2023 Black Major Mercenary Troopers

Major Bludd doesn't need troopers.  Really, as an independent mercenary, he'd be bogged down by the responsibility of troopers.  He might have some associates in the event he'd need some additional help.  But, he's not the type of person who would command an army.  Despite that, there are some 2023 Black Major Cobra Trooper repaints who just mandate that Bludd have a few, select Troopers at his disposal who just happen to share the color scheme of Bludd's 1983 debut.  

It is my opinion that, when it comes to the Cobra Trooper mold, less is often more.  The paint jobs that follow the vintage paint masks, just with alternate colors, are my personal favorites.  In cases, though, where one subtle paint mask is added, like on these Mercenary Troopers, the result is often even better.  It breathes life into a mold that is now fairly common and makes up a large percentage of the overall figures released in the past decade and a half.  

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of the cammo pattern Trooper repaints.  That is, definitely, a minority take, though.  As, most collectors really seem to love the various cammo Troopers that are out there.  I prefer the figures that utilize solid colors.  This isn't to say that there aren't some bangers among the cammo Troopers out there.  I just have to draw the line somewhere when  it comes to factory customs and, with Cobra Troopers, I remain particularly choosy about the new paint designs I'll track down.  

Major Bludd is one of my personal favorite Cobra characters.  The main thing about him was that he was always evil and never really had a redemption arc that ruined his fundamental character.  He was just a guy who would kill with impunity provided that you were the best paying customer.  Despite my enjoyment of the character, I don't use him all that often.  Mostly, this is because I have just one loose vintage Bludd and he sits among my main collection that rarely gets used for photos.  I still have a bagged version from Hasbro Canada.  But, I can't mingle that with my other loose figures.  So, Bludd sees little use unless it's his later versions.  And, those are less inclined to blend with this early Cobra Trooper mold.  So, getting these figures out is usually a special occasion.  

Black Major has gone through several different Cobra Trooper molds in the past 15 years.  This Mercenary Trooper uses the (as of today!) most current mold.  The most notable feature is that the head is a bit...squished.  So, it gives the Troopers of this mold a distinct look that allows them to be distinguished from earlier releases that might share the same color scheme.  There are other differences, too.  But, the Attica Gazette better covers them.  So, go read that for a full breakdown of the nuances of Black Major's various Cobra Trooper incarnations.

There are, now, over 100 flavors of Cobra Troopers that are available.  They extend from standard repaints like a crimson figure to obscure and ridiculous versions like an orange figure with brown tiger stripes.  So, with so many Cobra Troopers available, you can afford to be choosy.  I've skipped many great repaints in the past couple of years because they are similar enough to figures I already own.  But, I do find figures like this Mercenary version to be somewhat fresh and interesting. With so many variants available, every collector can have their personal favorites that might be something in which other collectors have no interest.  So, that's a huge upside of a mold being repainted into oblivion: there's something for everyone.

The main draw of this figure, for me, is the juxtaposition of color.  You have the black base that is offset by the brown pants.  The brown is a unique color that's both realistic and under-represented among Joe figures.  The swath of brown on the figure's collar provides a nice starting point for the hue, too, and really ties the top and bottom of the design.  The entire thing, though, is highlighted by a bright green.  The green isn't too bright.  But, it's not a drab that would blend into the brown and black.  Instead, it really highlights them and gives the figure a contrast that is visually stark.  It works against both the black and brown, which is hard to pull off.  The logo and bullets aren't silver.  They are a silvery, metallic blue color that, in its sparse application, accentuates those details more so than when  they are in traditional Cobra logo colors.  If all that isn't enough, there's a few splotches of cammo paint on the figure's helmet.  This provides a little extra detailing that makes the figure feel like something more than just a base Cobra Trooper repaint.

Like most of the recent Cobra Troopers, this figure includes three accessories.  He starts with the classic Dragunov sniper rifle.  It's a requirement for any Cobra Trooper.  Despite the iconic stature of the homage to the character's original weapon, though, I find myself more drawn to the second rifle included with the figure.  I'm not sure of its origin.  But, it's properly scaled for the 1983 body design of the Trooper and looks more like a more modern assault rifle.  It's a bit tighter in the figure's hands.  But, not so much so that you are worried about stressing or breaking a thumb.  The final piece of gear is a Big Bear backpack.  It's a common yet, unremarkable pack.  So, it works in the context of the Trooper.  It's something that's nice to have, even if you seldom use it.

The overall quality of these figures is pretty par for the course for Black Major figures.  The joints are tight.  The paint masks are sharp and crisp.  The figure can hold its weapons.  The limbs will hold a pose.  The figure isn't the same as a vintage Joe figure.  But, it's still pretty good.  After 15 year, you should know what to expect from factory customs.  And, if you've never owned a Black Major figure, that's not because of lack of opportunity.  But, if you like this figure's look, it's certainly worth tracking down a few and building up a squad to your liking.

This figure is relatively recently made.  Had a small production run and is rather niche.  Right now, you can still get mint and complete versions for $20 - $25.  If you can find a lot of them, you'll probably pay slightly more than 1/2 of that per figure, though.  I have a tough time predicting which Black Major figures will be super popular on the collector market and which will fade into obscurity.  But, pricing on out of circulation Black Major Cobra Trooper repaints does seem to be softening a bit.  This is a function of the overall market downturn we've seen in recent years combined with the sheer volume of new figure releases that have been pouring into the community in 2024.  

My general rule when it comes to factory custom army builders is to acquire figures I like if I can get them in bulk.  I don't really have a use for one or two of these figures.  But, four or five fill out a photo and have some value in my collection.  My point isn't to suggest you mimic my rules for my collection.  Instead, it's just a reminder that, sometimes, guardrails on acquisitions are good.  Otherwise, you end up with dozens or hundreds of figures for which you overpaid and for which, now, you have no real use.  And, we all know how much it sucks to try to sell off large quantities of single figures.  So, approach figures like this with a purpose and pick and choose among those who speak to you...even if the reason for your interest in them isn't readily definable.

2023 Fail Safe

I regret backing the Skystiker.  It's been a year since it shipped and has now aged into the community.  And, I should never have bought it.  At the time, I thought that several of the figures from the set were going to be $100+ on the secondary market.  That didn't happen.  In fact, many of the figures are stupidly cheap.  So cheap that many people who speculated in the set have stopped selling the figures because some were selling for below the retail cost of Pulse era retro figures.  As such, the $500 I spent to get two of the Skystriker sets would have been far better spent buying up the figures I wanted on the aftermarket.  Sometimes, you make a bad decision, even though it's based on the best information available at the time.  But, the real regret over the Skystriker is that the figures are just piss-poor quality.  Which is a damn shame because a figure like Fail Safe should have been one of the better releases we've seen in the entirety of the 2000's.

When I say piss poor quality, I'm specifically speaking to the materials used on the figures.  I do think that all of the Skystriker figures were designed well.  The team took absolutely no chances on them.  Which means that the figures are all solid.  But, there's also nothing that really stands out.  Each figure kind of feels like he's been released before in some way.  But, in a line that loves its repaints and homages, that's what collectors tend to buy.  The main issue is that the plastic used is very soft.  You can definitely tell that Hasbro never really intended for collectors to actually open the figures.  This indicates a massive lack of understanding of the 3 3/4" collecting community.  We've never been a carded first group like Star Wars and Marvel collectors tend to be.  We are openers first with a 2nd carded version being the exception rather than the norm.  

And, that's why the poor plastic bothers me so much.  I actually want to use these figures in photos and dioramas.  I'd love to have them displayed around the collection.  But, they just aren't quite up to snuff.  I'm afraid of paint loss just from using the accessories.  And, some of the gear is so poor that you can't even get it onto the figure without risking breakage.  I have no use for figures that I can't use.  I've never felt that Joes were worthy of an artistic display when they were still in their packaging.  Really, I kept cardbacks because I was too lazy to cut out the filecards that I did want to keep.  I never felt the card artwork was anything other than a sometimes reference point for subtle nuances of the toy mold.  

One of the most damning indictments of the Skystriker is that you simply don't see it in photos...anywhere.  While the Instagram G.I. Joe community is much smaller these days than it was even just in the late 2010's, it's still large enough to spot trends and see which toys have caught on with collectors.  And, the actual Skystriker hasn't.  Really, the only part of the Skystriker that's caught on with collectors is the Cobra Ramp Rat.  (You also see the Mickey Mouse Cobra Commander from time to time.)  You never see dioramas with the actual plane.  And, with about the same number of Skystikers out there as here were 2000's era Toys R Us exclusives, you should see the planes appear in the online content that is still created.  But, to be fair, I never even put my planes together.  I checked the parts, pulled out the figures to open, segregated the missile loading vehicles and haven't even bothered to look at the airplane pieces in the year since I buried them in a basement closet in February of 2023.  

The one success of Fail Safe is the head.  Hasbro utterly failed to produce nice heads in the 2000's.  They were too big, too small or just didn't fit the body on which they were placed.  It's really surprising how consistently bad the new heads were between 1998 and 2010.  But, Fail Safe's is OK.  It's heavily based on Ripcord's head.  And, that's probably why it works.  They just used a solid design, made some tweaks and called it good.  But, that made it a success.  This figure looks like he could have been released in 1984.  And, that's about the highest compliment you can give to newly sculpted pieces on retro Joes.

It, of course, fails because the head is painted.  Painted heads suck. They look terrible, scuff easily and generally make the face just look flat and fuzzy.  And, since Fail Safe has a very nice helmet, putting the helmet on and taking it off is likely to  wear down his face paint over the next few years.  Hasbro will simply not give up on painted faces, even when they are comically bad like the Baroness and Zarana.  The only upside to Fail Safe's helmet is that it's made of absurdly flimsy plastic.  So, it's less likely to scrape the paint away when you want to actually put it onto the figure's head.

The rest of Fail Safe is pretty nicely blended.  The flight vest is well detailed.  It's reminiscent of the 1992 Ace body...only if it had been sculpted a decade earlier.  The best part of the figure's torso, though, is that it features some solid paint applications.  It features blue, silver, black and two shades of green.  The colors blend well together.  Fail Safe isn't going to draw much attention to himself with his coloring.  But, the muted tones suit the figure's specialty as well as any other color combo.  I'm worried about paint chipping on the soft plastic.  Until then, though, Fail Safe is a nice match for many early Joe vehicles, including more traditional flying machines like the Dragonfly.

One of the great nuances of the Joe line is that there is a definitive color palette split between the vintage Joes of 1982-1994 and the repaint era and later figures that have come since.  Two main differences are that the later colors are flatter and less vibrant.  Even if you look at 1982 releases, the colors are powerful and eye-catching.  In 1997 and later, there were some really nice colors.  But, they had a flatter finish that mutes them.  So, even sets of figures that feature a rainbow of colors still tend to blend together.  The designers of vintage Joes have often spoken about how the appearance of the entire line on a retail shelf was of huge importance to them.  They, specifically, chose colors that complemented and accentuated each other to create a pleasing visual experience for the customer.  In the post vintage Joe world, though, the figures are more designed to look similar than they are to be part of an overall tapestry.

This has lead to a schism in the two lines.  It's tough to mingle vintage and post-vintage Joe figures because the base approach to color was so different.  There are some figures that do look good together.  But, the combos are a lot harder to find than if you mingle Joes from 1983 and 1993 together.  The Pulse releases also skew towards the post vintage color approach.  While Fail Safe features a wonderful hue of green, it is also rather flat in finish.  So, he looks great with 1997 and later figures.  Bu, when posed among 1984 figures, he tends to stand out as an oddball.  I'm certain that the softer plastic that been used on the post-1994 releases is part of the difference in appearance.  But, I also think that some of it is purposeful choice.  Hasbro was lead to believe that collectors wanted "gritty, realistic" colors...even though that was never the aesthetic of the vintage line.  But, Hasbro went with it and the glossy finish that made the vintage figures so eye-catching was tossed aside.

Fail Safe included just two accessories.  One was a newly sculpted pistol that really doesn't work.  They should have resculpted the 1986 Hawk pistol or the 1987 Chuckles pistol for the figure.  But, the new weapon features a handle that's too large and that makes it look incredibly awkward when placed in the figure's hands.  The other piece of gear is a redone 1983 Airborne helmet.  It's really nice.  It is so nice that it works way better on the contemporary Night Force Ripcord figure.  The green matches Ripcord's hue and breaks up the figure's appearance when he has the green helmet instead of his included black version.  I'd have liked an air mask with the figure as it makes no sense that the Skystriker's main pilot would require a pressurized flight suit but his battery mate wouldn't even need an additional oxygen supply.  But, a Ripcord airmask works on the figure.  It's just disappointing that a premium release didn't include a better complement of accessories.

In handling the Pulse era figures, it's pretty obvious that it's a softer, cheaper grade of plastic than vintage.  It's very similar to the plastic used between  2000 and 2007.  And, that's going to be a problem.  The figures from the repaint era are not holding up well.  Discoloration is common, even on still carded or packaged figures.  This is likely to also occur to the Pulse era figures.  Fail Safe will be interesting.  His green color is less likely to yellow than, say, the blue color used for Scarlett.  But, we'll see how the upper arms hold up as that's the first area we see degradation on the repaint figures from 15 to 20 years ago.  But, even Hasbro's flagship Star Wars lines that use similar plastic tend to discolor.  It's just the nature of the materials.  And, a likely inevitable end for all figures that were made from it.

As 2023 began, I was certain we'd see another 3 3/4" Joe Haslab.  The Skystriker performed well.  And, the aftermarket malaise was not yet known when Hasbro would have been designing the follow up.  But, Hasbro shifted and moved all their resources to the 6" scale.  And, it's hard to argue with the results as the Hiss Tank and Dragonfly have both funded without any hint of hesitation.  The people who work on the Joe line will better pad their resumes with toys like those than  they will with recreations of 40 year old toys in a dying scale.  And, the complete and utter failure of the Cobra Mothership also calls into question whether the 3 3/4" collector base could support another Haslab to the tune of 17 thousand units.  It sucks that we'll never get an updated Whale, Rattler or Moray to replace the ones rotting away in our basements and attics.  And, I don't really get any joy knowing that we did get a plane with no play value.

So, I figured Fail Safes would start out around $70 or more for a carded figure.  And, I also expected them to climb to over $100 after a year.  That...didn't happen.  Now, you can easily buy a carded figure for around $40 shipped.  If you can find someone selling it at auction, they'll go for $15-$25...usually near the lower end.  After 20 years, we've seen the Toys R Us figures climb to stupidly high prices.  But, I doubt Fail Safe will follow that trend.  In 20 years, Joe collectors will be mostly retired with many staring down their 70's.  Yes, that's right.  We're now closer to our 70's than our 20's...even if we feel like our 20's were yesterday and our 70's are light years away.  But, 70 year olds won't be buying collectibles for speculative prices. And, let's face it, a lot of us will be dead and gone with our collections tossed away for pennies on the dollar as our kids and grandkids won't want to deal with the incredible hassle of liquidating a collection of crumbling and yellowing toys.  

It's still possible that this figure will find some aftermarket life.  There was a massive speculator buy in for the Skystriker since a lot of Star Wars fans had some money to spend when the Rancor failed just days before the Skystriker funded.  And, that speculative stock is lowering.  Slowly, the top figures from the Skystriker set are getting bought up.  But, there's still plenty of Fail Safe's out there.  And, if there's an event that forces more collectors to liquidate duplicates and unloved items, we'll see a flood of Skystrikers coming into the market once again.  But, if you can get a cheap Fail Safe, you should.  He's one of the best "new" figures Hasbro has done in the past 25 years.  He's not perfect.  But, he's good enough.  And, these days, that's about the best you can expect from Hasbro's attempts to salvage the legacy of the ARAH style Joes.

The Top 10 - 2023

2023 was a good year and a slow year.  Overall, site traffic was actually way, way up.  Pages were viewed over a quarter of a million times.  And,  there were over 400 comments posted on various profiles and articles.  Individually, though, post views were somewhat down.  Most profiles sat right around 200-225 page views.  But, a few items broke through and got some good engagement.  The theme of the year, though, is Super7.  They occupy 3 of the top 10 slots.  But, that's about all that's really happening in the 3 3/4" Joe world.  So, their popularity isn't surprising.  (Especially, with the "hate views" that Super7 stuff tends to get.)

Aside from that, there's nothing that really stands out other than the 2000 ARAHC Big Ben.  I have no idea why he resonated so well with the community.  But, he was the most mundane entry in this list.  The Black Major Steel Brigade Ranger and the 1991 Badger were the last two posts to fall just outside the top 10.  So, the year was more standard than others we've had, recently.  

So, onto the list of the site's most popular posts in 2023:

#10 - 1993 Street Fighter Blanka (328 Pageviews)

I haven't looked a ton of the Street Fighter figures from the vintage Joe line.  And, among them, Blanka is one of the most visually distinctive.  That added up to the 10th most viewed page of the year.

#9 - Satan - Plastirama Exclusive (342 Pageviews)

There was a time when this profile would have lapped the field.  But, those days are past and Satan, despite the current high pricing, is a bit passe in the Joe world.  This still was popular enough to break the top 10.  But, I thought it might have done better.

#8 - 2023 Super7 Tiger Force Shipwreck (380 Pageviews)

Shipwreck is the first of three Super7 appearances in the top 10.  This figure is neat due to the Brazilian origins of the design.  Super7 figures are what they are.  And, in 2024, Joe fans will see what the company can do with o-ring figures.  I fully expect them to just be sculpting similar to this figure but with the additional joints.  Regardless, I'll take their line as a supplement to my Joe collection and use it to fill out missing holes and such.  But, there's just no way I'll buy more than a handful of figures from the first few waves.

#7 - 2022 Super7 Ninja Ku (402 Pageviews)

The first Super7 figure I looked at clocks in as the 7th most viewed profile of the year.  Ninja Ku is well known.  But, being a Target exclusive, he was also clearance fodder.  And, that's how I got him.  We have seen from the Target computer that Duke, Snake Eyes, Ragnar and a blonde Cover Girl are planned for the first wave of o-ring figures from Super7.  (I expect there's more, unannounced figures to come, too.)  It will be interesting to see how they play at retail in late 2024.

#6 - Kickstart V2 (Red Laser Army) (405 Pageviews)

I miss Red Laser Army.  There was a hoax going around that he was returning.  But, he's focused on his Kickstarter o-ring line of ninjas that looks great.  Figures like this Kickstart version are a great supplement to a Joe collection.  You can use him as a different look for Snake Eyes or as a new character.  The blank slate is something we're missing in the line these days.  

#5 Rarities - Mega Marines Toy Fair Catalog (413 Pageviews)

Rarities month was a dud this year.  But, this Mega Marines Toy Fair Catalog post did break out.  It has tons of action and features some pre-production figures among the displayed toys.  I don't have much for Rarities Month in 2024.  But, it will still go ahead, even if it's just a handful of posts.

#4 - 2000 Big Ben (446 Pageviews)

Yeah, I have no idea.  This Big Ben is the compulsory oddball in every year's top 10.  The upside, though, is that this really is a great figure and one of the better repaints not only of that time, but in any era.

#3 - 2023 Soundwave Announcement (501 Pageviews)

In my 2022 Top 10, I mention there were rumors of a Soundwave with Zartan and Zarana.  Well, it turned out to be true.  The reveal of it was the third most viewed page of the year.  It was also the only 3 3/4" G.I. Joe that Hasbro released to retail in 2023.  For 2024, we have a Hawk/MOBAT that's confirmed and rumors of a Triple T with Sgt. Slaughter and another, unknown Transformer coming with Leatherneck.  All three sound like bigger duds than the Thunder Machine.  We'll see what we end up getting, especially since the smaller retailers that Hasbro duped into buying the Thunder Machine are currently sitting on really expensive stock that isn't moving and won't be buying any future offerings in this ill-conceived line.

#2 - 2023 Pilot Scarlett (589 Pageviews)

The Skystriker figures were the talk of the community upon their release.  And, this Scarlett did very well.  Now, the figures are both old news and relatively forgotten.  The aftermarket crash for the plane and the figures have left many collectors sour.  I have another Skystriker profile that will show up in the first few weeks of 2024.  So, we'll see how that compares.

#1 - The Cobra Mothership posts:

I followed the failed Cobra Mothership on a (mostly!) weekly basis.  Overall, the posts relating to the Mothership were viewed over 2500 times and it was the most popular subject on the site this year.  It's too bad that the ship failed.  Cool, big, expensive toys should get made every now and then.  And, when you consider that you could have gotten the Mothership for the same price as 2 each of the Megatron/Baroness, Bumblebee/Stalker and Soundwave/Zartan sets, it really puts the failure into perspective.  But, Joe fans are cheap.  And, we are few.  That's not a combo that sets you up for great success.  And, the Mothership's demise was just another knot in the string of dead bodies that the Joe line has left behind since the first reboot failed back in 2001.

So, that wraps up 2023.  Really, I ended up doing way more with  the site this year than I had anticipated.  But, I found some good photo subjects.  And, Super7 gave me some nice content in the 4th quarter that disguised my otherwise dearth of updates.  I've got some fun stuff ready to go in January and February.  But, I'm behind on picture taking.  This time of year is rough as everything is just brown and  uninteresting.  I'll find something, though.

I hope your year was excellent and wish you a happy 2024.  In November, we'll mark the site's 25th Anniversary.  At that point, I'll have been doing this for half my life.  Perhaps, that's a wasted life.  But, hobbies are just that.  We'll have lots to discuss in 2024, though, between new products, Black Major and Kickstarters.  Some of that will be good, some will be terrible and most will be the forgettable layer in between.  But, we'll cover it all.  We'll write it down.  And, maybe, some day in the future, that info will be a valuable marker of sentiment or fact regarding a release that would otherwise be lost to time.  

Until then, I wish you all well and sincerely thank you for stopping by to share the Joe hobby with me.

The Mothership Fails

There are failures.  And, then, there are embarrassing failures.  And, the Cobra Mothership was nothing more than one of the most complete and utter disasters the Joe world has seen.  Even the failed DTC experiment had an initial modicum of success.  The failure of the Super7 Cobra Mothership, though, is so thorough that it's tough to take away any useful lessons.

I was an advocate for the Mothership.  I wanted it to succeed because cool toys need to be made.  I was clear that it wasn't a toy for me just due to the sheer size.  But, up until  the end, I was optimistic that the ship would fund.  It needed about 2500 backers on the final day.  This isn't an insurmountable number.  And, Haslabs often have 5,000 or more backers on the final day of funding as they blow through tiers.  Kickstarters are notorious for seeing a surge of last minute pledges.  It's a fundamental truth in the crowdfunding world.

But, with the Mothership, there was no final day surge.  Sure, the numbers went up a bit.  But, not even 100 people backed it in the final day.  That is unprecedented.  And, it is that lack of last minute interest that bears the most scrutiny.  In the end, 1598 people out of a necessary 4000 backed the project.  That is an astoundingly bad showing for a product whose community regularly generates 15,000 or more backers for Haslabs.

Throughout the campaign, I was surprised by Super7's lack of advertising of the product.  It was only near the end of the timeline that they started reaching out to toy influencers on YouTube to hype the toy.  And, even then, their presentations were tepid.  While it's likely that Super7 could not create any advertising showcasing vintage Joes in the Mothership, there was no reason why an online personality couldn't have done so in one of their videos.  It would have been a nice visual.  And, would have gotten some play in the vintage Joe discussion groups.

Speaking of those groups, though, Super7 never even attempted to use them.  Facebook is full of Joe groups with 10,000 or more members.  Why didn't Super7 do a quick Q&A livestream with one of the  admins of these groups?  It would have been free and a way to instantly reach most of the still active Joe fans who exist.  And, things like that are FREE!  Which, for a project that only sought $2,000,000,  was probably an essential component.

To me, the complete lack of fanfare over the toy was the single reason for it's failure.  Items like the Skystriker, Hiss Tank and Dragonfly generated discussion in the Joe community every single day of their campaigns.  The Mothership did not.  Part of this is that it wasn't a Hasbro product.  And, that means a lot as there are many collectors who view non-Hasbro product as non-official, even if it's fully licensed.  Part of that is that the Mothership was somewhat obscure and not a toy that had ever really generated a lot of speculative interest.  The Cobra helicopter?  Sure.  Collectors have wanted that for 30 years.  But, the Mothership never even appeared on the once common "wishlist" items that dominated online Joe discussion.

The final issue was price point.  I have no doubt that $500 was a necessary price to make this happen.  But, even Hasbro has shown that the sweet spot for crowdfunding is between $200 and $300.  At that level, the items don't seem like such a big ticket purchase.  But, they also make the item seem special.  I don't think that Super7 could have created a version of the Mothership that was viable within that optimal price range.  So, they took a huge chance on a more spectacular product.  And, it backfired on them.

So, what does this all mean?  Truly, I have no idea.  We are certain that 3 3/4" o-ring Joes are dead to Hasbro.  They have been farmed out to Super7.  I doubt the failure of this ship will alter those plans.  Super7 has had enough success with their 5POA line at retail to justify a solid attempt at o-rings.  And, figures always do better than vehicles in today's toy landscape.  I'm sure there's some hand-wringing at Super7 HQ today as its leaders wonder if they bet too much of their company's success on a single brand that, frankly, has a lot more failures under it's umbrella in the past 25 years than it does successes.

 

2023 Cobra Mothership Tracking - The Home Stretch

So, yeah, I've been offline for a couple of weeks.  Lots of stuff going on and it was simply easier to drop Joe from my life for a bit than it was to try and keep up.  So, I haven't updated the tracker since 11/23.  And, in the two weeks since then the Mothership...still hasn't moved.  Here's what updates I did track:

11/25/23 - 1443 + 0
11/26/23 - 1443 + 0
11/27/23 - 1446 + 3
11/28/23 - 1446 + 0
11/29/23 - 1446 + 0

And, on 12/8/23, the total number of backers is 1484, less than 40 in two weeks.  The bulk of that number was a small jump from the Super7 announcement that they will be bringing an o-ring line of Joes to production in late 2024...about the time this ship will be distributed.  (Assuming it funds.)  But, more on that later.

For now, we're three days shy of the deadline for the Mothership.  I still think we'll see a last day surge.  But, we should be seeing some folks back it this weekend.  So, now, I'm non-committal on the funding.  It probably won't fund at this point.  But, it still might.  I definitely want it to fund, even though I'm not backing it.  And, I'm going to HATE the terrible takes that will dominate the Joe world for a day or two if it fails.  (Hint, they'll all be completely wrong about why it failed and will be all based on myopic, pre-conceived notions rather than actual data.)  

As for the announcement of the o-ring line...I'm ambivalent.  I'm not going to collect it, per se.  In cases where it will supplement or augment my collection, I'll buy a couple.  I'll certainly pick up any I find on clearance as it's tough to find any o-ring figures for under $8.  But, I'm past the point of picking up a new line.  And, it's pretty obvious that the new line will be a homage to the vintage line rather than a continuation.  Even Hasbro has utterly failed to capture the essence of the vintage line's sculpting and design.  

I expect the Super7 line will look decent.  But, it will be different from the vintage Joes.  A Dr. Venom will be a nice supplement to my vintage Joes.  But, the first Cobra Commander is going to look out of place among 1983 Cobra Troopers.  So, I'll pick and choose.

When I look at the figures that Super7 has made for the ReAction line, there's several designs I'd have bought in o-ring format.  But, there's many great designs that simply don't have any resonance with my collection.  The Gamemaster figures are great.  But, I'd never buy them as I'm not a cartoon guy.  But, I'd buy a cartoon coloring of Flint in an instant.  

I do wonder how the line will do.  Hasbro proved there is no market for $25 o-ring figures among Joe fans.  That line crashed and burned faster than the Dungeons and Dragons line.  And, with different construction, I'm not sure they'll appeal to the standard ReAction figure fan.  You'll see people talking about lower production numbers for Super7.  But, the Pulse o-rings didn't have high production runs.  And, they still failed.  If the Super7 figs go to real retail, they might do better.  But, I still wonder if there's a long term market for any o-ring line.

I'll be interested to see what Super7 comes up with.  But, I'm not going whole hog on the line.  It's doubtful that the gear will be compatible.  And, the heads will stand out quite a bit.  That's doesn't mean, though, that I won't buy some, photograph them and write way too much about them.

We'll touch base again on Wednesday when we know the Mothership's final fate.

2023 Cobra Mothership - Weekly Tracking Week 6

I was on vacation this week and missed a couple of check-ins.  Not much change, yet.  We'll see how it goes over this weekend.  I expect the needle to move some.  But, even if it doesn't, I'm still not convinced that the item won't fund.  Here's the numbers for this week:

11/18/23 - 1438 + 0
11/19/23 - 1438 + 0
11/20/23 - 
11/21/23 - 1441 + 3
11/22/23 - 
11/23/23 - 1443 + 2

11/24/23 - 1443 + 0

5 new backers this week.  Not much moving of the needle.  But, starting next week, pretty much everyone will be within their same credit card statement for the end of the campaign.  So, buying it then vs. buying it the last day won't really matter much.  We'll see if people get interested.

The upside is that, this week, Super7 clearly communicated that the Mothership was compatible with vintage o-ring figures.  They haven't shown pictures...likely because they can't.  But, this is why a quick collaboration with any toy influencer out there would be ideal. That person could show vintage Joes in  the ship and allow the photos/video to circulate online.  So, there's more that could be done.  

2023 Cobra Mothership - Weekly Tracking Week 5

This week, Super7 did some promotion for the Mothership.  Their Twitter account starting posting some new pics of the toy.  It showed just how big the ship actually is.  And, they showed off some of the interior of the ship.  They promoted the 5 figure army building packs.  And, they appeared on a podcast.  The result of all this effort was...little.  After gaining only 4 backers last week.  It gained 7 backers this week: three of those occurring on Friday afternoon.  Not a great return.  But, at least it was free promotion instead of paid shilling.

I missed a day this week.  Just got busy.  I expect the same to happen next week with the holiday.  But, with only 7 backers in a week, the daily totals become less important.  For now, the only real value in the tracking of the numbers is to see if the 10% in the first week and 90% in the last week comes true.  We'll see.

Here's the breakdown:

11/11/23 - 1431 + 0
11/12/23 - 1433 + 2
11/13/23 - 1433 + 0
11/14/23 - 
11/15/23 - 1435 + 2
11/16/23 - 1435 + 0
11/17/23 - 1438 + 3

Next week is Thanksgiving in the US. Typically, the Friday of that week is the biggest shopping day of the year and the day that people often commit to big gifts.  So, I don't expect the needle to move much next week since I'll post an update early on Friday.  But, the week after, that will cover Black Friday and Cyber Monday, should see an uptick from people who want to gift this item to themselves directly or by proxy.  And, we should be within the next credit card statement date for most people, meaning that ordering it over next weekend vs. waiting for December should still get the charges on the same statement.  After that, we'll have about 2 weeks left in the campaign.  I still expect a surge on the final day.  We'll see if it's enough to make this thing come to fruition.

2023 Cobra Mothership - Weekly Tracking Week 4

Last Friday, the Cobra Mothership was coming off of a terrible week in terms of the number of new backers.  Then, this week happened.  Here are the numbers:

11/04/23 - 1427 + 0
11/05/23 - 1427 + 0
11/06/23 - 1429 + 2
11/07/23 - 1429 + 0
11/08/23 - 1431 + 2
11/09/23 - 1431 + 0
11/10/23 - 1431 + 0

Ouch, again.  It's another rough, rough week for funding progress.  Not even a backer per day.  There's a month left in the funding window.  We're halfway through.  But, I don't think this is dead, yet.  Only 4 people backing this week is bad.  There are, though some things that could still be done to goose interest.  And I also think there's one big incentive that could lead to 2500 or more backers in the final 24-48 hours.

It's surprising me, though, that Super7 isn't doing much to promote this item.  While I get that $2,000,000 probably doesn't leave a huge budget for marketing, I do wonder why low cost and free options aren't being utilized.  Super7 could easily do a livestream in one of the large Joe Facebook groups where they show off all the features of the ship in close detail.  This would only cost a bit of time and get a large audience of potential customers.  The video could end up on Youtube for posterity.  None of the big social media G.I. Joe accounts have had anything to say about this ship.  And, even some of the big toy accounts on Twitter and Youtube that have 10's of thousands of followers have done nothing since the day this was announced.  I'd argue that the most recent Black Major figures have gotten more reach than the Mothership has.  That seems like a big failure to me.

The one reason while I'm still hopeful lies in the purchasing error that Super7 made.  If you back a Haslab, your credit card isn't charged until the project close date and then, it's charged only if the item funds.  With Super7, if you back it today, you pay today.  (Thanks to Josh Z for pointing this out.)  Then, if it doesn't fund, you get a refund.  This is a bad model.  I suppose it will cut down on declined charges on the day of funding.  But, that seems a small problem.  Especially when compared to forcing people to pay now for an item that may not even fund.  Because of this, though, I do expect we'll see a huge surge in final day backing.  And, that's why I'm still optimistic this funds...even with the numbers right now indicating (screaming, really!) otherwise.

2023 Cobra Mothership - Weekly Tracking Week 3

So, it doesn't look like the complete lack of support for this project last week was an anomaly.  I was really hoping it was.  But, when the counter started moving again, there wasn't a jump.  So, the pace hasn't just slowed down, it's pretty much stopped.

Conversely, Hasbro launched a Ghostbusters Haslab on 10/27.  It was over 80% backed in about 24 hours.  Within a couple of days, the full 10,000 backing number was reached.  The lesson here?  Fanbases will come out in force for products they feel are well worth the money.  This indicates that Joe fans, overwhelmingly, felt the Classified Dragonfly and Hiss were well worth the money and worth backing right away.  The Mothership doesn't fit that sweet spot.  Too many people can look at it and don't feel the overwhelming desire to instantly support it.  

Personally, I feel the sweet spot for crowdfunding projects is right around $300.  Much less, and the product will seem too much like it could have been a retail release.  Much more, though, and you cross a price threshold where the item has to be epic in order to justify the price point.  I'll argue the Mothership is epic.  It's just not iconic.  There's never been a groundswell of fan voices calling for it.  So, that's why it's not funding with the velocity you see in some other projects.

Here's the numbers:

10/28/23 - 1414 + 3
10/29/23 - 1414 + 0
10/30/23 - 1424 + 10
10/31/23 - 1425 + 1
11/01/23 - 1426 + 1
11/02/23 - 1427 + 1
11/03/23 - 1427 + 0

They are dismal.  This thing has slowed down and is not moving.  I do think this will still fund.  I'm less sure than I was last week.  But, I think nothing short of a new Joe Haslab that runs a funding window at the same time as the Mothership will be required to tank this.  The overall number of backers required to reach the funding goal is low.  But, as more and more weeks pass by without any significant backing, the chances of this failing does increase.

2023 Cobra Mothership - Weekly Tracking Week 2

As we enter week 2 of the Cobra Mothership funding, there's good news and bad news.  The bad news is that the early backing kit was not met.  So, the vinyl parachutes are not going to be included should this ship fund.  It's not really a loss.  Parachutes are a lot neater idea than they are actual toys.  But, it does lower the overall value of the package.

The good news is that the numbers are still climbing.  While the surge from the Super7 advertising bliltz of mid week from last week has abated, we're still seeing solid daily numbers.  Here's the count in the last week:

10/21/23 - 1250 + 70
10/22/23 - 1342 + 92
10/23/23 - 1411 + 69
10/24/23 - 1411 + 0
10/25/23 - 1411 + 0
10/26/23 - 1411 + 0
10/27/23 - 1411 + 0

You'll note the totals not moving for several days.  I doubt this is actually the case.  The web tracker doesn't seem to have a real time interface.  So, either someone's out on vacation or someone forgot to update the site with the numbers for a few days.  Either way, it's a bit disconcerting that a company tasked with making an item of this scale struggles to keep their customers updated on the likelihood that the project will fund.  If I'm going to give you a $600 loan for a year, I need to be confident that you are capable of delivering on your promises.  Simple miscues like not updating a website give me pause that a critical production question could be answered on time if missing even a single person has such an impact on your organization.  But, this is a company who misspells the word collectibles in their online advertising video: despite spelling it correctly in a different part of the same ad!

Right now, the Mothership is 35% funded.  I still think it's pretty much a done deal that this gets funded.  The recent Haslab Giant Man project got around 50% of it's backing in the final day.  And, was backing at more than one per minute in the final hours of the campaign.  Because of this, though, it also ended just a few units shy of the next funding tier.  You do wonder if enough people would have added another order onto theirs had they known they were so close to getting more toys for their money.

I doubt the Mothership will see such a surge.  But, it will get a surge.  And, the confirmation of funding isn't likely to occur until the final day.  But, with a low target number, maybe that won't be the case.  Regardless, you've got 6 weeks left to save up if you want to buy this thing.  

2023 Cobra Mothership - Weekly Tracking

I didn't do this with the Haslab Skystriker and I really wish I had.  I'm going to track the weekly progress of the backing numbers for the Cobra Mothership.  Frankly, this thing has stumbled out of the gate.  While I had no notions that it would get to close to funding in  the first few days like the last Classified Haslabs have, I also didn't think it would take days and days to even break 300 total backers.  But, there's been a mid week surge that's put this thing back on track.

For Haslabs (and Kickstarters, too) there is a set expectation where an item will get a decent amount of backers in the initial days.  Then, those numbers start to drop off.  Until then end.  Then, in the last couple of days, especially the last day, the numbers spike.  I'll be curious to see if the Super7 model follows that established pattern.  I do expect a bit of a upturn in the final two days of the early backing.  The parachutes aren't really all that much of an incentive.  But, you might as well back it early if you already know you're going to buy it and get them.

So, the numbers through the 1st week of availability: 1180 backers.  At over 25% funded, this thing looks like it's going to be a go.  The total should increase through the end of the early bird period before trailing off a bit again.  Then, it will flatten out until we get to the end when we'll see another spike.

Here are the daily totals.  I took these in the morning each day.  The time wasn't consistent.  But, any significant changes that occur after I record the numbers will be reflected the next day. (The tracker also appears to update in batches instead of real time, too.)  I didn't start until 10/14/23.  So, the first two days' worth of data aren't available.  You'll note a change indicator after the total for each day, too.

10/14/23 - 244

10/15/23 - 272 + 28

10/16/23 - 287 + 15

10/17/23 - 302 + 15

10/18/23 - 623 + 321

10/19/23 - 771 + 148

10/20/23 - 1180 + 409

There was a steady, but small daily increase in the numbers.  Then, between Tuesday and Wednesday, something happened and the backing exploded.  It doubled in one day.  Then, it added another 148 the following day.  Then, over 400 more on Thursday and Friday.  I have no idea why the weird explosion.  And, for it to occur on a random Tuesday and Wednesday makes no logical sense.  But, I've started seeing Youtube ads for Super7.  So, their advertising might have paid off.

At 4,000 units required for this ship to happen, the backing number is low.  It needs to average about 67 units per day to reach funding.  As of today, it's averaging 131 per day: well over the rate that's needed.  The slow start on the first days was worrisome.  But, now, the ship is back on a more normal crowdfunding pattern.  There's still a long way to go to get to 4,000.  But, it's pretty likely with where the numbers sit today.

2023 Super7 Cobra Mothership

So, it's finally happened.  After some teasing, Super7 showcased a real flagship toy for 3 3/4 G.I. Joe figures: the Cobra Mothership.  You can pre-order it here.

The toy is from the cartoon and fits with the Super7 strategy of mining cartoon designs for their toy offerings.  It is $495 plus shipping.  That's a lot.  But, this thing does look amazing.

Really, it's the type of toy that Joe collectors have pretended they want since 2001.  Now, we finally have one.  We'll see if people are really willing to spend $600 after shipping to support a toy like this.  It's got a lot of play value.  It's designed to be a display piece for collectors.  And, it holds tons of figures in various spaces so you can set up displays to your heart's content.  It's a dream for Joe photographers.  

For me, though, it's probably a no.  It's not because I don't think the toy is worth it.  From appearances in various photos from the NYCC, it appears to be in line with pricing for a toy of this intricacy and size.  But, it's the size that gets me.  The ship is 32 inches wide.  So, it's massive.  And, I just don't have space for something that size.  I do love that you can open it up and display tons of figures on the inside.  That is a big plus for me.  But, I'm at a point where I'm not sure I want another massive display toy.  And, I'm not dropping $600 to keep this thing in a box in a closet.  In a smaller scale, this toy would suck.  So, it needs to be big.  

The real news is that there is a 5 figure Viper set that's available as an add on.  Actually, there are 2 of them.  One is the standard ReAction style.  But, the other is an o-ring set.  What does this mean?  Really, I'm not sure.  Will Super7 do more o-rings?  I hope we'll find out as the weekend progresses.  

For now, though, speculate away.  Complain about the price.  Rage about how Super7 isn't your preferred vendor.  Pontificate about the scourge of crowdsourcing.  The bottom line is that 3 3/4 Joe fans now have another opportunity to show whether or not they're a large enough group to support a crowdfunded toy.  I hope this thing gets made.  Just because good toys should be supported.  It's just not something that's really in my wheelhouse of collecting any longer.

2023 Steel Brigade Ranger (Black Major)

I like very vibrant green colors.  Duller greens are somewhat boring to me.  But, if you get a strong, powerful green color, then it's usually something I enjoy.  In the vintage line, it was rare to find figures who featured a sprightly green base color. But, those who did were often found in my play rotation.  I even like figures such as Blaster: where I'm willing to overlook mold problems in favor of his dominant color.  It's one of the reasons why I do like Action Force as the green color they used is bright, fun and kid friendly.  So, it has been a modern lament that no factory custom maker has been able to adequately mimic the European green seen on Action Force.  But, in the process, there have been some interesting attempts that have still created awesome looking figures: even if the green isn't quite right.  Just recently, though, Black Major released his Steel Brigade Ranger figure.  In my opinion, it's one of the strongest Steel Brigade repaints we've ever seen.  It features a powerful green color, offset by a dark brown torso and opaque cammo patterns on the legs.  In short, it's exactly the type of figure that I would enjoy.

It should come as no surprise that I am not a fan of the Steel Brigade.  To me, the notion of G.I. Joe army builders is somewhat anti-thetical to the notion of an elite military unit.  At the same time, when I was a kid, I had a ton of figures that were faceless army builders so that Cobra could rack up some kills, too.  My main issue with the Steel Brigade is that it was co-opted by the worst elements of fandom and was used as a cudgel to keep Joe fans from ever getting toys that were not rubber stamped by people who had a very limited view of what Joe should be.  The entire debacle of o-ring releases in the 2000's was orchestrated by this group.  And, it's forever sullied me on the notion of the Steel Brigade.

On top of that, many collectors that are newer to the hobby don't recall the days of all the Steel Brigade figures you could ever want available for $5 for a MIB figure on Ebay.  You see them call common variants "rare" with no irony.  There are hard to find Steel Brigade variants.  But, others are quite common.  But, the modern collector seems to have confused popular and rare and simply can't fathom that there are people out there with hundreds of vintage Steel Brigade figures hoarded away.  They simply built their army when it was affordable and easy to do.  We're now in the third decade of online Joe collecting.  So, a lot of what seems to be true today is actually just a result of the actual truth from 25 years ago.

So, what is someone who dislikes the concept of this character to do with the mold in several differently painted themes?  Well, Cobras need someone to kill in my photos.  And, this site is littered with Steel Brigades being blown apart and executed in various ways.  Having nice colors to better mix with Cobras allows for the characters to continually die without me having to waste a main character in the various photos.  I like the idea of the character being cowardly and begging for their life, even willing to turn over their comrades.  Because of this, the Joes don't trust the Steel Brigade and don't tend to interact with them all that often.  They let them die on ill-fated missions against Cobras mainly as a way to gauge Cobra's effectiveness.  So, it's worth having a figure or two for photos like this.  Even if they serve no other role in my collection.

The 2017 era Steel Brigade figures included a backpack, the Recoil rifle, an Airborne rifle and an alternate Chest that was originally used by Airborne, too.  Now, the figures still include a backpack and both rifles.  Gone is the alternate chest.  But, now, they all include JUMP jet packs.  Personally, I'm a fan of the changes.  Hasbro is including a jet pack with their Classified figure that's based on the Steel Brigade.  (They lost the rights to Steel Brigade to a former employee.  Hasbro has since been low key trolling him with their product releases for a while, now.)  So, the inclusion here fits with the current depictions of the character.  But, it's just good to have more JUMP packs.  And, the tan color is neutral and can be used with a lot of figures.  The rifles are not the glossy black of 2017 and are, instead, closer to the charcoal color of the original.  It's still easy to distinguish.  And, the plastic is so different that it even sounds different than a vintage piece.

The biggest issue with the 2017-ish Steel Brigade figures was the quality.  The hands were too small to actually hold the rifles that were included with the figures.  Some collectors were able to shave down the handles of the weapons to get them to work.  But, this was a major detriment to them.  This time around, though, these quality issues have been addressed.  The figures hold their weapons with no issues.  Both the Recoil rifle and Airborne rifles work very well with the figures.  On top of that, the quality of the figure itself is better.  The joints are tight and the figure is poseable in ways that the 2017's just weren't.  So, it's a big improvement over the original releases and definitely worth an upgrade.

These figures are still available.  Individuals run $18.  But, you can buy them in multiples for less.  The last iteration of Steel Brigade figures have taken on nice aftermarket appreciation.  Personally, I feel this wave is far better in terms of quality and colors.  So, you'd expect them to remain desirable well after production has ceased.  I find this Ranger to be one of the better Steel Brigade repaints that have been created.  Not everyone will share that opinion, though.  Some may find this guy overdone.  And, the tone of green isn't everyone's color of choice.  But, it's a vibrant, attractive figure that really works well in a collection.  

2023 Super7 Tiger Force Shipwreck

Yeah, it's that time again.  We're going to look at a Super7 figure.  Once again, the figure in question is a Target exclusive.  Instead of a flavor of Stormshadow, though, this time around the figure is the Tiger Force Shipwreck.  Super7 is releasing a wave of Python Patrol and Tiger Force figures.  Among them are some first time members of each team.  And, the designs of each figure are very strong and interesting.  Shipwreck's appearance can be attributed to both the endearing legacy of the Shipwreck character from the cartoon and the figure's appearance in the Brazilian version of Tiger Force.  That figure was a new character named Marujo.  But, it gives vintage legacy of Shipwreck's appearance in this now collector favored subset.

You'll notice no loose pics of this figure in the write up.  Once I had the figure in hand, I had a bit of buyer's remorse.  I also had a bit of a collectorism bite me, too.  See, the card I found was in really nice condition and was unpunched.  It's the type of thing I normally don't care about.  But, since this loose figure isn't something that's all that important to me (he'd get photographed once and disappear into a box), opening him isn't a priority.  I do like to have a clean carded figure added to my collection from time to time.  And, this seemed like the prime chance to do it.  But, the remorse was that I paid full price for this figure and that money could be spent elsewhere.  And, while I really like the yellow rope and grappling hook and would likely use it with my vintage Joes, the Shipwreck's lack of the cool double barrelled pistol that appears on the card artwork limits my interest in an open toy.  I'm not sure why the pistol was omitted.  But, it was probably a cost savings measure on a figure that has a lower production run since it's exclusive.  But, leaving the figure carded means I can return it next week if I decide that $20 was just too much for this type of collectible.

Tiger Force Shipwreck makes more sense than something like Tiger Force Frostbite or Blizzard.  At sea, the crazy yellow is less of an issue.  And, Shipwreck's iconic appearance isn't something that really lends itself to repaints.  So, getting one in a subset makes as much sense as any other release.  (And, he's a great fit for the Tiger Force Hovercraft.) On display, the Super7 figures look great.  And, a full lineup of Tiger Force will always look good.  And, this figure for $20 is far better than $200 for a real Marujo.

As a figure, this Shipwreck checks the Super7 boxes.  The paint applications are tight.  The quality looks good.  And, the card artwork is fairly poor.  I'd have preferred a Marujo card art homage.  But, that would have probably cost too much and put the figure over budget.  I'm a sucker for grappling hook and rope accessories.  But, the lack of a weapon is a big mark against this figure.  The real Marujo features long sleeves, though.  It's a slight difference.  But, again, this figure had to be a straight Shipwreck repaint to keep the costs in line.  New arms would have been too much.  And, not too many newer collectors have enough familiarity with Marujo to really argue about the appearance difference.

In recent years, it's become a bit of a subversive theme in the community that the Classified collectors (and, therefore, the bulk of the retail buying adults) are not really Joe collectors, per se.  But, instead, scale collectors who flock to Classified due to a slight connection to a childhood memory.  But, moreso, due to the fact that the Classified figures are among the best 6" figures on the market today.  This has finally become confirmed in recent months.  Many posters in large online forums are flummoxed by figures like the Funskool Snake Eyes and this Tiger Force Shipwreck homage.  But, the real event that confirmed it was the announcement of Glenda as part of the Dragonfly Haslab.  Despite the fact that Glenda is one of the most famous international exclusives and has been a key collector piece since the 1990's, you saw far too many posts from people who didn't know who she was.  It's one thing to not know all aspects of foreign Joe ephemera.  But, figures like Glenda and Marujo have been very common and available for two and a half decades.  Casual collectors have at least cursory knowledge of them.  And, to see the vitriol aimed as Glenda shows that the new breed of Classified collector is even more different from the traditional Joe collector than many of us thought.  

All of the Target exclusive Super7 figures have gone to clearance around the country.  Most of them finally sell out around $5.50 or so.  So, it's entirely possible that this figure will be clearance fodder in a few months when the next Target exclusive figure is ready to ship.  Target clearance items don't appear at every store.  And, it's rare that they stick around for more than a week or two since Target tends to cut deeply just to get rid of the stock.  But,I leave it to you to use your own judgement as to when or if you acquire this figure.  

The one takeaway I have though, is that Super7 collectors get Tiger Force Shipwreck and an awesomely unique Python Patrol Cobra Commander while Hasbro gives o-ring collectors a craptastic Zarana with black elbows and a Zartan who got kicked out of Kiss.  It's such night and day in how each company views the older collector base.  I just wish Hasbro would get over itself and give the o-ring license to Super7.  Sure, the figs would be $20.  But, I'd feel that their $20 designs would be well worth the money while Hasbro's feel like $3 figs from the asshole early 2000's Hasbro Joe team that are repackaged at a 600% markup.