2002 Slice

Wave 1.5 of the Joe vs. Cobra collection was meant to be much, much more.  Originally, it was going to have the 1986 Hawk mold for Tomahawk and the 1988 Shockwave mold for Sure Fire.  The inclusion of those molds would have drastically changed the makeup of the line and lead to a far greater appreciation of all the figures included in it.  But, they weren't included and the substitutes seemed like a retread since both figures had been released very recently.  But, there were a couple of new molds included in the packs.  Headman returned for the first time in a decade and now featured a great, tan suit.  His 1992 cousin, Slice, was the second new mold to return.  And, hidden among the Vipers and Alley Vipers that collectors desired were two great Cobras that offered nice updates to their other releases.

This Slice features some really strong paint masks.  In fact, this figure stands out among many of his contemporary releases.  The color scheme is something different.  And, while he features a base, red color, Hasbro, to their credit, avoided trying to make him "crimson" and gave him a lighter, brighter red base.  The figure still features the silver mask that is Slice's strongest appearance characteristic.  The rest of the body features a dark gray tunic, light grey legs and white highlights the range from a subtle outline of his silver face mask down to his bootlaces.  The white is bright and can be a bit stark.  But, it's also a color that doesn't often appear as the preferred color on a figure's hands.  In short, this is the most detailed release of the Slice mold and is the only one that really showcases the small details that were included on the boots, sash and arms.

This figure only exists because of collector backlash to Hasbro's first wave of JvC figures.  Collectors demanded the return of the o-ring.  So, Hasbro went back to retool it's Wave 2 figures.  That created a 6 month gap between Waves 1 and 2.  To offset this (but only slightly) Hasbro dropped Wave 1.5.  It was 8 classic o-ring figures with both a Viper and Alley Viper among the releases.  It was meant to appease collectors and hold them over for the new figures that would show up just a few weeks later.  Initially, the wave was super popular.  While collectors bought out the Vipers and Alley Vipers, even the Slice/Sure Fire and Headman/Tomahawk packs sold well enough.  Wal Marts got in several cases during the initial surge with many stores putting cut open boxes on the top shelves since there was no peg room.  

But, Wave 1.5 then kept shipping.  In short order, it backed up at retail all over the country and even the Vipers and Alley Vipers were super easy to find.  The entire wave saw overstock dropped into bizarre three packs.  And, eventually, the wave turned up at discount outlets as late as 2004.  Some stock was even dumped outside of the U.S. in Hasbro's attempt to find a market that would take on figures that had little retail interest left in them.  This wave is, likely, one of the most produced figure waves of the 2000's.  This means that the figures are relatively easy to track down today.  But, they also sullied what turned out to be a pretty decent wave of figures.

In 2002, I was a full on adult collector.  I was married.  I was on my second home.  I had three dogs.  (Well, actually, I bought my first Slice at a Wal Mart in Kokomo, Indiana when we stopped to get some cash to acquire my third dog.)  So, there's no childhood innocence associated with this figure.  But, upon opening it, this Slice really opened my eyes to the usefulness of some of the Ninja Force molds.  Even in 2002, I had no real use for Ninja Force.  The figures didn't appear in my photos of that era.  And, if you scour old profiles from prior to 2002, you'll see my personal disdain for Ninja Force in a couple of places. 

People, though, mature.  And, if you still, today, think exactly the same way you did in 2002, then you're  probably not a very serious person.  You can evolve your opinions as you both learn new information and gain more perspective from life experience.  This Slice started me down the road where I've found greater appreciation of the Ninja Force figures.  And, in many cases, I now like them.  The sculpts are very well done.  And, this Slice, in particular, didn't require additional bulk to accommodate the spring loaded action feature.  (Which is also included on this 2002 figure.)  So, it works very well with figures from any year.

Sadly, this Slice didn't include any of the cool weapons that debuted with the 1992 and 1993 figures.  those weapons were unique and looked great with Slice.  This 2002 version, though, included a silver version of the curved sword that was originally included with the 1992 Stormshadow.  (Thanks to Mr. Acer and Gen_Liederkranz for correcting that the sword originated with the 1992 Nunchuk.  The silver version originated with the 2000 Stormshadow which caused my confusion!)  He also has a black knife that was originally included with the Range Viper.  They're not bad accessories.  The sword works very well for Slice.  But, Slice just looks better with any of the gear from 1992 or 1993.  

The Slice body was used a full dozen times.  It had three vintage Joe releases of Slice and then two uses of the body for the Street Fighter Ryu figures.  It then appeared on 6 different figures in the Mortal Kombat Movie line.  Then, this 2002 release marked the dozenth time the body was used.  You can make a case that this mold should have appeared again during the repaint era.  He would have worked in the Ninja Strike set.  And, he would have been a nice swap out for the 2004 Urban Assault Stormshadow, too.  But, we probably have enough Slice repaints.  All his figures are good.  

Slices are super cheap.  Mint and complete figures can be had for around $6 or so.  You can get carded versions for under $11.  He remains one of the cheaper options for Joe figures.  And, unlike many of his 2002 contemporaries, Slice has yet to really discolor.  We'll see if that continues to be the case.  But, you can be sure there are plenty of Slice figures out there, many still MOC and they will never be expensive when compared to other figures in the line.  So, there's no reason to not have one of these figures as they are pretty nice, especially for the price.  So, get a Slice.