Monday, November 13, 2023

2001 Tripwire

Hasbro had a short break between the death of the Joe line in 1994 and its first reappearance as a collector themed line in 1997.  But, really, 1997 Hasbro was a completely different company than the one that existed in 1994.  The people who had made the vintage Joe line were gone.  In their place were new people who lacked the connection to the brand.  And, instead of trying to find a recipe that would have given them massive retail success, they fell upon a select few, elder members of the collecting community to guide their design choices.  The result is a short era of safe, bland and uninteresting figures whose value is almost entirely tied up in the nostalgic ties that barely repaints evoked among a certain set of adults.  The figures of this era aren't, necessarily, bad.  They're just boring.  They take no chances and don't challenge anyone's sense of comfort when thinking about their collecting habits.  

This was the core problem with the A Real American Hero Collection (ARAHC) that was released in 2000 and 2001.  Too many of the figures blended together.  To uninitiated parents and casual collectors, the shelves appeared to be full of the same figure over and over again.  Nothing stood out: either good or bad.  The figures were, though, relatively good.  Collectors liked them and bought a fair amount.  But, the line couldn't compete with the adult collector driven but still kid supported Star Wars line.  A few figures, though, really did work in the muted color schemes.  Among them was the 2001 Tripwire.

You can make an argument that this is the best Tripwire figure.  (Though, you'd be wrong as the Funskool figure is the best!)  But, it's really not all that different from the 1983 version.  The green is a little darker.  The main difference is that the unique grey from the original version has been replaced by a more common black color.  The color lacks the sheen of vintage black figures who still appeared shiny and vibrant and was, instead, a very flat black.  This was the type of thing that the cool, hip adult collectors of 2001 pretended that they wanted.  And, Hasbro gave us a whole line of figures who were almost exclusively the boring green and black colors.  And, that line didn't last a year at retail.  2002 brought a ton more color to the line and it launched the Joe renaissance of the early 2000's where the brand had retail viability for a couple of years.  

The thing about this figure is that the 1983 Tripwire is pretty much perfect.  His lighter green gives him some distinction from some of his contemporaries.  But, his grey highlights were a rarity in the vintage Joe line.  For that reason, Tripwire stood out.  A relatively boring figure became memorable with just a few design choices.  For the 2001 figure, all of that personality was stripped away from Tripwire.  Were he a lone release of this ilk, that would have been OK.  But, most of the ARAHC was ripping the soul from classic figures in order to appeal to a false sense of "gritty, military realism" that NEVER existed in the Joe line.  It left a line of figures that people like.  But, you don't see them used since, in pretty much every case, the vintage figure that was replaced by the later repaint is better.  And, they are not different enough to warrant using the later design.  It would be one thing if this was the only desert tan Tripwire that was released.  That would have been safe, but also useful.  Instead, it's the same ground we tread before: only 18 years later and not as good.

Of the ARAHC figures released in 2000 and 2001, this Tripwire remains one of the most frequently seen in various photos and dioramas (such as they exist in 2023).  He's one of the few figures who often replaces the original.  I suspect this is because this Tripwire is good enough and it offers the exact same aesthetic to a scene that the original figure provides.  Tripwire is great as a vehicle operator or support figure.  And, his covered head also allows you to use him as an army builder.  (Fun fact, the 1983 Tripwire head looks amazing on a Steel Brigade body if you have some part swaps you want to try.)  So, you can have a couple of them if you want.  But, most people like to use Tripwire as the lead: clearing the way for his team mates to safely navigate a passage.

The ARAHC started strong, gained momentum and then completely petered out in about 8 months.  The first figures popped up in October of 2000 and by the summer of 2001, the figures were backed up all over the country.  By October of 2001, the figures were showing up in discount and closeout outlets.  The final wave was cancelled from retail and only salvaged by two online retailers because Hasbro was so far into the production process with the figure wave.  (Despite the angry retorts to the contrary, I still fully believe the Crimson Viper was planned for Wave V but was pulled from there and moved to the 2002 convention release.)  Tripwire and his terrible packmate, Big Brawler, were staples of closeout stores well into 2002.  But, even at $5 for two figures, few people really stocked up on the set and even the army builders from this final retail wave were easy to find for more than a year if you frequented outlet malls or the offbeat closeout stores that still existed 21 years ago.

One huge upside of the ARAHC figures was that they, mostly, included the figure's original gear.  The Joe design team of the 1980's spent inordinate amounts of time matching characters and their accessories.  So, keeping the figure's paired with original gear worked well.  This Tripwire includes his pack, three landmines and minesweepeer that debuted with the original release.  Sans this gear, Tripwire is useless as a standalone figure.  He can still work as a vehicle driver.  But, Tripwire needs his gear to stand out among the other Joes.  For some reason, I've never actually plugged the 2001 Tripwire's minesweeper into his backpack.  I like the look of it still in its rigid, original form.  This makes no sense.  But, you can still pose the figure without this gear actually plugged into the pack as was intended.

Oddly, Tripwire is one figure that really got utilized quite well.  The original 1983 figure is solid.  He was sold all over the world and there are slight arm chevron variants to track down.  In 1985, Hasbro went nuts and gave us the awesome red and orange Listen & Fun Tripwire.  It's completely ridiculous.  Which makes it awesome!  This darker figure appeared in 2001.  From there, Hasbro sent the mold to India where the amazing Funskool Tripwire was produced.  If you want a realistic Tripwire, you have options.  If you want a surreal repaint, you can get one that fits that criteria.  And, if you want a solidly colored but weird figure, the Funskool is there for you.  Sure, a tan Tripwire would have been nice.  But, you've got 4 distinct releases with two of them being something completely different from anything else in the line.  (BTW, I forgot 2 releases, Blades and the Tiger Force Tripwire - Thanks to JRizzo in the comments.)

Tripwire figures aren't all that desired.  While dealers will try to get $20-$25 for a loose, mint and complete figure, the reality is that you can get a carded set for less than that price.  Open market figures are between $7-$10 with deals to be had by those who are patient.  These days, it's far and away the cheapest Tripwire.  And, as the colors are good, it's adequate for the character unless you want something weirder to represent the team's mine detector.





1985 Flint, 2001 ARAHC Tripwire

14 comments:

  1. I think you "forgot" about the Tiger Force version, and Blades, maybe the best version of the character. https://forgotten--figures.blogspot.com/search?q=blades

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    1. I felt I was forgetting something as I reviewed this last night. I even checked all my other Tripwire profiles to get the links for the other versions. But, yeah. Ugh. That's kind of a big oversight. I'll fix tonight. Thanks for letting me know.

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  2. Funny how you and Newman both wound up profiling 2001 figures whose code names end in ‘ire’.

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    1. *Nekoman

      Danged autocorrect.

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    2. What's even funnier is that I actually started out writing about '01 Tripwire. Then I realized I already had a post on him, so I just switched to a different '01 figure!

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  3. Oddly, I find some kind of niche appeal in the whole "dark and gwitty" thing these figures try so hard at. Not because that's cool or better than how GI Joe was traditionally, but more so just for how odd and forced it makes these figures seem now. They have the same feeling as some kind of bootleg you'd have found at BigLots!, only they're GI Joe sculpts with mostly decent quality. Also, they're just so cringe that some aspect of the figures usually makes me laugh for at least a bit, so that's also an appeal.

    The lack of color variety really is the worst thing about these figures. It's just an endless bog of swampy green colors, and anything that could've been interesting gets dulled down with a heavy wash. Why does Duke and Leatherneck look so similar? The Cobras seem like they've aged a bit better, but I always hate the way they look so dirty and grimy whenever I look at one.

    I think this Tripwire is a fun toy. He doesn't have the heavy wash that makes so many of his contemporaries look nasty, and I think it's appreciable that he's different without being too different. Another thing that helps him out is that Tripwire's sculpt seems kind of fresh, since domestically we hadn't seen it a lot before or after this compared to the copious amounts of Dial-Tone, TBC Hawk, Big Ben, Snow Job and '92 Duke. The lame colors from back then would probably not seem so bad if the mold choices weren't so uninspired.

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  4. I think ARAHC petered out because of poor choices of figures and poor vehicle choices. Why was the HISS 3 reduced to a TRU exclusive? Who wanted a Johnny Quest boat or a Cobra Sharc? Fans were hungry for 3 3/4" GI JOE but Hasbro pumped out generic stuff, in selection, colors and packaging. Making rando new fan tribute characters isn't something you want to do with a relaunch, that stuff can be done later. Packing characters with army builders and in general missing the FACT that many GI JOE fans are COBRA fans first didn't help, either.

    Tripwire was one of the better release. No wash. Not an old mold renamed to honor some douchebag in the "community" or "Scalper rag publisher".

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  5. And on the pedestal, these words appear:
    My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
    Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
    Nothing beside remains.

    Such is the fate of the ARAHC and the ones who pushed for it. (I mean, I still think they’re neat. Bendy thumbs are A-ok with me.)

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  6. The 1997+ years for o-ring are a little murky for me in terms of what happened. There were the retail exclusives, repaints, direct to consumer, comic packs, the construction change, and the first live-action movie, convention exclusives, the fan club, and more. I need to do a deep dive sometime.

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  7. I really like this figure, he drives the Wolverine in my collection. Nice update to the original 1983 Tripwire. I really have no complaints about the 2000-2002 Real American Hero Collection series. Some nice repaints of early 1990-91 figures if you ask me. The swirling plastic was something that took a bit of getting used to and over time some of the figures have discolored plastic but for the most part they hold up decently. Less elbow cracks, broken crotches and thumb issues than the originals. Quality might just be a notch lower than the original ARAH but an improvement over the 1997/1998 figures.

    This era of collecting will always be one I look back at fondly as it was essentially my foray as an adult collector into GI Joe - they released when I was 18. I was at home that fall before going to school in the spring semester so I can still vividly recall my early days of Joe hunting in 2000.

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  8. listen n fun tripwire and funskool are the best variants by far.

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  9. I have to ask, who is the guy with the gray M16 in the third picture?

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  10. @Chris - Red Laser Army Soldier Air Strike

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