1986 Mission to Brazil Mainframe

As far as I can remember, I got to go to Toys R Us quite frequently when I was a child.  Part of that was that the local Toys R Us was in the same shopping center as the grocery store my mother went to every two weeks.  So, to bribe us for helping her push the cart and bag the groceries, my mother would often stop at TRU on her sojourns.  During the fall, we also had a weird conflagration of birthdays both in our family and among our friends.  So, we were always shopping for various presents.  I also suspect that my parents took us there on some weekends because it was a free way to get all three kids occupied for an hour without having to spend any money.  Regardless of the reasons, I spent a lot of time browsing the aisles of the local Toys R Us store.  

I knew the layout of the store.  And, was familiar with how the Joe section was stocked.  One day in the fall of 1986, though, I was treated to something new: a whole endcap packed solid with a bizarre box of five figures.  The set hadn't appeared in the catalogs for that year.  It was completely new.  Of course, I immediately picked it up and found that the set was actually four repainted figures of 1986 characters along with one "new" figure that I recognized as repainted parts from prior figures.  The colors on the figures were different and not really in line with the standard retail line of that year.  And, my first impressions of the set were to leave it behind and focus on other things.

In our repeated trips to the store, though, I kept going back to the Mission to Brazil set.  Each time, I'd take a box down, read over all the text and the thoroughly review the figures as best I could through the plastic.  I'd stare at it for longer and longer each time.  But, I never actually asked for it.  I've talked before about how the fall of 1986 is this weird missing memory for me.  Usually, I was all in on the newest, biggest Joe playset that was supposed to be found under the Christmas tree.  But, I have no memory of ever really wanting the Terrordrome.  It might have been fatigue and lingering disappointment at not getting the USS Flagg the prior year.  I might have known there was no hope in getting the Terrordrome.  So, it was futile to ask for it.  But, this leaves me a hole.  I have no recollection of what my big gift for my birthday and Christmas in December of 1986 actually was.  It might have been a new dirtbike.  I got one somewhere between 1985 and 1987.  But, I paid for half of it and it seems out of character for my parents to have left the other half of an item I'd been using for a while as my holiday gift.  It's a mystery that I'm not sure I'll ever unravel.

What I do remember, though, was the other gifts under the tree.  Among them were the Dreadnok Ground Assault, a couple of early release 1987 figures that we had found at the Toys R Us in the days before Christmas (Falcon and Cobra Commander stand out.) and one surprise: the boxed Mission to Brazil set.  My parents must have seen me looking at it, studying it and assumed it was something I wanted.  So, they got it for me.  

With these new figures in hand, though, I had a dilemma.  What would I do with alternate colorways of characters that were already fairly new to my collection and still in good shape and complete with their gear?  The answer soon came to me.  I viewed three of the figures in the set (Leatherneck, Wet Suit and this Mainframe) as nameless troops who shared the same specialty as the Joes from the retail line.  I explained that the Mission to Brazil colors were actually the official colors of these specialties.  But, the Joes were so good that they were allowed to wear different colors: even though the base uniform stayed the same.  So, with this, I added acquatic commandos (Wet Suit), Special Force commandos (Leatherneck) and Science Officers (Mainframe) to my repertoire of figures.  

The uses of these figures were varied.  Often, they were the ones to die during a battle.  Other times, they would be among the few survivors.  And, in special cases, some of them were promoted to full fledged Joes.  The enduring story from childhood on this theme involves this Mainframe figure.

As a kid, I had Cobra be more powerful than Joe.  This was a takeaway from the Transformers cartoon where the Decepticons (at least, ostensibly) were supposed to be more powerful of the two factions.  So, for me, Cobra had never ending equipment and troops and always had Joe on their heels.  With the arrival of the 1986 figures, though, the tide was turning.  Joe was getting better and Cobra was losing ground.  So, I came up with a story where Cobra could gain back their edge.  

I had long neglected the 1985 Sears SMS.  I had never found the missile launcher to be all that much fun since figures couldn't really interact with it.  (Though, the red Hiss Tank was a staple of all my battles.)  But, when I found it, I had an idea.  Cobra could now launch massive missile strikes from far away on Joe bases.  The first few attacks completely destroyed the bases and resulted in the deaths of countless commandos that were represented by the Mission to Brazil set.  As Cobra got closer to Joe's main HQ, the Joes had to find a way to protect their bases.  So, the bases became nothing more than a battery of guns and anti-missile defenses designed to stop an attack.  And, in a few cases, the Joes were successful in fending off a small strike.  But, Hawk knew it was only a matter of time before their defenses were overwhelmed with dozens or hundreds of missiles and the base would fall and many Joes would die.

It was then that Mainframe discovered a hidden secret in the missiles: they had an activation code.  This numerical code armed the missiles and kept their flight path true.  But, if you could broadcast the codes, you could disarm and deactivate the missiles.  It was an astounding discovery.  But, one that was practically useless because the sheer volume of numbers necessary to find the right code for every missile was impossible to broadcast in the short attack window.  The Joes needed to get their hands on an actual missile launcher unit and grab the software that generated the codes.  They could then use that to render the entire Cobra missile launch operation moot.

It's here that I'll interject.  When I was in middle school and junior high, I was a huge nerd.  I was a voracious reader and devoured information from any source to which I had access.  In 1986, I wanted to do a science experiment showing that chlorofluorocarbons would eat the ozone layer.  I even looked in science catalogs for ozone as a way to prove out a story I had seen on 60 Minutes.  I actually had notebooks by the TV to write down dates and addresses so I could send away for transcripts of shows that had stories I had found interesting.  And, because of this weirdness, I also had very few friends.  So, I spent most of 1986 and 1987 upstairs in my bedroom each day after school and on weekends: playing with my Joes in more and more complex stories.  I also listened to the local top 40 radio station.  To this day, many songs from that era bring back vivid memories of specific battles or adventures I was having with my figures while that song played in the background.

The result, though, is that I had a lot of things that were incorporated into my adventures that were surprisingly ahead of their time.  Some of this was from the Joe comic, of course.  But, my eclectic interests brought some fun ideas to the stories.  Regardless, Mainframe had a plan.  But, the Joes had to find an opportunity where they could capture one of the missile bases.  For several weeks, the Joes had near misses.  Sometimes, Cobra would just get away, pulling the launcher behind a Hiss Tank.  Other times, the Cobras would destroy the launcher, or just erase all the data on it and render it useless for the Joes' purpose.  Eventually, though, everything went right.

On this adventure, an unlikely group of good guys were in the right place at the right time to find a launcher.  They quickly attacked.  Among the group was a nameless Science Officer portrayed by this Mainframe.  Along with his bulky computer equipment, he also carried a Low Light Uzi from the 1987 Battle Gear pack.  In fact, the backpack and computer he carried were also Battle Gear because it was just different enough to make the army building figure be a bit more distinct than the actual Mainframe character.  Many of the good guys died during the battle.  But, the Science Officer displayed immense bravery and managed to actually get the codes from the launcher before Cobra destroyed it.  He and the surviving members of the party returned to Joe HQ.  With the codes in hand, Cobra's missiles were rendered useless.  For a short time, they would try to launch them from very closely proximate locations to the Joes and just hope that the short window was enough to get a hit.  But, the Joes were able to constantly broadcast the codes and that put the SMS back into a box where it would sit for a decade before I recovered it in the mid 1990's.

The Science Office was then promoted to become a full time Joe.  Back then, I would take apart all of my brothers' figures and make them into new, custom characters.  I had an old Mainframe head that would have been the basis for this new character.  But, I don't recall the character ever going anywhere.  I suspect that using Mainframe's head made him too similar to Mainframe.  And, the computer hub in my HQ was already manned by the carded, grey Mainframe and this red and tan version  from the Mission to Brazil set.  So, the actual character who grew from this adventure was lost to time.  But, that's kind of OK.  Really, some heroes are entirely forgotten.  So, to have someone who was so vital to a key part of my childhood story end up an anonymity is probably more true to life than any heroic deification.   

In the early 2000's, I tried my hand at a dio-story.  They were the rage of the time and I wanted to tell the story of this code adventure.  I changed it up a bit.  And, I used the 1986 Mainframe instead of a nameless character and the Mission to Brazil paint job.  I went to shoot it one afternoon.  And, I quickly realized that doing a dio-story was hard.  Trying to get the shots to tell the story was tough.  I found staging some of the scenes overly tedious.  And, adding the dialogue was just a nightmare: even with a full version of Photoshop on my computer.  I have a couple of photos left from that shoot that appear here and there.  But, they are mostly lost.  Somehow, they never made it into any of the various backups that I had built.  It's not really a loss.  The photos weren't great.  The dialogue was cheesy and disjointed.  And, I relied on every hackneyed cliché in the books to move the story along since my photography had so many gaps.  But, it was an homage to a vivid childhood memory.  A memory that I  feel, now, is better captured in narrative text than any image based story could ever hope to be.

The Mainframe mold had its share of uses.  Hasbro used it for these two figures in 1986.  From there, it was sent to Brazil where Estrela released it as Mainframe, too.  This figure is nearly identical to the Hasbro release.  The mold then went to India.  There, Mainframe was a staple of the early 2000's Funskool line.  The carded figure is similar to the Hasbro Mainframe in coloring.  (Though, is microphone is a different color.)  This Mainframe appeared in various promotional incentives that Funskool produced, too.  There is even an atrociously colored Halibna promotional figure that features a blood red chest with a huge black ink stain in the center, olive pants and helmet, grey boots, and the horrible straight arms that define Halibna releases.  The mold's final appearance occurred in 2009/2010 when Funskool included it in the final run of Funskool Joes that coincided with the G.I. Joe Movie's release in India.  

All of the Mission to Brazil figures are now expensive.  They're really not that rare.  I'd say they're much more common than 1988 and 1989 Night Force figures.  But, as vintage Joes go, they are on the lower end of the production number scale.  Since Mainframe utilizes gold paint, finding a truly mint figure isn't easy.  But, Mainframe is also the least popular of the Mission to Brazil figures.  So, that helps temper his pricing a bit.  Still, though, dealers will ask for $100 or more for a nicely conditioned, complete figure.  Left to his own devices, he's about a $60 figure, though.  It helps that his accessories are the same as the much more common grey, carded figure.  The difficult find is the filecard.  All the Mission to Brazil figures have unique filecards that are tough to find.  You'll probably pay $30 to $35 for just the filecard.  But, filecards aren't something that I feel are necessary to enjoy a figure.  But, this guy is still an expensive purchase for what he is.

The figure in the photos of this profile are my childhood figure.  I've never bothered to upgrade him.  Mostly, it's because I don't much care for the figure's coloring.  And, even when Joes were cheap, Mission to Brazil figures were more expensive and I'd always opt to get something new than upgrade something that was good enough since I didn't really care about him.  And, to be frank, the sentiment of knowing this is my childhood is enough for me to hold off on an upgrade.  I'm not usually the sentimental type and have long sold off my childhood Joes who were replaced by higher quality specimens.  But, this Mainframe is a figure that makes sense to remain in my collection for, at least, a little while longer.

Rarities - 1986 Promotion Image (Pre-Production Figures)

Every year, Hasbro would go to the New York Toy Fair.  Here, they would showcase a catalog of their upcoming year's worth of toys.  As the Fair was early in the year, the catalog would often feature early designs and pre-production figures from various toy lines.  Below is not the 1986 catalog.  I'm not actually unsure of the origin of this image.  But, it's not from the official Toy Fair catalog.  But, in this promotional image, you can see several pre-production figures from the 1986 line.  The 1985 figures are all production level.  But, there are lots of 1986 goodies to explore.

The most interesting thing, of course, is that Mainframe still includes the little stands that were meant for his computer.  The holes into which these would have been inserted did manage to survive on Mainframe's production computer.  But, the stand was never released.  It is likely this was done to save cost as the stand didn't really add any additional play value.  But, the artifacts of it's early existence are proved out by its appearance in this photo.

Most people viewing this will likely focus on the BAT that is in the front and center of the presentation.  You'll notice that it has a different chest hologram as well as a different head.  This head appears squatter and fatter than the sleek head on the production figure.  I think the production figure looks better.  But, your mileage may vary.

Hawk also features an additional paint application on his helmet.  The goggles are painted black.  It's a very nice additional detail.  And, while it would have been great to see it at retail, it's also not enough of a change to really notice it's missing.

Several of the figures feature alternate heads.  The BAT and Dial Tone's heads are the most jarringly different from their production counterparts.  There are also lots of subtle paint differences, too.  Some of these figures might have been hand painted samples.  The awkward posing on the 1986 figures suggests that they were not production level at the time the photo was taken.  

You'll notice that Iceberg, Leatherneck, Low-Light, Monkeywrench, Zandar, Zarana and Roadblock are all missing from this display.  I'm not sure why.  I can see Zandar and Zarana being later releases while they finished up the color changing.  (Zarana is noted in some material as featuring a color changing "mohawk" which never came to be.)  All of these figures, though, do appear in  the official Toy Fair catalog for 1986...with a few pre-production oddities of their own.  By the time of the Toy Fair catalog, though, all of the pre-production figures from this photo (except the BAT)  had been replaced with production figures: even while the missing figures remained pre-production in that later photo

Stormshadow was also carried over into 1986.  This makes sense for one of the most popular G.I. Joe figures ever released.  There was a time when I was hell-bent on finding a grey Stormshadow filecard that would denote his 1986 release.  I can't recall if I ever succeeded in doing so or not.  But, check out that 6109 assortment that included Stormshadow.  You got Stormshadow, the 1985 Snake Eyes, Crimson Guard, Flint and the BAT in one case.  By Toy Fair, though, the assortment was modified to drop the Crimson Guard, but add the Eel, Low Light and Leatherneck.  That would have been a dream assortment to find hanging on the shelf at your local stores.

These old catalogs are a treasure trove of early designs and pre-production kitbashes.  In later years, Hasbro got better at including more production level figures in their materials.  At least until 1993 and 1994.  But, we'll talk about those at a later time.

Rarities - 2009 Funskool Carded Figures

Funskool stopped producing Joe figures in 2004.  Sales had been slipping for a while.  So, the line was cancelled even though Funskool had some additional new figures slated to appear later that year.  However, in 2009, Funskool fired up the molds again in an attempt to cash in on the G.I. Joe movie.  They re-introduced several figures from molds they still had in their possession.  While there were no "new" figures produced, they did create several more minor variants of their existing paint schemes.  On top of the oddball figure and accessory changes, each figure featured a new cardback with an explosion more akin to the pre-1986 version on Hasbro cards.

These figures were not heavily imported to the US.  Dealers didn't really bother with them as, at the time, most of the figures in the assortments were still pretty common.  And, many US dealers were still dealing with overstock from their Funskool buys more than 5 years earlier.  As there were no "new" figures in the assortment, there wasn't much incentive for anyone to really track them down.  A few people did import some cases.  And, those are the source of most of these figures today.  In 2009, no on really thought that Trip Wire would become a $200 figure.  But, the Funskool market of the 2020's has proven to have a short memory of what were once common and pegwarming figures. 

The assortment that was released doesn't really have a theme beyond the molds that Funskool still had.  We had a pretty good idea of which molds Funskool returned to Hasbro in 2003 just due to the last production run of bagged figures that Funskool ran.  But, seeing Scrap Iron in here was a surprise.  But, we've long known that the 2004 Hasbro Scrap Iron was a brand new sculpt.  So, maybe his retention by Funskool shouldn't have been so unexpected.

The cardbacks were updated to show the new figures that were put into production.  Some feature just 11 figures.  While others feature 17.  There are 18 total figures in the series.  The one figure difference is because Funskool did not put the actual character who you were buying onto the cardback.  So, Scrap Iron doesn't appear on the Scrap Iron cardback while Blaster does.  But, on the Blaster cardback, Scrap Iron does appear but Blaster does not.

Desert Scorpion

Back in February of 2001, the Funskool Desert Scorpion was among the first cheap Funskool figures I ever bought.  The Desert Scorpion is another figure that doesn't have many variants.  It's also a figure that's gotten somewhat expensive in recent years.  This later release doesn't appear to be materially different from the earlier figures, though.  This figure features the 11 back card.

Budo:

Budo has a variety of subtle coloring variants.  He also has an upper arm variant.  You'll note the very dark hair on this version and that his upper arms do not have the red pockets.

Scrap Iron:

In 2004, it was somewhat assumed that Scrap Iron was returned to Funskool.  However, when the 2004 Scrap Iron figure was released by Hasbro, it was obvious that they had made an all new mold for the character.  Funskool kept the figure.  Scrap Iron was among the first Funskool figures to appear in the 1990's.  After he was taken out of production, he appeared again in 2002.  Now, he's also appeared in the 2009/2010 timeline.  

Blaster:

Blaster is one of the biggest and easiest variants to notice.  The Roadblock machine gun has been removed and replaced with a black version of Mercer's rifle.  It makes you wonder if Funskool returned the 1992 Roadblock gun mold to Hasbro when they returned the figure mold.  And, if that's the case, it really makes you wonder why Hasbro didn't release it with either of the 1992 Roadblock repaints they released in 2004 and 2005.

Deep Six:

There's no obvious differences between this Deep Six and those made earlier.  Surely, though, there are slight shading differences.

Dialtone: 

The original Funskool Dialtone has an upper arm variant.  There are color shading differences on his chest, too.  As the Tunnel Rat mold was returned to Hasbro, this 2009 version features different upper arms than the most common early 2000's era figures.

Tripwire:

Tripwire is probably the most desirable figure from the 2009/2010 releases.  While he was always interesting, the figure has taken on a spectacular aftermarket appreciation in recent years.  This late version features the new explosion back but also has a variant filecard.  The 2003 era figures have a more closely cropped picture of Tripwire on the filecard.  The figure itself does have variations on the "Bomb Squad" text on his chest.

General Hawk:

There are many variants on General Hawk's red/orange highlights.  So, it's likely these are different than the earlier releases.  As General Hawk debuted in 2001, most of his figures tend to be of very poor quality and feature bad paint masks and construction issues.  I do need to pick up one of these General Hawks and see if the quality is improved.

Mainframe:

Continuing the theme, Mainframe is pretty similar to his earlier releases.  Funskool Mainframe's are one of the few figures that's not known for its variants.  But, with just grey, black and silver, there's not a lot of color matching to create noticeable differences.

Wild Bill:

Wild Bill also debuted in 2001.  And, there are two main variants as the figure can have either black or silver sunglasses.  For the 2009 releases, all of them I've seen have featured the black glasses.  This is another figure, though, I'd like to compare to my earlier samples to find any other changes.

Croc Master:

Croc Master features quite a few shading differences among his figures.  It appears that the wrist guard on his right arm is a darker grey than earlier figures.  And, his upper arms appear to be changed, too.

Cobra Commander:

The Funskool Cobra Commander figure never really got popular.  That's likely due to the fact that the collectors who knew this mold as the character didn't really come of age until after the era of cheap Funskool was long over.  The original Funskool figure isn't know for variants.  And, this figure appears very similar to the original.

Sci Fi:

Sci Fi is known for his belt color variations.  This version would have to be checked against the earlier figures.  But, it's likely there's another variant in the later production run.

Lifeline:

Lifeline is another once common Funskool figure that has seen a sharp upturn in popularity and pricing in recent years.  I'm not sure why.  This version features yellow arms with a green chest.  I got this same combo back in 2001.  But, this 2009 version likely has color shading differences on his green plastic parts as well as the painted highlights.

Psyche Out:

The Funskool Psyche Out is great because it's an easy and still somewhat cheap way to get a complete version of this figure mold.  The Hasbro version has gotten expensive.  But, the Funskool has stayed affordable.  Sadly, though, the figures made in the early 2000's are starting to badly discolor, even if they've been taken care of.  Hopefully, the 2009 plastic is different.

Dodger:

The Funskool Dodger is fairly obscure.  Even during the Funskool heyday, you didn't see him often.  His face paint looks a bit different than the earlier figures.

Blocker:

Blocker doesn't appear all that different from his original release.  His card art features a weird dart coming out of his gun with some bubbles around it.  There are likely color shading differences between this figure and the earlier releases, though.

Quick Kick:

The Quick Kick mold has been around forever.  And, the Funskool variants have a ton of sash and belt color variants.  

There's the 18 figures that comprise the later run of Funskool figures.  At this point, Funskool could still have these molds and make more figures in the future.  Or, the molds could be gone.  We're not sure.  The fact that classic Joes didn't appear to coincide with the Snake Eyes movie in India, though, implies that there probably isn't a domestic market for these figures any longer.  Though, I wouldn't mind if Hasbro got a couple of these molds back and put them into production.  But, that will never, ever happen.

1986 Mainframe - Around the Web

In 1986, computers were novel and big.  But, it shows how forward thinking that Joe was when they included Mainframe as a computer specialist.  The figure is solid.  The grey body was a rarity at the time and the silver and black highlights make for a pretty solid figure.  For me, Mainframe was always an older guy who had great wisdom that was of benefit to the Joe team.  There's a decent amount of material on the figure/character out there.  Here's the best of him from around the web.

Mainframe Profile

Mainframe Video Review

Mainframe at JoeBattleLines.com

Mainframe at 3DJoes.com

Mainframe at JoeADay.com

Mainframe & Zarana by GI_JoeisThere

Mainframe by Otto the Otter

Mainframe by Flatline

1986 Mission to Brazil Mainframe - Around the Web

The Mission to Brazil set is a childhood favorite that was instrumental in the formation of the stories that make me a collector today.  The Mainframe figure is probably the weakest entry of the set.  But, he's still visually appealing for something different.  Here's the best of him on the web.

Mission to Brazil Mainframe Profile

MTB Mainframe at JoeDios.com 1

Mission to Brazil Mainframe at JoeADay.com

MTB Mainframe at JoeDios.com 2

Mission to Brazil Mainframe at 3DJoes.com

MTB Mainframe at JoeDios.com 3

Mainframe at Joe Wiki

Mainframe at Destonnes2Toys (French)

1986 Mainframe

Periodically, I look through my older profiles to see if there is any information that I should update. When I do this, I often fill in some of the gaps in the profiles. These days, a profile is substantially longer and more structured than some of those early works. From time to time, I find a figure where I simply feel that the original profile doesn't do the figure justice. In those cases, I'll often add in addendums to the original profile. In some rare cases, I've actually profiled a figure a second time. Recently, I came across my old Mission to Brazil Mainframe profile. It was very lacking in information and was in need of an update. However, rather than spending time rehashing that older write-up, I thought it might be more fun to simply go back to one of the mold's other incarnations and start from scratch with an all new figure. Thus, the original Mainframe figure became the focal point of my most recent profile.

As a character, Mainframe was always interesting to me. When I originally purchased him, though, my initial interest was low since he did not come with a gun. This, though, was quickly rectified with some of the vintage accessory pack uzis that I had lying around. (This also gave Mainframe a link to Breaker as I had done the same thing with that figure in my earlier childhood.) This made the figure a bit more useful. As the grey, silver and black that comprised the bulk of the figure was eye-catching and somewhat unique at the time, Mainframe found his way into my Joe rotation. His status was cemented, though, with the release of the comic book where Mainframe and Dusty were showcased. This portrayed Mainframe as an older, wiser veteran. This was an idea that I took a step further as I made Mainframe the oldest of the Joes. (I also distinctively remember that the Transformers cartoon of the time did quick little profiles at the end of certain episodes that ran short. One was for Kup who was described as a "flinty, old warrior". That phrase came to describe Mainframe's character.)

Mainframe also played another important part in my childhood collection. His parts comprised my core group of 4 custom characters who were the main focus of my collection in late 1986 and early 1987. These four characters used parts from Snake Eyes, Barbeque, Footloose, Grunt, Recondo, Dial Tone, Heavy Metal and Flint. These customs became essential characters to my collection. They combined with the other 1985-1987 Joes to battle Cobra. Mainframe's parts were an essential ingredient in the mix that created these new characters. I upgraded and had another Mainframe as part of my collection, too. But these new characters were more combatants than Mainframe and saw more use in actual combat than Mainframe ever did.

Today, Mainframe is a figure who often sits in the base. But, beyond that, I just don't use him all that often. In fact, you can see the paint wear on my lone Mainframe figure as I've never really had occasion to acquire another one. From time to time, he does make it out a crew member of the Mauler. The grey color is a solid military color and works well with many of the realistically colored figures from the line's early years. In that role, Mainframe works well. Beyond that, though, I don't find much use for Mainframe. The figure is cool and the design solid. But, it's tough to use him as anything other than a support figure. That doesn't diminish the figure's quality. But, his specialty limits the amount of use the figure can expect to see.

Hasbro released their only two Mainframe figures in the same year. Both this original version and the Mission to Brazil version appeared in 1986. After that, the mold was discarded and, ultimately, was sent to Estrela where they released an exclusive Mainframe for the Brazilian market. This figure is nearly identical to the American release. After that, the mold appeared in India. Funskool produced another Mainframe for many years. Again, though, this figure is very similar to the American version. About the only thing it offers are some differently colored accessories. At this point, it is likely that the Mainframe mold is back under Hasbro's control. However, whether or not it is in a usable condition is unknown. Personally, I would like to see Mainframe return to the Joe lineup. The mold has some potential and it would be nice to see mainframe in some different colors.

Mainframes are neither hard to find nor expensive. A mint, complete with filecard figure can easily be acquired for under $11 or so. Mainframe was released during the height of Joe's popularity and even with collector sentiment on his side, simply can not overcome the sheer number of figures that are out there. But, I still feel that Mainframe is essential to any collection. The mold is solid, the colors are strong and the figure, overall, is definitely a winner. His look fits with figures from many eras and his specialty has only become more important in modern time. he is a figure that collectors should have as part of their collections. A cheap price and high quality figure make for a combo that everyone really should own.

1986 Mission to Brazil Mainframe

While the notion of a mainframe computer is highly antiquated in today's client-server world, the character of Mainframe was on the cutting edge of 1980's computer technology. Of course, while computers play a vital role in modern military operations, they really aren't all that much fun to play with in a military toy setting. The result is another forgotten figure who modern collectors seem to have just skipped over. Mainframe, though, is due at least some recognition.

I was torn between which version of Mainframe to profile. His original grey version is a much cooler figure and one with which the collecting community is far more familiar. The Mission to Brazil Mainframe, though, is a figure that I, as a child, used extensively. The original Mainframe was the master, but this figure represented the hordes of field science and computer troops who would tag along on various missions. He was my cannon fodder while the original was the hero. Of course, I quickly created storylines where the nobody computer officer saves the day, but the figure also suffered his share of terrible deaths as well. By using the figure as a common bloke, though, I made Joe more fun. I could still use the main characters as themselves, but also had the ability to expand the Joe ranks and have Cobra assess a few casualties. I think this was why Joe was so endearing. The figures lent themselves to whatever a child could desire. Without limits, the line was free to last for as long as it did.

Mainframe's accessories were pretty nice. (Note, the uzi is an accessory that I added. Neither the original nor this version came with any type of gun.) The pack and computer were realistic enough. The computer, though, had holes around the edges. It seems that at some point Mainframe was either going to also come with a stand for his computer, or some other vehicle or playset would have done so. I think that would have made the figure a little more fun to own since he always had to kneel down to use his bulky version of a laptop. The microphone is also nice, and is an oft-missing accessory on most of the Mainframe figures you now see for sale. Had they attached it to his helmet, though, I think this guy's appeal would be greater. Mainframe's main problem is that he is not usuable in very many situations. He doesn't look good as a pilot; can't really be used as a field combat troop; doesn't have the acoutrements to be used in specialized situtions (like Airtight); and doesn't fit in as a vehicle driver. The figure is really only useable as a computer operator in the Headquarters, Tactical Battle Platform, or some other similar playset. As I pigeon-holed him into such a ting role, Mainframe's popularity was short lived. After mid 1987, both versions were put away and still have yet to really see the light of day again. Perhaps if I get a shuttle complex, they will find more use, but right now, they never leave their drawer.

Like all the Mission to Brazil figures, Mainframe is a bit more expensive than he is worth. This color scheme is terrible and the figure has no weapons. Really, he isn't much fun. Still, mint complete specimens will run you over $15.00. Frankly, that's too much to pay. Had I not owned this figure as a child, I doubt he would be part of my collection. This is a figure that many collectors do have, but only due to his perceived rarity. Unlike the MTB Wet Suit, this guy is about useless except as a filler figure at the Headquarters computer terminal. There are much cooler, and cheaper figures that can easily be used for that purpose. He simply no longer holds my fascination like he used to. Should you spend a large amount of money to acquire this figure, I think your opinion of him will be the same after only a short while.

I don't need anymore of this guy, but would like a Claymore with an intact crotch. The rest of the figure can be trashed, as long as the Crotch is okay. If you can help, email me.