Satan - Plastirama (Argentina) Exclusive

What do you do when you've owned a figure for nearly 15 years, but never actually been able to use it?  The answer, of course, is you find a close enough proximal figure and finally bring one of the most sought after characters to your collection.  But, what happens if you miss those, too?  And, suddenly, your desire for any representation of the figure is suppressed by prices that seem out of line for rarity and popularity of the figure?  The answer there is, you go without.  And, one of the most iconic foreign repaints in the entire history of G.I. Joe is among the last figures from Argentina to make an appearance on a site that was heavily built upon the introduction of foreign figures to American collectors.  All due to the generosity of a fellow collector who had a spare Black Major figure he was willing to give to me.  Thus, without further ado, I present a profile on, really, 2 figures: the Satan figure that is exclusive to Argentina and the Black Major homage from 2016 or so.

As 2007 wore on, I decided to close the gaps in my Plastirama collection.  I had noticed that a few figures that were once common were starting to disappear.  So, in short order, I completed my run of the common swivel arm figures.  Two of the last three acquisitions were Cobra De Hielo and Satan.  The plan, of course was to open the figures.  I had just taken most of the other Plastirama releases off their cards.  And, Satan and Cobra De Hielo were next.  But, I never got around to it.  Shortly after I acquired these figures, I started a new job, lost interest in Joe for a bit and simply left the figures out in the garage for years.  I accidentally acquired a second Cobra De Hielo and did open that figure for my loose version.  This sparked my interest in Satan.  But, upon reviewing Ebay listings for him, I found that the figure was now worth way more than I had thought he'd be.  And, as such, opening him became a fool's errand.  It's one thing to open a $10 carded figure.  It's another to open a $150 carded figure.  So, Satan stays on his card to this day...something that I'll never open due to the current collectible value.

That's where the Black Major comes in.  In the middle 2010's, Black Major started producing Storm Shadow repaints.  Among the earliest releases was a red repaint based on Satan.  Sure, Hasbro had tried the Red Ninja thing in 2004.  But, those figures were a poor man's Satan.  Black Major's version was tied to the original figure and featured colors very similar to the Argentine release.  And, as a huge bonus, the Black Major figure included a full complement of 1984 Stormshadow accessories.  In short, it was a cheap way for people to acquire a Satan (or an army of red ninjas) for sane prices.  

There is the question of how to pronounce this character's name.  Of course, there is the generally accepted SAY-tan.  This, though, ties the figure too much to a devilish motif and seems overly cliched.  I prefer to say Sah-TAN as it's less obvious where the name's origins lie.  Modern comic writers, most ignorant of foreign Joe characters beyond Ebay listings, incorporated the character with various mnemonic takes of the name.  Some are better than others.  But, in the end, it was the basic Red Ninjas who were introduced in Silent Interlude (#21) that were the driving force behind the collector appeal of this figure.  The Satan name only became interesting after the fact when there were other Red Ninjas available and collectors were desperate to find anything that could break their Joe worlds from the Hama-verse and set them a bit apart.

For me, though, having the figure carded meant that he didn't really join my collection.  But, I also acquired the figure late in the game, as I was losing interest in Joe for a bit.  So, I never really came up with a characterization of him.  While Ninja Ku often appears in photos as a random ninja, I have yet to find Satan as useful.  Having the Black Major figure finally gives me a loose version to use.  I just haven't found myself incorporating him into the fold like I thought I would.  There was a time when an army of red ninjas was enticing.  But, I built one with the 2004 Red Ninja Vipers and found that it wasn't all that interesting.  If I ever set up a Cobra display with early figures, you can be sure that Satan will find a way to be a part of it.  I just don't think that's ever really going to happen, though.

So, here's the thing.  Satan's aren't rare.  They're not.  Tons of cases of them were imported to the U.S.  And, all the carded figures you could ever want sat unsold on Ebay for between $30 and $50 between 2001 and 2003.  Satan's case mates of Cobra De Hielo and Ninja Ku were similar.  As were Destro, Sparta and Sokerk.  Those three are important as the Destro figure exists in similar quantities as Satan.  Yet, he's very available and cheap.  For every Fuera De La Ley, there is a Satan.  And, there are more Satans because, in the early 2000's as Argentine collectors foraged every nook and cranny of their native land for G.I. Joes to sell to American collectors in American currency during that particular economic crisis in Argentina.  Those collectors found many additional, loose Satan and Ninja Ku figures to offer to collectors who could pay in stable currency.

The reality is, Satan is super popular.  Neither the 2004 Red Ninja Viper nor the anniversary figure release did much to offset the massive appeal of Satan.  And, because of that, Satan is way too expensive today for as common as the figure is.  You can be sure there are many collectors from 2001 - 2004 who have long been out of the hobby with carded Satans and Ninja Kus in their basement who have no idea the figure has increased in price more than 40 fold in the past twenty years.  In the summer of 2020, Satans were $600+ MOC figures.  Just one year later, carded figures sold for $1200+!  Now, you can get MOC figures under $1000 again.  But, some still climb to $1500.  Loose, mint versions are $250 or more.  Even figures with broken thumbs or broken crotches will break $100.  This is difficult to swallow as I remember all those figures sitting, unsold, with $30 buy it now prices.  I remember thinking $30 was way too much for a loose, complete with cardback 3 figure set of Satan, Ninja Ku and Cobra De Hielo.  But, I also remember scrambling to buy the last Satan I could find for $70 in 2007 in fear that he would continue to rise out of my price range.  

You see way too many collectors who are new to the Joe world incorrectly calling this figure "rare" because they can't find one.  He's not rare.  He's popular.  And, that popularity drives the price...even if there are hundreds, or thousands, of carded examples that were imported to the U.S. and now sit in tons of old collections.  This, though, has been the fate of many of the foreign Joes that were readily available for cheap prices in the early days of online Joedom.  Action Force vehicle drivers, Funskool Street Hawks, Brazilian Eco Warriors and all of the Plastirama figures have dried up and are now thought to be only the domain of enterprising collectors who braved foreign postal services to acquire the figures.  Old timers know differently.  But, in the end, it is demand that drives prices and the current crop of collectors are willing to overpay for items like Satan since they think it's something exotic.  If only they really knew how these figures were ignored and derided by earlier generations.