1993 Iceberg

Sometimes, a simple little change can be all the difference between a figure that is loved and one that is ignored.  The 1993 Iceberg isn't a figure you see all that often.  He's a definite downgrade from the 1986 character debut.  And, the figure's calling card of bright yellow highlights definitely hurt his appeal.  But, when you look at the original card art, you see that Iceberg was originally meant to look a bit different.  And, had those original coloring choices been followed, this version of Iceberg would be much more accepted in the collecting world today.  

If you look at Iceberg's card artwork, the figure should be amazing.  The details on the mold really pop.  His bullets are golden instead of yellow and all of his details are clearly visible.  The most important difference, though, is that the character's mask and gloves and details are green instead of bright yellow.  We can argue about whether green really works in the arctic.  But, the green highlights really look much better than the bright yellow. The figure on the card art would have some vehement fans.  The released figure, though, does not.  Many 1993 and 1994 figures seemed to have changes like this from the art colors.  Some may have been due to cost cutting and others may have been choices to brighten up a retail assortment.  But, in almost every case, the card art showcases a figures superior to the actual toy.

This is a shame as the yellow obfuscates a fairly decent Iceberg sculpt.  The chest has some heft to showcase the bulk of the cold weather coat and gear.  But, the sculpting of the ammo belt, powder horn, grenades, hoodie collar and fur accents on the gloves all show that Hasbro was still more than capable of making great toys in 1993.  Sadly, the yellow is a tough sell and really takes away from the quality of the mold.  It takes a figure that might be among the better 1993 releases and relegates him to near the bottom of that year's popularity.  Despite the classic character, solid gear and great sculpt, Iceberg languishes in obscurity: overshadowed by not only his original figure, but other cold weather figures like Snow Storm and Frostbite who were his contemporaries.  

My only real memory associated with this version of Iceberg comes from a random lot of figures I bought off Ebay back in 1999 or so.  In it was a figure with this Iceberg's head painted olive green atop a 1990 Big Ben body.  As lazy customs go, it wasn't bad.  My main takeaway, though, was how well the head was painted.  It was only after scratching at it a bit that I could tell the painting was done by a steady handed person instead of a factory.  I bought the lot because it was dirt cheap and included a bunch of accessories as well as a full Night Viper body with a Laser Viper head.  Back in those early collecting days, you could find lots like that no one wanted because they were "ruined" figures from later molds.  I still have the parts sitting in a box buried in a basement closet.  Someday, I might put the head to a different use.  

Aside from the yellow highlights, Iceberg also features some brown painted snowflake designs that are meant as cammo or just eye-filler.  I get the idea of snowflakes.  And, really, they kind of work as a means of breaking up the otherwise very brightly colored body.  They look, though, like the bullet hole stickers you'd see on model kits of the era.  So, when I look at the figure, I think he got shot up in a Bugs Bunny cartoon.  It makes me chuckle and prevents me from taking the figure too seriously.  But, if I put that association out of my head, you can see what the designers were going for.  And, they did succeed in making the figure more visually interesting than he would otherwise be.

Iceberg's gear is about as good as it gets for 1993.  As far as I know, Iceberg's weapon tree was unique to him.  It included resculpted versions of the 1988 Blizzard's rifle and pistol.  These were great throwbacks to earlier arctic themed figures.  Iceberg also included a machete from Muskrat and a knife from Hit and Run.  There is the requisite missile launcher, missiles and battle stand.  Iceberg also includes a snowboard.  This unique accessory puts him over the top for 1993 figures because Iceberg has something to interact with.  The "jet-powered" snowboard was an idea that Hasbro used often.  There's jet powered skis, missiles and snowboards throughout the line.  The absolute bonkers notion of such an item wasn't important to kids.  It was just fun.  The snowboard also has a variant where the G.I. Joe logon on the underside can be printed in both directions.  It's small, but something to look for. 

This Iceberg was also released in Brazil.  The Estrela made figure is named Pantano and is a nearly identical paint job to the Hasbro release.  Pantano is noteworthy for a couple of reasons.  Firstly, Pantano was also the name of the Python Patrol Copperhead that was released in Brazil.  The characters aren't related.  But, seeing the same name twice is fun.  Secondly, Pantano is a Cobra.  The masked face made for an easy affiliation swap.  And, Pantano joins many late run Brazilian figures who switched allegiances for their Estrela debuts.  Finally, Pantano's card artwork removes the green coloring from the figures's head and replaces it with yellow to more closely match the actual toy.  The artwork was also updated to remove the snowboard that wasn't included with Pantano.  The mold wasn't used again.  It's pretty likely that Hasbro had access to the mold in the 2000's.  And, while I'd have loved to have seen it in the Winter Operations set in 2005, the reality is that we're probably better off with the mold just having been used the two times.

Dealers will ask anywhere between $10 and $25 for mint and complete versions of this figure.  With the full set of accessories and filecard, the figure seems to be worth about $10.  Carded versions are higher priced than I would have thought, though.  They top out around $35...which seems high for an unliked figure from a late run year.  But, the once plentiful carded 1993 and 1994 Joes have heavily dried up.  So, you're paying a premium for low supply.  I'm not sure I'd drop $10 on this guy.  He's a neat look at what Hasbro was still capable of doing in 1993.  But, he's also a showcase of some wrong decisions from that era, too.  I've gotten out into the snow for some pics.  But, really, I'd much rather use the other cold weather figures from that era instead.  They just work better than the yellow highlights you see on this Iceberg.

The Celtic Boar - 1987 Iceberg Battle Gear Weapon

This profile is a little different.  It's not about a figure.  It's not about any particular release of G.I. Joe ephemera.  It is, instead about a weapon.  Not just any weapon, mind you, but a magnificent weapon around which I developed an intricate story.  The gun itself isn't all that special in terms of design.  Really, the only thing it has going for it is that it's big.  The Joe line is full of lots of large weapons: some more realistic and useful than others.  But, this one weapon had the fortune of being in the right place at the right time.  And, as such, it is one of the very few accessories around which I built a story line.  One of the things that kept G.I. Joe so relevant to me is that I was able to expand or contract the story at any given time.  But, the diversity in the line allowed me many avenues of play to explore.  In the course of that, I developed the idea of the Celtic Boar.

I got Iceberg in the summer of 1986.  He was of little use to me in the summer.  So, he evolved into a high ranking Joe who rarely left the Snow Cat.  When he did, though, he brought out his highly powerful and deadly accurate rifle.  Iceberg's included weapon was comically large.  So, I saw it as something special that few people would carry.  As 1986 turned to 1987, my Joe world took a different tact.  Now, the world was full of criminals and outlaws who were loyal to neither Joe nor Cobra.  But, could be hired by either.  Slowly, these groups formed integral parts of my ongoing Joe saga.  I'd have to come up with various plot devices to involve them, though.  Often, they'd run guns, secret battle plans or stolen money or treasures.  They would build out hodge podge vehicles that were scraps from older, broken toys.  And, the figures would be combinations of releases I didn't care for, figures that were badly worn or broken and kitbashes of various leftover parts from when I made good looking customs that supplemented my Joe team.  These ragtags, though, could be effective.  And, when properly utilized, could do things that changed the course of the Joe vs. Cobra conflict.

This all lead to the Celtic Boar.  It was the name I gave to Iceberg's rifle.  The Celtic Boar was an impossibly powerful and accurate weapon.  It had a range of over two miles: making it an overpowered and dangerous weapon for assassinations.  With it, a person could kill Hawk or Cobra Commander from so far away that they'd get away cleanly.  There were only a handful made before they were deemed illegal and forever forbidden.  Iceberg, being high enough ranked, was able to grandfather in his possession of the weapon.  No one else, though, could.  Soon, Celtic Boars became incredibly valuable contraband.  Cobra wanted them for anonymous assassinations.  The Joe team wanted them off the market.  And, the criminal syndicates wanted them for the well paying work that would come their way with the possession of a Celtic Boar.

It was actually the grey version of Iceberg's weapon that was included in the 1987 Battle Gear pack that gave rise to the story.  The less environmentally specific coloring made the weapon more useful to me.  But, it could be a thumb breaker.  So, I was reticent to use it with my top flight figures.  But, this accessory became a legendary part of my collection.  Cobra was able to murder a few politicians in the US by subcontracting the killings to underworld cartels.  So, the Joes became an investigative unit hell bent on finding the remaining Celtic Boars that were available in the world.  So, for a period of 1987, my Joe adventures entirely revolved around various Joe teams trying to find bands of outlaws who had the weapons in their possession.  Of course, this would end in chases through the city or high speed races on country roads.  The criminals had an advantage in that the Celtic Boar could cripple most Joe vehicles that were capable of any speed.  And, it was deadly should anyone get hit with a bullet fired from the weapon.  (I imagined that if a .357 Magnum could leave an exit wound the size of a frozen pot pie, thanks to Larry Hama's usage of the phrase in the comic, then a weapon like the Celtic Boar would simply blow a person in two or remove limbs if anyone was unlucky enough to be hit by a bullet it fired.)  So, the Joes had to be very careful when chasing down criminals in possession of the weapon. 

The one limitation I put on the rifle, though, was that ammunition for it was also banned and very expensive.  Often times, the possessors of a Celtic Boar did not have the ammunition to fire out of it.  And, if they did, individual bullets cost thousands of dollars.  So, it wasn't something to wantonly waste during their attempted escapes from the law.  Usually, the Joes ended up killing the bad guys in the chase.  But, there were times when the perpetrators were taken alive.  Then, they would go off to prison for the rest of their lives, maybe even be executed as the ownership of such a weapon as the Celtic Boar warranted that type of punishment. More than a few times, nameless characters (such as those portrayed by the Mission to Brazil figures) would perish in their pursuit of a Celtic Boar.  Often, this would give the criminals who murdered them names and reputations.  With that, not even Cobra would touch them based on the heat any association with them may bring.  This would give me some villains that were not Cobra who could stand against my Joes and help keep the conflict from growing stale.

When the weapons were captured or destroyed, they were marked off a list of known weapons that were manufactured.  In an interesting bit of characterization, though, I had a couple of well respected Joes keep one of the weapons that they captured.  Flint and one of my custom characters were both growing older and less involved in field operations were the most prominent.  In my world, they were rich men.  Both of them kept a Celtic Boar for their private collections and kept them under lock and key in their secluded East Coast estates.  (Remind me to some day write about the "Family Antiquities Act" and how that law helped shield rich and successful people like Flint from the same consequences of owning illegal items that ordinary people would face.  Yes, I actually created a different code of laws for my Joe world.  I was/am a nerd.)  So, at times when the Joes needed something like a Celtic Boar and Iceberg was not available or would not go along with the mission, the Joes could get access to one without having to scrape the underworld for one of the missing weapons.

In this story, you can see many of the influences that shaped my world in the late 1980's.  My Joe world featured history and familial patriarchy that was similar to that still found in Europe.  The ability of the rich and powerful to skirt laws were a result of things like Iran-Contra and the financial scandals of the day coming to light.  And, the existence of powerful criminal syndicates were a function of the propaganda spread in the various "Just Say No" campaigns that kids of my age were subjected to.  It all evolved into a rich world full of stories to tell.  If I wanted straight military, I could get it.  But, if I wanted something a little different, the Joe line offered me the flexibility to make it happen.

Today, the Celtic Boar is just a relic of my childhood.  The 1987 grey Iceberg weapons sits in a plastic sandwich baggie with some Sgt. Rock bazookas, Corps! rifles and other, oddball accessories that had accumulated in my collection by the mid 1990's.  Every now and then, I'll see it and am reminded of the adventures which centered around the weapon.  But, neither that weapon nor the original from the 1986 Iceberg retain any real place of importance in my collection.  But, that's OK.  It allows me to remember some fun times.  The dark green carpet of my bedroom remains vivid in my memory.  I can still recall the placement and color of all the furniture in that room, even though it's been 35 years since it existed.  Things like the Celtic Boar remain mnemonic devices to help cement the memories of the mundane.  Just writing out this profile reminded me of various parts combinations who comprised the figures of the various smuggling cartels.  

The upside to the 1987 Battle Gear is that the weapon coloring wasn't terrible...at least for some of the weapons.  This Iceberg rifle is dark grey.  It really doesn't mesh with Iceberg due to this color.  But, the grey is far better for other figures than the white version from Iceberg.  Other weapons in this set that feature the grey color are the 1986 Viper rifle (which quickly found itself with the Motor Viper) and the Beach Head machine gun.  There were some pistols, too, which also found themselves being used by the various bad guys.  There was also brown gear.  Some of this was nice.  And, I used the Leatherneck gear with the Mission to Brazil figure as it both fit and allowed me to give the 1986 a grey Leatherneck rifle that I thought looked great with him.  There's some weird cream colored gear, too.  In the grand scheme of things, the weapons in this set were about as useful as those from other years.  But, the greys, of which this Iceberg rifle is a part, are about the most useful, non-original color that gear like this could use.

Battle Gear weapons remain among the least desired and cheapest accessories to acquire.  You are starting to see 1983 Battle Gear parts gain some appreciation in price just due to their similarity to the originals.  And, for many collectors, these weapons remain a useful way to augment their gearless figures from 1982 and 1983.  There are a few, select parts from later sets that have some popularity.  And, the fact that many of the 1984 and 1985 pieces are useful with factory customs from Red Laser's Army has made some of the helmets and oddly colored visors more desired than their contemporaries.  Generally, though, you can still get these pieces cheaply.  Since the colors tend to clash with their intended figures and not really integrate with other releases of their time, though, most of the gear will never really have the desirability of original pieces.  The legacy of Battle Gear is that it was an innovative concept that probably helped kids get more weapons and assisted parents and relatives who wanted to give a cheap gift.  But, the odd colors and weapon choices left the concept as one that was underutilized and could have been better executed. 

1986 Iceberg - Around The Web

The 1986 Iceberg was one of the key characters of my late childhood.  His position among the Joes in my world transcended anything in the cartoon or comic.  It progressed to the point where only Iceberg could carry the overly large rifle that was included with the figure and anyone else found with it could face a capital sentence.  Post childhood, though, the figure hasn't been much more than a guy I take out on the rare occurrence when there's snow on the ground.  But, the figure is great and there's lots of awesome content featuring him that's out there.

1986 Iceberg Profile

1986 Iceberg by SteelBrigade

1986 Iceberg by gijoe_for_fun

1986 Iceberg by Falcon Chile

1986 Iceberg at Nekoman's Viper Pit

1986 Iceberg by badger23actual

1986 Iceberg at JoeADay.com

1986 Iceberg by Scarrviper

1986 Iceberg at JoeBattleLines.com

1986 Iceberg by Flatline

1986 Iceberg at We Had That Stuff

1986 Iceberg by Flint

1986 Iceberg at Noe Back to G.I. Joe

Rarities - Asian Bootleg 1992 and 1993 G.I. Joe Figures

I've saved the oddest item of all for last.  In the late 2000's/early 2010's, carded bootleg examples of 1992 and 1993 G.I. Joe figures started showing up in Asia.  They were on cards mimicking the vintage carded look for G.I. Joe.

The figures sometimes attempt to be similar to the colors shown on the card artwork.  In other cases, they are very off.  But, the figures are spectacularly bad.  They are definitive bootlegs if only for their horrendous quality and garish design.

Below you will see ten of the figures offered.  There may be more.  I'm not sure of the origin.  But, some figures, like Cobra Commander can be interesting due to the different paint jobs.  I own the Iceberg figure, but have never gotten around to opening him.

These figs were dirt cheap when the first appeared, often selling in the $5 MOC range.  Today, they are still relatively cheap with the most popular figures running around $20 for a MOC figure.  As an interesting display piece, the figures have some value.  But, they are really, really awful in terms of quality.

1986 Iceberg

In the first part of 1986, I was on a hell bent crusade to find all of the newly released Joes at retail.  In fairly short order, I had most of the new releases.  But, as with prior years, there were a few figures who eluded me.  As spring turned to summer, though, I wrapped up my new figure quest.  Among the last figures I acquired was the 1986 Iceberg figure.  You may wonder what a kid is to do with an arctic figure in the summertime.  I certainly did.  While I had plans for him when winter finally came around, acquiring him in the summer ended up defining the Iceberg character for me in a completely different way than any of his media.

In the summer of 1986, I found refuge from the heat in my parents' basement.  My mother was loathe to use air conditioning unless the temperature was above 90 degrees.  So, on the humid days where the mercury didn't climb that high, I found the basement was substantially cooler than the rest of the house.  At that time, we had a large room at the bottom of the basement stairs.  The stairs served as a de facto separator where the right side was for my father's model train setup and the left side housed an air hockey tables that, mostly, was covered with camping gear that didn't fit into the small "incinerator" room that had once housed the coal stove used to heat the home in a bygone era.  Filling the alcove created by the small incinerator room was a custom built bar.  It was beautifully designed with high quality wood.  It had a swinging door by which you entered it.  But, the bartop itself was hinged so that it could fold over the door, locking the bartender behind it and anyone else on the outside.  It had been a great play feature with my brothers for years and there was always at least one toy pistol hidden inside one of the drawers on the backside of the bar itself.

It was this bar, though, that became the focal point of my summertime refuge.  It became a Cobra fortress.  A fortress the Joes had to siege and capture.  I laid out all of my Joe toys on the rug in front of the bar.  There, for weeks, various story lines played out where the Joes tried to destroy the fort and Cobra along with it.  In this large scale battle, different toys came into play.  I had a high quality Snow Cat from 1985.  And, despite the fortress not being the arctic, the Snow Cat's weaponry was badly needed by the Joes.  This lead to Frostbite getting a promotion as I saw him as a strategic commander in this operation.  When I added Iceberg to my collection that summer, his natural fit was in the second seat of the Snow Cat.  (My Snow Job figure had long died a broken thumb and crotch death.)  From there, Iceberg was elevated to Frostbite's second in command and became one of the higher ranking Joes who conferred directly with Hawk, Flint and other custom members of my G.I. Joe command.

In this role, Iceberg became someone who was not a combatant, but a strategist.  He rarely saw combat and almost never left the cockpit of the Snow Cat.  His large rifle played into his character.  I had it as a very rare, high powered rifle that was the only small arms weapon capable of hitting a Cobra on top of the fortress from the ground.  Not even Low Light's sniper matched his range.  (Later, I took this concept further and even gave Iceberg's gun a name.  Smugglers and criminals would attempt to steal the weapon due to it's potency.  Laws were enacted specifically to punish anyone in possession or Iceberg's rifle and I had elaborate stories of bands of scofflaws stealing the weapon and then attempting to escape capture while in possession of the contraband weapon.)  With that, Iceberg's character became cemented as something completely different than I had originally planned.  When winter rolled around, Iceberg still never left his Snow Cat.  I have no specific memories of taking Iceberg out into the snow and ice.

But, in his advisory role, Iceberg never blossomed into a warrior.  He was a thinker who would pull out his rifle for specific purposes, infantry missions not being one of them.  In this role, I began to think of Iceberg as older than the average Joe and pretty much out of combat age.  As such, he didn't get much use.  Politically, he was well connected and would often appear in the command center of bases.  But, I never really used him in the vast majority of my adventures which often either involved small teams of Joes escaping masses of Cobras or the full Joe team repelling a full on Cobra assault.  With that, Iceberg fell into obscurity and never attained the popularity of some of his contemporaries.

As a collector, I had a decent Iceberg left from childhood.  He went into the Snow Cat on display and stayed there for many years.  At some point, I realized that the figure needed an upgrade.  So, I actually went without an Iceberg for a while.  I didn't miss him.  In looking at the figure now, the mold is well designed and the colors match for arctic conditions.  There's no reason why he didn't become useful to me other than the fact that he entered my collection in the summer and found a niche that superseded his arctic proclivities.

Iceberg's sculpting is good.  His hat is part of his head and not removable, but this wasn't much of an issue as the first removable headgear arctic figure would not appear until Blizzard donned the shelves in 1988.  The chest mold is good.  The shoulder holster and grenades are well done.  The fur collar somewhat limits the figure's parts usage in customs, though I still think it would have a better Comic Pack Clutch in 2004 than Mace did.  But, the figure gets bland after this.  His legs are just, basically, white with just a knife molded to one.  The big knock against Iceberg is his lone accessory: the large rifle.  It is, in and of itself, just fine.  However, most 1986 Joes included an ample supply of gear.  Even those who only included a gun and pack had well detailed packs that gave the figure a bit more heft.  Plus, Snow Job had included about the best complement of accessories for any figure up through 1986.  Getting the same amount of gear with the carded Iceberg as you got with the vehicle driving Frostbite was very disappointing.

Iceberg has a decent history.  He was released in the U.S. in 1986 and 1987.  He then reappeared as mail away and convention premiums in the early 1990's.  But, these may have been overstock from the '80's rather than new production.  In the mid 1990's, Iceberg was shuffled off to India.  There, Funskool produced a panoply of Iceberg variants for both India and Egypt (under the Nilco brand name).  The first Iceberg figures were nearly identical to the U.S. figure.  But, Funskool then changed Iceberg's race and released a Caucasian Iceberg figure.  This skin color was released in several different color schemes, many involving pink and red.  Funskool Icebergs are among the most fun foreign variants to collect because there are so many and so many of them are just bizarre.  In 1997, Hasbro got the mold back and released the 1997 Iceberg figure.  Oddly, though, that ended the mold's appearances.  Despite the parts lending themselves to many repaints and Hasbro producing a plethora of winter themed figure and vehicle exclusives, Iceberg never made it back to retail.  It's too bad as more could have been done with the mold.  The fact that he appeared in 1997 also proved that Hasbro had access to him.  So, his absence is one of those great mysteries of the 2000's.

Iceberg figures are very prone to discoloration.  Dirt, finger oil and sunlight are all natural enemies of white plastic on action figures.  As such, finding a truly mint Iceberg can take some doing.  But, he was introduced during the height of Joe's popularity and was produced in more than ample numbers.  Dealers will price mint and complete with filecard Icebergs in the $8-$10 range.  The general market is even more lenient on pricing.  While you do find lots of discolored figures in the lower price ranges, you can also find mint and complete Icebergs that are gem white for under $5.  For those prices, there is no excuse as to why someone would not have an Iceberg in their collection.  The abundance of winter gear that was available in the 2000's makes it easy to outfit Iceberg in better accessories and makes him that much more desirable.  Iceberg no longer holds the place of importance that he once did in my collection.  But, he's among the solid second tier of figures who fill valuable specialties with the Joe mythos and who make the Joe line as spectacular as it is.

Funskool Iceberg (Caucasian Version)

I've profiled race changing figures before. Excellent Brazilian figures like Flying Scorpion and the Black Vulture used a race change to create a new character of remarkable contrast to the person represented by the original mold. However, both of these figures utilized relatively minor characters from which to draw their molds. As such, the figures don't look out of place. In this case, though, the race change has been applied to a classic figure whose character did not change. What we are left with is a truly bizarre, yet strangely cool, foreign repaint. While not the most major character to ever have his race altered by a foreign toy company, the Funskool Iceberg is one of the most remarkably different figures who, beyond one simple change, is the same. While that may sound a bit odd, looking at the photos below will give you an idea of how stark a contrast this Caucasian version of Iceberg is from his African-American original release.

Funskool has offered us race changing figures before. Why they started this practice, though, is a bit of a mystery. You see, the first wave of Iceberg figures produced in India were actually of African-American persuasion. Shortly after this, though, the figure's complexion was changed to the Caucasian figure you see below. This is odd for a number of reasons. One could say that African-American figures may not be popular in India. However, Funskool currently produces a Roadblock figure whose race remains as it should be. Perhaps the change was made for more economic reasons. It could be that the plastic needed to create an African-American figure is more expensive or more difficult to find. Therefore, Funskool chose to eliminate it from as many figures as possible. Again, though, the existence of Roadblock in the Funskool line really makes this implausible. I guess the real reason is buried in some Funskool executive's head. Whatever it is, though, I would like to know.

In my collection, the Iceberg character has long been a major player. Back in '86, my focus was on arctic missions. Cobra was spending all of their energy in arctic locations and the Joes found their cold weather members of the team to be the most important. As such, Frostbite and Iceberg became the two most influential Joes in most situations. (I have always used Snow Job as a Joe army-builder and not an original character.) They lead legions of American troops against Cobra's highly trained Snow Serpents and were quickly promoted for their success. From there, Iceberg went on to become a full ranking general while Frostbite went into politics, though his career has been rocked by scandal. To this day, I see Iceberg as more of the arctic leader of the Joes rather than a true grunt. He still comes out to fight, from time to time, but is now more mired in the duties of being a high ranking officer and does not have the time to remain true to his combat roots.

This figure, though, gives my Iceberg figures a new life. He is starkly different enough that I can use this Iceberg figure as a faceless Joe greenshirt who helps flesh out my large army of V1 Snow Job figures. He does not infringe upon the characterization that I have given to Iceberg but still allows me to enjoy the mold without the encumbrances of the backstory I have chosen to give the character. As this mold is highly detailed and indicative of the time and effort that were put into the Joe line in the mid-'80's, that is a very good thing. As I use this figure as an army builder, it is very easy to put him into action in a variety of situations. Even as a new character, though, this figure is so different from the American Iceberg that you could easily put them in a scene together and not have to worry about them being confused for the other.

There are many variations of the Funskool Iceberg. As I said earlier, the first version of this figure made by Funskool was African-American. That figure was also exported to Egypt and sold there under the Nilco name though the figure was manufactured by Funskool. Shortly after this, though, Iceberg's complexion was changed. Of the Caucasian figures, there are several paint variations. The most noticeable, beyond the changing skin tone, are the torso color variations. The version you see below is very similar to the American Iceberg. He has blue and green trim. Other Funskool Icebergs also have the trim in pink and red. These figures are very odd in appearance and are more in line with what many people associate with Funskool. Beyond these major differences, there are also several variations on the figure's goggle trim. I think I've seen at least 5 variations of this figure. Knowing Funskool, I would guess that there are probably at least 5 more still out there just waiting to be discovered.

Finding a Caucasian Funskool Iceberg isn't too tough. Many dealers have carded samples for sale in the $15-$25 range. Seeing as how this figure hasn't been produced since at least 1997 (when the mold was returned to Hasbro), that's not too bad of a price. With a little searching, you can even pick up three or four different variations of this figure all in the same price range. As this figure is a significant variation and is very well done, I highly recommend taking advantage of this pricing and acquiring this figure now. He has been an excellent addition to my collection and I think that, even though he is a never popular arctic soldier, you will like him as well. Iceberg personifies many of the qualities I look for in foreign releases. Being able to still find figures that are so different like he is at still affordable prices is becoming harder and harder to do.

I'm always interested in out-of-production Funskool figures. If you have any available, please let me know.