One of the great laments among collectors is that the heads from the original 13 Joes were too repetitive and did not match the look of the characters from the comic. In the Marvel series, each character had some distinctive look that allowed the reader to differentiate the characters when they appeared on the printed page. But, the actual action figures reused parts and Hawk, Short Fuse, Steeler and Flash used the same head, Breaker, Rock and Roll and Clutch used the same head and Zap, Grunt and Grand Slam also used the same head. Hasbro did their best to differentiate the characters by using different paint colors on the hair. But, in the end, the figures had a sameness that simply was inferior to their comic book appearance.
It seems, though, that Hasbro had a plan to rectify this in 1983. Originally, Hasbro planned to release a few of the swivel arm versions of the original 13 Joes with newly updated heads. These would be unique to the figures and give the full line of 9 carded Joes all with distinct heads. The heads got so far into the process of design that full production loose figures and even carded samples exist. For some reason, though, Hasbro abandoned the idea. And, the swivel arm figures kept the heads from their straight arm debut.
Zap was one of the figures who was intended to get a new head. Instead of the experienced Grunt head, he got a younger look that was given a Zorro mustache to give Zap real panache. You can see the head in the photos below.
As a modern collector who was introduced to the concept of alternate heads as an adult, I don't find them all that interesting. I think the alternate head loses something for the character. But, a big part of that is that I'm conditioned to think of the original 13 as parts-sharing cohesion. And, my only exposure to the alternate head is online photos. They look weird to me because I had spent over 30 years "knowing" what a Zap figure looked like. Once you get past that bias, you can see that the heads have merit. While this Zap head isn't perfect. It's an upgrade over the repainted, grumpy old man head that he shared with Grunt and Grand Slam.
The reality is, as a kid, the new head would have been enough for me to want the figure again. I'd have noticed the difference and annoyingly explained to my mom that the figures were different and I needed another Zap. So, the ploy would have worked. (And, we had very few swivel arm versions of original 13 characters.) I'm not sure if it would have scaled to masses of other kids. But, the sheer volume of Joe toys sold really make you wonder why these heads weren't used.
Hasbro spent all the money to develop them and get them to full production status. These aren't hand painted samples. So, all the expense had been absorbed by the line. And, some 1983 figures were still in production as late as 1985. Hasbro could easily have sold them in high enough volume to recoup the costs. Imagine the "Original Adventure Team" mail away. I ignored it as it was figures I already had. But, think about it with a marketing caption of "All new heads!". I'd have saved up my money and sent away for it. Just think if the Palitoy, Takara or, even Funskool versions of these figures had featured the alternate heads. Hasbro had plenty of opportunity to recoup the costs. Maybe the logistics were just too much to match up the new heads with the pre-existing bodies. But, it seems that these heads not seeing full production runs was a matter of choice rather than opportunity.
Since this figure's original discovery, many more have surfaced. There are loose and carded versions out there. Like most rarities, once one of them is finally revealed, many others come out of the woodwork. It's like people keep them hidden to prevent anyone from knowing about the item. But, once it gets out, everyone pulls theirs out of hiding so they can get the street cred of owing the rare piece. It's dumb. But, that's how the Joe world has always worked.
Seeing items like this makes me think of how the Joe world would have changed had these been released. For many of the earliest years, collectors often considered straight arms and swivel arms of the original 13 interchangeable. Had these heads been used, that would not have been the case. Would it have made the original heads or the new heads the more desirable piece? I suspect the new heads would have made many of the swivel arm figures more desirable for kids. Which would have translated to greater collector interest as they became adults.
Since many of the original 13 swivel arm figures are already expensive, I don't know if having new heads would have driven the prices higher. It would have, though, lead to thousands of ancient message board posts from someone who had a "rare variant" of a swivel Zap with the straight arm head. Those would have been insufferable. But, the heads would have been a net positive for the line. It's a shame they didn't happen and no one's gotten the full story as to why they were abandoned when they were so close to production.
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