1993 Bulletproof

I first, kind of, started recollecting Joe figures in the fall of 1992.  I bought a few at the local Toys R Us a few days before Christmas when I was home on break.  Over Christmas break in 1993, I repeated the same trip to Toys R Us and bought some additional figures.  If you look over the posts on this site, some going back to 1999, even I'm confused about which figures I bought in 1992 and which I picked up in 1993.  One key point, though, is that I wasn't going to pay more than 2.99 for a figure back then.  So, it's unlikely I bought Bulletproof in 1992.  And, I also know that, at some point while I was away at school, my youngest brother found my Bulletproof figure and promptly lost his helmet with the microphone attached.  That one specific memory pins my first Bulletproof entering my collection in 1993.  

For a solidly Gen X teenager still in the throes of Grunge and early 1990's heavy metal, my Joe world took a dark tone.  But, instead of the heady, gratuitous violence that defined "grit" of that time, my world was more defeatist.  The frustrated writer in me turned the world into one of futility.  Men fought meaningless battles in a conflict that would never end.  They did so less out of duty and more out of necessity.  And, each of them knew that the reality is that they would not survive.  The ultimate Peter Principle played out as each was sent into battle after escalating battle until they simply weren't capable of surviving.  But, they still had to go and do their job.  Each knew their fate.  But, they were unable to deviate away from it.  It was a central point and was a source of conflict for the Joes.

In order to fully explore this, though, I couldn't just have a Joe team.  Either no one would die or I'd lose great figures as characters died off.  So, building upon ideas from my childhood, I created Joe army builders.  And, figures like Bulletproof were perfect for that.  For one, I didn't have the characters from the comic burned into my mind.  For two, it was easier to see a generic trooper in this mold than in others.  So, following the Cobra model, I specialized my Joe army builders, too.  Bulletproof became a "City Siege Commando".  (Think the Joe's version of the Alley Viper.)  Here, he would take on both law enforcement and military duties within cities.  If he were after a terrorist cell, he'd act like a squad of police.  If Cobra was destroying Middletown, Ohio, they were military all the way.  In this capacity, I was able to get more use out of figures like Bulletproof since they could take on any storyline and serve in multiple capacities.

Bulletproof's calling card is his hair.  Oh, that hair.  Rarely did Joes have distinctive hairstyles.  But, the 1990's saw strides in head sculpting.  And, with that came far more intricate hair molds.  Gristle is another great example of what Hasbro could do.  (I knew guys with Gristle's haircut in college.)  But, Bulletproof's hairdo might be the oddest attempt Hasbro took at giving a figure a currently in style appearance.  In some ways, they pulled it off.  But, one look at Bulletproof's large forehead also proves that they didn't quite nail it.  Bulletproof is also similar to Static Line from 1990.  So, there is a bit of a redundancy here that makes you think the designers saw one rap video on MTV in 1989 and gave every black guy the same haircut.  But, no other toyline in Joe scale was doing anything even remotely close to this in 1992.  Sadly, Hasbro lost that ability and by 2001, was reduced to balding, pasty white guys as the model for all their new head sculpts.

I bought Bulletproof because of his gear.  And, 27 years later, it still holds up.  Bulletproof's rifle is small, compact, detailed and nicely colored.  It's a shame that it didn't get more use.  His backpack has all the hallmarks of packs that I loved as a kid.  It's full of gear that an urban specialist would need.  There's a sculpted gas mask and a fire extinguisher to handle any type of urban situation.  I always felt Hasbro missed a chance to update Bulletproof's helmet to also have a version with a full gas mask on it.  It would have been a neat variant and a welcomed accessory in the line.  Bulletproof's helmet is OK.  It's large and bulbous: to accommodate the hair.  While I like the helmet, it's design isn't perfect.  The 1993 Bulletproof helmet also has a glued in microphone on it.  The 1992 helmet's mic is removable and often missing.  Hasbro solved this by gluing in the 1993 version.  I love the idea of urban specialist teams being in communication with each other.  So, having the mic just made the Bulletproof figure for me.

Bulletproof debuted as part of the DEF set in 1992.  In 1993, the DEF was supposed to continue.  But, for some reason, Hasbro cancelled the subset marketing and just released the DEF figures on regular Battle Corps cardbacks.  There were 6 new figures that were intended for the DEF subset.  And, Hasbro repainted three of the 1992 DEF figures for the standard line.  (Cutter was released as a vehicle driver.   Shockwave and Headman were discontinued.)  No reason was ever given for why the DEF was discontinued.  Though, it's likely that the higher price point of the 1992 figures doomed them at retail and the concept was avoided to steer clear of the association with figures already hanging around at retail into 1993.  

Bulletproof got three uses.  The tan cammo 1992 figure is the least ostentatious.  This 1993 repaint is fun just for neon nineties goodness.  The mold was then shuffled to Brazil.  There, Estrela released the figures in neon colors similar to this 1993 version.  But, the figure's skin tone was changed.  Tiro Certo figures were easy to find and could be had for about $15 for a carded figure in the late 2000's.  Now, those have dried up and he's far more expensive.  The 1993 Bulletproof helmet, sans microphone though, was released with the Night Fighter Guile in the Street Fighter Movie line.  This black helmet looks great on Tiro Certo (since he didn't include a helmet) but is also an accessory that I've used with great affect on various Snake Eyes repaints that can be seen through various photos on the site.  It's likely that Hasbro had the Bulletproof mold available to it in the 2000's.  But, they didn't care.  He would have made a great candidate for release in a number of sets.  But, getting him without his gear would have been a shame.  And, I'm OK with this mold living on with just the three releases.

This Bulletproof is typical of later neon release repaint figures.  He's not as easy to find as you would think.  And, he gets a bit of a premium for that.  A loose, mint and complete figure will run you $18 or so.  But, you can get carded figures for $25 and that's probably the way to go.  Be wary, though, as many 1993 figures are sold with the 1992 helmet that has the removable microphone and it's often missing.  But, as the mic isn't overly tiny, it's still sometimes present and complete Bulletproofs are obtainable.  You should note, though, that some people drastically overpay for this figure.  And, you'll see $70+ loose figures from time to time.  I still find this figure visually striking and a lot of fun.  But, that's worth less than $20 to me and I find the high prices for figures like this to reek of both desperate collectors looking for final items and a quickly ending bubble where people will wonder how they ever paid high prices for an obscure release like this.  But, if you can get one for the right price, this Bulletproof is still worthwhile.