In late 2023, a random Ebay lot appeared. In it were loose versions of the unproduced alternate head Zap, Short Fuse and Breaker figures. The figures had been played with. But, the molds matched the known, existing samples of those three figures. Also in the lot, though, were two other figures that had never before appeared publically: an alternate logo Cobra Trooper and Cobra Officer.
These figures feature the "Mickey Mouse" Cobra logo that appeared on the early run Mickey Mouse Cobra Commander figure. Up until this point, these logos had never been seen on either a Trooper or an Officer (in public). And, the collecting community quickly went into overdrive to authenticate the figures.
It certainly helped that the figures were found along with loose samples of the alternate head 1983 figures. That gave them a provenance boost since there were other items in similar condition that indicated a pre-production find. And, those other items featured mold changes rather than the more easily faked paint differences. The fact that the items had play wear meant that the original owner had no idea that they had anything special.
At the end of the day, these figures aren't all that interesting. We've seen the logo before. And, the figure molds are the same as production releases. Seeing the two together is notable when you put together a timeline of the design process. The Mickey Mouse Cobra Commander, though, already gave us that information. But, really, the Mickey Mouse Cobra logo sucks. The logo that they went with for production is drastically superior. So, Hasbro made the right choice with the change. But, seeing production figures like these tells you how close this logo was to being the definitive symbol of everyone's favorite evil terrorist organization.
The value on these figures is likely in the thousands of dollars. Even if more of them appear (as happened with the alternate head 1983 figures after the first samples were discovered), it won't be enough to sate the high dollar demand. Items like this don't appear all that often. And, it's been a while since legit pre-production variants had been found on vintage Joe items.
The fact that things like this still exist speak to the sheer volume of product that the Joe line encompasses and the fact that many people who had access to these items may not have really cared, or even noticed, that they had something materially different from the full production items in their possession. It's great that there are still finds to be made out in the world. But, they are far more likely to be made by professional resellers who buy out old toy designer's closets and basement than actual collectors.
Which means items like this will remain the domain of well heeled collectors. We can just hope that the original sales of the items continue to be in public forums so that the items in question don't get to just disappear into private collections with no documentation of their existence. (Like the pre-existing samples of these did. Yeah, other copies of these exist and are kept hidden for...reasons.) So, at least we now know these figures exist: even if they aren't all that cool.
Why do people who know what they have, covet and sit on and hide this stuff away? I often hear the "working on a book" thing. Some of those never get made. But I totally get why the owners would want to be anonymous, there's always some lunatics tracking people down and nagging them to sell something. Even it the current owner is a millionaire and Johnny Gotta Have It is living in a trailer park and willing to spend 4 months salary for something rare that will probably be lost in his divorce.
ReplyDeleteAs for people NOT knowing what they have. I'm reminded of toy magazine I once had from the 90's when they mostly sucked (before even ToyFare). Someone wrote in and said they had, I think it was StarCom prototypes from the unmade series 2, and asked if they were worth saving or something so ludicrous to even contemplate. As if the magazine was going to tell them "No, no, these one of kind items you saved from your old job are TRASH." Maybe the letter was a ringer, but the magazine was a generic collecting toy mag, not even the Action Figure ones like Lee's or Tomarts. It wouldn't make sense to fake a letter over an obscure toy line in a generic toy magazine.