Something, Something...Cobra Flying Scorpion

So, I had plans for a new profile today.  But, work got busy, the kids started school and suddenly, it's late on Monday night and I have nothing ready to go.  I wanted to showcase a figure that ties into the Brazilian Flying Scorpion figure, though.  You see, it was 20 years ago this week that I first profiled that figure.  At the time, he was known to about two dozen collectors who got into obscure foreign figures.  Now, he's an essential part of many collections.  So, instead of showing off some other obscure release, I'll take another shallow dive on the Brazilian Flying Scorpion figure.

I've had the figure out, recently.  Partly because this anniversary was coming.  But, also because Black Major and Zica Toys have both released figures in color schemes that complement the Flying Scorpion figure.  The Riot Commandos are a bit darker than Escorpiao Voador.  But, they still work nicely as his personal troops.  The Black Major figures are a bit lighter.  But, again, they work well enough with the figure and give him some complementary figures with whom he can be posed.

You will note in the 2nd photo below how I have the figures posed.  Ignore the fact that they are on a box on top of a shelf.  I took that photo in August of 2001.  We've come a long way since then.  But, you can clearly see my Cobra hierarchy and how my version of Cobra split into various factions.  (RTG at the Attica Gazette recently reminded me of these old photos.  And, it's interesting to see how things have changed in 20 years.)  The Sea Slug is not the figure who represents the new Cobra any longer.  I've taken on various versions of Cobra Commander for him.  The Decimator is now an army builder instead of a character.  And, many of the generals standing behind the Flying Scorpion are dead or have moved on.  It's a testament that my collection keeps evolving over the years.  But, it's fun to look back at how I used to see things.

What I like about this figure is that he's different.  Right away, you can spot the figure as a Cobra.  But, he doesn't mix with the figures from whom he draws his parts.  Escorpiao Voador posed next to Cesspool is perfectly fine because the figures are so different.  The colors are relatively unique to the character.  And, the Flying Scorpion remains the only vintage Cobra who is not white.  

What I don't like about this figure is that carded versions will run you hundreds of dollars and loose, mint and complete figures will run $250 or more.  That sucks as it prevents many collectors from experiencing the fun of a new Cobra villain.  There are anniversary style convention figures of the character.  But, the lack the charm and subtlety of the original.  Sadly, the days of cheap and available Brazilian figures are behind us.  Two decades ago, I paid $30 for a MOC figure.  At that price, I opened it.  No one would ever do that now due to the value.  But, that keeps some collectors from being able to enjoy the figure as the toy he was meant to be instead of the collectible he has become.

In total, the past 20 years have seen international Joes change from a niche area of collecting into something that pretty much every collector enjoys.  Foreign Joes are so ubiquitous that most people have a few, even if they are just Funskool.  But, seeing modern collectors thinking that all foreign figures have always been hard to find is tough.  There was a time when Brazilian figures like the Patrulha Do Ar figures were available and affordable.  Dealers used to sit on tons of carded Estrela figures that would go unsold for $20 each.  Of course, those are gone, now.  But, old timers remember how much more available figures like this used to be.  They might not have been common.  But, few were worth spending triple digits to acquire.

So, maybe I'll be more prepared next week and have a profile to go.  I have a bunch of them saved for after Labor Day that will take us into the holidays.  Some have tangential relations to the Flying Scorpion, too.  Until then, thanks for stopping by!

20th Anniversary Key Moments - Escorpiao Voador (Cobra Flying Scorpion)

As 2001 progressed, foreign figures became a bigger part of the site.  But none made such an impression as the Escorpiao Voador figure from Brazil.  In August of 2001, Brazilian figures were mostly unknowns.  Few collectors cared about them and those who did usually ended at the Cobra Invasor or Cobra De Aco.  The later run figures popped up for sale from time to time.  But, they rarely made a splash in the Joe world.  Few collectors really considered loose foreign figures as integral parts of a collection and photos of them out in the wild were simply unheard of.  Slowly, that changed.  And, I like to think I played a part in that transition.

The Flying Scorpion is an interesting concoction.  The legs from Scoop and chest and arms from Recoil work well enough.  The Cesspool head, though, gives the figure a more serious appearance.  Making the character black, though, completely changes the look of the head and makes this figure appear not as a repainted kitbash, but something completely new.  Unfortunately, in hand, you see that the head is a bit large for the body and isn't a perfect fit.  Little quality details like this can gnaw at you for a while.  But, taken as a whole the figure looks like it was created as a single release rather than parts of many others.

And, it was this look that drove me to find this figure.  In the summer of 1994, I sketched out several Cobra characters who would dominate my post vintage Joe world.  As I tracked down the ghosts of the retail line, I was able to apply some of the newly released figures to those characters.  But, the flagship character: the Cobra who would become Commander and lead the organization to great glory, was a character I could not pin to a figure.  None of the releases I was finding were worthy of such a noteworthy part of my Joe lore.  When a collector's offhand comment about this recolored Cesspool head caught my attention, I discovered the figure that would represent the future of my Cobra hierarchy.  Within a few months of searching, I tracked down a MOC figure.  I waited a long month for the Brazilian post office to get the figure to me.  And, upon his receipt, sliced open the bubble and the most important character in my Cobra command structure was finally represented in plastic form.

The Flying Scorpion has yet to disappoint.  Over the years, I've found that he's rarely someone I photograph, though.  This is partially due to the fact that his helmet was deteriorating inside the bubble of the figure I opened only 7 years after his retail release.  It's also due to the fairly brittle nature of the figure.  I'm afraid I'll snap a thumb or crotch should I pose the figure in the wrong manner or try to force an accessory into his hand.  So, he's only appeared in a handful of photo shoots in the site's history.  Despite that, though, the spectre of the figure looms large over the entire site as he remains one my most famous profiles and a figure that remains associated with this site to a great extent.

In the nearly 20 years since I showcased this figure, he's gone from a $30 MOC figure to a $200+ loose figure.  High quality loose samples are few and far between.  Carded samples have gotten even scarcer.  Collectors have made him a staple of their custom efforts.  And, he even appeared in a convention set.  (Though, it was a pretty tame anniversary style figure.)  He remains one of the most popular foreign characters and many people are willing to shell out large sums of money for him due to the uniqueness of the figure and his distinctive appearance within the Cobra ranks.

Though the years, my various sites have seen a fair share of traffic.  I'm never the top Joe site.  And, even in the site's heyday of 150,000+ hits per month, it wasn't close to the top 5.  But, enough people stopped by to reach the various Flying Scorpion profiles that I do take credit for popularizing him (and his companion, the Abutre Negro figure!) in the Joe world.  That's probably quite a bit of hubris talking.  But, the ensuing popularity of this figure is something that I feel responsible for.  Even today, the original Flying Scorpion profile remains one of the most popular posts on the entire site.  The reality is that I was just the first to showcase the figure.  Had I not, someone else would have since the figure is of excellent quality.  But, if the Flying Scorpion is my legacy to the collecting community, I can consider my time here a success.

Cobra Flying Scorpion - 15 Year Anniversary

15 years ago today, I posted my profile of the Brazilian Flying Scorpion figure.  The Escorpiao Voador, as he is known in Brazil, became one of my most viewed profiles ever.  (It's still in the top 10 all time even on this version of the site.)  At the time, carded versions could be purchased for around $30 each.  Now, the figure is very popular and loose, mint and complete versions tend to sell for $150 or more.  The character has even appeared in the 2016 Convention set.

At the time, the Flying Scorpion was both my first Brazilian figure and one of the first foreign figures I added to my collection.  The distinct look and general quality of the figure, though, sent me through the looking glass of foreign Joe collecting and it's been one of my main areas of collector interest ever since.

I remember the day I got the figure very vividly.  I was so excited to have something so exotic in my collection.  I opened him immediately.  The figure quality was slightly lower than Hasbro figures and he has always felt slightly brittle to the touch.  That's why I haven't used the figure in nearly as many photos as I would have liked.  I'm afraid he'll break if he gets dropped.  And, at current pricing for a Flying Scorpion, that's not a risk I like to take.

But, in honor of the decade and a half that's passed since I first showcased this figure online, I took him out to take a few photos, just for old time's sake.  You'll see that I have Flying Scorpion paired with AVACs.  The silver and red work well together and I can see AVACs as the personal troopers of the Flying Scorpion.

I can't believe I've owned this figure for the majority of the time I consider myself a "collector".  A lot's happened in the Joe world in 15 years: a lot bad and some good.  But, the collecting world becoming a smaller place has made figures like this accessible and the information regarding them more available.  That's a good thing as collectors now have a lot more options with which to grow their collections.

Escorpiao Voador (Cobra Flying Scorpion) - Brazilian Exclusive

Back in 1994, I had a summer job at a small real estate company. Basically, I answered phones and just sat there in case anyone ever came in. Naturally, this lead to periods of incredible boredom. In order to pass the time, I would write stories that would keep me from falling asleep. In the main waiting room of the office, there was a floor to ceiling map of the Americas. One day, while walking around to keep myself awake, I started to stare at this map. Most notably, South America stood out. For most of my Joe stories, the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Russia were the focal locations. In fact, my Joes almost never left these theatres. I started thinking that Cobra would eventually grow tired of Joe's presence in these areas and move on. What better place for them to go than South America?

However, I had a problem. This new foray into new territory could not be done by the existing Cobra hierarchy. Cobra Commander was starting to age. Plus, he was tied up fighting off the charges of the character portrayed by Sea Slug. I needed a new breed of Cobras who were going to be the new leaders of the organization. After looking at the map, I sat down with 5 index cards and sketched out the groundwork for 5 new, dynamic Cobra leaders. The first was an old naval officer who was the mentor of the group. Immediately, I knew that he was going to have to die. In fact, the first story I came up with that involved these new characters was this particular character's death. The next was a ruthless fast attack commander who was portrayed by the 1993 Firefly figure. Another figure was a spineless worm who sucked up to both the Commander and the Sea Slug character. The next was another young, tactical genius. He would come to be portrayed by the 1994 Metal Head figure. The final character, though, was the most difficult. He was the mastermind behind the whole operation. He had yet to declare an allegiance, though he is mentored by Destro. He is a powerful leader whose motives are known only to himself. He has fierce loyalties to his friends, and to Cobra, but he has his own vision of what Cobra should be. The character has become the focal point of all my Cobra operations since that summer.

However, I could not find a figure that would adequately represent this character. All other named Cobras are too well identified with their real personalities to take them away. The few that aren't like that were already chosen for new roles. There was not a single figure I could find that fit my vision of this new leader. Then, a couple of months ago, a prominent Joe collector made an offhand remark about a Brazilian exclusive figure that was a unique repaint of Cesspool in the Commandos Em Acao line. I looked up the figure on YoJoe.com and was amazed. I now had a figure who I could use for my new Cobra leader. It was only fitting that the head of the Cobra South American operation would be a figure that was only released in Brazil. I immediately began a six month search for the figure who finally could represent the most important Cobra character in my collection: the Escopiao Voador or the Cobra Flying Scorpion.

This figure represents what I think foreign Joes should be. Like my other previous foreign exclusive Joe profiles, the Escorpiao Voador shows a uniqueness and originality that would make you think the figure an American release as part of the regular line. His combination of parts: Scoop, Cesspool, and Recoil are a nice mix. His colors are subtle, though some might consider them bizarre. It is his head, though, that makes this guy a totally new character. The original Cesspool is a Caucasian character. To recolor his head in black to create a new figure makes him the only foreign figure to ever change race in this direction. (Stalker, Iceberg, and Bullet Proof were all released as Caucasians in various parts of the world over the years.) It also creates such a difference that most people would not be able to tell the figures were from the same mold were Cesspool and Escorpiao Voador seen standing next to each other.

With this figure, the final piece of my Joe collection is complete. I've been using the new characters for several years, now. Not having a figure to represent the new Cobra South American leader was frustrating, but also fostered some originality and creativity. I had to come up with reasons why this person was not present at the battles. I didn't want him to be a wimpy commander who had no trouble sending soldiers off to die in situations he would never approach himself. Instead, I was able to work around it by having his underling generals be too cautious and not letting him near combat. That way, he yearned for it in a way that would inspire and earn respect from the troops while not needlessly exposing himself to danger. A couple of weeks ago, though, I decided that it was time for some things to come to a head. Knowing this figure was coming helped push along my Joe world to a point where this guy could no longer stay out of the front. In the coming weeks and months, I see this figure being the pre-eminent Cobra figure in my collection as this new leader starts to make himself known to his own forces and the Joes. Naturally, it will be quite fun.

When I was taking the pictures you see below, something really struck me. The way I have my Cobra hierarchy run is heavily determined by different phases of my collecting life. Cobra Commander allied himself with Scrap Iron, Major Bludd, Firefly, and Zartan. All of these figures were from my earliest childhood and I would have had all of them at the same time. The next faction, led by the Sea Slug character, contains Dr. Mindbender, the Crimson Twins, and the high ranking Cobra soldier portrayed by the Worm figure. All of these guys came out in the second phase of my childhood and it makes sense that they are grouped together. The newest group of Cobra leaders that is headed by the Escorpiao Voador is made of figures I acquired during my adult collecting life. The final wild card is Destro. He has always kept in close touch with the Commander but has never been his public ally. With the new batch of leaders coming up, Destro, represented by the 2001 version of the figure, signifies the new direction in which Joe is going. Each phase represents a unique schism that coincides with my different phases of collecting. I had just never noticed it until I saw the photos.

One of collector's hang ups about foreign figures is the quality. We all know of the inferior quality the Funskool figures have to their American counterparts. Brazilian figures, though, are very similar to American examples. They have very nice paint masking that isn't sloppy. The figures themselves are of comparable quality to American figures, though they are slightly more brittle. You can feel it when you handle one. The plastic has a feel and a sound about it that lets you know it wouldn't stand up to the rigors that an American figure would, but it still feels sturdy enough to survive the toughest test a collector would ever subject a figure to. Just a note, Brazil produced several Joe figures for the American market. Slaughters Marauders, the Arctic Commando Dee Jay mail in, Rampage and many other mail in figures were all produced in Brazil. That helps explain why these figures tend to have broken crotches and thumbs at a greater frequency than other American figures, but we've all handled figures like these and know their limitations and capabilities. I have no qualms about using my Brazilian figures alongside those from Funskool, Palitoy, Plastirama and Hasbro. I don't think you will either.

Escopiao Voador was released as part of the Sky Patrol (Patrulha du Ar) subset in Brazil. The set includes 3 other exclusive repaints that are also kind of cool. None of them, though, is as drastically different as this guy. While these guys are hardly common in the U.S., they can be had fairly easily if you are willing to do a little legwork. They are not as easy to find as the Brazilian exclusive Eco Warriors figures, but they still appear, often carded, on the American second hand market. Like most of the later Brazilian figures, these guys can be had for under $40 for a MOC specimen. Considering many American collectors are now willing to spend almost that much for a mint, complete Crimson Guard figure that exists in much greater quantities, that's not too bad a price. Like most of these later foreign figures, though, I expect the ease of finding these guys to only increase. The world is getting smaller and many more people from South American, Asia, and Europe are now involved in online Joe collecting circles. Slowly, figures like this guy will filter in and become more available with each passing year. As I've finished with my American collection, only foreign Joes really attract my serious interest. Many other collectors are starting to report the same thing. With that in mind, the increased supply could still be outstripped by increased demand. And we all know that that means.