2022 Stinger Driver

When Hasbro Pulse debuted some plans for a 40th Anniversary Joe line, it was full of possibilities.  Everyone assumed it would start small.  But, success would beget more ambitious products and offerings.  To a degree, that was true.  The Transformers sets were bold and used a lot of development resources to come to fruition.  We got an ambitious Haslab Skystriker.  But, the actual figure offerings were small and had a missing set in their numbering.  (It was cancelled.)  The Joe budget, rightfully, moved away from 3 3/4" figures into the 6" Classified line.  Vintage figure collectors were left with few releases.  Among them was one vehicle and it happened to include its iconic driver.  But, the 2022 Stinger Driver is a figure with limitations, even if he succeeds in being a solid homage.

The Stinger release was weird.  It was announced out of nowhere.  It went on sale shortly after the announcement.  And, it sold out quickly, despite a limit of 2 per customer.  They shipped almost right away.  Hasbro was coy by saying that Pulse would have "limited quantities"...implying that another retailer would pick up the rest of the production run.  But, that didn't happen.  Weeks turned to months and there was no further information as to where the remainder of the Stingers would show up.  Desperate collectors started to overpay.  Slowly, some stock showed up at small, independent European toy sellers.  Either Hasbro's intended retail partner backed out.  Or, Hasbro never had one and the production was underway before they realized that no one was going to buy the Stinger as a retail product.  Even now, four years later, the Stinger remains somewhat expensive and less common to find.  And, we never got an explanation as to what actually happened with the release.

The 1984 Stinger Driver is a repaint of the 1983 Cobra Officer.  And, this 2022 figure follows the same path.  Unfortunately, the 2022 Cobra Officer figure had a design flaw.  His right knee will only partially bend.  It's not a huge issue.  But, for a premium priced release, it's not acceptable.  This design flaw carried over to the Stinger Driver, too.  The leg bends enough that you can get him into his vehicle.  But, it does limit his poseability.  It's unfortunate that Hasbro both didn't catch the design flaw in quality control and that they allowed it to carry over to the Stinger Driver.  

My childhood Stinger Driver was a figure that opened possibilities.  While I used him as a "snow" trooper who manned the second seat in the Wolf, the real value was that he suggested that Cobra Troopers and Officers could exist in any color we wanted.  Sadly, this was never explored in the vintage line outside of the Python Patrol repaints.  In the 2000's, Hasbro brought back the Trooper and Officer molds.  But, again, they didn't offer the panoply of colors.  It took factory custom makers to finally fill the niche of Troopers for every occasion.  And, nearly 20 years later, they're still cranking out classic Trooper repaints in new colors.  It's weird that Hasbro could simply never get themselves to do this.  It was such an easy concept.  But, it was one they could never deliver upon.

As a kid, I enjoyed the Stinger.  But, ours broke relatively quickly.  And, Stingers weren't important to me for many years.  Around 2008 or so, though, I got on a Stinger kick.  I picked up a couple of nice jeeps.  And, I bought an army of drivers.  Having ignored the Stinger for so long lead me to a newfound appreciation for it.  That continues to this day.  So, the chance for a new Stinger wasn't something I was going to pass up.  As soon as the vehicle was announced, I was poised to purchase my allotted two.  I was fortunate in that I was sitting in the waiting room for a Dr. appointment when the sales opened.  So, I was able to get an order placed within an hour of the sales starting.  That proved fortuitous when the Stingers sold out.

The Stingers arrived a couple of weeks later.  In hand, they were...fine.  The quality was a bit soft.  But, overall, they weren't bad.  The achieved the look of the original without deviating in any way: good or bad.  The Stinger Driver figure was pretty much what we expected.  He's a near match for the vintage figure.  The only real difference being the plastic quality and the manner in which this plastic holds the colors.  If you didn't have a Stinger Driver, this was a perfect update.  Even if you did have one (or many) it was nice to get a clean one that won't discolor for a few more years.

It's unfortunate that Hasbro didn't try to set up some sort of boxed army builder release for collectors.  It seems like a missed opportunity.  Hasbro was selling Star Wars army builder packs in plain, black and white boxes.  Taking that idea over to Joe would have been great.  The Pulse two figure packs were heavy on expensive packaging.  Hasbro could have sold a boxed set of 4 army builders for about $15 per figure and done quite well with them.  A set with an Officer, Stinger Driver and two Troopers would have been an attractive product and likely sold through.  Even with army building no longer driving the hobby, collectors would have picked up an extra set or two since the figures were available.  That didn't happen.  And, the are no real avenues to army build the Stinger Driver without paying through the nose for one.  

As with all the Pulse era releases, I'm glad this Stinger Driver exists.  We didn't get a lot.  But, what we did get was safe and solid.  Vintage Stinger Drivers are yellowing and brittle.  Getting a new one was nice.  But, with no way to acquire multiples, the value diminishes.  I like to outfit my Stingers with a crew.  I can't do that with the Pulse figures.  But, that's OK.  Since I have a bunch  of vintage Stinger Drivers, I can use them instead.  The real thing about this figure is that he's pretty much just an update to any vintage release.  There's nothing new about him other than softer plastic.  That's good since we didn't get anything close to a Stinger Driver in the repaint era.  But, really only having an avenue to get one or two of them kind of sucked.  The thing about classic army builders is that you want them in multiples.  Having one is fine for a display.  But, the I'm still a collector of the early 2000's army builder vein.  I don't need 40 of a figure.  But, I'd like a shot at four or five for fair prices.  And, the main reason I don't really use the Pulse era army builders is because I don't have them in multiples.  I just wasn't keep on over paying for packaging that ended up in the recycling bin.  And, I didn't really have a chance at any more than two Stinger Drivers.

Stingers are one of the few (maybe the only!) Pulse era release to appreciate on the secondary market.  Boxed Stingers can be had around $75.  And, they seem to sell at that price.  Loose, mint and complete Stingers and the Driver tend to sell around the same price.  On his own, the Stinger Driver will run you between $25 and $30. That's a lot.  You're way better off buying up a boxed jeep to have the full set.  In a different world I'd have tried to army build this Stinger Driver.  The grey has always compelled me.  But, the wonky eyes, partially moving leg and lack of weapons has left me just focusing on vintage Stinger Drivers should I want an army.

2024 Sgt. Slaughter

I was wrong.  Back in July of 2024, I wrote up a blurb about the recently announced Sgt. Slaughter and Leatherneck Transformer Cross Over.  I was not overly kind to the announcement of the new figures.  The initial image of the figures made them look like barely repaints that offered collectors nothing new.  As more, clearer images appeared, the Sgt. Slaughter figure looked like it might have something more to offer than my initial impression.  And, as collectors began to get the figures in hand and actually photograph them, I realized that there might be some value to the Sgt. Slaughter figure.  He was a lot more different from his vintage counterparts than he had first appeared.  And, while he still didn't fundamentally change the character's appearance, the figure ended up being the best Sgt. Slaughter that any company has ever made in o-ring form.  And, he might be the best figure of the Pulse era.

The one thing I did do with this Sgt. Slaughter set was wait for discounts.  Unlike the Hiss Tank, which dropped in price by almost 75% for a while, the AWE Striker and Thunder Machine never dropped below about a 30% discount in any sales.  (Though, cheap Thunder Machines were available at Ross around Christmas in 2024, just in limited quantities.)  I waited through the holidays of 2025, hoping that the Triple T set might show up at Ross, too.  Instead, they appeared, for full price, at Wal Mart stores for a collector's promotion.  Not all stores got it.  But, many previously internet exclusives were dropped into these endcaps that encompassed many collector friendly brands.  My local store didn't get any, though.  Not that it mattered.  There were no reports of widespread clearance on the items.  Online, the Triple T dropped to about $60 on a couple of occasions before it would return to full retail.  Finally, it dropped back to that price and I decided to bite the bullet and add the final Pulse o-rings to my collection.   

In hand. the Sgt. Slaughter doesn't disappoint.  He's got several points working in his favor.  The first is just that he's got a flesh colored plastic head.  Gone is weird head paint that's ruined so many of the Pulse figures.  In fact, all of his flesh is the plastic.  So, all his various flesh tones match up.  There's none of the mismatched skin colors we saw on the Baroness or Zartan.  It's amazing how much this helps make a figure work.  It was such a simple idea, too.  I still can't wrap my head around Hasbro's fascination with fully painted heads...especially on figures like Duke or Ripcord where they are supposed to wear helmets.  I'm glad they finally got it right.  It just sucks it was so late in the process and so many figures were lessened by it.

Sarge's colors are also vibrant and powerful.  The browns are rich in a way that we haven't seen since 2005 or so when they were used to simulate leather pieces on Toys R Us figures.  The green color is deep and isn't a common hue we seen on Joe figures.  It's all offset by a flat black tank top.  And, the final palette is accentuated by a white belt and a golden whistle.  The color additions allow this Slaughter to transcend the vintage versions.  He features a full 7 different colors.  Even when compared to figures from the height of the vintage line, this is an abnormally high count for different colors used on a figure.  The fact that they are both a combination of accentuating and contrasting colors shows a level of design that was missing from most figures.  And, again, it's those little details that really allow this Slaughter figure to stand above his contemporaries.  Even more than a year after his release, you still see this Sgt. Slaughter figure used in photos and dioramas.  He appears far more often than "more popular" characters...a testament to his quality.

Slaughter's only accessory is his eponymous baton.  This version is larger than the vintage versions.  It also features a string on the end.  It's closer to the accessory used in the Anniversary era than the vintage.  But, it works well for Sarge as you expect him to include it.  Had this version been released with the vintage figures, it would be less rare than those '80's versions are now just due to the larger size.  It's actually a little big for his hands.  But, the larger size of the figure allows the bigger scale of the accessory to still work with the figure.  I wouldn't have minded an M-60 to be packed in as an homage to the comic.  But, we did get a spare one with one of the other Pulse releases.  (I think it was in the Cobra Trooper/Officer pack.)  So, I've got some spare weapons with which to outfit Sarge when the baton isn't appropriate.

As a kid, I used Sarge's baton as a cross between Captain America's shield and Spiderman's webshooters.  He could throw the baton an incredible distance and it would always return to his hand.  I imagined it had a rope inside that pulled it back to him after every throw.  This allowed Sarge to scale buildings, take out far away enemies and grab onto fleeing vehicles as they sped away.  It also was the also humiliation for the BAT.  I hated BATs, even back then.  I thought robots were dumb and the figure was lame.  The BAT filecard mentions they burst into flame when hit from behind.  So, when Cobra would deploy them into a battle, Sarge would just sneak around behind the line of BATs.  He's then run down the line of robots and tap each of them gently on the back with his baton.  They'd then burst into flames and be instantly eliminated without doing any damage to the Joes.  It was the most degrading way for BATs to be defeated.  And, was the main use I found for Sgt. Slaughter when he wasn't manning the gun tower on the HAVOC.

With the Pulse era of o-ring figures now over, we can assess each figure against his peers.  When doing so, it's tough to place this Slaughter anywhere other than near the top.  I'll argue that the Ramp Rat is a better character and a more useful figure.  But, he features almost no paint applications.  And, his overall appearance is definitely below this Slaughter.  The Cobra Commander from the Duke/CC two pack is the only real contender against Slaughter.  He features the paint applications, brilliant colors and needed update that are tough to beat.  But, Sarge being firmly in the top 3 is pretty impressive.  Especially when he beats out stalwarts like Duke, Zartan and Stormshadow.  Again, I got this one wrong from the get-go.  But, I'm not going to let my initial mistake hold me back and prevent me from liking one of the best figures we've seen in the past decade.

You all know that I'm not a fan of the Transformers Cross Overs as a product.  I won't beat that dead horse.  The one thing I do wish, though,  was that Hasbro had been more creative in their vehicles.  The Triple T isn't really a collector favorite.  It's easy to acquire and cheap on the second hand market.  Really, it's not that interesting.  Instead, I imagine a world where the Transformers had turned into the Earthquake, Bugg and the Skystorm.  I doubt those products would have fared worse at retail than the classics.  And, collectors would have gotten some vehicles that were outside the standard molds Hasbro has reused many times since 2008.  I'd have even liked something like a green and purple Hiss Tank or a bright yellow AWE Striker to match the Transformers characters.  Anything to have made these products a bit more appealing.

With o-ring Joe production shifted to Super7, there is a very real possibility that this Sgt. Slaughter and Leatherneck are the last o-ring Joes that Hasbro will ever produce.  The Pulse era of o-ring Joes has been interesting.  It lacks the total duds that we'd get all too often in the repaint era.  But, it also lacks the sheer home runs that the repaint team would trip into every now and again during that time.  The figures are solid.  But, they lack any flair.  The best new figures are safe.  And, that's fine.  During the repaint era, there was a type of fan who believed we should "love" everything Hasbro made and buy it to support the brand to keep it going in hopes of, eventually, getting something good.  I was the opposite in that I was overly critical of Hasbro in hopes of holding them to a higher standard.  Neither approach worked.  I had high hopes when the first Pulse two packs of figures were showcased.  The Skystriker lead me to dream that we might get two or three of the vehicles of our fantasies from childhood.  Those hopes were unfulfilled.  Instead, we got a solid crop of figure updates.  That's not terrible.  It's just that we wanted more.  It does seem that Super7 is starting to get it, though.  And, their first showcases for 2026 show a lot more promise than their 2025 figure lineup.  So, there's still light for collectors.  Just in a different format than we'd have ever imagined as recently as 3 or 4 years ago.

If you go back to the 1995-1998 era of G.I. Joe collecting, Sgt. Slaughter was equivalent to the Fridge in terms of Joe fans' affections.  Both were considered joke figures that somewhat sullied the brand's reputation.  Over the next decade, though, perception of Sgt. Slaughter changed.  Part of this is that the 1985 and earlier die hards began to lose ground to fans who grew up on the cartoon.  To them, Slaughter was a key part of the team.  Even Larry Hama treated him well in the comic.  The real turning point, though, was that Slaughter embraced his G.I. Joe roots.  While I'm sure that the appearance fees at conventions were a big draw for him, he also seemed to genuinely embrace the sheer silliness of his cartoon persona.  And, this endeared him to fans.  By 2006, he got a convention figure and was the headliner for the entire show.  He began to engage with fans on old Twitter and would follow most Joe focused accounts.  He's call people "maggots" for their birthdays.  And, the photo of an out of shape Joe fan trapped in a Sgt. Slaughter headlock became the staple of every Instagram account who attended a toy show.  Sarge just seemed like a guy who got the joke and really appreciated that so many people had grown up with him.  You can now make an argument that Sgt. Slaughter is one of the top three or four characters most associated with the G.I. Joe brand.  That's quite a turnaround.

Above, I mention "any company" for versions of Sgt. Slaughter.  The reason for this is that are quite a few different Sgt. Slaughter releases from all  over the world.  The mold upon which this 2024 is based originated in 1986.  Here, it was first released as a mail away.  And, later in  the year, as the pack in driver for the Triple T.  Slaughter appeared in a new mold in 1988 as the Warthog driver.  (I'd have loved the 2024 color scheme on the 1988 figure.)  Then, things get more interesting.  In 1989, the Slaughter mold went to Brazil.  There, it was painted in the Slaughter's Marauders paint scheme.  Some of those figures were exported to North America and released.  Others were released in Brazil.  The figures are the same.  But, the packaging is different.  The timeline is murky.  But, I suspect that Slaughter then went to Argentina.  It's possible the Plastirama figure pre-dates the Estrela Marauders.  But, Argentina release years are tough to pin down.  Regardless, the original mold was released in Argentina as Sgto. Slaughter.  This was the best paint job of the original Slaughter mold.  The mold wasn't done, yet, though.  It then made its way to India.  Funskool released Sgt. Smasher (a Slaughter mold done in colors based on the 1989 Slaughter's Marauders version) for a while.  They also used the head to great affect on the Supercop figure around 1994.  The mold then disappeared.  The club resculpted a head based on the original for the 2006 convention set.  But, it was given an entirely new body.  So, there's a LOT of Slaughter figures for any fan to track down.

The Triple T set with Slaughter is still widely available for retail pricing.  Dealers have tried to split the figure out and you'll see a lot of them for sale in the $45 range.  But, they just don't move.  At that price, you're much better off just buying the whole set when it drops to $60.  Pulse figures just haven't taken on any aftermarket appreciation.  If we look back at the repaint era of 2002-2006, the o-rings from that time didn't really start to gain any traction until over a decade after their release.  Now, some are very desirable.  I doubt the Pulse figures will follow the same trajectory.  But, I also predicted the TRU figures would never experience great demand, either.  At the end of the day, this is the best Sgt. Slaughter figure.  If he's a character that matters to you, buy one at retail and call it a day.  

2023 Fail Safe - Around The Web

I had grandiose plans for a more ambitious post today.  But, life and really cold weather intervened.  So, I dip into the 600+ drafts for something that's close to ready.  And, all this Fail Safe content just called to me.  Hard to believe it's been almost three years since the Skystriker was shipped.  Been four years since it was announced.  And, while the plane, itself, has all but disappeared from online content, a few figures from the set do continue to appear with frequency.  

Fail Safe is one such figure.  You'll see a ton of great uses of him in the photos below.  (I had just one photo ready to go.  But, don't see me getting him out for any more in the near future.)  He's a solid figure.  The quality is iffy.  But, the visual is pretty strong.  For a premium set figure, he's not terrible.  And, I'm glad he's still hanging on in the community.

2023 Fail Safe Profile

2023 Fail Safe by flatline54

2023 Fail Safe by joe_hunter73

2023 Fail Safe by gen_liederkrantz

2023 Fail Safe by darth beotch

2023 Fail Safe by Dok Sewage

2023 Fail Safe by evilface

2023 Fail Safe by viper_space

2023 Fail Safe by flatline54

2023 Fail Safe by doksewage

2023 Fail Safe by yo_joe_it

2022 Cobra Commander

In 1997, Hasbro planned to release a newly colored Cobra Commander figure.  The release was going to use the classic 1983 mold and color it a deep, dark Cobra blue and give it golden highlights.  It was both an homage to the Hooded Cobra Commander coloring and also a needed repaint of a figure that, really, didn't get a lot of use.  The Cobra Commander mold had been used for Chinese releases as recently as 1994.  Other figures in that series would later appear.  But, for some reason, Hasbro could either not locate the original Cobra Commander mold or it was damaged and unusable.  Regardless, the 1997 release of the character used the 1987 mold.  Then, for the next decade, Hasbro released the Cobra Commander character a multitude of times.  But, it was never in his classic 1983 look.  While Hasbro remade figures like Mutt, Lady Jaye and Scrap Iron, they never bothered to make a new 1983 Cobra Commander mold.  

The reasons for this are likely just tied to money.  Hasbro would sell 20,000 sets of 6 figures to Toys R Us if the Cobra Commander was an expensive, remade 1983 figure or if it was an easily accessible repaint of the 1992 Talking Battle Commanders mold.  So, they had no incentive to really revisit the original Cobra Commander mold.  I don't agree with the premise.  But, at least there's some business reasoning behind it.  Leaving one of the most iconic molds in the Joe line's history, though, did seem like a misstep.  But, the helmeted look was parroted in both the JvC era figures and the Anniversary style releases.

When Factory Customs became a thing in the late 2000's, the focus was on army builders.  But, one of the earliest figures made was a re-do of the 1983 Snake Eyes.  This figure was repainted into a variety of colors: almost exclusively as Cobra characters.  This release proved there was a market for underserved characters, even if they used molds that Hasbro had repainted nearly a dozen times.  So, the quiet calls for the classic Cobra Commander to return began.  But, the Joe market slimmed in the early 2010's and only a handful of new factory custom molds really appeared.  Around 2016 or so, Red Laser Army joined Black Major as a second factory custom faction.  RLA was heavily character focused and was glad to create obscure characters and figures for their library.  With RLA producing a couple of dozen figures per year, the calls for Cobra Commander to return grew louder.  But, again, they were simply not to be.

As 2021 ended, Hasbro debuted the Skystriker as a Haslab.  After a few slow weeks of sales, Hasbro tossed in a Cobra three pack of figures. Among them was, finally!, a 1983 Cobra Commander figure.  The Haslab figure was going to feature the poorer, but collector loved Mickey Mouse logo.  But, the appearance of the mold in this set all but guaranteed that we would see a wide release Cobra Commander in 2022.  And, in the late summer of that year, Hasbro delivered a carded Cobra Commander figure.  With it, Hasbro produced a toy that is very much the definitive figure for the character.

The original 1983 Cobra Commander figure is extremely well done.  However, as they head into their fifth decade of existence, the original figures have become overly brittle and tend to discolor with even a hint of heat or light exposure that occurred during their lifetimes.  So, premium Cobra Commander figures demand premium prices.  And, even if dropping over $100 isn't a concern for you, the reality is that the purchase is still going to be fragile and not something you're going to want to take out into the garden for some photos all that often.  Enter this 2022 version.  It's everything the 1983 figure is, plus a little more.  It is fresh and bright.  And, his thumbs are flexible and aren't going to snap with slight pressure.

The aesthetic of the figure is nearly identical to the 1983 original.  The bright blue is in line with the vintage color.  And, he features black and red highlights that offset the silver facemask.  The Pulse figure, though, also adds in some white details.  There is a white patch on his head.  And, his waist detailing is also white.  It's a small add.  But, it brings a ton of new color to this mold.  In comparison, the 1983 now looks a little basic as it lacks the coloring to really stand out.  It's a nice differentiation between the two figures.  It's different enough to matter.  But, it's similar enough that the figures are completely interchangeable.  And, for a modern remake, that works.  Had we gotten a dozen 1983 Cobra Commander figures released between 1997 and 2005, I'd be more critical of one that's such a close homage.  But, really, a new Cobra Commander to replace the original was badly needed.  And, Hasbro delivered upon that quite well.

This Cobra Commander is odd in that he is not carded with his classic "hair dryer" gun that appears on his card art.  Instead, he is given a new rifle that is based on a cartoon  design.  It's actually pretty nice.  Personally, I don't see it as a fit for Cobra Commander.  But, it does look excellent with the Baroness.  But, collectors were not to worry as the iconic weapon was still included in the total package.  All the Pulse releases included a tissue paper bundle of additional accessories with every 2 figure set.  And, for Cobra Commander, the extra gear was a wealth of amazing additions to the Joe line.  Sure, he got his classic pistol.  But, there were also 2 other pistols based on cartoon designs.  It also included Cobra branded binoculars, 2 computer pads that are detonators and timers and a golden Cobra staff.  Finally, the Commander features an abundance of gear that was worthy of and sensical to the character.  Best of all, none of it will snap his thumbs.

As this figure is a recent release, it's not really something that has tons of memories associated with it.  Sadly, missing out on this mold during the heyday of the repaint era prevented it from really mattering in my collection.  I was far more likely to use another Cobra Commander mold because there were so many of them and those figures weren't brittle or discolored like my 1983 version.  With this 2022 release in hand, though, I have found myself photographing it quite a lot.  The original Cobra Trooper mold is one of my personal favorites.  And, this Cobra Commander mold is the perfect complement to it.  So, I do use this Cobra Commander more than pretty much all of the other Pulse era releases because he brings life to photos using repaints/remakes of other, classic molds.  It's nice to be able to use Cobra Commander again, even if he was never a really big part of my collection.

I've been very critical of the Pulse releases.  I don't hold many of them in all that high of esteem.  It's not true for this Cobra Commander, though.  I feel he is, exactly, what the Pulse figures should have all been.  He is a solid replacement for a very expensive, brittle and easily discolored vintage figure.  Of the Pulse figures, only Stormshadow also fits those criteria.  (Only, Stormshadow got used quite a bit in the repaint era and has some alternative figures for collectors.  The Commander didn't.)  The Pulse era got a lot of things wrong.  But, they got this Cobra Commander right.  And, they should be lauded for that.  My lament is that we didn't get more figures like him in the series.  But, like the legacy of the repaint era, we do have to enjoy it when Hasbro got a figure really correct and hit on all accounts.

Of the three Hasbro Pulse figure packs, I felt the Duke and Cobra Commander was the best value.  The figures featured tons of paint applications.  And, the extra gear was abundant and matched to the characters.  The price, since you had to pay for shipping, was still, probably, too high.  But, it's also the reality of the collector based product.  Of course, though, the packs didn't sell through, even with a raised limit of 5 per collector.  Hasbro sold off their remaining overstock of the packs to other online retailers.  There, they still sit, unsold.  And, while I'd love to pick up a couple of extras of this pack, I just can't find $50 worth of value in having those extras.  I had hopes the overstock would show up at Ollie's in 2023.  But, they only got the leftover Wal Mart Hiss Tanks.  We'll see what 2025 holds.  At $18 or so for the 2 pack, I'd buy a whole lot of extras.  But, so would everyone else.  In the summer of 2024, the packs were dropped to about $30 by some online retailers.  Even the 25% discount wasn't enough to move the product, though.  And, I still have just the one loose set.

My fear on this figure (and all the Pulse era releases) is that they won't age very well.  The 2000's Joes are discoloring at alarming rates.  (I don't think there are any 2005 Scrap Irons left whose don't have discolored upper arms.)  And, many of the figures will crack now that they've aged a bit.  The soft plastic of the 2020's figures is similar.  So, I fully expect to find this Cobra Commander with dark upper arms or yellowed legs when I take him out for photos in 2031.  And, that is one reason I'm not too keen on spending a ton to acquire multiples of the figure.  I hope I'm wrong.  But, Hasbro seems more interested in selling remakes of existing figures to replace discolored versions from just a few years prior.  But, if Cobra Commander some day becomes available again, that wouldn't be the worst fate in the world.

Hasbro has, so far, released this mold twice.  While the Mickey Mouse figure from the Skystriker is considered the "premium" figure by the community, I also think that it exists in very similar numbers to this Pulse figure.  We don't know the Pulse figure's production numbers.  But, they were high enough to not sell out while also low enough for a few, small, independent toy dealers to buy up the remainder.  In the early 2000's, figures like this saw production runs between 16,600 and 20,000.  We know there were around 16,500 Skystriker figures.  So, I would expect this Pulse figure to exist in slightly larger numbers than that.  But, it will be interesting to see which figure commands collector attention in the future.  The Mickey Mouse figure holds cachet as people associate it with "rare" figures.  But, this Pulse figure is substantially better.  We'll see which wins out.

Since this figure's release, factory custom makers have also tackled the Cobra Commander mold.  There are now dozens of colorings of it available: with both helmet and hooded heads for each scheme.  Some are amazing, some are inventive and some are just weird.  But, if you wanted a rainbow of Cobra Commander figures, you now have options outside of Hasbro, too.  Super 7 has even tackled the character in multiple releases in the first few waves of their ReAction+ line.  Personally, I think the head is very off.  But, you might find additional value looking at the character in this new styled format.

With this figure still available for "retail" pricing, it's extremely tough to find open market sales.  If you do luck upon one, though, this Cobra Commander is pretty worthless.  You can get the set of him and Duke for under $20.  But, it might take you 6 to 8 months to find someone willing to take that kind of hit.  But, the 2000's era Toys R Us figures were often below retail for quite a while before they took off and are now overly expensive.  With this Cobra Commander being so well done, it's likely to have a following in future years.  But, nothing is going to happen until the retail stock is bought up and people who want the figure have no option but to buy second hand.

2022 Cobra Officer - Around The Web

It was great to get an updated Cobra Officer in 2022.  But, the figure really had some problems.  Aside from wonky eyes, the figure's knee won't bend all the way.  It's a sad fate for a figure that should have been a solid contender for one of the best updates of the Pulse era.  Today, you don't see this figure as often as you'd think.  You're still more likely to see a vintage Cobra Officer in various photos than you are this newer version.  Even today, you can buy all of these figures that you want for less than original retail.  It's one of those things you'd have never guessed: especially if you lived through the army builder craze of the early 2000's.  So, stop by and check out those who do use the 2022 Cobra Officer.

2022 Cobra Officer Profile

2022 Cobra Officer by gen_liederkranz

2022 Cobra Officer by atwooddan

2022 Cobra Officer by dashiellrfairborne

2022 Cobra Officer by viperwilson

2022 Cobra Officer at ToyHabits.com

2022 Cobra Officer by offc0ur5e

2022 Cobra Officer by viperwilson

2022 Cobra Officer by gijoe_guy

2022 Cobra Officer by viper_space

2022 Cobra Officer by toysorceress

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

2024 Ghostbusters O-ring Figures - In Package

This is a good product.  For $44, it's properly priced and the packaging is a perfect combo of collector friendly and space conscious.  I'm not a huge fan of the "retro weathering".  But, it's consistent with the retro offerings from Star Wars and gives a vibe...I guess.  Even if they never do another o-ring homage with a media property, it's awesome that these toys exist.

The figures are what they were supposed to be.  The price is right.  I can only image Joe 4 packs that had been done in this format and at this price.  Maybe they'd still be viable.  But, I hope this Ghostbusters set sells out and inspires Hasbro to take more chances like this.  Hell, they could reuse the Ramis and Murray heads in a Stripes 4 pack.  Until then, though, we can enjoy an o-ring set done right.

2022 Snake Eyes

If you've been collecting since at least 1997, the last thing you need is another all black Snake Eyes based on his original 1982 design.  The character has been released at least 5 times in the repaint era in a mold and color combo that's the basic 1982 Snake Eyes but with some colored details.  So, you probably already have plenty of figures to represent the original Snake Eyes.  So, there's no real reason for this 2022 Snake Eyes to be part of any collection.  But, this brand newly molded figure does feature some aspects that haven't been seen in 40 years.  And, frankly, one of the updates makes this guy very worthwhile.

Back in the early days of collecting, everyone wanted a 1983 Snake Eyes with some painted details.  And, Hasbro delivered on that.  Every take on the original Snake Eyes mold released between 1997 and 2022 featured some painted details to bring some extra oomph to the mold.  What Hasbro never did, though, was make another all black Snake Eyes.  Really, there wasn't a reason to in the early 2000's.  For most of that time, the original Snake Eyes figures were relatively abundant and most of the collector focus was on the 1985 version.  But, in 2022, a newer collector base who had come online in the three or four preceding years did have a need for the vintage look.  

And, let's face it, 1983 figures aren't holding up all that well after 40 years.  (Though, the original Snake Eyes doesn't discolor ,can't have paint wear and, generally, has aged the best of the original 13 figures.)  But, it is nice to have a fully black Snake Eyes with the original waist that also has the softer plastic hands where you don't need to worry about breaking thumbs.  But, that's a pretty niche use for this figure.  Personally, I prefer Snake Eyes with some painted details as I think it's a more realistic look.  I break out the vintage figure specifically to photograph the vintage figure...not because I like the all black visage.  Even among my vintage figures, I'm more wont to use the Action Force Stalker figure just because the grey highlights make for a better photo.  So, there's not a compelling reason for me to really break this guy all that often.

But, I'd be remiss to not comment on much the original style waist piece on this figure enhances his visual representation.  I'm not someone who hated the 1986 Roadblock waist that debuted on the 1997 Snake Eyes releases.  But, seeing the figure more as it was originally intended really drives home how much care and thought the original Joe team put into their creations back in 1982.  The precision with which the parts fit shows a level of skill that is not replicated today.  But, back when you'd sell a quarter million copies of your worst designs, you could afford to take extra time and care on every piece.  But, seeing the figure in a much closer representation of how it was originally intended  is a big step forward and makes this figure worth owning.

The release mechanism for this Snake Eyes wasn't great.  You got him and Stormshadow in a 2 pack, boxed set for $40.  The set featured the following packaging: an outer brown shipping box, an inner, decorated box with character artwork and the actual carded figures themselves.  Since it was online only, it also then shipped in another cardboard box.  That's a LOT of packaging that collectors had to pay for.  And, $20 per figure seemed exorbitant when super articulated The Vintage Collection Star Wars figures were only $13 at the time.  (The greater Star Wars production numbers are mostly offset by the licensing fees Hasbro pays.)  Personally, I'd have preferred the character artwork box either replace the vintage cards or been removed with just the vintage cardbacks made available.  It would have been a cheaper option.  But, 2022 Hasbro was still riding high on the pandemic era collectibles bubble and they were almost not wrong in thinking people would pay nearly any price for nostalgia.

For some reason, the box art packaging for this figure does not look like the actual toy.  Instead of the 1982 Snake Eyes appearing on the box, we see the 1985 Snake Eyes mold.  Why is this?  Well, we have no reason or explanation as to the gaffe.  Truthfully, the 1985 Snake Eyes would have been a better choice since he has a sword to fight Stormshadow and it hasn't been released by Hasbro since the figure was discontinued at retail in 1986.  Seeing other box art mistakes, though, leads me to believe that Hasbro just made a mistake with artwork as it was commissioned separately from the toy.  Rather than worry about it, they just released it as is.  And, with an obscure, online only release, the questions and complaints were buried by social media volume in a matter of days.  And, now, no one really cares because for Joe collectors, it's always been about the toys and, maybe, the single carded presentation for the figure.

There are plenty of options for a Snake Eyes with a similar appearance to this one.  Aside from the plethora of releases during the repaint era, there are swivel arm versions available from Funskool in India as well as straight arm versions from Brazil, Argentina and Mexico.  Even Black Major has released a multitude of V1 Snake Eyes repaints.  Hasbro has yet to repaint this newly sculpted Snake Eyes and it seems extremely unlikely that they ever will.  It's sad as they could have done a couple of cartoon repaints that would have been well received.  But, factory custom makers have really done a bang up job in maximizing both the original Snake eyes mold and the 1985 version.  So, you can find pretty much anything you'd want out of those molds through those avenues.

In talking with a few other collectors over the past year or so, I've found it odd that we've become very nostalgic for earlier times in the collecting world.  The early 2000's were when most of us really got involved in the Joe world.  And, that was a great time with the advent of online forums, a new comic, widely available Funskool, an irrational number of new toys from Hasbro and widespread availability of cheap and plentiful vintage toys.  The Joe world went into some doldrums around 2006 through 2009 or so as the world and the internet evolved.  The early '10's, though, saw the emergence of a new, more creative collector base.  Vintage was cheaper than it had been even 5 years earlier.  And, the rise of factory customs seemed to invigorate the base.  This was a great time, too.  Slowly, though, those communities that appeared began to migrate to the new social media sites of the era.  And, as algorithms downplayed long term engagement, those communities fell away.

So, this leaves me to wonder, will we have the same nostalgia for the subsequent period of collecting?  The Joe world changed drastically in 2018 when the Netflix toy propaganda series dropped an episode on Joe.  Suddenly, pickers and dealers got an inflated sense of Joe's popularity and prices skyrocketed as they bought up supply and priced it high to cash in.  The pandemic threw gasoline on that fire for a year or two as homebound people starting collecting...well...everything.  And, while we've seen falling prices for a while, they're still not really down to reasonable levels since the supply of inventory is so restricted.  During that time, Hasbro brought back a few items for classic collectors.  But, really, this is the Classified era.  But, the focus of Classified collectors seems to be buying and owning the figures instead of really being creative with them.  Will that lead to an era that has a future renaissance?  Maybe.  But, it does seem like we're on last vestiges of the vintage Joe era.  But, it felt that way in 2007, too.  So, we probably have another hurrah left in us.  I just hope it sparks another era of new creative forces instead of stale discussions about who should star in the next movie remake.

Quality wise, these Pulse era figures are OK.  The plastic is softer than vintage. Which is a great thing for thumbs and crotches.  I have no fears of snapping Snake Eyes' thumb when I put his weapons into his hands.  So, that's nice.  As this Snake Eyes has no paint apps, there's no concern over the paint rubbing away.  On other figures, I worry about paint loss because the softer plastic has lead to softer paint that isn't as sturdy the paint used on vintage Joes.  Being all black, I'm also not concerned about discoloring with this figure.  The soft plastic that Hasbro has used so far this century has not held up well.  Blues and whites turn yellow very quickly.  But, we haven't see that with the black plastic.  So, this Snake Eyes will probably hold fine in that regard.

One area where the Pulse releases did excel was in the accessory complement.  This carded Snake Eyes includes remakes of his vintage Uzi and explosives pack.  This gear had been mostly absent from the original Snake Eyes repaints after 1997.  So, it was nice to get it.  But, in addition  to that, there was a small, tissue paper wrapped package inside the bottom of the character art box.  Inside were some additional, loose accessories for Snake Eyes.  These included a 2nd classic Uzi as well as the Uzi, sword and backpack from the 1989 Snake Eyes.  There was also a standard figure stand.  This additional gear was a definite value add for the overall package.  I'll always take extra Uzis  based on the 1982 mold.  I do wish they had remade the 1985 backpack and sword instead of the 1989 since the '89 molds were used so often during the early 2000's.  But more gear is better than no gear.  And, the extras give some indication that Hasbro had at least some awareness that collectors would open a few of these figures.

When Snake Eyes and Stormshadow first went on sale, they quickly sold out.  This appeared to be the end of the availability of the figures.  But, as orders were processed, the set came back in stock.  And, it stayed in stock for months.  It stayed in stock so long that in June of 2022, Hasbro had a promotion where you could get 40% off if you bought two of the sets.  (Well, at least $75 of Hasbro qualifying product.)  But, it's a stunning blow to a line that seemed poised to finally have a supporting adult collector base.  Instead, it's slowly being proven that the Skystriker was a speculative fluke and that vintage Joes just don't have the cachet to survive for long at retail, even as a niche, collector oriented and premium priced product.  Snake Eyes did, eventually, sell out.  He never showed up at specialty, online retailers who bought all the extra Duke/Cobra Commander and Cobra Trooper/Cobra Officer two packs.  I'm not convinced that we've seen all the Pulse stock of vintage style Joes make its way through the retail supply chain.  But, the figures remain cheap, even if you can't just buy them from retail stock.

Currently, a mint and complete 1983 Snake Eyes will run you between $65 and $70.  A far cry from the $100+ of just a couple of years ago. But, that's still a pricey figure for one that is rarely susceptible to minor wear.  So, this 2022 remains a much more affordable option for a nice rendition of the original Snake Eyes look.  Carded sets with Stormshadow sell a bit under their $40 original retail price.  But, sales are few and far between since the collectors who stashed extras haven't been compelled to sell at the below retail cost prices...yet.  It's unlikely that this figure would reach his retail price at an open sale.  So, you can wait him out and probably get one for a lot cheaper a few years from now.  If you love the early look for Snake Eyes, this is a figure you probably should own.  But, at the same time, if you have a nice 1983 version, there's not really a compelling reason to track down this more recent edition.

2024 Sgt. Slaughter & Leatherneck Transformer

 Sgt. Slaughter himself posted this photo today.  It shows the long rumored Sgt. Slaughter and Leatherneck Triple T that is also a Transformer.  We all knew it was coming.  We all knew what it would look like.  And, now that it's here, it's exactly what we knew it would be.  Which is to say, this breaks no new ground.  

If you have a 1986 Leatherneck (which is a cheap and easy to acquire figure), you don't need this one.  It's nice to have access to a Slaughter baton.  But, this thing will run between $80 and $100.  You can easily get any version  of Slaughter, complete with a vintage baton, for under this price.  Triple T vehicles remain cheap and easy to find.  Some discolor, especially on the engine cover.  But, they're still not a difficult thing to acquire.  

So, really, what purpose does this serve?  It's great that Sgt. Slaughter remains involved in the brand.  But, there's nothing here that really speaks to collectors.  And, with the, arguably, more collectible Thunder Machine with Zartan and Zarana rotting at every online retailer, I really wonder who the audience for this product actually is.  Joe fans leave these behind.  Transformers fans do, too.  If Hasbro got weird, these wouldn't do any worse.  A green and purple Megatron that turned in the Cobra Bugg might actually sell out.  This...won't.

I've never waited for clearance for any Joe o-ring product.  I've regretted that decision terribly.  I've found almost no value in the Pulse era releases of vintage inspired Joes.  And, this product does nothing to alter that.  So, I think I have my first item where I will wait for clearance.  And, should this be the one item that sells out and I can't get for 1/3 the retail price, I'm OK with that.  I don't need to be a completist any longer.  And, I'm not convinced that these modern remakes will deteriorate at a slower rate than the already 40 year old originals.  

So, I'm left with what feels like the end.  Hasbro has finally released enough sub-par o-ring products that I've lost any interest in what they've done.  I'm OK with simply letting them go.  And, I'm one of the biggest marks for vintage style Joe figures that is still left in the community.  I've never even bothered to open the Zartan/Zarana.  Not even the scathing profile on the worst Joe figure ever released is enough to get me to pry open the box that's collecting dust in the bottom of a tucked away, basement closet.  Even at a steep discount, this Sgt. Slaughter/Leatherneck product will face the same fate.

O-Ring Ghostbusters Figures - Not an Early April Fools Joke

We all know that 3 3/4 o-ring Joes have been a retail flop.  Hasbro canned a planned 2 pack and we haven't seen any new packs in a couple of years.  The Transformers crossovers are collecting dust at every retailer who was dumb enough to buy them.  And, Amazon can't give away the Transformers sets for a fraction of the original retail price.  What if, though, the issue with the vintage Joe style is not the 40 year old engineering.  But, instead, it is the property on  which the style is used?  

Well, we're about to find out.  Hasbro threw a curve ball at Wondercon on 3/30/24 that no one saw coming.  They will be releasing a 3 3/4 o-ring set of the original Ghostbusters figures.  Now, I won't pretend that I ever wanted Joe compatible Ghostbusters.  But, for the right price, they are something I'll buy.  From the mock up image below, the figures look decent enough.  The heads will likely be a little overdetailed to be 100% matches for vintage Joes.  But, the rest of the bodies look like they were stripped straight from a 1983 Doc.  

It will be interesting to see how these do.  The Ghostbusters Haslab funded almost immediately.  So, there's a fanbase.  And, since everything but the heads and Bill Murray's lower legs look like reuse of the same parts, Hasbro doesn't have a ton invested in the tooling.  The proton packs look like 1982 Joe gear with the attached hoses.  They should be more pliable than the old Hasbro accessories.  And, I'm unlikely to be all that invested in their quality when these proton packs turn 40.  

As a kid, I wished that every toy line and property was available in Joe construction.  If Hasbro starts looking at other properties that could be ported over to classic construction, I wouldn't hate that.  But, I'm also unlikely to fully support every product released in the style.  But, if Joe isn't viable in the vintage style, I'm OK if other licensed characters are.  I'll approach them much like I do Kickstarters and Factory Customs.  If something's cool, I'll buy it.  But, I'll easily skip anything that doesn't really speak to me.

I'll be very curious on pricing.  If they price out at $22 each like the Pulse Joes, they will be a tougher buy for me.  If they're in the $13 range, they're much more palatable.  Supposedly, there is a compatible Ecto-1, too.  Getting an all new 3 3/4 compatible vehicle will be nice.  Though, the Ecto-1 is so iconic that it would be tough to integrate into a Joe collection.  But, cool toys are cool toys.  And, so far, these look OK and are a direction that isn't terrible for a company like Hasbro who has really struggled over the past couple of years.

(Update - it appears the figures will run about $44 for the set.  If so, that's an amazing price.  And, it also means that we paid $10-$11 extra per figure for the Pulse o-ring Joes....)

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.