2024 Sgt. Slaughter & Leatherneck Transformer

 Sgt. Slaughter himself posted this photo today.  It shows the long rumored Sgt. Slaughter and Leatherneck Triple T that is also a Transformer.  We all knew it was coming.  We all knew what it would look like.  And, now that it's here, it's exactly what we knew it would be.  Which is to say, this breaks no new ground.  

If you have a 1986 Leatherneck (which is a cheap and easy to acquire figure), you don't need this one.  It's nice to have access to a Slaughter baton.  But, this thing will run between $80 and $100.  You can easily get any version  of Slaughter, complete with a vintage baton, for under this price.  Triple T vehicles remain cheap and easy to find.  Some discolor, especially on the engine cover.  But, they're still not a difficult thing to acquire.  

So, really, what purpose does this serve?  It's great that Sgt. Slaughter remains involved in the brand.  But, there's nothing here that really speaks to collectors.  And, with the, arguably, more collectible Thunder Machine with Zartan and Zarana rotting at every online retailer, I really wonder who the audience for this product actually is.  Joe fans leave these behind.  Transformers fans do, too.  If Hasbro got weird, these wouldn't do any worse.  A green and purple Megatron that turned in the Cobra Bugg might actually sell out.  This...won't.

I've never waited for clearance for any Joe o-ring product.  I've regretted that decision terribly.  I've found almost no value in the Pulse era releases of vintage inspired Joes.  And, this product does nothing to alter that.  So, I think I have my first item where I will wait for clearance.  And, should this be the one item that sells out and I can't get for 1/3 the retail price, I'm OK with that.  I don't need to be a completist any longer.  And, I'm not convinced that these modern remakes will deteriorate at a slower rate than the already 40 year old originals.  

So, I'm left with what feels like the end.  Hasbro has finally released enough sub-par o-ring products that I've lost any interest in what they've done.  I'm OK with simply letting them go.  And, I'm one of the biggest marks for vintage style Joe figures that is still left in the community.  I've never even bothered to open the Zartan/Zarana.  Not even the scathing profile on the worst Joe figure ever released is enough to get me to pry open the box that's collecting dust in the bottom of a tucked away, basement closet.  Even at a steep discount, this Sgt. Slaughter/Leatherneck product will face the same fate.

2005 Comic Pack Zartan - Around the Web

Zartan took Cobra to new heights of super-villainy.  He was just a bizarre character who bordered on super natural.  But,  he worked quite well.  And, to this day, he remains one of the most popular Cobra characters and figures.  In 2005, he got a Comic Pack release that was OK but not a substantial upgrade over the original.  At the time, it was a cheap alternative to the more popular original.  That remains true today.  But few people really care about this figure.  And, that makes content on him somewhat hard to find.  Most of the items I dug up are actually from the time of the figure's actual release.  So, it's an interesting look into the past.

2005 Comic Pack Zartan Profile

2005 Comic Pack Zartan at the Attica Gazette

2005 Comic Pack Zartan by joesandtoys

2005 Comic Pack Zartan at JoeADay.com

2005 Comic Pack Zartan at JoeBattleLines.com

2005 Comic Pack Zartan at GeneralsJoesReborn.com

2005 Comic Pack Zartan at Mike's Collection

1988 Iron Grenadier

1987 was the swam song of my childhood collecting days.  I only bought a couple of figures in early 1988 before "growing up" and moving on with other parts of my life.  My younger brothers, though, still bought Joes.  And, slowly, they acquired most of the 1988 basic figure line.  When they brought home a new figure, I'd check it out.  And, in many cases, I found the new assortment of characters to be the type of figure I'd have simply loved were I still playing with toys.  Among the figures my younger brother acquired was the 1988 Iron Grenadier.

Upon his entry into our home, I found the Iron Grenadier fascinating.  First, I loved the name.  It conveyed strength and ability.  Second, the figure was amazing.  He looked like the a cross between the original Cobra Trooper and the later Cobra Viper.  Third, his Uzi was the type of weapon I always wanted Snake Eyes' Uzi to be.  It was bigger and bulkier and just seemed more substantial than the original version of the weapon.  Fourth, the figure's colors were great.  Black wasn't a common Cobra color for figures.  So, seeing it on a trooper was really different from the other figures that had been the staples of my childhood.  Finally, the figure included a sword.  Sure, it was kind of ornamental.  But, it was like the swords that Cylon Warriors from BattleStar Galactica had used.  They made no sense at all.  But, the mere presence of the sword was a cool visual and a constant reminder of quick death by a sharp blade.  

I felt that the details on the figure were just excellent.  They implied a ton of great uses.  The figure had the cool helmet and accessories.  But, he had a gas mask covering his face.  So, I could use the Iron Grenadier as an elite guard for Cobra's leadership.  Or, I could use him as a standard field commando who was better equipped than most of the Joes of that time.  So, he was an upgrade from the final Cobras who comprised my childhood collection.

During the rare occasion that I was home alone and could actually get my Joes out for one "final" battle, I'd use my brother's Iron Grenadier.  Usually, he was among the last survivors and had often taken out more than one Joe.  His newness afforded him this opportunity.  But, the overall quality of his mold pushed him over the top.  Really, though, I never felt like the adventures I created for the figure could live up to the coolness of the mold.  So, he ended up being a figure I'd appreciate from a visual perspective.  Though, had he been released in 1986, he's probably have been the backbone of my Cobra army.  I was just too old to really get the figure into the down and dirty adventures that cemented earlier figures as my favorites.

In the early 2000's, I had quite the Iron Grenadier army.  He was, for a time, the most common figure in my collection.  This wasn't due to anything other than the dynamics of the time, though.  I was among the few collectors who bought lots of 1988 and 1989 figures.  And, those lots always included an Iron Grenadier because even the army building sensitive collectors of the era wouldn't remove him from a collection to sell on his own.  So, just through acquisitions of bulk lots, I ended up with nearly a dozen Iron Grenadiers.  But, I really didn't do anything with them.  So, during my purge of the early 2010's, I sold off all but a lone Iron Grenadier.  And, while I have many regrets over the figures I liquidated at the time, the Iron Grenadier is not one of them.  I took one photo of them in 2000.  They didn't come out again until one photo shoot in 2007.  And, then, they don't appear again in any of my photos until I dusted one off for a shoot in 2023.  The figures just didn't matter to me and I didn't use them at all.  So, I'm glad someone else is able to enjoy that early army I had acquired.  

One of the things that plagues all long running IPs is bloat.  In order to keep things fresh, new concepts and characters have to be constantly added.  Over time, the IP becomes too large to manage.  And, you have to retcon certain aspects.  Or, just outright ignore significant events that occurred in the past.  That's how I view Iron Grenadiers.  While I enjoyed their introduction in the comic, there really wasn't any place for them to go.  Destro didn't work as a third faction in the story.  Him seeing himself as Cobra Commander's equal or better was a more interesting place to keep him.  But, eventually, the second in command has to make a play for leadership.  And, that's a fun story for a time.  In the real world, people like are killed.  In fiction, you don't waste a valuable character.  So, you figure out a way to put them back into their standard place and start all over again.  

This is where Joe found itself in the 1990's.  Hasbro started the decade with a slew of new characters and excellent toys.  But, by the following year, they were bringing back classic characters.  In the comic, the story was "getting the band back together" and heading towards a consolidation.  The upside is that kids of the '90's got to enjoy classic characters that were still appearing in old cartoon re-runs to go along with the new life that Hasbro was still breathing into the line.  The lost years are 1988 and, to a lesser extent, 1989.  Those figures and characters don't have the zealous following of the prior years and have not really found the later life that many of the brighter figures from the '90's have found as youngsters of that era have grown into adult collectors.  

So, the shelf life of the Iron Grenadier is short.  And, in reality, it was.  Hasbro released the bulk of their faction's items in 1988 with some updated toys in 1989.  There were a couple of figures in 1990.  But, then, the concept didn't really appear again.  Destro was brought back into the Cobra fold with his 1992 release and the Iron Grenadiers didn't show up until the early 2000's when Hasbro was mining the vintage line for any character they could find.  The entire idea of Destro being an army unto himself may have been re-examined in more modern fiction.  But, as I've grown to find the character of Destro to be overly problematic (there is no noble villain), my interest in Iron Grenadiers as whole has fallen away.

I do think that part of the reason for the relative short time that Iron Grenadiers appeared in the line was due to timing.  There was no cartoon in 1988.  So, there was no cross sell among kids of the day to get them interested in the toys.  Instead, kids of that era were treated to re-runs of the original series.  So, they are more likely to see Destro as a Cobra instead of this weird third faction that appeared on retail shelves.  The Iron Grenadiers as a concept were also meant to be a foil to BattleForce 2000.  Both had futuristic designs for their vehicles.  But, this idea was never fleshed out and it's difficult to even find relics of their past alignment among the toys that were released.  BattleForce 2000 fizzled as a concept, too.  Had there been a new cartoon in 1988 that focused on their antagonistic dynamic, the two sub teams would likely have near fanatical support among a group of fans who aged during their heyday.  Instead, we're left with some cool toys that don't really fit with the overall theme of G.I. Joe vs. Cobra.

In general, 1988 figures are pretty common.  Hasbro expected big things from the G.I. Joe Movie.  But, that didn't work out.  I've never been sure if my perception of the fate of 1988 figures was based on the fact that I happened to age out right when the movie failed.  But, in 1990, I could still find the entire 1988 Joe line at Kohl's stores around my city.  They had given up on Joe after 1989, likely due to the massive unsold stock that lined their shelves.  So, this has always left me thinking that Joe got a lot less popular starting in 1988.  But, a focus shift away from the core along with the end of the syndicated cartoon series both also contribute to my feeling this way.  As my local hobby shops still had pegs full of 1986 Joes on their shelves as late as 1988, I do think that my perception is just related to the kismet of me happening to age out of Joe right as the other things were happening.

The Iron Grenadier mold was used just twice.  The first was for this Iron Grenadier.  It was then sent down to Brazil and released in nearly identical colors as Terrork.  Terrork is a great name.  Even if the figure, itself, is just the standard Iron Grenadier.  The club wanted the mold for the 2005 convention set.  But, they didn't find it.  (Hasbro had it since Terrork's Brazilian contemporaries were all under Hasbro control at the time.)  They resculpted a new head to resemble the 1988 figure's and put it on a new body.  Around 2017, or so, a new factory custom maker named Letal Toys produced an Iron Grenadier mold.  The first wave included a green, tan, white and crimson versions.  Later, a light blue convention exclusive was released.  There were many more planned waves that included a Cobra Blue version and a classically colored version with more paint applications.  But, there were some mold shenanigans at the factory and no further Iron Grenadier factory customs were produced.  Black Major did resurrect the Uzi from the figure and included it with his Worms figures around 2020.  There's lots of life left in the mold.  And, a factory custom maker could make a go of it with the Iron Grenadier as his base.  But, those days are probably past.

Iron Grenadiers remain pretty easy to find.  It's tougher to find figures with perfect gold these days.  But, even that is doable as long as you're prepared to pay a premium.  High quality figures tend to run between $20 and $25, now.  Dealers will sell an appalling amount for $35, though.  There are bargains to be had, if you're willing to sacrifice the pistol and some of the gold paint.  But, the days of getting a few of them for three or four bucks each are long gone.  I don't think I'd pay a premium for this figure.  He was never important enough to me to justify a high price.  But, I also have a figure left over from my army building days.  So, I don't have to make a decision on a more expensive purchase.  

1984 Baroness - Around The Web

Back in the mid 1990's, dealers convinced everyone that female figures were super rare and valuable.  Fortunately, Ebay proved that she was no more difficult to find than any other 1984 figure.  The market corrected and Baroness figures have never been hard to get.  But, Hasbro bought into the Baroness hype and produced nearly half a dozen versions of her over the years.  Some were good.  Some were bad.  Now, we have factory custom Baroness figures available, too.  So, if you're a Baroness fan, there's more than you could ever want from this original mold.

Being relatively popular leaves Baroness with a large amount of content out there.  So, check out the links below for your 1984 Baroness fix.

Baroness Profile

Baroness by thevintagetoylife

Baroness by strikeforce_codename

Baroness at JoeADay.com

Baroness by gi_joeisthere

Baroness by jonita_rodriguin

Baroness by steelbrigade

Baroness by yojoeonline

Baroness by gi_joeisthere

Baroness by incrediblebulk

Baroness by nostalkid

Baroness by viper_space

Baroness by u.n.i.t._gijoe

Baroness by viper_space

1985 Crankcase

The 1985 series of Joe figures were released during the apex of my childhood.  Nearly every kid in my class played with Joes.  It was a binding force for boys of our year.  By the spring of 1986, though, most of the other kids were outgrowing toys.  But, 1985 was that magical time when you could find common ground with any kid of similar age by bringing up G.I. Joe.  Everyone knew the characters.  And, even  if you had most of the same toys, the line was vast enough that most people had something you didn't.  Among my friends, we had some not always friendly competition over finding new toys.  We'd then take them over to each  other's homes to both show them off and also enjoy the new items together.  This cemented the memories of many acquisitions and tied them to locations and people.  To this day, I can  remember the huge white cabinets at the bottom of my one friend's basement stairs where all his Joes were kept.  And, I haven't been in that house in nearly 40 years.  But, that's the power that the 1985 line had on me.

I found the mid-sized Joe vehicles in the summer of 1985.  I don't recall if I first acquired the Snow Cat or the AWE Striker.  But, they were both added to my collection during that summer.  While the Snow Cat would find itself in the thick of my Joe convoys, though, the AWE Striker didn't catch quite the same attention.  The reason for this, though, was entirely of my own doing.  Early in my ownership of the AWE Striker, I had it outrun some Cobra missiles and take cover under my younger brother's bed.  The clearance under the bed was just not quite the same as the height of the AWE Striker.   And, as I had the vehicle race the missiles and zip under the bed at full speed, I stripped the cannon right off the top of the jeep.  While the bracket on the gun's pivot wasn't completely broken, it was stressed badly.  And, after that, the large gun never did anything but sag towards the ground or the sky.  And, it fell off as I tried to move the vehicle around our toy room.  So, the AWE Striker didn't have much of a life in my collection.

Crankcase, though, did.  I'm not sure why he so resonated with me.  Clutch had been my favorite figure of the original 13.  Crankcase's role as a small vehicle driver was similar to Clutch's.  So, I might have given Crankcase some benefit of the doubt due to Clutch's importance to my early Joe playing days.  We also didn't have a swivel arm Clutch figure.  So, as I didn't use straight arm figures due to their limitations, I was missing an iconic vehicle driver who could operate the multitude of small Joe vehicles that now comprised my mechanized divisions.  As Crankcase was cool looking, featured nice colors, had decent accessories and had a memorable face, he fit into this niche rather nicely.  And, since vehicle drivers were often called into battle after their vehicle had been disabled, Crankcase found himself involved in most of the pivotal moments in any play scenario.

The real testament to Crankcase's quality was the fact that he was a rare figure in my childhood collection who was able to survive the loss of his accessories.  For some reason, the rifle that came with my childhood Crankcase was weak and the stock quickly broke off.  As the weapon was ruined anyways, I then snipped off the clip with a nailclipper in the vain hopes that I could repurpose it as a pistol.  This ruined it even further.  And, I lost one of the coolest guns of my childhood collection.  To make matters worse, I also misplaced Crankcase's helmet.  When I was a kid, my parents kept a brown plastic tub near the back door for dirty shoes.  For some reason, I had it in my head that Crankcase's helmet was in the bottom of this tub, mixed among the clumps of mud.  Since I thought I knew where the helmet was, I didn't really look for it for several weeks.  When I finally did, the helmet was not there.  And, my childhood Crankcase went bareheaded until he was packed away in 1988.  

Despite this, though, Crankcase endured.  He would drive the VAMP, Awe Striker, Silver Mirage and sometimes find himself in the 2nd seat of the Mauler.  In 1986, I discovered that Hawk's small pistol looked great with Crankcase.  And, it was of the right size to have been pulled from the holster on Crankcase's leg.  I was fortunate in that we had two General Hawks in my childhood collection.  So, we had a spare pistol I could give to Crankcase.  (I also happened to prefer Hawk using Leatherneck's M-203.)  To this day, I often photograph Crankcase with Hawk's pistol.  And, there is even a spare 1986 pistol sitting in my drawer of 1985 figures that is always meant for Crankcase.

I see Crankcase as a natural heir to the role that Clutch originally filled in the Joe team.  He has a design that both denotes a bit of casualness.  But, unlike the more reckless Clutch, Crankcase seems like he's more polished and professional in his duties.  You could count on Crankcase to get the job done.  But, he wasn't going to do something crazy that might or might not work.  This reliability made him indispensable to the team.  He was the perfect backup player to work with my preferred main characters as he wouldn't steal the spotlight.  But, was essential at crucial moments.  Plus, he looked good with the 1985 through 1987 figures that dominated my late childhood collection.

One area where I also found Crankcase was in the Action Force comic books.  My local comic book store had started stocking Action Force.  So, I had access to most of the issues of the run.  Action Force books all featured original stories that were exclusive to the book and not, otherwise, available in the U.S.  The fun part was that they often featured characters who didn't have the spotlight in the reprinted Marvel Comics that also comprised parts of each issue.  My first issue was #9.  In that issue, there was a unique story that focused on Flint and Lady Jaye.  However, Crankcase was there, moving blast shields around them to ensure only three people died if Flint couldn't defuse a bomb.  Seeing him featured like this was a treat since he didn't have a real role in the Marvel comic.  And, I suppose I've always had a thing for obscure characters who happened to have figures that resonated with me.

The thing about Crankcase is that, upon first glance, he looks rather basic.  He's got a green shirt and tan pants: nothing very special.  But, upon closer inspection, the figure features 8 different colors.  Even among vintage Joes, that's a high number.  He features a variety of small details that bring little splashes of color to him.  These paint masks would have make Crankcase an expensive figure to make.  His gear only adding to that cost.  But, this tells the story of how popular Joe was in 1985.  Hasbro could afford to make a vehicle driver as intricate as a carded figure that would have been available on a card.  This, of course, would change in just a couple of years.  But, the 1985 vehicle drivers might be best designed figures that were meant as packs in in the line's history.

Crankcase was available in 1985 and 1986 as the AWE Striker driver.  Starting in 1987, though, Crankcase began his life as a mail away figure.  Here, Crankcase found a long life.  In fact, massive overstock of bagged Crankcase figures were available from Hasbro Canada in 1999.  You can find mail away Crankcase figures bagged with a red backed filecard or with no filecard at all.  The retail figure and some mail aways feature different country of origin stamps, different rivets and slight color variants.  Crankcase's legs appeared on Major Storm in 1990.  In 2003, Crankcase's rifle appeared in gold on early samples of convention Major Storm figures.  There was also a listing that appeared in the Toys R Us computers that was named "AWE Striker with Crank".  When the toy appeared, though, Crank was long gone and replaced with a re-release of the 2002 Dial Tone figure.  

Crankcase figures have gotten pricey in recent years.  Mint and complete versions will run between $20 and $25.  Oddly, you can get a nicely conditioned AWE Striker along with a complete Crankcase for about $15 more.  So, that's probably the way to go.  Crankcase figures can be had for $7 or $8.  The real value seems to be in the rifle.  They usually run about $10.  That's a far cry from a couple of years ago when the rifles were a buck or two each.  But, Joe accessories have really climbed in price since 2020. So, you're now paying premium prices for even common gear. But, since Crankcase was such a large part of my childhood collection, I'd probably pay the prices for him.  As 1985 figures, he's still among the cheaper options.  And, if you don't want the rifle (you do, though, want the rifle!) his price makes him a no-brainer.  

1988 Tiger Force Flint Around The Web

Flint remains one of the most popular vintage Joe figures.  His character featured in both the comic and cartoon, offering both fandoms a chance to appreciate him.  Flint's Tiger Force repaint is even appreciated.  For a while, he was a stupidly expensive alternative to the still pretty expensive original figure.  

The upside to the figure's popularity is that there is plenty of content on Flint for everyone to enjoy.  You'll find some great work among the content below.  So, check out the links and leave a comment for your favorite features.

Tiger Force Flint Profile

Tiger Force Flint by thedustinmccoy

Tiger Force Flint by thevintagetoylife

Tiger Force Flint at The Attica Gazette

Tiger Force Flint Video Review by HCC788

Tiger Force Flint by thedustinmccoy

Tiger Force Flint by dashiellrfairborn

Tiger Force Flint by wigramjoe

Tiger Force Flint by dashiellrfairborne

Tiger Force Flint by hobieshinobi

Tiger Force Flint by darkstar_vintage

Tiger Force Flint by thevintagetoylife

Tiger Force Flint by yotothejoe

Tiger Force Flint by dashiellrfaireborn

Tiger Force Flint by Purple_Cobra75

Tiger Force Flint by g.i.joe_my_colection

Tiger Force Flint by dashiellrfairborne

Tiger Force Flint by yotothejoe

Tiger Force Flint by hes_miniaturas

The Zeroes - Mark VIII

So, I completely forgot about the zeroes in 2023.  Not that it really matters.  But, the Zeroes posts used to do fairly good numbers.  The purpose of this is to showcase the poorest performing posts of the last year.  As always, some make sense as the items are obscure or not interesting.  But, in other cases, the subject seemed like it would do OK.  But, for some reason, it didn't.

Action Force Stalker - Around The Web

This is one of those cases where a figure that should be popular just didn't do numbers.  I suspect that Snake Eyes repaints have gotten blase.  

1992 Dice - Random Photos

Dice is a cool figure.  His ninja action limits him, though.  Regardless, no one really cared about some random photos of this figure.

1994 Viper (Made in Indonesia) 

This was a disappointment.  The 1994 Viper is a figure I really enjoy.  And, these days, he is relatively popular.  At least, so I thought.  But, his profile did dismal numbers and was quickly brushed to the ash-heap of this site's archives.

2001 Destro

No real surprise here.  The 1992 Destro isn't that popular a figure.  And, this 2001 repaint is barely different.  So, no one really cared about it.

1994 Beach Head 

Another one that makes sense.  The 1993 Beach Head is generally criticized, roundly.  And, adding a splash of neon yellow to his paint job doesn't make him any more popular, even if the figure is probably a little better.

1985 Bazooka - Around The Web

Around the Web features don't tend to do great numbers.  But, this Bazooka was greeted with absolute silence.  It's an obscure figure that is more joke fodder than anything.  

Black Major Tank Commander

Usually, factory custom figures perform very well.  But, this Tank Commander didn't get a lot of interest.  Upon its release, this figure was pretty ignored.  And, it was cheap for many years.  So, that translated to a flaming dud.

So, that wraps up a year's worth of duds.  Speaking of which, Rarities Month this year wasn't spectacular.  But, it had some volume.  I'm at a point where it's getting harder to find oddities and rare items that aren't part of the secret cabal.  I have some items for next year.  And, I have 11 months to find some more.  

Until then, keep coming by for more items.  I'll have more profiles as the year winds down.  I just haven't had much motivation this year.  I haven't acquired any Joes in almost 6 months.  And, I don't really feel compelled to change that: despite some really nice factory customs coming out.  I need to pull the trigger on a Baroness or two and also gear up for some of the Low-Light/Beach Head/Shockwave colorways.  Until then, though, I'll have a smattering of content.  I've found that going back and re-examining some of the figures from the earliest days of the site has lead to some inspiration.  So, I might be doing more of that as 2024 winds down.

Thanks for stopping by and leaving your thoughts.

1993 Ninja Force Banzai - Around The Web

Ninja Force figures weren't all that much fun to play with.  Their action features limited their posability and made them less than ideal toys.  But, they are a lot of fun to photograph today.  Their bright colors and striking features make photos of them pop.  While there's lots of collectors who still insist they hate neon, the reality is that photos of these day-glow guys always attract attention...even if it's getting the haters to comment on how terrible the "bright" G.I. Joes are.

So, that leaves more content on a figure like Banzai than their really ought to be.  His colors, though, make for good photographs.  And, the Hasbro team still managed to make a subset of all the figure mesh together from a color palette perspective.  So, you'll find some cool stuff in the links below.

1993 Ninja Force Banzai Profile

1993 Ninja Force Banzai by thedustinmccoy

1993 Ninja Force Banzai at JoeADay.com

1993 Ninja Force Banzai by ptytoys

1993 Ninja Force Banzai by fosilru

1993 Ninja Force Banzai by viper_space

1993 Ninja Force Banzai at JoePedia

1993 Ninja Force Banzai by gen_liederkranz

1993 Ninja Force Banzai at Half the Battle

Rarities - Action Force Zartan

Zartan was one of Hasbro's most popular toys.  Something like 1.7 million were produced.  Despite that asinine number of toys available, Zartan remains one of the most popular and expensive vintage Joe figures.  The character was released all over the world.  And, while the single carded release from Japan is, arguably, the most sought after, there are Zartan packaging variants from many other places.  Below is one such release: the Action Force Zartan.

Zartan fell into an odd release window in Europe.  He was early enough to appear in original Action Force boxes.  Below, you'll see a sample of the early box where the selling point is the toy itself rather than the artwork that would appear later.  The most interesting part, though, is the early Cobra logo that was used on this Action Force packaging.  It's a highly stylized green snake wrapped a Cobra text bubble.  As an alternate way to promote the bad guys, it's kind of weird.  And, it didn't convey the size and capabilities of the Cobra organization like the printed Cobra logo did.

The figure and swamp skier are the same as those released in North America.  You will note that the Swamp Skier features alternate stickers.  Missing is the cool chameleon sticker that is the calling card of the North American Zartan.  Really, I wish this had become more of the logo of the dreadnoks than the later offerings that appeared in the 2000's.

Seeing the toy in action, though, would have been a big selling point for me as a kid.  I was never a huge fan of the artwork on the boxes or cards because they often didn't match the toy you were getting.  And, one of the lasting memories I have of the Action Force comic was that they included ads that featured the actual toys in action.  Back in the '80's, there was no such thing as action figure photography.  So, it was awesome to see some of the toys out of their boxes and set in actual play settings.

Here is a later Action Force box.  It is more in line with the Hasbro release in North America.  You will note, however, that this version features a grey filecard.  And, this is the much harder to find version of the filecard where the reference to Zartan being a "paranoid schizophrenic" has been Bowdlerized.

Rarities - Italian Jet Man (Slipstream) Bootleg

The Italian Jet Man figure was one of those things that was long rumoured, but never really confirmed for a long time.  In the past decade or so, though, the figure has finally come out of hiding with loose and boxed versions actually being available.  As to how or why an Italian toy company got to release a red version of Slipstream, though,  remains an absolute mystery.  But, this figure exists and is one of those bizarre oddities that dot the periphery of the collecting landscape.

To me, this figure very much looks like the body of a A-Wing fighter pilot from the Star Wars line.  The colors really show how close the pilot mold is to that of the original Star Wars designs.  Were this guy in orange, he's be a dead ringer for X-Wing pilots, too.  So, I guess the coloring of the original Slipstream is a testament to how overt copyright infringement can be avoided.

There are other European bootlegs that are based on Slipstream.  So, I don't know if this company got access to the Hasbro mold for Slipstream.  Or, if they just copied it.  You can see a cheapness to the figure's face.  But, that may just be the paint masks that were used.

The figure includes a red rifle that originated in one of the Joe knock lines of the mid 1980's.  I think it was Galoob who first produced it.  But, I may be mistaken on that.  Regardless, as a kid, I didn't much care for this rifle at all.  For some reason, it just looked cheap and I always associated it with lazy rip offs of official G.I. Joe weapons.

Jet Man is one of those weird items whose existence is baffling.  How did such an obscure company get ahold of such an obscure mold to use for a toy?  And, if they made their own mold, why did they choose Slipstream?  The upside is that this is an incredibly oddball release for collectors to track down.

Rarities - B.A. Baracus (Glasslite - Brazil)

We all know about the Estrela toy company from Brazil.  They were Hasbro's partner to release licensed G.I. Joe figures in their native market.  But, if you are a Star Wars collector, you are more likely to be familiar with another Brazilian toy company of the era: Glasslite.  

Most famously, Glasslite made the only production Vlix figure from the Droids line.  While not as rare as they once were, Vlixes are still holy grails among vintage Star Wars collectors.  But, Glasslite also made action figures under other licenses.  Among them were MacGyver, Airwolf and the A-Team.

Below you will see some images of the Glasslite B.A. Baracus figure that was based on the breakout character from the TV show who was played by Mr. T.  The card artwork is gorgeous.  And, the figure is drastically different from the B.A. figures released in the U.S.  

The U.S. BA is wearing a green jumpsuit.  While there are a few variant figures depending upon whether the figure was carded, boxed or a vehicle pack in, I'm not aware of any U.S. A-Team figure using the double bandolier chest that the Glasslite figures use.  (There are, though, plenty of uses of it in other knock off lines.)  The red color of the Brazilian release is more eye-catching.  And, while not anywhere near Mr. T's signature look from the show, is more flamboyant and in line with the B.A. Baracus character.

Sadly, the Galoob molds used for the A-Team figures were bad.  The heads all feature poor paint applications and creepy smiles that were likely a way to soften the fact that you were buying figures of vigilante terrorists who were wanted criminals.  And, the team's signature weapons were replaced with standard weapons that were recycled from other lines.  The Glasslite figure suffers the same fate.  While the colors and mold are better than the Galoob figures, they still are poor representations of the characters from the show.  You wonder what a company like Hasbro could have done with them.  

As a kid, we had the A-Team figures.  We watched the A-Team every week, at least for the first couple of seasons.  We had the van.  We also had one of the big boxed sets that included the repainted General Patch tank as well as a plethora of crappy accessories.  It was this gear, though, where I found value.  The A-Team figures were straight arms that were released in a swivel arm world.  They never had a chance.  But, the vehicles were relatively compatible with Joe.  And, for many years, my 1984 Copperhead figure wore one of the red backpacks from the A-Team set.  Stuck into the straps of the pack was the holster from the Endor Princess Leia figure.  And, Copperhead used her pistol for a long time.  I miss that type of imagination.  I was able to make Copperhead very important to my childhood play since he had that extra gear.  Now, I only use him as a color match when showcasing new Black Major figures.  

As an aside, a random memory I have of the A-Team is actually from the summer of 1993.  At the time, I was in Barcelona for a few weeks.  Every night, a TV station in the city played A-Team reruns, dubbed in Spanish, during prime time.  It was weird to see a nearly decade old show playing in such premium time in another country.  I watched an episode, just for nostalgia.  But, the shows are bad and even in 1993, they didn't hold up well at all.  I haven't watched an episode since.  I'd rather remember the cool factor of the original airing during my childhood than confirm the cheesiness of '80's TV that the series actually is.

Hasbro has recently announced a 4 figure pack of Ghostbusters characters that are made in vintage Joe format.  The absolute dreamer in me sees something like that and starts a reverie about Hasbro dropping oddball o-ring releases of things like Indiana Jones, the West Coast Avengers and, even, the A-Team.  The A-Team is the one most certain to not ever exist.  But, it's also the one that has the most potential cross over with Joe.  It was contemporary to Joe.  And, both Mr. T and Sgt. Slaughter were professional wrestlers.  But, things like that won't ever happen.  I'm left with silly musings about how my childhood would have been better had things like that existed in the 1980's.  

In the early 2000's, many Brazilian G.I. Joe sellers would also have A-Team, MacGuyver and Airwolf toys available.  But, they'd try to sell them for the same premiums that figures like the Cobra De-Aco would command.  So, few people bit on them.  Now, you don't see the toys all that often.  But, that's likely a function of the brands lacking enough cachet to bring high prices.  As a collectible, though, the Glasslite A-Team figures are a small and cool subset to collect.  I think they're better than the Galoob figures.  Just, good luck finding them.

Rarities - Action Force Persuader

On of the most ignored facets of the worldwide Joe line is that a huge number of vehicles that were released in Europe actually feature some pretty drastic color differences from their North American counterparts.  Usually, the colors are darker and richer.  It's very noticeable when you have both the North American and European versions next to each other.  

There's no real reason why the colors were changed.  All of these vehicles were made by Hasbro in the same factories as the North American releases.  It would be one thing if just, say, the green plastic was changed.  But, you see different hues of brown, red and orange, too.  So, the color changes were deliberate and occurred over multiple years.

Below you will see an Action Force Persuader.  The vehicle features a darker green base.  As something different, the green is kind of nice.  It's a little dark.  So, it would be tougher to see in photos.  But, as part of a convoy, the different color would add some depth to the display.

There's many Action Force vehicles that feature these type of color differences.  The documentation on them is sparse and difficult to dig up.  But, the communal reference resources for the toy line haven't been updated in over a decade and it's really caught up with the community.  And, now, minor differences like these alternately colored vehicles are mostly undocumented.

Rarities - 1985 CAT Tank (Sears Exclusive)

The MOBAT sucks.  It's important to start out with that as a statement.  It was, easily, the worst toy to debut in the line in 1982.  And, it was never compelling.  Sure, it was cool in the comic and cartoon.  But, there, you got to see characters interacting with it in a way that was simply not possible with the actual toy.  So, Hasbro recoloring the tank in black and red for release as a Sears exclusive in 1985 didn't really solve any of the limitations of the toy.  But, the Crimson Attack Tank (CAT) exists and remains a prized piece for collectors: even if it's undeserved.

It's tough to remember that Sears was the king of retailers as the '80's dawned.  The catalog sales model was a proven way to reach massive amounts of consumers who didn't have access to a physical Sears store.  But, Sears was also pretty effective at getting stores into even small towns.  (The small town where my cousins grew up had a stand alone Sears store.  It was about the size that a Dollar Store is today.  But, it was clean and efficient.  It stocked a few items.  But, mostly, it was a place where customers could come in and order from the catalog.)  So, them being able to afford an exclusive run of toys made a lot of sense.  And, starting in 1982, Sears carried their first exclusive Joe toy, the craptastic Cobra Missile Command.  

In other profiles, I've written about how my dad was a Sears junkie.  He could go in and look at the tools for just as long as I would look at the toys.  And, as they were near each other in our local store, I'd often find myself free to wander the ample toy section while he browsed the hardware.  Really, my only memories of spending time looking at toy lines I didn't collect was in Sears.  My time in Toys R Us or Children's Palace was always Joe focused with little time to spend browsing around.  I recall looking at He-Man and Sectaurs at that Sears store on the north side of Indianapolis.  In these sessions, though, I also discovered the CAT and the SMS.  I distinctly recall both of them being on the end of an aisle and the boxes were neatly stacked on the floor.  The display was huge and the stock was more than ample.  The following year, I found the Dreadnok exclusives in similar format.  Since my dad liked Sears, we found these toys under the tree.  Except, that is, for the CAT.

For Christmas of 1981 or 1982, my dad's best friend bought my brothers and I, each, a remote controlled tank.  They were undersized for Joes and not really meant for action figures.  We played with them for a day or two.  Once home, though, they got tossed into the toy box where they'd stay.  They were too big to match the grocery store plastic soldiers that every kid in the early '80's had in spades.  And, they were too small for Joes or Star Wars figures.  So, they weren't that fun.  Because we had these, though, my mother was adamantly against us getting any more motorized tanks.  I asked for the MOBAT once because I wanted Steeler.  The tone of my mother's "no" ensured I didn't ask again.  

Aside from Steeler, though, I don't think we really missed anything.  Our friend around the block had a MOBAT.  And, no one every played with it.  It was big, didn't interact well with figures, and, you couldn't roll it into battle like you could the toys with free-rolling wheels.  

To this day, I do not own any incarnation of the MOBAT.  Through the years, I've had the original and the 1998 versions.  But, I sold them all off as they are bad toys and worse display pieces.  I've never owned either CAT.  And, I've never had any inclination to do so.  It makes no sense to pay a premium for a vehicle that I don't like and would never, ever use.  But, the CAT is a relatively hard to find item, especially complete with the gun cap.  And, for that reason, it's always been popular with collectors.  The 1985 version has always commanded a premium price, even when alternative versions were getting clearanced from KB Toys' website for a couple of bucks each.  

At its core, the CAT is just a MOBAT colored in black and red.  If the MOBAT were a good toy, this recolor would be an awesome addition to the Cobra army.  But, since it's not, the CAT is just a big hunk of black plastic that takes up huge amounts of space in photos and can't hold any figures.  In Canada, an all black MOBAT was released.  I actually prefer the two-tone CAT, though.  While both toys are rare (the Canadian being substantially more so) they both are heavily limited by the MOBAT design.

Today, with a bit of perseverance, you can find an open sale of the tank for about $250.  But, this is an  item that dealers always pick out.  So, there is consistently plenty of stock available.  The tanks are just sold in the $350-$400 range.  And, lots of people pay that price since the tanks are there for the taking and $100 is worth not having to wait for a year or more to get one at a real market price.  

Super7 O-Ring Figures

So, we finally get to see the Super7 take on o-ring G.I. Joe figures.  They are...pretty much as expected.  Basically, they are ReAction figures with vintage Joe articulation.  They feature the same heads, smooth sculpts and trademark hand design as the 5 points of articulation figures.  So, they will stand  out among vintage Joe figures.  But, they are also somewhat close and will work with vintage figures.

My thoughts:

1. The heads are too large and detailed for the vintage style bodies.  They will definitely not look like vintage figures.  
2. I'm not a fan of the hands.  But, the main reason is that the gear is much less likely to be compatible with vintage Joes.
3. The bodies are just too smooth.  They lack details that the vintage Hasbro team used to give the figures depth.  The smooth bodies look like knock off figures from the '80's.  (The smooth upper arms are especially egregious.)
4. The waists are too big and blocky.  This is a feature that also plagues many kickstarter figure lines.  
5. The crotch is short and stocky.  It's straight off of a K-Mart Remco figure.  It's hugely noticeable among vintage Joes.
6. The accessories don't look great.  The cartoon inspired designs are OK.  But, the guns included with the BAT and Snake Eyes look like Chap Mei type weapons that are overly large and embellished.

So, I'm left with an existential question: am I an o-ring figure collector or am I a vintage style Joe collector?  Because, I don't see these figures as being an extension of the vintage Joe line.  Really, the entire success of this line will likely hinge upon the paint masks.  If they offset the cheapness of the sculpting, these figures will be really nice.  But, even skimping on one or two masks will leave the figures looking more like knock-off Joes instead of an upgrade over Hasbro's work.

I'll  definitely use them to supplement my vintage collection.  Especially if they make missing figures like Dr. Venom or the Khaki shorts Kwinn.  Figures like Snake Eyes and Cobra Commander seem unnecessary since I have plenty of them that are already compatible with my collection.  The Twins (a surprise announcement!) and Cover Girl fall into the middle tier.  For the right price, I'll get them.  But, $50 or more for the Twins is a no.  Though, $35 might be doable.  

We're seeing Hasbro and other toy makers dropping prices and also pushing discount lines at brick and mortar retailers.  But, collector lines haven't felt the full pinch...yet.  So, it will be interesting to see where the price point on these ends up.  They were going to be expensive.  But, the market may not support that, now.  So, we'll see where they end up upon release.  I'll be hard pressed to pay $25 plus shipping for these figures.  $20 at my local Target seems like a lot for all but the best figures.  $12 seems great.  But, that's just not going to happen.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Rarities - Unproduced 1995 Big Ben & Snow Serpent

The 1995 Joe line would have been pretty great.  Had it come to be, many of the items would be held in the same regard as precious items from the line's heyday in the 1980's.  And, with the lower production runs of the line's final year, many of the items would likely be super expensive to acquire today.  While the line featured a solid array of new figures, it was also going to include many repaints of earlier releases.  Two of these would have been the figures included in the planned 1995 repaint of the Tactical Battle Platform which would have been called the Battle Station.  For some reason, this set piece was going to include repaints of Big Ben and the Snow Serpent.

You can tell from the photos that both of these figures are hand painted prototypes that were used the 1993 mail away figures as their bases.  As such, you see production colors on the legs.  It's unlikely that the final figures would have matched these concepts, exactly.  But, they'd have been close enough.  So, you get the general idea of what the designers were trying to do.

Oddly, the concept art for the Battle Station doesn't actually feature the figures who would have been included with it.  Instead, it is a smorgasbord of unreleased 1995 figures and likely reissues of 1994 releases.  This would imply that the figures included with the set were more ways to just use molds that were available rather than really spice up the design.  But, the Battle Station concept art also showcases many of the figures in the cardart poses with positioning that suggests placeholder design.  So, it's likely that they box art would have changed upon release and probably featured the figures included with it.

I find it interesting that concepts from both of these figures did, eventually, see release.  The 1998 Snow Serpent borrows elements from this unproduced 1995 figure.  And, the 2001 Big Ben was an arctic repaint in the vein of this unreleased Big Ben.  So, it's nice that some of the work was eventually used...even if it was by a different team looking to save a few bucks rather than an homage to the founders of the brand.  

Seeing current prices of the 1993 mail versions of these two characters makes me shudder at what these 1995 figures would cost today had they seen release.  Being in a low production, high dollar playset would have made acquisition unlikely for many kids...meaning fewer figures going into the secondary market.  I take solace, though, knowing I'd have forked over the money for a Battle Station had it been released...just because it included these two figures.  I had a rule that I'd buy vehicles with figures included.  And, Big Ben was one of my earliest grail figures.  So, the Battle Station would have called my collection home.

Sure, it would now be yellowed and decaying in a box in the closet.  But, I'd have these figures and enjoy them for what they were.  I still maintain that collectors would hold the 1995 line in high regard had it seen production.  But, there were forces at work that were far beyond the G.I. Joe brand.  So, we're left with tidbits of what might have been.  Repaints like this aren't nearly as interesting as newly designed, unproduced pieces.  But, they would have been an important supporting cast for the planned new figures.  I'd still love to know if any of the 1994 molds that debuted that year would have gotten updated paint jobs for 1995: as was Hasbro's habit at the time.  I'm sure some would have been cool and others would have been...less so.  But, more figures are better than fewer.  And, we really missed out with the line's cancellation occurring in 1994.  

Rarities - Brazilian Marfim

The 1993 Outback is actually an excellent sculpt.  It was never, though, released in really nice colors...at least by Hasbro.  In a rare occurrence, the Brazilian release of the 1993 Outback mold is actually the best paint job ever used on it.  And, it has created a great figure: Marfim.

All of the other uses of this mold featured bright colors.  Marfim, though, is far more muted.  Gone is the orange and yellow.  And, it's replaced a by a nice hunter green that is offset with gold highlights.  The figures still features some blue on his pants.  But, it's not overly done and is a decent accent color.

With this different coloring and international name, you can use Marfim to overcome the greatest issue that collectors have with the 1993 Outback.  People just can't see this figure as Outback.  But, when given a new name, it becomes much easier to accept the quality of the sculpt for what it is and not have it saddled with the rose-colored glasses of 1987 nostalgia.

Marfim's gear features excusive coloring of some weapons that debuted with the DEF.  He includes red versions of the 1992 Mutt's pistol and the 1992 Headman's rifle.  Estrela loved DEF weapons.  And, Headman's rifle appeared twice.  Once in red with Marfim and once in a bright green Coronel Coragem.  It's odd that this weapon was available in Brazil when they never released either a Headman or a 1992 Mutt repaint.  (The two figures with whom the rifle was included by Hasbro.)  It's likely that Estrela had access to more molds than they actually produced, though.  And, that's how things like the original Alley Viper weapon ended up in Estrela releases, too.

Back in late 1997 or early 1998, a member of the G.I. Joe Usenet group managed to find the skeleton of the early Estrela Toys website.  Back then, search engines had limitations.  And, if you didn't speak Portuguese, there weren't website translators that were readily available.  Many of the pictures on the site returned the dreaded red X: meaning they were gone.  But, one image that remains burned in my mind was a photo of many of the final releases in the Estrela G.I. Joe line.  The one figure I remembered was the Headhunter repaint.  At the time, the Headhunter was a grail figure for me.  And, it wasn't common knowledge that he had been released in Brazil.  This Marfim would have been in the same image.  But, they were small and grainy.  So, the Marfim's quality didn't imprint upon my brain in the same way the Headhunter did.  I wish I could find the images from the old Estrela website.  They are likely to exist somewhere.  But, we have such better reference material now, though, that those old photos would be more nostalgic than informative.

So, back in the late 1990's, Marfims were pretty easy to find.  He was one of a few select Brazilian figures that was available to new collectors.  There were always a couple of them available (usually carded) for really cheap prices.  But, as the 2000's dawned, the figure simply disappeared.  For about the next decade, it was really difficult to find a Marfim in any condition.  And, the prices skyrocketed.

Now, you can find Marfims again.  But, the prices haven't fallen to levels are that indicative of his availability and desirability.  This is too bad as this is a great release of a solid mold.  Toy dealers have become less and less interested in letting the market set prices for collectible figures.  That may change at some point in the future.  But, the circumstances of any change like that aren't likely to be good.  When they do, figures like Marfim will become more affordable.  But, you'll have to act quickly to add figures like this to your collection.