Rarities - Unproduced 2003 Wal Mart Sky Patrol Figures

Back in 2003, Wal Mart worked with Hasbro to release an exclusive 6 figure set.  The toys were expected to be released around the 2003 holiday season.  The original plan was for the figures to be vintage inspired o-ring figures who would include working parachutes.  It was a novel idea and one that was sure to be a hit among collectors.  Hasbro went so far as to show off hand painted samples of the figures at various shows.  Collectors got excited about the figures as any new vintage style figures were always welcomed.  But, something happened between the planning and production stages for the figures.  And, the o-ring figures were cancelled and replaced by a hasty set of JvC style figures that included one urban camo Cobra and a desert clad Joe.  In the madness that was 2003 Joe retail, these figures were still quickly gobbled up and even commanded premium pricing for a while.  But, the real story was the demise of the more highly anticipated o-ring figures.

Supposedly, the reason for the cancellation was that the parachutes that were planned for the figures would not pass safety tests.  Why this lead to the demise of the entire wave of figures instead of just the problematic accessory is anyone's guess.  (At the time, the 2003 Ripcord was supposed to include a parachute.  His accessory was also removed.  But, the figure was still released, albiet a couple of weeks delayed.)   We would, though, later learn that Wal Mart wasn't as keen on vintage style figures as they were the newer sculpting style of the JvC designs.  And, Wal Mart would later take a lot of blame for vintage style Joe completely disappearing from retail assortments and being relegated to Toys R Us exclusives and Comic Packs.  How much of this is true and how much was just Wal Mart being a convenient scape goat isn't really clear.  But, a highly desired wave of 6 figures became something of an afterthought when it was changed to something completely different.

You will note that collectors often refer to these figures as "Sky Patrol".  There is no official documentation to back that up.  It was just an easy moniker applied to this set since we didn't know their official names.  The figures that replaced them at Wal Mart did not have any special markings on them and they were just packaged as standard Venom Vs. Valor releases.  So, the "Sky Patrol" is a colloquialism meant for quick reference to this series since the "Cancelled Wal Mart Exclusive O-Ring Figure Wave that Would Have Included Parachutes" is just too cumbersome to say.

The story wasn't over, though.  First, someone found a weird pack at retail that featured an oddly colored Snake Eyes and Stormshadow in a two pack.  The figures were pre-production samples of the Wal Mart figures that had, accidentally, gotten packaged and slipped through quality control.  Shortly after this, tons of the 6 figures began to appear from Asian sellers.  As 2004 progressed, the stock didn't dry up.  And, for a while, most of the Wal Mart figures could be had for under $15 each from Asian sellers.  Despite that heavy supply, the Wal Mart figures now command a premium and run in the hundreds of dollars each, even though they exist in ample supply.

We'll start with one of the original images from a Hasbro display.  There are many things of note in this photo.  Duke appears to actually be a paint master for the 2000/2001 figure.  While he's hand painted, the coloring is nearly identical to the earlier retail figure.  There's some differences.  But, the pre-production Duke is vastly different.  Snake Eyes is just a straight up production figure from the 2002 BJ's set.  The Hiss Driver/Rip It features a gold chest.  This would be changed.  Low Light is pretty close to his final colors.  The Alley Viper is blocked out in this photo.  But, he appears to also be drastically different from the final pre-production figure.  Stormshadow isn't featured at all.

Now for the individual figures.  Each  of these are full production level figures that were widely available.  It is noteworthy, though, that there are variants of most figure.  They exist in different blue hues and some have painted logos that others don't.  There's even a hair color variant on Duke.

Snake Eyes:

Snake Eyes is the least interesting of the figures in the set.  He retains the mostly black body.  He features red goggles.  This would have been a new look for Snake eyes.  But, it doesn't really match up and isn't visually appealing.  His arms have their weird blue forearms and rivet joint.  This might have been cleaned up had the figure gone to production.  It makes Snake Eyes look like he's half trying to be a Cobra.  When the Wal Mart figures were available, Snake Eyes was always the cheapest since he offered nothing new or interesting.  Had he been released, this figure would be as ignored as the 2002 BJ's version.

Stormshadow:

The Stormshadow figure wasn't shown in some of the convention displays.  He uses the 1992 Ninja Force mold.  Hasbro had used this mold in the 2002 BJ's set.  It was an OK figure.  The mold also returned in 2004 in the Urban Strike set.  A 2003 release would have been overkill.  The blue on this figure is different, though.  And, the color scheme was well liked by collectors of the day.  Had this figure been any other Stormshadow mold, it would be better remembered and a bigger loss.  

Low Light:

Low Light was the second most anticipated figure from this set.  And, as the army building nonsense of the 2000's died down, he's supplanted the Hiss Driver as the most interesting figure in the set.  The main reason is that this is the only use of the V1 Low Light mold that Hasbro offered for retail.  We got the 1991 Low Light in 2001 with his parts also appearing on other figures.  But, the V1 Low Light didn't appear until he was released as a convention exclusive in 2008.  

It really made no sense why Hasbro didn't get this mold into the Desert set in 2004 or the arctic set in 2005.  Both would have been great slots for Low Light and would have allowed him to replace a lackluster figure or character in each of those sets.  You'll note that this Low Light uses the same paint masks as the Slaughter's Marauders version.  So, Hasbro didn't spend a ton of money to update his painted details.  In general, this is a solid look for Low Light.  And, him including his real accessories would have been a big plus that put him over the top for collectors of the day.  (You'll note his rifle later appeared in some TRU sets.)  He's very much a more muted Slaughter's Marauders figure and would be a fairly popular figure had he seen wide release.

Alley Viper:

The Alley Viper was the most popular figure when this set first showed up on Ebay.  He would command the highest prices and always sell.  This was due to the extremes of the army building mentality among collectors of the day.  They would overpay for any army builder.

This figure, though, is among the weaker in the set.  While his colors blend with the other Cobras, the reality is that they are an inferior mix to figures that had just been released at retail.  If you wanted a light blue Alley Viper, there was a great one in Wave 1.5 that was cheap and easy to get.  If you wanted a red Alley Viper, there was one in Wave 2 that was well done.  (Though, it was shortpacked and somewhat harder to find than the blue version.)  This amalgamation of the two color schemes is a nice  middle ground between them.  But, it wasn't a figure that was really needed.  And, had it been released, it would have overlapped with the Wave 7.75 blue Alley Vipers at retail and been followed up with the Urban Strike Alley Viper.  There are some variants of this Alley Viper in terms of the coloring hues and if he has a Cobra sigil or not.  So, be on the watch for that.

In short, this figure would have been even more oversaturation of a figure mold that collectors were tiring of.  I don't think we lost anything with this figure's cancellation.  But, his popularity of the time suggests that I was not representative of collecting as a whole with my sentiment.

Duke:

The Duke figure from this set is the one I lament the most.  It would have been a great Duke.  Duke has the greatest variants among the unproduced figures as there are brown haired and blonde haired heads.  There are also green pants or brown pants.  You can see both versions of the figure below.  (There are likely more, subtle variants, too.)  The green pants version is a close take to the 1984 color scheme on the 1992 mold.  Hasbro should have made more figures like this since they had so many later versions of classic characters.

Duke had a bunch of accessories.  He included an exclusive helmet.  He then came with a black version of the Snow Serpent backpack and either one or two rifles.  The common weapon between the versions was a black Beach Head rifle.  Some also included an Ambush rifle.  The accessories were decent and worked with the figure.  The brown hair were the, likely, earlier figures with the the blonde hair figure being the one we would have gotten at retail.  A blonde Duke with the green pants would have been the best Duke released during the repaint era.  It's sad we didn't get it.

Hiss Driver (Rip It):

The Hiss Driver mold was the most anticipated figure in the set.  Collectors had gotten a couple of very easy to find retail Alley Vipers.  But, the Hiss Driver mold hadn't been seen since late 2000/early 2001 when it was included in the Toys R Us exclusive Hiss III.  Collectors were keen to army build it, especially in these colors.  

It is a near certainty that this figure would have been released as Rip It instead of as a Hiss Driver.  Hasbro was keen on characters.  So, this would have likely been one rather than a nameless army builder.  But, sans an official release, the figure simply became known as the Hiss Driver.  As he was readily available and not overly expensive back in the mid 2000's, many people were able to get a few of them to drive their armies of Hiss Tanks.  The blue was close enough to the classic Cobra color that everyone wanted for every single Cobra figure mold that Hasbro had in their library.  

There is a variant of this figure.  Some are darker blue.  And, some have Cobra logos on their arms while others don't.  Neither seems more rare than the other.  Hasbro never got the Hiss Driver mold to retail, again.  There was a short run 2007 Convention Rip It, tough.  That figure is notable as it uses an inverse color scheme to this Wal Mart Hiss Driver.  Together, the two figures are a great looking pair.  But, it would cost you nearly $1000 to get both of them, today.

In the end, it's a shame collectors didn't get this set.  But, with how quickly the Wal Mart exclusive Valor Vs. Venom figures sold out, it's also likely that many collectors would have missed these at retail and they would have commanded a premium on the secondary market.  As the Joe line cratered in 2007 through 2010, collectors might have been able to get the quantities they wanted.  But, these figures would have remained highly desired and expensive today, even if they had gone to retail.  

Today, the figures command premium prices.  Most newer collectors are unaware that these were available for several years from Asian sellers.  Most of the figures were available for under $15 each for quite a while.  Some collectors army built the Alley Vipers and Hiss Drivers.  So, the figures are out there in numbers.  It's just that they are mostly held by collectors who have little interest in selling them.  Many of the figures have reached nearly $500 each in recent sales.  That's too much for these figures.  But, sanity over recently released and somewhat common items has completely left the collecting world.  So, for most collectors, their closest way to experience these figures is through photos and stories from earlier times.

Rarities - Brazilian Cobra Wolf

The Wolf has an argument as the best Cobra vehicle ever created.  I'll explore that statement sometime next winter when I profile my childhood version.  But, it's just a great toy.  Along with its release by Hasbro, the mold was given to Estrela where they released it in Brazil.  We think of Brazil as a tropical, coastal country.  But, there are mountainous highlands where snowfall is common.  When you have a toy like the Wolf, though, the quality of the toy will overcome environmental constraints.

The toy itself isn't that different from the Hasbro version.  Without inspecting the COO stamps on the underside, you'd be unlikely to determine the difference between the two.  The real fun is on the Brazilian box.  You'll note the driver is Blizzard.  In Brazil, Blizzard was released as a Cobra.  Croc Master takes the second chair.  And, for added nonsense, you have a fully geared up Hydro Viper on the side rail.  

Estrela released a full roster of vehicles in Brazil.  Most are so similar to the Hasbro versions that collectors ignored them for decades.  Increased supply has made them more accessible.  But, documentation is still sparse and Brazilian dealers tend to ask for princely sums for any high quality vehicle samples.  The overall inventory of Brazilian vehicles is another of those great collecting holes that can be fulfilling to explore.  And, seeing classics with weird box art characters is always fun.

Rarities - Alternate Weapon Schematics for 1994 Star Brigade Predacon

It's tough to say that Predacon is most distinctive of the 1994 Lunartix Aliens.  But, his figures do tend to be the most popular.  It's likely because he's the closest to a standard Joe.  And, he's easier to play with and pose than either Carcass or Lobotomaxx.  Predacon's calling card is his four arms.  To outfit him, Hasbro included a standard weapon tree with four weapons so that Predacon had a gun for each hand.  The tree had debuted in 1993 with Col. Courage.  It featured a 1987 Tunnel Rat rifle, a 1990 Sky Patrol Airborne rifle, 1987 Blaster's "pistol" and the smaller, ubiquitous pistol that had debuted with the 1988 Shockwave figure.  As weapon trees go, it's one of the best ones.  And, with Predacon, it was only used three times: two of them with short run figures.  (Predacon and the 1993 Dino Hunters Ambush.)

However, according to Hasbro documentation, Predacon was originally intended to include a different array of weapons.  And, in these cases, the weapons were not ones that had previously appeared on standard weapons trees.

The first weapon listed is the Skycreeper pistol.  This isn't a weapon you see all that often.  And, it has a very science fiction look.  

I've always felt that the Super Sonic Fighters Road Pig included great weapons.  They are a bit offbeat.  But, they work in a lot of contexts.  And, had they existed in a color outside of bright orange, they'd have been a lot more popular.  But, early customizers both ignored brightly colored weapons and didn't tend to have access to some of the 1990's weapons molds.  Seeing one as a possibility for Predacon is interesting as it would have opened up the weapon to more exposure.  And, it might be more popular today had that happened.

The next weapon is listed as being from Pysche Out.  But, it was actually used for the 1992 Talking Battle Commander Cobra Commander figure.  It is a terrible accessory.  It's not worse than some of the other molds used on '90's weapon trees.  But, it's not good and would have been a lackluster inclusion.  Though, it does fit the aesthetic of the other weapons that were being considered.

We don't know if these weapons were originally intended to be part of a weapon tree.  Or, if they would have been individually packaged like we later saw with Street Fighter Movie and Mortal Kombat figures.  The line was over by the time the Lunartix got to retail.  And, they were likely victims of cost cutting as production numbers were lowered.  

Had Predacon included these accessories, they would have felt more "his" than the generic tree he ended up with.  These weapons were more obscure, all only being included his higher price point, specialty figures.  So, they would have felt more unique.  Really, it's a shame they weren't released with the figure.  Though, had they been, they'd be among the more expensive gear from the '90's.

Rarities - Funskool Red and Yellow Beach Head

Early Funskool figures feature a lot of weird colorings.  Funskool had a bit more carte blanche to create toys for their home market.  Slowly, though, Hasbro intervened and dictated the appearance of certain figures and characters.  So, offbeat color designs on some of the earliest Funskool figures were changed so that the characters were a closer match to their appearances in cartoons, advertisements and the comic book.  

Among those early oddballs are a Beach Head with a red head and a yellow vest.  There's no reason given for the color change other than Funskool liked bright colors.  Even the figure's card artwork is unchanged from the standard colors.  But, the drastic red and yellow make for a visually disconcerting Beach Head figure.  The color palette was changed for Beach Head.  And, the more common Funskool appearance is the lime green figure that's become my default for the character.

The Red and Yellow Beach Head remains expensive.  For a time, he was among the most expensive figures in the entire line.  He's still up there.  But, he's lost some of the lustre that he enjoyed in the mid 2000's.  

There are dozens (maybe even hundreds!) of Funskool Beach Head variants.  Some, like the red and yellow figure, are sweeping changes that are instantly noticeable.  But, even within the figures from the 2000's, there are slight color changes between production batches.  You'll find brown eyes, black eyes, dark grey explosives, light grey explosives and every hue in between.  His leg camo colors can vary from barely perceivable to outright distracting.  Beach Head might be the most varied figure in the entire line.  So, those who love him have a lot to track down.  But, this red and yellow figure remains the most popular and expensive of those variants and isn't a figure you see much of these days.

Rarities - Pre-Production T'Gin Zu

The 1993 vehicle assortment wasn't much.  Most of the entries were pretty bad.  And, the Ninja Force vehicles were among the worst.  As such, the drivers of those vehicles, T'Gin Zu and the Red Ninja are relatively hard to come by.  Few people collect them in earnest, though.  So, their scarcity is largely offset by lack of demand.

It is that disinterest in the figures that allows for oddities like the original paint job on T'Gin-Zu to slip by collector's eyes.  And, the fact that it's prominently displayed on the back of the 1993 Pile Driver box just shows how little of an impact a figure like T'Gin-Zu has on the collector zeitgeist.

Below, though, you see T'Gin-Zu's original paint job.  It is much more orange than the production figure.  It appears to be a straight re-use of the 1992 Stormshadow paint masks, just in orange in yellow.  And, frankly, it makes for a better figure.  This all orange version would have leaned into the neon-ness of the '90's and created a figure that would have found at least a few fans among the more accepting collectors who grew up in the '90's.  Instead, Hasbro kind of chickened out and gave us a more muted T'Gin-Zu offering.

As a bonus, the pre-production figure also appeared in the 1993 Toy Fair catalog.  The more you look at it, the more you realize it's a shame we didn't get this coloring.  The production T'Gin Zu isn't a figure anyone really prioritizes.  So, having him be even more outlandish would have made him more fun.  Maybe we'll get a factory custom that's like this.  It's out best hope for ever seeing an homage to this unproduced design.

Rarities - Remco Ice Wonder/Yeti

Remco made an eclectic group of o-ring figures.  They were designed to be a cheap, non-licensed alternative to G.I. Joe figures that were available at discount chains.  (Many were K-Mart or Sears exclusives.)  Many of their early figures were, well, terrible.  The sculpting was bad, the quality was crap and the figures were boring.  But, as the company matured, so did the quality of their action figure offerings.  While I feel Remco peaked with their S.I.T. series, the reality is that many of their later designs are excellent.  Sadly, they are still defined by lower quality materials and wonky hands.  But, there's some interesting figures for collectors to discover.  Among them is the character of Ice Wonder: also known as Yeti.  Below are some samples that have captured my interest.

My main draw to this figure is the eerie similarity he has to Sub Zero.  But, the Remco figure debuted first.  While the idea of white and baby blue coloring on an arctic figure that also features a fur hooded coat isn't all that unique, the fact that Hasbro pretty much copied the exact design for Sub Zero seems like less of a coincidence and more an instance of influence.  But, all the military toy lines of the era seemed to borrow from one another.  It was just, usually, all the other knock-off companies copying Hasbro instead of vice-versa.

Once the figure appeared on my radar, I began to notice that he existed in a few different forms.  He was released in at least two different series: American Defense and U.S.  Forces.  (There might be more, Remco is a morass of poor documentation with few resources available.)  The few I've found seem to be named Ice Wonder for U.S. Forces and Yeti for American Defense.  But, again, there could be lots of variations among the packaging and naming, too.

Here you can see a carded Yeti and Ice Wonder:

The figure itself is full of variants.  Among them are different waists, heads with either a flesh colored neck or a white neck, and a sea of lower leg variants where the fur collars are positioned differently or don't exist at all.

Here are some head and waist variants.

Here is a figure with no fur collar on his boots.

Here is one with offset fur boot collars.  One is set at the knee and the other is set just below the knee.

Here is a sample where the fur boot collar is right above the ankle on both feet.

I'm sure there are more variants out there.  In the early days of Joe collecting, it wasn't uncommon  to get a lot of someone's childhood figures that would also include some Remco offerings.  As those collections were bought, sorted and resold, the Remco figures were removed.  Most were just tossed into junk bins as they had no collectability.  The result is that now, it's kind of hard to find decently conditioned Remco figures.  And, you tend to have to pay for them.  Back when you could buy a shoebox full of these guys for $4, it was fun to track down variants and various releases.  Now, it's more expensive that the end result is worth.  

Remco releases can be a challenging rabbit hole for a collector, though.  The Joe line is fairly well documented.  (Though, finding the documentation is now becoming hard due to the walled gardens & private communities.)  Something like Remco can keep you occupied for years as you try to track down all the various incarnations of their releases and all the variants within each one.

Rarities - 2004 Comic Pack Cobra Trooper (Alternate Head)

In 2004, Hasbro resculpted a Cobra Trooper.  4 of them were then released as part of a Toys R Us 6 figure pack.  For $20, you got an army in a box.  Later in the year, Hasbro announced a new product: Comic Book packs.  For $10, you'd get three classic Joe figures and a reprinted issue of the Marvel Comic.  It was a novel idea and made for great products.  When the first images of the figures dropped, collectors were ecstatic.  Most of the designs looked like renditions of the characters they had always wanted.  Sadly, the Comic Packs were not a retail success.  Part of that was too much repetition in the early packs.  The other was collector malaise was setting in after a solid three year of brand growth.  

Lost in the details of the actual figures, though, was that the Cobra Trooper from the first Comic Pack had changed.  The pre-production images had shown the Trooper using the mold from the Toys R Us pack.  It made sense as Hasbro had spent the money to resculpt the new figure.  But, upon release, the actual figure brought back the classic chest and head from the original, 1983 Cobra Trooper.

Supposedly, Hasbro had found the mold for the original Cobra Trooper and Officer.  They were a bit sketchy on the details.  But, we now had the original head back after more than 20 years.  The story went that the TRU mold wasn't in the same factory as the Cobra Commander and Baroness molds.  But, there were many stories that Hasbro never verified or denied.  The end result, though, was a new parts combination for the Cobra Trooper that hadn't been released before and would return in the 2005 Night Watch set, too.  The 2004 Cobra Trooper and Officer parts combo would never appear again.  An odd fate for what was Hasbro's most successful Toys R Us exclusive set.

Personally, I never cared for this Comic Pack Trooper.  While the colors weren't terrible, his accessories were.  And, I have never liked Cobra Troopers with bare hands.  The Comic Pack Cobra Officer, who uses the same color scheme as this Trooper, is one of my favorite army builders of that era.  The difference being and appropriate rifle and gloved hands.  Little details go a long way.  The promo photo also shows two weapons that didn't end up being included with the pack: the 2 1992 Shockwave rifles posed with the Baroness and Trooper.  The production Baroness also included a knife that's not shown in the promo photo.

I do think the TRU Trooper mold was better than the mold used for the production Trooper.  The smooth arms and large waist didn't do the figure any favors.  The TRU Trooper used bulkier Thunder arms and a waist that was designed for the figure's legs.  In this case, the pre-production mold would have been better.  I'm not sure I'd still have any of them.  But, it would have been a better figure than the original mold based figure.

Rarities - Brazilian Duque

Most collectors are familiar with the Brazilian Tiger Force exclusives.  The Tiger Force Shipwreck (Marujo) and Airtight (Ar Puro) have been among the most popular Brazilian exclusives since the 1990's.  What is often forgotten, though, is that there is another member of the Forca Tigre: Duque.

This character is most often forgotten because, upon first glance, it's not all that much different from the 1988 Duke figure.  But, the Estrela figure has some differences that make it stand out.  Most noticeably, the 3/4 sleeves are missing.  Instead, Duque gets new lower arms from Ripcord.  So, he has full length sleeves.  The colors are slightly brighter than the Tiger Force Duke.  And, instead of the classic M-32, he includes a version of Crazylegs' rifle.  He doesn't include the stock, though.   In addition to his helmet, backpack and binoculars, he also came with some face paint for Brazilian kids to paint themsevles up in Tiger Force camo.

Duque is a figure that's always been relatively easy to find.  This is likely a function of him just being less popular than Ar Puro or Marujo.  But, you can find mint and complete versions with relative easy.  But, Brazilian dealers tend to overprice him.  And, they try to command similar prices for Duque as they get for Marujo and Ar Puro.  The figure just isn't that popular, though, and often goes unsold for high prices.  As Brazilian Joes go, Duque is firmly in that middle ground of something that has just enough of a variant from the Hasbro figure for you to notice.  But, not so much that he rises to the level of full on Brazilian exclusive characters like Ar Puro or Marujo.

Rarities - Unproduced 1997 Stars & Stripes Set

The 1997 Toys R Us G.I. Joe releases were a mess.  The extent to which they were botched is really difficult to comprehend.  Hasbro's plans for the line were both drastically different and more grandiose than what actually transpired.  But, all the signs of a looming iceberg were there.  And, it's never more evident than with the early images of what Hasbro intended for the Stars and Stripes set.

The Stars and Stripes set was supposed to be the flagship product in Joe's triumphant return to retail.  It was going to include 8 of the original 9 carded figures that had started the line just 15 years prior.  (Fun fact.  There's been almost twice as much time that's passed since the release of this set in 1997 as had passed between the Joe line's debut in 1982 and this set's production in 1997!)  The plan was to use all original molds of the figures.  But, to repaint them into a more "modern" interpretation.  Some of this was a response to the collectors of the day who claimed they wanted "gritty and realistic" figures.  But, really, it was a way for Hasbro to massively update the looks of the original Joes.

The idea was sound.  But, the execution was, well, a problem.  All of the Hasbro Joe team from the vintage days had been let go by Hasbro in 1994.  And, the brand had been taken over by former Kenner employees who had been placed in charge of the action figure division.  Their lack of experience with the Joe brand lead to a comedy of errors that just multiplied as the product got closer to production.  But, we'll start with the basics.

Below you will see two images of the original plans for the Stars & Stripes set.  You'll see some figures that look familiar to their production designs as well as some molds that were missing from the production set.  .  

The first image is the image that is actually on the back of the production Stars & Stripes box.  It is incredibly different from the figures inside the window when you turned the box over.  As someone whose first exposure to this product was when they found it on a Toys R Us shelf in 1997, this was weirdly confusing.  The two figures using the 1986 Hawk head (Breaker and Rock and Roll) were obviously out of place in the set.  Not only were they nothing like their vintage counterparts, they didn't fit the aesthetic of the set, at all.  Also missing from the set was Flash.  You can argue that Flash is the most interesting figure from the initial lineup of retail figures.  He was gone.  And, in  his stead, was a figure not shown on the box-back: Grunt.

The choice to originally exclude Grunt is a weird one.  While I'm not a Grunt fan, Grunt was the face of the Joe line for the first couple of years.  If you mention G.I. Joe to a non-fan who grew up in the early '80's, it's pretty likely that their first association with the name is Grunt's cardback image.  It was the brand's calling card.  There's no indication of why Grunt was the original odd man out in the set.  But, his inclusion was a far better choice than adding a 3rd oddball 1986 Hawk/Roadblock mashup repaint to the set.

Aside from the mold fiasco, just looking at this set, you see some other glaring issues that should have been above Hasbro in 1997.  The second photo below is from a 1997 Tomart's magazine where they announced G.I. Joe's return to retail.  It appears to be a different photo shoot of the Stars & Stripes set with a few, key differences from the production box back.  But, many of the figures are the same, too.  We'll go through each figure one by one and review all the chaos that's going on.

Scarlett

Scarlett is the least interesting figure in these images.  This is because she's pretty close to the production figure actually released in 1997.  The purple is more muted and darker.  And, her jumpsuit is more brown.  But, you see all the painted details on her mold.  She is still a repainted 1983 figure in this shot.  But, she's pretty close to the figure in the box.  

Breaker

Here, we have our first major deviation.  The Breaker in both photos isn't the classic figure.  But, it's a close-enough amalgamation.  The figure in both photos uses Clutch's head.  This is close as he and Breaker share the same head in 1982/1983.  But, the black hair makes it Clutch rather than Breaker.  The figure features a tan shirt.  This would have been a great addition to the set.  Adding a 3rd tan Joe to the original 13 would have been a nice homage to Clutch and Grunt.  The darker green pants offset him, nicely, too.  This color scheme would appear on some later figures and in factory customs.  Just on not on this parts configuration.  Breaker's gear shows his iconic headset.  But, for some reason, he doesn't have a helmet.  It's a terrible, aesthetic choice as it makes the figure look incomplete.  The production figure, that used 1986 Hawk and Roadblock parts, did include a helmet.  But, it didn't include the headset.  On top of that, this photographed figure includes Airborne's rifle while the production figure ended up including accessories from the 1982/83 Flash.

Short Fuse

Short Fuse is weird.  The figure in both photos actually features Grunt's torso instead of the classic Short Fuse design.  He has no cammo on his chest.  But, his legs are done in an intricate pattern.  The colors on his legs are very close to the production paint job that ended up on Stalker.  The production Short Fuse used the correct chest for the figure.  And, he didn't have any cammo pattern on him aside from a slight spray on his legs.  You'll note the figure used for the sample is a repainted straight arm Short Fuse.  The Tomart's photo features him wearing a 1985 Lady Jaye backpack.  While the box back shows him with the correct backpack.  

Snake Eyes

In the Tomart's photo, the Snake Eyes is actually an Action Force Stalker figure.  Hasbro had a ton of overstock Action Force figures and both Stalker and Quarrel were dumped as early '90's convention exclusives.  So, Hasbro had spare figures lying around.  His unaltered inclusion is an interesting choice.  It shows that Hasbro always had intention of adding painted details to the 1997 Snake Eyes figure.  Hasbro's original plan was that the 1982/83 Snake Eyes was going to be included in the boxed set and the 1985 Snake Eyes mold was going to be included in the 3 figure pack with Stormshadow and Lady Jaye.  When the '85 mold wasn't available, they went with two '82/'83 figures instead.  Both heavily used grey as the highlight color: reminiscent of the European Stalker figure.

On the box back, Snake Eyes is posed with is back to the photographer.  It's an odd pose for the most popular character in the set.  It doesn't appear that the figure in this photograph is the Action Force Stalker.  But, it's difficult to tell.  The figure is also wearing a backpack.  It's difficult for me to see.  But, it looks like a Zap/Short Fuse backpack painted all black.  It's just an odd choice to see Snake Eyes with a pack.  And, not featuring him prominently was an interesting design choice.

Zap

Zap appears to have been two very different figures in the different photos.  In the Tomart's photo, Zap is a swivel arm figure.  Instead of the solid color with some overspray paint job that ended up on the production figure, he features the paint job that was, eventually, used on Grunt.  His legs are not painted, though.  And, appear very close to the colors of the production figure.  He is wearing his backpack and is the only figure to be wearing a visor.

On the box back, the Zap figure is very different.  He's heavily obscured by the figures in front on him.  But, he's a repainted straight arm figure.  Worst of all, he has two broken thumbs!  Hasbro actually put a broken toy on the back of the packaging!  Aside from that, the figure features a helmet with cammo paint.  Hasbro never painted up an original helmet.  Zap's entire body, including his legs, are done in the same cammo pattern.  It is not a pattern that was actually used in the set.  But, most importantly, Zap has painted on facial hair.  It's at least a goatee and might be a full beard.  The facial hair would have been a new paint application and made for an interesting take on Zap.  Sadly, it was not to be.

Stalker

The Stalker figure in the two photos appears to be the same.  He's even in nearly the same pose between the two photos.  He's wearing a Zap/Short Fuse backpack in the Tomart's photo.  The production Stalker toned down the tan portion of the cammo.  And, it ended up using a darker green base.  The actual colors for Stalker's cammo are pretty close to what appears on Short Fuse's legs.  But, the figure in these early photos is a decent representation of what the production figure ended up being.  

Flash

Flash is the biggest what-if in this set.  Hasbro was never able to reproduce the classic Flash mold: despite collector calls for it to return for a decade after the Star & Stripes set's release.  Flash's entire character was pulled from the set and replaced with Grunt.  However, Flash's laser rifle was, baffingly, included with the Breaker figure in the set.  Flash is a repainted swivel arm figure and it appears it's the same figure in both photos.  The darker green base and yellow pads were a strong update for Flash's look.  I'm not sure they would have supplanted his original red pads as his iconic look.  But, it would have been nice to have another Flash version.  On  the box back, Flash is wearing the only visor.  Though, in the Tomart's photo, the visor is given to Zap.) The fact that factory customs have failed to deliver this Flash version  is another glaring omission.  It seems like such an easy win for a figure.  And, I'll opine that Flash's absence from this set is the greatest loss in the changes from concept to production.

Rock and Roll

The final figure in the set was Rock and Roll.  We all know that the terrible 1986 Roadblock/General Hawk mashup figure that was released as Rock and Roll in this set happens to have a very rare, race changing variant.  But, the real story is that Rock and Roll was supposed to use his original mold for the character.  The figure featured in both photos is a repainted straight arm.  He is armed with  the 1986 Roadblock's machine gun.  This gets weird because the production figure ended up using the 1986 Roadblock body but included the 1982/83 Rock and Roll's M-60 and bi-pod.  The figure is wearing the Lady Jaye backpack on the box back.  But, not in the Tomart's photo.  

Rock and Roll would have rivaled Stalker and Scarlett as the best repaint in the set.  His black shirt, cammo pants and updated bullet strap paint job would have made a striking figure.  Personally, I lament his absence the most just because Rock and Roll is a figure that I use way more often than Flash.  The upside is that the 2018 Hollowpoint figure from Red Laser Army is based on this 1997 Rock and Roll and is a good enough representation of the planned paint job.  

From the box back, you can see examples of all the shortcuts that Hasbro took when creating the 1997 lineup.  Granted, it was a low production run line that was sold only at Toys R Us.  But, the vintage Hasbro team would never have created such a lackluster presentation for their packaging.  It's sad that missing molds did in so much of the plans for 1997.  1983 Cobra Commander, Destro, Rock and Roll, Flash and Breaker would have been much more beloved than the figures we got.  And, a repainted 1985 Snake Eyes might have been the character's definitive appearance in toy form.  But, none of that happened.  Instead, we have ghosts of the plans that live on in early photos like these.

Rarities - Action Force Kraken

The Kraken figure isn't so much a rarity as it is an oddity.  How this monster came to be included in the Action Force line isn't know and he's as out of place as the Lunartix aliens from the end of the Joe line.  At the same time, he is also a perfect fit for the Action Force mythos.  Why wouldn't this team of super-baddies who have some mad scientist type characters also have a monster?  It's not a question a kid would have asked back in the '80's.  You were just happy to acquire a really cool and fun toy.

Being a 5 points  of articulation figure, Kraken is a natural fit for any Kenner Cantina or Jabba's Palace diorama.  You'll see his Walrus Man inspired webbed feet.  He's the type of weirdo who fits into this scene in both design and figure construction.  The green, black and red coloring is eye catching and vibrant.  (It will appear on a factory custom Eel in 2026.)  He's that perfect combination where the weird design allows for colors that would be, otherwise, out of place for a Red Shadows figure.

Kraken figures are surprisingly common.  Even complete versions aren't all that expensive.  But, like most '80's toys, these days, supply has gotten tighter.  And, the figure has gotten fairly popular in recent years.  So, you'll pay more than you would have a few years ago.  The upside is that he's available.  And, since he's one of the more famous designs, lots of collectors have them and European collectors were keen to pluck him out of the huge lots of Action Force figures that used to be common at boot sales and second hand shops.