured most of their original accessories or, at least, gear that was robust and appropriate for the figure. The line wasn't overly large.  But, was still broad enough to be interesting.  And, there wasn't really a dud among the toys released that year.  I'll argue that the worst 1998 figure would rank in the top 3 to 5 of 1997 and 2000.  It was just an amazing year of figures.  It might be my personal favorite year of releases, ever.  

Really, I started the ranking series because I wanted to showcase the entire year of 1998.  I profiled most of the figures in the set a decade or more ago.  So, I wanted to get back to the year and remember why they resonated so deeply with me.  Part of it was that I was a young collector with money and time living in a place where I had access to tons of these figures.  Part is that the figures were all molds or characters in which I had interest prior to their release.  And, part is just that the figures all turned out exceptionally well.  It's hard to compare 1998 with 2001 as those two years seem as far apart as 1985 and 1993.  But, Hasbro really dialed in the 1998 releases after the lackluster reception to the 1997 series.  So, check out the list and see if you agree with my choices.

#15 - Heavy Duty

When Heavy Duty is the worst figure from your year, you know it was a strong crop of figures.  I didn't get this guy until 2000.  I skipped the MOBAT because it sucks.  But, the figures included with it were strong.  Heavy Duty is one of those guys who, at first blush, doesn't appear all that colorful.  But, in hand, he's got some strong paint details and uses some colors that aren't often seen in the Joe line.  But, he's kind of bland.  He doesn't include any accessories.  And, the 1991 figure is better.  So, he falls to the bottom of the year.

#14 - Col. Brekhov

The Red Star mold is great.  The 1991 release features excellent colors.  This 1998 repaint that was renamed Col. Brekhov isn't quite as strong.  Again, he features excellent overall colors and paint masks.  But, the pea green isn't as appealing as the brown on the 1991 repaint.  Even the comic, though, made a joke about Red Star just being Col. Brekhov.  So, this figure mold was very designed to be the character for which he was used in the 1998 series.  There's no shame in being #14 on this list, though, as the rest of the figures are just so strong.

#13 - Ace

This figure's price makes no sense.  He's not that great.  Even though he is the best paint job of the Ace mold.  Seeing people pay hundreds of dollars for him is just asinine.  This Ace does, though, feature some great paint masks and it remains the most detailed use of the 1983 Ace mold.  When he was cheap, the figure was a no brainer.  Now that he's stupidly pricey, he's a much more unnecessary purchase.  Sure, he looks good.  But, he's not 10 times better than the 1983 Ace.  I'm glad I got one when they were affordable.

#12 - Cobra Officer

Since 1984, collectors had wanted more grey Cobras to match up with the Stinger driver.  14 years later, Hasbro delivered.  The result is very strong.  So, why's he at 12?  Because all of 1998 is awesome.  And, the grey color scheme on the Viper body just didn't pop.  The silver is too close in hue to the grey background and it washes out the painted details that should make the figure among the best of the year.  I wonder if a gold faceplate might have helped.  

#11 - Wet Suit

It's tough to rank the divers.  All of them are pretty similar.  And, none of them stand out from the others.  At this point, it's subjective among your personal favorite mold.  For me, Wet Suit ranks lowest as he's not the best paint job on this mold.  He's awesome.  But, the other two, to me, are better.

#10 - Torpedo

Torpedo is my least favorite of the molds that were released in the diver set.  But, the paint job on him really made the sculpt pop.  The aqua and grey offset against the black base body make for a striking figure.  He really works well and is the best paint job ever released on this mold.  This was my first exposure to this figure mold.  So, the 1992 and 1993 Wet Suits always paled in comparison to this black based 1998 use.  I am happy that Hasbro renamed this mold into Torpedo instead of reusing the 1983 Torpedo mold.  While that might have been a fun figure with the aqua highlights, the 1983 mold has severe limitations and wouldn't have fit with the rest of the 1998 series.

#09 - Shipwreck

Shipwreck is an amazing figure.  Again, the colors work so well for a diver.  And, I love the 1994 Shipwreck mold.  The painted details shows how much thought when into the 1994 Shipwreck release.  Back in 1998, the 1994 Shipwreck was among my top five figures.  So, seeing it available in some new colors was a dream come true.  While I loved the entire diver set, I bought several because of this Shipwreck's inclusion.  Even today, I haven't profiled this figure because I haven't found a way to properly express just how cool I think he is.  So, why is he only #9?  The lack of an included weapon is the main reason.  In later years, Hit and Run rifles became very easy to acquire so you could outfit these older figures with proper weaponry.  But, in 1998, it was pretty hard to get extra guns without buying junk figures.  So, this Shipwreck takes a tumble on the list due to his poor accessory complement.  

#08 - Vypra

I'm not a Vypra fan.  Never have been.  I even skipped this set at retail because I had no use for the figure and vintage Stingers were cheaper than the TRU version at the time.  But, I have come around on her.  She's still too tied to the "evil Jinx" trope just because they share a mold.  But, the paint masks really work for her.  The white and grey oversprays do create a strong visual.  As the original Jinx isn't a figure that's important to me, I've come to see this mold as more Vypra than anyone else.  I still don't use her all that often.  And, while her paint masks are good, they are also a bit sparse.  Vypra fits the visual style of the 1998 series.  But, to me, she's a middle of the road release.

#07  - Volga

I did not appreciate Volga for many years.  Her head is just such a poor sculpt that it's easy to overlook the rest of the figure.  But, Volga's paint details are amazing.  After 1998, we would never see such quality outside of an expensive convention figure.  Hasbro's inability to nail vintage Joe head sculpting also didn't change.  So, Volga's head has held up better than it should have because Hasbro was churning out stomach turning heads through the remainder of the 2000's.  This figure was intended to be Daina.  No idea why it was a made a new character, instead.  The 1997 Lady Jaye mold suffered from quality issues.  Volga is better.  She's definitely aged better than I would have thought back in 1998.  It's not a perfect figure.  But, the paint applications really are.

#06 - Night Creeper

It pains me to rank this guy so low.  Not only is this the best paint job on the Night Creeper mold, it's a stark visual that stands in contrast to all the deeply colored ninjas that populate the line's history.  The white and grey just work on this mold.  You can see all the folds and details on the figure's body and head.  It's colorful enough to be seen.  But, still white enough to be stealthy in the snow.  I lament selling my spares of these figures as a small army of them would be fun to take out in the cold.

#05 - Lt. Gorky

If you've never seen this figure in person, it's difficult to explain how great he really is.  He suffers from the same overly grey body as the Cobra Officer.  But, he overcomes that with a few splashes of color on his face, neck and waist.  It's enough to elevate him quite a bit.  He also features different shades of grey on the chest.  It's subtle.  But, it's enough to add a completely different visual layer to this figure when compared to the Officer.  Photos don't really do the figure justice as he's impressive when he's in hand.

#04 - Snow Serpent

Hasbro nailed it with the 1998 Artic color scheme.  They managed to make the figures realistic to their environment while also giving them the colors and details that make for a great toy.  Their usage of the 1991 Snow Serpent mold seemed like a poor decision in 1998.  The 1985 Snow Serpent was held in much higher regard.  But, this color scheme brought a whole new generation of collectors to appreciate the 1991 sculpt.  The soft greys, subtle blues and perfect usage of black detailing brought this mold to life.  And, he included his full range of accessories.  This Snow Serpent might be a perfect figure.  And, yet, he's not in the top 3 for the year!

#03 - Cobra Trooper

A better Cobra Trooper/Viper or backbone of your Cobra army figure does not exist.  This 1998 Trooper is everything every collector wanted from an army building figure in 1998.  And, Hasbro delivered.  The figure uses a base color of real Cobra blue.  All of his details are painted in black or silver.  The golden visor isn't overbearing and adds additional depth the figure's appearance.  While his gear isn't true to the original, it was a perfect complement of accessories stolen from the obscure 1991 Dusty that filled out the Trooper's accoutrement.  The only two blemishes on the figure are the fact that the head can droop a bit and that he doesn't feature a Cobra sigil.  Both are forgivable and don't take away from the quality of this figure.  Hasbro never got close to this guy in another retail release.  (The convention Crimson Viper uses the same paint masks from the 1998 figure and is a strong runner up in the best Viper repaint, though.)  It is a perfect army builder and was released in the perfect army building set.  You got two of this guy and a grey officer for $10!  In the context of today, that's just insanity...even in 1998 it was unbelievable.

#02 - Firefly

You can say I rate the 1998 arctic Cobras too highly.  But, this 1998 Firefly is perfect repaint.  At the time, he was only the second Firefly ever available.  He was drastically different from the original.  But, he was enhanced in ways that blew the 1984 out of the water.  Instead of a dark grey on light grey wash, the figure gets the requisite white base.  Then, though, all of the details that were obscured in Firefly's original release are painted to perfection.  Colors are blended so that his pouches, grenades, knife and explosives all offset each other and allow you to fully appreciate the sculpting job that had been created 14 years earlier.  These Firefly paint masks then became the base for all the excellent Firefly updates we got in the 2000's, too.  In short, this is a spectacular figure that is worthy of the Firefly character.

#01 - Thunderwing

Yes, it's a surprise entry for the best figure of the 1998 release year.  Thunderwing is another of those figures that, if you don't have one, is tough to see just how great the design, coloring and paint applications really are.  Thunderwing uses a green base color that is unique to him.  It wasn't used again on any other figures.  Building silver, grey and black paint masks on top of it layered in a depth that was standard in the vintage line but largely lost after about 1992.  The rich use of color makes this figure stand out among his peers.  And, even among the line as a whole.  Thunderwing shows what was possible during the repaint era.  Sadly, though, he remained the exception rather than the rule.  Do yourself a favor, though, and pick up a Thunderwing.  You won't be disappointed.

There's a lot of reasons why the 1998 series is special to me.  But, the sheer quality of the entire lineup is the most important of those.  Comparing 1998 to the 2000 and 2001 releases shows just how far those later years fell in quality.  I actually now kind of see 1998 as a pseudo convention set.  You got 15 figures who featured great accessories, remarkable paints masks and a thoughtful mold selection.  The figures look like they were designed to all fit together.  Really, it would have been the best convention set ever released.

Instead, it was released at retail and was stupidly cheap.  Looking back at 1998 prices, we had no idea how good we had it.  Well, that might be a bit of a stretch.  I bought these figures en masse.  Many other collectors of the time did, too.  Armies of the Cobras were a standard for a while.  The influx of collectors in 2001, though, made the 1998's more exotic and expensive.  So, they fell from favor even as they rose in price.  That was short lived, though, and many later collectors were able to stock up on these guys during the late 2010's.  Now, the series is a bit harder to find and will cost you a premium.  (Especially, and inexplicably! for Ace.)  But, they are worth it.  1998 might be the perfect year of Joe releases.  I'm curious to read your thoughts in the comments and whether you agree or disagree.

2026 Lady Jaye - ReAction+

Lady Jaye occupies and interesting spot in the collecting world.  She's universally loved as a character.  But, pretty much everyone also agrees that her figures are...lacking.  From her action figure debut in 1985 through today, all of Lady Jaye's o-ring figures have had various issues.  Mainly, she's almost always wearing a hat...a far cry from her cartoon debut look from the fall of 1984.  The lone attempt at a hatless figure resulted in a pin head that didn't fulfill collector demand for a proper Lady Jaye.  In early 2026, a factory custom maker teased some Lady Jaye figures.  Mostly, they were a way to bring color to her mold and get out a Canary Ann figure that people could find and afford.  One of the renderings, though, featured a hatless head...exactly the type of figure collectors had long wanted.  Before these factory customs came to be, though, Super7 dropped a surprise release.  Hidden in a 4 figure set that was themed to the USA's 250th anniversary was a single, brand new mold of Lady Jaye.  Being Super7, she featured her cartoon look of a hatless head and included her iconic spears.  After 40 years, collectors had a new look for Lady Jaye.  And, it was a fairly good one.

One thing I tend to really enjoy among Joe figures is an oddly colored repaint of a classic character.  I like having alternate looks for characters as it gives them more diversity.  In the 2000's, we got tons of repaints.  Most were environmentally themed or were part of the Comic Pack series.  We got a lot of decent figures.  But, few were really innovative or took any chances.  That was the main appeal of this Lady Jaye figure.  The red shirt and blue pants are a drastic departure from any Lady Jaye appearance.  She's something new and different.  Had this figure been first released in a classic, green color scheme, I wouldn't have bought it.  I have green Lady Jaye figures.  So, this sculpt wasn't going to be enough to get me to buy one if it just offered the same, general appearance of figures I already have.  But, seeing an interesting, new color palette on the character was enough to get me to acquire one.

The 250th Anniversary theme isn't overdone.  In a decade, this will just be a Lady Jaye in a red shirt with blue pants.  That's why she works.  There's no reason for Lady Jaye to wear a color scheme like that outside of this theme wave.  But, since she doesn't have any stupid logos or is wearing a gigantic "G.I. Joe" down the front of her pant legs, the color scheme isn't limited by its intended theme.  We just got a good figure.  It's an alternate look for Lady Jaye and gives you something to stand next to Flint that isn't the sea of different green hues you get in all the other Flint/Lady Jaye pictures. 

I am too young to remember the bicentennial back in 1976.  What I do remember, though, are the haunted remains of the civic and personal displays that used to adorn small towns, roadside attractions and old barns along the highway.  Into the mid 1980's, you'd see celebrations from the bicentennial painted onto concrete walls, billboards, and structures.  They would be chipped and fading, the actual event having been years and years prior.  Restaurants would have dusty pennants on their walls talking about the "Spirit of '76".  But, as a youngster, these old attractions were enthralling.  They were like looking into a time capsule.  I wondered how something so celebrated would be allowed to rot in the elements...often in forgotten locations bereft of people.  It still seems odd to me that we're so quick to abandon something that was important to us for a moment in time.

My one big memory involving the bicentennial didn't occur until years later, probably in 1981 or 1982.  My grandfather had kind of gotten me interested in collecting coins.  He was a coin collector and had a magnificent collection.  When I'd spend a week at his and my grandmother's house, he'd give me a huge jar of pennies to look through.  He'd hide one really neat thing in it.  (Usually, an Indian Head penny.)  I'd spend an hour or two looking through it: sorting out the wheat pennies and, eventually, finding his hidden treasure.  As such, I liked coins and usually checked my dad's change every night when he came home.

One day, we went to a local nursery.  I seem to think it was near the Indianapolis Art Museum.  While there, I found a "Sensitive Plant" that I thought was really cool.  I bought it with a couple of dollars I had in my pocket.  When I got my change, I noticed a weird quarter.  It had a drummer boy on the back instead of the standard eagle.  And, the date was 1776-1976.  It was a standard bicentennial quarter.  But, I had never seen one, before.  And, just seeing the date 1776 on a coin was mesmerizing.  My dad told me it was just a regular quarter.  But, from that moment, whenever I got one, it was put into my coin collection.  My grandfather had given me giant, metal fire box to store the coins.  It was big and heavy.  In it were those old penny collecting books that were a dark blue and had slots for every year and mint mark for Lincoln pennies.  I'd drop the quarters into the bottom of the box.  At some point, I had so many that I gave up and just started spending the newly acquired ones.  But, my mother kept that metal box and it's still in her garage.  And, there are still a bunch of bicentennial quarters at the bottom of it.  

I have two major gripes with the Super7 figures.  The first is the smoothness of the figures.  The lack of sculpted clothing folds makes the figures seem more like cheap knockoffs than real Joes.  Since the first wave, though, Super7 has been working on this.  It was first noticeable in their Back to the Future line of ReAction+ figures where all the figures started to have some folds and wrinkles that made them look more realistic.  This Lady Jaye is a step forwards, too.  Sculpting changes can take a while to permeate through a line.  But, the figure smoothness is something that's getting better.  Lady Jaye isn't as detailed as her Hasbro figure from 40 years prior.  But, she's a lot closer.

The second area where I struggled with Super7 was the human heads.  Non human heads seemed OK.  But, their human heads all looked weird.  These sculpts, though, have been improving, too.  Compare this Lady Jaye head with the head from Cover Girl from the first wave of figures.  It's night and day.  Cover Girl is the 8-bit version of a human head.  This Lady Jaye is the 16-bit version.  She has some cheekbones.  Her nose and lips are better defined.  And, her eyes aren't hollow, uncanny valley sockets.  While I'm still not sold on the overall headsculpts (I still think they are too far removed from vintage Joes and make this ReAction+ line less compatible.), I do think that the improvement should be recognized, acknowledged and applauded.  One of the hallmarks of the vintage Joe was that the sculpting on figures was always improving.  1994 figures are light years ahead of 1982 figures in terms of details, face sculpts and design elements.  Super7 is following that tradition.  

Lady Jaye includes two accessories: a backpack and a spear.  The backpack looks nice.  It has painted details and fits onto the figure quite well.  The spear is what it is.  There's not much to the look of it.  But, it does fit into Lady Jaye's hands well enough.  It's rigid enough to not fall apart.  But, not so rigid that it will easily snap.  In general, Super7's accessories suck.  While the figures are improving, the accessories need to take a much larger leap forwards.  The gear doesn't seem properly scaled to the figures.  Guns and rifles are especially egregious.  As these are tantamount to any Joe line, I'd like to see some improvements made on the overall gear complements.  

The 250th wave includes 4 figures: this Lady Jaye, Snake Eyes, Duke and Falcon.  As this was both the debut of the Lady Jaye mold and a solid color scheme for her, she was the most popular figure in the set.  The Duke is generally terrible.  He's just weird.  Snake Eyes is barely recognizable as a subset member as the only distinguishing characteristic he has is a red visor.  Falcon is OK.  He's heavily blue...which is a tough color for a Joe to pull off when it's the color most associated with their enemy.  But, the original Falcon figure is pretty much sold out.  So, he seems to be the second most popular part of the set.  More figures in weird paint schemes are always welcome.  But, overall, this wave wasn't all that great, this Lady Jaye aside.  None of the other figures are as visually distinctive and will not retain the long term interest that you'll see in this Lady Jaye.

Super7 figures remain a complex collectible.  The production runs are, likely, pretty low compared to Joe's historical totals.  None of the figures are hard to get upon release.  And, most of the figures don't sell out quickly.  But, some do.  So far, they seem to have a common characteristic as cartoon figures who exist in no other form remain the most popular.  But, others (like Serpentor) have also been quick sell outs.  This Lady Jaye figure was one of the more anticipated figures we've seen from Super7.  At that same time, everyone fully expected this mold to be repainted into a cartoon or comic color scheme within the next year or so.  And, right on the heels of this 250th Lady Jaye, Super7 showed that exact figure repaint as a member of their Summer 2026 wave of figures.  So, once this mold exists in a more popular color scheme, will this red, white and blue figure still retain the cachet?  I'm not sure.  But, I prefer Lady Jaye in colors you can't get anywhere else and this figure fulfills that.

Since the dawn of the ReAction G.I. Joe line, Super7 has been retail partners with Target.  Their figures were sold in Target stores.  Starting in the latter half of 2025, though, some Target stores stopped stocking ReAction+ Joes.  No explanation was given.  And, other stores continued to receive later waves.  The 250th Anniversary wave then showed up as a Wal Mart exclusive.  As of this writing, we don't know if this is a one time deal for the promotion or indicative of a larger partnership.  Wal Mart's pre-ordering system for toys is famously broken.  And, this wave of G.I. Joe figures was no different.  Pre-orders appeared in early May and instantly sold out.  Some people had their figures shipped.  Pre-orders reopened and many people jumped to get their order in.  And, after a few days, they were all cancelled.  About a week after that, the figures were in stock and ready to be shipped.  In the ensuing weeks, the figures would rotate in and out of stock.  But, if you caught them when they were available for sale, your figures were shipped to you.  Shortly after the online orders appeared, some people did report finding the figures in stores.  And, ultimately, Super7 sold stock on their website, too.  So, the figure has good availability.  But, when she's gone, she'll be gone.

I have been harsh on  the Super7 Joe line.  The first year of releases wasn't great.   But, 2026, so far, has been pretty strong.  The figure choices are getting more interesting.  The sculpting is improving and looking more detailed and in line with Joe's long term aesthetic.  The heads are getting closer to vintage style.  I bought one Super7 figure in the first year or so of their line.  So far, in 2026, I've already acquired two more.  And, there are at least two more must haves in their next wave.  I'm never going to be all in on their offerings.  But, as they offer figures that are interesting, fill holes in my collection and are more vintage Joe compatible, I'll be picking up more of them.  I'm still holding out hope for a definitive Dr. Venom.  But, for now,  I'd rather he hold off until they dial in the sculpting even more so that the figure is perfect.  Until then, it appears there are going to be some figures to collect.  And, I'll do so.

The Zeroes - Mark X

This is the tenth year I've done this feature.  This past year was pretty good for the site.  Traffic is actually way up.  Not only did the lowest performing posts get way more views than the lowest from last year.  But, there were actually so few that were low that I had to truncate the list a bit.  Most of the items on it are more recent and haven't had the time age into their views like other pages.  The Top 10 in January of 2027 will be more fun to parse through as a lot of posts have had highs.  And, every week, some ancient post rockets to the top of the weekly rankings due to some unknown discussion that is inaccessible due to it being inside some walled garden.

So, here's the lowest viewed new posts of the past year.  I'm curious to hear your opinions as to why in the comments.

Alado - 335 Views

Not a huge surprise.  Crazylegs isn't a hugely popular figure.  And, his Plastirama release from Argentina isn't all that interesting since it's pretty close to the Hasbro version.

1983 Clutch - 405 Views

This was kind of a surprise.  Clutch is, usually, pretty popular.  And, the photo below is my most liked photo on Instagram that I've posted in 2026.  His profile didn't do well, though.  It might have just been bad timing as it seems people still like Clutch.

2001 Wetdown - 385 Views

No real surprise, here.  Wetdown is a character name no one remembers.  He's, at his core, Torpedo.  But, he lacks all of Torpedo's cachet due to the mundane code name.  The fact that's pretty similar to Torpedo is another blow against him.

2024 Sgt. Slaughter - 399 Views

This one is baffling.  The 2024 Sgt. Slaughter is one of the most popular figures released in the 2020's.  He was somewhat new when I wrote about him.  But, no one bothered to check him out.  Maybe he's a bit overexposed.  But, this figure is what every Pulse era o-ring should have been: a substantial upgrade that was still true to the original.  It's sucks that Hasbro only figured it out at the very end.

Funskool Mainframe - 250 Views

Yeah, this one makes sense, too.  Mainframe isn't all that popular.  And, an obscure foreign variant whose only main difference is a grey radio receiver isn't much to get people excited.  And, he was the worst performer of the year.

So, check these out and get those numbers up!  

Rarities - Unproduced Alternate Head 1983 Zap

One of the great laments among collectors is that the heads from the original 13 Joes were too repetitive and did not match the look of the characters from the comic.  In the Marvel series, each character had some distinctive look that allowed the reader to differentiate the characters when they appeared on the printed page.  But, the actual action figures reused parts and Hawk, Short Fuse, Steeler and Flash used the same head, Breaker, Rock and Roll and Clutch used the same head and Zap, Grunt and Grand Slam also used the same head.  Hasbro did their best to differentiate the characters by using different paint colors on the hair.  But, in the end, the figures had a sameness that simply was inferior to their comic book appearance.

It seems, though, that Hasbro had a plan to rectify this in 1983.  Originally, Hasbro planned to release a few of the swivel arm versions of the original 13 Joes with newly updated heads.  These would be unique to the figures and give the full line of 9 carded Joes all with distinct heads.  The heads got so far into the process of design that full production loose figures and even carded samples exist.  For some reason, though, Hasbro abandoned the idea.  And, the swivel arm figures kept the heads from their straight arm debut.  

Zap was one of the figures who was intended to get a new head.  Instead of the experienced Grunt head, he got a younger look that was given a Zorro mustache to give Zap real panache.  You can see the head in the photos below.

As a modern collector who was introduced to the concept of alternate heads as an adult, I don't find them all that interesting.  I think the alternate head loses something for the character.  But, a big part of that is that I'm conditioned to think of the original 13 as parts-sharing cohesion.  And, my only exposure to the alternate head is online photos.  They look weird to me because I had spent over 30 years "knowing" what a Zap figure looked like.  Once you get past that bias, you can see that the heads have merit.  While this Zap head isn't perfect.  It's an  upgrade over the repainted, grumpy old man head that he shared with Grunt and Grand Slam.  

The reality is, as a kid, the new head would have been enough for me to want the figure again.  I'd have noticed the difference and annoyingly explained to my mom that the figures were different and I needed another Zap.  So, the ploy would have worked.  (And, we had very few swivel arm versions of original 13 characters.)  I'm not sure if it would have scaled to masses of other kids.  But, the sheer volume of Joe toys sold really make you wonder why these heads weren't used.  

Hasbro spent all the money to develop them and get them to full production status.  These aren't hand painted samples.  So, all the expense had been absorbed by the line.  And, some 1983 figures were still in production as late as 1985.  Hasbro could easily have sold them in high enough volume to recoup the costs.  Imagine the "Original Adventure Team" mail away.  I ignored it as it was figures I already had.  But, think about it with a marketing caption of "All new heads!".  I'd have saved up my money and sent away for it.  Just think if the Palitoy, Takara or, even Funskool versions of these figures had featured the alternate heads.  Hasbro had plenty of opportunity to recoup the costs.  Maybe the logistics were just too much to match up the new heads with the pre-existing bodies.  But, it seems that these heads not seeing full production runs was a matter of choice rather than opportunity.

_____Update_____

Some good info on one of the comments that indicates these were planned for a 1984 release.  The card forts (specifically on the swivel arm battle grip logo) indicate the cards were 1984's.  Which, really raises the possibility that, had these been released, it would have been a shorter 1984 run and swivel arm figures would exist with both heads.  That does, though, cement the fact that, had these been released, they'd command a premium over the original head.

Since this figure's original discovery, many more have surfaced.  There are loose and carded versions out there.  Like most rarities, once one of them is finally revealed, many others come out of the woodwork.  It's like people keep  them hidden to prevent anyone from knowing about the item.  But, once it gets out, everyone pulls theirs out of hiding so they can get the street cred of owing the rare piece.  It's dumb.  But, that's how the Joe world has always worked.

Seeing items like this makes me think of how the Joe world would have changed had these been released.  For many of the earliest years, collectors often considered straight arms and swivel arms of the original 13 interchangeable.  Had these heads been used, that would not have been the case.  Would it have made the original heads or the new heads the more desirable piece?  I suspect the new heads would have made many of the swivel arm figures more desirable for kids.  Which would have translated to greater collector interest as they became adults.

Since many of the original 13 swivel arm figures are already expensive, I don't know if having new heads would have driven the prices higher.  It would have, though, lead to thousands of ancient message board posts from someone who had a "rare variant" of a swivel Zap with the straight arm head.  Those would have been insufferable.  But, the heads would have been a net positive for the line.  It's a shame they didn't happen and no one's gotten the full story as to why they were abandoned when they were so close to production.

Rarities - Nilco Snake Eyes

Funskool make G.I. Joe figures for various markets.  The Russian figures were released on Funskool cards but with Russian language on the filecards.  In Egypt, though, Funskool manufactured the figures and sold them under the Nilco brand.

The Nilco figures seem to have been an early Funskool endeavor, likely in the early 1990's.  The figures are all early Funskool releases and were manufactured in India.  They were sold in Egypt.  Though, I've heard reports they were available in South Africa, too.  But, I have never confirmed that.  The variants don't appear to be any different from what you see on Funskool packaging.  Though, there are some parts combos that appear on Nilco figures.  In those cases, though, it's just likely we haven't found the corresponding Funskool production run to match up on the parts.  

Nilco Joes occupied a vaulted place among foreign collectibles in the early days of online collecting.  Slowly, though, they fell out of favor.  Mostly, this was due to the fact that the Funskool versions of the figures were desirable enough that no one really went out of their way to seek out Nilco versions instead of the Funskool.  Through the 2000's, everything Funskool went through a bit of doldrums as the brand was considered low quality and common.  As we went into the 2010's, though, the rarer Funskool items started to get popular and pricey.  Nilco followed suit.  Collectors realized the rarity of the carded figures.  Collecting them was still a niche part of the community.  But, it was, and remains, a high dollar niche reserved for those with ample means to acquire pieces when they appear.