In Mexico, the Auriken toy company released a small line of exclusive Joes. There are a few different series. The initial series, though, features all straight arm figures. In fact, it features all of the straight arm figures that were also released in the U.S. All nine Joes are available, as well as both the Cobra Trooper and Officer. But, two of the figures featured some "updated" artwork. One was Snake Eyes. The other was Grunt. Instead of the classic Grunt artwork on the packaging, the Auriken Grunt featured Footloose's artwork.
Footloose matched Grunt's specialty of "Infantry Soldier". So, it's possible that the artwork got mixed up as it traveled around the world. But, the proper Grunt artwork was used in Brazil and Argentina. So, it getting mixed up when it went to Mexico seems less likely. The Footloose figure was also released in both Brazil and Argentina. He didn't see release by Auriken. Though, all of the Auriken figures that were released were also released in Brazil. It seems the line went straight from Brazil to Mexico for figure releases. The mechanism and timeline of how that happened, though, is murky at best.
As a figure, Grunt sucks. Footloose is awesome, though. So, getting another crappy Grunt and missing out on another international Footloose release is disappointing. But, the Auriken figures have kind of dried up and it would be unlikely that a Footloose release would be something I had been able to track down.
The real story is the box, in general. It is a unique way for Joes to be presented. Each figure being affixed with a twist tie is also unique.
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