Last week, I pulled out my drawer of 1991 Cobras. I wanted to get some photos of the Crimson Guard Immortal. But, all 7 of my figures had a bad o-ring. When looking through the 1991 Cobra drawer, I found that most of the army builders had loose o-rings. My collection is from multiple sources and spans three decades of acquisitions. So, finding such a concentration of bad o-rings made me wonder if there was something about 1991 figures. It's weird, though, in that my Joes from that year are all still good. And, the Cobra characters stored in the same drawer seemed to be OK. It was just the army builders. So, I spent an hour or so changing out all the bad o-rings and that got me on a 1991 Cobra kick.
The BAT has been a long favorite of mine. When I got my first one back in the late 1990's, I viewed him as the new generation of named Cobra pilot who made his name flying the Firebat. Slowly, this idea faded away and the BAT just became the robot he was meant to be. All of this, though, is odd as I am NOT a fan of the BAT character. I think they are a poor replacement for the horrors of war. The notion of replacing humans with robots was just a way to sanitize the Joe cartoon. Plus, I never found the 1986 BAT all that cool of a figure.
The 1991, though, is a different story. The sleeker design and amazing orange and green color combo make for a striking figure. From the minute I saw him, I was hooked. And, I slowly built up a small army of the figure just due to the great colors. Bizarrely, though, I'm not a huge fan of this color on other figures. I was greatly looking forward to a 1986 BAT using the 1991 colors. But, when a factory custom of this became available, I was underwhelmed. Turns out, it's the combo of colors and mold that make the 1991 BAT so compelling.
I don't use these figures as much as I should. There was a short time where I paired them with Flak Vipers. I really liked that combo. But, I stopped doing it after just a couple of integrated photo shoots. I need to get some ideas for the BAT going now that my contingent have good o-rings and will stand up to be posed. Until then, here's some random photos of the BAT to tide us all over.
They look good with that green gun from the U K. Rock Viper...the Funskool Metal Head is also a pretty good fit.
ReplyDeleteI remember getting this guy and the 1992 Duke for Easter '92. The BAT and Snake Eyes were the only 91 Wave 2 figures I had as a kid as that assortment was pretty much non-existent in my area. So rare that I remember someone trying to sell a Mercer and Tracker for $15 each at a Memorial Day "yard" sale at my church in 92. Needless to say, my mom said, "nope, sorry." LOL
ReplyDeleteThis is great late-era ARAH mold. The neon colors seemed cool when I was a kid. But I'm my 20s, the black version and red translucent version seemed much better. Only now, in my 40s, has the rose re-bloomed with respect to this neon gem.
ReplyDeleteThis version of the B.A.T. and the 2004 TrU Cobra Infantry are probably the bulk of my o-ring army builders.However if I count all the repaints of this mold in my collection I got 20 of them altogether
ReplyDeleteI still have my original 91 BAT. One of the few original figures remaining from my childhood. As a kid I remember thinking how cool his arm rocket launcher/backpack could store his hand and blaster attachment. Again, getting this BAT in 91 as a 9 year old was a big deal to me because it was the 90s version of another iconic character from earlier in the ARAH run. Hasbro did a great job reimagining the figure, it is recognizable enough to be a BAT with the obvious callback of the face plate and hologram sticker but also unique in it's own way. One of my favorite childhood figures.
ReplyDeleteLove the pictures too. I have been seeing your use of the Detonator both here and over at the ARAH Gallery and every time I see it I get closer to wanting to pick one up. I am pretty much tapped out in terms of vehicle collecting but the Detonator, Blockbuster and Shark 9000 remain on my shortlist.
If you can find one that's not yellowed, I highly recommend the Blockbuster. It's a solid vehicle that's a lot of fun.
DeleteI will always enjoy happening upon a dinosaur while looking at G.I. Joe pics!
ReplyDelete