Monday, July 31, 2017

2001 Funskool Crimson Guard Immortal - Around the Web

16 Years ago today, I profiled the newly released Funskool Crimson Guard Immortal figure.  At the time of this figure's release, it was one of the most anticipated army builders of all time.  Collectors salivated over being able to buy them by the dozens.  And, they did.  Dealers constantly sold out of the figure as people built up massive armies of CGI's at insanely low prices.

There area  few variants of the figure with him having gold, silver or black bullets on his leg.  You don't see much interest in those variances, now, but they were something fun to differentiate the figure back in 2001.  Today, the Funskool Crimson Guard Immortal is harder to find and is no longer a cheap army builder if you buy carded examples.  And, with lots of army builders to now choose from the limitations of the mold are more evident.  But, this figure is a reminder of a much different time in the Joe world when every month brought news of an upcoming release.  Here's the best on this figure from around the web.

Funskool CGI Profile

Crimson Guard Immortal at Serpentor's Lair

Thursday, July 27, 2017

2004 Anti Venom Barricade - Around the Web

The Anti-Venom set was pretty well done and it a nice update of many figures.  Barricade is among them and this was his only release in the repaint era.  It was good to see him, though, in a color scheme that really made the mold more valuable.

Barricade Profile

Unproduced Anti-Venom Figures - Dark Blue

Barricade at GeneralsJoes.com

Barricade at JoeADay.com

Barricade at HalfTheBattle.com

2004 Anti Venom Barricade, Duke


2004 Anti Venom Barricade, Night Force Flint, Funskool Ripper

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

2003 DVD Snake Eyes - Around the Web

Hasbro dropped a surprise DVD Snake Eyes repaint in early 2003.  Bagged samples first showed up in 2002 and, due to the similarity to the Toy Fare Snake Eyes figure, may collectors thought it might end up being an unproduced figure which lead to insane pricing.  But, this figure turned out to be readily available and anyone who wanted one could get him.  It's a great Snake Eyes repaint and something a little different for the character.  I thought there would be more on him out of the web.  But, the content was pretty sparse.  Here's the best of what I could find.

2003 DVD Snake Eyes Profile

DVD Snake Eyes at JoeADay.com

Snake Eyes at Comicbookbin

2003 Snake Eyes, DVD, Purple, 1982 VAMP, 2004 Night Force Flint, Toys R Us Exlcusive

2003 Snake Eyes, DVD, Purple, 1982 VAMP, 2004 Night Force Flint, Toys R Us Exlcusive

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

1997 Alley Viper - Around the Web

At the time of his release, the 1997 Alley Viper was generally reviled.  Most collectors didn't care for him since vintage army builders were so cheap.  Now, though, a lot has changed and this figure is one of the better colored and desirable Alley Viper figures.  Here's the best on him from around the web.

1997 Alley Viper Profile 1

1997 Alley Viper Profile 2

1997 Alley Viper at JoeADay.com

Alley Viper at JomiToys.com

Hand Painted Alley Viper at YoJoe.com

Unproduced Boxed Set Alley Viper at YoJoe.com

1997 Alley Viper at Serpentor's Lair

Alley Viper at HalfTheBattle

1997 Alley Viper, Brazil, Cobra Flying Scorpion, Escorpoa Voador, Estrela, 1983 Hiss Tank

Monday, July 24, 2017

1987 Payload - Around the Web!

Payload is the Joe Team's original astronaut and remains one of the best space themed molds Hasbro ever produced.  The original version has the best coloring on the mold.  But, all three uses of the mold (1987, 1989, Brazil Orbita) are hard to find and somewhat expensive.  Here's the best of him from around the web.

Payload Profile

Payload Pre Production Figure at YoJoe.com

Payload by badgerscratch

Payload Variant at JoeDios.com 1

Payload at 3DJoes.com

Payload at JoeDios.com 2



Sunday, July 23, 2017

1987 Chuckles - Around the Web

Chuckles is a figure that should be terrible but is kind of fun.  His holster and pistol are excellent accessories.  And, his outfit is a nice way to get a civilian-esque figure into the line.  I've long used him as my de facto prisoner figure.  And, for that reason, I have a about half a dozen of him.  Here's the best on him from around the web.

Chuckles Profile

Chuckles Video Review 1

Chuckles Dio

Chuckles Video Review 2

Chuckles Packaging Review at JoeADay.com

1987 Chuckles, 1986 BAT, Battle Android Trooper, Cobra

Thursday, July 20, 2017

1986 Sci Fi - Around the Web

Sci Fi isn't a figure that I really enjoyed as a kid.  Even as an adult, his oversized head and gear takes a lot away from an otherwise decent design.  The bright green color is eye-catching, though, and does brighten up what had been, up until 1986, a relatively modest mix of figure colors.  Here's the best on him from around the web:

Sci Fi Profile

Sci Fi Video Review

Sci Fi at JoeADay.com

Sci Fi at Joepedia

Sci Fi Video Review 2

1986 Sci Fi, Mainframe, 1985 Snake Eyes, Mauler





Tuesday, July 18, 2017

1993 Col. Courage

When I first returned to Joe collecting in the mid 1990's, there were lots of figures for me to buy.  Mostly, this was because I didn't have any figure released after 1989.  But, it was also because Hasbro produced a ton of new figures between 1992 and 1994.  As the months and years went by, though, I managed to buy all of the best figures that were out.  As these dried up, I looked for other criteria that could justify a purchase, such as if the figure included black accessories.  Eventually, though, even these dried up and all I was left was the dregs of the Joe releases.  Outside of the standard subsets like Street Fighter and Ninja Force, there were a few figures that were always easy to get.  Gristle, Beach-Head and Dr. Mindbender were often among the last figures you could find on the pegs.  Another was Col. Courage.

For me, Col. Courage was about one thing and one thing only: the green version of Tunnel Rat's rifle that was included with him.  I instantly recognized the gun when I saw it framed in the package behind the figure.  As a kid, Tunnel Rat's rifle had been one of my last favorites.  But, for some reason, my version was brittle.  As such, the handle broke off (a rare breakage that occurred after 1986) and was rendered useless.  Col. Courage was the first time I had seen the rifle re-used.  (There were older uses, but I was not collecting when they occurred.)  So, I bought the figure for his gun.  Shortly after his acquisition, though, the folly of a neon green weapon assigned to Tunnel Rat became apparent.  But, the figure itself proved somewhat worthwhile.

In the mid 1990's, the only figures I had available to me were a handful of childhood leftovers that were mostly off condition and lacking accessories and the figures I could find at retail.  As the retail figures were new, in good shape and had gear (no matter how poorly colored it might be), they found themselves in various roles outside of the figures' specialties.  For Col Courage, his main use was a generic soldier.  His uniform suggested that he could be a basic grunt (Aside from the tie!) and his plethora of weapons were useful against the onslaught of Crimson Guard Commanders and 1994 Vipers who formed my Cobra army of the day.  In this role, Col. Courage might save the day.  But, far more often, he would die.  Sometimes quickly in the fight and other times, he would last until the final three or four men against Cobra.  But, he found some usage here just to the complete lack of options available to me.

Naturally, as my collection grew with the advent of online acquisitions in the late 1990's, Col. Courage's value proportionally decreased.  I had many better figures to fill any role I wanted.  And, now, I had the means to acquire those figures both in good condition and complete.  So, any advantage held by Col. Courage and some of his less than stellar ilk was lost as I brought more and more outside figures into my collection.  As a sculpted figure, though, Col. Courage isn't terrible.  He is well detailed and the colors used are fairly calm, aside from the neon green highlights.

Col. Courage features a nice complement of weapons.  His tree includes the Tunnel Rate machine gun, a rifle from the Sky Patrol Airborne figure, Shockwave's pistol, Muskrat's machete and Blaster's oddball Battleforce 2000 cannon.  Of course, they are all colored neon green which really limits their usefulness.  He also included the requisite spring loaded missile launcher and missiles.  If you can find some spare weapons in black (his tree was released in black with Predacon) they work much better and draw away from the neon green highlights of the figure: giving Col. Courage a much more muted look.  But, really, there's not much to say about this figure.  Aside from the tucked in necktie, there is nothing exceptional about the mold.  But, for a 1993 release, Col. Courage is just subtle enough that he blends into the line and remains an obscure release.

Col. Courage's mold was used by Hasbro in 1993.  He featured new arms, chest and head.  But, used the lower body from Recoil.  Shortly thereafter, the mold was sent to Brazil.  There, Estrela released the mold as Coronel Coragem (which is a direct translation for Col. Courage) but with caucasian skin.  This figure really is the interesting part of the Col. Courage story.  In Brazil, Recoil's body was used twice around 1993 and 1994 for the Tigor and Flying Scorpion figures.  Neither of these, though, used Recoil's lower body.  The reason being that Hasbro kept it for use with Col. Courage.  Estrela, ultimately, got the rest of the Recoil mold when they released the Coronel Coragem figure.  Col. Courage disappeared after this release.  However, Coragem was released in Brazil with three other figures: Marfim, Brutus and Vandalo.  Brutus and Vandalo are noteworthy as they used the molds from the Headhunter and Gristle figures, respectively.  Hasbro released both of those molds in 2008.  As such, it was extremely likely that Hasbro had access to the Col. Courage mold at that time, but never used it.

This is really a shame.  In 2005, Hasbro produced the terrible Greenshirts 6 figure set that was released at Toys R Us.  Col. Courage's mold would have been a great greenshirt who would have fit into that set and given collectors a very different take on the mold.  Instead, we got the horrible figures that barely fit together and look like knock offs.  Hasbro's inability to search out and understand that the 1990's molds were full of valuable repaints was a big part of why the repaint suffered so much.  Two or three repainted Col. Courages figures, two or three Steel Brigade updates and even two of the Greenshirts that were released would have been a pack that collectors would still enjoy.  But, like so many other opportunities of that era, Hasbro simply squandered it for poor reasons.  It's an almost certainty that this mold is gone now.  But, at least there's something out there for collectors to enjoy.

Left on their own, mint and complete Col. Courage figures will sell for $2 - $3.  Dealers will get $9 or $10 for him.  But, that's mainly due to limited supplies driven by the fact that the figure is immensely unpopular.  The late release, substandard name, neon green highlights and the tie on a combat uniform all add up to a figure that has never and will never catch on in the collecting community.  As a background filler, though, Col. Courage is a good pick up for a couple of bucks.  His mold doesn't have the heft of many of his contemporaries and he can fit in with figures from many years.  That's not a bad little use for a cheap and common figure.

1993 Col Courage, Bazooka, Battle Corps


1993 Col Courage, Spirit Iron Knife, Mail Away, International Force, Battle Corps

1993 Col Courage, Spirit Iron Knife, Mail Away, International Force

Saturday, July 15, 2017

Diorama - The Trojan BAT

Hot Seat picks up the latest supply crate and enlists Fast Draw and Dodger to unload it.

Red Laser Army, Bootleg, BAT, Battle Android Trooper, Stinger BAT, 1987 Fast Draw, 1989 Hot Seat, Dodger, BattleForce 2000, 1992 Mutt, DEF, 1983 G.I. Joe HQ

Red Laser Army, Bootleg, BAT, Battle Android Trooper, Stinger BAT, 1987 Fast Draw, 1989 Hot Seat, Dodger, BattleForce 2000, 1992 Mutt, DEF, 1983 G.I. Joe HQ

But, the crate comes to life as a hidden BAT explodes from the box.

Red Laser Army, Bootleg, BAT, Battle Android Trooper, Stinger BAT, 1987 Fast Draw, 1989 Hot Seat, Dodger, BattleForce 2000, 1992 Mutt, DEF, 1983 G.I. Joe HQ

Hot Seat is quickly taken out.

Red Laser Army, Bootleg, BAT, Battle Android Trooper, Stinger BAT, 1987 Fast Draw, 1989 Hot Seat, Dodger, BattleForce 2000, 1992 Mutt, DEF, 1983 G.I. Joe HQ

Fast Draw fails as the BAT moves on to Dodger.

Red Laser Army, Bootleg, BAT, Battle Android Trooper, Stinger BAT, 1987 Fast Draw, 1989 Hot Seat, Dodger, BattleForce 2000, 1992 Mutt, DEF, 1983 G.I. Joe HQ

Mutt hears the commotion and arrives just in time.

Red Laser Army, Bootleg, BAT, Battle Android Trooper, Stinger BAT, 1987 Fast Draw, 1989 Hot Seat, Dodger, BattleForce 2000, 1992 Mutt, DEF, 1983 G.I. Joe HQ

The BAT is dispatched.

Red Laser Army, Bootleg, BAT, Battle Android Trooper, Stinger BAT, 1987 Fast Draw, 1989 Hot Seat, Dodger, BattleForce 2000, 1992 Mutt, DEF, 1983 G.I. Joe HQ

Thursday, July 13, 2017

1983 Tripwire - Around the Web

The Joe team's favorite klutz is also one of the better designed figures from his era.  Tripwire's look fits his specialty and his gear is excellent.  He's one of those background characters who is essential to the long term prosperity of a toy line.  Here's the best of him from around the web.

Tripwire Profile

Tripwire Dio

Tripwire Variants

Tripwire Instagram 01

Tripwire Instagram 02

Tripwire Video Review

Tripwire at 3DJoes.com


1983 Tripwire, Rock and Roll, Cover Girl, Grunt, Falcon Glider, Wolverine




























1983 Tripwire, Rock and Roll, Cover Girl, Grunt, Falcon Glider, Wolverine, TNT, Plastirama, Argentina, Bomb Disposal

Tuesday, July 11, 2017

1988 Lightfoot

I have many odd, random memories from my youth.  While I recall certain major events, I also find that some small, specific items stick with me and maintain a clarity that is not present for occurrences of far greater significance.  I don't really know why this is.  One of these days, I'll have to research it a bit and see if I can come across some explanation.  But, one such incident involved the 1988 Lightfoot figure.  Aside from this poignant memory, I would not have any recollection of this figure at all.  But, those are the weird nuances of the human brain.

In 1988, I was done with Joes after the first couple of months of the year.  I picked up a few figures in the early part of the year, but after that, my Joe buying days were over.  My youngest brother, though, continued to acquire new figures throughout the year.  As I was into my own stuff, it was rare that I'd have insight into his figure purchases until I'd find a random figure strewn about the house.  Inevitably, the accessories were already dispersed in multiple rooms and the figure's packaging had been thrown away.  So, tracking down all of a figure's gear was often tough.

One day, I happened upon the Lightfoot figure.  He was easy to notice due to the bright yellow color.  For me, though, this was not a detriment...especially once I saw the helmet included with the character.  My final Joe playing days had involved a lot of aerial combat between Sky Hawks and Cobra Drones either from the Night Raven or the Mamba.  I searched long and hard for figures that would make good pilots for the Joe aircraft.  Based on years' worth of Star Wars watching, my Joe pilots had to have certain attributes that would make their inevitable death sequences exciting.  Removable helmets and airmasks were great...especially for Joes who would become trapped in their air filled cockpits beneath the ocean: unable to escape without outside help of highly skilled divers.

So, seeing Lightfoot immediately brought to mind him leaning forward, helmet falling down as his aircraft exploded from behind him.  So, I included the figure in any little 5 minute adventure I might steal away when no one was in the house.  But, the true memory of the figure is from sometime in the summer of 1988.  My parents had an ancient vacuum cleaner.  It was probably made in the late 1960's.  It wasn't the main floor vacuum.  But, it had a hose attachment and was the only way to clean corners or around the baseboards on the floor.  One day, while using this beast, I accidentally sucked up Lightfoot's helmet.  Had I not cared about the figure, it's doubtful I'd have done anything other than shrugged it off.  But, I liked the helmet and wanted it back.  So, I took the vacuum outside, onto the poured concrete stops that lead from an unused door on an addition my father had built onto the house in the early '80's. These steps were rough concrete and were next to a small garden full of hostas that were supported by limestone fossil rocks my brothers and I had found in various camping excursions through the years.  This garden was home to many Joe adventures since it was relatively small and I could sit on the steps or the driveway to play, rather than the mud and grass in the backyard.

But, on these steps, I dug out months and months worth of lint and dirt from the vacuum bag in search of Lightfoot's helmet.  You would think that being the last think sucked into the vortex that it would have been on top of the bag.  But, no.  I had to empty out most of the bag before I found the helmet.  It was no worse for wear other than being covered in a fine layer of dirt.  I washed it off, replaced the vacuum bag and Lightfoot's relevance to my youth ended.

Fast forwarding to around 1995 and 1996, though, Lightfoot was still around.  My brother's interest in Joe basically ended in 1988 as well.  (I'm not sure we had any 1989 figures in our house aside from a few, random appearances of figures that neither my brothers nor I had any recollection of purchasing.)  So, the Lightfoot figure was in good shape.  When I started collecting Joes again in the mid 1990's, the Lightfoot figure was one of the few who was in really good shape.  And, as I hadn't used him much as a kid, he still seemed new to me.  So, when I had just a shoebox of a couple of dozen figures from which to choose to display on my shelves, Lightfoot made the cut.  He was either in the co pilot's chair in the Tomahawk or driving the APC.  But, he found a home since he fit in so well with the neon heavy figures that I was still able to buy at retail in those years.

Since then, though, Lightfoot has been pretty much neglected.  There are lots of better figures for his specialty.  And, my need for new pilots is sated by better figures that fill that role, too.  When it came time to get the Lightfoot character, the Night Force version was really the only choice.  It is really a nice figure and blows this version out of the water.  With that in hand, I had no real use for the yellow version.  So, this Lightfoot fell into obscurity...so much so that I sold my only complete versions without realizing I was missing some gear for my final figure.

As a figure, Lightfoot is three basic colors: yellow, green and black.  They are an eye-catching combination whose stark contrasts does create a visually appealing figure.  Like many 1988 figures, though, Lightfoot is somewhat light on the paint applications and has some unpainted details on his mold.  He's got some body armor, but not enough to really matter and the grenades attached to his chest would offset any value gained from that armor.  Beyond that, the figure is non-descript.  Were he in more muted colors, he's be nothing more than a Wild Card or Armadillo with accessories.

In the accessory department, Lightfoot is unusual.  He comes with a lot of gear.  Usually, figures who included lots of gear had really cool uses for it.  Lightfoot's complement, though, seems mundane and boring.  He has a backpack to which he can attach his "sniffer" either directly through the pegs on the pack or via the belt that can attach to both.  He also includes a robot.  But, it's boring and bright red.  Lightfoot's pack has a lenticular sticker, as does the robot.  But, the overall design just isn't fun.  When you see Trip Wire's mine detector, you know what it is.  Seeing Lightfoot, his specialty is not overly apparent.  His helmet is really just bizarre and bulky.  Plus, it's in a blue color that really doesn't fit the overall color scheme of the figure.  Lightfoot looks better with his gear on.  But, the gear itself isn't all that much fun or useful.

The Lightfoot mold was used three times.  The first was this original version in 1988.  The Night Force version then appeared in 1989.  After that, the mold was sent to Brazil where it was released as Desarmer.  Desarmer is colored nearly identical to the 1988 Lightfoot and includes the same gear.  Lightfoot disappears from there.  Many of his contemporaries in Brazil later appeared in India.  But, many also never appeared again.  It is very likely that Hasbro got the mold back at some point in time.  But, they either then sent it to Funskool or simply packed it away in Asia and never bothered looking for it again.  But, really, the Night Force Lightfoot is pretty much a perfect repaint of the figure.  While you could make a case that the mold might look good in some different colors, there's many other figures I would have wanted to see repainted ahead of him.  At least collectors got one really nice version and alternate, bright version for other uses.

While Night Force Lightfoot figures tend to be very expensive, the original version is not.  Despite lots of easily lost accessories and lenticular decals, the figure remains cheap.  Mint and complete with filecard versions can be purchased for around $7.  But, you can get carded versions for around $20.  (Most of the Night Force Lightfoot's individual accessories sell for more than a mint and complete 1988 figure!)  Either is a solid way to get an interesting figure for a cheap price.    It's hard to call Lightfoot a background character since he's so obscure.  But, he provides good filler and he does look kind of cool when he's fully accessorized.


1988 Lightfoot, Super Trooper, Mail Away, Cobra Imp


1988 Lightfoot, Sgt. Slaughter, Cobra Imp, Night Force crazylegs

Thursday, July 6, 2017

1998 Thunderwing - Around the Web

The 1998 Thunderwing is a fairly obscure release.  He was unpopular in his time and was even more unpopular when he was repackaged for release in 2000.  But, the figure is very well done.  The odd hue of green is unique among Joe figures and helps him stand apart from other, early molds.  Plus, the paint details are convention level.  He's turned into one of my personal highlights from the post vintage eras of Joe.  Here's the best of him from around the web.

Thunderwing Profile

Thunderwing Dio 1

Thunderwing at Half the Battle

Thunderwing Dio 2

Thunderwing and MOBAT Video Review

Thunderwing Dio 3

Thunderwing on Instagram 01

Thunderwing by Roboid

1998 Thunderwing, Thunder, 1997 Zap, Snake Eyes, Bazooka Soldier

1998 Thunderwing, Thunder, 1997 Zap, Snake Eyes, Bazooka Soldier, Slugger, MOBAT

Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Admiral Raddus - Rogue One

First impressions can be tough.  They are a vital part of the human decision making experience.  But, in cases where they are wrong, you can miss out on something great.  Months and months ago, I saw the publicity photos of a figure from the new movie, Rogue One.  It was a dark skinned Calamari who, at the time, appeared to be wearing an Imperial uniform.  My thought was that it was lame to make a dark skinned alien be a bad guy.  And, I put the figure out of my mind.  I really didn't have any anticipation of seeing Rogue One.  So, I forgot about the figure entirely.  Fast forward to December of 2016 and events conspired on the film's opening night where I ended up attending a late showing.  I left with Rogue One tentatively holding a place among my top three Star Wars films.  But, one takeaway from the screening was the impression left by the new character Admiral Raddus.

Doing a search on the character in the following days from watching the movie turned up the old, forgotten images of the character.  Seeing that he was going to have an action figure was exciting.  But, I could find no info pertaining to his release date.  Slowly, I came to know that he was a future planned release.  As I started re-following the Star Wars toy news a bit more closely, I also started seeing the rumors that his wave might be cancelled or available in extremely limited quantities.  This was disconcerting as Raddus was a character of whom I wanted a figure.  But, it eventually became apparent the toy would see some release: it was just not known how easy the figure would be to find.

As my local Wal Mart sold out of single carded figure in early January, I held up hopes that, were the figure released to retail, I might luck out and be one of the stores likely to get the wave.  Months passed, though, and the Wal Mart never restocked.  Empty pegs stared out at me, even when reports of new figures being found at Wal Marts around the country were pouring in.  So, I resigned myself that, even if the figure did appear at retail, it would be unlikely to hit my store rotation.  Soon, Raddus began to appear online.  The prices were far higher than I really wanted to spend on a figure like this.  But, still, he was character that a repeat viewing of Rogue One had confirmed was interesting enough to warrant a toy in my collection.  Finally, prices dropped low enough for a stand alone purchase that I bit.  Overall, I probably overpaid for Raddus.  But, in grouping him with 6 other figures, I was able to bring the per figure cost under $6 each: which would have been less than retail were he actually released via that avenue.

As a figure, Raddus is very well done, though.  The five points of articulation are annoying.  Especially since's Raddus' only scenes are of him sitting down.  But, if Hasbro is only going to make figures in this articulation pattern, they should all have the overall quality of Raddus.  The paint job is excellent.  The sculpting on the head is exquisite and the the colors are true to the character.  Raddus' mouth also opens to give an additional bit of characterization.  The rest of the figure below the neck is OK.  It's a relatively boring design.  But, the head brings all the pizzazz you would want for a character like Raddus.  He, of course, includes a spring loaded weapon that's very reminscent of the G.I. Joe accessories from the early 1990's.  He also has a Rebel blaster to allow kids some play element.  Though, of course, no kid will ever own him since he was only available through collector channels.

Raddus, however, brings up a major plot hole that was created by Rogue One.  In A New Hope, Vader and Tarkin desperately require Princess Leia because she knows the location of the Rebel Base.  However, Rogue One created a couple of issues with this.  First, the Tantive IV was shown docked on the moon of Yavin.  So, ostensibly, the entire crew, including the scores of Rebel Fleet Troopers and droids that were shown being lead away to prison in A New Hope would have know the location of the base.  But, more importantly, the Battle of Scarif left Raddus' command ship disabled.  While it was confirmed by Rogue One's director that Raddus died in the battle, the Empire boarded the disabled command ship.  It's extremely unlikely they killed all the crew: especially with such valuable information at stake.  (We know Stormtrooper weapons could be "set to stun".)  So, again, Vader would have had multitudes of prisoners, all of whom were orbiting Yavin's moon or on it.  Basically, Leia was one of dozens if not hundreds of prisoners who we now know were knowledgeable of the Rebel Base's location.  So, why did Vader and Tarkin focus on her?

The obvious answer is they were dicks and wanted to blow up her planet.  But, then allowing her to escape with Han and Luke to find the base's location was downright negligent.  Tarkin deserved to get blown up for that kind of ineptitude.  Originally, the plan for Rogue One was for the Rebel Base to be on Dantooine.  The producers thought that was too obscure, so they returned to the base seen in A New Hope.  Sadly, had they gone with Dantooine, then this entire plot hole never exists.  But, now, you are faced with Tarkin and Vader being completely incompetent: which flies in the face of the established characterization for both.  I feel Rogue One was a good enough film, though, to forgive this mistake.  But, sometimes, letting nostalgia trump improvement is not the right call.

The Raddus wave is, in a microcosm, why it's annoying to collect modern Star Wars figures.  The first two waves of Rogue One figures hit almost at the same time in September of 2016.  They were readily available through Christmas.  Many of the more popular figures did sell out while there are seas of Jyns and Cassians rotting on the pegs.  But, nothing in those waves was hard to find at all.  Then, though, shipping got crappy.  Wave 3 of Rogue One, which included highly desirable single pack troop builders of the Death Trooper and Scarif Trooper was impossible to find at retail.  Many stores never got it all and it was a no show even in places where all the previous Rogue One figures had sold out.  So, this Wave 4 was dropped from full retail.  This means that online dealers could get it even though traditional brick and mortar stores would not.  (And, it appears Hasbro has offered full case packs of 3 figures in this wave, including Raddus to small sellers.)  So, despite the fact that this figure will not likely ever appear at brick and mortar retail, he's relatively available and affordable now.  Though, affordable probably means $12 or so after you pay for shipping.  That sucks.  But, it's also the reality of collecting a line that's largely being treated as a movie property instead of the traditional collector themed toy line that Star Wars used to be.

In the long run, who knows what will happen with this figure.  It's possible that massive overstock will show up for $6 at discount retail stores a year from now.  It's possible that this figure dries up at retail and is never seen again.  Hasbro could release him again in The Last Jedi waves later this year.  Raddus appears to have found a niche among the collecting community and is a character who will retain some level of popularity.  Though, I'm not sure he'll be popular enough to justify inclusion in the new Vintage Collection starting in 2018.  By the time that line starts, Raddus will be 18 months and nearly two movies removed from his onscreen debut.  And, when looking at the pantheon or Rogue One characters who would be the best candidates for super articulated treatment, Raddus falls down below Chirrut, Baze and K-2SO for sure and maybe even behind Krennic, Saw and some of the new troop builders or Saw's gang.  (Not to mention the almost assured repacks of the Death Trooper, Scarif Trooper, Jyn, Cassian and the inevitable Darth Vader repack of him on a Rogue One card with card art from "that scene".)  So, I'm not hopeful for a Vintage collection release.  But, this figure is good enough for now.  If he shows up in wave 2 of the Vintage collection in 2018, so be it.  But, with Raddus in the fold, I feel my Rogue One collection is really complete.  I may not have all the characters I want in the right articulation.  But, I have the ones I care about.  I may pick up an upgrade here or there if the card art and availability are right.  But, with Star Wars, the good enough threshold will remain in place.  And, this Raddus meets that benchmark with relative ease.

2017, Admiral Raddus, Saw Guererra, Moroff, Idrio Two Tubes, Death Trooper, The Black Series, Rogue One

2017, Admiral Raddus, Saw Guererra, Moroff, Idrio Two Tubes, Death Trooper, The Black Series, Rogue One

2017, Admiral Raddus, Saw Guererra, Moroff, Idrio Two Tubes, Death Trooper, The Black Series, Rogue One

2017, Admiral Raddus, Saw Guererra, Moroff, Idrio Two Tubes, Death Trooper, The Black Series, Rogue One

Saturday, July 1, 2017

The Zeros - Mark II

There's over 800 profiles on the site.  Some are a lot more popular than others.  So, if you're stuck inside over the holiday due to the heat, here's some of the least popular posts on the site.  Give them a little love.

The Unexplained:

These figures should be relatively popular as they are collector favorites.  But, they don't see much attention.

1984 Recondo

1986 Mainframe

1983 Torpedo

1992 DEF Shockwave

1986 Wet Suit

Obscure Releases:

These are often convention figures or figures that have odd names that are hard to search.  You also see lots of modern takes on classic army builders in here.

2004 Crimson Guard

1988 Ghostrider

2008 Headhunter Guard

Brazilian Tiro Certo

2004 Urban Assault Night Creeper

2003 Tele Viper

2004 Night Force Tunnel Rat

2004 Cobra Squad Leader

Boring Figures:

These are figures that just aren't popular or they are the left behind construction of the New Sculpt era.

1989 Countdown

1990 Sky Patro Sky Dive

2003 Blackout

Eco Warriors Clean Sweep

1991 Grunt

1987 Gyro Viper

1991 General Hawk


1984 Recondo, Steel Brigade Mail Away