2003 Funskool Metal Head

Sometimes, you accidentally strike gold.  In the case of the early 2000's Funskool releases, their tendency towards bizarre repaints and random accessory complements created a few different figures who transcend their origins and are very useful for collectors.  It was not likely that this was intentional.  But, the results tended to work.  The differences could be as small as a mustache painted on Law to a full blown repaint like Tripwire.  For some reason, though, Funskool got itself into an orange figure rut.  In fairly short order they released Wild Bill, Grunt, Incinerator and the subject of this profile, the Funskool Metal Head.  In general, orange figures are awesome.  And, this Metal Head combines the color with an exclusive accessory complement to create one of the more offbeat yet cool figures from the repaint era.

Metal Head has always been a solid figure.  My first introduction to him was when I was babysitting some kids down the street who had a 1990 version.  I turned his leg mounted missile launcher into a holster for his pistol and had him pilot an Imperial Shuttle.  It left an indelible impression upon me that followed me into adult collectorhood.  Like many of these early '90's memories that involved figures that I was too old to buy, Metal Head was among the very first new items I acquired as vintage Joes started to become available from online auction sites.  As these figures were the bastion of late 1990's acquisitions, they slowly fell out of favor as other, newer figures entered into my collection.  Now, I find my interest in some of these figure re-piqued just out of nostalgia for my first period of nostalgia.  Which, is kind of bizarre.

Which brings us to the Funskool release.  The early 2000's were a rather uninspired time in vintage themed G.I. Joe.  Hasbro churned out the same figure molds in similar colors for a few years and took extremely few chances on anything.  We're left with a rather banal roster of figures that, while having some gems, is largely forgettable.  One of the shining stars of the era, though, was Funskool.  While Hasbro was failing to properly interpret what collectors actually wanted during that time, Funskool was busy churning out figures that they felt would appeal to the youth in India.  As such, Joe collectors of the time had access to some brightly colored figures that brought a substantial amount of diversity to the contemporary releases.  In truth, the Funskool Joes of that era were more true to the spirit of the vintage line than the Hasbro offerings.

But, as Funskool was trying to appeal to kids, it also managed to largely alienate adult collectors.  This wasn't something Funskool actually cared about.  But, online Joe collectors sure liked to act like Funskool should care about them.  You'd see the standard diatribes lambasting Funskool for releasing obscure molds in bright colors.  While Hasbro was struggling to sell 16,000 units of o-ring Joes, Funskool was pumping figures out in quantity for their own market.  The few thousand units of each figure that were imported to American based dealers were just an extra bonus for Funskool.

That collector sentiment lead to figures like Metal Head being lambasted.  And, in that process, collectors missed out on a neat update to a cool mold.  The orange base isn't much more ostentatious than Metal Head's original red and yellow combo.  And, the inclusion of the Star Brigade Sci Fi helmet adds a completely new element to Metal Head.  You probably didn't know you wanted a Star Brigade Metal Head.  But, you could now have one.  Or, with the helmet on, this Metal Head could be a completely new character.  The possibilities were broad.  But, collectors of the early 2000's couldn't get past the "neon" of the orange base.  I do wonder how this would have fared as a 2018 or 2019 timeframe release.  Collectors were more accepting of bright colors by then.  And, they might have seen this Metal Head for what he is: a solid repaint that brings some needed color to a collection.

Personally, I scooped up this Metal Head the minute he became available.  You can see him in various photos I took back in the late summer and early fall of 2003.  There were so many Cobras coming to retail at that time that including Metal Head as a new character among them made sense.  Really, I just saw him as a different look for the Metal Head character.  But, he was used more often than many other, obscure Funskool repaints of that time.  He did, though, fall out of favor.  And, my original was part of my Funskool purge in the early 2010's.  I regret selling those off since many have not only gotten expensive but, in some cases, impossible to find.  (Look for an orange trimmed Funskool Hawk.  You'll turn grey before you find one.)  I was able to re-acquire him before Funskool pricing got stupid.  So, it's nice to have him back in the collection where he can once again join in with Incinerators, HEAT Vipers and other 1990's Cobra's where he looks most at home.

While we never had a full inventory of the molds that were sent to India, figures like Metal Head indicate that the number was far greater than just the figures that Funskool produced.  At one point, a Funskool contact informed a dealer that they had well over 100 molds available to them.  So, they large roster of figures from which to choose for release in India.  We're unlikely to ever know why Funskool chose a figure like Metal Head for release over any number of other molds.  Nor are we likely to know the full roster of which figures they had available.  One of the joys of Funskool of that era was the 5 or so new figures they put out each year.  You never knew who would be next.  And, that was part of the fun.

One thing collectors didn't really know was that, by 2002, the Funskool G.I. Joe line was starting to flounder.  It had enjoyed a retail run in India that rivaled the Hasbro run in terms of years.  So, the brand was a bit stale...even if Funskool was pretty good at supplementing it with classic vehicles and large roster of older figures that remained in circulation.  This Metal Head includes gear that was indicative of Funskool's last ditch efforts to attract new kids to the brand.  His grenade maker was an innovative idea for a figure add on.  We'd also see an ink pad and stamp with Grunt and some weird decoder thing that was included with Law.  Funskool was trying to attract kids to their figures with something new.  Hasbro tried the same thing in 1992 and 1993 with all the subsets.  But, in both cases the writing was on the wall for Joe's retail future.

Sadly, Metal Head's quality isn't great.  It wasn't until April of 2003 that Hasbro got on Funskool's case about figure quality and forced them to start producing higher quality figures.  So, it's tough to find a Metal Head made after that date.  The 2002 figures feature some blotchy paint and are very susceptible to having sonic welded arms that simply won't swivel without breaking the arm off.  (This figure began production in very late 2002 in India.  It didn't  appear for sale from U.S. dealers until 2003.  So, you'll see it referred to as both a 2002 or 2003 release.  With late in the year debut figures, it's tough to pin down an official release year.  But, this is the reason for the discrepancies you'll find.)  It's too bad since he's such a nice figure.  If you can find a figure that was opened back in 2003, it's less likely to have bad joints.  Or, see if you can find a figure made after April of 2003 (the date of manufacture is on the back of every Funskool card) to get a higher quality sample.

Metal Head debuted in 2002.  Funskool pretty much ceased G.I. Joe production around 2005.  As Funskool Metal Heads weren't heavily imported, it's tough to determine if Metal Head was among those late run figures.  To date, I'm not aware of Metal Head variants.  He may not have been in production long enough to get any.  But, at the same time, his lack of popularity among collectors drove the lack of later imports of the figure.  So, there could be undocumented variants out there, especially on his gear.  Metal Head did not return for the 2009 Funskool re-issues that were created to support the movie's release.  We haven't' seen vintage Joe molds used in India in 15 years, now.  We know that Hasbro destroyed all their o-ring molds in the late '00's/early 10's.  We don't know the fate of the molds that Funskool had in their possession.  I'd love to think that the molds are still  out there and could show up in some oddball release at a future time.  But, that's getting less and less likely with each passing day.

Metal Head's accessories are where he really shines.  The blue weapon from the 1991 Cobra Commander isn't great.  But, it actually works with this figure.  Funskool used that weapon mold often during this time.  And, they also really loved the blue plastic for the accessory color.  But, it matches with the figure.  So, that helps.  The real surprise, though, is the Star Brigade Sci Fi helmet.  Released in yellow with a red visor, this helmet actually fits Metal Head near perfectly.  It creates a drastically different look for Metal Head and, if you're so inclined, gives you another named Star Brigade Cobra figure.  The figure is rounded out by the "incentive" accessories: a grenade maker.  You get some grenade molds, some wicks and a couple of tubs of a brightly colored Play-Doh like substance.  You'd take the dough, put it in the molds with a wick in the top and Metal Head now had custom grenades to toss at your Joes.  It was a weird idea.  But, it had precedence in the 1993 Mega Marines and did offer younger kids some ancillary play value.  The idea wasn't repeated.  So, you wonder if it was considered a success or was just too expensive to replicate.

One fun fact about the playdoh substance that you could use to make Metal Head's grenades: it stunk!  When I opened this guy fresh off the card back in 2002, the substance was chemically pungent.  It was awful.  I packed it away in a plastic bag, inside a sealed plastic tub.  Every time I opened the tub, the room would become permeated with the stench.  However, when I opened another one in 2019 or so, the smell was gone.  It was likely a function of the age and the moisture having been sucked out of the substance.  So, the smell isn't likely to be still around unless you get your nose up close and personal with the drying out putty.  But, it was something at the time and remains one of my more poignant memories of first acquiring this figure.

This Metal Head also features additional paint masks that were not included on the Hasbro release.  First, his chest knife is painted.  It has a gold handle and silver blade: a nice upgrade over the original.  The figure's upper arms are not painted, like the Hasbro version is.  But, the Funskool version features painted gloves.  This breaks up the arm color in a better way than the Hasbro upper arm paint masks.  Finally, the figure's thighs feature more paint.  The upper portion of Metal Head's leg armor is painted.  And, his missile launcher holders are also painted.  This gives the figure more detail than the Hasbro figure.  And, frankly, I'd kind of like to have seen a Hasbro figure given these additional paint applications.

Metal Head was not a popular Funskool release.  Few collectors bothered to acquire him as, by his release date, Hasbro was producing more than enough army builders to keep collectors focused on that dominant aspect of the hobby.  Plus, the novelty of Funskool had worn off.  Because of that, the Funskool Metal Head is kind of hard to find these days.  You don't see them with the ubiquity of more popular characters.  Dealers offer carded figures in the $125 range.  But, the market price for a carded figure is around $40.  He's a stark reminder that dealers haven't gotten the memo that unpopular figures no longer command premium prices.  As the market plummets, figures like this Metal Head are great candidates to fall even further.  There are enough of them out there to satisfy demand.  And, as collectors economize, figures like this Metal Head will be the first to either be liquidated or simply scratched off of lists of figures that collectors want to acquire.  So, you'll probably be able to get him much cheaper in the future.