1997 Lady Jaye - Random Photos of the Day

The 1997 Lady Jaye is a weird combo.  She features a great paint job that is a drastic departure from prior Lady Jaye figures.  But, she also features poor quality and weird plastic.  So, as an overall release, she's kind of relegated to second tier status.  Even during her release window, collectors didn't really warm to her since the quality was poor.  So, this has become the lost version of Lady Jaye.  It's not a figure you see very often.  And, the best I can tell, she has never had even an homage to this color in subsequent variations of the Joe line.  

If you have one, she can be a fun figure since she brings such a different appearance to Lady Jaye.  But, her skin looks like she's made of soap (thanks A-Man!).  And, her face paint looks like it was applied by Plastirama.  So, the figure looks more like a bootleg than a real release.  So, that leaves an obscure and unloved figure.

After ignoring her for many years, though, I now use this Lady Jaye more than I would have thought.  The 1985 version has never really appealed to me.  The Funskool version is fun to see.  But, she also has quality concerns.  And, that's the extent of my Lady Jaye collection.  So, it really leaves this 1997 figure as my default.  But, she looks good with a variety of Flint figures.  And, she does bring something unexpected to the Lady Jaye character.

2022 Snake Eyes

If you've been collecting since at least 1997, the last thing you need is another all black Snake Eyes based on his original 1982 design.  The character has been released at least 5 times in the repaint era in a mold and color combo that's the basic 1982 Snake Eyes but with some colored details.  So, you probably already have plenty of figures to represent the original Snake Eyes.  So, there's no real reason for this 2022 Snake Eyes to be part of any collection.  But, this brand newly molded figure does feature some aspects that haven't been seen in 40 years.  And, frankly, one of the updates makes this guy very worthwhile.

Back in the early days of collecting, everyone wanted a 1983 Snake Eyes with some painted details.  And, Hasbro delivered on that.  Every take on the original Snake Eyes mold released between 1997 and 2022 featured some painted details to bring some extra oomph to the mold.  What Hasbro never did, though, was make another all black Snake Eyes.  Really, there wasn't a reason to in the early 2000's.  For most of that time, the original Snake Eyes figures were relatively abundant and most of the collector focus was on the 1985 version.  But, in 2022, a newer collector base who had come online in the three or four preceding years did have a need for the vintage look.  

And, let's face it, 1983 figures aren't holding up all that well after 40 years.  (Though, the original Snake Eyes doesn't discolor ,can't have paint wear and, generally, has aged the best of the original 13 figures.)  But, it is nice to have a fully black Snake Eyes with the original waist that also has the softer plastic hands where you don't need to worry about breaking thumbs.  But, that's a pretty niche use for this figure.  Personally, I prefer Snake Eyes with some painted details as I think it's a more realistic look.  I break out the vintage figure specifically to photograph the vintage figure...not because I like the all black visage.  Even among my vintage figures, I'm more wont to use the Action Force Stalker figure just because the grey highlights make for a better photo.  So, there's not a compelling reason for me to really break this guy all that often.

But, I'd be remiss to not comment on much the original style waist piece on this figure enhances his visual representation.  I'm not someone who hated the 1986 Roadblock waist that debuted on the 1997 Snake Eyes releases.  But, seeing the figure more as it was originally intended really drives home how much care and thought the original Joe team put into their creations back in 1982.  The precision with which the parts fit shows a level of skill that is not replicated today.  But, back when you'd sell a quarter million copies of your worst designs, you could afford to take extra time and care on every piece.  But, seeing the figure in a much closer representation of how it was originally intended  is a big step forward and makes this figure worth owning.

The release mechanism for this Snake Eyes wasn't great.  You got him and Stormshadow in a 2 pack, boxed set for $40.  The set featured the following packaging: an outer brown shipping box, an inner, decorated box with character artwork and the actual carded figures themselves.  Since it was online only, it also then shipped in another cardboard box.  That's a LOT of packaging that collectors had to pay for.  And, $20 per figure seemed exorbitant when super articulated The Vintage Collection Star Wars figures were only $13 at the time.  (The greater Star Wars production numbers are mostly offset by the licensing fees Hasbro pays.)  Personally, I'd have preferred the character artwork box either replace the vintage cards or been removed with just the vintage cardbacks made available.  It would have been a cheaper option.  But, 2022 Hasbro was still riding high on the pandemic era collectibles bubble and they were almost not wrong in thinking people would pay nearly any price for nostalgia.

For some reason, the box art packaging for this figure does not look like the actual toy.  Instead of the 1982 Snake Eyes appearing on the box, we see the 1985 Snake Eyes mold.  Why is this?  Well, we have no reason or explanation as to the gaffe.  Truthfully, the 1985 Snake Eyes would have been a better choice since he has a sword to fight Stormshadow and it hasn't been released by Hasbro since the figure was discontinued at retail in 1986.  Seeing other box art mistakes, though, leads me to believe that Hasbro just made a mistake with artwork as it was commissioned separately from the toy.  Rather than worry about it, they just released it as is.  And, with an obscure, online only release, the questions and complaints were buried by social media volume in a matter of days.  And, now, no one really cares because for Joe collectors, it's always been about the toys and, maybe, the single carded presentation for the figure.

There are plenty of options for a Snake Eyes with a similar appearance to this one.  Aside from the plethora of releases during the repaint era, there are swivel arm versions available from Funskool in India as well as straight arm versions from Brazil, Argentina and Mexico.  Even Black Major has released a multitude of V1 Snake Eyes repaints.  Hasbro has yet to repaint this newly sculpted Snake Eyes and it seems extremely unlikely that they ever will.  It's sad as they could have done a couple of cartoon repaints that would have been well received.  But, factory custom makers have really done a bang up job in maximizing both the original Snake eyes mold and the 1985 version.  So, you can find pretty much anything you'd want out of those molds through those avenues.

In talking with a few other collectors over the past year or so, I've found it odd that we've become very nostalgic for earlier times in the collecting world.  The early 2000's were when most of us really got involved in the Joe world.  And, that was a great time with the advent of online forums, a new comic, widely available Funskool, an irrational number of new toys from Hasbro and widespread availability of cheap and plentiful vintage toys.  The Joe world went into some doldrums around 2006 through 2009 or so as the world and the internet evolved.  The early '10's, though, saw the emergence of a new, more creative collector base.  Vintage was cheaper than it had been even 5 years earlier.  And, the rise of factory customs seemed to invigorate the base.  This was a great time, too.  Slowly, though, those communities that appeared began to migrate to the new social media sites of the era.  And, as algorithms downplayed long term engagement, those communities fell away.

So, this leaves me to wonder, will we have the same nostalgia for the subsequent period of collecting?  The Joe world changed drastically in 2018 when the Netflix toy propaganda series dropped an episode on Joe.  Suddenly, pickers and dealers got an inflated sense of Joe's popularity and prices skyrocketed as they bought up supply and priced it high to cash in.  The pandemic threw gasoline on that fire for a year or two as homebound people starting collecting...well...everything.  And, while we've seen falling prices for a while, they're still not really down to reasonable levels since the supply of inventory is so restricted.  During that time, Hasbro brought back a few items for classic collectors.  But, really, this is the Classified era.  But, the focus of Classified collectors seems to be buying and owning the figures instead of really being creative with them.  Will that lead to an era that has a future renaissance?  Maybe.  But, it does seem like we're on last vestiges of the vintage Joe era.  But, it felt that way in 2007, too.  So, we probably have another hurrah left in us.  I just hope it sparks another era of new creative forces instead of stale discussions about who should star in the next movie remake.

Quality wise, these Pulse era figures are OK.  The plastic is softer than vintage. Which is a great thing for thumbs and crotches.  I have no fears of snapping Snake Eyes' thumb when I put his weapons into his hands.  So, that's nice.  As this Snake Eyes has no paint apps, there's no concern over the paint rubbing away.  On other figures, I worry about paint loss because the softer plastic has lead to softer paint that isn't as sturdy the paint used on vintage Joes.  Being all black, I'm also not concerned about discoloring with this figure.  The soft plastic that Hasbro has used so far this century has not held up well.  Blues and whites turn yellow very quickly.  But, we haven't see that with the black plastic.  So, this Snake Eyes will probably hold fine in that regard.

One area where the Pulse releases did excel was in the accessory complement.  This carded Snake Eyes includes remakes of his vintage Uzi and explosives pack.  This gear had been mostly absent from the original Snake Eyes repaints after 1997.  So, it was nice to get it.  But, in addition  to that, there was a small, tissue paper wrapped package inside the bottom of the character art box.  Inside were some additional, loose accessories for Snake Eyes.  These included a 2nd classic Uzi as well as the Uzi, sword and backpack from the 1989 Snake Eyes.  There was also a standard figure stand.  This additional gear was a definite value add for the overall package.  I'll always take extra Uzis  based on the 1982 mold.  I do wish they had remade the 1985 backpack and sword instead of the 1989 since the '89 molds were used so often during the early 2000's.  But more gear is better than no gear.  And, the extras give some indication that Hasbro had at least some awareness that collectors would open a few of these figures.

When Snake Eyes and Stormshadow first went on sale, they quickly sold out.  This appeared to be the end of the availability of the figures.  But, as orders were processed, the set came back in stock.  And, it stayed in stock for months.  It stayed in stock so long that in June of 2022, Hasbro had a promotion where you could get 40% off if you bought two of the sets.  (Well, at least $75 of Hasbro qualifying product.)  But, it's a stunning blow to a line that seemed poised to finally have a supporting adult collector base.  Instead, it's slowly being proven that the Skystriker was a speculative fluke and that vintage Joes just don't have the cachet to survive for long at retail, even as a niche, collector oriented and premium priced product.  Snake Eyes did, eventually, sell out.  He never showed up at specialty, online retailers who bought all the extra Duke/Cobra Commander and Cobra Trooper/Cobra Officer two packs.  I'm not convinced that we've seen all the Pulse stock of vintage style Joes make its way through the retail supply chain.  But, the figures remain cheap, even if you can't just buy them from retail stock.

Currently, a mint and complete 1983 Snake Eyes will run you between $65 and $70.  A far cry from the $100+ of just a couple of years ago. But, that's still a pricey figure for one that is rarely susceptible to minor wear.  So, this 2022 remains a much more affordable option for a nice rendition of the original Snake Eyes look.  Carded sets with Stormshadow sell a bit under their $40 original retail price.  But, sales are few and far between since the collectors who stashed extras haven't been compelled to sell at the below retail cost prices...yet.  It's unlikely that this figure would reach his retail price at an open sale.  So, you can wait him out and probably get one for a lot cheaper a few years from now.  If you love the early look for Snake Eyes, this is a figure you probably should own.  But, at the same time, if you have a nice 1983 version, there's not really a compelling reason to track down this more recent edition.

2005 Stomavik - Random Photos Of The Day

The Oktober Guard Comic Packs saw a truncated production run.  This was due to the slow sales of the prior waves during the 2004 holiday season.  For about 6 weeks in the spring of 2005, you could find the October Guard figures.  But, after that, you were pretty much out of luck unless a collector had a spare to trade.  That's lead to a series of figures that tend to be fairly pricey, these days.

Stormavik was my favorite Oktober Guard character.  I thought he had the coolest rifle and I loved the white and blue undershirt.    So, I was looking forward to his first figure.  Sadly, though, the figure's head was not great, his signature weapon was nowhere to be found and the parts used for his body appeared far too often during this time to make a really unique figure.  So, I was vastly disappointed in the result.

In the 19 years since his release, not much has changed on that front.  I don't use the Oktober Guard figures all the frequently because they didn't live up to their comic appearance.  But, to be fair, I'm not sure that even a perfect figure could exist that lives up to the artwork in the second G.I. Joe Yearbook.  But, we're never going to see another Stormavik figure.  So, this one is as good as it's going to get.  So, enjoy the few photos below of the 2005 Stormavik.  Hopefully, I'll get inspired to try to use him a bit more often in the future.

1986 Mission to Brazil Mainframe

As far as I can remember, I got to go to Toys R Us quite frequently when I was a child.  Part of that was that the local Toys R Us was in the same shopping center as the grocery store my mother went to every two weeks.  So, to bribe us for helping her push the cart and bag the groceries, my mother would often stop at TRU on her sojourns.  During the fall, we also had a weird conflagration of birthdays both in our family and among our friends.  So, we were always shopping for various presents.  I also suspect that my parents took us there on some weekends because it was a free way to get all three kids occupied for an hour without having to spend any money.  Regardless of the reasons, I spent a lot of time browsing the aisles of the local Toys R Us store.  

I knew the layout of the store.  And, was familiar with how the Joe section was stocked.  One day in the fall of 1986, though, I was treated to something new: a whole endcap packed solid with a bizarre box of five figures.  The set hadn't appeared in the catalogs for that year.  It was completely new.  Of course, I immediately picked it up and found that the set was actually four repainted figures of 1986 characters along with one "new" figure that I recognized as repainted parts from prior figures.  The colors on the figures were different and not really in line with the standard retail line of that year.  And, my first impressions of the set were to leave it behind and focus on other things.

In our repeated trips to the store, though, I kept going back to the Mission to Brazil set.  Each time, I'd take a box down, read over all the text and the thoroughly review the figures as best I could through the plastic.  I'd stare at it for longer and longer each time.  But, I never actually asked for it.  I've talked before about how the fall of 1986 is this weird missing memory for me.  Usually, I was all in on the newest, biggest Joe playset that was supposed to be found under the Christmas tree.  But, I have no memory of ever really wanting the Terrordrome.  It might have been fatigue and lingering disappointment at not getting the USS Flagg the prior year.  I might have known there was no hope in getting the Terrordrome.  So, it was futile to ask for it.  But, this leaves me a hole.  I have no recollection of what my big gift for my birthday and Christmas in December of 1986 actually was.  It might have been a new dirtbike.  I got one somewhere between 1985 and 1987.  But, I paid for half of it and it seems out of character for my parents to have left the other half of an item I'd been using for a while as my holiday gift.  It's a mystery that I'm not sure I'll ever unravel.

What I do remember, though, was the other gifts under the tree.  Among them were the Dreadnok Ground Assault, a couple of early release 1987 figures that we had found at the Toys R Us in the days before Christmas (Falcon and Cobra Commander stand out.) and one surprise: the boxed Mission to Brazil set.  My parents must have seen me looking at it, studying it and assumed it was something I wanted.  So, they got it for me.  

With these new figures in hand, though, I had a dilemma.  What would I do with alternate colorways of characters that were already fairly new to my collection and still in good shape and complete with their gear?  The answer soon came to me.  I viewed three of the figures in the set (Leatherneck, Wet Suit and this Mainframe) as nameless troops who shared the same specialty as the Joes from the retail line.  I explained that the Mission to Brazil colors were actually the official colors of these specialties.  But, the Joes were so good that they were allowed to wear different colors: even though the base uniform stayed the same.  So, with this, I added acquatic commandos (Wet Suit), Special Force commandos (Leatherneck) and Science Officers (Mainframe) to my repertoire of figures.  

The uses of these figures were varied.  Often, they were the ones to die during a battle.  Other times, they would be among the few survivors.  And, in special cases, some of them were promoted to full fledged Joes.  The enduring story from childhood on this theme involves this Mainframe figure.

As a kid, I had Cobra be more powerful than Joe.  This was a takeaway from the Transformers cartoon where the Decepticons (at least, ostensibly) were supposed to be more powerful of the two factions.  So, for me, Cobra had never ending equipment and troops and always had Joe on their heels.  With the arrival of the 1986 figures, though, the tide was turning.  Joe was getting better and Cobra was losing ground.  So, I came up with a story where Cobra could gain back their edge.  

I had long neglected the 1985 Sears SMS.  I had never found the missile launcher to be all that much fun since figures couldn't really interact with it.  (Though, the red Hiss Tank was a staple of all my battles.)  But, when I found it, I had an idea.  Cobra could now launch massive missile strikes from far away on Joe bases.  The first few attacks completely destroyed the bases and resulted in the deaths of countless commandos that were represented by the Mission to Brazil set.  As Cobra got closer to Joe's main HQ, the Joes had to find a way to protect their bases.  So, the bases became nothing more than a battery of guns and anti-missile defenses designed to stop an attack.  And, in a few cases, the Joes were successful in fending off a small strike.  But, Hawk knew it was only a matter of time before their defenses were overwhelmed with dozens or hundreds of missiles and the base would fall and many Joes would die.

It was then that Mainframe discovered a hidden secret in the missiles: they had an activation code.  This numerical code armed the missiles and kept their flight path true.  But, if you could broadcast the codes, you could disarm and deactivate the missiles.  It was an astounding discovery.  But, one that was practically useless because the sheer volume of numbers necessary to find the right code for every missile was impossible to broadcast in the short attack window.  The Joes needed to get their hands on an actual missile launcher unit and grab the software that generated the codes.  They could then use that to render the entire Cobra missile launch operation moot.

It's here that I'll interject.  When I was in middle school and junior high, I was a huge nerd.  I was a voracious reader and devoured information from any source to which I had access.  In 1986, I wanted to do a science experiment showing that chlorofluorocarbons would eat the ozone layer.  I even looked in science catalogs for ozone as a way to prove out a story I had seen on 60 Minutes.  I actually had notebooks by the TV to write down dates and addresses so I could send away for transcripts of shows that had stories I had found interesting.  And, because of this weirdness, I also had very few friends.  So, I spent most of 1986 and 1987 upstairs in my bedroom each day after school and on weekends: playing with my Joes in more and more complex stories.  I also listened to the local top 40 radio station.  To this day, many songs from that era bring back vivid memories of specific battles or adventures I was having with my figures while that song played in the background.

The result, though, is that I had a lot of things that were incorporated into my adventures that were surprisingly ahead of their time.  Some of this was from the Joe comic, of course.  But, my eclectic interests brought some fun ideas to the stories.  Regardless, Mainframe had a plan.  But, the Joes had to find an opportunity where they could capture one of the missile bases.  For several weeks, the Joes had near misses.  Sometimes, Cobra would just get away, pulling the launcher behind a Hiss Tank.  Other times, the Cobras would destroy the launcher, or just erase all the data on it and render it useless for the Joes' purpose.  Eventually, though, everything went right.

On this adventure, an unlikely group of good guys were in the right place at the right time to find a launcher.  They quickly attacked.  Among the group was a nameless Science Officer portrayed by this Mainframe.  Along with his bulky computer equipment, he also carried a Low Light Uzi from the 1987 Battle Gear pack.  In fact, the backpack and computer he carried were also Battle Gear because it was just different enough to make the army building figure be a bit more distinct than the actual Mainframe character.  Many of the good guys died during the battle.  But, the Science Officer displayed immense bravery and managed to actually get the codes from the launcher before Cobra destroyed it.  He and the surviving members of the party returned to Joe HQ.  With the codes in hand, Cobra's missiles were rendered useless.  For a short time, they would try to launch them from very closely proximate locations to the Joes and just hope that the short window was enough to get a hit.  But, the Joes were able to constantly broadcast the codes and that put the SMS back into a box where it would sit for a decade before I recovered it in the mid 1990's.

The Science Office was then promoted to become a full time Joe.  Back then, I would take apart all of my brothers' figures and make them into new, custom characters.  I had an old Mainframe head that would have been the basis for this new character.  But, I don't recall the character ever going anywhere.  I suspect that using Mainframe's head made him too similar to Mainframe.  And, the computer hub in my HQ was already manned by the carded, grey Mainframe and this red and tan version  from the Mission to Brazil set.  So, the actual character who grew from this adventure was lost to time.  But, that's kind of OK.  Really, some heroes are entirely forgotten.  So, to have someone who was so vital to a key part of my childhood story end up an anonymity is probably more true to life than any heroic deification.   

In the early 2000's, I tried my hand at a dio-story.  They were the rage of the time and I wanted to tell the story of this code adventure.  I changed it up a bit.  And, I used the 1986 Mainframe instead of a nameless character and the Mission to Brazil paint job.  I went to shoot it one afternoon.  And, I quickly realized that doing a dio-story was hard.  Trying to get the shots to tell the story was tough.  I found staging some of the scenes overly tedious.  And, adding the dialogue was just a nightmare: even with a full version of Photoshop on my computer.  I have a couple of photos left from that shoot that appear here and there.  But, they are mostly lost.  Somehow, they never made it into any of the various backups that I had built.  It's not really a loss.  The photos weren't great.  The dialogue was cheesy and disjointed.  And, I relied on every hackneyed cliché in the books to move the story along since my photography had so many gaps.  But, it was an homage to a vivid childhood memory.  A memory that I  feel, now, is better captured in narrative text than any image based story could ever hope to be.

The Mainframe mold had its share of uses.  Hasbro used it for these two figures in 1986.  From there, it was sent to Brazil where Estrela released it as Mainframe, too.  This figure is nearly identical to the Hasbro release.  The mold then went to India.  There, Mainframe was a staple of the early 2000's Funskool line.  The carded figure is similar to the Hasbro Mainframe in coloring.  (Though, is microphone is a different color.)  This Mainframe appeared in various promotional incentives that Funskool produced, too.  There is even an atrociously colored Halibna promotional figure that features a blood red chest with a huge black ink stain in the center, olive pants and helmet, grey boots, and the horrible straight arms that define Halibna releases.  The mold's final appearance occurred in 2009/2010 when Funskool included it in the final run of Funskool Joes that coincided with the G.I. Joe Movie's release in India.  

All of the Mission to Brazil figures are now expensive.  They're really not that rare.  I'd say they're much more common than 1988 and 1989 Night Force figures.  But, as vintage Joes go, they are on the lower end of the production number scale.  Since Mainframe utilizes gold paint, finding a truly mint figure isn't easy.  But, Mainframe is also the least popular of the Mission to Brazil figures.  So, that helps temper his pricing a bit.  Still, though, dealers will ask for $100 or more for a nicely conditioned, complete figure.  Left to his own devices, he's about a $60 figure, though.  It helps that his accessories are the same as the much more common grey, carded figure.  The difficult find is the filecard.  All the Mission to Brazil figures have unique filecards that are tough to find.  You'll probably pay $30 to $35 for just the filecard.  But, filecards aren't something that I feel are necessary to enjoy a figure.  But, this guy is still an expensive purchase for what he is.

The figure in the photos of this profile are my childhood figure.  I've never bothered to upgrade him.  Mostly, it's because I don't much care for the figure's coloring.  And, even when Joes were cheap, Mission to Brazil figures were more expensive and I'd always opt to get something new than upgrade something that was good enough since I didn't really care about him.  And, to be frank, the sentiment of knowing this is my childhood is enough for me to hold off on an upgrade.  I'm not usually the sentimental type and have long sold off my childhood Joes who were replaced by higher quality specimens.  But, this Mainframe is a figure that makes sense to remain in my collection for, at least, a little while longer.

1986 Roadblock Around The Web

I'm not a fan of the 1986 Roadblock.  I've been disappointed in it since I was a kid back in 1986.  He was a figure I anticipated upon seeing him on the cardback.  But, once I saw him in person, I lost all interest in the figure.  But, I'm very much an outlier in those sentiments.  Many people love this look for Roadblock...to the point where it's the default version of the character for some collectors.  This has lead to a nice bit of content on the figure that's out there.  So, check the links below to see some cool 1986 Roadblock stuff.

1986 Roadblock Profile

1986 Roadblock by Nekoman

1986 Roadblock at the Attica Gazette

1986 Roadblock by elevatmetoahigherhumanform

1986 Roadblock by slipstream80

1986 Roadblock by darkstarvintage

1986 Roadblock at JoeADay.com

1986 Roadblock by tituslester32

1986 Roadblock by evilface

1986 Roadblock by joerizzo2025

1986 Roadblock by viper wilson

1986 Roadblock by HCC788

1986 Roadblock by offc0ur5e

1986 Roadblock by toker_collection

1994 Action Soldier

If you were a kid in the late 1970's to late 1980's, you played with little green army men. Frankly, they probably pre-date the '70's and were available much later than the '80's.  The figures feature recognizable poses that haven't changed in decades and were a staple of grocery stores, discount outlets and other terrible retail options that existed before the large corporate conglomerates put them all out of business.  They are the lens through which many kids were introduced to the military and combat play.  You can convincingly argue that the 1982 Joe line was nothing more than a drastic update on the cheap plastic army guys every kid had.  But, it brought pose-ability, removable weapons and vehicles to the fold.  

Starting in 1983, though, Joe moved beyond these humble roots and made the line memorable with the addition of visually striking characters that made the line more than just a bunch of green toys sitting in a shoebox.  For the next dozen years, the Joe line evolved and really embraced the notion that it was a super hero trope set on a military base.  As the line died in 1994, though, Hasbro took one final stab at the line's most basic toy roots.  It released a set of 5 figures based on the 12 inch Joe figures from the 1960's.  The 30th Anniversary figures brought an out of place visual to a line with standard articulation.  The result is a set of figures that collectors mostly ignore while, simultaneously, praising them for their design, realism and overall quality.  The five figures in the 30th Anniversary line are the: Action Marine, Sailor, Pilot, Astronaut (only available in the boxed set) and the subject of this profile, the Soldier.  

The Action Soldier is, arguably,  the most basic figure in the set.  He's uninspiring and relatively bland.  But, that's exactly what he's supposed to be.  And, for that reason, the figure really works as a nameless Grunt who served in the U.S. military at some point after World War II but before Vietnam.  He has the standard green uniform.  His helmet hearkens back to the early days of the "modern" army.  He has some basic straps and pouches.  But, they aren't overdone.  He's even got two grenades on his torso.  He might be the most perfect representation of a basic soldier in the entire vintage Joe line.  But, that's part of the reason why he hasn't caught on in the collecting world.  The Joe line is about the characters: especially for the good guys.  And, having someone with no characterization leads to a figure that doesn't have a lot of uses.

In the late 1990's, I got on an Action Series figure kick.  They were cheap and pretty easy to acquire.  So, in short order, I bought a bunch of boxed figures (loose figures were pretty much impossible to find) and opened them up.  Once in hand, the Action Series figures were about everything I expected them to be.  They looked great, had cool gear and fit rather well with my later run Joe figures that were my obsession at the time.  I bought extras and...just flamed out.  The figures quickly lost their cachet.  I'm not really sure why.  To this day, I have the boxes from those early figures...most with the accessories still packed inside.  I even have several boxed figures sitting in a closet in the basement.  I planned to open them.  But, never got around to it and, still, don't really have any reason to add to my current, small army.  

And, this is where I get stuck.  Visually, these figures are great.  Having some basic soldiers around your base to do the dirty work seems like a great idea.  But, once in hand, the figures just seem...off.  If you've been around the community a long time, you might remember an early dio-story called Warfare.  The creator used the Action Series figures rather effectively.  But, IIRC, he still only had two or three of them.  There simply wasn't much need for more.  And, I think that's the main reason why I haven't been keen to army build any more of them.  Aesthetically, they are out of place among the strong characters of the Joe line.  More importantly, though, there's just better options.  I'd rather have four Law figures guarding the jail in my HQ than 4 Action Soldier...even if the Soldiers make a lot more sense.  

In looking through my photos over the past two+ decades, I don't use the Action Soldier all that often.  A few of them got sliced to ribbons by Overkill back in 2003.  And, I've used them as background fodder in many Joseph Colton photos.  But, beyond that, they're not all that common of an appearance.  I've tried in many instances to incorporate them into various scenes.  I just find them hard to do so.  Were they more in scale with the 1982/1983 figures, I think it would be easier.  Stylistically, they match up well with the 1993 and 1994 series of figures.  But, color-wise and design-wise, they are a mismatch for those more updated figure sculpts.  So, you're left with a figure stuck in between the two extremes of Joe release years.  That doesn't diminish the quality of the figure.  But, it's proven a hindrance for me to actually use him in any meaningful setting.

The Action Soldier was released two ways: as an individually boxed figure and as an included member in the 5 figure boxed set.  The main differences are that the boxed figures include brown accessories and the boxed set figures feature black accessories.  The filecards from each set have different pictures on them.  And, finally, there are variants in the way the serial numbers are painted on the figure's feet.  (For my eyes, it was really tough to make out the number on the yellow painted number against the green background.  The black background with green numbers was better.)  I'm not clear if the serial number paint variants were tied to the gift set or the individually boxed figures.  But, it's something to be looked for.  I do find it amazing that this set, commemorating the 30th Anniversary of the entire G.I. Joe brand is, itself, now 30 years old.  Somehow, the figures in this set don't seem anywhere near as old as 1960's era G.I. Joes did back in 1994.  But, that's just a function of my age and I'm sure those 12" collectors who went bonkers over this set back then, when they were in their 40's, aren't thrilled to be reminded of how much more time has passed.

Around 1998 or so, a bizarre series of keychain figures appeared at various retailers around the country.  These used the 1994 Action Series figure molds and were fully articulated.  They didn't include any accessories.  But, did have a loop to which the keychain could be attached.  The single figures were pretty cheap upon their release.  And, they were colored just like the original Hasbro figures.  However, there is also a boxed set of 4 keychain figures that feature some exclusive colors.  The Pilot is blue and yellow.  The Marine features a tan base with black cammo.  And, the Soldier is done in a very dark green with a new paint mask on his helmet with the letters MP on it.  It's a nice repaint of the soldier.  It's just too bad it's in a poor quality keychain set.  The keychains were pretty common and cheap for a long time.  But, it's been over 25 years since they debuted (however, they did pop up at different times and in different stores in later years) so I'm no longer sure if they are findable.

Hasbro did a top notch job on the Action Soldier.  While somewhat mundane, the figure still features an quality aesthetic that has been lost in the post vintage Joe releases.  He features at least 6 colors to break up the base green of his body.  The belt and boots are slightly different hues.  And, little things like his canteen cap and the golden "H" on his belt buckle also get unique paint details.  (The "H" is a great callback to the 1982 series.)  Precision paint masks like these were mostly absent from the basic 1994 line.  So, the premium price tag did come with more amenities than just an expanded accessory complement.  Hasbro put a lot of effort into this guy.  And, that quality remains today.

One of the fun things about these these anniversary figures being individually numbered is that it gives some sense of production numbers.  We know that, in general, production for 1994 figures was way lower than previous years.  And, some of the late run figures (notably, the second series Star Brigade) saw incredibly truncated runs as the line was cancelled out from under them.  In my small collection, I have numbers ranging from 20,000 something all the way up to 122,000 something.  I do wonder if key numbers were pulled back and given to Hasbro people and VIPs at the time.  But, if there's more than 100K of each of these figures, it could be that the cheap prices are just a function of the fact that Hasbro produced a boat-load of them and the massive overproduction still hasn't worked itself through the collecting world.  Hasbro put a lot of faith in adult collectors of the day buying these figures up for nostalgic reasons.  And, to be fair, a lot of older collectors who grew up in the '60's and early '70's did just that.  But, as these weren't really something they loved, these figures were also part of the mass liquidations you'd see from older 12" collectors during the late 1990's through the early 2010's  Guys had to reduce the size of their collections and stuff that wasn't meaningful to them got dumped...often for pennies on the dollar.

As mentioned above, the Action Soldier has variants in the colors of his accessories.  But, both release mechanisms included the same actual gear pieces.  The Soldier includes a green backpack that is defined by the shovel descending from the bottom.  Both variants included the same color pack.  But, the Action Marine included the same pack in a different shade of green.  So, you will see the packs confused from time to time.  But, the green that more closely matches the Soldier's base color is the correct pack for him.  The Soldier then includes a rifle, pistol (originally from the 1988 Shockwave), knife and a wall set along with the standard missile firing accessory that was mandatory on all late releases.  This gear can be black or brown.  The wall is in three pieces and includes a mount for the Soldier's rifle.  It's a great little accessory and one that's incredibly useful in setting up displays and staging photos.  You'll see a black wall in various photos throughout this site as a testament to its utility.  

The extra gear was the hook to get people to pay more for the figures back in 1994.  The suggested retail price on this figures was a whopping $7.99!  Nearly triple the Battle Corps figures of the era.  But, these were marketed as premium pieces for adult collectors.  So, the collecting tax we pay today for collecting themed releases has origins at least 30 years ago.  You could find the figures for cheaper at Wal Mart, especially as they aged on the shelves.  I'm not sure if the deluxe gear was worth the substantial price increase.  But, Hasbro put a lot of effort into the figures in an attempt to see if adult collectors could breathe a final bit of life into the 3 3/4" inch line at retail.  Sadly, like the other gimmicks of the era, though, it failed and the Joe line was pretty much dead after the July 4th holiday in 1994.

While each Action Soldier is individually numbered, the reality is that they were never hard to find.  For the first decade of so of the online collector market, you could buy all the boxed Action Soldiers you wanted for about the same price as you would have paid at retail for the figure in 1994.  Even after that, boxed figures were available for about $10 well into the early 2020's.  Now, they're still only about $20 figures if they are still boxed.  Dealers only ask about $25 in the supply starved market.  So, despite the quality and usefulness of the figure, no one really wants it.  So, this is still a figure that can be used to build up armies.  But, collectors have been saying that for decades, now and no one has really done it.  I myself burned out after about three of them back in the days when I bought anything and everything.  The Action Soldier is just one of those figures who had great quality but can never quite break through the collecting zeitgeist to fulfill his potential.

2003 Toy Fare Scarlett - Random Photos Of The Day

The Toy Fair Scarlett and Snake Eyes set was an absolute dud.  It hung around for about retail price for nearly a decade.  In the malaise, collectors missed out that the two figures in the set were actually very well done.  In fact, the Scarlett figure might be the best Scarlett ever released.  She's a great combo of the 1982 and 1997 designs.  She features amazingly detailed paint applications and a nice complement of accessories.  In short, she's anything and everything you'd want from a Scarlett figure.

In the second decade of this figure's existence, though, collectors have come around on her.  And, now, most people will acknowledge that this Scarlett release is amazing and a definite must have for any collection.  You'll see her appear with some frequency.  But, more often, she's seen as a showcase piece: something a new collector can proudly show off as something cool that's recently been added to their collections.  

For me, this Scarlett is about the only one I use.  She appears in tons of photos because Scarlett is a memorable character and this figure is always appreciated.  And, her color scheme works well both with vintage and repaint era figures.  So, you'll see her across eras in the set of photos below.

1990 Sky Patrol Altitude - Around the Web

Sky Patrol is one of those subsets that I should really like.  But, for some reason, I'm rather indifferent to it.  Sure, the figures are really nicely done...even if they are majoritively repaints.  I really like the idea of Sky Patrol and I've tried to implement them into my collection.  But, to this day, I only have two of them in my collection.  The upside is that I'm able to enjoy each figure on it's own merits rather than taking the subset as a whole.  This has lead to Altitude remaining a figure I get out for photos more often than other, similar rarity figures.  

It seems others take the same approach as Altitude has some pretty decent content on him out there.  Some of this stuff is really old and worth taking another look at.  (Though, sadly, some of the links may have expired between the time I first cataloged them and now...especially at Joedios.com.)  But, scroll through all the creators and enjoy their looks at the 1990 Altitude.

1990 Sky Patrol Altitude Profile

1990 Altitude by corpscommandercody

1990 Altitude by Hit and Run

1990 Altitude by Outrider

1990 Altitude by silencer

1990 Altitude by jogunwarrior

1990 Altitude by thedustinmccoy

1990 Altitude by slipstream80

1990 Altitude by gi_joeisthere

1990 Altitude by thedustinmccoy

1990 Altitude by ptytoys2021

1990 Altitude by thedustinmccoy