Rarities - Unproduced 1988 Tiger Force Figures

Since the early days of online collecting, we've known that the Tiger Force team underwent drastic changes between the time of it's retail solicitation and actual production.  Tiger Force Ripcord was a staple of late 1990's and early 2000's customizers.  And, even Hasbro got in on the action when  they released a Wreckage figure in 2003 that was an homage to the unproduced Sabretooth.

The reasons for some of the changes are almost certainly just a function of available molds.  Ripcord and Recondo were both in production in South America around 1988.  So, it's unlikely that Hasbro had the parts to make them.  Recondo ended up being produced by Estrela simply because he and the Tiger Fly mold were both in Brazil at the time.  

We'll start with the original concept for the single carded figure team.

Only three of the six figures shown ended up being released in the production set.  (Dusty, Lifeline and Duke)  The retail set would end up including 7 figures.  Instead of Sabretooth, Recondo and Ripcord, the set included Tripwire, Roadblock, Flint and Bazooka.  The Toy Fair solicitation explicitly mentions it's a 6-man squad.  So, the change to a 7 figure team is odd.  Especially since 7 would not divide equally into a case assortment.  I can't find details on how the actual Tiger Force figure cases broke down.  But, a figure (or figures!) were either overpacked or shortpacked in order to fit the 7 man team into a case.

Another interesting aspect is the gear shown with the figures.  Since the figures are hand painted mock ups, the gear is all from original figures.  Duke's is correct.  But, everyone else is holding some gear from one of the other figures in the set.  This is likely just a photographer either having fun or simply not knowing which gear went with whom and doing their best to match it up.  The oddballs, though, are Dusty & Ripcord.  Ripcord is holding Frostbite's rifle.  While Frostbite did end up in Tiger Force, he wasn't shown (nor was the Tiger Cat) in this Toy Fair catalog.  For some reason, Dusty is using Falcon's gear.  Falcon never appeared in Tiger Force and wasn't part of these designs.  So, how his gear ended up in the photo is anyone's guess.

In looking at the figures, themselves, Duke, Lifeline and Dusty ended with production figures that are starkly close to these early mock ups.  I'll argue that the production Tiger Force Recondo is better than this planned carded release with the brown shirt.  Sabretooth and Ripcord are the two, though, that are most interesting to me.  

First is just the fact that both are solid paint jobs.  Sabretooth is remarkably detailed.  And, the colors used on him are rich and vibrant.  You realize what a pale imitation Wreckage actually was when you see this mock up in better detail.  I can't help but wonder how fans would view Sabretooth had he been released.  While we associate that mold only with Firefly today, that is largely a function of the fact that Hasbro released it as Firefly at least 8 times in the repaint era.  Had Sabretooth been released, an entire generation of Joe fans who came of age in the late 1980's would only associate that mold with Sabretooth.  

Ripcord features a rich brown lower body and what appears to be an olive upper body.  His helmet features the paint job that was, eventually, used on the Tiger Force Roadblock helmet.  Had this Ripcord been released, it would be interesting to see which was preferred among collectors.  While the original Ripcord is an iconic look, this Tiger Force version was less Tiger Force and more just an alternate look for the character that used more color.  I'm not sure which would be my preferred look for the character.  But, there's no doubt this Tiger Force version would have been well loved by collectors.  It's a shame Hasbro wasn't able to get a version of him into the Pulse assortment since they had already recast the Ripcord mold.

There's another fun little appearance on the photo for the Tiger Shark.  While the Dusty figure appears in the turret, you'll see what appears to be a yellow painted Torpedo driving the vehicle.  This is the figure's only appearance.  The catalog is clear that "Figure sold separately."  So, there's barely even a reference to the figure's existence in his own time.  It's doubtful Torpedo made it this far in the process for Tiger Force.  But, it's possible that the Tiger Shark was, in its infancy, planned to include a figure just like the Water Moccasin from four years prior.  The appearance is one of those oddball cameos that would occur more frequently in later toy commercials but was very rare in pre-production solicitation and marketing material.

Here's a different angle of the original Recondo.  Flint ended up getting a color scheme that was reminiscent of this Recondo.  Though, the Flint uses a darker brown and a lighter green for his torso and legs, respectively.  I still prefer the production Recondo to this version.  But, the brown would have been an interesting take on a desert Recondo.  So, I wouldn't have hated this version had it come to be.

Next up is the Tiger Rat.  You can kind of see the figure that would become Skystriker in the cockpit.  It's notable that the accompanying text to the Tiger Rat says that it includes the pilot "Thunder".  Skystriker would use the Thunder head, helmet and headgear.  So, the original intent, at least, was not to create a new character for the Tiger Rat.

Lastly, we have the Tiger Fly.  Here, you can see the unproduced Tiger Force Wild Bill.  Wild Bill's omission is a function  of reverse mold availability.  While Ripcord was stuck in Brazil and couldn't be added to the carded assortment cases, Wild Bill was likely in Asia, unable to be packaged with the Brazilian made Tiger Fly.  So, the logistics dictated that Recondo become the Tiger Fly pilot.  (I guess both he and Wild Bill have mustaches and wear hats....)  The original color scheme for Recondo was changed to match up the color scheme that was planned for this Wild Bill.  

Aside from all the changes to this set and the various fun it's sparked from all the unproduced elements of it, Tiger Force also caused a fundamental change in how Joes were made in Brazil.  As my friend Attica Gazette points out, prior to the release of the Tiger Force Recondo, all the figures made in Brazil featured a more sunburnt skin tone.  It's a hallmark of the early Estrela line and makes the figures recognizable.  However, after Estrela had to make a Recondo with a skin tone that matched that of the other figures in the Tiger Force set, all of their subsequent figures used the skin tone that was more in line with Hasbro's colors.  It sucked one of the unique elements of the Estrela line away.  We don't know if Hasbro mandated this change on all new figures going forward.  Or, if Estrela simply went with it because the color was now readily available.  Regardless, that's one of the unintended legacies of Tiger Force.

Rarities - Unproduced 2003 Wal Mart Sky Patrol Figures

Back in 2003, Wal Mart worked with Hasbro to release an exclusive 6 figure set.  The toys were expected to be released around the 2003 holiday season.  The original plan was for the figures to be vintage inspired o-ring figures who would include working parachutes.  It was a novel idea and one that was sure to be a hit among collectors.  Hasbro went so far as to show off hand painted samples of the figures at various shows.  Collectors got excited about the figures as any new vintage style figures were always welcomed.  But, something happened between the planning and production stages for the figures.  And, the o-ring figures were cancelled and replaced by a hasty set of JvC style figures that included one urban camo Cobra and a desert clad Joe.  In the madness that was 2003 Joe retail, these figures were still quickly gobbled up and even commanded premium pricing for a while.  But, the real story was the demise of the more highly anticipated o-ring figures.

Supposedly, the reason for the cancellation was that the parachutes that were planned for the figures would not pass safety tests.  Why this lead to the demise of the entire wave of figures instead of just the problematic accessory is anyone's guess.  (At the time, the 2003 Ripcord was supposed to include a parachute.  His accessory was also removed.  But, the figure was still released, albiet a couple of weeks delayed.)   We would, though, later learn that Wal Mart wasn't as keen on vintage style figures as they were the newer sculpting style of the JvC designs.  And, Wal Mart would later take a lot of blame for vintage style Joe completely disappearing from retail assortments and being relegated to Toys R Us exclusives and Comic Packs.  How much of this is true and how much was just Wal Mart being a convenient scape goat isn't really clear.  But, a highly desired wave of 6 figures became something of an afterthought when it was changed to something completely different.

You will note that collectors often refer to these figures as "Sky Patrol".  There is no official documentation to back that up.  It was just an easy moniker applied to this set since we didn't know their official names.  The figures that replaced them at Wal Mart did not have any special markings on them and they were just packaged as standard Venom Vs. Valor releases.  So, the "Sky Patrol" is a colloquialism meant for quick reference to this series since the "Cancelled Wal Mart Exclusive O-Ring Figure Wave that Would Have Included Parachutes" is just too cumbersome to say.

The story wasn't over, though.  First, someone found a weird pack at retail that featured an oddly colored Snake Eyes and Stormshadow in a two pack.  The figures were pre-production samples of the Wal Mart figures that had, accidentally, gotten packaged and slipped through quality control.  Shortly after this, tons of the 6 figures began to appear from Asian sellers.  As 2004 progressed, the stock didn't dry up.  And, for a while, most of the Wal Mart figures could be had for under $15 each from Asian sellers.  Despite that heavy supply, the Wal Mart figures now command a premium and run in the hundreds of dollars each, even though they exist in ample supply.

We'll start with one of the original images from a Hasbro display.  There are many things of note in this photo.  Duke appears to actually be a paint master for the 2000/2001 figure.  While he's hand painted, the coloring is nearly identical to the earlier retail figure.  There's some differences.  But, the pre-production Duke is vastly different.  Snake Eyes is just a straight up production figure from the 2002 BJ's set.  The Hiss Driver/Rip It features a gold chest.  This would be changed.  Low Light is pretty close to his final colors.  The Alley Viper is blocked out in this photo.  But, he appears to also be drastically different from the final pre-production figure.  Stormshadow isn't featured at all.

Now for the individual figures.  Each  of these are full production level figures that were widely available.  It is noteworthy, though, that there are variants of most figure.  They exist in different blue hues and some have painted logos that others don't.  There's even a hair color variant on Duke.

Snake Eyes:

Snake Eyes is the least interesting of the figures in the set.  He retains the mostly black body.  He features red goggles.  This would have been a new look for Snake eyes.  But, it doesn't really match up and isn't visually appealing.  His arms have their weird blue forearms and rivet joint.  This might have been cleaned up had the figure gone to production.  It makes Snake Eyes look like he's half trying to be a Cobra.  When the Wal Mart figures were available, Snake Eyes was always the cheapest since he offered nothing new or interesting.  Had he been released, this figure would be as ignored as the 2002 BJ's version.

Stormshadow:

The Stormshadow figure wasn't shown in some of the convention displays.  He uses the 1992 Ninja Force mold.  Hasbro had used this mold in the 2002 BJ's set.  It was an OK figure.  The mold also returned in 2004 in the Urban Strike set.  A 2003 release would have been overkill.  The blue on this figure is different, though.  And, the color scheme was well liked by collectors of the day.  Had this figure been any other Stormshadow mold, it would be better remembered and a bigger loss.  

Low Light:

Low Light was the second most anticipated figure from this set.  And, as the army building nonsense of the 2000's died down, he's supplanted the Hiss Driver as the most interesting figure in the set.  The main reason is that this is the only use of the V1 Low Light mold that Hasbro offered for retail.  We got the 1991 Low Light in 2001 with his parts also appearing on other figures.  But, the V1 Low Light didn't appear until he was released as a convention exclusive in 2008.  

It really made no sense why Hasbro didn't get this mold into the Desert set in 2004 or the arctic set in 2005.  Both would have been great slots for Low Light and would have allowed him to replace a lackluster figure or character in each of those sets.  You'll note that this Low Light uses the same paint masks as the Slaughter's Marauders version.  So, Hasbro didn't spend a ton of money to update his painted details.  In general, this is a solid look for Low Light.  And, him including his real accessories would have been a big plus that put him over the top for collectors of the day.  (You'll note his rifle later appeared in some TRU sets.)  He's very much a more muted Slaughter's Marauders figure and would be a fairly popular figure had he seen wide release.

Alley Viper:

The Alley Viper was the most popular figure when this set first showed up on Ebay.  He would command the highest prices and always sell.  This was due to the extremes of the army building mentality among collectors of the day.  They would overpay for any army builder.

This figure, though, is among the weaker in the set.  While his colors blend with the other Cobras, the reality is that they are an inferior mix to figures that had just been released at retail.  If you wanted a light blue Alley Viper, there was a great one in Wave 1.5 that was cheap and easy to get.  If you wanted a red Alley Viper, there was one in Wave 2 that was well done.  (Though, it was shortpacked and somewhat harder to find than the blue version.)  This amalgamation of the two color schemes is a nice  middle ground between them.  But, it wasn't a figure that was really needed.  And, had it been released, it would have overlapped with the Wave 7.75 blue Alley Vipers at retail and been followed up with the Urban Strike Alley Viper.  There are some variants of this Alley Viper in terms of the coloring hues and if he has a Cobra sigil or not.  So, be on the watch for that.

In short, this figure would have been even more oversaturation of a figure mold that collectors were tiring of.  I don't think we lost anything with this figure's cancellation.  But, his popularity of the time suggests that I was not representative of collecting as a whole with my sentiment.

Duke:

The Duke figure from this set is the one I lament the most.  It would have been a great Duke.  Duke has the greatest variants among the unproduced figures as there are brown haired and blonde haired heads.  There are also green pants or brown pants.  You can see both versions of the figure below.  (There are likely more, subtle variants, too.)  The green pants version is a close take to the 1984 color scheme on the 1992 mold.  Hasbro should have made more figures like this since they had so many later versions of classic characters.

Duke had a bunch of accessories.  He included an exclusive helmet.  He then came with a black version of the Snow Serpent backpack and either one or two rifles.  The common weapon between the versions was a black Beach Head rifle.  Some also included an Ambush rifle.  The accessories were decent and worked with the figure.  The brown hair were the, likely, earlier figures with the the blonde hair figure being the one we would have gotten at retail.  A blonde Duke with the green pants would have been the best Duke released during the repaint era.  It's sad we didn't get it.

Hiss Driver (Rip It):

The Hiss Driver mold was the most anticipated figure in the set.  Collectors had gotten a couple of very easy to find retail Alley Vipers.  But, the Hiss Driver mold hadn't been seen since late 2000/early 2001 when it was included in the Toys R Us exclusive Hiss III.  Collectors were keen to army build it, especially in these colors.  

It is a near certainty that this figure would have been released as Rip It instead of as a Hiss Driver.  Hasbro was keen on characters.  So, this would have likely been one rather than a nameless army builder.  But, sans an official release, the figure simply became known as the Hiss Driver.  As he was readily available and not overly expensive back in the mid 2000's, many people were able to get a few of them to drive their armies of Hiss Tanks.  The blue was close enough to the classic Cobra color that everyone wanted for every single Cobra figure mold that Hasbro had in their library.  

There is a variant of this figure.  Some are darker blue.  And, some have Cobra logos on their arms while others don't.  Neither seems more rare than the other.  Hasbro never got the Hiss Driver mold to retail, again.  There was a short run 2007 Convention Rip It, tough.  That figure is notable as it uses an inverse color scheme to this Wal Mart Hiss Driver.  Together, the two figures are a great looking pair.  But, it would cost you nearly $1000 to get both of them, today.

In the end, it's a shame collectors didn't get this set.  But, with how quickly the Wal Mart exclusive Valor Vs. Venom figures sold out, it's also likely that many collectors would have missed these at retail and they would have commanded a premium on the secondary market.  As the Joe line cratered in 2007 through 2010, collectors might have been able to get the quantities they wanted.  But, these figures would have remained highly desired and expensive today, even if they had gone to retail.  

Today, the figures command premium prices.  Most newer collectors are unaware that these were available for several years from Asian sellers.  Most of the figures were available for under $15 each for quite a while.  Some collectors army built the Alley Vipers and Hiss Drivers.  So, the figures are out there in numbers.  It's just that they are mostly held by collectors who have little interest in selling them.  Many of the figures have reached nearly $500 each in recent sales.  That's too much for these figures.  But, sanity over recently released and somewhat common items has completely left the collecting world.  So, for most collectors, their closest way to experience these figures is through photos and stories from earlier times.

Rarities - Brazilian Duque

Most collectors are familiar with the Brazilian Tiger Force exclusives.  The Tiger Force Shipwreck (Marujo) and Airtight (Ar Puro) have been among the most popular Brazilian exclusives since the 1990's.  What is often forgotten, though, is that there is another member of the Forca Tigre: Duque.

This character is most often forgotten because, upon first glance, it's not all that much different from the 1988 Duke figure.  But, the Estrela figure has some differences that make it stand out.  Most noticeably, the 3/4 sleeves are missing.  Instead, Duque gets new lower arms from Ripcord.  So, he has full length sleeves.  The colors are slightly brighter than the Tiger Force Duke.  And, instead of the classic M-32, he includes a version of Crazylegs' rifle.  He doesn't include the stock, though.   In addition to his helmet, backpack and binoculars, he also came with some face paint for Brazilian kids to paint themsevles up in Tiger Force camo.

Duque is a figure that's always been relatively easy to find.  This is likely a function of him just being less popular than Ar Puro or Marujo.  But, you can find mint and complete versions with relative easy.  But, Brazilian dealers tend to overprice him.  And, they try to command similar prices for Duque as they get for Marujo and Ar Puro.  The figure just isn't that popular, though, and often goes unsold for high prices.  As Brazilian Joes go, Duque is firmly in that middle ground of something that has just enough of a variant from the Hasbro figure for you to notice.  But, not so much that he rises to the level of full on Brazilian exclusive characters like Ar Puro or Marujo.

2004 Anti Venom Duke - Around The Web

I've had this Around the Web feature sitting in my drafts for a while.  I don't much like this Duke figure.  So, it wasn't a feature I was really looking to finish up.  Last week, though, Gen Liederkranz posted a photo (it's the 2nd link below!) of this Duke with a set of his gear from various sources.  It was amazing how much the proper gear enhanced this figure.  That set me to take the 1st photo in this post.  And, it prompted the same realization.  Duke just looks better with his real gear.

Sadly, the resculpted head is too large for any vintage helmets.  So, Duke is relegated to carrying an old Battle Gear helmet around.  But, there are now a variety of colors in which you can find Duke's M-32.  So, it's easy to find a nice match with a weapon that isn't so tied to Stalker or the original Duke.  And, both the tan and brown versions of Duke's backpack can work with this color scheme.  I'm not to the point where I like this figure.  But, I can see him appearing more frequently now that I have a good way to accessorize him.

So, check out the photos and write ups on the figure below.  There's some stuff written about him from back in 2004 so you can see how contemporary collectors viewed the figure upon his release. And, there's newer photos to see how people use him, now.

2004 Anti Venom Duke Profile

2004 Anti Venom Duke at General Liederkranz

2004 Anti Venom Duke by yo_joe_it

2004 Anti Venom Duke by fun_time_at_serpentorslair

2004 Anti Venom Set review at Generals Joes Reborn

2004 Anti Venom Duke by yovalleyjoe

2004 Anti Venom Duke by ftwten

2004 Anti Venom Set review at JoeBattleLines.com

2004 Anti Venom Duke by thejacshobby

2004 Anti Venom Duke by fun_time_at_serpentorslair

2004 Anti Venom Duke by gavinhignight

My Favorite Accessories - Part 2

Part 1 of this series looked at my favorite weapons from childhood.  This time around, I'll be looking at some of the gear that really drove my second phase of collecting.  This period, technically, covers 1988 through 1997.  During that time, I only was able to find a few figures.  So, you're going to see a cross section of accessories.  And, a few classic items will be missing because, while they were released during this period, I didn't acquire them until 1998 or later.  Some of these items appeared in my early teen years when I wasn't collecting or buying Joes, but my youngest brother still was.  So, the limited exposure to them made them loom larger than they otherwise might have.

Early Adult Favorites:

1. Duke/Stalker/Others MP-5 inspired rifle

As I returned to Joe collecting in the mid 1990's, I spent most of my time tracking down the remnants of the line at various retail stores.  Among the first figures I found was the 1993 Duke.  This is a solid figure.  But, the main source of interest in him was the "new" weapons on his tree.  While I was passingly familiar with Muskrat's shotgun (someday I'll tell that story...), the other weapons were ones I had never before seen.  As far as I was concerned, they were completely new sculpts.  It was the MP-5 inspired weapon that piqued my interest, though.  It looked great with Duke.  It was somehow both compact and large.  This was accomplished by having the overall footprint be small while giving the weapon a larger barrel.  I turned this into a story element.  These newer weapons became "Generation 4" weapons.  They were more powerful and could carry more ammo than earlier weapon designs.  As they were new, they were limited to only the highest ranking Joes.  Eventually, Cobra got some and gave them to elite troopers, too.  As I got more and more 1993 and 1994 figures, the weapons became less special.  And, with more colors in tow, the MP-5 like weapon became one of my favorite standards across my Joes.

Even today, this is my favorite weapon to use with 1993 and 1994 figures.  It exists in a plethora of colors...some rarer than others.  But, you can get it in black, gold, yellow, purple and other colors with a bit of looking around.  It remains one of my key weapons.  And, I'll always pick up a new one if the price is right.  I have unfulfilled plans of being able to outfit the entire 1993 carded lineup with these weapons for a photo at some point.  I'm not quite there on the right number of them in my collection, yet, though.

2. Annihilator Pistol

I first saw this weapon at the home of some family friends who had some younger children.  I remember it being awesome.  Around 1995 or 1996, I found my first Annihilator at a flea market in southern Ohio.  I picked him up for the rifle.  Once in hand, it reminded me of the awesome weapons from G.I. Joe #36 back in 1985.  In short order, I bought as many Annihilators as I could find.  The figure was "new" to me and I loved the portable helicopter.  I saw them as the airborne division of the Alley Vipers and they made up a key ingredient in my early notion of Cobra urban death squads.  With plenty of his weapons in hand, I had them available for use with any other figure I wanted.

And, with them in hand, my fascination with the weapon ended.  It was difficult to make the weapon look good with other figures.  And, it was a bit bigger than I had remembered.  It was less of a one handed pistol and more of a two handed weapon that switched up my notion of the weapon's versatility.  I still find it the necessary weapon for Annihilators.  But, I've long since sold off my army of that figure.  I have a couple of spares of the weapon, though, still hanging around.  I'll use them with another figure from time to time.  I do need to get a photo of it in the hands of a Fred to mimic that old comic.  

3. Hit & Run  Rifle

This one is a bit of a cheat.  I actually did own Hit and Run when I was a kid.  I bought three 1988 figures before I quit toys.  And, Hit and Run was one of them.  I immediately fell in love with his rifle.  But, I didn't to use it very often as I left  my Hit and Run hanging on a wall at my grandparents' house shortly after I got him.  Once the figure was recovered, though, my Joes were put away.  So, it was on rare occasion when I'd get them out.  Inevitably, Hit and Run would be among the figures chosen, though.  Part of it was the sheer quality of the figure.  Part was his amazing rope & grappling hook bag.  And, the final piece was his rifle.  Everything about it seemed perfect.  It had a long clip to store extra ammo.  It was compact enough to be used in close quarters.  And, the figures just held it perfectly.  I wanted to use it with pretty much every one of my favorite figures during this time.  But, I had just one sample with no way to acquire more.

That changed in the mid 1990's as weapon trees began to proliferate.  The real joy was finding extra samples of this rifle being included on weapon trees of 1993 and 1994 figures.  With this discovery, I was able to acquire an excellent rifle in a variety of colors.  As the weapon was my preferred rifle for the 1994 Shipwreck, I came to see it as a standard rifle used by all sorts of Joe themed army builders.  So, having it in cream with Snow Storm and even red with Outback allowed some consistency on the weapons used by the troops who supported the Joes.  Note that this weapon is often confused with the 1992 Shockwave rifle.  They are similar, but not the same.  Also, some late run 1994 figures featured the rifle but with a blocked out trigger guard.  Those aren't bad.  But, I do prefer the original design.

Now the rifle is ubiquitous.  And, I had so many of them that it's become a bit passe.  But, the early 2000's brought some weapons into the mainstream to a point where they started to get stale.  Hit and Run's weapon was one of them.  And, while I still love it, I don't see it as the staple for every figure as I once envisioned nearly 30 years ago.  But, I do still find uses for it and you'll see it being carried by other figures in some photos around the site.

4. Bullhorn's Mask

My youngest brother got a Bullhorn in 1990.  I believe he was  the only 1990 figure that we ever had.  While his rifle was amazing and everyone still goes ga-ga over his weapon case backpack, I found the real value in him was his gas mask.  I love gas masks.  And, as a kid, I lamented that the only ones you could get were either Ripcord's airmask or Lifeline's rescue mask.  I gave them to pilots, troopers navigating gassed caves and just to anyone I wanted to look cool.  But, they had limitations (like the hose you had to plug in for it to look good) and always left me wanting more.

Bullhorn's mask, though, solved this problem.  It was a self contained piece and was sculpted with the air filter right on it.  When placed on the figure's head, Bullhorn could be a faceless army builder.  I now had a way for more figures to be outfitted with protective masks.  Unfortunately, though, the specific design of Bullhorn's mask made it so that it was form fitted for Bullhorn's head.  And, that made it difficult or impossible to really use the mask with a variety of other figures.  And, this limited the mask's use.  But, the overall design still works.  I've since found Bullhorn to be a more boring figure than I'd remembered.  The mask, though, overcomes this and keeps the figure relevant to me.  I just wish it was a little more flexible for use on a wider variety of figures.

5. Spearhead's Rifle

I do not know how this weapon entered into our collection.  We never had a 1988 Spearhead.  But, at some point, his rifle appeared among our toys.  It was likely left by one of my brother's friends.  As soon as I saw it, though, the rifle simply enthralled me.  Mostly, this was because it was new.  But, also, the rifle featured a couple of key design elements that I found among the cooler features of Joe accessories.  First, it had a bayonet.  But, we'll talk more about this, later.  The second, and more important feature, was the strap.  I had long loved strapped weapons.  They allowed your figure to carry their weapon without having to always be holding it in their hand.  I never like my Joes climbing a rope if they didn't have a strap on their gun because it wasn't realistic to just have their weapon magically appear at the top if they didn't have a means to carry it.  It's weird what unrealistic elements bothered me when I was a kid and which didn't affect me at all.

Back to the bayonet, though.  While I really liked bayonets, the piece on Salvo's rifle made the weapons footprint rather large.  And, at some point in the early 1990's, I wanted a knife for some figure.  The bayonet on Salvo's rifle was of sufficient size to work as a knife for a figure.  So, since the weapon wasn't key to any complete figure in my collection, I snipped off the bayonet and gave the knife to someone.  The paired down rifle was then smaller and looked even better with the figures to whom I gave it.  At various points, I've found the snipped bayonet and wondered who's knife it was.  Usually, I then remember that I cut this off from the original weapon.  I'm 99% sure that the bayonet is still sitting in a plastic baggie of superfluous edged weapons stored in a shoebox in the basement closet.  And, you'll see the snipped version of the rifle in a photo below.

In the early 1990's, I gave this weapon that mysteriously appeared in our home to a figure who also had a similar origin: Salvo.  I don't know where Salvo came from.  And, our figure just had the helmet.  So, it was another likely leave behind from some unknown friend of my brother.  But, Salvo and Spearhead's gun just seemed to mesh.  And, without having Salvo's real accessories, it made sense for him to have this borrowed weapon.  So, between 1991, or so, and 1999, Salvo always carried Spearhead's rifle.  In fact, if you can find really old Salvo photos on the site, you'll see him carrying it.  To this day, I more associate Spearhead's rifle with Salvo than I do with Spearhead.  But, that's because Salvo is an awesome figure and Spearhead is...not.

Really, these were the dark days of Joe.  I didn't collect for several years.  And, when I got back into things, I was chasing the dregs of the line at retail while also scouring out the not ready for primetime flea market scene that define the pre-internet days.  You didn't find a lot of Joes back then.  And, those that you did find were often those from my childhood years.  Meaning they were figures I already owned.  So, it was hard to find items I didn't have already.  

There were many more, better accessories that were released in this time.  But, I didn't really acquire them until my collector phase began in earnest around 1998.  We'll explore those in the final installment in a few months.  Until then, though, what are some of your favorite accessories from this time?  Let me know in the comments below.

2005 Heavy Assault Set Duke

In 2003, G.I. Joe was riding high.  Hasbro was investing massive resources into the brand.  Retailers were stocking Joe toys in numbers second only to Star Wars.  And, consumers were buying the toys as fast as the stores could get them onto the shelves.  The collecting community was strong, vibrant and interesting.  The Christmas holiday of that year marked the crescendo of the repaint and JvC era.  At that time, we didn't know that.  But, less than 18 months after that amazing time in the hobby, the Joe line had completely crashed at retail.  Hasbro cancelled marketing pushes and packaging refreshes.  Toys stopped appearing on shelves as retailers had no faith in carrying volume in their stores.  And, Hasbro, knowing the end was near, dialed in some products that were outright embarrassments.  The 2005 Heavy Assault Set (or, HAS set) was as bad as it got.

At the 2005 G.I. Joe convention, Hasbro was getting heavy pressure from the collecting community.  Everyone knew the line was in trouble.  But, Hasbro didn't even acknowledge that elephant in the room.  Instead, they pulled typical subterfuge that was common for them and those in their orbit during the early 2000's.  Hasbro showcased the HAS set at their booth on the first day of the convention.  And, they took flak for how much the set sucked.  By the third day, Hasbro had pulled the HAS set from the display: claiming that what they had on hand wasn't "ready", yet and shouldn't be showcased.  Just a couple of short weeks later, though, the exact set that was shown on Day 1 started showing up at Toys R Us stores all over the country.  It was another bold faced lie from a cowardly team.  The worst thing, though, was that Hasbro knew about the upcoming DTC experiment.  Rather than generating excitement among the fan base over this innovative idea, they simply ignored the fate the line.  This killed collector interest.  So much so that the community shrunk in just the few weeks between the failure of the convention and the announcement of DTC.  This tanked DTC's chances of success.  And, about a year later, DTC was dead and the last remnants of the Joe line were liquidated to Toys R Us for pennies on the dollar.

The HAS Set was bad in a lot of ways.  It used three figure molds that had all appeared in Toys R Us exclusive sets in 2004.  And, in each case, barely recolored them outside of the pants.  The Greenshirts were a bad figure mold.  And, Greenshirt sets were still backed up at every Toys R Us store in the country when the HAS set was released.  And, those Greenshirts included helmets, backpacks and an armory of weapons.  The figures in the HAS weren't even different from those in the Greenshirt set.  They just had crappier gear.  

It didn't have to be this way, though.  Originally, the HAS set was going to include Ace and Mutt.  We don't know which molds would have been used.  But, they still have filecards on the back of the package.  You can't determine their molds or color choices, though, as the artwork used on the filecards was art Hasbro made for other releases of the characters in the JvC line.  Poor Roadblock, though, doesn't have a HAS filecard: showing he was a late edition to the set.  You wonder what would have happened if the HAS set had included a repainted 1992 Mutt and 1992 Ace.  Even the Anti-Venom Mutt and the 1983 ACE would have been interesting choices that would have given the set more cachet.  

This Duke figure, though, isn't all that great.  The grey pants with dark cammo spots jus don't really work.  And, when matched against the dark greenish/blue shirt, the whole figures clashes.  The figure's chest, though, has potential.  It's nicely painted.  And, set against a different pair of legs, it might have worked.  Black Major produced a similarly colored Steel Brigade figure in the mid 2020's and it turned out very nice.  So, the color can work.  But, the terrible 1984 Roadblock arms suck any usefulness out of the design.  The arms are just too scrawny for the chest.  And, the thick face paint on the figure's head makes it too large for the chest, too.  So, you have this weird visual where the figure is top heavy while being puny at the same time.  The whole package just doesn't work.

G.I. Joe conventions used to be well documented.  Every collector who attended took photos.  And, every Joe website hosted massive convention galleries.  There were first hand write ups and recording of the various sessions.  All of that, of course, is now gone.  The forums have all disappeared.  Most of the websites have gone dark.  In short, much of the documentation that we have on the history of the Joe line of the early 2000's is now lost.  It's an unfortunate byproduct of the internet era.  And, with social media ravaging content outside of their walled gardens, there's little hope we'll ever recover that information.  Again, looking at the current slate of online videos that document the Hasbro livestreams of the Classified era, we think that they are permanent artifacts of the line's history.  But, our legacy is that these relics will also, at some point, be lost.  It probably doesn't matter.  But, for those of us who were around during those days, it's tough to confirm our memories as their original sources have all disappeared.

Duke's gear is terrible.  Hasbro gave up on the HAS set and we were just given a couple of overstock, commonly used weapons with the figures.  Hasbro didn't even go the extra step of loading up the pack with a bunch of superfluous weapons like they had with some other dud sets.  So, Duke just gets a silver version  of the 1986 Low Light Uzi and a black shotgun that was sculpted in the 2000's and released with just a ton of different figures.  The gear isn't sensical for Duke and doesn't look good with him at all.  Sans helmet or pack, Duke feels lightly covered and the flaws of the Duke parts become more obvious.  You'll note that I try a variety of different gear combos on my figure in the photos below.  This is just an attempt to find a look for this figure that works since he didn't include any accessories that improved the figure beyond his paint applications.

This is a 20 year old figure.  The ARAHC figures that started Joe's return to full retail in 2000 are 25 years old.  This Duke is now as old as the 1985 Flint figure was when this Duke was first released.  It's difficult to wrap my head around this figure being two decades old.  It seems like the Joe line was at retail not that long ago.  What I do find interesting, though, is that the Joe team of the early 2000's never really understood collectors.  It took them years to find a way to appease collector wants.  And, even when they scored a hit, it was never followed up upon.  Hasbro's current Joe team, though, are not long time collectors.  And, yet, they seem to have a pretty good idea of what collectors want.  The Classified Haslabs are bona-fide hits.  Each new figure release seems to be met with, at worst, tepid enthusiasm.  And, most releases are considered solid if not great.  Maybe the designers not being collectors is what makes them good at getting items for collectors.  But, it's sad to see a team lead by a "collector' fail so miserably to get collector wants fulfilled in the 2000's while a new team consistently nails every release even though they don't really have a conduit into the fandom like the Hasbro team of the early 2000's did.

It's tough to price this Duke.  Dealers sell loose figures for between $20 and $30.  And, they try to get $40 or more for a complete with filecard figure.  But, those figures sit and sit with no interest.  You'll see carded HAS sets sell in  the $120 range.  Which is appalling on its face.  Most of the interest seems to be around Roadblock and Snake Eyes who make up over half of the carded pricing.  If you can find a market priced seller, this is probably around a $10 figure.  And, frankly, that's too much.  This is a bad figure from a bad release that really has no purpose in your collection.  He doesn't match the two good figures in the set and isn't even a useful Duke.  If you want the character, buy the 2022 version.  He's about the same price, has better coloring and includes amazing accessories.  

2022 Duke - Around The Web

We're coming up on 3 years since this figure was released.  And, he's still very available for original retail prices.  You can even find him discounted a bit to below retail.  He's still not low enough for me to splurge on a few extras just for the gear.  But, if you don't have this figure, he's well worth buying to get the amazing Cobra Commander and the bounty of extra accessories included with Duke.

This figure's head is still goofy.  If you like the color scheme, Super7 made an exact duplicate of it in Wave 2 of the ReAction+ line.  My local Target had four of them sitting on the pegs last week.  For $21, the ReAction+ figure's head isn't much better.  And, you don't get all the cool gear.  But, you have options if a cartoon Duke is high on your list of things to buy.

This Duke has kind of fallen into obscurity.  His bizarre colors don't go with much of anything.  And, as such, you don't see him the frequency that you do the Cobra Commander, Stalker and Sgt. Slaughter from the same series of figures released in recent years.  I still like the figure because the colors are bright and eye catching.  I just wish he was a better complement to existing Joe figures.  As Super7 makes more cartoon coloring inspired figures, maybe this Duke will have some better companions.  Until then, check out the 2022 Duke from around the web.

2022 Duke Profile

2022 Duke by Slipstream80

2022 Duke by tituslester32

2022 Duke by actionfigurefotos

2022 Duke by incrediblebulk

2022 Duke by yojoe_collectibles

2022 Duke by viperwilson

2022 Duke by codename.steve

2022 Duke by gijoe_for_fun

2022 Duke by viper_wilson

1993 Duke - Random Photos Of The Day

The 1993 Duke is really a great figure.  It's got a strong mold, great colors and cool accessories.  The sad part is that the mold had a ton of potential that Hasbro never even bothered to explore in the 2000's.  This mold would have worked great in various color schemes.  But, it was not to be.  At least, though, we got one great use of the parts.

I tend to use this figure quite often.  In older days, he was actually one of the most important characters in my Joe world.  He wasn't Duke, of course.  Because Duke sucks.  Instead, he was the chosen one who was anointed by the brass to take Hawk's place.  But, that type of character gets old.  So, he was set up to take the fall for some military failures and, ultimately, was sent to die in prison.  The characters who replaced this failed idea were more complex and had issues that made them more interesting.  They were also more successful as they had histories of failure that gave them the growth and maturity needed to overcome the most difficult situations.

For now, here's some photos of the figure in action.  I'm sure he'll appear many more times as he just works so well.

Chinese Exclusive Duke - Around the Web

I've had this Around the Web post for the Chinese Duke in my drafts for quite a while.  I have been hoping to keep finding more and more content on him.  But, that's proven difficult.  While this figure was widely available from Asia for about $1 as recently as the early 2010's, it has since dried up and the people who bought up the cheap overstock don't seem to take photos of their figures.  So, there's a paltry few entries in today's post.  But, it's still a foreign variant of Duke.  And, it's just different enough to warrant an acquisition if the price is cheap enough.

It seems that many new collectors aren't aware of this figure.  You see people denigrating it as "not original".  But, really, in terms of production, the Chinese Duke is probably substantially less common than the 1984 Duke.  But, reality isn't something that modern collectors are too concerned about.  In the first link, I lay out the differences between this version and the original.  So, there's at least something useful in there.

Chinese Duke Profile

Chinese Duke at JoeADay.com

Chinese Duke at The Viper Pit

Chineses Duke That's How I Found It - JoeADay.com

Chinese Duke by gen_liederkranz

2022 Duke

I don't much care for Duke.  Not being a cartoon guy, Duke never really resonated with me.  His comic character was rather bland and there were far better characters for any adventures.  His original figure was cool enough.  But, it also felt like a retread since it reused accessories and even mold parts from other figures.  Among the class of 1984, Duke felt like an anachronism.  And, as such, he rarely found a role in my collection.  In fact, Duke's most memorable contribution to my childhood was the donation of his parts that were used on other figures.  My favorite being a new Hawk that used a Duke's chest that I had repainted.  But, you can't deny Duke's importance to the Joe mythos and his place of prominence among collectors.  So, his inclusion among the first 6 of the Hasbro Pulse releases makes sense.  And, while I'm not a fan of the Duke character, this new rendition of him accomplishes some things that failed Hasbro from 1997 through 2005.

Duke has been re-released a ton of times.  But, none of those Duke figures really lived up to the version that appeared in the cartoon.  During the 1990's and, to a lesser extent, the 2000's, Joe fandom was heavily skewed towards the Marvel Comic.  As such, Hasbro was steered away from any cartoon homage figures.  In the ensuing decades, though, this has changed as more and more cartoon fans have come into the fold.  Now, there's a pretty even split.  And, the cartoon has proven to offer some nice designs for toys.  Super7 has mined the cartoon mythos very deeply and produced some figures that are unlikely to ever appear in any form again.  What's sad is that Hasbro could have done this very easily in the 2000's.  It's a shame there is no cartoon accurate Baroness, Snake Eyes, Cover Girl, Flint or any other cartoon rendition of your favorite character.  But, this Duke and Cobra Commander release of 2022 takes a step towards rectification.  Both figures are based on their cartoon appearances and include cartoon inspired accessories.  It's probably 20 years too late.  But, cartoon fans finally have some figures that are inspired by their favored medium.

As you likely know, though, I'm not really a cartoon fan.  I watched it as a kid.  But, it didn't really resonate with me and most of my Joe inspiration was taken from the comic.  So, the homage aspect of this figure doesn't matter much to me.  The colors are interesting.  But, they also aren't great.  I love the deep green of Duke's pants and helmet.  It is a great color.  But, the yellow of his shirt just doesn't match anything.  I tried to pair him with a variety of figures.  But, couldn't get a look that I liked.  Duke just doesn't go with anything.  And, to me, that limits him.  I'd love a Duke that could be easily melded into photos.  But, this isn't that Duke.  And, while the paint masks are spectacular, the color palette just doesn't translate into a neat looking figure.  So, Duke is just a toy that I own.  He sits in his drawer and I have yet to have any real compunction to pull him out for photos other than those in this profile.  It's not a terrible fate as it's the same way I feel about many of the 2000's releases.  But, I was hoping for more from a premium priced toy.

One of the supposed perks of premium pricing is that we get a bunch of extra accessories with each figure 2 pack.  With Snake Eyes and Stormshadow, it was extra 1989 Snake Eyes gear that didn't really go with the released figure.  With the Cobra Trooper/Officer, there was a nice cadre of additional weapons.  Most of them were Joe weapons.  But, they also represented pretty much every weapon that was released with a Trooper or Officer all over the world.  For Duke and Cobra Commander, though, the ante was upped again.  The Commander included a nice batch of weapons, computer pads and even binoculars.  Duke, though, was the real plum.  Aside from his helmet and card art inspired XMLR, Duke also included binoculars, his backpack (which keeps the 1984 color and doesn't match with this figure at all!), a green M-32 like the original figure, a dark green bazooka (still missing the sight!), an American flag and pole, a figure stand based on the anniversary figure design, a bizarre shoulder harness and, the coup de gras, a silver JUMP backpack that's meant to be held by the harness.  It's a great complement of gear and seems like a deluxe figure.  I'm not sure it's worth the $21 for the figure.  But, it does help make this figure feel like less of a price gouge.  Personally, I'd love for every Joe to include a specifically colored JUMP.  It would be awesome.  But, I'll take it just with Duke for now.

The quality of this figure is pretty strong.  There is, though, quite a bit of consternation over the eye paint on the figure.  They eyes of most figures are not symmetrical.  In close up, macro photos, the eyes look terrible.  But, under normal vision, it's far less noticeable.  The head is goofy.  But, Duke has always been goofy.  The paint ops, though, are top notch.  They are a step up from the 2000's era.  The plastic quality is about the same as the 2000's, though.  So, you have softer overall plastic along with more pliable thumbs and crotches.  I do not, though, like painted hands as they are susceptible to wear.  But, few of these will be played with.  So, that's less of an issue.  

This figure is an all new Duke mold.  So, while Duke was released in 1984, 1988 and then in a variety of times in the 2000's, those were all different molds from this figure.  Hasbro is just releasing its first repaint of the Pulse era when the Stinger Driver shows up in a few months.  I'd love for Hasbro to start repainting some of these new molds.  But, I'd prefer them to come in a cheaper option for packaging.  I don't really want a Tiger Force Duke or a 1984 colored Duke on a full cardback.  But, I'd love one of each in a baggie for a cheaper price.  It would be awesome to get a Night Force Duke.  Or, even a figure based on the European Force Mirage.  I do hope that we see some repaints in the line, just to get more than 8 or so figures in a year.  We'll see if that ever happens, though.

If you want Duke, buy him right now.  He and Cobra Commander are $42 plus shipping.  You can even buy up to 5 of them.  Honestly, if I could just buy a Duke with all the gear for $21, I'd probably get one or two more: just for the gear.  But, I'm hesitant as the price seems high with the Cobra Commander.  The long run value for these figures is unknown.  I'm sure the Cobra Commander will remain desirable as it's the first release of that mold since 1984.  Duke is less certain as this is a specific look for the character.  But, the figure is solid and the gear is amazing.  That's usually a recipe for prolonged interest from collectors.