Funskool Mainframe

Sometimes, a figure is just a figure.  There's not much special about it.  The design is drab.  The character is somewhat one-dimensional.  The gear is just OK.  And, the general design doesn't spark the joy of the line's most prominent figures.  All of this perfectly describes the 1986 Mainframe.  He's a figure who exists in the Joe line.  He has very important uses.  But, even among just his contemporary 1986 releases, he's one of the last Joes anyone would pick as their favorite.  So, why not go two levels deeper?  Because, Mainframe had a release by Funskool in India.  He was released for many years in colors that are nearly identical to the Hasbro figure.  To get even more obscure, though, Funskool also produced Mainframe for release in Russia around 1999 or so.  And, it is this Russian, Funskool Mainframe that we'll discuss, today.

Mainframe is a perfectly neutral figure.  His colors are solid, but muted.  His sculpt is interesting, but kind of weird.  His gear is amazing.  But, also lacking.  He has enough personality to carry an issue of the comic.  After that, he's just a guy who's there.  The only remarkable thing about Mainframe is just how unremarkable he actually is.  As one of the line's supporting characters, though, this is perfectly OK.  You don't want a computer nerd to be the star of the show.  (At least, in the '80's, you didn't....)  But, you want every figure to be cool enough to buy and play with.  Mainframe balances this, perfectly.  

His biggest knock is the lack of a weapon.  As a kid, I outfitted him with spare Chuckles' pistols, Battle Gear Snake Eyes Uzis or the Uzi version that came with Low-Light.  All seemed fitting choices.  Back then, it was tough to get spare gear that was also decently colored.  Now, though, that's less of an issue and it's easy to get Mainframe the weapon he lacks.  Outside of that, though, Mainframe was a staple of my HQ.  He'd man the computer console.  Here, he could be the hero who held out against the invading Cobras.  Or, he could be the goat who was quickly defeated and allowed Cobra to steal Joe's secrets.  Usually, it was the former, though, as I liked the Mainframe figure and didn't want him to be the loser who lost to Cobra.  

Mainframe then took on 2 different roles in my collection.  The first role was as an experienced, older warrior.  This was a function of his comic introduction.  His older veteran status was something I combined with the character of Kup from the Transformers who was also an older, wiser warrior.  Mainframe was then someone who was an advisor to the Joe command team.  Him being in the HQ also gave him proximity to Hawk.  So, it was a natural synchronicity for the character.  As I really liked Kup, some of that also carried over to Mainframe.  So, he remained more important than he otherwise might have been.

The second role was as parts for some of my early custom characters.  We had an early Mainframe that belonged to my brother.  When I got a newer one, I took the old Mainframe apart.  I split up his pieces onto several other figures.  The one I mainly remember was a character named Havoc who had a built in hand cannon on his gloves.  He used Mainframe's chest.  I really liked this character.  I think he used the '86 Hawk head.  But, at some point, I wanted to put that Hawk back together.  So, I killed off Havoc.  He became a martyr for the Joes.  And, his name was invoked as a rallying point against Cobra.  Mainframe's arms ended up on some other characters that survived a lot longer in my collection.  It was these early customs that really expanded my story telling.  They were less constrained by the military realism that grounded the early '80's filecards.  And, while I don't have many of them left, all the parts are still in a box in the basement.  Someday, I'll buy a bunch of o-rings and screws and remake some of them.

One things I've wondered about Mainframe is if the designers had hoped that his microphone could be attached to his body.  This way, the figure could carry it around.  But, in 1986, they just didn't have the ability to do it.  But, the kept the idea kicking around.  And, by 1990, had figured out how to make it a reality on a figure.  It's pure speculation on my part.  Hasbro was very evolutionary in their accessories and figure sculpting.  And, you could see ideas that didn't quite work at their initial stage then later appear with the proper seasoning as gear that did now work for another figure.  

The Russian Funskool figures are kind of weird.  They were produced around 1999.  You can read the full story of their production at the Dragon Fortress.  Sadly, 1999 was during the beginning of Funskool's quality decline.  So, it's quite common to find fused swivel joints that prevent the figure's arms from moving.  As this is a key element of Joe articulation, it's an incredibly annoying trait of the Russian production run.  In the days when you could get these for about $4 per figure, it was less of an issue.  But, you're now paying a premium for Russian Funskool figures.  So, opening one up to find a useless arm is more of a pratfall, today.  So, definitely be aware that this is an issue for these figures.

Mainframe includes all the gear from his Hasbro release.  The computer and backpack are very slight color variants to the Hasbro figures.  You'll notice the poorer plastic quality before the colors, though.  He has a hose.  Mine is among the best hoses I've ever seen from Funskool.  But, this could be a function of the Russian figures being manufactured in the late '90's rather than a feature of the figure itself.  The only real variation on the figure is that his microphone is grey instead of black.  This works since it makes the piece more distinctive against the black hose into which it plugs.  It's also easier to see the sculpted details.  I'm a sucker for alternately colored accessories.  So, I find more value in this piece than most other collectors will.  But, the Funskool version will feature this uniquely colored piece.

Mainframe has a solid life.  He was used twice by Hasbro in 1986.  First as the grey carded release and then as an odd tan and red version that was included in the Mission to Brazil set.  After that, the mold was sent to Brazil.  The Estrela version, also codenamed Mainframe, is nearly identical to the Hasbro figure.  Most collectors aren't even aware it exists as there's nothing special about it.  From there, the mold went to Funskool.  Mainframe was a staple of the Funskool releases for many years.  He was widely imported to the U.S. in the early 2000's and was part of the 2009 series of Funskool releases.  There are even super weird uses of Mainframe parts in exclusive colors on Halibna releases.  These are rather rare, though.  The figure mold is either still in India or was destroyed there.  If we ever see another 3 3/4" Mainframe, it should mean that the ReAction+ line has enjoyed a decade plus long run and they've exhausted most of the other figures who are more deserving of an update.

Funskool Mainframes aren't that difficult to find.  They were massively imported during the early 2000's.  And, while the figure was never all that popular, his similarity to the original, Hasbro figure helped make him one of those guys that a lot of people did buy.  If these 2001-2005 imports weren't enough, Mainframe was among the 2009 Funskool re-releases, as well.  As such, you can still find carded versions for around $30.  It's tough to find any loose common Funskool figures, these days.  If you can, Mainframe will be cheap.  I'm pretty sure I'd never pay $30 for one of them.  But, getting one for $4 back in the days of heavy Funskool imports made a lot of sense.

1983 Snake Eyes - Around the Web

It's tough to find things to say about the 1983 Snake Eyes that haven't already been said hundreds of times.  He's the most iconic member of the original 13.  And, he was one of the most distinctive action figures released during his heyday.  Hasbro released at least half a dozen repaints of this mold.  And, every iteration of Joe since the vintage line has had a Snake Eyes figure based on this original appearance.  Factory custom makers have exploited the mold for dozens of different homages.  And, there are foreign variants from Europe, South America and India.

There's more content on this figure out there than is listed below.  But, I just went with some of my favorites from recent years.  It's tough to imagine that a the majority of the photos of figures like this Snake Eyes are lost to internet history.  But, there's enough left to enjoy if you like this look for the character.  So, check out the links below and let the creators know you stopped by.

1983 Snake Eyes Profile

Red Backed Snake Eyes

1983 Snake Eyes by DreadnokDread

1983 Snake Eyes by mikesjoetography

1983 Snake Eyes by 00zxcvb

1983 Snake Eyes be Relinqueshed1979

1983 Snake Eyes by yojoe_collectibles

1983 Snake Eyes by incrediblebulk

1983 Snake Eyes by DreadnokDread

1983 Snake Eyes by still_a_big_kid

1983 Snake Eyes by darkstar_vintage

G.I. Joe #49

Serpentor is one of those characters who is divisive in the Joe community.  In the early days of online fandom, Serpentor was the line of demarcation between comic and cartoon fans.  And, as comic aficionados dominated the fandom in those days, you'd see Serpentor mocked and criticized and noted as the "deth of the line".  But, by the early 2000's, the line for collectors had shifted from 1985 to 1987.  And, with that, came acceptance of Serpentor.  While there were still diehards who disliked and outright hated him, there was another faction who found him superior to Cobra Commander as a character.  In the ensuing decades, it was these later collectors who won  out.  And, now, Serpentor is viewed a major character in the Joe mythos who is generally accepted.  His figures are all popular and he remains one of the most visually striking characters in the entire library.

What is odd about Serpentor, though, is that he originated in the comics.  Sure, he was forced into Hama's world by Hasbro as a way to shake up the standard Cobra hierarchy and sell a LOT of toys.  But, Larry Hama pulled off the this licensor mandate with a deftness that defined his run on the Joe comic line.  He made the Serpentor origin story in G.I. Joe #49 amazing.  It was captivating, fun, mysterious and eye-opening: all at once.  For a kid in April of 1986, reading Serpentor's entrance into the G.I. Joe world showed that the comic writers were willing to commit to the concept and create something enduring: even if the underlying idea was somewhat corny.

I have one enduring memory of this comic.  Shortly after the issue was released, I was reading it in our faux wood paneled station wagon after my parents had picked me up from the local comic book store.  I left it in the car.  And, on Saturday, I had a soccer game.  Either going to the game or coming home from it, we ended up taking several of my friends in the car.  They found the issue flopping around in the back seat.  And, each of them read it.  To a person, they thought it was a really cool story.  Even though most of them had aged out of toys in recent months, they were enthralled by the story in the issue.  For a brief moment, I had that feeling of kinship with friends who, otherwise, had grown out of my hobby and entertainment.  Our station wagon had one of those "hidden" third row seats.  It folded down to create the trunk.  Or, you could put it up for an additional two seats.  The kicker...these seats faced backwards instead of towards the driver.  As a kid, it was great for me.  And, I spent all our long distance family trips in this seat, looking at the road after we had passed it by.  But, on this spring day in 1986, someone put the seat down right on top of my new comic.  One of the clasps passed through the entire book, tearing a huge hole.  The upside: nothing was torn out.  And, I was able to push the rip back into place and the comic remained readable.  Back in those days, I had a subscription to the G.I. Joe comic.  But, since it took a few days to arrive, I'd usually buy an early copy at the local comic shop.  So, I had another mint copy to keep nice.  But, to this day, I have that original #49 with the hole torn through it by that crazy car.

This comic's other legacy for me was it serving as my introduction to Hannibal, the famous Carthaginian general.  Something about Hannibal crossing the Alps with elephants simply enthralled me.  I read what little I could find on him in my grade school library.  As I got older, I learned more about him.  And, I even used obscure Hannibal military victories against the Romans in assignments I had in college.  It was one of those little details (the Potemkin from Special Missions #1 was another) from the comic that lead me down a path of learning.  One of the hallmarks of a great writer is that they open your mind and introduce you to new things that you'd otherwise never learn of.  Larry Hama was great at that.  And, because of what I read in the Joe comic, I'd go on fact finding expeditions at our local library to learn more about obscure things that no one else cared about or dared to explore.  And, I owe Larry Hama that lasting legacy of my personality.

There's also this fun little bit with a young girl pulling out a Dirty Harry .357 Magnum.  It wasn't that image that was so memorable, though.  It was her chilling knowledge that a bullet fired from the gun would leave an exit wound the size of a frozen pot pie.  As a kid in the '80's, bullets weren't really real.  Movies spent them like air.  And, shooting victims weren't portrayed in a realistic light.  To hear the utter brutality that a weapon like this would wreak upon it's victim was shocking.  It brought to light the power of some of these weapons.  And, that changed how I viewed wounds in my Joe world.  They were less the quickly recovered from scratches that had defined my younger days and were now devastating injuries that could have permanent impacts...if the victim survived at all.

My enduring issue with the character of Serpentor is that, once created, he can never live up to the epicness of his origin story.  The means by which Serpentor was created was a master class in applying loose scientific principles to a young audience.  Serpentor seemed entirely  plausible.  (Though, the appearance of the simalcrum they used for his body left a LOT of open questions.)  But, with such an amazing origin, there was no way Serpentor was ever going to live up to his original hype.  And, he really didn't.  Within a few months, Serpentor was played out.  And, by the time of his death, the character was nothing less than tedious.  I will say that he served a purpose in forcing the original Cobra Commander to show his dedication to his principles as he reformed Cobra and retook his rightful place atop its hierarchy.  But, beyond that, there is little lasting legacy of Serpentor beyond a neat looking action figure and his amazing origin story.

I will say that it's a damn shame that no one has been able to recreate Serpentor's look from his debut issue in action figure form.  Everyone always goes for the full regalia armor instead of this subtler and more primitive look where he has the bare chest under a flowing cape.  It's a look that works surprisingly well.  And, it one that could have been recreated using parts of the time.  If we're going to see future Serpentor figures, one of them needs to be his debut appearance rather than another armor themed figure.  We have enough of those.

All comics from this era of G.I. Joe are common and worthless.  G.I. Joe was one of Marvel's best selling titles during the '80's.  And, copies of all the issues during the heyday are common.  Of course, high grade versions will price out according to their grade.  But, the value in the comic is the story and the artwork.  So, locking it in a slab seems counter production to the nature of the book itself.  The upside is that #49 was reprinted for a Comic Pack in 2005.  Once upon a time, those were common and cheap.  Now, the figures have dried up and you don't really see people selling the comic reprints.  I've got about 5 of the 2005 issues leftover from opening up a bunch of the Serpentor/Firefly/Scrap Iron packs.  So, I can read those without risking further deterioration to my original.  But, pulling out my childhood copy and seeing the hole still ripped through  it by a 40 year old car opens the floodgates of memories.  And, that is the real value that this comic holds for me.

1983 Dragonfly - Around The Web

It's tough to beat the Dragonfly.  It's a drastically superior toy to the over-rated Skystriker.  And, even after 11 years of additional releases, the Dragonfly held up and remained a necessary element of any collection.  It both displays well and doesn't take up a ton of space.  It has a lot of details and features that give it depth that makes it visually interesting.  And, it works perfectly with the figures from that era.

There's plenty  of content on the Dragonfly out there.  So, stop by all the links below and check it out.

1983 Dragonfly Profile

1983 Dragonfly by cyko_9

1983 Dragonfly by cobra_florence

1983 Dragonfly by jonita_rodriguin

1983 Dragonfly by darkstar_vintage

1983 Dragonfly by gen_liederkranz

1983 Dragonfly by thedustinmccoy

1983 Dragonfly by codename.steve

1983 Dragonfly by still_a_big_kid

1983 Dragonfly by littlegreenmentoyz

1983 Dragonfly by Evilface

2024 Ghostbusters O-Ring Set

Two years ago, Hasbro made a surprise announcement at the 2024 Wondercon.  Here, they showcased a new set of vintage style o-ring figures of the 1984 Ghostbusters.  They were to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the movie.  Their appearance was startling and amazing.  Fans of the franchise had a different scale of figures to collect.  G.I. Joe fans had a new avenue to add to their collections.  And, everyone suddenly wondered about the immense possibilities this development could lead to.  Were o-ring Mask figures on the table?  Indiana Jones?  Marvel?  Or, even Star Wars?  Sadly, we now know that the possibilities will not be explored in any meaningful way.  But, this Ghostbusters set seemed a solid test case for possible future products.

At its core, the Ghostbusters "Plasma Pack", as the set is officially named, is a great product.  For $44, you got 4 distinct figures, a nice supply of gear for each of them and packaging in a nice window box that is the same size as a DVD collector package.  The box was designed to fit on a home video shelf and could be used for easy storage.  The figures themselves feature all newly sculpted parts.  Sure, a lot of the body parts are reused among the figures.  But, the Ghostbusters didn't have a lot of variety in their movie jumpsuits.  And, the heads are close enough to actor's likenesses to know who they are without treading on those pesky likeness rights that would have ensured performer compensation.

In short, it's just a nice presentation for some movie homage toys.  It's not overdone.  It's not cheesy.  If fits that perfect middle ground for someone like me who liked the Ghostbusters but wouldn't call himself a full fledged fan.  

One fun thing about non-Joe content is that it gives me a chance to reminisce about other childhood moments that didn't involve Joe.  One such occasion occurred in the summer of 1984.  

In the '80's, we lived relatively far from my school.  Now, the distance seems paltry.  But, as a kid, most of my friends lived a long ways away.  Part of this was that there is a canal that ran between my school and my neighborhood.  Most kids lived on the same side of the canal as the school.  I was one of the few who did not.  So, while some friends lived only a couple of blocks away, that distance was doubled or tripled by the fact that I had to go out of my way to get to a bridge to cross the canal (and the major street that ran along it) before I could go back down to their street.  As an adult, this hurdle doesn't seem insurmountable.  But, as a 10 year old, my options were limited.

There were just three of of us who lived on our side of the waterway.  Both of the other two lived, literally, as far away from my block as you could.  Their side of the neighborhood was blocked in by a river.  We were on a little spec of land that had once been a single farm: bound by the river and the canal.  My one classmate named Erik lived in the original farmhouse on the land.  Now, it was determinable only by the home's architecture.  He had a normal yard and was on a standard block like all the other houses in our area.  We first met in early 1983.  It was here, at his house, that I saw my first Sears Cobra Missile Command.  I just didn't believe it was an actual Joe toy since it was crappy cardboard and didn't appear in the catalog.  The remnants of it were strewn among an ocean of toys that defined every kid's playroom in the early '80's.

We played together a few times.  But, as 1984 dawned, I was able to more easily bike to his house.  And, we began a long running adventure that also included our third classmate, Matt who lived a few houses down from Erik.  Erik had an amazing collection of toy guns.  One day, we found a note that had been written by Erik's younger brother, detailing some plans that he and friends had.  Matt, Erik and I created a "detective agency" to decipher the plans.  That idea was then expanded into fictional adventures where we were dedicated to toppling the ultimate bad guy: Frank Lupo.  You might recognize that name.  Lupo was a credited produced on the A-Team.  (Among a slew of other shows.)  I just saw the name and thought it was cool.  So, he became our fictional bad guy.  

We'd then all load up with various guns and run around the neighborhood, chasing the imaginary Lupo and his goons.  When we got tired, we'd retreat to Erik's basement where it was cool.  As was par for that era, his dad had a bar in the basement sitting room.  We'd sit there and plan out the next phase of the story.  One particular detail I recall of this was that Erik's basement was always stocked with food.  Notably, several huge boxes of Honeycomb cereal.  My mother wouldn't buy us Honeycomb.  (She'd buy us Fruit Loops, Cocoa Krispies and all sorts of other sugary cereals.  No idea was Honeycomb was off limits.)  So, I remember the boxes, sitting on a shelf that was in a room opposite the sitting area where we'd listen to cassette tapes of the Police or RATT and plan out our next adventure.

The other thing Erik had in his backyard was an old VW van.  Oddly, another friend named Eric, who lived closer to school, also had a VW van in his backyard.  The two families weren't connected.  It was just one of those Doofenshmirtz coincidences.  But, we could play in this van, shooting at other cars and pretending to drive maniacally as we either pursued Lupo or were being chased by him.  It's somewhat surreal to think back about how we could play during the '80's.  We'd run all over the neighborhood, through people's yards, onto the public levees along the river and even go into stores all while carrying very realistic looking toy guns.  At any given moment, none of our parents really knew where we were.  But, they knew we were in the general neighborhood, and that was good enough.

One day in the summer of 1984, Erik's mom decided to take us to a movie.  Or, more accurately, drop us off at a movie for a couple of hours.  I suspect she just wanted some quiet time.  It was me, Erik and another classmate named Damian.  Damian's parents shuffled him around various friends over the summer.  So, on the day he was at Erik's, we went to see Ghostbusters.  Erik's mom dropped us off at a local theatre.  (Years later, after that theatre closed, my childhood comic book store moved out of my neighborhood and into the theatre.  No idea if it's still there today.)  We each had a couple of bucks and bought a drink, some popcorn and went into the most empty theatre to watch the movie.

One of the things that's been lost in recent years is the fact that movies were always meant to be cheap entertainment.  They were designed to be a cheap way to entertain lots of people.  In the past 10 or so years, though, that's changed.  But, back in the '80's, it was a cheap way to spend an  afternoon.  We sat about 1/2 way down the theatre and enjoyed this crazy movie.  In the latter half, my drink caught up with me and I had to use the restroom.  I missed the "dickless" joke while I was out of theatre.  And, of course, that was the one line from the movie that was most discussed upon our return to Erik's house.  It was quite a while later before I'd see an uncensored version of the film again and catch what everyone else thought was the funniest part of the movie.  We spent the rest of the afternoon laughing at other scenes and  just roaming around Erik's block.  All of the blocks were bisected by alleys which ranged from fully overgrown and impassible to perfectly manicured.  We'd wander up and down these, looking for things to do.  It was a pointless existence that was tons of fun just due to the weird things people discarded back then.

If you fast forward a couple of weeks, my parents were going to take my brothers and I to an ice cream social at our school.  It was weird to be at the school during the summer.  But, it was a good chance to see my friends who were otherwise cut off from me.  While waiting for my familty to come to the car, I was out there, listening to the radio and playing with the cigarette lighter.  I managed to burn the circular pattern onto one of my fingertips.  I did this when I was distracted by the Ghostbusters theme that came on the radio.  I remembered the song from the movie.  I never thought I'd hear it again.  I wasn't aware of movie themes being radio hits.  So, hearing it was novel.  We went to the event where I told some friends about hearing the song and burning my finger.  I had to keep the burn secret from my parents or they wouldn't let me play in the car any longer.  But, those two items are forever "burned" into my memory.

I'm not a huge Ghostbusters fan.  But, had these figures been released in 1984, I'd have bought them.  And, they'd have found a home with my Joes.  The failure of '80's TV and movie 3 3/4" figures was that they were always straight arm, knock off type toys.  Or, they were done in a scale and style too far astray of classic Joe for the other figures to be compatible with my collection.  While I desperately wanted the A-Team to be in my Joe world, the crappy Galoob figures just didn't work.  They were shockingly cheap when compared to Joes and just weren't fun to play with.  Cool figures like the Secret Wars products were too tall and lacked the articulation necessary to be useful.  I'm left with childhood daydreams of every property being in G.I. Joe style.  I'd have loved to have had a Batman, Spider Man, Indiana Jones, and the Clash of Titans characters done up with full Joe articulation, accessories and production quality.  

In the adult collecting era, we've finally seen some of this consolidation.  If you get 3 3/4" figures, they are all articulated and designed like anniversary Joes or are 5 POA ReAction figures.  If those are your thing, they work.  But, most of the scale compatibility has come in the 6 inch arena.  If you collect 6 inch figures, you can get IP from pretty much every property you can imagine.  So, you see collections of superheros, TV personalities, Star Wars and other pop culture figures all intermingled in one giant collector diaspora.  If 6 inch figures are your bag, they sky's the limit.  My childhood dreams of o-rings just aren't going to happen.  The format works.  It's just not popular enough.  Maybe we'll see occasional one offs like this Ghostbusters set.  But, my reverie of all things being in the best format will never come to be.

We need, though, to really look at the quality of this release.  Each figure includes the plasma pack and wand that is attached to the pack by a hose.  You get Ray's goggles, Egon's little detector thingie and a single ghost trap.  Not a bad complement of gear.  The backpacks are cheaply done and don't have the Joe peg construction.  The hoses on the wands are less brittle than I thought they'd be. I'm not sure how they or the overly large shoulder rivets will hold up over 30 or 40 years.  But, by then, who cares?  Each figure appears as he does in the movie.  You can't ask for much more than that.

A couple of years ago, I showed my kids the Ghostbusters movie.  They enjoyed it.  It wasn't the cultural touchstone it was for my generation.  They laughed at the "cgi".  (They call all special effects, cgi.)  They never watched the second one.  They had no interest in it.  But, chronologically, my showing them Ghostbusters was same as my Dad showing me Casablanca.  So, that puts the cultural references and such into better perspective.  They'll have their Ghostbusters movie story moment over something that was an age appropriate new release for them in the 2020's.  And, I'll shake my head in disbelief at the movie that creates an indelible experience for them.  

It's tough to know how well the Plasma Pack did at retail.  There is a large Ghostbusters fan base.  But, historically, they've been more into the cosplay elements of property appreciation.  The price per figure suggests that Hasbro did a decent production run on the figures.  And, they found a solid audience in Joe fans.  The set, though, has been in stock at Amazon for retail price for well over a year, now.  Amazon has done various discounts and it's fairly easy to get it for around $35.  Every few months, Amazon cycled through a heavy discount phase and dropped the set to 1/2 price.  At $22, the set is a no brainer, even if it's just for one moment of admiration.  Since the Plasma Pack's release, Hasbro has offered no other o-ring products with the exception of some reused Joe molds in the Void Rivals SDCC exclusive set from 2025.  So, it seems the Ghostbusters may have been a one off.