1997 Alley Viper

I will admit that I was not always high on the '97 Joes. In fact, I didn't buy any of them except for the Star And Stripes set because I felt they weren't worth the $9.99 retail cost. I have, though, taken to a couple of figures from that Star And Stripes set, the aforeprofiled Stalker and Snake Eyes. Aside from those two, though, there was not another '97 figure that I had who I liked, or another that I wanted. As the years have passed, though, I've become a completist and wanted to fill in those missing holes in '97. This process has proven incredibly frustrating as '97 Joes were almost non-existent on the second hand market. The few you could find were to overpriced that I couldn't justify them. Since there was still no one figure that I really wanted, I just kept putting their purchase off. A couple of months ago, though, I was reading General Hawk's fabulous dio-story Power Struggle and saw where he made the '97 Alley Viper a key player in one episode. That piqued my curiosity and I started searching for a '97 Alley Viper. Just recently, though, I've got lucky and hit upon a couple of great stashes of '97 figures. One of these included my much sought after Alley Viper.

I've been wanting to profile an Alley Viper. All versions of him are just great. The original, though, is a very renowned figure that sees lots of use in most people's collections. He just didn't fit the normal definition of a Forgotten Figure. The '93 version of the Alley Viper is also very nice. The yellow and black color scheme along with the updated, scarier face mask make this guy an almost better figure than the original. However, my lone '93 suffers from severe paint wear. Because of that, I was trying to upgrade my figure before he appeared here. (Strangely enough, the lot in which I acquired the '97 Alley Viper also included an excellent '93 Alley Viper as well. Oh, well. He still may appear here one day.) The '94 Alley Viper is one that most people don't even know about and would have been a logical choice to appear here. Since I don't own one, though, I had to wait for him as well. I had never really given the '97 Alley Viper any thought as I didn't think I was going to get one for a long time. He is, though, now my favorite version of the character and one that I wish I could amass as easily as I do the '89's.

The primary thing about this version of the Alley Viper is his color scheme. While the original versions of the Alley Viper all featured bright yellow or orange (which worked with them), this guy offered us Cobra blue as his primary color. What makes this so surprising is that the other figures that came out in '97 were usually in truly terrible color choices. The fact that they got this guy so right is really out of place. The blue, black, and white allow this guy to mingle with other Cobra Troopers and not stand out. He also features the updated face mask. For me, this is what makes the figure. These masks impart the type of fear that would make a unit of urban commandos too fearsome. I always imagined Alley Vipers as the guys who came in the middle of the night and just took over small towns in rural America. They are big, strong, and designed to look like they mean business. If this uniform wouldn't portray that message, then I don't know what would.

There is only one drawback to this version of the Alley Viper: his gun. The original Alley Viper gun that came with the '89 and '93 version is one of my all time favorites. All my Alley Vipers carry it, as do my armies of '92 and '93 Headhunters. Alas, though, this guy does include that great weapon. Instead, he comes with a black version of the original Dial Tone's weapon. It is okay, but just doesn't do the figure justice. As my available Joes are limited right now, I only had a couple of weapons with which to outfit this guy. The one I chose is the rifle from Red Star. This rifle seems to fit a Cobra character much better. The size and design of the weapon also seem to fit with this Alley Viper. The weapon I turned to because of necessity will now be this guy's permanent gun. While it is hard to see against the dark background, it is the gun the figure in the picture below is holding. It just goes to show, though, that a good, though poorly accessorized, figure can always be made better by a quick trip to your weapon reserves.

Lately, 1997's have become a bit easier to find. That still doesn't mean they won't cost you, it just means you can actually buy them on the second hand market. Alley Vipers, though, aren't too expensive. Mint and complete, they sell for around $15. Considering how few of them were actually separated from their Rage, that's not too bad. (One other thing to consider. Back in '97, many of these guys were stolen right out of the Rage box. If you find someone who has a whole bunch of loose, incomplete '97 Alley Vipers and no Rages or anything else to back them up, chances are you might be buying stolen property. Just something to think about.) I've currently got just the one of these guys, but have a pending deal to acquire another. Frankly, I probably wouldn't stop until I've got about 12 of these guys. They just work great as army builders who blend in with other, more subtly colored Cobra forces. Since I'm not alone in this thinking, though, I don't expect it will be easy to find these guys in any numbers for several more years. Still, I'm taking advantage of any opportunities I have to pick any of these guys up. They are a great addition to your collection and will certainly be worth their current price.

I like this guy. I know there are many people out there who claim not to. If you are serious in disliking this guy, email me. I'm pretty sure I can take them off of your hands.

1987 Mail Away Starduster

In the late '80's, Hasbro was offering many, many figures via mail order. The vast majority of these were simply reissues of figure molds that had been "retired" from retail. Others, like the Hooded Cobra Commander were never available via retail outlets. Joe was flying high in popularity, and corporate support. As part of the plan to keep the Joe empire ever expanding, Hasbro licensed a cereal based on G.I. Joe. To get kids to eat this tripe, they offered an exclusive mail in figure that was only available if you bought the cereal: Starduster.

I never had a Starduster. Apparently, I was not alone in this. The G.I. Joe cereal was short lived. The mail in promotion for Starduster was even shorter lived. However, he did come back several other times as a mail in available from Hasbro Direct. The thing was, as a kid, I wasn't interested in this guy. He was in powder blue. What kind of hard core soldier wears powder blue?!? (Of course, as a child, I never went to the fact that it was to blend into the sky. Perfect cover for a jet pack trooper who would be seen by looking against the blue sky background.) Because of this alone, Starduster was nothing more than an afterthought to me. Much like the Steel Brigade and Joseph Colton, the pictures of the figure were not enough to entice me to the offer, even if the figure was one that would never be available via any other avenue.

Now, though, Starduster has a kitsch about him that makes me like the figure. The soft, pastel blue is actually easy on the eyes and offers some welcome relief when he is displayed among most of his contemporary Joes. His helmet and dark visor are nice touches that proved the original Joes could be improved upon. (The black visor is also highly reminiscent of the prototype Joe photos that appeared in the very first insert catalog back in '82. All the visored Joes had dark black visors that are nearly identical to Starduster's. Were Starduster's visor not so problematic to find, I think it would be very cool to put together a set of these original Joes outfitted as they were back in '82. Now, if I could only find those concept Cobras they put in there as well!) The silver version of Gung-Ho's grenade launcher is also nice. It is not so out of whack that you could dismiss totally. Also, the very fact that he comes with just the jet pack from the JUMP is enough to make me now wish I had actually picked up a couple of these guys back in the '80's. That accessory is enough to make this guy someone that would have seen some use. Though it probably would have been as an officer as other, more suitable, figures would have actually donned the jet pack.

There is something very interesting about Starduster. Back in late 1985, a comic Marvel produced entitled Marvel Age had a special issue on G.I. Joe. This "comic" was kind of an insider magazine that gave the reader a preview of the comics Marvel released that month, but it also allowed them to spotlight whatever property it was they wanted to promote. In issue #34, it was Joe. Here, they profiled many of the new Joes who would join the team and have toys made of them in 1986. The original art that had some off colors is interesting in itself, as was the mis named character named Hot Spot who later became Sci Fi in the actual assortment. The most interesting profile they offered, though, was of a new character named Hedge-Hopper. Hedge-Hopper had no art affiliated with him, but he was supposed to a jet pack trooper. This made sense as only the recolored Silver Pads Grand Slam had already had a specialty anything close to this. For whatever reason, though, Hedge-Hopper was not to be. The figure was never released and the character never came to light in any Joe arena. However, in 1987, Starduster was released. While the two could be entirely separate entities, the coincidences are too great. Most likely, Hedge-Hopper was a placeholder name that was used to identify the jet pack trooper. Due to some unknown circumstance, the character never panned out. Perhaps they felt the notion wouldn't be enough to carry a figure at retail. It might also be that they had the G.I. Joe cereal promotion planned and wanted to use a throwaway character on it. Whatever the circumstances were, though, Hedge-Hopper is an interesting footnote to Joe history of which not too many people are aware and adds more obscurity to the Starduster character.

Like Super Trooper, Starduster only appeared in Joedom as a figure. However, his earliest versions came with some mini comics that were supposed to give kids some sort of background they could apply to him. Hasbro, though, always wanted the mainstream comic and cartoon to push what was for sale on the shelves. Upon reading his filecard you quickly realize that there wasn't a whole lot of thought put into this guy's characterization. Being an obscure mail in, there was no way he was ever going to have any credibility among the Joe creative team. For that reason, it reinforces my opinion that this guy was just a cast off concept that could never get out of the creative strategy meetings in Rhode Island. The fact that he did make it to a figure, though, makes you realize that there must have been some other concepts bandied about that were truly terrible. (Look no further than the supposed "Chef" concept art. {shudder}) It's too bad, though, because the notion of a jet pack trooper was something that I think kids would have gotten into. Of course, he would have needed to be a much cooler figure than Starduster, but I think that a singularly carded jet pack trooper would have experience retail success.

Many collectors have been lead to believe there are three distinct versions of Starduster. However, in recent years, many hard core collectors of substantial resources have been trying to prove the existence of the Version "B" Starduster figure. In the past 6 years in which I have kept track of such things, no one has found any conclusive proof that the Version "B" figure actually exists as a legit variant. There are loose ones out there, but they are almost certainly Frankensteins of broken Version "A"s and Version "C"s. Until a solid amount of bagged version "B" Stardusters are found, I think it is safe for collectors to consider their collection complete if they only have the Version "A" and Version "C".

Stardusters are a bear to find. The first version from the cereal that uses the Recondo chest is the toughest and is usually rated by serious collectors as one of the 5 most difficult figures to find in the entire line. Even the more "common" variations of Starduster, like the one below, are seldom seen. Because of this, mint and complete versions are very, very pricey. Bagged versions of the Recondo chest Starduster can easily get into the $80-$100 range. Even loose, mint, complete specimens of the most common versions will set you back $30! The thing that makes Starduster hard to find is that he was only available as a mail in and he was just a repaint of a swivel head mold in a time when the ball headed molds made the figures so much better. He is also prone to heavy discolorations and finding mint Stardusters can be very frustrating. I have found many Stardusters who have been subjected to cigarette smoke and are now permanently ruined. His lack of popularity in his own day has manifested itself by making this figure among the rarest American Joes today. Fortunately, the powder blue takes away from the figure and keeps this guy from being at a price point where he would rival such things as the Mickey Mouse Cobra Commander in value. Personally, I've found this figure to be only useful as he is required for the completion of my collection. Aside from that, he seldom, if ever, sees any use. His specialty is cool, but there were so many other figures released whose molds lend themselves to something like this so much better, like the 91 General Hawk, that I haven't found him to a vital part of my collection. Perhaps, someday, that will change. For now, though, Starduster is one of those frustrating figures that I can't acquire for a cheap enough price for me to justify additional variations.

The version of Starduster you see below is the only one I have. Of course, I have two separate figures for that version. If you have a different version, or his visor, email me.

Sokerk - Argentine Exclusive

In 1999 and early 2000, Joe figures from Argentina were incredibly scarce in the U.S. Ninja-Ku's sold for $300-$400 a piece for carded specimens. Even straight up reissues of American molds were incredibly hard to find. Then, in the early fall of 2000, Argentinian Joes began to appear with great regularity on the American second hand market. Figures like Airborne, Sgt. Slaughter, Alpine, Blowtorch, Doc, Ripcord, Sparta, Destro, Ninja Ku, Satan, Storm Shadow, and Sokerk suddenly became very affordable and easily acquired in the U.S. While I'm not often one to be high on some of these Argentine issues, I am also not one who lets a good deal pass him by. For just about nothing, I picked up Sparta (a Cover Girl repaint with unique card art), Destro, Ripcord and the figure I am now profiling: Sokerk.

Apparently, there are two versions of Sokerk. One version is actually the Tan Grunt. The figure matches the card art. The second version, and the one that seems to be more prevalent right now, is the one you see here. It is a straight repaint of the Ripcord mold that has been recolored to more closely match the tan uniform you see on the card art. Frankly, this feature was simply a bonus. You see, I purchased the figure just for the card art. I like things that weren't available in the U.S. Since the Tan Grunt figure was never available on the card here, I seized the opportunity to pick up one of the foreign versions that was. It was just a happy coincidence that the figure I bought happened to be the repainted Ripcord. For once, I got doubly lucky. I managed to acquire not only unique card art, but a unique figure as well.

I will quickly admit that I am not anywhere near an authority on South American Joes. In fact, I know very little about them. However, I do know that the series of which Sokerk was part seems to be fairly plentiful. There is an earlier series of Argentine Joes that features straight armed figures that are very unique repaints from their American versions. Figures like Topson, Shimik, and the legendary Cobra Mortal are among the scarcest Joe figures ever produced in any country. In fact, in the years that I've been buying Joes online, I have never, ever seen any figure from that original Argentine assortment offered for sale. While Brazilian figures like the Cobra De-Aco and Cobra Invasor seem to appear several times every year, these original Argentine figures are impossible to find. I would run for cover should a gem like a Cobra Mortal ever appear for sale in a public forum. My guess is that his sale price would shame even those of the 1995 prototypes that have found their way to the second hand market.

Frankly, I like Sokerk. The figure is a very nice take on the classic American figure. In fact, it was only through careful scrutiny that I was able to determine this to be the same mold as Ripcord. The colorations are that different that you would never know they were the same mold. The one problem with this guy, though, is that the paint job sucks. I don't think the Argentines were as careful with paint mask and attention to quality as their American counterparts. For that reason, this figure looks terrible. It's no fault of anyone's, save the manufacturer. This is a common problem with early South American Joes and it takes away from the figure. I was once planning to open both Sokerk and Sparta. After seeing them, though, I decided that it just made no sense to do so. The quality of the figure is so low that taking them off the card would make them useless. It is unfortunate, though, as I would have liked to have had Sokerk available in loose form for various missions. I think he and Sparta both would have helped expound the interest in some basic dioramas I was planning. At any rate, though, he will remain as one of the few carded figures in my collection if only for the fact that I currently like him that way.

Were I writing this profile even one year ago, I would tell you how Sokerk was a very difficult figure to find in the U.S. and a carded version of him would probably cost $40-$70. Now, the story is very different. Sokerks are very easy to find and they are pretty cheap. Sure, a few MOC specimens still fetch $20-$25, but that is usually due to uninformed buyers. It is much more common for this figure to sell in the $12-$15 range for a MOC figure. At that price, he is a great acquisition. Sokerk offers you the opportunity to add a unique foreign figure with unique card art to your collection without setting you back an entire collecting year's budget. However, I would take advantage of Sokerk's availability now. The supply of these guys that has made its way to the U.S. could dry up. Collectors are slowly absorbing Sokerk and his other brethren. I would imagine that in a few years, figures like Sokerk will be a tougher find once again. At his current price levels, though, even if this guy became more common, he is still attractive. It's getting very hard to find any American Joes MOC for under $10. As more and more collectors move away from loose collections and into the carded realm, I would think this will remain the case. Having a figure like Sokerk gives your collection some individuality and provides some relief from the monotony of American Joes. At any rate, I enjoy this figure and see myself keeping him for a long time. I think you will find he fits into your collection very nicely as well.

Sokerk's cool, but I don't want any more. Frankly, I don't really know if I want any more Argentine figures. Well, unless you've got a Shimik, Topson, or Cobra Mortal you want to get rid of for cheap! ;-> At any rate, what is your opinion of the South American Joes? Let me know.

1995 Unproduced Battle Corps Rangers Dr. Mindbender

Back in the summer of 1999, a prominent G.I. Joe dealer offered via Ebay a number of A Real American Hero prototypes. For most, it was the first real look at many of these items. Naturally, Joe fans flocked to auctions and saw their first glimpse of what the proposed 1995 line was going to look like. During all this hullabaloo, Ebay crashed. During the span when the auctions ended, Ebay was only available periodically. Because of this, many collectors missed out on their chance to snipe away these prize prototypes at the last minute. I was one of these frustrated collectors. I finally connected to Ebay only to discover that the figure that most intrigued me, a very unique and incredibly cool Dr. Mindbender figure, was gone. Instead, I settled for the Battle Rangers Flint and just figured that my one opportunity to own the Dr. Mindbender was gone forever. About a year later, another Dr. Mindbender appeared on Ebay from the same dealer. Unfortunately, I had just bought my house, and just couldn't come up with the money necessary for a purchase this large. In the auction, the dealer commented that this was his last Mindbender. I figured this was it. However, just a couple of weeks ago, another opportunity presented itself. I decided that I couldn't let this go. I made an offer the owner of this figure and it was accepted. Now, finally, I have the crown jewel of my collection: the unproduced 1995 Battle Rangers Dr. Mindbender.

It is well known that 1995 would have been a very interesting year for Joe. While concepts like the Lunartix aliens, Manimals and Replicators would have taken Joe to the very edge of science fiction and the Ninja Commandos would have given us yet another Snake Eyes and Stormshadow rehash, the Battle Rangers would going to be the more military themed Joe toys. Characters like Flint, Footloose, and Duke were going to anchor the Joe team while Cobra was finally going to see a new Baroness and, of course, a newly frankensteined Dr. Mindbender. The line was also going to feature a few repaints from the 1994 Battle Corps series and was going to also have a full array of newly molded vehicles. The paint schemes were going to be realistic, (You can see the beginnings of this with the 1994 releases. While '93 offered horrid color choices, 1994 was much better. Figures like Stalker, Shipwreck, Joseph Colton and Snowstorm all had very nice, more realistic color schemes that showed Joe was regaining its focus.) and the line may have even included original accessories rather than the hated weapon tree. All in all, the Battle Rangers could have salvaged a little of Joe's lost dignity in the mid '90's. At least the new releases have helped take away the bad memories of what was the original Joe's final years.

Why do I like this figure? I really can't tell you. From the moment I first saw it, this prototype grabbed me more than any other element of Joedom that I have ever seen. I think it was the incredible detail on the figure. His mold is just astonishing. The level of detail put into the hand and head are far above any other figure ever produced. Frankly, I don't know how they could have mass produced this figure without losing some of the head detail. The other thing about that is so neat is the helmet. He is the only '95 prototype I have seen that actually comes with an accessory. The helmet fits onto his head perfectly. I think of it as a Darth Vader type thing where the helmet helps his ravaged body survive. While I know of no evidence that points to a purported paint scheme for this figure, I let my imagination run wild. I'm sure he would have offered the nice, subtle, realistic color scheme that was found on all the other Battle Rangers figures. (Flint and Footloose can be seen in Battle Rangers production art. A copy of a painted Baroness hard copy has been found. A character that seems to be the Battle Rangers Duke can also be seen on many licensed Joe items from the late '94 - early '95 era. Another unnamed and unknown Cobra figure is shown on the box art of a new Cobra helicopter. [See YoJoe.com for details.] He could have been a new version of Cobra Commander, a totally new named Cobra villain, or a new Cobra army builder who would have rounded out the Cobra assortment in 1995. All are very nice and would have fit in very nicely with the Joe line as a whole.)

The main thing that grabbed me, though, was the darkness of the character. This Dr. Mindbender looks truly evil. Of all the characters in Joedom, none, not even Snake Eyes, would have experienced the horrors to which Mindbender was subjected. The look of evil in his eyes, as well as the devastated body would have created a character that would have been the epitome of darkness. Personally, I feel that Mindbender would have been a monster capable of doing gruesome things to prisoners, spies, and poor test subjects. In this capacity, he is underrepresented. The Mindbender we saw in the comics and cartoon was not this dark. I think Joes' creative team, though, was steering for a new path with a character this mutated. Remember, in 1994 and 1995, Spawn was starting to see some popularity on the toy market. The dark character was something that was selling at retail. It made sense for the Joe brain trust to look down this avenue. Personally, I would love the opportunity to see Dr. Mindbender appear in the new comic in the same characterization that was meant for the Battle Rangers. Perhaps, with his rumoured (I stress, RUMOURED!) appearance in wave IV of the new Joes that are slated for this fall to coincide with the comic release, we might finally get a glimpse of this character as he was planned to be.

The one thing about this figure that many people will deride is that he looks so sci-fi. The mutated hand and scarred face make this figure appear to be something out of a horror flick rather than a simple, military villain. However, closer examination of the Mindbender character reveals that this figure follows a path that was laid down by the original 1986 version almost a full decade before this figure was ever conceived. The 1986 filecard made reference to the fact that Dr. Mindbender liked to experiment on himself. It would only make sense that his mutated hand would be the side effect from one of his experiments. The scarred face (it's hard to see because of the photography. Once I get my digital camera back working, I will get more detailed pictures of the amazing head sculpt.) also shows that the good Dr. has been working to update his computer enhanced body parts. The original file card said the Dr. Mindbender had become vain. It would only make sense that he would attempt to remove the computer terminal from the outside of his head in order to improve his appearance. The scars he left behind, though, would seem to indicate that he still has a good way to go before his countenance is back to anything near its original state. All of this, though, shows that the Battle Rangers would have been a subset for Joe diehards. They took the personality traits laid down in all the filecards and expanded upon them to create a new manifestation of the character. Again, it was all of Joedom's loss that the Battle Rangers never came to be. I think they would be held in very high regard by the modern collector had they ever made it to full scale production.

Personally, I know of three unique examples of this figure. All are in private collections. There seems to be a consensus, though, that this figure probably had about a dozen of them produced. I would imagine that at least 6 survive to this day. I would imagine that at least one is still in the possession of the source for most of the '95 prototypes that have made their way to the second hand market. A couple of others are probably sitting in private collections, never to be known for many, many years. The rest, I would imagine, are quietly rotting away in Cincinnati's Mount Rumpke, or some other similar place, along with other '95 Joes, Gargan, and the Luke Skywalker in Robes figures. Perhaps, some day, we will know the full story of the Battle Rangers and find a treasure trove of the unreleased toys. Until then, we only have snippets, like these prototypes and the box mock ups you can find at YoJoe.com. Despite the fact that it would greatly reduce the monetary and collectible value of this figure and the Flint, I would like to see these molds used in the line of new releases. I'm not sure if the general Joe buying public is ready for this version of Dr. Mindbender, but I know that I, and many other collectors, would relish the opportunity to own this figure in a playable version. It would help bridge the gap between Joe's original run, and its current manifestation.

*****

Updated 10/10/06

In 2006, the first painted test shot of Dr. Mindbender appeared. The figure was in a base of dark purple with black highlights. It is a very muted tone for the figure and one that, at first glance, I was disappointed in. However, as this figure had been built up inside my head for over 7 years, there was no way the first glance of his intended coloring would have lived up to the hype. With more reflection, though, I actually quite like the color scheme as it was in line with the intentions of the Battle Corps Rangers, kept with the character's roots and was visually pleasing. My one gripe was that the skin tone for Mindbender was vibrant. For some reason, I've always pictured this figure with a more ghoulish skin tone. I figured the facial bruises from the massive surgeries couples with the lack of sunlight from hiding his visage inside the mammoth helmet would have left Mindbender's skin an otherworldly palour. Naturally, it would have been tough for Hasbro to pull this off, but it would be the one change in the way I would represent the figure were I the one painting it up.
The appearance of this painted Mindbender gives us more insight into what was planned for the Battle Corps Rangers line. I have long felt it would have been a line that collectors would have enjoyed without being the repetitive monotony we have seen in the post '94 re-releases. This figure shows the perfect evolution of the Mindbender character over a decade. It offered a glimpse into a more monstrous world of Cobra. I think that would have been a vision that collectors would have enjoyed had it come to fruition.

*****

This Dr. Mindbender figure is my favorite unproduced item. Would you like to see the Battle Rangers some day see a wide release? Do you think this is a cool figure? Let me know your thoughts.