2004 Night Force Roadblock

The 2004 Night Force set featured a nice set of molds that were recently returned from Funskool.  Flint, Beach Head, Action Man and Tunnel Rat were fresh from India and Hasbro were keen to get them into production.  The set was augmented by the 1989 Downtown mold.  These five figures all meshed quite well in terms of style and bulk.  The 6th figure in the set, though, was the odd man out.  Instead of using another mold that was also of the ball headed style, Hasbro tossed in an older, swivel headed mold.  And, it was a mold that had been used twice in the prior three years.  By the time of the Night Force set's released, collectors were tired of the 1984 Roadblock mold.  It had been released enough times.  And, the last thing collectors wanted was another version of it that was also missing the classic accessory complement that was iconic to the Roadblock character.

In 1984, Roadblock was bulky.  The figure's torso was design to showcase Roadblock's muscles and size.  In looking at him through the lens of 2004, though, the limitations of this design show through.  Hasbro got much better at figure sculpting as the line progressed and figures like Roadblock, while important stepping stones, show the age of their design.  He was out of place with the other figures in the set.  The fact that Hasbro tried to use paint to cover up the fact that the original had a lot of exposed skin also made the figure's visual just seem odd.  He lost the muscle tone that was implied by his exposed flesh.  Even in 2004, Roadblock was the least popular member of the Night Force.  And, his inclusion was the most questioned by the collecting community.

I was one of those who found little purpose in the figure.  I get it that Roadblock was a hugely popular character at the time.  But, Hasbro had just gotten back the 1992 Roadblock mold.  (We didn't know it would re-debut just a few months later in the Anti-Venom set.)  And, they had used the 1986 Roadblock mold in 1997, but never given us an actual Roadblock release using that body.  Seeing the 1984 sculpt so close on the heels of the BJ's Roadblock and the 2001 Double Blast just felt like laziness.  And, that colored the perceptions of the Night Force set.  Roadblock was enough to suck some of the joy from a set that, otherwise, featured molds collectors were clamoring for.  

Hasbro's ability to paint figures grew quite a bit between the vintage Joe line and the early 2000's.  And, Hasbro took several opportunities to showcase just how far they could push the paint applications on figures.  The Night Force is one of the best examples from a retail release of that time.  Roadblock features six different colors on his body.  And, the Night Force cross pattern shows just how intricate Hasbro could be with their paint applications.  But, one of the things that the new paint proved was that, sometimes, less is more.  The Night Force figures are so elaborate that they're too busy.  The details become distracting.  And, what could be great figures end up somewhat diminished because they simply tried to do too much.  If Roadblock had more solidly colored pants with the patterned shirt, he wouldn't seem quite so distracting.  The same is true if the Spider-Man webbing were removed from his torso and the digital cammo on his legs remained.  Hasbro outsmarted themselves on several figure sets in the 2000s where they did too much.  Then, they overcorrected and did too little.  It was rare to find figures that were just right.  But, when they did hit, Hasbro was still capable of making figures that surpassed much of the vintage line.  This Roadblock, though, just wasn't one of the figures that accomplished this.

One of the things that the reuse of the Roadblock mold proved was just how important the proper accessories were with some figures.  The 2001 Double Blast used this mold and included almost all of the original Roadblock's gear.  And, as such, he's an acceptable (but boring!) repaint.  Once Hasbro removed the helmet, pack and proper machine gun, though, the limitations of this Roadblock become apparent.  I've hated this figure for 22 years.  Yet, when I finally slapped a black version of his pack on him along with a 1985 Battle Gear helmet, the figure is actually useful and can be a nice version of Roadblock to drop into photos.  

But, you have to have your own accessory store from which to outfit the figure.  The 2004 Night Force was notoriously light on accessories and all the figures included common gear that had been recently used with other figures instead of classic accessories that were intended for the molds.  Roadblock was a typical offender.  Instead of his "Ma Deuce", Roadblock included just two rifles.  Neither fit the figure.  One was the classic 1984 Firefly sub machine gun...a weapon far too paltry for Roadblock.  The second is the 1990 Big Ben rifle.  Once upon a time, this was a great weapon that was fun to have around.  By 2004, though, it was overused, overexposed and generally hated by collectors.  It also didn't fit the character.  I can't reiterate enough just how much this 2004 Roadblock is improved with a helmet and the 1984 Roadblock machine gun, stand and backpack.  Fortunately, the weapon, pack and stand were all released in bulk during the 2000's.  So, they are an easy acquisition you can get to improve this figure.

With the added accessories, I've come to not hate this figure.  But, I also still don't have any uses for it.  I much prefer to use the 1984 figure or even Double Blast when I want this mold in a photo.  This Night Force version is nice to intermingle with other 2000's era figures.  But, Double Blast is better for that, too.  That leaves this Roadblock on the outskirts of my collection.  He's just not a guy who has a lot of purpose.  And, he's so out of place among his team that he doesn't even fit there.  So, I have the photos of him I took for this profile.  That's the extent of the usage I've gotten from him in over 20 years.  That's not much of a legacy.  If you don't have a Double Blast, though, the Night Force Roadblock isn't a terrible stand in.  But, then you have to go out and find some new accessories for him.  And, that's not really worth the effort.

The 1984 Roadblock mold was only used by Hasbro.  But, it was used a lot!  The figure debuted in 1984, got a 1988 Tiger Force repaint and then proceeded to appear in 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2005.  The parts (mostly the arms) were used on a multitude of other figures.  The torso even appeared on the 2006 Tommy Arashikage figure.  The 2001 repaint (which, technically, was Double Blast) was OK, but not materially different from the 1984 figure.  The 2002 Gift Set figure is an odd blue color that appears more Cobra than Joe.  (There is also an unproduced version of this figure available in red.)  The comic pack figure from 2005 is equally bad as it uses pastel yellow as the base and has a terribly sculpted new head.  Even this Night Force figure has an unproduced variant where you can find the figure in white pants.  In short, Hasbro overused the mold but still never managed to make a good repaint of this Roadblock.  Thankfully, Hasbro moved on to the 1992 Roadblock mold for their repaint mania and collectors were spared additional, bad repaints of this 1984 mold.

Despite the fact that this Roadblock, you know, sucks, dealer pricing is high.  Incomplete figures sell for $12-$15 with alarming regularity since the figure doesn't appear all that often.  Hasbro made around 20,000 Night Force sets to be sold at retail.  The sets were available both in stores and online and it took until the end of 2004 for them to really sell out.  And, large quantities of additional loose figures were available from Asia for a while.  So, the figure is out there in numbers.  But, the influx of new Joe collectors since 2018 has caused many of them to overestimate the rarity of the 2000's era figures.  The same thing happened to the 1997 and 1998 figures in 2001-2003 when a large group of collectors who had just missed the prior retail releases came online.  In time, that sorted itself out and those figures fell precipitously in price.  The same thing will happen with this Roadblock since he simply doesn't stand up to real scrutiny.  He's not the worst Roadblock.  But, that's only because Hasbro made stinkers that are even more abominable.  

2019 Night Force Snake Eyes - Black Major Exclusive

I've looked at two of the many flavors of the Black Major V2 Snake Eyes figures already.  There isn't much to say about a mold that was criminally underused and is now the exact opposite.  But, sometimes, a figure hits you in a way you weren't expecting.  I'm not a huge fan of the vintage Night Force subset.  To me, all the figures look the same.  Having one or two in the Night Force colors is really cool.  But, having 12 of them is just a boring, banal team that really flies in the face of what Joe is supposed to be.  But, it remains the most popular vintage Joe subset and really is something that needed a few more members.  Especially when you consider that Snake Eyes was not part of the original team.  Fortunately, Black Major corrected that in 2019.

On the one hand, Snake Eyes' absence from Night Force in non-sensical.  Of any Joe, Snake Eyes seems the singular, logical choice to either lead the team or at least be part of it.  I can only imagine what the pricing would be today had the 1985 Snake Eyes mold gotten its only repaint in the 1988 or 1989 Toys R Us exclusive Night Force sets.  But, his omission has more to do with the peculiarities of his release years and their lack of overlap with the TRU sets.  I actually have to give Hasbro credit for not including Snake Eyes in the 2004 Night Force set since Snake Eyes was overused at the time.  Though, the 1989 Snake Eyes mold in 2004 Night Force green might have been pretty cool.

The 1985 Snake Eyes holds a prominent place in my collection.  In 1985, I was reading the Joe comic and was well versed in Snake Eyes being the most prominent character.  His new figure personified everything that kids of that era wanted Snake Eyes to be.  He was still a commando at heart.  But, now had a ninja element, too, so he could battle the best Cobra figure ever released in the 1984 Stormshadow.  As such, to me, the 1985 sculpt is Snake Eyes.  Even moreso than his 1982 original design.  The placement of this figure at such a prominent point of my childhood blinded me to the obvious weaknesses in the figure's design, though.

As Black Major repainted the mold in a variety of colors, my blinders to the sculpt began to fade away.  I would now see that the head is a little bizarre, with the sculpted mouth.  The figure also has a little pooch in his stomach.  These flaws, though, were offset by finally seeing the mold painted in a way that accentuated the details that made us all fall in love with the figure back in 1985.  So, I still hold 1985 Snake Eyes repaints in higher regard than they might deserve.  There's something about this mold that remains magical due to its prominent placement during my childhood.  It's helpful to understand those old feelings and how they shape my view of toys based on the classic figure.  And, it's why I try to stay out of very valid debates about how good this figure actually is.  To me, I can't have a rational debate over a toy that was so central in my formative years.

It's interesting to me that I've owned a version of the 1985 Snake Eyes for 40 years, now.  Despite that, I still don't feel I've ever adequately appreciated the figure.  It always seems like I can not do anything that lives up to the greatness of this mold.  Photos don't do it justice.  Paint jobs make it better, but it still seems like there's more to be done.  This is legacy that is hanging on from childhood.  The result of these inadequacies is that I don't use 1985 Snake Eyes figures as often as I should.  He'd work great in many photos.  But, I end up taking one of the repaint era figures based on the 1991 or 1983 Snake Eyes instead.  With those figures, I never worry about capturing the essence of the figure in a perfect way.  With the 1985 mold, I want to do that.  And, I've scrapped many photos and writings about the 1985 mold for that very reason.

This Night Force version of the figure got a bit of use for a while.  I loved the added colors on the character.  But, since then, the figure has stagnated.  I haven't taken a photo of him in years.  Other Snake Eyes colorings have grabbed my attention and are more likely to be used.  And, I'm not sure why that is.  I still really enjoy this color scheme on the mold.  But, it suffers from the general malaise that I feel towards using this classic look for Snake Eyes.  I'll choose other Snake Eyes costumes long before I turn to the '85.  In some ways, I should rectify that.  The '85 is still my preferred look for Snake Eyes.  And, using some of these older Black Major colors does give photos more flair.  It's supposed to rain tomorrow.  Maybe, I'll take this figure down to the creek and try to find a cool spot for a showcase.  

Aside from one detail, this Snake Eyes uses colors that are callbacks to the vintage Night Force figures.  The black base and grey pants match up with the standard motif of the vintage era.  And, the green highlights hearken back to the Toys R Us figures using that color, too.  None of the colors on the Snake Eyes are an exact match for the vintage figures, though.  He's one of those guys who looks good on his own.  But, if you posed him with the '88 or '89 figures, you'd notice that his coloring is off.  The main difference, though, is the red visor.  The red is somewhat of an homage to the red highlights used on Night Force vehicles and isn't a feature of the vintage figures.  It actually kind of works for me, though.  It gives the Snake Eyes more visual distinction from his other figures.  And, it also allows you to use this as an alternate look for Snake Eyes rather than just a Night Force addition.

My favorite element of this Snake Eyes is his accessory color.  While the figure includes the full complement of 1985 Snake Eyes gear (backpack, Uzi, sword and wolf), it is the base, brown color of the figure's gear that is most striking.  The rich hue isn't often seen.  And, while it may not make sense for a sword or firearm, it looks cool.  I'm a sucker for oddball accessory colors.  And, this Snake Eyes pulls it off with aplomb.  (There's tons of Black Major Snake Eyes gear available in more standard colors, now, should you want to give the figure more traditional weapon colors.)  The brown is a nice offset to the black and green base.  It complements the figure's coloring and gives him even more pizazz.  

The Night Force Snake Eyes is of decent quality.  In 2020, the Snake Eyes mold began to wear out.  And, some of the later paint jobs tend to have loose arms.  But, that doesn't affect this Night Force version.  The backpack mold, though, has a flaw that prevents the sword from fitting into the slots.  It's annoying as it renders one of the better features of Snake Eyes' accessories moot.  You can awkwardly slide it in, sideways.  But, it's precarious, at best.  Aside from this, though, the figure is solid and works very well with vintage figures.

When this figure was first released, he was only available to those who purchased an entire 9 figure set of Snake Eyes repaints.  After that, a few select figures were raffled off.  And, a few were sold on auction sites.  Those figures started over $100 and continued to sell for $70+ for quite some time.  By the fall of 2019, though, the figure had fallen in price and you could get one under $30 at online auction sites.  As with all Black Major figures, future pricing is tough.  Were there fewer Night Force Snake Eyes figures made than the other repaints that were released at the same time?  Will collectors continue to want this particular paint job when there are, literally, at least 18* others to choose from?  If you like the figure and find it at a price you like, snatch it up.  The one constant is that after factory customs sell out, they get harder to find.  So, even if the figure drops in price, tracking one down might be worth the extra bucks today.

*I started writing this profile in April of 2020.  I just got around to finishing it, more than 5 years later.  Now, there's dozens of '85 Snake Eyes repaints available.  Some are great.  Some are bad.  And, some are weird.  But, there's something for everyone.  This Night Force version sits, unsold, at $40.  And, his contemporaries seem to have settled in the $25-$30 range.  That's a good starting point should you want to buy this Snake Eyes in 2025.

2004 Unproduced White Pants Night Force Flint

You all know that Flint is my favorite figure in the Joe line.  I spend way too much time trying to find little, nuanced releases of Flint that I can add to my collection.  And, while there are a lot of figures that are based on the 1985 coloring, there aren't too many Flints that fall outside his main motif.  You have the 1988 Tiger Force version.  And, then the 2004 Night Force version.  And, that's it.  Well, almost.  There is one more main variant of Flint.  And, that is this unproduced version of the 2004 Night Force figure.  It's not materially different from the production figure with the exception of the figure's pants color.  Instead of the retail version's black pants, this pre-production figure features white pants.  This should create a lesser figure.  But, in a lot of ways, the white pants version of Flint is more interesting than the production figure and offers one of the few alternatives for a Flint figure in the vintage line.

I can't really argue that the white pants on these pre-production Night Force figures are better than the black pants that were used on the production versions.  They aren't.  The black is a better match for the hunter green of the upper bodies and is more true to the vision of Night Force than the white pants would have been.  What the white pants variants do offer, though, is a visual contrast.  As a production figure, they would not have worked.  But, as pre-production variants, they do.  These aren't supposed to be better than the production samples.  And, the white pants bring a different visual to this Flint while also not making any sense within the context of his release.  So, you can see why Hasbro changed them from white to black.  

For me, I just like having alternate looks for Flint.  From the waist up, the production and pre-production figures are essentially identical.  But, when the figures are out and about, the white pants and black pants differences are enough to make both useful.  The golden belt buckle really pops on the white pants figure.  And, that sticks out, to me.  As such, you'll see the white pants figure appear more often in the background of photos here than you do the production figure.  Much of that is the element of scarcity and the fact that you don't often see the alternate figures used these days.  The white pants get people to double take and question why the figure looks different.  It's a petty use.  But, it's one of the reasons I enjoy the figure.  And, were the white pants version  the production release and the black pants the pre-production figure, I'm sure I'd use the black pants version in a similar vein.

The Night Force set was one of the more intricate retail releases of the early 2000's.  The figures featured convention level paint masks and color combos.  These features would be stripped away as the sets matured and Hasbro tried to squeeze every last penny out of them.  And, the poor accessory complement included with the Night Force set was also a harbinger of the cheapness to come.  But, as just figures, the Night Force set features convention quality paint masks.  This Flint features at least 8 different colors.  That's more than most vintage figures would receive.  And, it shows that Hasbro invested money when they developed the Night Force set.

Night Force gear was bad.  And, Flint's accessories from the set were no exception.  He included a hodge-podge of common weapons that would appear over and over again during his era.  For some reason, Flint got a near complete set of Firefly's gear...missing only the backpack cover.  The upside is that this gear is easy to find.  So, equipping one of the pre-production figures with it isn't difficult or expensive.  But, the weapons make no sense and are so tied to Firefly that it's tough to see anyone, especially an iconic Joe character, using them.  Funskool had the full array of Flint accessories.  But, those never saw another Hasbro release.  So, there's no telling what happened to them between the end of the Funskool production run in 2003 and the appearance of this figure in 2004.  

So, that leaves you searching for proper gear for Flint.  In the photos below, you'll see some different options.  As I often lost Flint's shotgun back in my childhood days, I often had to find alternate gear for even the vintage figure.  My two go-to's were the sub machine gun from the 1985 Night Landing and the charcoal Ripcord rifle from the Tactical Battle Platform.  But, I've tried many other weapons with this Flint and found that many look really nice with him.  When a figure is as nicely done as Flint, the accessories are just an adornment that enhances an already amazing design.

The alternate, Asian figures that dominated discussion forums in late 2004 and early 2005 have faded into the obscure recesses of the Joe world.  Many of those who bought up every variant as it appeared are no longer active in the community.  Newer collectors who came aboard during the Anniversary era have no real recollection of these figures or their widespread and cheap availability.  Now, most of the alternate, Asian figures are stupidly expensive and seldom seen.  It's too bad.  As, the alternate looks were often a fun way to differentiate a photo or spark conversation in a forum.  Now, they are the domain of well-heeled collectors who have financial interest in downplaying just how common the figures actually are.  

With the Toys R Us exclusive sets, Hasbro started out by offering new looks for classic sub teams.  The first three sets were Tiger Force, Python Patrol and Night Force.  None of the TRU sets featured figures in color schemes that were homages or even matches for the original members of those sub teams.  Instead, Hasbro tried something different.  The Tiger Force featured some European inspired blues and oranges.  Python Patrol offered figures that were better matches for Python Patrol vehicles.  Night Force just went in an entirely new direction.  The figures didn't match vintage Night Force figures.  Nor did they match Night Force vehicles.  And, this was good.  The original Night Force figures are bland and mostly two tone in green and black.  The 2004 set offered a more complex look for some figures.  You can't really make this Flint the leader of a faction of 1988 and 1989 Night Force figures.  But, he does look great as a stand alone figure when mixed with other 1997-2010 releases.  

And, this works.  Within just a few months of the Night Force set's release, I was already noting how the figures worked very well as, well, figures.  The Night Force theme was less important to the overall, long term success of set.  It was more of a marketing term to get Joe fans interested than it was a continuation of a team from 15 years prior.  And, that's part of the reason that Night Force (and, really, all of the 2003 and 2004 Toys R Us sets) has held up so well.  It was about as big a chance as the Hasbro of the early 2000's was willing to take.  It was enough to make the set memorable and allowed the figures to find lives of their own.  

You can't discuss the 2000's era repaints without touching upon how crappy the plastic is and how likely it is to discolor.  The Night Force figures, with their dark hues, have been mostly immune from those plights.  These white pants figures, though, are susceptible to discoloration.  The white will take on a yellow hue, even on properly stored figures.  There's nothing you can do to stop it.  You can just slow it down a bit.  It's a sad legacy of early 2000's Hasbro that their plastics were so poor.  All of the toy lines from this time suffer from easy discoloration.  And, that would discourage me from splurging on a mint piece.  Eventually, time catches up with the materials and they will decay.  Yellowing figures are a personal pet peeve.  They bother me over other afflictions.  I'll take paint wear and loose joints every time over an otherwise mint figure that features a tinge of yellow.  Others have different tolerances.  And, for many Joe figures, discoloration is so common that newer collectors don't really know what a mint figure is supposed to look like.  It's something to be aware of with figures like this Flint.

It's time to break some hearts.  Between 2005 and 2007, this figure was pretty easy to find.  He'd go unsold on Ebay for under $5.  You could buy a complete set of 6 alternate Night Force figures (including the Night Force Tracker!) for $60.  And, they sat and sat and sat.  You could get one whenever you wanted.  Slowly, though, the stock got absorbed.  Once it was gone, no one cared for a while.  Around 2015/2016, you started to see old timers talking about how the once common alternate Asian figures had turned scarce.  Then, in 2018 or so, prices started spiking.  In 2020, these Flint figures sold between $75 and $100.  Really, that's way too much.  And, for such an uninteresting variant, there's really no bang for that kind of scratch.  But, the market is stupid and filled with new collectors who don't really understand how common figures like this really are.  It will correct soon enough.  Until then, I'm glad I was able to get figures like this when they were cheap.  And, I'm sad that this figure is one of the few that I have remaining.  

1989 Night Force Repeater - Random Photos of the Day

The 1988 Repeater is a pretty solid figure.  The only real downside is that he might be a little bland.  The Night Force version that was released the following year, though, rectifies this.  The Toys R Us exclusive figure brings some splashes of color to Repeater and is, in my opinion, an upgrade over the 1988 original.  The black and dark brown better offset the green torso.  The best part, to me, though, is that the figure isn't too "Night Force" and can be used in any context as a replacement for the original figure.

Back in my early collecting days, I tended to avoid Night Force figures.  They were always expensive.  Though, expensive in 1999 is laughably cheap in 2024.  I also avoided, them, though, because I didn't find them all that compelling.  In most cases, the original versions of the Night Force team were better and more interesting.  I have this Repeated from an acquisition of 1990's era figures.  Meaning that this one is, likely, from the Rapid Deployment Force mail away that was offered in 1993.  Really, all that means is that I didn't get any accessories with him.  But, the 1988 Repeater gear works well enough and allows me to enjoy this figure either with close enough facsimiles of the figure's intended gear or with some supplemental weapons from my collection.  

The photos below were taken over the past 8 or 9 years.  I don't get this Repeater out as often as I'd probably like to.  But, he does tend to get used at least once or twice per year as he's both a solid subject of a photo and an excellent and interesting background filler.  He appears more often than any other vintage Night Force figure on this site's photos.  So, he's definitely a figure I enjoy.

I'm curious to hear your thoughts on Night Force in the comments.  It's a set that, in my opinion, has always been overhyped.  In recent years, dealer types have been desperately trying to convince new collectors that vintage Night Force figures are as rare or rarer than many mail aways.  While they did have lower production numbers, Night Force figures were a staple of Toys R Us stores for most of the year.  So, they're not as rare as some of the nouveau sellers want you to believe.  Beyond that, though, I think they carry over the cachet of the late '90's when older collectors who had stopped buying Joes in 1987 discovered some of their favorites were available in "gritty, realistic" colors.  But, what are your thoughts?  Does Night Force deserve its venerated position in the hobby?  Or, are they a set you view with an air of indifference?  

2004 Night Force Short Fuze

In 2003, Hasbro continued their successful partnership with Toys R Us in regards to the G.I. Joe line.  TRU had been the savior for the 15th Anniversary figures in 1997.  And, they had managed to gain a few exclusive products as Joe expanded to full retail based on the success of the short re-launch.  The two partners found a successful formula releasing packs of vintage figures that were repaints of classic molds, but bundled into a theme.  Tiger Force and Python Patrol were the first two attempts to re-capture the magic of the late 1980's and both were relatively successful.

As 2004 neared, Hasbro found that its plans for mail away and internet exclusive army building sets had failed.  So, they moved those planned offerings to TRU exclusives.  Hasbro also then moved to a strategy where they would release both a Cobra and a Joe set at the same time.  To match the first Cobra army building set, Hasbro resurrected Night Force (itself a Toys R Us exclusive last seen in 1989) and created a new design for the members that first began appearing at retail in January of 2004.  The set featured 4 molds recently returned to Hasbro's control from Funskool, another paint job of the 1984 Roadblock and a figure mold that hadn't been seen in 14 years: Downtown.  Only, this Downtown repaint was not the Downtown character.  Instead, it was a re-imagination of Short Fuze.  The Joe team's original mortar soldier had returned.

Short Fuze is, arguably, the most forgotten original Joe.  Grand Slam will come up from time to time.  But, his relatively hard to find Silver Pads figure gives him some collecting cachet.  It's rare to find someone who really views Short Fuze as their favorite character.  He had little relevance in the comic and didn't appear again as an action figure in the vintage line after his original release.  Collectors' focus on the original 13 Joes during the early 2000's, though, helped raise the profile of even the most obscure characters from the line's earliest years.  This helped get a new Short Fuse to retail stores in 2004 and another in 2005.

I will argue that Short Fuse is the best figure from the Night Force set.  That is based, though,  on the criteria that this is the best use of the Downtown mold.  Flint, Beach Head, Roadblock and Tunnel Rat all had better paint jobs in the vintage run.  Action Man/Tracker is the only contender.  I degrade him, though, because Action Man cost us a proper Night Force Tracker that would have been the jewel of the set.  So, Short Fuse is left as the de facto winner.  But, that's bittersweet because no one cares about getting the best Short Fuse.  And, without proper gear, the figure loses much of his value.  And, with that, you have the problem with the Night Force set as a whole: it didn't really offer anything to collectors.  Some figures were nice.  But, they all had a litany of problems.

One of the main criticisms of Hasbro's attempts at making o-ring figures in the 2000's was that they didn't go with anything. The 2004 Night Force set is unlike the 1988 and 1989 sets in nearly every way.  The figures neither match nor complement each other.  So, each offering has to stand on its own.  In some ways, this isn't a bad thing.  And, it has allowed certain figures from the 2000 to become relatively popular as their own thing.  But, it was a detriment at the time of the release.  Collectors had accepted the new look for Python Patrol because it did match the vintage Python Patrol vehicles.  And, few people really collected Python Patrol in 2003.  But, Night Force was a different animal.  Even collectors who had sparse collections often had a couple of vintage Night Force figures.  They were the most popular vintage subset.  So, getting a new team of them that didn't match the originals was a let-down.  

Despite selling rather briskly upon its release, the Night Force set quickly started to languish.  Despite showing up at brick and mortar Toys R Us stores in mid January of 2004, you could still buy all the set you wanted come December of that same year.  2003 had ended with G.I. Joe as one of the most popular retail toy brands.  But, all that momentum was lost with the advent of 2004.  There are reasons for that which were far beyond Hasbro's control.  The result, though, was that Night Force rotted on the shelves for a full year.  Collectors had ample opportunity to acquire it.  And, most collectors of the time did buy one.  But, without the army building aspect and with a couple of figures that collectors didn't really care for, there was simply no reason for anyone to acquire additional sets...especially since pretty much every Toys R Us in the country always had ample options of Cobra sets also available at the same time.  

The reported production run of the Night Force set was around 20,000 sets.  That far outpaced the collector base of the time.  But, the scarcity of available sets now is a function of the set's lackluster popularity among collectors of the day rather than any actual rarity.  There are the same number of Night Force sets as there are Cobra Infantry sets who were released at the same time.  The disparity in individual figure pricing is a function of every collector buying as many Cobra Troopers as they could afford while leaving spare Night Force sets behind for someone's grandmother or uncle to buy as an unwanted gift for a child in their life.

The Night Force accessories were atrocious.  In many ways, this set was the beginning of Hasbro just not caring about figure's gear.  We had seen some of this with the 2003 Tiger Force set.  But, it was forgiven since the important figures had their original accessories.  Night Force did not.  And, this Short Fuse, despite being 100% associated with being a mortar trooper, only included a black update of the 1991 Big Ben's rifle and a pistol originally released with Tomax & Xamot.  I'll argue that the Tomax pistol is the 2nd worst weapon from the 1980's era of Joe behind only the 1984 Baroness rifle.  But, it's also iconic to Tomax and Xamot.  So, Short Fuse's gear was absolutely worthless.  The only upside is that 1989 Downtown gear was cast in black and was relatively available in 2004.  So, it was easy to get proper gear for this figure...even if that was an unnecessary burden from Hasbro.  Frankly, the poor gear kind of ruined the set.  The figures included needed their basic gear to really make sense.  And, Hasbro stripped away much of the characterization of the included figures by giving them generic accessories.

Despite all these misgivings, though, this Short Fuse is still really nice.  On his own, he works as the best mortar trooper in the entire Joe line.  You just have to jump through a bunch of hoops to get him there.  But, the presentation, colors, paint masks and quality are all close to excellent.  If this figure existed as a stand alone figure, everyone would have loved it.  And, despite collectors tending to punish Hasbro for good figures that were of minor characters and obscure molds, sentiment regarding Short Fuze in 2004 was generally positive.  The colors were nice and the overall package was nice enough that collectors could recognize quality: even if the figure was never used and didn't appear in many photos or dios of the time.

In writing this profile, I realized that I harp on the negatives of this figure.  Yet, overall, I still have a favorable impression of him.  In the early 2000's (and, to a lesser extent, today) collectors fell into 2 large camps: "haters" who hated anything Hasbro did and "suck-ups" who believed Hasbro could do no wrong.  The ration middle ground didn't exist in significant numbers.  Because of this, Hasbro simply didn't listen to collectors or try to engage them in any way.  Neither Hasbro, nor the few people they did interact with, really understood what collectors wanted.  And, they never asked in any meaningful way.  In fact, the few times they made comments that they thought were absurd proposals, they found themselves quickly backtracking when collectors actually liked those ideas.  It scared the Hasbro teams of the time that they were so out of touch with their consumer.  But, by 2004, the writing was on the wall that the line was dying.  And, the revolving door of brand managers proved that Hasbro knew it was a sinking ship.  I often wonder what would have happened if there had been, at the time, a real fan club capable of communicating with Hasbro.  The answer is we'd have probably seen figure designs and releases more like the Anniversary offerings starting in 2007 instead of the haphazard and unrelated toys we actually got.  I don't know, though, if that would have extended the brand's retail life.  But, we would have gotten a lot more figures and vehicles that would be held in high regard today.

The 2004 Night Force flows in and out of popularity.  If you time it right, you can snap a figure or a set for a good price.  But, that's getting harder to do with  tight supplies still holding over from the pandemic collectors retaining their now-forgotten acquisitions.  As such, this figure is a whopping $30+ purchase these days.  Dealers and open auctions seem to be in line with this price.  Personally, I find that ridiculous.  But, until supply loosens up, we're going to see premium pricing on superfluous figures from the post-vintage era.  I find this the best paint job of the Downtown mold.  But, he's certainly not worth current pricing and will  be an underwhelming addition to your collection for that price.  I do wish we'd seen more molds like Downtown's used in the 2000's.  But, collectors both then and now value the repaints of classic characters far more.  So, you can't fault Hasbro's logic...even if I don't agree with it.

1988 Night Force Sneak Peek - Around The Web

I've always felt that most of the vintage Night Force were not improvements over their original figures.  They were different.  But, not, necessarily, better.  There are exceptions, though.  And, Sneak Peek is one.  The Night Force version is an upgrade over his original figure.  And, I like his original figure quite a bit.  

My youngest brother had this Sneak Peek after I had aged out of Joe.  But, I was familiar with the figure.  And, it was still around when I dug all our old toys of the attic in the 1990's.  (The Falcon's parts are still in my custom parts bin.  But, they're not all there to remake the figure.)  There's a nice amount of content on this figure out there.

1988 Night Force Sneak Peek Profile

Night Force Sneak Peek by Slipstream80

Night Force Sneak Peek by Cyko_9

Night Force Sneak Peek at JoeADay.com

Night Force Sneak Peek by Hit and Run

Night Force Sneak Peek by Relinquished1979

Night Force Sneak Peek by Cyko_9

Night Force Sneak Peek by gen_liederkranz

Night Force Sneak Peek by purple_cobra75

Night Force Sneak Peek by cobra_the_enemy

2004 Night Force Flint - Around the Web

The 2004 Night Force set has grown on me over the years.  The Roadblock is still an abomination.  But, the rest of the figures are pretty good.  They aren't without faults, for sure.  But, I've found this Flint to be a good addition to any collection and he's useful even outside of the Night Force motif.  You do have to give him different accessories.  With those, though, I've found the figure to get a lot of use.  There's lots of good content about this figure out there.  You'll find reviews written in 2004, some in the 2010's and some uses of the figure today.  So, you'll get a great cross section of how this figure has been viewed and used through its 18 year lifespan.

Night Force Flint Profile

Night Force Hand Painted Samples

Night Force Flint at JoeADay.com

Night Force Flint by djv

Night Force Flint by dashiellrfairborne

2004 Night Force set at GeneralsJoesReborn

Night Force Flint by ToneGunsRevisited

2004 Night Force Review at JoeBattleLines.com

2004 Night Force Flint by dashiellrfairborne

2004 Night Force Flint by yovalleyjoe

2004 Night Force Flint by steviedblockheadink

2004 Night Force Flint by kryptoboy81

2004 Night Force Flint by instachampa

1988 Night Force Crazylegs - Around The Web

The vintage Night Force figures get a bit repetitive.  The colors start to run together.  And, in most cases, the Night Force figures aren't really an upgrade over the original color schemes.  But, in a few cases, the Night Force paint job salvages a poorly painted figure mold.  Such is the case with the Night Force Crazylegs.  The original red is just too much.  But, in black and olive, Crazylegs takes on new life and is a great update to the character.  To this day, I really only see this Night Force version as Crazylegs.  

While few other collectors share my dislike for the red Crazylegs, many do enjoy the Night Force look as I do.  There's lots of great content on the Night Force Crazylegs out there.  So, please check these links below.

1988 Night Force Crazylegs Profile

1988 Night Force Crazylegs by Slipstream80

1988 Night Force Crazylegs by 00zxcvb

1988 Night Force Crazylegs by nightforce72

1988 Night Force Crazylegs by thevintagetoylife

1988 Night Force Crazylegs by Sintechness

1988 Night Force Crazylegs by postvbobbieb

1988 Night Force Crazylegs by HCC788

1988 Night Force Crazylegs by corpscommandercody

1988 Night Force Crazylegs by Slipstream80

1988 Night Force Crazylegs by worldsofwondercomics

1988 Night Force Crazylegs by playfulmonkeycosplay

1988 Night Force Crazylegs by thevintagetoylife

2022 SDCC Carded Skystriker Figures

I was really hoping these figures would be released on the old resealable bubble cards that were used for convention figures.  You'll have to tear up the cards to get a set of loose figures, which is what I'm after.  So, that kind of sucks for loose collectors.  

The artwork on the never before carded figures looks pretty weak, though.  It's similar to the fan art inspired stuff we see on Super7 cards.  It's definitely lost the feel of the vintage work.  It's just a bunch of guys (and one girl) standing around.  Meh.  These will definitely look out of place among either vintage carded figures and even the 2022 releases that were based on the standard vintage artwork.

But, these will resell for stupid amounts.  I'm guessing over $300 easy for the Cobra Commander, maybe higher if the vintage market hasn't cratered by the time this is released.  But, man, is his artwork weak.  It's really amazing how much the Ripcord artwork (which is based on the vintage) stands out among the rest of the statues.

Funskool Spearhead

I've been reviewing Joes for a long time.  Every now and then, I scroll back through old profiles.  I do this now to validate old memories and also research the hobby happenings of the time.  This brings many of my old photos to light and I see them again, recalling the circumstances of their creation.  One such photo I recently stumbled upon was from a summer of 2001 profile of the Night Force Muskrat.  In the background of those photos was the Funskool Spearhead.  I have now owned this figure for 21 years.  That's three and half times longer than any vintage Joe was part of my world.  Yet, in all that time, I have little recollection of using the figure.  And, in looking through other photos, the figure rarely shows up outside of a few appearances in the early 2000's.  And, yet, this is a spectacular figure that is superior to the American release in most every way.  And, even if you consider the Night Force version of Spearhead to be better, the price and availability difference between the two still tilts favorably towards the Indian release.  

Spearhead's color palette is his primary calling card.  Instead of being based on the brown and orange figure from Hasbro (like the Brazilian release of the mold was), this Indian figure was based off the 1989 Night Force color scheme.  The result is a figure with charcoal grey, dark brown a little bit of blue highlight thrown in.  He's pretty much a Night Force figure.  But, is also different enough from the 1989 Toys R Us exclusive that he can stand on his own.  It's an interesting choice from Funskool to go this route.  And, it makes me wonder if they only had the paint masks for the Night Force figure as a reference point.  (Though, his card art shows him in colors akin to his 1988 release.)  The manner in which Joe molds moved around the world remains extremely opaque.  And, it would be interesting to learn how certain figures were chosen for foreign releases and why they were given their colors in the new markets.

One thing that has always stood out on Spearhead is the figure's bulk.  He feels bigger and taller than other Joe figures.  And, the size of his helmet doesn't help.  He often looks awkward in photos.  I do think his torso is large, as Joe figures go.  It gives Spearhead very broad shoulders.  And, he features a long neck.  (Blizzard was the same in 1988.)  So, it can be difficult to use Spearhead parts for customs.  And, you don't see the figure as often as you'd think as I don't find him an easy subject of which to get a good photo.

And, that's the main reason why this figure hasn't really gotten much use over the years.  While he looks insanely cool, it's hard to get him posed in adequate ways that meshes well with other figures.  Really, I've never much used the 1988 Spearhead for similar reasons.  Even when getting out 1988 figures, specifically, for a photo shoot, I find Spearhead not fitting into the scene.  While I love his weapon, I find it looks awkward in his hands.  Oddly, I didn't find then when I have a version of it to Salvo in the early 2000's.  There's just something about Spearhead that makes everything look out of proportion with the figure.  Ostensibly, Spearhead should be up there with Dusty in terms of desert figures.  But, he's not.  And, he's never taken on an afterlife like his 1988 classmates Shockwave and Hit and Run have.  So, that leads me to believe that I'm not alone in find the figure just a bit "off".

Spearhead includes his full gamut of accessories.  He has a grey and black helmet, a cool grey colored gun and machete and then two other pieces that are more Funskool.  He gets a neon green backpack.  And, while this color may seem out of sorts, the reality is that it actually complements the figure very well.  It provides a splash of color and the dark colors of the figure help to mute the brightness of the green.  His bobcat, Max, is a bright orange color.  It's kind of a scary, irradiated look for the pet companion.  The paint on Max can be tacky, too.  So, you'll often feel a residue left behind on your hands if you handle one.  The bright orange reminds you that this figure is Funskool.  But, the overall colors on the accessories are a perfect fit for the figure and allow him to be among the more useful Funskool releases.

The Spearhead mold was used in its entirety 4 times and his parts were used on an additional figure.  The 1988 and 1989 Night Force Spearhead figures were the lone Hasbro releases.  Shortly thereafter, the mold went to Brazil where a figure named Baoineta was released.  This figure is similar to the 1988 Spearhead figure and has two variants.  Funskool then got the mold and started producing this Spearhead version in the late 1990's.  Funskool also used the mold for their Street Hawk figure.  Early releases used the Spearhead chest with later versions only retaining the legs and waist.  Funskool also produced a significant vehicle driver variant of Spearhead that is all brown and the mold also appeared in the Calcium Sandoz figure premiums by Funskool.  Most of the Funskool variants, aside from the carded version, are hard to find and relatively expensive.  So, this carded release remains the best and cheapest option for a Spearhead fan.

While the early 2000's era Funskool figures have gotten substantially harder to find and more expensive since the supply from India dried up, Spearhead hasn't really taken on any sort of aftermarket fame.  Figures like Trip Wire (Who many collectors of his release era army built!) are four or five times more expensive than a Spearhead.  But, you'll still pay around $25-$30 shipped for a loose figure.  It's tough to find them loose and complete.  You'll see lots of dealers asking close to $100 for a loose figure, but those don't sell.  Neither do the carded figures at $60.  You can get carded figures in the $40 range with patience.  But, will have more luck at $50.  I have a long history of opening $30 foreign release G.I. Joe figures.  But, I don't think Funskool Spearheads will ever get as pricey as Flying Scorpions or Urzors.  So, if you're missing the figure, he's not overly expensive to buy a carded figure and open him up.  He's substantially cheaper than an American Night Force Spearhead and close enough in colors to make the savings more than worth it.

1989 Night Force Shockwave - Around The Web

Shockwave is, usually, everyone's favorite 1988 figure.  His 1989 Night Force release, though, is even more highly desired.  The darker colors really work for the mold.  So, you'll pay a substantial premium to get the Night Force figure.  But, it's kind of worth it.  This is a really nice rendition.  But, when it costs at least 10 times more than the 1988 figure, it's not a casual purchase.  Here is some of the best content on this figure from around the web.

Night Force Shockwave Profile

Night Force Shockwave by gi_joe_85

Night Force Shockwave by satanic_supremacy_87

Night Force Shockwave by dreadnokdread

Night Force Shockwave by HCC788

Shockwave at Half the Battle

Night Force Shockwave by steviedblockheadink

2004 Night Force Beach Head - Around The Web

The Night Force set was pretty much ignored by collectors for years.  And, since this Beach Head figure got three different releases (in the TRU Night Force set, the TRU Moray and as a single card figure that was sold at discount stores) collectors of the mid 2000's were sick of him.  But, now, figures like this Beach Head have found a new interest.  Of course, he's now as old as a 1988 figure was when this Beach Head was released in 2004.  But, still, it's tough to see this figure now commanding a premium.  

It's not easy to find individual uses of this figure.  Most Beach Head photos are the 1986 or the Funskool version.  Both of which are nice.  And, both of which I prefer to this Night Force version.  But, after some digging, I found enough on him to showcase him from Around the Web.

2004 Night Force Beach Head Profile

2004 Night Force Review at Generals Joes Reborn

2004 Night Force Beach Head by Tituslester32

2004 Night Force Beach Head by 334inch_figures

2004 Night Force Review at JoeBattleLines

2004 Night Force Beach Head by Tituslester32