Rarities - The Great 2021 Ninja Commandos Lot

In November of 2021, a lot of over 100 figures appeared on Ebay with a $4,000 BIN price.  At around $40 per figure, this probably wasn't a great deal.  Except, when you looked at the lot, there were over 60 unproduced 1995 Ninja Commando figures included!  On top of this, there were vintage test shots as well as some other oddball items.  A collector bought the lot.  But, unscrupulous people reached out the seller, offering much more than the selling price.  The lot purchase was cancelled.  And, it's likely that we'll see the figures parsed out and sold individually for much higher prices in super secret sales at some point in the future.

The one thing this lot proves is that there were more Ninja Commandos that reached full production than we ever thought.  Around 2002 or so, a collector friend of mine was able to visit Hasbro.  There, they had a bin of figures that they used to kitbash figures for the early 2000's figure releases.  In this bin of abandoned figures were several production level Ninja Commandos.  So, it's likely that Hasbro HQ got a ton of them and they just floated around: no one really knowing that something as desirable as an unproduced set of figures were collecting dust with the rest.

Here are the photos from the auction.  It's amazing that finds like this still exist out there.  You will note the following:

1. 14 Ninja Commando Budo figures
2. 12 Ninja Commando Road Pig figures
3. 14 Ninja Commando Knock Out figures
4. 14 Ninja Commando Stormshadow figures
5. 13 Ninja Commado Flint figures
6. 1 M Bison figure with blue hands
7. 2 Clear Ken Masters pre-production figures
8. Lots of bagged figures from late in the line.  Tough to see the details on them, though, for oddities.
9. Multiple Ninja Commando brown weapon trees. (Some unproduced sculpts on there.)

And, thus, another Rarities Month comes to an end.  I liked this year's group as I had more time to work on them through the year.  The archives are running low.  But, I've got one more good year in them.  Oddly some of the posts did really poorly.  Like, historically poorly in terms of overall views.  But, that could just be a function of too many posts in the last week or just the stuff got buried in all the other Joe news of the month.  Regardless, I hope you all enjoyed it and we'll see you next June!

Rarities - 1995 Ninja Commando Road Pig Production Sample

Yes, had the 1995 line seen production, Road Pig would have become a Ninja.  We don't know how this happened.  But, it would have occurred.  (It's likely that Road Pig's comic popularity lead to a new version of the character, even if his inclusion in a ninja subset made no sense.)  His card art would have featured him wielding a huge sword.  If you let the ninja angle go, though, you see that this Road Pig would not have been a terrible figure and fits with the previous look for the character.

Really, the only thing not to like about this figure would have been his weapons.  But, the rest of the figure would fit perfectly with any Dreadnoks just like the 1988 and 1991 versions.  He would have had Ninja Force type construction, though, with an action feature and a sealed back.  So, that would have limited his use.  If you're a customizer, though, you could make a good approximation of this figure.  The chest and arms were used on the Mortal Combat Movie Edition Liu Kang figure.  So, you could take an existing Road Pig head and use it with those parts to get a good enough version of this unproduced oddity.

There's actually lots of these figures out there.  And, after November of 2021, there were even more.  (You'll read about that on Thursday, June 30th, though!)  So, this figure is attainable and doesn't tend to sell at the $2000 or so that dealers price him at.  Sadly, though, most of the samples are in the hands of people who get more mileage out of the ownership than actually selling the figure.  So, it may take a bit to find a price that's right for you.

Rarities - 1995 Ninja Commando Flint Production Sample

Years ago, I showcased an unpainted 1995 Ninja Commando Flint as one of my first Rarities posts.  Now, here is the figure in his full production glory.  Generally, the muted colors of this figure are pretty strong.  And, while the notion that Flint is now a ninja is ridiculous, it doesn't take away from the fact that this is a decent ninja sculpt and a very solid figure.  I'd have probably bought this one for the colors had it been released.  

For customizers who want to make a Flint, the Mortal Kombat Movie Edition Rayden uses the entire body of this Flint.  Only the head never saw a production use.  It should also be noted that this figure has flesh colored lower arms.  There are many production figures that have full brown sleeves covering in the lower arm.  The painted two-up also features the long sleeves.  So, this pictured figure may be unfinished or an unintentional variant.

The Ninja Commandos have been well known in the community since the early days.  But, surprises still show up from time to time.  The most interesting aspects of them were the character choices and they way they would have bridged into the updated presentation for 1995.  In general, the standard Ninja Commandos are relatively muted and would meld well with the 1992 Ninja Force.  The planned set of repaints feature brighter colors, though, and would have been a great update to the 1993 Ninja Force.  With Hasbro back in the ARAH style Joe game, I do hope they look at some unproduced concepts from 1995.  But, I hope they are Battle Corps Rangers instead of Ninja Commandos.  But, at this point, I'll take anything that we never we got at retail.

Rarities - 1995 Ninja Commando Storm Shadow Production Sample

The 1995 Ninja Commandos were right behind the Manimals in terms of almost making it to production.  While packaged and loose samples of the Manimals exist, only loose samples of the Ninja Commandos are out there.  But, they are full production versions and even feature accessory trees.  Originally, the set was to be 6 figures.  But, it was reduced to 5.  The biggest name in the set was Storm Shadow.  This new version isn't a terrible look for Storm Shadow.  And, had I come across this hanging on a peg in 1995, I'd have probably bought him, even while I left other Ninja Force figures behind. The colors are subtle.  And, the figure kind of looks like Storm Shadow.  The more muted appearance would have been attractive to me as a neophyte collector.  

Did you know that there was also going to be a variant Storm Shadow released in the Ninja Commando line?  There is a second set of color masters that show some significant variants were planned for Ninja Commando figures.  Storm Shadow was one them.  The variant figure featured bright orange grenades and an orange cloth on his right leg.  The shoulder pauldron is grey and the figure's mask is all white.  It's actually a better Storm Shadow and would have matched nicely with T'Gin Zu.  Alas, neither figure made it to production.

After ignoring these figures for a long time, I've become fascinated by the Ninja Commandos in recent years.  Their designs are not bad.  And, they would have been a nice supplement to the sparse Battle Corps Rangers releases that would have also graced the shelves in 1995.  While I would have likely skipped Road Pig and even the Flint, this Storm Shadow would have been a good enough match for other figures that he would have called my collection home.  For years, rumours speculated that an entire production run of Ninja Commands were produced and were rotting in a warehouse.  After 25+ years, these figures aren't going to magically appear and the rumour was likely just wishful thinking by collectors of the day.  

But, as a fun aside, in the early 2000's, a collector visited Hasbro.  There, the Hasbro team had a bin of loose figures that they used to kitbash and paint up to developed repaints for the JvC and Toys R Us line.  In this bin were loose Ninja Commandos.  The Hasbro team had no idea they were rare, unproduced figures.  Sadly, though, we never got this figure at retail.  And, the dreams of one day owning a set of Ninja Commandos are now reserved for high dollar collectors who will treat them as museum pieces instead of the toys they were meant to be.

Mortal Kombat Movie Edition Shang Tsung

While there are lots of unproduced vintage G.I. Joe items, two sets have been widely known and sought after since the line's cancellation in 1994.  The first is the Manimals.  While they aren't most people's cup of tea, their unproduced status made them legendary and collectors who hate Star Brigade were still driven to seek out a Manimal.  The second set is the Ninja Commandos.  This planned 5 figure subset was going to be released in 1995 and got very close to seeing production.  Production level sample figures exist in the community.  And, toy magazines of the 1990's had photos of carded mock ups.  (Rumors that thousands of cases were produced, but not released persisted into the late 2000's.  But, they have never proven to be true.)  Unlike Manimals, though, much of the Ninja Commando tooling was actually used in 1995.  It was just not used in the now defunct G.I. Joe line.  Instead, the parts found use on various figures in the Mortal Kombat Movie line.  But, one figure in that line was more than a use of parts originally planned for the Joe line.  The youthful version of Shang Tsung was a straight repaint of the unreleased Ninja Commando Budo from 1995 and has remained a sought after supplement to many Joe collections.

In the mid 1990's, I was on a crusade to find any bastions of Joe figures that were left at retail.  In general, this required a lot of time and resulted in little reward.  This was due to the fact that most of the figures that you could find from the standard, retail line were the same figures over and over again.  So, once I acquired a Dr. Mindbender, I had no desire to buy him again, even though I'd find him at several stores.  It was also due to the fact that I simply disregarded any Street Fighter, Ninja Force or Armor Tech figure as a viable option for my collection.  These figures were not the standard construction of my childhood Joes and I had no interest in acquiring them...even if they were the only Joes left at retail.  In my toy store sojourns of that time, though, I would only look at one other toy line: Star Wars.  So, there was zero chance that I would run across these Mortal Kombat Movie figures.  Even if I had, though, they would have been dismissed for the same reasons as Street Fighter and Ninja Force.  It's possible that I would have acquired a Guile repaint or two, especially had I come across the Arctic Guile that used the Blizzard Body that would have been familiar to me.  But, as my stops in the toy aisle were limited to dwindling G.I. Joe shelf space and expanding the Star Wars aisle, I never saw these Mortal Kombat figures at retail.

But, I don't feel I really missed out on much by not finding this figure at retail.  The non standard construction and martial arts theme are a lethal combo that kills my interest in a figure.  Even as a kid, I was never big on Ninjas.  Stormshadow was fun for a while.  But, his swords were more of a novelty than anything really dangerous.  Stormshadow saw more use as an infiltrator or assassin than a ninja.  Quick Kick and Jinx never mattered to me. And, Snake Eyes was simply a commando who happened to also have a sword.  The bulk of both the figure and his accessories would have been a detriment to display, especially since the larger scale would have looked out of place were this figure opposing one of my childhood figures from the 1980's. While it's generally true for me that more figures are better than fewer figures, there are some who just don't really offer anything and would have been nothing more than newer cannon fodder.  

Shang Tsung includes three accessories: a large bladed weapon that was included with many other figures, a hooked, double bladed sword and a unique helmet.  It's likely that the Ninja Commando Budo would have included a dark green weapon tree full of various martial arts weapons that were common with Ninja Force figures along with some newly sculpted parts.  The weapons included with Shang Tsung were not part of that tree and were chosen specifically for this release.  (They were also included with many other Mortal Kombat Movie Edition figures and were likely produced in large quantities to reduce the cost of the figures.)  It is likely that the helmet, though, was designed to be included with Ninja Commando Budo.  It is unique to this Shang Tsung figure and is a fun addition that gives the figure more life.  It is well designed and fits the head very nicely.  It is also the most often missing piece of Shang Tsung's gear and is a piece whose absence makes the figure weaker.

Another cool element of the Mortal Kombat Movie figures is that they featured packaging that was similar to what G.I. Joe would have been in 1995.  The mock up carded Ninja Commando figure features a full display bubble just like that of the Mortal Kombat Movie figures.  While this is a drastic departure from the traditional side carded Joe figure juxtaposed from his card artwork, it is also visually striking.  I find myself hesitating to open carded Mortal Kombat figures because the card presentation is so nice.  (But, the beat up, bend cards help make that easier.)  You can clearly see the figure and most of his gear.  But, you keep some unique elements to the figure.  This Shang Tsung oddly features the artwork from the old man version of the character.  (Which is a different figure in the Mortal Kombat Movie line.)  It's much smaller than traditional Joe artwork.  But, it kept the homage to Joe's roots and would have been a cool way to showcase the 1995 G.I. Joe figures had they actually been released.

Shang Tsung figures have typically been more expensive than the other Mortal Kombat Movie figures of equal availability.  It's relatively easy to find a loose figure with no accessories.  Complete figures are tougher to come by and will run between $20 and $25 depending upon how well the figure is labeled.  But, you can get carded versions of Shang Tsung for around $30.  Lots of Mortal Kombat Movie figures found their way to dealer stock in the 1990's, though.  And, while most of it has since been resold into the collecting world, you can still find lots (from time to time) that have several MOC Mortal Kombat Movie figures that sell for substantially less per figure.  If you can be patient and are willing to spend time looking, you can still get cheap Shang Tsungs.  But, the Mortal Kombat Movie figures have gotten substantially less common in the past couple of years.  So, those deals are getting harder and harder to find.  Personally, I don't find the figure worth those prices as I view Shang Tsung as a curiosity more than a vital part of my collection.  It's nice to have him available and he gives photos of later ninjas some depth since he's so recognizable.  But, that's about the end of his value.

Rarities - 1995 Ninja Commando Road Pig

Road Pig was far and away the oddest choice for the Ninja Commandos subset.  How did a muscle bound schizophrenic find the time to become a ninja?  I'd have loved to have seen the filecard that explained that one.

As a figure, Road Pig isn't great.  The face and chest are well detailed, but uninteresting.  He's just a guy with no shirt on.  His legs lack any real details or definition.  The only real highlight is the head.  It is true to Road Pig and well detailed.  But, even it isn't that much different from the 1988 sculpt.

Hasbro actually did release part of this figure.  The chest and arms were used on the Mortal Combat Movie Edition Liu Kang figure.  So, the mold did get some use.  Liu Kang gave customizers a chance to interpret this figure and make their own.  That was rare for unproduced concepts.  But, in looking at this figure, he's definitely a case where collectors didn't miss out on much by him being cancelled.

Ninja Commando Road Pigs exist both in unpainted and fully painted production level form.  In the mid 2000's, quite a few of these unpainted figures showed up from Asian sellers.  They were likely overstock that had been sitting around for a while and was discovered when the market for Joes took off.  Being a Ninja Commando, either form still fetches a decent price.  But, many collectors are not keen on the subset and are less keen on Road Pig as a ninja.  So, you will also see this figure sit unsold at prices that are similar to other characters from the same set who do sell.  While 1995 would have had some amazing new figures that would have been well liked by collectors to this day, it would also have given us a ninja Road Pig.  So, we did dodge a few bullets, too.

Rarities - Unproduced 1995 Ninja Commando Budo

The Ninja Commandos are one of the more famous groups of unproduced Joes.  Historically, the rank just behind the Manimals in terms of notoriety.  This is mostly due to the fact that they were very close to production.  And, like the Manimals, exist in full production versions: just very few of them.  The set was designed as a 5 figure group featuring Road Pig, Knockout, Stormshadow, Flint and Budo.  Of the group, Budo made a lot of sense.  He had a martial arts background (though as a Samurai) and was in need of an update.  Of the figures in the set, Budo is also the most famous, but for different reasons.

If you look at the figure below, he may look familiar.  The reason is that the entire figure figures was used to make the Mortal Combat Movie Edition Shang Tsung.  Unlike Flint and Road Pig (whose parts were used elsewhere, but not as entire figures) Budo's full mold was resused.  Shang Tsung is nothing more than a Budo repaint.  And, as a result, has become a rather sought after among G.I. Joe Collectors.

For those familiar with Shang Tsung's appearance, though, the Budo figure is a bit of a contrast.  The figure actually bears some resemblance to the 1993 Mail away Budo figure.  The teal, black and red isn't as good of a color combo as the maroon and brown of the Shang Tsung figure.  Neither figure fully paints the details on the mold. The black body of this unreleased Joe, though, obscures much of the work that went into sculpting the pieces.

In the case of this figure, since a full (and, in my opinion, better) repaint was released at retail, I don't think collectors really missed out by his cancellation.  As I was scouring the last remnants of the Joe line at retail in 1995, I surely would have come across this figure had Hasbro released him.  And, I'm equally sure that I would have left him rotting on the pegs due to the odd construction, boring gear and less than inspiring colors.  But, seeing him as he never got to appear is interesting and gives collectors a glimpse in some of the other Joe ideas that never got to see fruition.

Rarities - Ninja Commando Knock Out

Knock Out is the third out of five Ninja Commando figures I've looked at during this month of rarities.  What makes him significant, though, is that he was the lone new character included in the set.  He bears no real resemblance to any, existing figure or character and was, likely, designed as someone who was all new.  And, while it's possible that his filecard exists out there, somewhere, we really don't  have much knowledge about the figure or character behind it.

Who was Knock Out? We don't know much about him.  Good guy or bad guy?  It's hard to say.  If the Ninja Commando Stormshadow was a Cobra, then Knock Out was likely a Joe.  If Stormshadow was a Joe, though, then Knock Out was likely a Cobra.  Stormshadow's pre production card artwork is inconclusive as to whether he's Joe or Cobra.  And, the figure does not feature any Cobra sigils.  But, then again, neither does Road Pig.  So, that alone does not indicate allegiance.  However, Stormshadow's 1994 and 1992 figures were both Joes.  So, his most recent figures had all been good guys.  But, the last issues of the comic had Stormshadow returning to Cobra.  So, it's all very confusing.  But, based on the figure's overall look, colors and the fact that Stormshadow was most likely a Joe, I conclude that Knock Out would have been a Cobra.

Going with the assumption that he is a Cobra, this figure is pretty good.  The dark blue offset by the silver is a striking contrast.  While the open chest does diminish the overall appearance, it's not too much when you consider the figure's release year.  It is the head, though, that is the most interesting part of the mold.  I see a lot of Darth Vader in the general design.  But, the silver eye slits definitely give Knock Out a villain vibe.  I could see this figure have generated some collector attention had it made it to production.

For me, the non standard construction of the Ninja type figures is a real interest killer.  It makes a figure like this appear to not be a G.I. Joe figure since I associate them with the classic o-ring construction.  But, in looking more in depth at the Ninja Commandos, I'm more and more impressed with them.  The figure design was certainly top top notch.  And, the chosen colors were more in line with Joe's traditional approach to figure appearance instead of going with '90's neon.  While I probably would have passed this figure by in 1995, Knock Out would have found an aftermarket home in my collection.  His look is solid and he's distinctive.

Rarities - 1995 Ninja Commando Flint

Flint may or may not have been popular in 1995.  He might have been part of the Battle Corps Rangers.  Or, he may simply have had a repaint of his 1994 figure.  But, it is certain that he would have somehow become a ninja and joined the Ninja Commandos.

The Ninja Commandos are a fairly famous unproduced concept.  Not only were carded mock ups shown, but full production level figures have been found, too.  There persist to be reports that these figures were actually produced.  But, as we're two decades removed from their timeframe, it's pretty safe to say that they either were not, or they have subsequently been destroyed.

This Flint wouldn't have been a terrible figure.  But, he had the non standard articulation that was introduced with the production level ninja subset figures from prior years.  The proposed coloring with a green base and brown offsets was more normal than the 1993 and 1994 Ninja figures.  But, seeing Flint as a ninja would have been tough to swallow.  In the set of 5 figures, Flint would have been the 4th best in front of only Road Pig.  But, his colors would have been decent enough that he wouldn't have been an embarrassment.

While I'm growing to appreciate the Ninja Commandos, they also embody much of what collectors came to loathe about the line, both in the mid 1990's and today.  They reused characters and put them into specialties that made no sense.  They still skimped on paint masks, though the Ninja Commandos seem to have more details than the 1994 Battle Corps figures tend to.  And, they perpetuated the ninja dominated story that was the final years of G.I. Joe.  So, while 1995 would have had some pretty solid stuff, the reasons for the line's slow descent were still evident.  And, while I think the year would have been solid overall, it would have full of items that made it's overall place in Joe history debatable.

This body didn't die without a use, though.  In 1995, the Mortal Combat Movie Edition Rayden figure uses the Ninja Commando Flint body.  There is a new head.  But, the body was used by Hasbro to squeeze some value out of it.  This leaves something for customizers to use should they want to attempt this figure.

Rarities - Unproduced 1995 Ninja Commandos Storm Shadow

Hasbro had a lot planned for the 1995 G.I. Joe line.  And, much of it got pretty far along in the production process.  Among the more famous releases were the planned Ninja Commandos.  Packaging mock ups of these figures were shown and fully painted production level figures exist.  Below is an unpainted, resin prototype and full production sample of the 1995 Ninja Commandos Stormshadow figure.

This figure would have built upon the existing Stormshadow look and been an acceptable update to the character.  The alternate construction would have been commonplace in 1995 for any ninja figure.  So, while collectors may disdain it, it would have been the norm for anyone who was familiar with Joe in the early 1990's.  The general color scheme is clean and subtle, though.  It looks right at home with the more subdued colors we've seen from the proposed 1995 line.

My favorite Ninja Commando story surfaced in the 2000's.  At the time, Hasbro designers were pulling figure parts out of their custom bins to create some of the repaints that were released in that era.  One found an odd figure that he couldn't identify.  Turned out it was a Ninja Commando.  There were a bunch of full production figures just sitting in the junk bins that Hasbro had used to kitbash their toy ideas.  I'd have loved a shot to root through those boxes, even for just an hour.

Had these figures made it retail in 1995, I would have passed them by, just like I did with Ninja Force and Shadow Ninjas.  However, both of those sets had more garish colors that were not appealing to me.  Perhaps, the muted and more realistic tones of the Ninja Commandos would have enticed me to acquire one or two.  They were certainly an upgrade over the other figures available on the shelves at the time.