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 each 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 th efigure 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.
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.
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.
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.
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