Rarities - Brazilian Hydro Viper (Estrela)

Estrela produced about 140 unique figures in their Comandos Em Acao line.  While collectors really focus on the amalgamations and drastic repaints, the bulk of the Brazilian line was figures that were produced in colors very similar to their Hasbro counterparts.  In general, it seems that the figures were meant to copy the original Hasbro colors.  But, nuances in plastic coloring between China and Brazil lead to slight differences in all of the figures that Estrela produced.

At first glance, you might not notice that this Brazilian Hydro Viper is different from the Hasbro version.  But, put side to side, the figure's brighter colors stand out.  Aside from that, there aren't many other differences.  What is interesting is that the Hydro Viper and Toxo Viper both were produced by Hasbro, Estrela and Funskool.  And, both figures remain very similarly colored across all three countries.  The Brazilian Toxo and Hydro Vipers are brighter colored.  The Hasbro figures are in the middle.  And, the Funskool figures are much darker purple.  So, there's a level of consistency there.

To me, the slight nuance of Estrela figures makes them collectible.  And, in recent years, the more mundane Estrela figures have become much more common and available.  Sadly, though, they haven't come down in price and the heyday of cheap Brazilian figures from the early 2010's is just a fond memory.

Rarities - Funskool Calcium Sandoz Figures

Funskool is notorious for producing their figures for a variety of corporate tie ins.  As they are owned by a rubber company who makes its fortune in tires, they have a bit different approach to product tie ins that a major American toy company may have.  In many ways, Funskool's corporate partnerships in the 1990's and early 2000's were reminiscent of Hasbro's and Kenner's from the 1970's and 1980's.  Along with Pepsodent, Complan and TV marketing deals, Funskool also worked with Calcium Valdoz for a series of figures based on G.I. Joe molds.

I'm not sure what Calcium Sandoz is.  It's a supplement of some sort that was discontinued in the UK in 2015.  But, in an effort to get children in India to take it, the company that produced the product worked with Funskool to offer some G.I. Joe figures as a promotional opportunity.  The figures were different from classic Funskool releases in two ways.  First, most of the figures are unique color schemes to the Calcium Sandoz premium.  But, more interestingly, all of the figures have a new pair of straight arms on them.  Below you can see some samples of the figures and the exclusive color schemes that go with them.

Hydro Viper:

The Hydro Viper is one of the best recolors of the line.  This blue version would be a great crew-member on a Moray.  The terrible arms, though, mostly ruin what should be a classic repaint.  It's too bad that this color scheme was never offered with the swivel arms on the standard cardback.

You can see a sample of Stormshadow in the photo below.  He is missing the classic cammo pattern from the 1988 mold.

Funskool Calcium Sandoz Stormshadow Figures

You see that the arms are not the original Hasbro molds for straight arms.  For some reason, these figures were all given these new arms.  This is odd as the copyright for these figures is from 2003: a timeframe when we know that Funskool was still producing carded G.I. Joe figures and had full access to the original molds.  Below you can see a Captain Grid Iron figure with the exclusive coloring as well as the back of the insert card showing not only Grid Iron's bio, but the copyright date, too.  Also note that his colors are drastically different than the carded figure variants.

Funskool Calcium Sandoz Captain Grid Iron Figure

Funskool Calcium Sandoz Captain Grid Iron Insert & Bio

There are a lot of different figures in the set.  I'm not sure of the entire roster.  I have included the figures of whom I am aware in this post.  But, please let me know of additional figures in the comments below.

Blaster:

Here you will see Blaster with a body colored like the "Vehicle Driver" Blaster that was found bagged inside of specific vehicles in the early 2000's.  It's appearance here actually helps us understand how such a variant came to appear in vehicles.  But, this figure also uses the color scheme from the 2001 Funskool General Hawk.

Deep Six:

Deep Six is colored very similarly to the single carded figure.  There are some variants on this figure with plastic that's more translucent or opaque.

Desert Scorpion:

This Desert Scorpion is an interesting combo.  He has unique lower arms that are still the straight arms.  The figure's general base colors are similar to the single carded figure.  But, the figure lacks highlights and has some color differences such as the color of the figure's head/antenna.

Star Brigade Sci Fi:

Again, Sci Fi has unique lower arms.  But, the figure is colored almost identically to the single carded version of the figure.

Lifeline:

Lifeline uses base colors similar to the carded figure.  But, this version is missing all the paint applications.  The Funskool Lifeline has very intricate paint masks an their absence here makes the figure look unfinished.

Psyche Out:

Like Blaster, this Psyche Out is in the colors of the mysterious "Vehicle Drivers" set.  But, this version has the terrible straight arms.  This color scheme for Psyche Out, but with the swivel arms, has been found in Funskool Halibna and Maldova promotional figures, too.

Big Boa:

Big Boa is blue.  As a figure, this is probably his best base coloring.  The head is also more silver than the grey version from the single carded figure.

The Calcium Sandoz figures have gotten to be stupidly expensive.  Bagged versions can run upwards of $500.  But, like most foreign Joes, these guys were easier to find just a couple of years ago.  And, now, many characters have all but disappeared.  However, as these were 2000's era releases, it's likely that there are more of them out there that will show up as kids from that time start looking to liquidate some toys. Until then, though, these guys are hard to find and expensive.

Rarities - 2000's Era Muskrat with Hydro Viper Arm

In the early parts of 2003, Funskool returned 18 molds to Hasbro.  These were many of the more desirable molds for collectors.  Hasbro immediately put many of them into production and the figures appeared in the Night Force set, the 2004 Convention set, the Urban Strike set and many others.  As Hasbro was gearing up molds, odd things would show up.

Below is a Muskrat figure from around 2004.  While most of this mold appeared on the terrible Dreadhead figures, it was also used for the VAMP Chief Torpedo figure.  But, the Muskrat head and character were never re-released.  The odd thing is that his left arm is from the Hydro Viper.  This implies that Hasbro re-acquired the Hydro Viper mold and, at least, tested it out.  However, the Hydro Viper never returned in any Hasbro offering.  Did the mold fail the production tests?  Was it deemed to expensive to produce with all the Hydro Viper's accessories?  Or, did Hasbro simply not think collectors would be interested in such a figure?

Considering the amount of molds that were used time and time again for the Toys R Us sets and Comic Packs, anything new would have been cool.  But, none of the former Funskool molds save the Dreadnoks were released with their original gear.  So, I could see how an unaccessorized Hydro Viper would not have been very well received.  Muskrat, though, is a different story.  There were lots of shotguns produced in the Joe Vs. Cobra era and any of them would have worked with the figure.  And, while the body did get use, I don't think an appearance by the full Muskrat character would have been derided by anyone.

Those answers are likely lost to history.  But, the figure below shows that Hasbro had a lot more molds available to them than they actually released during the 2000's.

1988 Hydro Viper

1988 wasn't a great year for Joe collectors. While most of the figures that were produced were pretty good, there really were no figures that stood out as fabulous. The Joe figures, though, were superior to the Cobras. Cobra had been treated bad in 1987 and got even more of the shaft in '88. Figures like the Astro and Toxo Viper were okay figures, but not the type of figures who could really be the cornerstone of the Cobra forces available at retail. (The enemy was saved, though, by the inclusion of the Iron Grenadiers.) The other Cobra figure available that year, though, was also rather bland: the Hydro Viper.

It really isn't fair to compare any figure to the original Cobra diver, the Eel. That figure is just too good for any other diver to ever be fairly compared to him. Unfortunately, the Hydro Viper doesn't compare well to any other Cobra Diver that was released. While the basic mold is nice enough and the pack, spear gun, and flippers are cool, it is the helmet that really costs this figure any shot at great popularity. Frankly, the helmet sucks. It just doesn't fit onto the figure in a manner that allows you play with him. With me, playability is the key. If a figure doesn't play well, he is doomed. Such is the case with the Hydro Viper. His helmet and hoses fall off way to easily for the figure to be any great fun. As such, my Hydro Vipers have found a life of display, but not use. Visually, the figure is very cool. The subtle purple uniform works very well and allows this figure some broad use in both fresh and salt water fighting. Of most important note, though, is the left hand of the figure. It is cast with all 5 digits extended and webbing in between them. It gives the impression that these guys have artificial claws embedded into their uniforms, as well as special webbing that makes them better swimmers. It is a level of detail that was never seen again in any released Joe figure. (Of course, that would have changed. Many of you have seen the pictures of the 1995 Dr. Mindbender prototype. He would have come with a deformed hand that would have created one of the best figures in the history of the entire line. It is a true shame that that figure never saw production.) Again, though, we come back to the helmet. With it on, the figure lacks something. It just doesn't fit well enough to have that tight look that enhances figures like Decimator, Aero Viper, Worms, Astro Viper, Airwave and Shockwave. While I know that collectors tend to disdain pre molded helmets, I think the Hydro Viper would have been better served by having the helmet molded onto his head and having accessories that just connected to it.

Over the years, I've picked up quite a few Hydro Vipers. While they look nice on display, I've never really used them. When I first got my pool, I took a couple of Hydro Vipers out into it. Almost immediately, the helmets and hoses detached and floated away. At that moment, I knew that these guys would never get lots of use. The Eel and even the Undertow figures hold themselves together quite nicely. With this guy's accessories going all over the place, I spent more time putting him together than I did actually using him. It is a sad state for a figure that is aesthetically pleasing and really should be able to be used. I think the designers took a chance with this guy. They knew what worked for the Eel as well as Wet Suit. Rather than keep churning out figures that were all the same, the decided to try something new. While I applaud experimentation, this is a case where it failed. When you look at figures like the Undertow, 1992 Wet Suit, and the 1994 Shipwreck, though, you realize that they learned from their mistake and did not repeat it. It may have created a figure that isn't all that great, but it did pave the way for some other future figures that were very nice.

There are a couple of very nice things about the Hydro Viper. First, he is rather easy and cheap to acquire. Like many of the '88 figures, he is readily available and is often mint and complete. The other nice thing is that Funskool produces a version of the Hydro Viper that is very similar to his American counterpart. YoJoe.com sometimes has the Indian Hydro Vipers in stock, but they are almost always available on Ebay for very low prices. Either of these alternatives allows you to easily build underwater armies without spending a whole lot. Of course, the low price is indicative of popularity. The Eel and Undertow are much cooler figures and receive much more collector attention. While I rarely use Hydro Vipers, they are still nice figures to have around. They help flesh out dioramas scenes and fill out the Cobra ranks. While I don't ever see these guys supplanting the more popular divers in people's collections, they are a figure that can have their uses. Even if it is only to build armies.

I really don't need any more Hydro Vipers. Who is your favorite enemy diver? Email me.