Friday, June 30, 2017

Rarities - Asian Bootleg 1992 and 1993 G.I. Joe Figures

I've saved the oddest item of all for last.  In the late 2000's/early 2010's, carded bootleg examples of 1992 and 1993 G.I. Joe figures started showing up in Asia.  They were on cards mimicking the vintage carded look for G.I. Joe.

The figures sometimes attempt to be similar to the colors shown on the card artwork.  In other cases, they are very off.  But, the figures are spectacularly bad.  They are definitive bootlegs if only for their horrendous quality and garish design.

Below you will see ten of the figures offered.  There may be more.  I'm not sure of the origin.  But, some figures, like Cobra Commander can be interesting due to the different paint jobs.  I own the Iceberg figure, but have never gotten around to opening him.

These figs were dirt cheap when the first appeared, often selling in the $5 MOC range.  Today, they are still relatively cheap with the most popular figures running around $20 for a MOC figure.  As an interesting display piece, the figures have some value.  But, they are really, really awful in terms of quality.

Bootleg, 1992, 1993, Alley Viper, Cobra Commander, Firefly, Cross Country, Keel Haul, Leatherneck, Iceberg, Dr. Mindbender, Roadblock

Bootleg, 1992, 1993, Alley Viper, Cobra Commander, Firefly, Cross Country, Keel Haul, Leatherneck, Iceberg, Dr. Mindbender, Roadblock

Bootleg, 1992, 1993, Alley Viper, Cobra Commander, Firefly, Cross Country, Keel Haul, Leatherneck, Iceberg, Dr. Mindbender, Roadblock

Bootleg, 1992, 1993, Alley Viper, Cobra Commander, Firefly, Cross Country, Keel Haul, Leatherneck, Iceberg, Dr. Mindbender, Roadblock

Bootleg, 1992, 1993, Alley Viper, Cobra Commander, Firefly, Cross Country, Keel Haul, Leatherneck, Iceberg, Dr. Mindbender, Roadblock

Bootleg, 1992, 1993, Alley Viper, Cobra Commander, Firefly, Cross Country, Keel Haul, Leatherneck, Iceberg, Dr. Mindbender, Roadblock, Gung Ho

Bootleg, 1992, 1993, Alley Viper, Cobra Commander, Firefly, Cross Country, Keel Haul, Leatherneck, Iceberg, Dr. Mindbender, Roadblock, Gung Ho

Bootleg, 1992, 1993, Alley Viper, Cobra Commander, Firefly, Cross Country, Keel Haul, Leatherneck, Iceberg, Dr. Mindbender, Roadblock, Gung Ho

Bootleg, 1992, 1993, Alley Viper, Cobra Commander, Firefly, Cross Country, Keel Haul, Leatherneck, Iceberg, Dr. Mindbender, Roadblock, Gung Ho

Bootleg, 1992, 1993, Alley Viper, Cobra Commander, Firefly, Cross Country, Keel Haul, Leatherneck, Iceberg, Dr. Mindbender, Roadblock, Gung Ho



Thursday, June 29, 2017

Rarities - JC Penny Cobra 3 Figure Pack

When G.I. Joe debuted, the retail landscape was vastly different from what we know today.  Regional retailers held large sway and local toy shops were still a large part of the sales model.  Pretty much any retail store that was not a specialist would sell toys near the holiday season.  And, giant catalog retailers like JC Penny's and Sears were juggernauts able to negotiate exclusive products from toy manufacturers.  In the Joe line, Sears was a preferred retail partner of Hasbro through 1986.  Penny's didn't wield Sears' buying prowess.  But, it was able to hold its own and obtained some exclusive items that were offered in its catalog.  The most famous of these is the Cobra Figure 3 Pack from 1982.

1982 JC Penny Cobra Trooper 3 Pack, Variant Bazooka, Cobra Trooper, Cobra Officer, Catalog, Mail Away, MIB, Bubbled

The Cobra Trooper and Cobra Officer were late additions to the Joe line.  They were not among the initial releases of figures and appeared in later months as the brand gained a foothold.  They were early enough to be released with straight arms: but, late enough that they featured the improved, thinner crotch piece that was less prone to breakage.  JC Penny's had the idea to package two Cobra Troopers and one Cobra Officer into a three figure pack that was then equivalent to the 3 different 3 packs of Joes they offered as well.

The real change to this figure three pack was the accessories.  The Cobra Officer included his standard AK-47 rifle.  But, he was also given a version of Short Fuse's mortar.  While the catalog pictured the earlier, full handled mortar, the actual figure came with the half handled mortar that was being used at the time.  The Cobra Troopers, though, did not include their original gear.  Instead of the Dragonuv sniper that define the character, the two figures included Zap's bazooka.  This wouldn't be great as '82 Zap bazookas are fragile and tend to break.  However, Hasbro did future collectors one better by making both the bazookas an exclusive color or an exclusive production stamp.  This now helps differentiate these figures from someone trying to boost the price of a Cobra with a leftover Zap bazooka.  But, it also makes finding a complete version of these figures nearly impossible.

The other change to the set was the filecards.  The Cobra Trooper now denotes that is an expert with a mortar and a bazooka in order to match up with the included accessories.

1982 JC Penny Cobra Trooper 3 Pack, Variant Bazooka, Cobra Trooper, Cobra Officer, Catalog, Mail Away, MIB, Bubbled


Identifying the bazookas is troublesome.  But, it can be done.  The 1997 Zap bazooka is a close color match for the Penny's darker green bazooka.  But, they are not the same and can be easily identified.  The Penny's bazooka has an A 1 on the handle.

1982 JC Penny Cobra Trooper 3 Pack, Variant Bazooka, Cobra Trooper, Cobra Officer, Catalog, Mail Away, MIB, Bubbled


The second Cobra Trooper includes a bazooka that is nearly identical to Zap's in terms of coloring.  However, there is still a difference.  Zap's light green bazooka has a B 2 on the handle.  The correct bazooka from the Penny's pack has a B 1 on the handle.  Finding this variant is just as frustrating as the dark green bazooka.  But, it's a small, important detail to ensure all the parts are correct to the set.  (It should be noted that the Zap figure that was available from JC Penney in the same catalog also could include either a B 2 or a B 1 bazooka.  So, the B 1 is an Penney's exclusive, but could have come from two separate figures.)

These figures are pricey.  A complete Cobra Trooper with the correct, variant bazooka will fetch upwards of $150.  Since the Officer lacks an exclusive weapon, it's rare to see a price increase on him unless he includes the filecard.  On their own, though, the filecards can be equally expensive.  Sets of three will sell around $50 - $60 each.  Again, though, as the Cobra Trooper's card features exclusive text, you will see it get a slight premium on the officer card.  But, the unique outline of the exclusive bubble that denotes it as Penny's Officer helps keep in the same ballpark.  Intact bubble samples are very rare and are among the most expensive exclusives out there.  Even 15 years ago, they were a $1,000 item.  Today, they remain a four digit purchase.

For me, the expense is extreme.  But, being released in my childhood wheelhouse for Joe also makes them somewhat desirable to me.  While I don't really want to pay $150 for, essentially, a slight color variant bazooka, I can see myself doing it at some point just because it's another piece of the early line that caused me to continue collecting these toys for 35+ years.

1982 JC Penny Cobra Trooper 3 Pack, Variant Bazooka, Cobra Trooper, Cobra Officer, Catalog, Mail Away, MIB, Bubbled

1982 JC Penny Cobra Trooper 3 Pack, Variant Bazooka, Cobra Trooper, Cobra Officer, Catalog, Mail Away, MIB, Bubbled


Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Rarities - European Exclusive Firing Weapons Figures

Everyone is familiar with the European exclusive Action Force G.I. Joe repaints, the 6 European Tiger Force exclusive figures and even the more obscure European variants of Mutt and Spirit.  But, there were actually many more European exclusive figures.  Some are just minor color differences.  Some are date stamp discrepancies.  And, some are exclusive accessory variants.  It is the last category that is the focus of today's profile.  In the 1990's in Europe, Hasbro released 15 figures who featured exclusive accessories.  They are defined by the fact that the most identifiable characteristic is that most included spring loaded, firing weapons.  But, these are a lot of interesting tidbits hidden within these figures that we'll look at below.

The 15 figures are all 1990 and 1991 figure molds.  It should be noted that most, if not all of these figures were also released in Europe with their American accessories.  But, these altered releases were exclusive to the continent.  I'll start with my favorite of the bunch, the Rock Viper.

Ambush, Bullhorn, Captain Grid Iron, Desert Scorpion, Dusty, European Exclusive, General Hawk, Laser Viper, Low Light, Metal Head, Pathfinder, Range Viper, Rarities, Rock Viper, SAW Viper, Sci Fi, Undertow,  MOC, Carded


As you can see in the photo above, the Rock Viper now includes gear from the 1991 Snake Eyes figure.  The backpack is in an exclusive dark maroon color.  But, the thing that I really like is the neon green gun and missile.  The green is a nice color offset for the Rock Viper and I don't mind neon accessories in some cases.  But, this colored missile and gun are exclusive to this European version of the Rock Viper.

Next up is the Night Creeper you see below.

Ambush, Bullhorn, Captain Grid Iron, Desert Scorpion, Dusty, European Exclusive, General Hawk, Laser Viper, Low Light, Metal Head, Pathfinder, Range Viper, Rarities, Rock Viper, SAW Viper, Sci Fi, Undertow,  MOC, Carded

Ambush, Bullhorn, Captain Grid Iron, Desert Scorpion, Dusty, European Exclusive, General Hawk, Laser Viper, Low Light, Metal Head, Pathfinder, Range Viper, Rarities, Rock Viper, SAW Viper, Sci Fi, Undertow,  MOC, Carded


The main reason I like this version is because I like the Night Creeper in general.  This version, though, includes the backpack and launcher from the 1991 Mercer figure in a dark purple to match the Night Creeper figure.  He also includes an exclusive silver missile.

Next up is Ambush.

Ambush, Bullhorn, Captain Grid Iron, Desert Scorpion, Dusty, European Exclusive, General Hawk, Laser Viper, Low Light, Metal Head, Pathfinder, Range Viper, Rarities, Rock Viper, SAW Viper, Sci Fi, Undertow,  MOC, Carded

Ambush, Bullhorn, Captain Grid Iron, Desert Scorpion, Dusty, European Exclusive, General Hawk, Laser Viper, Low Light, Metal Head, Pathfinder, Range Viper, Rarities, Rock Viper, SAW Viper, Sci Fi, Undertow,  MOC, Carded


The obvious difference in Ambush is his accessories.  He now includes the backpack and missile launcher from the 1991 Snow Serpent in an exclusive light tan color.  He also have the Snow Serpent missile in red.  But, if you look closely, the figure itself is different.  Instead of dark brown cammo on his body, this Ambush features a brighter, lighter brown that has an orange-ish hue.  It is definitely a variant to Ambush.  Though, I'm not 100% certain that this cammo variance was exclusive to Europe or was also available elsewhere.  This European figure also features exclusive card artwork.

The 1991 jet pack General Hawk stands out because he does not include a spring loaded weapon.

Ambush, Bullhorn, Captain Grid Iron, Desert Scorpion, Dusty, European Exclusive, General Hawk, Laser Viper, Low Light, Metal Head, Pathfinder, Range Viper, Rarities, Rock Viper, SAW Viper, Sci Fi, Undertow,  MOC, Carded

Ambush, Bullhorn, Captain Grid Iron, Desert Scorpion, Dusty, European Exclusive, General Hawk, Laser Viper, Low Light, Metal Head, Pathfinder, Range Viper, Rarities, Rock Viper, SAW Viper, Sci Fi, Undertow,  MOC, Carded

As you see above, Hawk includes the launchers and missiles from the 1991 Crimson Guard Immortal figure.  They appear to be in the same color as the CGI weapons.

Next, we have Bullhorn.

Ambush, Bullhorn, Captain Grid Iron, Desert Scorpion, Dusty, European Exclusive, General Hawk, Laser Viper, Low Light, Metal Head, Pathfinder, Range Viper, Rarities, Rock Viper, SAW Viper, Sci Fi, Undertow,  MOC, Carded


Bullhorn is still the same great figure.  But, this version includes the 1991 Snow Serpent missile launcher in an exclusive maroon color.  He also has a neon green missile.

The most famous figure from this crop of missile launching figures is the 1991 Dusty.  This is because Dusty was also released in Asia with the same accessory configuration.  (There were some other figures in this series that also saw Asian releases with the alternate gear including Range Viper, Laser Viper and Desert Scorpion.)

Ambush, Bullhorn, Captain Grid Iron, Desert Scorpion, Dusty, European Exclusive, General Hawk, Laser Viper, Low Light, Metal Head, Pathfinder, Range Viper, Rarities, Rock Viper, SAW Viper, Sci Fi, Undertow,  MOC, Carded


You see Dusty includes the 1991 Red Star AK-47 and missile launcher.  The figure also features unique card artwork that showcases his alternate inclusions.

The 1991 Low Light follows the Dusty.

Ambush, Bullhorn, Captain Grid Iron, Desert Scorpion, Dusty, European Exclusive, General Hawk, Laser Viper, Low Light, Metal Head, Pathfinder, Range Viper, Rarities, Rock Viper, SAW Viper, Sci Fi, Undertow,  MOC, Carded


Low Light also includes the 1991 Red Star launcher and missile.

Up next is the Laser Viper.

Ambush, Bullhorn, Captain Grid Iron, Desert Scorpion, Dusty, European Exclusive, General Hawk, Laser Viper, Low Light, Metal Head, Pathfinder, Range Viper, Rarities, Rock Viper, SAW Viper, Sci Fi, Undertow,  MOC, Carded


This Laser Viper variant includes the missile launcher and missile from the 1991 Sci Fi figure.

Pathfinder shares a detail with Laser Viper:

Ambush, Bullhorn, Captain Grid Iron, Desert Scorpion, Dusty, European Exclusive, General Hawk, Laser Viper, Low Light, Metal Head, Pathfinder, Range Viper, Rarities, Rock Viper, SAW Viper, Sci Fi, Undertow,  MOC, Carded

Pathfinder also features the 1991 Sci Fi missile launcher.  These accessories appear to be unchanged from the American Sci Fi figure release.

Captain Grid Iron makes the Sci Fi launcher reuse a trifecta.

Ambush, Bullhorn, Captain Grid Iron, Desert Scorpion, Dusty, European Exclusive, General Hawk, Laser Viper, Low Light, Metal Head, Pathfinder, Range Viper, Rarities, Rock Viper, SAW Viper, Sci Fi, Undertow,  MOC, Carded


Captain Grid Iron, though, also features exclusive card artwork to help make him a little more interesting than just the reused launcher.

Metal Head brings us back to exclusive gear.

Ambush, Bullhorn, Captain Grid Iron, Desert Scorpion, Dusty, European Exclusive, General Hawk, Laser Viper, Low Light, Metal Head, Pathfinder, Range Viper, Rarities, Rock Viper, SAW Viper, Sci Fi, Undertow,  MOC, Carded


Metal Head includes a golden launcher from the 1991 Cobra Commander figure.  He also includes the standard 1991 Cobra Commander gun.

The final four figures are all Cobra army builders.

Range Viper:

Ambush, Bullhorn, Captain Grid Iron, Desert Scorpion, Dusty, European Exclusive, General Hawk, Laser Viper, Low Light, Metal Head, Pathfinder, Range Viper, Rarities, Rock Viper, SAW Viper, Sci Fi, Undertow,  MOC, Carded

The Range Viper also features Red Star's AK-47 and missile launcher.  He includes an exclusive golden missile, though.

SAW Viper:

Ambush, Bullhorn, Captain Grid Iron, Desert Scorpion, Dusty, European Exclusive, General Hawk, Laser Viper, Low Light, Metal Head, Pathfinder, Range Viper, Rarities, Rock Viper, SAW Viper, Sci Fi, Undertow,  MOC, Carded

The SAW Viper includes the gear from the 1991 Incinerator figure.  He also features exclusive card artwork that showcases his different accessories.

Desert Scorpion:

Ambush, Bullhorn, Captain Grid Iron, Desert Scorpion, Dusty, European Exclusive, General Hawk, Laser Viper, Low Light, Metal Head, Pathfinder, Range Viper, Rarities, Rock Viper, SAW Viper, Sci Fi, Undertow,  MOC, Carded

Ambush, Bullhorn, Captain Grid Iron, Desert Scorpion, Dusty, European Exclusive, General Hawk, Laser Viper, Low Light, Metal Head, Pathfinder, Range Viper, Rarities, Rock Viper, SAW Viper, Sci Fi, Undertow,  MOC, Carded

The Desert Scorpion includes the backpack and missile from the 1991 Mercer figure.  The only exclusive part of the figure is the card artwork that shows an oddball configuration for the new gear.

Undertow:

Ambush, Bullhorn, Captain Grid Iron, Desert Scorpion, Dusty, European Exclusive, General Hawk, Laser Viper, Low Light, Metal Head, Pathfinder, Range Viper, Rarities, Rock Viper, SAW Viper, Sci Fi, Undertow,  MOC, Carded


The Undertow figure also uses the gear from the 1991 Snake Eyes figure.  But, it's in an exclusive red color meant to mimic the Undertow's colors.  He also features an exclusive grey missile.

As accessory variants don't tend to command great attention as opposed to figure variants, these European figures remain very obscure.  But, they are generally hard to find and carded figures can command a premium in the right setting.  I'd love to track down a few of them as the offbeat colors are right up my collecting alley.  But, the general rarity of them makes them another fun subset in foreign Joe collecting.  One final picture is from a European catalog that showcases several of the figures in their alternate accessory configurations.

Ambush, Bullhorn, Captain Grid Iron, Desert Scorpion, Dusty, European Exclusive, General Hawk, Laser Viper, Low Light, Metal Head, Pathfinder, Range Viper, Rarities, Rock Viper, SAW Viper, Sci Fi, Undertow,  MOC, Carded

Monday, June 26, 2017

Rarities - Funskool Complan Commandos

Collectors have long known that some Funskool figures were among the rarest figures in the line.  It was not uncommon for "new" figures to be discovered well into the early 2000's.  But, after around 2004, that seemed to end.  Sure, there were lots of new variants being found.  But, completely unknown figures seemed a thing of the past.  Still, a few collectors had found some odd parts in lots they had acquired from India.  Most were written off as discolored figures or maybe some color variant of a released figure.  But, around 2009 or so, that changed with the discovery of the Complan Commandos.

The Complan Commandos were a series of five figures released by Funskool as a promotion for a kids drink.  The set consisted of Striker, Rocker, Cross Country, Rednok and Canary Ann.  Each of the figures was made from repainted G.I. Joe parts from early waves of Funskool Joes, with the male figures all being amalgamations of multiple molds.

The figures were packaged under the Complan Commandos banner.  They were done on the cheap and feature almost no paint masks and extremely minimal accessories.  Supposedly, they were a premium related to a chocolate drink available in India.  Though, I'm not sure if they were available in stores, or just as some kind of promotional item.

High quality Complan Commandos are very rare.  With that rarity comes expense.  Mint and complete versions of some figures will top $3,000 and even more.  Even really beat up samples will fetch over $100.  But, some of the early rarity was due to collectors asking for G.I. Joe only and these figures being ignored.  As collectors learned what questions to ask, more Complan Commandos appeared.  Not enough to make them common.  But, enough to make them available to more than two or three collectors.  

The first and probably most interesting figure in the lineup is Canary Ann.  She is a straight repaint of the Funskool Lady Jaye.  As the name suggests, though, the mold is repainted in a canary yellow.  Topped with a red cap, this is the most drastic look deviation of any use of the Lady Jaye mold.  The lack of paint masks are a tough miss to overcome, though.  It appears she's wearing a yellow undershirt.  It's not completely out of whack.  But, it's odd.  Her all black waist, though, is too much.  It kind of ruins the figure.

Canary Ann included a black version of Lady Jaye's gun.  You can see her filecard below, too.  The filecard is actually rather interestingly written.  It's far and away better than the Funskool exclusive filecards we say in the Joe line in the early 2000's, even though it incorporates much of Lady Jaye's filecard info.




Next up is Cross Country.  He is an amalgamation of Scrap Iron with Zap's head.  The all red body with black highlights is rather Cobra.  He likely included a version of Firefly's gun.  You will see his filecard below.  It is heavily derivative from Beach Head's filecard.




Rocker is next.  He is a blue Firefly body with a Short Fuze head.  The blue plastic is EXTREMELY prone to discoloration and most of the few Rocker's out there are heavily discolored.  The figure included a version of Torpedo's harpoon gun.



Rednok is the second female in the 5 figure set.  She is a red repaint of the Baroness.  Prior to 2002, this would have been an extremely in demand figure.  However, we have seen many red Baroness repaints in the 15 years since then.  And, as such, this version with no painted highlights just looks cheap.  But, as it's a Baroness repaint, Rednok will always maintain collector demand.  She likely included a version of Major Bludd's pistol.  Her filecard steals from both Jinx and Low Light.  This is odd as neither of those characters ever appeared in India.  So, you wonder where Funskool got the information.  The fact that her glasses are fake are also a different character trait.




The final figure is Striker.  He is a green repaint of Gung Ho with a black haired Short Fuze head.  The figure looks a bit odd without the Marine Corps tattoo on his chest.  But, it's a different look for the mold.  (There is also an olive drab version of Gung Ho that was available as a Funskool vehicle driver that may have been a recolor using the paint masks from this figure.)  Striker included Gung Ho's grenade launcher.  His filecard steals from Big Boa.  I love that Bowling Ball was changed to Cricket Ball for the Indian audience.  The connotation changes quite a bit with this little detail.



These figures exude cheapness and would be hated were they not among the rarest figures ever released anywhere in the world.  Even then, they aren't appreciated for their quality but their rarity and value.  The card artwork and filecards are, for me, the most interesting part since they take so much from around the Joe world.  But, for the hundreds to thousands of dollars these guys cost, those traits aren't enough to get me really interested in the figures.  Sometimes rarity trumps something cool.  Other times, though, it masks something that's kind of lame.  And, in the case of these figures, were they common, no one would touch them.  But, since they are extremely rare, collectors care and give them due they would not earn on their own design merits.

Saturday, June 24, 2017

Rarities - 1995 Ninja Commando Road Pig

Road Pig was far and away the oddest choice for the Ninja Commandos subset.  How did a muscle bound schizophrenic find the time to become a ninja?  I'd have loved to have seen the filecard that explained that one.

As a figure, Road Pig isn't great.  The face and chest are well detailed, but uninteresting.  He's just a guy with no shirt on.  His legs lack any real details or definition.  The only real highlight is the head.  It is true to Road Pig and well detailed.  But, even it isn't that much different from the 1988 sculpt.

Hasbro actually did release part of this figure.  The chest and arms were used on the Mortal Combat Movie Edition Liu Kang figure.  So, the mold did get some use.  Liu Kang gave customizers a chance to interpret this figure and make their own.  That was rare for unproduced concepts.  But, in looking at this figure, he's definitely a case where collectors didn't miss out on much by him being cancelled.

Ninja Commando Road Pigs exist both in unpainted and fully painted production level form.  In the mid 2000's, quite a few of these unpainted figures showed up from Asian sellers.  They were likely overstock that had been sitting around for a while and was discovered when the market for Joes took off.  Being a Ninja Commando, either form still fetches a decent price.  But, many collectors are not keen on the subset and are less keen on Road Pig as a ninja.  So, you will also see this figure sit unsold at prices that are similar to other characters from the same set who do sell.  While 1995 would have had some amazing new figures that would have been well liked by collectors to this day, it would also have given us a ninja Road Pig.  So, we did dodge a few bullets, too.

1995 Ninja Commando Road Pig, Unproduced, Prototype

1995 Ninja Commando Road Pig, Unproduced, Prototype

1995 Ninja Commando Road Pig, Unproduced, Prototype

Friday, June 23, 2017

Rarities - Alternate 2004 Cobra Urban Strike Set

In 2004, Hasbro came through for collectors of vintage Joe molds.  The year started with the highly anticipated Cobra Infantry and collector favorite Night Force sets.  This lead to great speculation that the follow up sets would be similar.  When the Cobra Urban Strike set was announced, collectors quickly got angry that Hasbro had abandoned the 6 army builder theme that was used for the Cobra Infantry.  In their rage, they overlooked a quiet gem of the repaint era.  The Urban Strike set was a nice mix of molds that hadn't been seen in a while coupled with excellent repaints of collector favorite molds.  But, the original design for the set was quite different.  And, many of these original figures showed up and were available from Asian Joe sellers in the mid 2000's.

The set below showcases the differences for the figures.  The main inclusion is the red color on Firefly, Night Creeper and the Nullifier.  While red is a standard Cobra color, Hasbro was seemingly on a quest to crimson-fy every Cobra character during the repaint era.  It was annoying.  So, them removing it from this set was a huge improvement.

In the end, this is definitely a set that was improved before it went to production.  The red creates flaws on each of figures on which is appears.  And, the superfluous cammo on Scrap Iron and the Alley Viper overly complicated otherwise solid paint jobs.  The grey Stormshadow is nice.  If that mold didn't suck and hadn't been used so many times in 2004, I might have a stronger opinion of it.  But, since it was generally a bad figure either way, I call it wash between the two versions of that character.

These figures were readily available from 2004 - 2006 or so.  Usually, they'd sell for under $20 each with the characters getting even cheaper.  Like all these figures, the alternate Urban Strike set has gotten much harder to find and more expensive in the ensuing decade.  But, it hasn't found collector interest on par with the alternate Anti-Venom figures who would have been their contemporaries.  I'm glad Hasbro made the modifications to the set that they did prior to production.  These figures are interesting.  But, they are also inferior to the production set.  And, the Urban Strike had so much good stuff in it that it remains one of the few bright spots for ARAH molds from that era.

Urban Strike, Firefly, Scrap Iron, Nullifier, Flak Viper, Storm Shadow, Alley Viper, Night Creeper, Toys R Us Exclusive, TRU, Midnight Chinese, unproduced, variant

Thursday, June 22, 2017

Target Exclusive Hit and Run - Parachute Pack

As 1988 wound down, Hasbro produced a few special figure releases that were repacks of some of their 1988 figure offerings.  These special packs were marketing gimmicks to entice gift givers to choose something G.I. Joe for their recipients.  There was a special Voltar vs. Muskrat pack that featured exclusive packaging.  The option that is most familiar to me, though, is the Target exclusive Parachute Pack Hit and Run figure.

This exclusive showed up at some point in 1988.  The Hit and Run figure itself was no different than the standard version that was still available on a single card.  In addition to his traditional accessories, though, the figure also included Parachute Pack that was taken from the same mold as the long time mail away premium.

MOC, this figure is rather hard to find and extremely expensive.  Loose, the figure is easily made from a Hit and Run and common Parachute Pack.  (There are, though, differences in the parachute pack with one made in China and one made in Hong Kong.  It's possible that one of these is either exclusive to this Hit and Run or that Hit and Run only included one of the chutes but the chute was also available as a mail away.  I've never seen a carded version of this figure with the chute packaged so you can see the made in stamp and no one is going to open a $1,000 carded figure to find out something so trivial.)  So, you don't often see the figure command a premium.  But, the cardback did include a unique, orange backed filecard.  You will see this exclusive bio sell for substantially more than all but the rarest filecards in the line.

Hit and Run was one of the last figures I purchased at retail in early 1988 before I quit collecting Joe.  However, my youngest brother continued buying figures through the year.  And, at some point, he acquired this figure.  I remember as I found the Hit and Run lying around the house and I thought he had stolen mine from the closet in my room again.  However, I found mine safe in his plastic baggie inside a Lego container on the floor.  I then found the packaging for this figure and realized he was something different.

For some reason, I had not saved the filecards from my 1988 figure purchases.  (Still don't know why that was since I had been religious about filecard clipping since 1983.)  So, I cut the orange file card off of the packaging and added it to my Hit and Run that was saved away.  That proved fortuitous in later years when the filecard got scarce and pricey since I already had one.

Hasbro didn't really do re-releases like this Hit and Run again.  Any later special offers were packaged with an exclusive figure to make them more enticing.  But, this figure serves as a somewhat pre-cursor to Sky Patrol who would debut two years later.  It is also an excellent pairing of figure and gear that Hasbro would move away from as the line sputtered out.

1988 Hit and Run, Target Exclusive, Parachute Pack, Mail Away, 1985, MOC, Filecard, Carded


1988 Hit and Run, Target Exclusive, Parachute Pack, Mail Away, 1985, MOC, Filecard, Carded

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Rarities - Early Wave Funskool Figures

The early years of Funskool figures featured collector favorite molds in colors that were supposed to be close to the look of the American figure release.  In most cases, Funskool followed this pattern.  But, in some cases, they departed from the character's established look rather radically.  We'll start off with a Funskool catalog that was inserted with many vehicles of the day.

Early Funskool Figures, Catalog
Funskool Figure Catalog Insert
You will notice that Stalker is black (and appears to be wearing a backpack), Zap is straight arm holding the early bazooka that was only released in the U.S. and that many of the figures appear to be stock photography of American figure releases.  However, you do see Cobra Commander with the Crazylegs with which he was released in India.  So, you have a mix.  What you don't see here, though, are the multitude of variants that accompanied many of these figures when they were released in India.

Of the 6 Joes shown, three of them (Zap, Short Fuse and Stalker) all have many Funskool variants, all of which are very different from one another.  Gung Ho, Hawk and Chuckles still have variants.  Though, they are minor in comparison to their counterparts.  Below you can see examples of a Red Stalker (with caucasian skin) and an Emerald Green Zap figure.



The Cobras shown have equally dramatic variants available.  Of the 10 figures, 4 have major variants. (Scrap Iron, Buzzer, Ripper and Major Bludd)  The rest are somewhat different from their American counterparts, but are designed after the iconic appearance.  There are lots of small variants within each figure.  But, none as major as those for the four listed above.  Scrap Iron has a very rare green trimmed figure.  Ripper has a purple trimmer variant that is also tough to find and very famous which is shown.  You'll also see examples of a blue and yellow Major Bludd as well as a dark haired, red vested Buzzer below.






In addition to these catalog figures, Funskool also had a wide variety of other characters who were released, some in drastically different colors.  Below you will see the yellow Torpedo, the black version of Snake Eyes with silver highlights as well as some examples of the hard to find Funskool Clutch figure.  There were many more rare variants, too.  Included in these are blue versions of Hawk and Short Fuse, the yellow and red Beach Head and the blue Snake Eyes.  All of them have become highly sought after these days and high quality specimens command premium prices.





Funskool likely had to change these alternate versions to something more similar to the American releases so that the characters matched their appearances in cartoons and print ads.  Funskool was obligated to follow Hasbro's color palette for characters that Hasbro deemed important.  That's why all of these major characters have Funskool versions that are nearly identical to the American release.  But, figures like the 1991 Grunt and Wild Bill were not deemed important by Hasbro and Funskool was able to produce those figures in any color scheme they desired.  Thus, we have so many wacky repaints from the early 2000's era.

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Rarities - Clear Shadow Ninja Prototypes

A great many collectors hate the Shadow Ninjas.  Actually, that's probably not overly accurate.  It's more correct to state that most collectors are indifferent to the existence of the Shadow Ninjas.  They may own a couple that were acquired in lots of better figures.  But, few people actually collect them and fewer still consider them an integral part of the Joe line.

It appears, though, that the Shadow Ninja concept morphed a bit in the design process.  Instead of the color changing plastic that was released at retail, Hasbro originally considered clear figures for the series.  A few samples of these clear version made it out into the world and you can see examples of Snake Eyes, Stormshadow and Night Creeper below.

While the idea of clear figures would have been novel at the time, the design would have run its course quickly.  Maybe if one of the figures in the set had been "invisible", it would have been a cool gimmick.  But, a whole series of them quickly showed the fad's limitations.  You can see the inner workings of the figures.  And, since these molds all had spring loaded features, there's a lot of guts to see.

There's no real info as to why this concept was abandoned for the color changing plastic.  We can speculate that the color changing gimmick was better received than the clear plastic.  But, we don't know for sure.  These figures are an interesting look into what might have been, though.

Please read the comments below.  These were engineering samples designed to showcase the inner workings of the figures.  They seem to exist for the Shadow Ninja line.  It seems there are several sets of them out there.

1994 Shadow Ninja Stormshadow, Translucent, Clear, Prototype, Unproduced, Night Creeper, Snake Eyes
Night Creeper Unreleased Figure

1994 Shadow Ninja Stormshadow, Translucent, Clear, Prototype, Unproduced, Night Creeper, Snake Eyes
Clear Snake Eyes Unreleased Figure

1994 Shadow Ninja Stormshadow, Translucent, Clear, Prototype, Unproduced, Night Creeper, Snake Eyes
Clear Stormshadow Unreleased Figure



Monday, June 19, 2017

Rarities - Alternate 2002 BJ's Snake Eyes

I've showcased 6 figures in the BJ's 8 figure set who had alternate figure designs.  Today is the seventh: Snake Eyes.  The unproduced version of Joe's iconic character has a decidedly different look.  This body is in a base of faint green.  It is a stark new look for Snake Eyes and gives him an odd appearance.

Hasbro was fairly protective of Snake Eyes' iconic black base for a long time.  So, it is unlikely that this figure was ever seriously considered for release.  But, the fact that it is fully painted shows that it was part of a color sample and did get far enough in the process to be a late rejection.

During the heyday of the these alternate figures' availability, Snake Eyes wasn't too popular.  The 1989 mold was overused by Hasbro and collectors soured on it: even in unproduced forms.  While the Firefly and Roadblock from this set fetched high prices, this Snake Eyes was relatively forgotten.  He would often go unsold or sell cheaply.  What interest there was in the mold was mostly focused on the better unproduced Wal Mart Sky Patrol version of the same mold that was also available at the time.  Like all of these alternate, unproduced Asian figures, though, this Snake Eyes has gotten harder to find and more expensive.

As an oddity, this guy is actually kind of interesting.  The gold looks better on the green than it did on the production black.  You will note this figure is missing the terrible GI JOE logo on the figure's leg.  And, the production figure features a 2nd, silver paint mask over the knives' blades that is missing here.  But, this figure also has paint armbands and grenades that were left black on the production piece.  So, it's definitely a mishmash of a few designs.

As an oddity, this figure is interesting.  But, as a fully released figure, I think he'd be as forgettable as the retail BJ's set figure is.  The green would have been a short topic of conversation during the time.  But, the purple release in 2003 would have stolen all the focus off of this figure had it seen production.  It is, definitely, a relic of that era's unproduced figures.  But, isn't anything that really catches a collector's eye.

2002, Unproduced, BJ's Exclusive, Snake Eyes, Midnight Chinese, Alternate, Variant

2002, Unproduced, BJ's Exclusive, Snake Eyes, Midnight Chinese, Alternate, Variant