2003 Agent Faces Mail Away - Around The Web

The Agent Faces mail away was one of the great things about the repaint Joe resurgence that occurred between 2002 and 2005.  It was like a vintage mail away.  The figure was cheap, the incentive points were easy to acquire and there was no real concern about not getting your figures.  In fact, Hasbro honored requests right until the final day of the promotion.  Supposedly, you were limited to 2 of the figures.  But, you could place multiple orders and collectors were able to easily army build the figures while we awaited the eventual release of retail Crimson Guards.  (We finally got them in 2004 and 2005.)  

2003's Spy Troops were one of the best gimmicks that Hasbro created for the Joe line.  It was hugely popular and stores could not keep them in stock.  But, Faces was the only character or concept that was released in ARAH figure form.  But, the removable helmet worked fairly well and the Duke head with painted on facial hair was different enough to really make the figure appear all new.  The Faces figure is remains one of my favorites of the era.  Here's the best I could find of him from around the web.

Agent Faces Profile

Agent Faces Unpainted Face - Rarities

Agent Faces by scarrviper

Agent Faces by gi_joeisthere

Agent Faces by dashiellrfairborne

Agent Faces by slipstream80

Agent Faces by NightForceTunnelRat

Agent Faces by gi_joeisthere

Agent Faces by yovalleyjoe

Agent Faces by dashiellrfairborne

Rarities - Duke Crimson Guard Disguise Prototype

See A-Man's comments below:

This is the Duke from the Crimson Infiltrate set.  My image from 2005 was named Agent Faces.  But, it is the Duke as noted by the arms.

The Agent Faces mail away figure was a bone that Hasbro threw to collectors to get them some cheap army builders without having to resort to retail stores and the potential scalping that could ensue. And, it worked.  While some collectors were content with one figure since it was a character, those who were army builder inclined could buy this figure to their heart's content.  But, once it became known that Hasbro was going to use the mold more in 2004 and 2005, collectors backed off on Faces and saved their money for the later uses of the mold that were legit army builders.

Below you can see an unpainted prototype/test shot of the Faces figure.  The big thing about this Agent Faces figure is that you can really see the Duke head that was used to make the Faces head.  The good thing about Faces was that Hasbro painted facial hair on him that helped to distinguish him from a standard Duke release.  But, sans paint, the Duke head is plain as day.

Oddly, I like the helmet on this piece.  The actual helmet featured several different paint applications of black and silver.  In some ways, it's too busy.  The cleaner look of the unpainted helmet almost works better for me.  Though, I'd have liked the eyes painted.

Unpainted prototypes/test shots of 2000's era figures were a dime a dozen for several years.  You could buy lots of them by the dozens from Asian Joe sellers for a buck or two each.  Collectors tired of them to the point that they were completely undesirable.  Now, some of those once common figures have become more desirable...especially if they have their full array of gear, too.  It's weird to see things that the collecting community grew to hate now become valuable and hard to find.  But, that's the evolution of the collector base.

Diorama - The Refinery

I didn't do much with new sculpt figures.  Though, I did buy them religiously from 2002 through 2004.  But, the vastness of the line coupled with low quality, poor gear and the growing distribution problems pretty much killed my interest in them by 2005.  Today, the sculpts are highly dated and really don't fit into either of the more popular eras of G.I. Joe.

Kids who played with these should now be of collector age.  But, we're not seeing lots of fans of the era come into the hobby.  The figures, though, have some redeeming factors.  Seeing the panoply of colors below reminds me of the highlights of that line.  But, seeing some of the sculpting reminds me of the limitations, too.  I took these photos in late 2003 or early 2004, right as the Wal Mart exclusive Urban Cobras were showing up.  I found both them and the harder to find Wave 8 figures at various retail outlets.  But, they didn't last for long.

The end of 2003 was really the last time that Joe had a huge retail presence.  Seeing these old photos reminds me of those days.

Rarities - The Curious Case of the Missing Mustache

In the 2000's, Hasbro reused many molds.  Starting in 2000, though, they would, periodically, skip the paint application for a figure's facial hair.  These were by design.  However, it seems that Hasbro had some issues with facial hair in general as figures missing facial hair were common pre production finds.  Below, you will see a few examples of figures that are missing the facial hair paint applications.

The first figure is the mail away Agent Faces figure.  For this figure, the head was a either a new sculpt based off of the '92 Duke or a slightly modified version of that head.  The production figure's facial hair was just a paint application.  In the sample below, though, this application was missed.  The result is a very different looking figure.  While the sample is production level, it's more likely a case of factory error or poor quality control than an actual variant.  But, it's interesting nonetheless.

The second figure is the pre-production 2002 BJ's Dial Tone.  This mold was released with no mustache in 2000, but the production figure in 2002 did have the mustache.  This pre-production figure has differences other than the facial hair, like the differently colored elbows and general difference in the green arms.  But, the mustache is the most glaring difference.

The final figure is, again, likely a factor error rather than a variant.  But, it is a 2003 Python Patrol Major Bludd figure with no facial hair.  Bludd is very odd without his trademark mustache.  So, this figure is boldly different from any other appearance of this head.  While it's likely not a variant, it does offer further proof that factory goofs can make their way to retail.

Click on the Rarities tag to see more oddball items.  And, Rarities Month II will be coming in June of 2017.

2003 Agent Faces (Crimson Guard Disguise)

In late 2003, Hasbro finally offered collectors a mail away premium figure. This long awaited development was greeted enthusiastically by collectors who have wanted a mail away figure since Joe really returned to retail in 2000. The choice of the figure and character was almost perfectly selected as it offered something that was different from anything ever released in the line and utilized one of the most popular sub-groups in all of Joedom. The fact that the figure tied into the Spy Troops movie was just an added marketing bonus for Hasbro.

If you wanted an Agent Faces, you had only to send away 12 Battle Points (Or Flag Points if you still had them!) and $2.99. If you wanted 2 figures, the Battle Points total doubled though the cost stayed the same. (It seemed Hasbro was really pushing you to order 2 figures.) 6 to 8 weeks later, bagged Agent Faces figures would show up in the mail. While Hasbro told customers that only 2 figures could be sent to each address, most collectors quickly found ways around this and were able to find new figures in their mailboxes on a consistent basis.

Many collectors are desperate to use this version of Faces as a Cobra army building figure. You will notice in my photos below, though, that Faces never appears with his helmet on. The reason for this is that the helmet, while a neat idea, really looks bad on the figure. It barely fits and is incredibly bulky. To me, it completely renders the figure useless as an army builder. What then is a collector to do with this figure? Faces is a neat character. However, I don't mingle old sculpt and new sculpt figures. As such, my ARAH-style Joes are well represented in the undercover world by Chuckles. The Wave 8 Faces figure is that character among my new sculpt Joes. That leaves this figure as kind of the odd man out. However, as soon as I saw this version of Faces, I knew how I could incorporate him into my Joe world.

As you may know, my Cobra hierarchy is primarily comprised of new characters that I have created. Back in the summer of 1994, I came up with 5 primary new Cobras. One is now dead, three others are major players in my Joe world. The fifth and final character, the one I described as a "spineless worm who sucked up to both the Commander and the Sea Slug character.". This character is a non-combatant who spends his time maneuvering politically to maximize his power within the Cobra hierarchy. He has no pull with the troops as he doesn't fight. He is, though, a great conniver who is capable of gaining the trust of the Cobra command. In this capacity, he is very dangerous. He is not interested in the furtherment of the Cobra cause. He is only interested in personal advancement. While this may seem to most collectors to be the type of person who would fit perfectly into Cobra, in my Joe world, he is not. My new Cobras are of a higher order than those past. They realized that no good could come from personal grabs for power. As such, they work together in a manner that is more inclined for success. As such, my new Cobra leaders have been incredibly successful. Throwbacks, like this character that this figure will represent, though, continually through wrenches into the cogs of the Cobra military machine. As my Joe world is now focusing more and more on the background maneuvering rather than actual fighting, a figure like this will probably end up getting a lot more use that I might have originally thought.

This figure is not a straight repaint of the original Crimson Guard figure. That mold was last seen in Brazil and has not been available. This figure is a remold based on the original design. For the most part, the chest and legs are identical. However, if you look at the front of the figure's collar and compare that to an original CG, you will that the Faces' body is a bit more squared off and is, definitely, a different tool than the CG. (If you look inside the torso mold, you will other tell-tale differences as well.) The figure uses a repainted head from the now oft-used 1992 Duke figure. Faces' upper arms are also from that figure. The lower arms are from the 1992 Shockwave figure. The result is a figure that looks a lot like the original CG, but is different enough to be something new. Since this figure, Hasbro has also remolded a few other classics. In some cases, I think this is good. Collectors do need a cheap alternative to some of the now expensive classic army building figures. However, I don't want Hasbro to spend too much time recreating classics when there are still so many high quality molds that were poorly painted the first time around and who, with a new paint job, could become excellent figures.

Agent Faces are out there in numbers. There are many collectors who have, literally, dozens of this figure. Many have spares for army building in the unlikely event Hasbro does not release a real Crimson Guard army builder pack. Others simply have extras as future trading fodder. The fact that this figure now sells in the $20-$30 range shows that there should be demand for him there: at least until a real CG is released. What's odd, though, is that Faces reached this price point on the second hand market while it was still possible to order 2 of these figures from Hasbro for under $3. This shows the insane reasoning behind some of these "collectibles" and makes me think that a lot of the higher prices you are seeing are artificial and are based on the naiveté of neophyte collectors. That could bode ill for the long term value potential for a lot of figures. With that said, I don't think I'd spend a lot for a Faces. Frankly, if you look at the offer, it states until March 30th, 2003 or while supplies last. As such, if Hasbro had a few hundred of these left over after the deadline, I would bet that they would honor orders postmarked after the magic date just so they can get rid of the figures. Hasbro has no use for surplus figures so I would imagine they will continue to send them out until their supply runs dry. On top of that, much of the demand for Faces stems from the fact that he's a new Crimson Guard body. Right now, a large number of pre-production Snake Eyes, Gung-Ho and Duke figures all in Crimson Guard disguise have appeared on Ebay. This would seem to indicate that the cancelled 3-pack featuring these figures is going to see some sort of production which will put more CG bodies into circulation. Plus, every collector knows that, at some point in the not too distant future, Hasbro is going to use this body to release a real Crimson Guard figure. Hasbro didn't remold the body to use it just a few times. Once there are more options for new CG's out there, the demand for Faces will soften and you will see the prices on them drop to levels that are more indicative of the figure's availability. In the meantime, enjoy the ride!