1992 Nunchuk - Ninja Force

Ninja Force was once among the most hated concepts in Joe.  Collectors who grew up in the '80's held special disdain for the subset.  They had aged out of the comic, cartoon and toys by the time Ninja Force came around and felt it didn't live up to their standards of what G.I. Joe should have been.  For younger collectors, though, Ninja Force was a fun way to interact with their toys.  And, as they have aged into the collecting community we've seen opinions shift.  While many old timers still treat Ninja Force as second class figures, younger collectors both enjoy and embrace the releases for what they were.   We've seen some Ninja Force designs be incorporated on repainted molds of popular characters.  And, we even saw them introduced in the anniversary style of figure.  The original team, though, has a very complementary color palette that makes them stand out.  And, in the case of Nunchuk, his coloring really should have made him more popular among the older collector base.

In the early 2000's, I wanted to profile Nunchuk.  At the time, not too many collectors were well versed in post 1990 figures.  And, I felt that Nunchuk was the type of figure that might catch on with those who generally ignored late line releases.  His basic color scheme of green and black combined with his solid, but de-identifying headsculpt seemed a recipe for a figure that might some cachet from the pre-1988 only crowd that defined that era of Joe collecting.  But, I never got around to showcasing Nunchuk.  And, my interest in him diminished as well.  I don't really remember why.  Though, I suspect that part of it was that I was acquiring figures very quickly in those days.  And, I likely found limitations when I went to pose the figure for possible photos.  So, two decades later, I am finally taking a look at Nunchuk.

As a figure, Nunchuk isn't bad.  He's fairly straightforward with just green and black coloring.  The body sculpt, though, is well detailed, even if the sculpting is obscured by the lack of painted details.  The main aspect of the figure, though, is that he's not all that bulky.  As such, Nunchuk actually works quite well with figures from a larger variety of years than the rest of the Ninja Force figures.  The slim design is aided by the lack of ancillary colors and Nunchuk very much feels like a figure from an earlier time in the line's history.

Aside from the coloring and slim body, Nunchuk is a solid look for a figure.  He is fully masked.  And, it's done in a less intrusive style than other Ninja Force members.  It helps ground Nunchuk in reality.  He's not some multi-generational ninja master wearing centuries old familial heirlooms.  He can just be any guy in a mask who is trying to keep his identity a secret.  He's Beach Head or Snake Eyes.  He's just marketed as a ninja.  But, with his colors, kids could use him in different ways and not be 100% tied to the Ninja Force mythos.

One of the reasons why I never got around to profiling this character 20 years ago, though, is the same reason I've run out of things to say about him, though.  While Nunchuk looks cool at first glance, he is tough to use.  The non-standard Ninja Force construction limits the figure.  And, there are so many better figures to choose for an obscure forest or jungle mission that I rarely find the need to pull Nunchuk out of his drawer.  The figure is really neat.  But, once you have him, his value is tough to extract.  He does look great in duels with Slice and Dice.  But, that's a pretty niche use for Nunchuk.  And, that kind of sums up Ninja Force as a whole.  There are amazing figure ideas in the series.  There are classic characters.  But, you lose out on those because of the construction and general ninja malaise.  If I want a ninja on a mission, I'm taking Snake Eyes.  So, any others are relegated to subservient positions and rarely find use outside of photos regarding their specific subset.

Nunchuk featured a rarely used cloth headpiece.  This design feature debuted on the 1985 Dusty.  But, it was not used again until the 1991 Desert Scorpion.  It was then used with Nunchuk and never appeared on any other figure.  (The 1994 Shadow Ninjas Nunchuk featured it, too, though.)  It's an interesting design choice that works fairly well.  The figure's head is actually two pieces that are glued together to hold the cloth swath in place.  The glue has held up remarkably well and only the most beat up Nunchuks will feature split heads.

One of the great, but underappreciated, aspects of the vintage Joe line was how figures were designed to not only be cool on their own, but also blend with other figures from their release year so they stood out on the shelves.  Vintage Hasbro would never have released 18 figures in varying shades of green after 1982.  They knew that this wasn't a key to retail success.  And, while you see great examples of this from 1983 through 1994, it is even apparent in the small subsets like Ninja Force.  In 1992, various subsets would have been placed on the pegs together.  So, even these groups of 5 or 6 figure had to feature some color diversity.  And, the 1992 Ninja Force delivers that.  You have the stand out red and purple of Slice and Dice.  Stormshadow is white with black.  Dojo and T'Jbang do share blue and yellow, though.  But, you then have Nunchuk to break it up.  It's an interesting contrast of bright and dark colors.  But, they are all vibrant and eye-catching.  The Ninja Force figures look great when displayed as a team...even if they aren't a collector's cup of tea as a concept.

Nunchuk didn't include many accessories.  But, sometimes less is more.  And, in Nunchuk's case, the weapons are well done.  He includes the requisite black battle stand.  He then includes a nicely designed black sword.  It is much larger and bulkier than the swords I grew up with in the 1980's.  But, frankly, it still works.  It's not too large.  And, it's a perfect opponent for the Cobra weapons in Ninja Force.  His last accessory is a pair of nunchuks.  The filecard refers to them as having an unbreakable chain.  And, for those of us who experienced the horror of snapping Stormshadow's or Quick Kick's nunchuks in two due to the weak plastic between the handles, the toy is a marked improvement.  While not "unbreakable", the plastic link between the handles is stronger.  The nunchuks don't hand as naturally as their earlier brethren.  But, they also don't break.  As a fun aside, had the Joe line survived to 1995, the Ninja Commandos would have included nunchuks with an actual piece of string between them.  It would have given the best of both worlds in terms of appearance and strength.

As far as molds go, Nunchuk didn't get a ton of use.  There is this 1992 figure and he was then repainted in 1994.  That year, Nunchuk was included in the Shadow Ninjas.  The translucent, purplish figure was among the final Joes made.  But, that was the extent of his use.  (Ninja Force and Shadow Ninjas were released in various countries and there are cardback variants.  But, all the figures are the same as the standard US releases.)  Hasbro likely had all the Ninja Force molds during the 2000's.  And, they used a couple.  But, the collecting world wasn't ready for a full on Ninja Force redux.  And, honestly, Nunchuk stands out due to his military coloring.  So, there's no real need for another repaint of him.  Sometimes, Hasbro used the molds just enough.

Loose Nunchuks are about $5 figures.  Mint and complete versions sell for under $15.  But, dealers sell a lot at $20+.  With a little patience, Nunchuk remains a solidly affordable figure that's worth acquiring.  He fits with a lot of Joes from earlier years and can be added to a vehicle crew for a slightly unique take on a Joe team.  But, he still has non-standard construction and that does limit his value in a collection.  But, for a pittance, he's a worthy acquisition.  You can easily add him as a member of a combat team and can use his colors as a way to make a photo stand out without sacrificing common colors.  But, as this figure hasn't taken off in the Joe resurgence of the past four years, it's unlikely that he's ever going to find anything other than obscurity among the collecting world.