When Hasbro Pulse debuted some plans for a 40th Anniversary Joe line, it was full of possibilities. Everyone assumed it would start small. But, success would beget more ambitious products and offerings. To a degree, that was true. The Transformers sets were bold and used a lot of development resources to come to fruition. We got an ambitious Haslab Skystriker. But, the actual figure offerings were small and had a missing set in their numbering. (It was cancelled.) The Joe budget, rightfully, moved away from 3 3/4" figures into the 6" Classified line. Vintage figure collectors were left with few releases. Among them was one vehicle and it happened to include its iconic driver. But, the 2022 Stinger Driver is a figure with limitations, even if he succeeds in being a solid homage.
The Stinger release was weird. It was announced out of nowhere. It went on sale shortly after the announcement. And, it sold out quickly, despite a limit of 2 per customer. They shipped almost right away. Hasbro was coy by saying that Pulse would have "limited quantities"...implying that another retailer would pick up the rest of the production run. But, that didn't happen. Weeks turned to months and there was no further information as to where the remainder of the Stingers would show up. Desperate collectors started to overpay. Slowly, some stock showed up at small, independent European toy sellers. Either Hasbro's intended retail partner backed out. Or, Hasbro never had one and the production was underway before they realized that no one was going to buy the Stinger as a retail product. Even now, four years later, the Stinger remains somewhat expensive and less common to find. And, we never got an explanation as to what actually happened with the release.
The 1984 Stinger Driver is a repaint of the 1983 Cobra Officer. And, this 2022 figure follows the same path. Unfortunately, the 2022 Cobra Officer figure had a design flaw. His right knee will only partially bend. It's not a huge issue. But, for a premium priced release, it's not acceptable. This design flaw carried over to the Stinger Driver, too. The leg bends enough that you can get him into his vehicle. But, it does limit his poseability. It's unfortunate that Hasbro both didn't catch the design flaw in quality control and that they allowed it to carry over to the Stinger Driver.
My childhood Stinger Driver was a figure that opened possibilities. While I used him as a "snow" trooper who manned the second seat in the Wolf, the real value was that he suggested that Cobra Troopers and Officers could exist in any color we wanted. Sadly, this was never explored in the vintage line outside of the Python Patrol repaints. In the 2000's, Hasbro brought back the Trooper and Officer molds. But, again, they didn't offer the panoply of colors. It took factory custom makers to finally fill the niche of Troopers for every occasion. And, nearly 20 years later, they're still cranking out classic Trooper repaints in new colors. It's weird that Hasbro could simply never get themselves to do this. It was such an easy concept. But, it was one they could never deliver upon.
As a kid, I enjoyed the Stinger. But, ours broke relatively quickly. And, Stingers weren't important to me for many years. Around 2008 or so, though, I got on a Stinger kick. I picked up a couple of nice jeeps. And, I bought an army of drivers. Having ignored the Stinger for so long lead me to a newfound appreciation for it. That continues to this day. So, the chance for a new Stinger wasn't something I was going to pass up. As soon as the vehicle was announced, I was poised to purchase my allotted two. I was fortunate in that I was sitting in the waiting room for a Dr. appointment when the sales opened. So, I was able to get an order placed within an hour of the sales starting. That proved fortuitous when the Stingers sold out.
The Stingers arrived a couple of weeks later. In hand, they were...fine. The quality was a bit soft. But, overall, they weren't bad. The achieved the look of the original without deviating in any way: good or bad. The Stinger Driver figure was pretty much what we expected. He's a near match for the vintage figure. The only real difference being the plastic quality and the manner in which this plastic holds the colors. If you didn't have a Stinger Driver, this was a perfect update. Even if you did have one (or many) it was nice to get a clean one that won't discolor for a few more years.
It's unfortunate that Hasbro didn't try to set up some sort of boxed army builder release for collectors. It seems like a missed opportunity. Hasbro was selling Star Wars army builder packs in plain, black and white boxes. Taking that idea over to Joe would have been great. The Pulse two figure packs were heavy on expensive packaging. Hasbro could have sold a boxed set of 4 army builders for about $15 per figure and done quite well with them. A set with an Officer, Stinger Driver and two Troopers would have been an attractive product and likely sold through. Even with army building no longer driving the hobby, collectors would have picked up an extra set or two since the figures were available. That didn't happen. And, the are no real avenues to army build the Stinger Driver without paying through the nose for one.
As with all the Pulse era releases, I'm glad this Stinger Driver exists. We didn't get a lot. But, what we did get was safe and solid. Vintage Stinger Drivers are yellowing and brittle. Getting a new one was nice. But, with no way to acquire multiples, the value diminishes. I like to outfit my Stingers with a crew. I can't do that with the Pulse figures. But, that's OK. Since I have a bunch of vintage Stinger Drivers, I can use them instead. The real thing about this figure is that he's pretty much just an update to any vintage release. There's nothing new about him other than softer plastic. That's good since we didn't get anything close to a Stinger Driver in the repaint era. But, really only having an avenue to get one or two of them kind of sucked. The thing about classic army builders is that you want them in multiples. Having one is fine for a display. But, the I'm still a collector of the early 2000's army builder vein. I don't need 40 of a figure. But, I'd like a shot at four or five for fair prices. And, the main reason I don't really use the Pulse era army builders is because I don't have them in multiples. I just wasn't keep on over paying for packaging that ended up in the recycling bin. And, I didn't really have a chance at any more than two Stinger Drivers.
Stingers are one of the few (maybe the only!) Pulse era release to appreciate on the secondary market. Boxed Stingers can be had around $75. And, they seem to sell at that price. Loose, mint and complete Stingers and the Driver tend to sell around the same price. On his own, the Stinger Driver will run you between $25 and $30. That's a lot. You're way better off buying up a boxed jeep to have the full set. In a different world I'd have tried to army build this Stinger Driver. The grey has always compelled me. But, the wonky eyes, partially moving leg and lack of weapons has left me just focusing on vintage Stinger Drivers should I want an army.
