In 1998, there were no Oktober Guard figures. So, the news that Hasbro was going to release one was welcomed with open arms by collectors. When the set appeared, though, all was not well. The only character from the original Oktober Guard team was Col. Brekhov. And, that figure was a straight repaint of the 1991 Red Star. The other figures were Lt. Gorky (which is a great figure, just not a classic Oktober Guard character) and Volga. Volga was an all new character who didn't make much sense when Daina, an original team member, was there for the taking.
It seems that Volga was meant to be Daina. The hand painted mock up for the figure included blonde hair. And, it was meant to be Daina. But, for some reason, Hasbro changed up the figure. They gave the figure red hair and created Volga.
The headsculpt on the figure isn't great. And, the Lady Jaye body and gear really make her seem like a Lady Jaye knock off. But, her paint applications are strong and the camo pattern is really unique. You'd think there would be more Volga content out there. But, she seems to have fallen away in the past 24 years.
1998 Volga by corpscommandercody
1998 Volga by tonegunsrevisited
1998 Volga by corpscommandercody
1998 Volga by tonegunsrevisted
Volga's filecard clearly states she's Daina, but I can't fault anyone using her as a new character. The head was lame, but what's really goofy is not finding a beret head to reuse for Gorky. Even giving Big Bear a black beard (again) and calling him Horrorshow would've made more since that red-bearded burly "Gorky".
ReplyDeleteThe comic pack found the parts to make Gorky, so just needed a head that would fit.
Another ginger Joe character. Hmmmm.... 🤔🤔🤔 What is Hasbro's fascination w red heads?
ReplyDeleteI assume that the name changes were due to Hasbro not securing the copyright to those names. Same reason Clutch became Double Clutch and so forth.
ReplyDeleteVolga's head is ugly, but swap a Lady Jaye head onto that body and it makes a damn nice Lazy Bastard Custom.
Volga is a woof woof
ReplyDeleteone of hasbros best ever cammo applications and its a figure thats to as close as "forgotten" as you actually can get. funny considering the move to a two-tiered "retail" and "convention quality" paint aps system with the 02' relaunch.
ReplyDeletethe mortal kombat figure that had the blond head that was a decent stand in for a real diana was readily available at junk mall KB toys at the time. i remember the GI Joe: Warfare used that LBC combo pretty effectively.