1990 Bullhorn

I bought my last childhood Joes in 1988.  I bought no figures in 1989.  But, in the year of 1990, I did buy a solitary figure.  However, it was a 1989 Night Viper.  While I was fully engaged with the 1989 new figures and knew who they were, I was not similarly engrossed in 1990.  I had new pursuits filling my time.  I liked many of the characters who appeared in the comic.  Their designs looked interesting.  But, not interesting enough to really get me to think about buying them.  My younger brothers had also heavily outgrown Joe.  They had never really liked it as much as I had and when my interest flagged, so did theirs.  But, being more of an age where toys were still acceptable gifts, they'd get an occasional Joe figure.  My main foray into 1990 figures was when I babysat some kids down the street.  They had the newer Joes and I'd see them when I took care of them.  My main memories of that collection was Metal Head.  (They also had a Paralyzer and Big Ben that I saw in 1991.)  I've looked at Metal Head enough, though, that I turned to the one figure that we did own from 1990: Bullhorn.

In my household, we had just one 1989 figure: Scoop.  And, that pattern continued in 1990.  My youngest brother picked up a Bullhorn at some point.  I found the figure and was immediately enthralled with him.  The design was strong, his rifle was amazing, the sniper pack was what Destro had promised in 1983 and his gas mask was the type of accessory I had wanted since 1984.  In 1990, though, all my Joe toys were put away and those that my brother still had out were beat up, incomplete and generally spread around the house.  So, Bullhorn was more of an imagination figure for me.  I imagined how I would have used him had he been a part of my childhood.  His gear opened up new possibilities for me as the only real gasmasks that the Joes had were Ripcord's, Blowtorch's and Lifeline's.  And, each of those was set aside for specific purposes.

When I started collecting Joes as an adult, our old Bullhorn was still around.  He wasn't mint and some of his gear was gone.  So, as I sought out lots of figures, Bullhorn was a figure I'd target.  I used to have a point system for lots I was considering.  Figures with a score of 1 were either figures I didn't have, army builders or figures like Bullhorn where I'd buy extras even if they were Joes.  So, Bullhorn got a 1 and I ended up with a good little army of them for a while.  With the figures in tow, I set about trying different accessories with them since I found Bullhorn's main rifle to be unwieldy.  In time, I found Topside's and Freefall's weapons worked well with them.  And, even Sub Zero's heavy machine gun could be useful.  With the masks on, the figures could be an elite unit of army builders.  

Joe underwent several accessory stages.  The early figures included a helmet, weapon and maybe a pack or visor.  In 1983, the packs got larger and the weapons more detailed.  1984 was a major step forward with animals and additional gear.  1985, though, kind of stood still.  While ropes and rubber hoses were added, the overall amount of accessories per figure was pretty similar to 1984.  The line then stayed constant through 1988.  In 1989, though, the volume of accessories began to rise.  The number and intricacy of the accessories took a noticeable step forward.  In 1990, the figures were nearly over-accessorized.  Almost every figure includes a ton of gear and is often not able to store it all.  It was likely a way of appealing to the value of parents who were starting to see larger sized figures compete with Joes as the gift of choice for their children.

This means that Bullhorn is excellently accessorized.  Really, the least interesting part of his gear complement is his namesake bullhorn.  It's two pieces and really well done.  Supposedly, the pistol grip is a "gas gun" with a bullhorn attached.  It makes no sense and I've always seen it as a bullhorn.  There's a round whole on the back of the gun that implies it should have had a place where it could be hung.  But, no such peg exists and it may be a remnant of Bullhorn's design that was removed earlier in the pre-production process.  Bullhorn's main rifle is cool looking.  But, it's rather big and can be a thumb breaker.  At the time, I thought it was amazing.  But, the weapon lost its luster over the years.  It appeared in a variety of softer plastic weapon trees in 1993 and 1994, though, and those can be easier on thumbs.  There are also two grey versions of it.  One is a hard to find 2008 convention piece.  The other is a Stargate weapon and it gives Bullhorn something different to use.  

It is the remainder of Bullhorn's gear that really sets him apart.  The calling card for the figure is his sniper and case.  This time around, though, the bulky case holds three pieces that can be combined into a sniper rifle.  The case features a keyboard to imply it is locked.  The actual sniper rifle, when put together, isn't very impressive.  But, it's a stock, body and sight that interconnect to make a whole new accessory.  Really, it's something that's more cool as a concept than it is an actual plaything.  But, that was kind of the point.  Bullhorn's gas mask rounded out his accessories.  It is my favorite part of the figure.  And, I use it on a variety of figures when the situation calls for it.  The mask fits really well.  And, since it's not a helmet, it is a very different look for a figure wearing protection from toxic gases.  Sadly, the gas mask never returned and that's a shame.

Bullhorn didn't get much use.  He was released by Hasbro.  There is a European exclusive accessory variant that's not easy to find, but also not different from the American figure.  Bullhorn's legs were used on the 1993 Bazooka figure.  He then disappeared until 2008.  He then appeared as a convention figure that was included with a repainted Hammer.  This 2008 figure had 1992 Shockwave legs since the original lower body was separated from the mold in 1993.  The 2008 isn't materially different from the 1990 figure.  And, Bullhorn could have used a nice repaint or two at retail during the early 2000's.  Seeing him in more urban coloring or even environmentally themed could have been a great way to update the mold.  This didn't happen, though.  So, collectors have few options for Bullhorn and those beyond his standard release are hard to find and can get prohibitively expensive.

Bullhorns were once cheap.  As Joes got popular, he rose in price.  But, as interest faded, he dropped back down, again.  Now, though, he's somewhat in the middle.  While many 1990 figures have gotten absurdly expensive, Bullhorn hasn't gone nuts...yet.  Both dealers and the open market seem to agree that a mint and complete with filecard Bullhorn is about a $25 figure.  It's rare to find such synchronicity.  Sure, some dealers will get a lot more.  But, there's plenty still available for that price.  You can get figures for a couple of bucks with the mask running about $5 and his sniper pack running about $12.  So, the complete version is still the way to go.  Bullhorn's gear works well with some other figures and extra gas masks are always a welcome accessory to have around.  So, even if my late 1990's army building obsession with Bullhorn has subsided, I can still appreciate the figure always find use for his gear.