The Rankings - 1998

The 1998 line might be perfect.  Not that it was all things to all collectors.  But, it had everything right going for it.  The toys were cheap and plentiful upon their release.  Hasbro offered collector themed sets that were still fun.  The figures featured most of their original accessories or, at least, gear that was robust and appropriate for the figure. The line wasn't overly large.  But, was still broad enough to be interesting.  And, there wasn't really a dud among the toys released that year.  I'll argue that the worst 1998 figure would rank in the top 3 to 5 of 1997 and 2000.  It was just an amazing year of figures.  It might be my personal favorite year of releases, ever.  

Really, I started the ranking series because I wanted to showcase the entire year of 1998.  I profiled most of the figures in the set a decade or more ago.  So, I wanted to get back to the year and remember why they resonated so deeply with me.  Part of it was that I was a young collector with money and time living in a place where I had access to tons of these figures.  Part is that the figures were all molds or characters in which I had interest prior to their release.  And, part is just that the figures all turned out exceptionally well.  It's hard to compare 1998 with 2001 as those two years seem as far apart as 1985 and 1993.  But, Hasbro really dialed in the 1998 releases after the lackluster reception to the 1997 series.  So, check out the list and see if you agree with my choices.

#15 - Heavy Duty

When Heavy Duty is the worst figure from your year, you know it was a strong crop of figures.  I didn't get this guy until 2000.  I skipped the MOBAT because it sucks.  But, the figures included with it were strong.  Heavy Duty is one of those guys who, at first blush, doesn't appear all that colorful.  But, in hand, he's got some strong paint details and uses some colors that aren't often seen in the Joe line.  But, he's kind of bland.  He doesn't include any accessories.  And, the 1991 figure is better.  So, he falls to the bottom of the year.

#14 - Col. Brekhov

The Red Star mold is great.  The 1991 release features excellent colors.  This 1998 repaint that was renamed Col. Brekhov isn't quite as strong.  Again, he features excellent overall colors and paint masks.  But, the pea green isn't as appealing as the brown on the 1991 repaint.  Even the comic, though, made a joke about Red Star just being Col. Brekhov.  So, this figure mold was very designed to be the character for which he was used in the 1998 series.  There's no shame in being #14 on this list, though, as the rest of the figures are just so strong.

#13 - Ace

This figure's price makes no sense.  He's not that great.  Even though he is the best paint job of the Ace mold.  Seeing people pay hundreds of dollars for him is just asinine.  This Ace does, though, feature some great paint masks and it remains the most detailed use of the 1983 Ace mold.  When he was cheap, the figure was a no brainer.  Now that he's stupidly pricey, he's a much more unnecessary purchase.  Sure, he looks good.  But, he's not 10 times better than the 1983 Ace.  I'm glad I got one when they were affordable.

#12 - Cobra Officer

Since 1984, collectors had wanted more grey Cobras to match up with the Stinger driver.  14 years later, Hasbro delivered.  The result is very strong.  So, why's he at 12?  Because all of 1998 is awesome.  And, the grey color scheme on the Viper body just didn't pop.  The silver is too close in hue to the grey background and it washes out the painted details that should make the figure among the best of the year.  I wonder if a gold faceplate might have helped.  

#11 - Wet Suit

It's tough to rank the divers.  All of them are pretty similar.  And, none of them stand out from the others.  At this point, it's subjective among your personal favorite mold.  For me, Wet Suit ranks lowest as he's not the best paint job on this mold.  He's awesome.  But, the other two, to me, are better.

#10 - Torpedo

Torpedo is my least favorite of the molds that were released in the diver set.  But, the paint job on him really made the sculpt pop.  The aqua and grey offset against the black base body make for a striking figure.  He really works well and is the best paint job ever released on this mold.  This was my first exposure to this figure mold.  So, the 1992 and 1993 Wet Suits always paled in comparison to this black based 1998 use.  I am happy that Hasbro renamed this mold into Torpedo instead of reusing the 1983 Torpedo mold.  While that might have been a fun figure with the aqua highlights, the 1983 mold has severe limitations and wouldn't have fit with the rest of the 1998 series.

#09 - Shipwreck

Shipwreck is an amazing figure.  Again, the colors work so well for a diver.  And, I love the 1994 Shipwreck mold.  The painted details shows how much thought when into the 1994 Shipwreck release.  Back in 1998, the 1994 Shipwreck was among my top five figures.  So, seeing it available in some new colors was a dream come true.  While I loved the entire diver set, I bought several because of this Shipwreck's inclusion.  Even today, I haven't profiled this figure because I haven't found a way to properly express just how cool I think he is.  So, why is he only #9?  The lack of an included weapon is the main reason.  In later years, Hit and Run rifles became very easy to acquire so you could outfit these older figures with proper weaponry.  But, in 1998, it was pretty hard to get extra guns without buying junk figures.  So, this Shipwreck takes a tumble on the list due to his poor accessory complement.  

#08 - Vypra

I'm not a Vypra fan.  Never have been.  I even skipped this set at retail because I had no use for the figure and vintage Stingers were cheaper than the TRU version at the time.  But, I have come around on her.  She's still too tied to the "evil Jinx" trope just because they share a mold.  But, the paint masks really work for her.  The white and grey oversprays do create a strong visual.  As the original Jinx isn't a figure that's important to me, I've come to see this mold as more Vypra than anyone else.  I still don't use her all that often.  And, while her paint masks are good, they are also a bit sparse.  Vypra fits the visual style of the 1998 series.  But, to me, she's a middle of the road release.

#07  - Volga

I did not appreciate Volga for many years.  Her head is just such a poor sculpt that it's easy to overlook the rest of the figure.  But, Volga's paint details are amazing.  After 1998, we would never see such quality outside of an expensive convention figure.  Hasbro's inability to nail vintage Joe head sculpting also didn't change.  So, Volga's head has held up better than it should have because Hasbro was churning out stomach turning heads through the remainder of the 2000's.  This figure was intended to be Daina.  No idea why it was a made a new character, instead.  The 1997 Lady Jaye mold suffered from quality issues.  Volga is better.  She's definitely aged better than I would have thought back in 1998.  It's not a perfect figure.  But, the paint applications really are.

#06 - Night Creeper

It pains me to rank this guy so low.  Not only is this the best paint job on the Night Creeper mold, it's a stark visual that stands in contrast to all the deeply colored ninjas that populate the line's history.  The white and grey just work on this mold.  You can see all the folds and details on the figure's body and head.  It's colorful enough to be seen.  But, still white enough to be stealthy in the snow.  I lament selling my spares of these figures as a small army of them would be fun to take out in the cold.

#05 - Lt. Gorky

If you've never seen this figure in person, it's difficult to explain how great he really is.  He suffers from the same overly grey body as the Cobra Officer.  But, he overcomes that with a few splashes of color on his face, neck and waist.  It's enough to elevate him quite a bit.  He also features different shades of grey on the chest.  It's subtle.  But, it's enough to add a completely different visual layer to this figure when compared to the Officer.  Photos don't really do the figure justice as he's impressive when he's in hand.

#04 - Snow Serpent

Hasbro nailed it with the 1998 Artic color scheme.  They managed to make the figures realistic to their environment while also giving them the colors and details that make for a great toy.  Their usage of the 1991 Snow Serpent mold seemed like a poor decision in 1998.  The 1985 Snow Serpent was held in much higher regard.  But, this color scheme brought a whole new generation of collectors to appreciate the 1991 sculpt.  The soft greys, subtle blues and perfect usage of black detailing brought this mold to life.  And, he included his full range of accessories.  This Snow Serpent might be a perfect figure.  And, yet, he's not in the top 3 for the year!

#03 - Cobra Trooper

A better Cobra Trooper/Viper or backbone of your Cobra army figure does not exist.  This 1998 Trooper is everything every collector wanted from an army building figure in 1998.  And, Hasbro delivered.  The figure uses a base color of real Cobra blue.  All of his details are painted in black or silver.  The golden visor isn't overbearing and adds additional depth the figure's appearance.  While his gear isn't true to the original, it was a perfect complement of accessories stolen from the obscure 1991 Dusty that filled out the Trooper's accoutrement.  The only two blemishes on the figure are the fact that the head can droop a bit and that he doesn't feature a Cobra sigil.  Both are forgivable and don't take away from the quality of this figure.  Hasbro never got close to this guy in another retail release.  (The convention Crimson Viper uses the same paint masks from the 1998 figure and is a strong runner up in the best Viper repaint, though.)  It is a perfect army builder and was released in the perfect army building set.  You got two of this guy and a grey officer for $10!  In the context of today, that's just insanity...even in 1998 it was unbelievable.

#02 - Firefly

You can say I rate the 1998 arctic Cobras too highly.  But, this 1998 Firefly is perfect repaint.  At the time, he was only the second Firefly ever available.  He was drastically different from the original.  But, he was enhanced in ways that blew the 1984 out of the water.  Instead of a dark grey on light grey wash, the figure gets the requisite white base.  Then, though, all of the details that were obscured in Firefly's original release are painted to perfection.  Colors are blended so that his pouches, grenades, knife and explosives all offset each other and allow you to fully appreciate the sculpting job that had been created 14 years earlier.  These Firefly paint masks then became the base for all the excellent Firefly updates we got in the 2000's, too.  In short, this is a spectacular figure that is worthy of the Firefly character.

#01 - Thunderwing

Yes, it's a surprise entry for the best figure of the 1998 release year.  Thunderwing is another of those figures that, if you don't have one, is tough to see just how great the design, coloring and paint applications really are.  Thunderwing uses a green base color that is unique to him.  It wasn't used again on any other figures.  Building silver, grey and black paint masks on top of it layered in a depth that was standard in the vintage line but largely lost after about 1992.  The rich use of color makes this figure stand out among his peers.  And, even among the line as a whole.  Thunderwing shows what was possible during the repaint era.  Sadly, though, he remained the exception rather than the rule.  Do yourself a favor, though, and pick up a Thunderwing.  You won't be disappointed.

There's a lot of reasons why the 1998 series is special to me.  But, the sheer quality of the entire lineup is the most important of those.  Comparing 1998 to the 2000 and 2001 releases shows just how far those later years fell in quality.  I actually now kind of see 1998 as a pseudo convention set.  You got 15 figures who featured great accessories, remarkable paints masks and a thoughtful mold selection.  The figures look like they were designed to all fit together.  Really, it would have been the best convention set ever released.

Instead, it was released at retail and was stupidly cheap.  Looking back at 1998 prices, we had no idea how good we had it.  Well, that might be a bit of a stretch.  I bought these figures en masse.  Many other collectors of the time did, too.  Armies of the Cobras were a standard for a while.  The influx of collectors in 2001, though, made the 1998's more exotic and expensive.  So, they fell from favor even as they rose in price.  That was short lived, though, and many later collectors were able to stock up on these guys during the late 2010's.  Now, the series is a bit harder to find and will cost you a premium.  (Especially, and inexplicably! for Ace.)  But, they are worth it.  1998 might be the perfect year of Joe releases.  I'm curious to read your thoughts in the comments and whether you agree or disagree.

1998 Cobra Trooper - Random Photos of the Day

 These 1998 figures are so old that they are, technically, vintage.  (At least in antique terms....)  But, to me, they are still relatively "new".  Mostly, that's because they entered my collection when I was an adult.  So, they have always seemed more like a collectible than a toy.

The 1998 Cobra Infantry Team is the single best army builder set that Hasbro ever produced.  You got three nearly perfect army building figures for $10.  The figures featured classic colors, plenty of paint masks and a cadre of well placed accessories.  No other set that Hasbro ever did could live up to all those amenities and be offered at a price point that was actually conducive to multiple purchases.

And, purchase multiples, I did.  There were at least three separate production runs of these figures: in the fall of 1998, the summer of 1999 and the holidays of 1999, again.  So, there were several chances to acquire some sets.  And, I bought a couple in each round.  At the time, I thought I had bought too many because I didn't see a way to ever get 18 or 20 of any other figure.  But, it turns out I didn't buy enough.  Between late 2002 and mid 2004, I traded several carded sets of these to collectors based in Brazil and Europe.  In exchange, I got many of my earliest international exclusive Joes.  

Now, I don't get these guys out as often as I should.  Not really sure why, though.  I still think these are great figures and they are conducive to photos with a great many post 1984 figures.  Maybe this will get me to break these guys out more often.  They work so well with classic vehicles and figures.  It's just too bad Hasbro wasn't able to capture this magic more often during the repaint era.

1998 Volga - Around the Web

In 1998, there were no Oktober Guard figures.  So, the news that Hasbro was going to release one was welcomed with open arms by collectors.  When the set appeared, though, all was not well.  The only character from the original Oktober Guard team was Col. Brekhov.  And, that figure was a straight repaint of the 1991 Red Star.  The other figures were Lt. Gorky (which is a great figure, just not a classic Oktober Guard character) and Volga.  Volga was an all new character who didn't make much sense when Daina, an original team member, was there for the taking.  

It seems that Volga was meant to be Daina.  The hand painted mock up for the figure included blonde hair.  And, it was meant to be Daina.  But, for some reason, Hasbro changed up the figure.  They gave the figure red hair and created Volga.  

The headsculpt on the figure isn't great.  And, the Lady Jaye body and gear really make her seem like a Lady Jaye knock off.  But, her paint applications are strong and the camo pattern is really unique.  You'd think there would be more Volga content out there.  But, she seems to have fallen away in the past 24 years.

1998 Volga Profile

1998 Volga by corpscommandercody

1998 Volga at JoeADay.com

1998 Volga by tonegunsrevisited

1998 Volga by gi_joeisthere

1998 Volga by corpscommandercody

1998 Volga by Slipstream80

1998 Volga by Flint

1998 Volga by tonegunsrevisted

1998 Volga by fosilru

1998 Ace - Around The Web

Ace was the Joe Team's original fighter pilot.  His white and red uniform defines the character.  But, in 1998, Hasbro updated the figure with a darker color palette and the result is a release that has since become rather sought after.  The grey and black 1998 Ace is a perfect Night Force pilot.  But, he's also so well done with intricate paint applications and colors that he works better than the original figure in all but a handful of use cases.  Here's the best of the 1998 Ace from around the web.

1998 Ace Profile

1998 Ace by Slipstream80

1998 Ace by yotothejoe

1998 Ace by ironman3719

1998 Ace at JoeADay.com

1998 Ace by Slipstream80 02

1998 Ace by yotothejoe 02

1998 Wet Suit

There are over 1000 posts on this site.  The truth of that number is that I'm also running out of figures to showcase.  I only collect vintage style Joes.  And, while there are far in excess of 1000 different figures in this style from all over the world, the reality is that many of them are insanely similar in coloring.  Those that aren't tend to be rare and have gotten pricey.  And, while the repaint era of 1997 through 2006 brought us hundreds of new figures, most of them were repaints of existing figures.  And, in many cases, those repaints were repainted again and again.  This forces me to mine the depths of the line for obscure releases that I haven't looked at, specifically.  But, in most cases, I have profiled more popular colorings of the figure.  Such is the case in today's profile of the 1998 Wet Suit.  I've looked at this mold three other times.  (Though, it's been over a decade and a half since the last!)  I would suggest that all three are better figures than this version.  But, the 1998 is still interesting as its colors remain unique and the circumstances of his release are fond memories for me.

In the fall of 1997, I was mostly interested in Star Wars figures.  I had my first full time job with plenty of both time and disposable income to track down the steady stream of new Star Wars releases that year.  My online presence was mostly found in Star Wars groups where I kept up with the store reports and wave releases in the pre social media days.  One one of my trips to Toys R Us, though, I was shocked to find the 1997 Stars and Stripes set sitting on the shelves near the Star Wars figures.  The last remnants of the vintage Joe line had just disappeared in the last year.  But, here were new Joes.  I quickly snatched up the set since Joe had been real childhood love.  But, these figures didn't click with me.  A few were cool.  But, I was not compelled to pick up any of the remaining figure packs.  The beginning of 1998 brought an onslaught of new Star Wars releases.  So, I focused my attention strictly to those and ignored the Joes.  Though, I had now joined online Joe groups, too, to keep up on the news of future releases.

In December of 1998, the new series of Joes were released.  While I joined everyone else in anticipation of the Oktober Guard and Cobra army builder sets, I was also over-joyed at new divers.  One of the last great adventures of my childhood involved divers and underwater adventures.  The divers would be tasked to rescue a pilot trapped in his cockpit of a downed aircraft: his oxygen running out.  They would take Cobra prisoners to a secret underwater prison where they condemned were left to wait out their life in a cold, dark shell deep underwater where no one knew they even existed.  Or, they would sabotage Cobra ships, either setting explosives on the hull to scuttle them or boarding the ships and taking out the sparse crews of Cobra cargo transports.  These were quick stories where I could play in the few minutes before bed or after school.  Finding the 1994 Shipwreck when I returned to buying retail Joes just hammered home those old stories as I found him the perfect figure for all these scenarios.

So, I viewed the Navy Seal pack as an essential release.  In fact, I bought more of them than I did Cobra Polar Assault sets at first.  (The snow themed Cobras would surpass them by the summer of 1999, though.)  The figures didn't disappoint me.  While some collectors of the day weren't thrilled with the color scheme, I found the aqua blue trimmed black uniforms to be quite compelling.  The black was a darker base color than I had for Shipwreck or Wet Suit.  And, the Torpedo figure using the 1992 Wet Suit mold was actually a new figure to me since I had neither the 1992 or 1993 Wet Suit figures at the time.  Shortly after this figure's release, I purchased my first house.  Scattered around the site are old photos that I took there.  They are few and far between.  But, the 1998 divers appear in many of them since I took my newer figures into the pool for some photos with an underwater camera.

But, this hits on the real reason why I like this figure so much.  This figure's release coincides with many personal life milestones outside of collecting.  The day I bought these figures, I took them home to a new apartment.  (We took a break from moving due to a thunderstorm that prevented us from carrying anything from one place to the other and went to Toys R Us.)  Within a year and half of this guys' release, I had joined a startup, bought a house and moved in with the future mother of my children.  So, this guy kind of coincides with all that and therefore gets a childlike pass in the actual figure design department because he has associated memories with him that are far greater than just pressing a button and buying a figure online.

While this figure is a 1998 release, it should be noted that Hasbro actually shipped them more frequently in 1999 than they did 1998.  The 1998 series first showed up in early December of that year.  The figures shipped for a couple of weeks and sold well enough through the holidays.  But, after that, the pegs went bare aside from a few straggling Oktober Guard and Navy Seal three packs.  (The 1998's shipped in cases of 6 sets: 2 Navy Assault sets, 2 Oktober Guard sets and 1 each of the Cobra Infantry and Polar Assault sets.)  In early 1999, the Star Wars juggernaut was in full swing.  Hasbro rebooted the line ahead of Episode I to get classic characters onto the shelves and to help the saturation of obscure aliens and humans that had clogged the pegs since the summer of the prior year.  Then, the onslaught of Episode I figures hit.  You really can't look at the toy events of the Disney era Star Wars films and compare them to the insanity that was 1999.  The figures were everywhere.  By the summer, though, the frenzy was abating.  And, around July, Hasbro shipped new cases of the 1998 Joes to Toys R Us stores around the country.  Collectors rejoiced at building more armies and being able to find other figures that had mostly dried up.  Again, Oktober Guard and Navy Seal packs lingered, but not in alarming numbers.  Then, just ahead of Christmas in 1999, Hasbro shipped more cases and Toys R Us stores around the U.S. restocked 1998 Joes once again.  For army builders, this was the final boon to acquire as many Cobra Troopers as they wanted.  But, it was also enough overstock to back up Toys R Us and leave Navy Seal sets available at Toys R Us stores well into 2001.

This figure's gear is the same as the vintage figures' with the lone exception of the flippers.  Yes, this Wet Suit does not include flippers.  He has a black light, black pack, black sled and hose that define the Wet Suit character.  But, without the flippers, he feels incomplete.  The upside is that vintage Wet Suit flippers are common to find and are colored black.  So, they work perfectly with this Wet Suit repaint.  But, it seemed a simple mistake for Hasbro to skip such an important piece of gear.  At the time, the Navy Seal set was maligned for this omission and collectors found the lack of weapons and brighter coloring to be a major turn off to this group of three figures.

In 1998, the paint masks on the figure releases was just normal.  Within a few years, though, we would come to call it convention quality since retail releases were often lacking paint applications and convention figures often overdid them.  But, the 1998's feature tremendous paint detail.  This Wet Suit includes two shades of grey, aqua blue, black, red, yellow and silver paint.  He is easily on par with the vintage Wet Suit releases and shows that Hasbro could still make quality figures.  And, at three figures for $10 in 1998, the figure was a bargain.

This Wet Suit mold was used five times.  And, really, there are no badly colored versions of it.  The 1986 is classic and the Mission to Brazil has become the most expensive version of the mold.  The 2002 Gift set release is, basically, this 1998 in slightly darker colors.  And, the 2001 ARAHC version is heavy on greys and blacks.  You have a Wet Suit for every occasion and every budget.  That's nice since it gives fans of the character something to track down while also giving every collector a shot at a good Wet Suit repaint.  While you can make a case for other Wet Suit repaints, I'm content with what we got.

Today, dealers will get around $20 for a loose, mint and complete with filecard version of this figure.  Sans filecard, though, you can get them for $10.  Here's the thing, though.  If you have enough patience, you can still get carded sets for around $25.  That way, you get all three figures and the filecards.  You have to beware of carded 1998 figures, though, as the glue Hasbro used to seal the cards is not holding up well.  I have several carded sets where the glue simply gave way and I now have untouched figures in a bubble, separated from the cardback.  Many other collectors report the same.  But, seeing the disparity in price between a carded set and a loose, complete with filecard figure, it's still the way to go.  I find this diver set one of the last "fun" sets that Hasbro released during the collector era.  And, as the quality is top notch, this Wet Suit is a no-brainer acquisition for me.

Rarities - Unproduced 1998 "Chocolate Chip" Dial Tone

In 1998, Hasbro planned to release a repainted 1983 G.I. Joe Headquarters.  It would be in a desert color scheme and would have been the flagship item in the 1998 Toys R Us exclusive line.  The HQ was slated to include 5 figures: Outback, Dusty, Law, Pathfinder and Dial Tone.  Hasbro, though, was unable to procure the HQ mold.  And, the showcase item for 1998 could not happen.  It seems, though, that Hasbro tried to resurrect at least three of the figures from this set in Dial Tone, Outback and Pathfinder.  They may have been for a planned 5th 3 pack of figures.  If this were the case, it is possible that the case logistics for 1998 would have been too skewed.  (The three packs shipped in 6 set cases with 2 each of the Oktober Guard and G.I. Joe Divers and one each of the Cobra Infantry and Cobra Polar Assault.)  Whatever, the reason, the figures were cancelled and a very few samples of the unproduced items made their way into the collecting world.

Of the three figures in the set, Dial Tone remains the rarest.  But, since you can count the number of each figure on your hands, rarity is relative.  But, you can see the intricacy of the Dial Tone design in the photos below.  Dial Tone is full of intricate paint masks, even if the colors are somewhat obscured by the camo pattern. (I'd have preferred some of the straps and pads on the figure to be black so they better stood out against the pale tan of the figure's base.)  The camo pattern is unlike anything we'd seen up to that point.  If you compare these figures to the 1993 Duke (a recent desert figure) you can see the upgrade in paint technology that Hasbro employed on these figures.

The Dial Tone would have included a black version of his gun and a black version of Firefly's walkie talkie.  In some ways, this makes sense.  Dial Tone should have his gun.  But, when the figure finally showed up in 2000, Dial Tone's original rifle was gone and replaced by a 1991 Dusty weapon.  His packmate, General Tomahawk, though, included a silver version of the Dial Tone rifle.  It was a shame the figure didn't include the signature backpack.  But, none of the future releases included it, either.  So, it's possible the mold was lost or damaged.

Collectors really missed out by these figures not being released.  Aside from the fact that Outback never returned to retail, the entire set featured a look that would never appear again in the Joe line.  (The 2004 Desert Patrol had some similar figures and the Stalker would have been a great companion to this set.)  While Hasbro did release all of the characters except for Outback in the 2000's (and, the mold was sort of used on the awful Big Brawler character) none of them were in a paint scheme as intricate or unique as these unproduced "Chocolate Chip" versions.  While I love all the 1998 3 figure pack figures, I'd gladly trade either the Oktober Guard or Joe Divers for these three figures.  And, I think collectors would have, too.  The two retail packs lingered at Toys R Us stores well into 2001.  It's hard to imagine that this unproduced pack would have suffered the same fate.  But, we'll never know.

If you can find a version of this Dial Tone, you'll probably drop a couple of grand on him.  The figure is incredibly rare and has always been pricey.  A complete three figure set would set you back $5,000 in 2007.  I can only imagine what such a set would command today.  This figure is far, far rarer than the Pimp Daddy Destro.  He's so rare that his unavailability works against him.  No one knows he exists because there are so few of them out there. It's a cool figure because there is nothing else really like him in the history of the line.  So, he stands apart from many other post vintage unproduced repaints for that reason alone.  Of all the figures we didn't get in the repaint era, this version of Dial Tone and his packmates are the ones I lament the most.

1998 Thunderwing - Around the Web

The 1998 Thunderwing is a fairly obscure release.  He was unpopular in his time and was even more unpopular when he was repackaged for release in 2000.  But, the figure is very well done.  The odd hue of green is unique among Joe figures and helps him stand apart from other, early molds.  Plus, the paint details are convention level.  He's turned into one of my personal highlights from the post vintage eras of Joe.  Here's the best of him from around the web.

Thunderwing Profile

Thunderwing Dio 1

Thunderwing at Half the Battle

Thunderwing Dio 2

Thunderwing and MOBAT Video Review

Thunderwing Dio 3

Thunderwing on Instagram 01

Thunderwing by Roboid

Diorama - Arctic Cobras

Firefly leads some Cobra in the snow.

1998 Snow Serpent

The last 4 months of 1998 were some of the best in my life.  Basically, everything that people consider to be major achievements in life other than having a child happened to me in those 4 months.  As such, I hold even minor events of that period in high esteem if only because they were made that much sweeter by the big things that happened, too.  Toys were just part of the overall ensemble of awesomeness that defined that period.

Star Wars toys were very frustrating.  The carded line had stagnated in May and several waves of figures simply never saw retail.  However, due to professional growth, I had the income to acquire these toys through the various retail avenues that were available.  Paying a buck or two more per figure wasn't a huge price to own something that I simply couldn't find.  But, with Star Wars malaise setting in, my attention was turned to Joe.  I had discovered Ebay and my G.I. Joe collection was growing every week.  In turn, Hasbro released a new series of Joes that started hitting retail in early December of 1998.  This series was higher quality than the 1997 releases and featured a collector friendly lineup of the Oktober Guard, an army building three pack of Viper repaints and a set of arctic Cobras with two army builders and the hugely popular Firefly figure.  It is from this pack that I take the subject of this profile, the 1998 Snow Serpent.

To tell a story of how different the times were in 1998, when I found the first cases of new Joes, it was this arctic pack that had sold out, not the 3 pack of Viper repaints.  Getting a new Firefly for the first time in 14 years was a greater draw than three of the best army builder repaints that were ever released.  It seems quaint now.  But, the arctic 3 pack was, initially, the fastest seller.  (1998 was still a time when a collector who happened upon a freshly stocked case might only be able to buy one or two of the new toys rather than them all.)  This quickly changed, though, and in the weeks before Christmas, all of the Joe packs became plentiful and were readily available.  And, I set out to build an arctic army.

The 1985 Snow Serpent is classic.  It is about the perfect arctic trooper.  However, the figure is wearing bulky, heavy clothes and carries massive amounts of gear.  If you were going to lay siege to Chicago in January, you'd want an army of 1985 Snow Serpents.  This, though, didn't fit my vision of Cobra.  To me, Cobra was a swift strike outfit.  They wanted to hit you and get out.  As such, a more mobile and nimble force made sense.  Enter the 1991 Snow Serpent.  This figure retained much of the idea and practicality of the 1985 figure, but make him sleeker.  It gave him a snowboard that would be much more conducive to swift arctic combat rather than long, drawn out campaigns.  The mold of the new Snow Serpent was also excellent.  He still had tons and tons of gear.  But, he looked more dynamic than his predecessor.  In short, this new Snow Serpent was a perfect upgrade that kept the integrity of the character without impugning the original version.  It's a tight line to walk, but Hasbro pulled it off with the Snow Serpent.

The 1998 figure took this mold and colored it in a scheme that's very complimentary of the 1985 figure.  Included with him were all of the 1991 accessories.  The guns were still in white but the snowboard was cast in a bluish grey that better matched the figure than the gnarly early 1990's purple.  The pack was now black, too.  Against the white figure, the black pack is a bit of a contrast.  But, it's also more realistic than earlier versions.  In short, the accessories were as good as or better than the 1991 figure's.

Using the 1991 gear also allows the figure a great deal of spectacular design.  The Hasbro designers were still on top of their game in 1991 and the Snow Serpent showcases that.  The guns are wrapped in cloth to keep them warm.  The figure's sleek head has a molded tie on the back that extends down to the figure's torso.  The fur vest and ear warmers are excellently detailed and showcase the character's need for warmth.  The pack is full of details and includes both a hose to connect to the guns and a slot to hold the snowboard.  It's a great accompaniment of gear that enhances the figure into the realm of the 1985 version for the best rendition of the character.

By the first weeks of January in 1999, I had bought a few of these sets.  I was not enamored with the Night Creeper (though I now see it for the awesome figure it is!) and my plans to army build Firefly figures were somewhat curtailed after I had a couple and I found the practicality of him as an army builder was far less fun than the idea of stockpiling him.  So, the sets faded from retail.  In July of 1999, though, Hasbro shipped another allotment of the 1998 Joes to Toys R Us stores in the lull of Episode I figures.  I think I bought 1 set at this time, but kept it carded.  Again, the figures sold out.  But, at Christmas of 1999, Hasbro shipped the third run of these figures and gave me a chance to pick up a few more.  I got one or two extras, but also kept them carded with plans to open them later.

However, I never got around to opening them.  They sat in a box.  As 2000 turned to 2001, though, I saw the prices on sealed Arctic Team and Viper Team sets climbing.  Rather than open them for more army builders, I discovered that the carded sets were extremely attractive trade bait with European and Brazilian G.I. Joe collectors.  In the latter half of 2001 and through 2002, I traded off all of my carded Polar Assault Teams and most of my carded Infantry Teams in exchange for European and Brazilian exclusive figures.  My Abutre Negro carded figure was acquired, along with Gatilho and Letal, for a package of one of these Arctic sets and 2 Cobra Infantry sets.  At the time, I wasn't sure that I came out all that well.  Taken in context of 2017, though, that deal turned out fabulously for me.  But, at the time, the Toys R Us figures were very expensive and few collectors had extras to send overseas.  Simultaneously, especially in Brazil, the foreign Joes were very available and hadn't attracted the collector eye that has raised prices on them in the past 15 years.

I've really only gotten to use this figure in the snow one or two times.  My favorite was the Saturday it snowed and I was able to get a full cadre of Cobras out into the weather.  But, the showcase of that photo shoot was the army of 1993 Snow Serpents and these 1998 versions were mostly filler.  After that, these figures never really got another chance to see snow and that has greatly limited their visibility among my Cobra army builder figures.  Even below, you will see one of the figures standing near a baby palm tree.  The visual just isn't right.  But, that doesn't keep me from enjoying the figure's design.  I only have a few of them, though, and their lack of numbers is largely a function of the fact that I have basically no occasion to use them.

This mold was used three times.  There is not a bad figure in the bunch.  Arctic figures are tough to design without staying true to a base of white color.  Unless you make that base arctic ice blue.  And, that's what Hasbro did in 1993 with the mail away Snow Serpent.  The blue is a nice separation from the 1991 while still staying true to the figure's purpose.  It is an excellent repaint and might even be better than the '91.  The Snow Serpent was also planned for release in 1995.  There are hand painted samples of the figure out there.  It's similar to the 1993 version, but with more color.  It, likely, would be the worst use of the mold and collectors really didn't lose out on it being cancelled.  This 1998 repaint, to me, is the best release of the figure.  You get a solid base without too much superfluous colors along with the full range of original accessories.  (Minus the spring loaded launcher.)  It's just about the perfect winter army builder.

Oddly, Hasbro did not pull the mold out again after 1998.  They found the 1985 mold for the Flaming Moth set in 2005.  You can't really knock that choice since it hadn't been seen on an arctic figure in two decades.  Hasbro really didn't have any slots into which this mold would have fit after 1998.  The only winter figures were Joes.  (Though, knowing Hasbro had the Wolf available is a bummer as a release of that with an Ice Viper and a repainted Snow Serpent would have been awesome.)  As all three versions of this figure are excellent, though, I don't think collectors missed out.  This is really a case where Hasbro delivered on the potential of the mold and you don't have great lament over what could have been.

In the early 2000's, at the height of the army building craze, carded Cobra Polar Assaults would fetch nearly $50.  Individually, the figures would sell for close to $20 if they were complete with filecards.  Loose figures, though, were very hard to find.  But, time evened that out.  By the early 2010's, 1998 Snow Serpents were easier to find and a lot cheaper.  Now, prices have stabilized.  Dealers will offer the figures in the $17 - $20 range with little success.  You can find loose, mint and complete with filecard figures for around $11 with regularity.  It might take you a year to build an army of 25 to 30 figures, but they are out there.  That price isn't bad, especially when you consider that the production numbers on these figures were likely lower than those of the 1991 Snow Serpent which sells for around the same price.  It's tough for me to wrap my brain around spending more for this figure now than I spent to buy sets at retail.  But, that was also almost twenty years ago.  So, I have to call myself out for being cheap.

None of that takes away from the sheer quality of this figure, though.  He remains one of my favorite cold weather figures and is always a welcome addition to my collection.  Were I to cull my winter forces to just one mold, this would be the choice.  The solid paint scheme, excellent quality, plethora of accessories and general solid design all add up to the pinnacle of snow themed Cobras.

Diorama - Colton in the Woods

Back in the spring of 2002, I took these photos out in my yard.  That was 4 houses and two states ago.  But, here's another look back at a different time in the Joe world.