Rarities - Remco S.I.T. Figures

As soon as G.I. Joe figures proved to be a retail hit, other companies found ways to cheaply ride Hasbro's coat tails.  $2.79 was a pretty expensive action figure back in 1982.  And, many parents were more comfortable with a $1 or $2 price point for a cheap gift.  So knock off companies came in and tried to catch the scraps from the G.I. Joe buyers who weren't willing to pay the higher price for the Hasbro figure.  Most of the figures, frankly, are junk.  They have cheap plastic, terrible head sculpts, more parts reuse than even the 1982 Joe line, cheap accessories and hands that won't hold them.  But, over time, some of the knock off lines got better.  Some even got to the point where they created some pretty interesting figures that could have a nice characterization.  Remco started off as cheap, crappy Joe knock offs.  But, in time, their line evolved into some figures that are actually kind of fun.

You will see a few hallmarks of Remco figures that are common among the S.I.T. series as well as both earlier and later figures.  The first is the higher rivet on the arm.  Remco put the swivel joint higher on the figures' arms and used a large elbow joint than Hasbro.  This was likely due to lower quality plastic that required more mass to remain stable in construction.  The second feature is the wonky hands on Remco figures.  Remco figures feature a gap between their fingers.  This was a likely design choice similar to the unique thumb on Hasbro's 12" figures from the '60's.  But, it is an easy identifier for a Remco made figure.  The last thing to be on the lookout for are construction and accessory variants.  Remco would often mix up accessories on some figures.  And, in other series of figures, you'll see the construction change and figures will have different waists, feet or even arms depending upon the production run.  I don't have enough samples of S.I.T. figure to know if these things occurred in that specific series.  But, it was endemic to Remco as a whole.

Around 1989, Remco produced a line of 8 exclusive figures for K-Mart.  Sold for under $2 each, the figures were substantially cheaper than G.I. Joes.  These figures were branded as the American Defense Spy Series.  They had a secondary branding of S.I.T. for Strategic Intelligence Team.  The line featured 8 figures, all of whom represent some of Remco's best work.  And, they brought some interesting concepts to 3 3/4 action figures that would make some collector favorites.  Below is the full roster of S.I.T. figures and my thoughts on each.

Forest Green:

Forest Green is different as he includes plants that are part of his camouflage.  It's an early version of a ghillie suit and was something you hadn't seen on a 3 3/4 figure before.  His vest makes him a bit bulky.  But, the green color is eye-catching and his plants certainly set him apart.

Trenchcoat:

Trenchcoat might be my personal favorite figure in this line.  You've got a pretty standard bad guy in black.  But, the vinyl cape gives him some panache.  The mustache with sunglasses look is kind of standard for Remco.  But, I think it really works in this context.  I can see him as some kind of freelancer who can work for Cobra or even the Dreadnoks.  Sadly, he's pretty hard to find in decent condition.  But, he also tends to sell on the low end of S.I.T. figures when you can find one.

The Fish

The Fish has some cool colors for a diver.  And, his underwater gear isn't bad.  The goggles sculpted to his head could be used for a variety of things.  I do think the Swamp Man figure (released in a different series) is a more useful diver to integrate with Joe.  But, the Fish has a lot of properties that would make for a cool Joe character, too.

Control:

Control is the first figure in the S.I.T. series to feature a two sided head.  Each side has a face and you can change the figure's look and character by swiveling it around.  It's possible that this swivel head idea existed in 3 3/4 figure prior to Remco's use.  But, I'm not aware of it.  Regardless, it's something that set Remco figures apart from Hasbro's G.I. Joe.  In this case, Control can have either a human face or a robotic face.  He features a headpiece to disguise the non-displayed face.  But, it probably lead to the many figures out there with paint wear on the head.  The overall figure is like a cross between the Cobra Mortal and a Cobra Trooper.

Hidden Force:

Hidden force is a clear ninja.  And, because of this, is one of the more popular S.I.T. figures and commands a premium.  Mint, loose figures will sell over $100.  He's a very popular design as he's among the first clear o-ring figures to exist.  

Robo

Robo looks like he's meant to recall Robo-Cop while not treading too closely to the movie look.  The green is a different look for a robotic character.  But, it definitely makes him stand out.

Fake Out:

Fake Out is interesting because his head is similar to some earlier Remco figures.  But, you could also make the case that he's based on Magnum P.I., too.  The huge "SPY" on his t-shirt is also somewhat comical.  But, you get a pretty good looking civilian figure with Fake Out and that's something that Hasbro would introduce with Chuckles in 1987.

Wolfman:

Wolfman battles with Hidden Force to be the most popular and expensive S.I.T. figure.  Mint and complete figures will, again, cross $100.  As his head covering is often missing, you'll pay a premium for a figure that includes it.  In this case, the figure is a normal human by day and can turn into a wolfman at night.  It's actually a really neat idea and would have been a toy I might have actually used with my Joes had it come into my childhood collection.  

The entire S.I.T. series is pretty difficult to find.  Most loose figures are broken or incomplete.   Carded figures are scarce.  The S.I.T. figures are popular enough that a lot of collectors have removed them from the lots of Remco figures you can still find from time time.  But, you can get lucky on occasion.  Pricing on them is disparate, though.  Some high quality figures will sell for $15.  But, Hidden Force and Wolfman will go between $100 and $150 for high quality loose samples.

The best part about this series of figures, though, is that they offer a disparate variety of character types.  And, they use powerful colors and strong head sculpts to give the figures some personality.  The line looks like it could have been part of a Hasbro lineup of figures.  And, that was Remco's likely goal.  They wanted parents to buy their toys vs. the more expensive Joe figures.  While the S.I.T. series still isn't Hasbro quality, it's a marked improvement from earlier Remco designs.  

Figures like this are a neat way to expand a Joe collection.  The characters could be used alongside Joes and they would not stand out among Hasbro releases like most other knock off brands in the '80's.  It's an interesting juxtaposition as, today, all the Joe knock off brands are high end kickstarters that are geared towards collectors and their deeper wallets.  And, at their core, few of them are as original or interesting as the S.I.T. lineup.  I'd actually like to see one of the various non-Hasbro entities to attempt an update of some of these characters with modern sculpting and materials.  I'd be more interested in that than I am for many of the reductive offerings I've seen in recent years.