G.I. Joe #49

Serpentor is one of those characters who is divisive in the Joe community.  In the early days of online fandom, Serpentor was the line of demarcation between comic and cartoon fans.  And, as comic aficionados dominated the fandom in those days, you'd see Serpentor mocked and criticized and noted as the "deth of the line".  But, by the early 2000's, the line for collectors had shifted from 1985 to 1987.  And, with that, came acceptance of Serpentor.  While there were still diehards who disliked and outright hated him, there was another faction who found him superior to Cobra Commander as a character.  In the ensuing decades, it was these later collectors who won  out.  And, now, Serpentor is viewed a major character in the Joe mythos who is generally accepted.  His figures are all popular and he remains one of the most visually striking characters in the entire library.

What is odd about Serpentor, though, is that he originated in the comics.  Sure, he was forced into Hama's world by Hasbro as a way to shake up the standard Cobra hierarchy and sell a LOT of toys.  But, Larry Hama pulled off the this licensor mandate with a deftness that defined his run on the Joe comic line.  He made the Serpentor origin story in G.I. Joe #49 amazing.  It was captivating, fun, mysterious and eye-opening: all at once.  For a kid in April of 1986, reading Serpentor's entrance into the G.I. Joe world showed that the comic writers were willing to commit to the concept and create something enduring: even if the underlying idea was somewhat corny.

I have one enduring memory of this comic.  Shortly after the issue was released, I was reading it in our faux wood paneled station wagon after my parents had picked me up from the local comic book store.  I left it in the car.  And, on Saturday, I had a soccer game.  Either going to the game or coming home from it, we ended up taking several of my friends in the car.  They found the issue flopping around in the back seat.  And, each of them read it.  To a person, they thought it was a really cool story.  Even though most of them had aged out of toys in recent months, they were enthralled by the story in the issue.  For a brief moment, I had that feeling of kinship with friends who, otherwise, had grown out of my hobby and entertainment.  Our station wagon had one of those "hidden" third row seats.  It folded down to create the trunk.  Or, you could put it up for an additional two seats.  The kicker...these seats faced backwards instead of towards the driver.  As a kid, it was great for me.  And, I spent all our long distance family trips in this seat, looking at the road after we had passed it by.  But, on this spring day in 1986, someone put the seat down right on top of my new comic.  One of the clasps passed through the entire book, tearing a huge hole.  The upside: nothing was torn out.  And, I was able to push the rip back into place and the comic remained readable.  Back in those days, I had a subscription to the G.I. Joe comic.  But, since it took a few days to arrive, I'd usually buy an early copy at the local comic shop.  So, I had another mint copy to keep nice.  But, to this day, I have that original #49 with the hole torn through it by that crazy car.

This comic's other legacy for me was it serving as my introduction to Hannibal, the famous Carthaginian general.  Something about Hannibal crossing the Alps with elephants simply enthralled me.  I read what little I could find on him in my grade school library.  As I got older, I learned more about him.  And, I even used obscure Hannibal military victories against the Romans in assignments I had in college.  It was one of those little details (the Potemkin from Special Missions #1 was another) from the comic that lead me down a path of learning.  One of the hallmarks of a great writer is that they open your mind and introduce you to new things that you'd otherwise never learn of.  Larry Hama was great at that.  And, because of what I read in the Joe comic, I'd go on fact finding expeditions at our local library to learn more about obscure things that no one else cared about or dared to explore.  And, I owe Larry Hama that lasting legacy of my personality.

There's also this fun little bit with a young girl pulling out a Dirty Harry .357 Magnum.  It wasn't that image that was so memorable, though.  It was her chilling knowledge that a bullet fired from the gun would leave an exit wound the size of a frozen pot pie.  As a kid in the '80's, bullets weren't really real.  Movies spent them like air.  And, shooting victims weren't portrayed in a realistic light.  To hear the utter brutality that a weapon like this would wreak upon it's victim was shocking.  It brought to light the power of some of these weapons.  And, that changed how I viewed wounds in my Joe world.  They were less the quickly recovered from scratches that had defined my younger days and were now devastating injuries that could have permanent impacts...if the victim survived at all.

My enduring issue with the character of Serpentor is that, once created, he can never live up to the epicness of his origin story.  The means by which Serpentor was created was a master class in applying loose scientific principles to a young audience.  Serpentor seemed entirely  plausible.  (Though, the appearance of the simalcrum they used for his body left a LOT of open questions.)  But, with such an amazing origin, there was no way Serpentor was ever going to live up to his original hype.  And, he really didn't.  Within a few months, Serpentor was played out.  And, by the time of his death, the character was nothing less than tedious.  I will say that he served a purpose in forcing the original Cobra Commander to show his dedication to his principles as he reformed Cobra and retook his rightful place atop its hierarchy.  But, beyond that, there is little lasting legacy of Serpentor beyond a neat looking action figure and his amazing origin story.

I will say that it's a damn shame that no one has been able to recreate Serpentor's look from his debut issue in action figure form.  Everyone always goes for the full regalia armor instead of this subtler and more primitive look where he has the bare chest under a flowing cape.  It's a look that works surprisingly well.  And, it one that could have been recreated using parts of the time.  If we're going to see future Serpentor figures, one of them needs to be his debut appearance rather than another armor themed figure.  We have enough of those.

All comics from this era of G.I. Joe are common and worthless.  G.I. Joe was one of Marvel's best selling titles during the '80's.  And, copies of all the issues during the heyday are common.  Of course, high grade versions will price out according to their grade.  But, the value in the comic is the story and the artwork.  So, locking it in a slab seems counter production to the nature of the book itself.  The upside is that #49 was reprinted for a Comic Pack in 2005.  Once upon a time, those were common and cheap.  Now, the figures have dried up and you don't really see people selling the comic reprints.  I've got about 5 of the 2005 issues leftover from opening up a bunch of the Serpentor/Firefly/Scrap Iron packs.  So, I can read those without risking further deterioration to my original.  But, pulling out my childhood copy and seeing the hole still ripped through  it by a 40 year old car opens the floodgates of memories.  And, that is the real value that this comic holds for me.

1986 Viper - Random Photos of the Day

I've never found the 1986 Viper to be the figure that most collectors see him as.  It wasn't a mold for whose return I was clamoring.  But, we got lots and lots of Viper repaints.  And, there's no denying the figure's place in Cobra history.  And, he photographs well.  So, it was worth having a few lying around.

I've always viewed the Viper and Cobra Trooper as interchangeable.  Viper armor is impractical to wear when lounging around the base.  So, the more standard blue Cobra jumpsuit is the alternate look for the backbone of Cobra's legions.  This allows the figures to co-exist and even appear together without convoluted backstory.  

Other than that, not much to say about this guy.  I still find him over rated.  But, not nearly as much as the BAT.  Enjoy the photos below as I hope I can finish up a profile for next week.

1986 Low Light - Random Photos of the Day

The 1986 Low Light is a figure I should use more often.  He was part of my childhood's glory years.  And, he's an amazingly detailed sculpt in cool colors who included better weapons.  In short, he's a guy who should be at the forefront of far more photos in my collection than he is.  I've had to make it a point, though, to get him out and take photos featuring the figure.

The reasons for this likely stem from my childhood, though.  While Low Light was on many missions, he was often perched far away, awaiting the signal to come to the last minute rescue.  While he sat in his tree branch or rock, I'd inevitably forget he was part of the story.  And, only at the end, when it was time to clean up did I realize he was stashed behind some pine needles and I had forgotten that his specialty was needed.  So, the figure was more of a tag along than the driver of any adventure.

None of this detracts from the figure's quality.  Sure, his head is a little big.  And, blonde hair is a strong juxtaposition against the black and grey base colors.  But, the rest of Low Light is as good as '80's Joes could be.  Lots of details, bold colors and perfect accessories all add up to quite a toy.  

But, even today, I don't get much use for the figure.  He's tough to add into the background of a photo.  And, you can only do so much with the lone gunman trope.  I should, though, try a bit harder as I do think there's some more content I can squeeze from him.  Until then, let me know your thoughts on Low Light in the comments.

1986 Beach Head - Random Photos of the Day

Beach Head is who he is.  The original figure is a classic with a super fragile crotch.  Hasbro made a few repaints of him in the 2000's.  Now, there's factory customs featuring the mold.  And, they proved there was a lot of life in the Beach Head mold.  The real version of Beach Head, though, is the lime green Funskool version.  To this day, this 1986 figure seems bland to me because I view the Funskool figure as the default version of the character.

This doesn't take away from the original paint job's quality.  Beach Head remains one of the line's better overall figures.  The different aqua green color that is offset by the black vest and brown, camo pants works way better than the words describing it would indicate.  And, the figure's intricate details and perfect accessory complement complete the package for one of the highlights of the class of 1986.

Due to the ubiquity of the Funskool version in my collection, though, I rarely get this original figure out for photos.  When I want Beach Head, I'll go with the brighter version.  So, my usage of the Hasbro figure is deliberate.  And, you'll see that in the photos below where Beach Head is paired with his contemporaries for a specific look.

1986 General Hawk - Random Photos of the Day

I've recently been thinking about the 1986 Hawk.  He might be my favorite 1986 release.  There's a few other figures in that year that I really like.  But, the marriage of Hawk's character and a cool figure update for him resonates with me...moreso than even childhood favorites like Dial Tone.  In looking at the total year of 1986, I was surprised in that the class lacks a really amazing, iconic figure.  Instead, pretty much everyone released that year is above average.  (With some exceptions, of course!)  So, it's a great year where the 20th best figure and the 3rd best figure are pretty close in quality.  And, there's no clear cut number 1.  

As a kid, though, this Hawk was essential.  My Joe team finally had a leader who was worthy of fighting with them out in the field.  As I loved Hawk's pistol for other figures, I'd often give him Leatherneck's M-203.  I'd also remove his helmet as I didn't much like it back in 1986.  And, this figure was a younger, more dynamic Hawk who was capable of leading the Joes right into any firefight.  When I tired of that, Hawk could retreat to the HQ: where he was equally at home giving commands to the Joes still out in the bush.  So, the figure got a lot of use.

Today, that still stands.  I enjoy getting Hawk out for photo shoots.  I don't do it as often as I should because my nice one is put away and my spare has a loose o-ring that I really need to repair one of these days.  None of this figure's later homages were able to surpass the original.  So, I still turn to the 1986 figure when I want to use the Joe team's leader.  I was hoping a 2025/2026 repaint that was long rumoured might finally give my original figure some well earned retirement.  But, it looks like that product is dead.

Enjoy the photos below.  If you have another contender for top figure of 1986 (that isn't the BAT....), let me know in the comments below.

1986 Night Raven Drone

The 1986 Cobra Night Raven is an amazing display piece.  Based on the classic "Blackbird" design, the plane is one of the most visually stunning pieces of the era.  On the ground, it looks great.  And, there's a lot of play features to load the plane up, set up the pilots and work on the various engines.  But, once you button the plane up and want to play with it in the air, the Night Raven kind of sucks.  It's huge, bulky and difficult to maneuver, especially for a kid.  The Night Raven is one of those toys that is valuable in your imagination.  But, in practicality, it's not a great toy to zip around with in the backyard.  You couldn't hold both it and, say, a Skystiker to simulate air to air combat.  And, with planes, that's the real value of the toys.  So, as a kid, the Night Raver was a disappointing item.  But, there is a neat little add on feature that solves for all of this.  For some reason, the Night Raven included an attached drone that held a single pilot.  There's no reason for this item to exist.  But, it does.  And, it provided all of the usefulness for the Night Raven in my childhood collection.

As a kid, I didn't much like aircraft.  The reason was that, in reality, aircraft were the most valuable weapons to each side.  And, from their planes, the factions could bomb or missile each other into oblivion with no real drama.  I had an army of cool looking combat soldiers, jeeps, tanks and other oddball contraptions, though, that I wanted to fight each other.  Having an aircraft come in and obliterate all the Hiss Tanks or Maulers just seemed boring and anti-climatic.  So, I created circumstances where aircraft were largely useless.  I worked out a scenario where the atmosphere had been made too thick for large planes to get off the ground.  So, items like the Skystriker and Night Raven were difficult to use, expensive and not overly effective.  What did work, though, was smaller, lighter aircraft that didn't have huge range and lacked the ability to carry devastating weapons.  So, instead of a Night Raven bombing away an entire Joe base, I had Night Raven drones being used as glorified anti-infantry weapons.  They had to fly close to the ground.  And, their cannons were less powerful than those carried by most vehicles.  They could be shot down by an infantryman with a standard weapon.  And, with these guidelines in place, my aerial warfare was curtailed to toys that were more fun to play with than their larger, more realistic counterparts.

The drone was perfect because it could fit in one hand.  In the other, you could have a Sky Hawk.  And, you could then play out the most dramatic dog fight you could imagine.  In short, the drone was able to deliver the aesthetic appeal of the entire Night Raven in a small package that you could take on car trips so you had something to do.  The drone became the de facto aircraft for my Cobra forces.  The following year, Cobra, officially, became the faction of drones when the Mamba drones entered my collection.  I used them a bit differently.  But, all the drones were Cobra's way of using a crop of expendable pilots to take out Joes.

One of the more memorable stories of my youth was G.I. Joe Special Missions #5.  This was a dog-fight story.  It was better suited to Special Missions than the main book.  And, frankly, the story wasn't as good as the dog fight in G.I. Joe #34.  So, moving it to a secondary book made the comparisons moot.  But, the seminal moment of the story was when the Strato Viper realized he was trapped in the cockpit of his Night Raven as it sunk into the ocean.  He was carried to the bottom of the sea where he got to slowly asphyxiate in a cramped coffin.  This visual stuck with me.  And, it became a scenario that would befall both Joe and Cobra pilots in my childhood adventures.  Often the pilots would still have radio contact with the surface.  So, the rescue crews could hear them dying.  Other times, the divers would reach them in time.  But, they would then make an error during the rescue and the cockpit would suddenly implode when the pressure finally proved stronger than the glass and steel.  These adventures were a great way to combine air and sea figures and vehicles.  And, were very popular with me for that reason.

Joe pilots wore airmasks.  The Silver Pads Grand Slam (my childhood Sky Hawk pilot) wore Lifeline's air mask while in flight.  So, when trapped under the water, they would survive longer.  Usually, this allowed a hovercraft to reach them and winch them to safety.  But, not always.  Cobra's pilots were more expendable, though.  They lacked the extra survival gear.  So, it was less likely that their rescue teams would reach them before their air supply gave out.  The more likely scenario was that the Joes would arrive first.  And, they would endeavor to rescue the pilot.  Not to save his life.  But, instead, to gain a prisoner as a bargaining chip.  The real plum, though, was an intact drone that could be studied for weaknesses.  As most drones that were shot down simply exploded either upon impact or the fuel tank being breached by a bullet, it was rare for the Joe to get an intact specimen for study.  The intact ships they could salvage from the bottom of the sea were valuable.  But, if the pilots happened to run out of air before the wreck was pulled to the surface, the Joes weren't going to lose any sleep over it.

The drone has one large flaw: it has no landing gear.  The drone was never intended to really fly on its own.  And, as an add-in, it wasn't designed to stand on its own.  So, there's no real way for it to land.  As a kid, things like this would bother me.  But, with high quality toys, I usually found a way around such limitations.  And, the smooth underbelly of the drone allowed it to glide across my bedroom carpet.  So, I could accept that the drone could land with no wheels and was designed to withstand a skidding across the terrain as the bottom of it dragged the drone to a halt through massive friction.  More than once, a poor Strato Viper landed on terrain that was too rocky and either ended up as an end-over-end fireball or, was sliced to ribbons when he went through the windshield, head-first, when the drone stopped too abruptly on a piece of debris.  To account for small takeoff spaces, I had the drones designed to take off by flying in circles on the ground.  Here, they built up speed until they could get enough lift to fly away.  It was a dumb moment.  But, it allowed the drones to operate in far more areas and be far more effective.

My real final adventure with the drone was when I finally decided to use the Night Raven.  With it, I'd have the drone attempt on in flight docking onto the larger planes back.  These would be high tension moments as any wrong move would end both ships.  Sometimes, the drone was be successful.  Other times, it would turn off its engines, but not actually lock into place.  The poor drone pilot would then freefall to a fiery end unless he could restart the engines while in freefall.  The final scenario was the catastrophe.  Here, the drone would make an error and the entire Night Raven would be destroyed.  I imagined that the little drop down cockpit on the Night Raven had parachutes inside it that could be deployed in the event of disaster.  So, as the drone pilot killed himself, the Night Raven pilots could safely eject.  Or, in many cases, eject and discover in their own freefall that the parachutes didn't deploy.  Being a pilot in my childhood collection was a rough life.

In my early collecting days, I had designs on getting a small army of drones.  But, that never came to pass.  And, the two I had in my collection never really got used.  My acquisition of a Firebat pretty much ensured that the drone was never going to be used again.  So, my drones are mostly packed away.  They aren't great to photograph.  So, that really limits any use I might find for them.  They're one of those toys that I've simply outgrown.  The memories are still there.  But, today, I'd be hard pressed to think of a time I've actually used just the drone aside from the one time I took in out for photos you can see below.

The Night Raven drone actually has a bit of history.  It was used with the Night Raven.  But, then, in 1989, it was slightly modified and ported over to Joe.  This repainted, white version was included with the 1989 Crusader space shuttle.  The drone was meant to be an ancillary spacecraft that supported the shuttle.  In this context, it kind of works.  The drone is space-agey enough to pass as a small shuttle.  And, Joe always stretched the realms of realism (despite the lamentations of many fans).  So, it was a solid addition to the updated shuttle.  As the Night Raven drones evolved, there are construction variants on it, too.  Some of the connector tabs are different.  Some that work better are also more prone to breakage.  But, if you amass enough of these drones, you'll spot a few differences in the mold.

Night Ravens are an iconic piece of the Joe line.  As such, dealers will  try to sell high quality versions for over $200.  Left to the market, the real price is slightly more than half of this, though.  The Night Raven was produced in massive quantities and isn't hard to find.  Even the smallest pieces are readily available.  It's not all that easy to find drones on their own.  If you can, complete ones will run in the $20-$30 range.  Really, that's a solid price for a neat toy that can stand on it's own.  But, you're probably better off just buying a full Night Raven to get the experience the entire toy brings.  Then, you can take off the drone to your heart's content.  For me, the value in the drone are the memories it holds.  Without those, you might find more limitations from the design.

1986 STUN

The 1986 Cobra STUN  is a stupid, stupid vehicle.  It is terrible in so many ways.  I'll enumerate many of them later on.  But, all of that is, largely, irrelevant.  Why?  Because, the STUN is a fun toy.  And, that's all that it was really about.  G.I. Joe wasn't about fundamental military realism.  (Despite what douchy Facebook "Joe Bros" want to believe.)  It was about really fun toys that kids would love to play with.  And, the STUN delivered on that premise.  Many of things that made it a rolling death trap were also the features that were the most fun to me when I was a kid.  Even then, we realized the sheer ridiculousness of the design.  But, we could forgive it due to how much play value was packed into the STUN.

The STUN features the classic Cobra colors of black and red.  It's a perfect match for many Cobra vehicles from the classic era and seamlessly blends with Hiss Tanks, Stingers, CATs and Adders.  And, as such, it's also a strong match for Vipers, Crimson Guards and even the Motor Viper who is its intended driver.  The aesthetic and scale are different from the aforementioned toys, though.  The STUN was definitely a product of the 1986 release year.  But, it works perfectly with figures released along side it.  Even with the colors, the STUN doesn't get as easy a pass as some other vehicles do, though.  I get the reasons why.  But, for me, the memories and importance of the STUN far outweigh any concerns about the vehicle's viability.

I first acquired the STUN in the summer of 1986. We went to the local Children's Palace store that was, literally, right next door to the local Toys R Us.  There, they had STUNs stacked in a huge display on the floor.  There were tons and tons of them.  I bought one and it immediately became the backbone of my Cobra mechanized legions.  The HISS Tank had been around for a while.  And, it was kind of stale.  The Thunder Machine was a newer acquisition.  And, it was a key component of every Cobra attack that deployed against the bases I set up in my room.  But, the Thunder Machine had limitations since it had just one gun.  And, while it was impressive and deadly against infantry, the Thunder Machine wasn't as effective against more powerful Joe armor.  The STUN solved for this.  I envisioned the larger cannons as being able to easily take out more powerful Joe vehicles.  And, they were still small enough to work against infantry troops, too.

The STUNs real power, though, was that it was fast.  It was, in fact, the fastest vehicle in my entire collection.  This was imperative because the STUN needed speed to offset the design limitations that left the crew so exposed.  It would speed around the battlefield, outrunning the ability of infantry troops to track it with their weapons.  Lumbering Maulers were no match for the STUNs which could surround and disable them.  The only vehicle I had which could match up against the STUN was the HAVOC.  At the time, the HAVOC had only been in  my collection for a month or so.  So, I was wont to make it as important as possible.  The comic had an issue where the HAVOC was a foil to the Thunder Machine.  But, I found the STUN a more worth adversary.  STUNs could take out HAVOCs and vice-versa.  And, since each vehicle required a full crew and had a rear gunner station, there were exponentially more play possibilities than I could have with any other two vehicles in my collection at the time.  

My STUN had a standard crew.  The Motor Viper took the main driver seat.  These guys were nuts.  They had to be in order to operate such a death trap that ensured instant death for the driver in most of the missions it would undertake.  In 1987, the Accessory Pack version of the '86 Viper's rifle would join the Motor Viper to give the STUN extra firepower.  The front gun pods were manned by '84 Hooded Cobra Commander figures.  We had three of them.  Some had broken thumbs or crotches.  But, I could overlook those for guys who just sat in gunner pods.  I had always used the Hooded CC's as Cobra gunners in the Hiss Tanks and ASP.  So, this was just an extension of their existing duties.  In the back gunner chair was my '86 Viper whose thumb had broken.  I had snapped him early in his life.  (Which was rare for me in 1986.)  So, I had replaced the figure with another one.  The broken thumb figure was perfect for the rear gunner chair.  I could outfit the STUN with more figures if the need arose.  But, this configuration would invade Joe bases for the remainder of my childhood playing days.

I've written about my childhood room before.  It was an addition that was attached to an existing bedroom.  I had tons of space.  But, the entrance was a hallway that stepped down into my room.  This hallway was a perfect runway for a Cobra attack.  The Joe base would be beneath the step.  And, against the step, I would build the security perimeter for the base.  I would have the Bridge Layer bridge be the only ramp down the step.  And, I'd have various ladders from old Fisher Price toys set up for the men to climb over the barrier.  I'd set up old broken vehicles, TIE Fighter wings and rusting TONKA fire trucks as the remainder of the barrier.  Among the gaps I'd place things like the Outpost Defender, Checkpoint Alpha and the smaller Battlefield Accessory sets with sandbags and walls.  Figures would man these areas with key figures occupying other spaces.  

Cobra would attack by coming down the hallway.  They'd have legions of STUNS, Hiss Tanks and the Thunder Machine.  (The Thunder Machine was an army building vehicle like the STUNs and Hiss Tanks...even though we only had one of each.)  It was the STUNs, though, that did the damage.  They'd zoom around the battlefield, outrunning the fire from the positions.  The heavy cannons would knock down the barriers or blow holes through the defenses.  The stationary emplacements would get destroyed.  My key Joes, often occupying individual spaces instead of the playsets, would be the ones to take out a STUN or two.  But, since they'd mostly do this by killing the Motor Viper who was driving, the high speed vehicles would then crash into the defenses, often opening the door for Cobra Infantry to advance through towards the actual base.

As the front line fell apart, the heavy Joe vehicles would come out.  Here, they'd engage with the STUNs with success that varied on my mood.  For me, Joe was always the underdog.  They were outmanned and outgunned by Cobra.  So, their victories were never guaranteed.  They'd often sustain losses, too.  But, I could have different figures become the major heroes of the day.  And, I could have Cobra "lose" while still completing their objective like capturing key Joes or simply acquiring intel from a breached base.  As the STUNs would roll down the bridge over the stair, they'd encounter far more individual troops.  Here, the massive wheels on the STUN became another weapon.  STUNs moving an incredibly high speeds would run over Joes in the melee.  It was a fear tactic and an effective additional weapon the STUNs could wield.  And, due to this, the STUNs were the most dangerous adversary the Joes could face.

This all sounds like STUNs were unstoppable.  But, here's where we get into the ludicrous limitations of the STUN itself.  The STUNs front features a rounded gun pod.  They slant upwards...towards the driver.  So, the Joes would just have to target their fire onto the front of the STUN.  While the small arms couldn't penetrate the armor to kill the gunners, the bullets would be deflected directly at the driver.  So, Motor Vipers were pretty easy to kill.  They had no protection and were the highest point of the vehicle.  As soon as the driver was hit, the STUN would go out of control.  At their high travel speeds, the resulting crash would kill the remainder of the crew and destroy the vehicle.  It would also take out anything it hit.  Sometimes, that was the Joe defenses.  Other times, it was another Cobra vehicle.

These limitations prevented the STUNs from being a game changer.  Even a couple of guys with minimum weapons could take one out because the driver was so vulnerable.  The STUNs main danger was en masse.  While individual STUNs could be taken out quickly, a large group of them could inflict massive damage before they could all be neutralized.  So, Cobra would send in a wave of STUNs who would do passes at the defenses  until all the STUNs were gone.  Then, the more stable Hiss Tanks and Thunder Machines would come in and handle the remainder of the battle. It made the STUN a super valuable part of my Cobra army.  But, it also prevented it from making Cobra too powerful.

In addition to this flaw, the STUNs gun pods can open.  While this gave the STUN a great zone of fire for its main weapons, it also slowed the vehicle down.  And, with the pods open, the Motor Viper was still brutally exposed.  Slower moving STUNs were easy targets, especially with the exposed driver.  The flailing gun pods also made the three wheeled STUNs unstable.  So, they couldn't turn with the precision that the drivers were used to.  This would also result in crashes.  These would, often, be less devastating events and the driver or gunners could survive.  This is why the Motor Vipers got the rifles.  They needed heavy weapons to assist in the battle when their STUN was disabled by a foolish gunner who opened his pod at an inopportune time.

STUNs were also a useful transport for Cobra hierarchy.  Here, the STUN wasn't an attack vehicle.  But, instead, a manner for key Cobras to quickly move between fortified Cobra positions and secret bases.  These adventures with the STUN were less frequent.  But, they showed the versatility of the STUN.  Cobra lacked any aircraft that could hold more than one passenger in addition to the pilot.  And, those planes were large, brittle or unwieldy.  So, for me, land transport was the only real option for Cobra high command to travel between bases.  The STUN could hold 4 of them with no issues.  And, if I wanted, could even take a few more on the foot pegs.  (Again, accuracy be damned.)  So, the STUN had an additional purpose that made it useful, even when it wasn't just a fast attack vehicle taking out a base.

You can't talk about the STUN without discussing the flags.  These two pieces are problematic because the slim plastic hasn't aged well.  The flags have become brittle and prone to breakage over the past 40 years.  On top of that, the flags were positioned on the vehicle in such a way that typical kid storage in a toy box would have bent them over and snapped them even back in the '80's.  On top of that, the engine covers can also be brittle.  But, they are more likely to be lost due to their smaller size.  The rear gun can also be missing as it was also rather small.  But, if it was properly affixed, it was harder to remove.  It's not hard to find a STUN that's complete with the exception of the flags.  But, the flags are a premium piece, now.  You'll see an alarming number of high quality STUNs sold with broken flags...showing even kids who were meticulous with their toys ended up with broken STUN flags. 

The STUN got two vintage releases: the 1986 original and a Python Patrol repaint in 1989.  Somehow, the flags on the Python version are even more fragile than those from 1986.  The STUN never got any foreign exclusive releases.  But, in 2004, it got a surprise release as a convention exclusive.  This version was colored as an homage to the vintage Dreadnok vehicles.  But, the quality was poor.  Collectors didn't find the vehicle to be of much use.  There was a feeling that it was a bad match for the look of the Dreadnoks.  And, the repaint never took off in the community.  It's a shame there was never a retail STUN released during the repaint era.  But, the original was colored perfectly.  So, there wasn't a lot of potential left in the mold.  And, since vintage STUNS were pretty cheap through the 2000's, a repaint was unlikely to have become a popular choice for a retail release.

STUNs are one of those vehicles that can be had cheaply...provided you don't care about certain elements of completeness.  A nicely conditioned, fully complete STUN with unbroken flags is about an $80 item.  However, take just the flags away and they run between $20 and $30.  Personally, I don't find the flags to be all that imperative a part to the STUN.  Others will disagree.  But, for the price disparity, it's a no brainer to forgo them and add to your Cobra convoy with a couple of, otherwise, nice STUNs.  For me, the STUN remains a childhood favorite.  Despite this, I've never upgraded my childhood version.  As I got it out from time to time, I realize the value the vehicle has for photos and displays.  So, I probably need to look at getting a better version than the one I bought at Children's Palace nearly 40 years ago.

1986 Motor Viper - Around The Web

As a stand alone figure, the 1986 Motor Viper isn't terrible.  Sure, the mold is full of odd tubes and hoses.  And, his helmet is a bit weird.  But, the blue colors with silver and black accents really work.  And, when you take the figure as a companion to the 1986 Viper, it becomes even better.  The two figures share an aesthetic that allows them to be used in conjunction with each other.  So, you have a symmetry among the contemporary Cobras that was the hallmark of vintage Hasbro.

There's some solid content using the figure out there.  So, check out all these Motor Vipers from around the web.

1986 Motor Viper Profile

1986 Motor Viper by SteelBrigade

1986 Motor Viper by thedustinmccoy

1986 Motor Viper by atticagazette

1986 Motor Viper by gen_liederkranz

1986 Motor Viper by g.i.joe_manila_ph

1986 Motor Viper by scarrviper

1986 Motor Viper by dreadnokdread

1986 Motor Viper by zakupocalpse

1986 Motor Viper by 80e90allora

1986 Motor Viper by sithviper

1986 Motor Viper by thedustinmccoy

1986 Motor Viper by dreadnokdread

1986 Motor Viper by gijoe_c4_panama

1986 Dialtone - Random Photos of the Day

Dialtone remains a personal favorite of mine.  Ever since my younger brother found him sitting on a random shelf at Target and got our first 1986 figure, I've felt that Dialtone was a figure I missed out on.  I've never been able to overcome that initial disappointment.  So, to this day, I use the figure way more than I should.  And, it's nearly impossible for me to express how much I like the figure.  I can't have a rational discussion about him.

So, here's a bunch of 1986 Dialtone figures taken over the years.  My favorite is the last one where he's in the Hum-Vee.  I miss those cheapo, generic military toys you used to be able to find at Toys R Us and, for a short while, Amazon.  They were a great way to expand the Joe line.  After that non-sequitur, enjoy the photos below. 

My Favorite Accessories - Part 1

I look at my collection in distinct stages.  The first, of course, is my childhood.  This covered 1982 through 1987.  The second phase is the pre-internet days of adult collecting.  For me, this was 1992 through 1997, give or take.  And, then the final phase is my adult collecting years that have occurred since I found the Stars & Stripes set in December of 1997.

As a kid, it was nearly impossible to get extras of specific weapons.  Your only options were to buy another figure or two to get the gear.  Or, really hope that a friend of yours happened to hate that particular item and you could trade him something you didn't really care for in exchange for the item you did want.  The notion of having several extras lying around was pretty much a pipe dream and impossible for all but the richest kid.  

During the mid 1990's, it was also somewhat difficult to just buy accessories.  You'd often find guys with grocery bags or shoeboxes full of Joes.  And, they'd say something along the lines of "it's too much work to figure out who gets what gear"  (there was no YoJoe.com back then).  But, at the same time, none of them would sell individual gear.  They were too afraid that you'd buy the one super rare item and they'd miss out on 4 extra bucks in later years.  1990's scalp culture was weird.  The thing those guys would do, though, was sell you the whole bag or box of figures for what, now, seems a really stupidly low price.  Sure, there'd be no female figures or Snake Eyes in the lot.  But, that was fine because you'd end up paying a dollar or two per figure.  So, you could get extra gear, but you'd get the figures to go with it, too.

The early days of internet collecting were nice as guys would pretty much trade any accessory straight up for another that they needed.  So, for a few years, you could easily trade a spare Alpine rope gun to get a Shipwreck pistol.  But, as the 2000's dawned, things like that mostly disappeared.  By then, collectors had realized which gear was the most desirable and hardest to find.  And, as the 2000's turned into the 2010's, you had the rise of online dealers who would sell individual accessories and Ebay stores that did the same.  Sure, you'd pay a premium for a 1982 Uzi.  But, they'd often sell very nice stuff from later years for cheap prices.  You could still get the charcoal Recoil rifles from later editions of the Steel Brigade for under $5 up through this time.  

Since then, the price of gear has steadily gone up.  Certain weapons that were once desired (like Snake Eyes' Uzi) did see demand tempered a bit as repaint era options became readily available. I didn't need to seek out extra 1983 weapons to arm my terrorist contingent because I could easily get 2000's era accessories that worked just as well and were a fraction of the price.  But, other gear got stupidly expensive.  Things like Flint's shotgun (that, really, were never hard to find) got really pricey as dealers flocked to the market and marked things up in the post 2018 Joe world.  Now, I'm glad that I have a lot of extra gear.  Because there is no way I'd accumulate my armory at today's prices.

For today, I'm going to focus on my childhood favorites.  There is a lot to read here.  So, I'm going to break this walk down memory lane into different parts so they are more manageable.  Here is part 1:

My Childhood Favorites:

1. Flint's Shotgun

There's just something about this weapon that always spoke to me.  It was an original design and unlike anything that had come before it in the line.  The notion of a shotgun toting badass hearkened back to the Westerns you'd see on weekend afternoon TV.  

On a boy scout trip, some of the adults were shooting skeet.  I gathered up a dozen or so spent shells and cut slits in them so that I could affix them to suspenders or a belt like Flint.  When we'd play guns in the neighborhood, I'd wear the shells over a vest.  It's amazing to think we used to run around the neighborhood, toting very real looking toy guns with real spent ammo on my chest and no one batted an eye.  This is probably the one thing that's most changed between my childhood and that of my kids.

As a kid, I lost Flint's shotgun all the time.  My original figure's disappeared at some point during his run.  In 1986, I replaced my original with a new one so I'd have the rifle, again.  That winter, we went to visit my grandparents.  We'd play in their basement.  The floor was cold, hard concrete.  But, they had about a dozen carpet sample sized rugs that we'd arrange as islands or somesuch and structure our adventures around these.  We were playing down there one afternoon and my younger brother somehow kicked Flint's shotgun off of one of these carpets.  I frantically searched for it for hours.  I picked up every carpet, got a flashlight to look under the cabinets and swept the floor with my hands. But, that Flint shotgun was gone.

A while later, my grandmother told me over the phone she had found a green gun in her basement.  She put it in her room, thinking it might be important to us.  I was sure it was Flint's shotgun.  But, when we saw her again, I was disappointed to find it was not.  Instead, it was a broken machine gun from one of my dad's old, cheap plastic soldiers.  So, the remaining years of my childhood Flint's life were spent with him wielding the weapon from the Night Landing Craft, a Snow Serpent's AK-47 or the Ripcord rifle from the Tactical Battle Platform.

When I started collecting, getting a complete Flint was a priority.  As Flint was super popular, though, he'd be in a ton of the lots I was acquiring in the late 1990s.  Usually, I'd get his gun, too.  Over time, I bought a bunch of loose Flints from online and local sellers.  I had up to 8 of them at one point.  Even after my collection  purge, though, I still have 5 originals plus at least 5 loose and 5 more carded Funskool versions.  What I can not do, though, is give Flint's shotgun  to another figure.  It just doesn't look right.  So, while I love Flint's shotgun, it is reserved for Flint and Flint alone.  

2. Alpine's SMG

What's interesting is that many of the weapons on my childhood list feature stories about me losing the weapon.  The reason for this is that the experience was traumatic since I loved the accessories so much and I often would no longer use a figure once his original gear was lost.  For Alpine, the main story is one of loss.  But, there are also two stories of redemption.  

Alpine was one of the earlier 1985 figures I acquired.  I remember that I already owned him by the time I got Snake Eyes in April.  And, I have cold weather, early spring memories of playing with him and the Eel on the front steps of my parents' home.  Being an early arrival, though, meant that I was less careful with him than I should have been.  In short order, I lost his pistol and broke his grappling gun.  As the figure was cool, though, I replaced my original Alpine some time in 1986 so I once again had a complete figure.

In the fall of 1986, we were playing with our Joes outside with some kids down the street.  We rarely played in their backyard as it was small and didn't have a ton of great places.  But, their dad had recently cleared out a small thicket of trees near their back fence that bordered the alley.  So, on this day, we set up an adventure there.  Among the figures I had was Alpine.  At some point, I took his gun out of the figure's hand and set it down on the soft, dry dirt.  The gun instantly disappeared.  It was gone.  I searched for quite a while, moving dirt, etc. to no avail.  My Alpine's gun was gone.

About a year later, we were playing soccer in their yard.  The ball went back into this thicket.  I went to retrieve it.  And, as I went to pick up the ball, I saw my Alpine's gun in the dirt!  By this time, we had given up toys.  But, I did show it to everyone and asked if they remembered when I had lost the gun.  I put the pistol into my pocket and added it to my stash of Joes when I got home.  Over the years, my youngest brother broke into these stashes and removed key figures.  During these thefts, my Alpine was taken and his pistol disappeared again.

In 1997, I was working a job post college and living at my parents' house until I moved to Arizona.  During this time, I dug out all my childhood toys and started displaying them on the shelves in my childhood room.  One night, as I was heading to bed, I happened to notice something weird about the SnowCat.  It seemed there was an asymmetry in the open spaces on the black underbody beneath the lights.  Upon inspection, the difference was that my Alpine's gun was wedged into the part!  No idea how it got there.  But, I had a complete Alpine, once again.  It was the same gun from the dirt thicket because the grooves of the weapon were still filled with the fine dust from a decade earlier.  With this recovery, my Alpine was again, complete.

Over the years, I've picked up one or two extra Alpine pistols.  It looks good with a variety of figures.  And, I'll often use it with other 1985 releases as a way to bring some visual diversity to a photo.  It's a weapon I still enjoy.  I wouldn't mind if I had another four or five of them.  But, I'm very happy with the number in my collection, today.  Each time I see it, I'm reminded of finding that dusty gun in the back of our friends' yard.  It's a great connection to the past.

 

3. Hawk's Pistol

I view this pistol as Hawk's.  It actually debuted with  the 1985 Keel Haul, though.  But, since I never had a Keel Haul, I had no idea that he came with a gun.  So, I view this weapon as Hawk's and Hawk's alone.  Originally, this Hawk figure first belonged to my younger brother.  And, while I did use him quite a bit, my brother was hard on the figure and lost his pistol.  This hurt as I loved the weapon and often used it with other figures.  I gave Hawk the M-203 from Leatherneck and made him a younger leader, more akin to the role meant for Duke, instead of the grizzled general.  This made the Hawk figure much more useful and kept him a key player in my collection.

Sometime in late 1987, I went to a local toy shop in my neighborhood.  It was a small, independent store that was mostly a hobby/model shop who also sold toys.  They were expensive.  But, it was just a few hundred feet away from the comic book store where I spent many, many hours of my youth.  I stopped in one afternoon and found they had marked their Joes down to $2.99 instead of the usual $3.99.  I didn't like paying that extra dollar.  Their entire stock was 1986 figures...including Hawk.  I didn't buy the figure that day.  For some reason, I felt I needed parental permission to buy a figure, even though I spent my lawn mowing money with impunity at the comic book store.  When I got home, I mentioned something about the figures being on sale to my mother.  She made a flippant comment about how it was my money and she didn't care how I spent it.  So, on my next trip to the comic book store, I dropped by Ed Shrock's Toy and Hobby and bought myself a new Hawk.

I kept this figure, though, as the younger character from before.  And, Hawk, once again, got the M-203.  I had 2 of these weapons.  (It's next on the list!)  So, that freed up Hawk's pistol to be used by other figures or in other situations.  Crankcase was the main recipient of the pistol.  But, I would also use it in specific scenarios.  So, if a Joe got caught without his weapon at the end of a firefight and he had a sculpted pistol on his leg or chest, Hawks' pistol would stand in for the sculpted weapon.  The Joe would just use it that once.  But, it allowed for me to finally put to practical use some of the sculpted details on my favorite figures.

Today, the weapon remains a favorite.  I have a couple.  I never felt the Hawk pistol was all that hard to get.  But, when I liquidated all my extra Hawks, I sold them complete with the pistol.  I think I kept one or two extras that are available.  Though, one is always with Crankcase.  Hasbro had the mold for the weapon in the 2000's.  It was included with the Convention Hardtop.  But, it never appeared again.  Instead, we got crappy new sculpt pistols in the Comic Packs that the figures couldn't hold and that were just too stubby to be any fun.  I only imagine what it would have been like to get a dozen or more extra Hawk pistols in that era.  I'd have kept them all.

4. Leatherneck's M-203

Leatherneck's rifle had a lot going for it.  It was a bit bigger than the weapons from prior years.  But, I liked that about it since it made the weapon appear more deadly.  The main  calling card, though, was the affixed grenade launcher under the barrel.  This gave the weapon more utilization possibilities and made Leatherneck effective against both infantry and Cobra vehicles.  I always wanted more of the weapons.  In the summer of 1986, though, I lost my original Leatherneck in the bushes in front of grandfather's house.  My cousin, who lived next door, never found the figure.  And, I went months with no Leatherneck.  At some point before the end of the year, I bought another Leatherneck figure.  My main reasoning was that when I returned to Buffalo and found my original figure, I'd have a spare gun to give to other figures.

When I went back to my grandfather's in the summer of 1987, though, my Leatherneck was no where to be found.  I know the bushes were evergreen.  But, the volume of snow they received could have left him shoveled away.  So, I wasn't to get that spare rifle.  But, fortunately, the end of 1986 and early 1987 gave me another avenue.  For Christmas of 1986, I got the Mission to Brazil set.  This included a desert themed Leatherneck with the same rifle as the original.  Naturally, I kept that accessory with the figure.  But, when I really wanted the 1986 Hawk to have the rifle, I'd equip the desert Leatherneck (now a Marine army builder) with the 1984 Battle Gear Zap Bazooka.  But, then, in 1987, a new Battle Gear set was released.  Frankly, this set sucked like the earlier sets with poor colors and missing gear.  But, it did include a brown version of the Leatherneck rifle...a color that perfectly matched the Mission to Brazil figure.  So, the army builder was given the Battle Gear accessory and I had a spare M-203 to give to other figures.

As an adult collector, I discovered that the weapon was later released in black, too.  But, I also found the weapon had fallen out of favor.  I didn't see it as a team standard any longer.  I did give a black one to Recoil for a bit.  But, once I had a charcoal Steel Brigade rifle, Recoil didn't need the M-203 any longer.  And, by the time superfluous weapons were included with repaint era figures in the 2000's, I ended up with a baggie full of extra M-203s that I don't use at all.  It's a precipitous fall for one of the top weapons of my childhood.  But, Hasbro made too many better weapons in subsequent years.

5. Mutt's Mac 11

Mutt belonged to my younger brother.  And, he didn't take care of him.  In short order we lost the mask, nightstick and pistol.  At one point, I found the Mutt figure in the bottom of an antique wardrobe that was in my brothers' room.  Since I had pulled the figure out when it was fairly dark, I always thought that Mutt's pistol must have been  lost in the bottom of that piece of furniture.  I searched it many times.  In fact, I searched it as recently as 2013 when my mother finally moved out of the house and was giving the piece away.  No Mutt's pistol.  There were a bunch of old Legos, though.

Having lost such a cool gun always made the weapon mythical to me.  Add to that the weapon's silencer and it was a perfect accessory for Dreadnoks, Cobra leaders or even just Snake Eyes.  In 1985, I finally got a bright green Mutt's pistol in the Battle Gear.  And, despite the color, I used this weapon extensively.  I'd give it to Zartan.  Or, some nameless bad guys would use it to assassinate Hawk.  I'd place the weapon in the cockpit of the Whale where either Cutter or Shipwreck could grab it as a backup to shoot boarding Eels. It had a ton of uses.

But, I never got another black version of the gun until I was an adult collector.  While I upgraded pretty much my entire 1985 figure collection, I didn't do the same with the 1984's.  Mostly, this was due to the fact that the '84's were pretty sparse at the retailers I frequented in 1986 when I was spending to upgrade my figures.  But, also, the '84's were somewhat old news by then.  I was more interested in getting some of the newer characters back into my collection since they were the staples of the comic and cartoon.  So, a complete Mutt didn't rejoin my collection for over a decade.

Now, I have just two Mutts: both with the pistol.  But, I also have Mutts from Europe and Brazil.  So, I've got several of the pistols.  I think I have a spare or two still hanging around.  You'll find photos of the pistol being used by Scarlett, Snake Eyes, Headman and others.  It's a fun weapon to use as an alternative pistol.  I still think the silencer adds a sinister element to the weapon.  

So, that's a look at the weapons that drove my childhood.  While I liked most Joe weapons of that era, these were the ones that most spoke to me.  They were the ones that were the subject of daydreams of bins of gear being available to me.  Now that I can do that, I've found that I still flock to many of these weapons and never pass them if they're offered cheaply.  (Which doesn't really happen any longer.)

I'll continue this series at some point.  It won't be next week.  But, probably this year.  This was a fun jog into the bowels of my formative Joe years.  It's good to dig into that well of memories every now and then as it helps keep some of the feelings fresh.  Let me know your childhood favorites in the comments below.