In 2002, the collectors club surprised the Joe community with an exclusive set of Cobra figures that would be available at that year's convention. Naively, many people thought the sets might price out at $5 or $6 per figure...a substantial mark up over retail. When the real price was revealed, the community was apoplectic. But, in fairly short order, the desire to army build every Viper overtook the price shock and the sets became very popular. At the event itself, everyone was ga-ga over their new, Crimson Vipers. So much so, that another, unannounced surprise at the convention slipped under the radar. The convention was going to feature a parachute drop. And, everyone got a figure to drop off the hotel's roof. Instead of being some random overstock or a recently released retail figure, though, the club dropped their first exclusive G.I. Joe team member: the Paratrooper Dusty.
In the aftermath of the convention, this Dusty was relegated into obscurity. And, he remains one of the most unheralded convention figures ever made. The truth was, though, that Hasbro had made up an amazingly solid version of Dusty. Sure, it wasn't his traditional desert garb. But, the two toned shades of green that was offset by intricate paint details left us with one of the better convention figures that was ever released. The figure featured 6 colors and a nice blend of familiar hues that hadn't, yet, been overdone. The figure even got painted bootlaces to make his footwear stand out. He is one of the detailed Joes of the time. And, is a perfect example of giving a figure great accents without overdoing it and making him too busy.
Upon seeing him, I was immediately enthralled by the figure. I quickly acquired one. (From a dealer who used to sell Plastirama overstock. Her only items were cheap figures and vehicles from Argentina. When you pay $800 for a carded Satan, remember that she had thousands of them that sold for under $30 each. You're buying a popular figure. Not a rare one.) Upon his addition to my collection, Dusty became one of my most used figures. You'll find him in photos from the early 2000's all the way through this past year. He fits with so many different eras of figures that he's easy to integrate into any scene. And, the fact that he's obscure helps to make photos more interesting. Few people use this Dusty. So, his appearance is always something that provides an extra layer to a photo.
In recent years, I've grown to appreciate this figure even more. That's partially due to the fact that few figures from the repaint era can live up to the level of paint applications and quality that was imparted upon this figure. His colors work together and they used splashes of color to make him stand out. In a lot of ways, this Dusty feels more vintage than most figures from the 2000's. Even convention figures tended to overthink themselves and ended up being more busy and overdone than looking like a vintage Joe. For that reason, this figure still resonates with me and remains one of my personal favorites.
This Dusty mold got three full releases. His original release in 1991. A full repaint of the figure was released in 2000. And, then this convention figure in 2002. However, if you really want to get into it, he appeared more frequently. There is an exclusive European and Chinese release that includes different weapons. (The figure is the same, though.) In 1995, the whole body was used (with a new head) for the Paratrooper Guile figure. His head, waist and legs were used on the 2002 Night Rhino Dusty. (With Dial Tone's torso.) The figure was planned to be released in a chocolate chip camo pattern and included with the 2001 Desert Striker. But, he was replaced with Flint at the last minute. And, even this Paratrooper Dusty has a pre-production variant with a painted zipper around his open shirt collar. There might be more part usages as the 2000's dragged on. But, that's enough for now.
Dusty even got unique accessories. He was given a silver parachute from which he could fall to his death from the top of the hotel. It was attached to an exclusive green colored version of the 1987 Jinx backpack. As an approximation of a parachute rig, this setup worked just fine. The parachute strings were tied to the sword loops on the backpack. This, supposedly, would hold the chute in place. And,it really did. In the aftermath of the convention, you'd find a ton of figures who included a backpack where the parachute strings had been cut off. The parachute had been discarded and the seller was offering just the figure and backpack.
While the parachute was secured to the backpack, the backpack wasn't all that secure to the figure. And, hundreds of Dusty's plummeted several stories and were dashed into broken parts after their backpack came out and the figure had nothing to slow its velocity. For a few months after the convention, you could buy lots of broken parts that enterprising scavengers had swept from the parking lot. You couldn't really piece together a mint figure from them. But, it was a good way to get some extra parts for customs.
The real legacy of the figure, though, is that no one really remembers him. Collectors of the era were fixated on army builders. And, the 1991 Dusty mold was passe. So, the figure disappeared from collecting discourse. It wasn't until 2007 that convention attendee exclusives started getting popular and appreciating on the aftermarket. Slowly, these pulled in many of the early exclusives that had been selling for under their original price for many years. The Paratrooper Dusty, though, wasn't one of them. You could get bagged figures for under $20 well into the late 2010's. Even today, while other convention attendee figures approach $1000 for a single release, the Paratrooper Dusty sells for under $40 with regularity. Between the very low production run and the fact that so many were destroyed in the fall, this seems like a very low price for a high quality figure. But, the modern collecting market makes no sense.
The end result is that you can get a high quality figure for a very attractive price. And, as you can see from the photos below, he works very well in a variety of settings. Dusty doesn't always need to be wearing desert camo. There are deserts around the world that are very green. So, having an alternate look for one of the secondary popularity characters in the line seems like it would be popular. But, it's not. And, that leave opportunity for you to scoop up a Paratrooper Dusty and discover his quality for yourself.
