2000 Dusty

October of 2018 was very rainy in my part of the country.  This was unusual as the month is typically very hot and dry.  In the rain, though, I was reminded of a specific memory from October of 2000.  Having just read that the newly released G.I. Joe figures were showing up at retailers around the country, I used my lunch hour to sojourn down to the local Toys R Us where I found my first two pack: Chameleon and Cobra Commander.  It was raining on that day, too.  This caused heavy traffic: which would have been hugely frustrating had I not found my first Joe figure pack at retail.  In fairly short order, I acquired the rest of the first series of ARAHC figures.  Then, I proceeded to buy them in bulk through the end of the year: especially when they showed up for $5.84 per pack at Wal Mart.  In some cases, this proved fortuitous.  In other cases, it was less so.  But, I was happy to able to quickly grow my collection at retail prices with figures that I really liked.  In the ensuing years, though, a combination of additional releases, wider availability of later year vintage Joes and my foray into International Joe releases all combined to relegate the ARAHC figures to lower status.  Many of my once favorites lost favor and faded into the background.  This was the fate of the 2000 Dusty figure.  But, 18 years later, this guy still stands out as something completely interesting and unique in the Joe line...even if the design doesn't make much sense for the character.

In 2000, the 1991 Dusty figure was incredibly obscure.  Few collectors owned it and there really wasn't even a debate as to whether the 1985 Dusty figure was far superior.  So, it made for a perfect choice to be included in the first wave of repaints that returned Joe to retail shelves.  Dusty had a familiar name.  And, the mold wasn't one that collectors really knew.  Of course, this forward thinking completely failed.  Collectors both hated the fact that Hasbro hadn't used the 1985 mold (we didn't really understand Hasbro's unwillingness/inability to track down desirable molds at the time) and that the colors for Dusty were not in any way, shape or form related to his desert specialty.  In reading reviews of the time, it was apparent that this Dusty made the least sense of any release.  But, at the same time, his blue, red and green color combo was something that had never been done with a Joe.  He was visually distinctive, even if he was non-sensical.

In looking back, collectors would have been relatively forgiving had this figure represented a character other than Dusty.  As someone new, the color scheme could have been forgiven: maybe even enjoyed.  But, by tying the bizarre colors to the Dusty character, there was no way that collectors would accept them.  This figure also served as the canary in the coal mine for Hasbro as it proved that collectors would reward neither ingenuity nor creativity when it came to repainted vintage Joes.  

For me, though, this figure was just about perfect.  I had a 1991 figure to represent Dusty.  So, this repaint provided something new for me.  I have used army builders for my Joes since the 1980's.  The entire purpose of the Mission to Brazil repaints was to have nameless, faceless army builders who could fight Cobra and suffer the consequences of war.  This Dusty was a way to bring those roles back to my collection with a figure that wasn't exclusively tied to a beloved character from my childhood.  I built up a small army of them and had this Dusty become foot soldiers, base guards, security officers and vehicle crew who could augment the Joe forces.  For about 18 months, the figure thrived in this role.  But, with the 2002 releases of Mirage, things started to change.  Mirage slowly replaced Dusty and the figure simply hasn't returned to the glory it originally enjoyed.

In looking at the figure again, though, the same cleverness that attracted me to the figure in the first place still exists.  While the blue shirt could be construed for a Cobra color, the overall appearance of Dusty makes that a less probable leap to make.  The red beret feels like dress uniform designed to be worn around the HQ.  The marbelized green pants help to ground the figure in more military colors.  It is offset by the dark blue shirt to create a conflicting, yet appealing color scheme.  You also get the white undershirt, black straps and metallic grenades to fully show off the array of paint applications that were given to the figure.  There's just something about him that clicks for me.  I'm pretty much alone in this assessment, though, since the figure is common and worthless.

We know Hasbro had the original accessories from this Dusty.  The pack, pistol, rifle and stock had all been included with the 1998 Cobra 3 figure pack.  This 2000 Dusty included the original pack and pistol, though now in black.  His contemporary, Dial Tone, included his original rifle and stock.  Even the coyote would show up in 2003 as a repainted Timber with Snake Eyes.  But, this figure only had the pack and pistol and he feels drastically under-equipped due to those choices.  I took the silver rifle from extra 2000 General Tomahawk figures and gave them to this Dusty.  I thought it looked good and I've never been a fan of generals carrying massive weapons into battle.  A bit of kismet worked to give the same rifle (though in different colors) to the 2002 Mirage figures.  And, as I used Mirage and Dusty as different types of the same army builder, my original re-accessorization of Dusty worked out nicely.

It was a treat to see this mold in 2000.  And, unlike many other repaints of that era, this mold didn't get used to death.  The original plan was for a "chocolate chip" version of this figure to be included as the driver of the 2001 Desert Striker.  For some reason, though, this was changed to a repaint of the Eco Warriors Flint.  This unproduced Desert Striker Dusty is stupidly rare and there may not even be a single version that belongs to a private collector.  In 2002, the club surprised convention go-ers with an all green repaint of this figure as the Paratrooper Dusty.  It is an amazing figure and is superior to this 2000 version.  It remains relatively cheap, though it can be problematic to track down.  In 2002, the figure's head with a black beret appeared on a Dial Tone body as the driver the Night Rhino.  This parts combo doesn't work as the Dusty head is too large for the slimmer Dial Tone body.  The mold disappeared from there.  In some ways, it's a shame that we never got another desert repaint of this Dusty.  But, at the same time, the 1991 figure remains solid and any repaint would have faced a hard road to surpass it.  

Yeah...this figure is worthless.  While Wave I of the ARAHC sold out all over the country over the holidays in 2000, Dusty was carried over into Wave II cases.  Wave II was massively overproduced and quickly packed the pegs in every retailer around the country.  So, Dusty was easy to get for well over a year and could be found without too much trouble for another year after that in discount and overstock stores.  This availability has carried over and, nearly two decades later, this figure remains both cheap and easy to find.  You can get carded packs for $10...which is a deal since you also get the amazing Law figure.  Loose, you'll pay a couple of bucks, tops...especially if you can find a lot of character figures from this era.  It's too bad as the figure deserves a better fate.  But, if you are a desert trooper, wearing a uniform that's neither desert nor, really, anything else isn't going to help your popularity.  The upside is that you can still get a fun figure for less than his retail cost.  Those are rare these days.