2004 Ninja Strike Stormshadow

When it comes to Stormshadow, Hasbro has always been a bit schizophrenic.  They could never decide if he was a good guy or a bad guy.  But, post 1994 and until the Anniversary series in 2007, Hasbro seemed to land on Stormshadow being a Cobra.  In short order, we saw his 1984 and 1992 molds both released as Cobras.  At the time, though, the 1988 mold, Stormshadow's first appearance as a good guy, was stuck in India.  In April of 2003, though, Hasbro got the mold back.  About 18 months later, the 1988 Stormshadow appeared in the 2004 Toys R Us exclusive Ninja Strike set.  This time, it was clearly released with the intent of Stormshadow being a Cobra.  The sigil was right there on his chest.  The look for Stormshadow was drastically different.  And, because of that, it's held up a little better than most other figures released around his time.

It's very likely that Stormshadow's appearance as a Cobra during the 1997-2007 timeframe was simply fan service.  Hasbro of that time believed that Joe fans were still almost exclusively guys who stopped collecting in 1987 or earlier and were far more interested in the Marvel Comic's Joe world than that of the cartoon.  There was, of course, evidence to the contrary.  But, Hasbro ignored that since the people who they most trusted to guide the brand were either people who were adults by the time it debuted in 1982 or were a small cadre of privileged collectors who fit the mold described above.  

To be fair, this isn't an entirely bad thing.  I've always found Stormshadow more interesting as a bad guy.  Cobra needed a foil to Snake Eyes.  Someone who was capable of standing toe-to-toe with the Joe's most powerful member.  With Stormshadow allied with Snake Eyes, the balance of power shifted too far to the Joe side.  Cobra had no credible threat for them.  As a bad guy, Stormshadow kept the conflict balanced.  This, though, disrupted the solid connection and story between Snake Eyes and Stormshadow.  But, that story could have been told without the redemption arc.  In the end, Zartan did kill the Hard Master because he was emulating Snake Eyes.  Stormshadow could have still not forgiven that and the story would have remained intact.

Hasbro of the repaint era, settled on Stormshadow being a Cobra and collectors were treated to him with this affiliation for nearly a decade.  Stormshadow was released in 1997, 2000, 2002 and mid 2004.  Around the time that the Urban Assault Stormshadow was released in 2004, word broke that Hasbro would be releasing a set of Ninjas that would hit stores right before Christmas of that year.  I seem to remember that an initial list of names appeared with the set when it appeared on Amazon.  But, details like that are among the multitude of information about releases of that era that have been lost to time as message boards and fan sites have disappeared.  But, the Ninja Strike set showed up in late 2004: replete with the newly acquired 1988 Stormshadow mold.

I was not a huge fan of the Ninja Strike set.  I felt that the red and black ninjas were too derivative of the Argentine figures.  And, the Vypras used far too much of the set's budget for some lame paint masks.  I had no need for this Stormshadow.  But, 19 years later, this set has help up far better than most of the other Toys R Us exclusive 6-figure sets.  And, this Stormshadow is a big reason why.  The green color is extremely rare on Cobra figures.  And, despite the fact that he's missing the trademarked Arashikage tattoo on his arm, the overall paint applications are fairly strong.  The dirty brown wash that covers the figure is more natural looking than the paint wipes from 2000.  And, it works to give the figure some depth without making him look shoddy.  

This Stormshadow mold is excellently done.  It's different than the more classic 1984 release.  But, that's good.  I loved the fact that this mold was simple, but extremely effective.  The hood was a distinctive feature.  But, the overall Gi conveys the purpose of the figure while being different from other martial arts figures that had been released prior to 1988.  The main feature that interested me was the rope strung across the figure's chest.  I loved ropes.  And, I wished the 1988 Stormshadow had included a real rope.  I viewed the claw as both a tool used for climbing rock walls and a weapon much like Wolverine's claws.  I always imagined this Stormshadow scaling the crumbling walls of some long forgotten compound to infiltrate the hidden fortress.

And, it is in that context that I view this Stormshadow.  I've always used the 1988 Stormshadow as a bad guy.  It's just a leftover from Stormshadow debuting during my most formative years.  Back in 1999, I gave my 1988 Stormshadow a cloak from an Episode I accessory pack and he's worn this Sith cloak as an indicator of his evil nature ever since.  I have yet to move this robe to the 2004 figure.  But, the coloring is such that I feel the obfuscating hue of the added accessory is unnecessary.  This green base for Stormshadow works for my vision of this figure as an infiltrator.  He dons this costume when it's time to break into some top secret installation as it provides visual cloaking and necessary equipment for such endeavors.

The accessories included with the Ninja Strike set were...just nonsense.  First off, the set included three repaints of the 1984 Stormshadow mold.  Yet, it did not include a single accessory from that mold.  There were two 1987 Jinx repaints in the set.  Neither included any Jinx gear.  And, the only accessory from the 1988 Stormshadow that was included with this Ninja Strike repaint was the claw.  In addition, the figure included a Scarlett crossbow, a Ninja Force sword and a black backpack that originated with the 1991 Dusty.  The 1988 Stormshadow backpack and sword not existing in any color other than red is a travesty.  And, this set would have been a great way to include that gear in a more useful color.  But, the end was coming and Hasbro had given up trying to make the Toys R Us 6 packs anything special.  So, the set just got a hodge-podge of random weapons that were recently included with other, retail figures.  

One big issue with this Stormshadow, though, is that his hands are rather small.  I'm not sure why this is.  The mold has fresh from India and the Funskool Stormshadow has no such issues.  It's possible that the thick, flesh colored paint uses up too much space.  But, the reality is that it's tough to get this Stormshadow to hold any weapons.  They'll often just pop out due to the small hand size.  If you're just storing this guy in a clamshell in your closet, this isn't much of an issue.  But, it's something to consider when you're looking to get a Stormshadow out for some photos.  Other Ninja Strike figures have other, major quality issues.  But, I've not heard of them being as rampant with this Stormshadow.  But, in general, the 2000's Joes aren't aging all that gracefully.  

The 1988 Stormshadow mold got good use.  After its run with Hasbro, it was sent down to Brazil.  There, Estrela released a figure that is nearly identical to the Hasbro figure.  It includes the same colors and gear.  It's not all that easy to find.  But, collectors don't much care for it due to the similarity with the Hasbro figure.  Post Brazil, the mold appeared in India.  Again, Funskool didn't much alter the figure and they released a near identical Stormshadow for many, many years.  You can find some variants among the Funskool figures with reversed tattoos and even missing camo.  But, those are harder to come by.  Upon the mold's return to Hasbro in 2003, it was used two more times.  The first for this figure in late 2004.  And, the mold's final appearance came as the Red Ninja that was released in a Comic Pack in early 2005.  Of course, this mold has tons of potential and could have been repainted ad naseum.  But, Hasbro didn't do that with the 1984 mold and they didn't do it with this 1988 mold, either.  Maybe a factory custom maker will get to this mold someday.  But, that's probably a pipe dream.

The 2004 Ninja Strike figures have gotten harder to find.  Once upon a time, they were cheap and easy to find.  But, all the Toys R Us figures have dried up.  Dealers will try to get $30 to $50 for a mint, loose and complete version.  But, those prices are dumb.  On the open market today, this Stormshadow is, at best, a $15 figure with loose figures going as low as $5 each.  So, there's no reason to pay a premium for this figure.  Especially, since his accessories are generic and available with other, cheaper contemporary figures.  Just wait until it comes up for sale at open market and save a ton of money.  With interest in vintage Joes waning, you're likely to see a few more of these show up in coming years at very attractive prices.

2004 Red Ninja Viper - Around The Web

At the time of his release, the Red Ninja Viper seemed overly derivative of the common Satan figure from Argentina.  And, the poor quality of the set really helped to limit the figures.  But, with time comes perspective.  And, 17 years later, the Red Ninja Viper fills a void, even if his gear is garbage and the figures tend to develop loose joints before you even move them.  Factory customs have negated much of the value of this figure.  But, he still has some uses and, if you got a bunch of them back in 2004, it's good to have them lying around in case you finally want to make up that Castle Destro diorama you've been putting off for the past 20 years.

Red Ninja Viper Profile

Red Ninja Viper by purplecobra75

Red Ninja Viper by Lava Boss

Red Ninja Viper by gen_liederkranz

Red Ninja Viper by Flatline

Red Ninja Viper by Stormer

Red Ninja Viper by bruxovigo

Red Ninja Viper by hellabaytoyz

Red Ninja Viper by gen_liederkranz

Red Ninja Viper by lordraven

Red Ninja Viper by TitusLester32

Red Ninja Viper by instachampa

2004 Cobra Black Dragon Ninja - Around The Web

If you were around back at the time of the Black Dragon Ninja figure's release, you remember that he appeared quite frequently.  Everyone was happy to show off their new figures.  But, in the years since, the Toys R Us 6 figure packs have kind of dried up.  Many new collectors don't have them.  And, the limitations of many of the figures have played out over the past 17 years.  (Yes, it's been that long.)  It's fun to find old write ups of figures like this.  When taken through the eyes of a new release, you see a different perspective than you do now that this figure is older than the vintage Joes were when he debuted.  There's not a ton of content on the Black Dragon Ninja out there.  But, of the TRU figures, this one has held up pretty well.  While Black Major has given us nice Stormshadow repaints, the Black Dragon Ninja color scheme hasn't really been explored.  Here's the best of his content from around the web.

2004 Black Dragon Ninja Profile

2004 Black Dragon Ninja by thedustinmccoy

2004 Black Dragon Ninja by yihad_77

2004 Black Dragon Ninja at Half The Battle

2004 Black Dragon Ninja by Slipstream80

2004 Black Dragon Ninja at GeneralsJoesReborn

2004 Black Dragon Ninja at JoeADay.com

2004 Black Dragon Ninja by Flatline

2004 Black Dragon Ninja by toysandtomfoolery

2004 Vypra (Version 2) - Ninja Strike

In the early 2000's, army building was all the rage.  Collectors army built any figure with "Viper" in the name and pretty much everything else that had a Cobra logo, too.  By 2004, though, Hasbro had finally started to catch up with army building demands of the collecting community.  By the 2nd half of the year, collectors had seen cheap Bats, a nice Python Patrol set, retail army building two pack, a Crimson Guard body mail away, the long awaited and insanely popular Cobra Infantry and a nice pack of Urban army builders and characters.  There were also ridiculous amount of army building figures, two packs and single carded figures for those who preferred the Joe vs. Cobra sculpts, too.  The calvacade of troopers didn't end as Hasbro ended the year with a Cobra themed ninja pack.  In the set were 5 army builders: 3 repaints of the V1 Stormshadow and 2 repaints of Jinx, named Vypra.

In 1998, Hasbro released the first Vypra figure.  She was a radically different repaint of Jinx and wasn't hated by the collecting world.  (The notion of Jinx as a Cobra had been inserted into the Joe mythos with an early 90's DeSimone Convention figure, too.)  She collected dust at Toys R Us stores into 2000.  By 2001, though, Vypra had taken on a new life through fan fiction, dio-stories and other medium.  The 1998 figure had gotten stupidly expensive and hard to find.  For many collectors, Vypra was annoying since they had passed her by dozens of times at retail, only to now see the figure selling for insane amounts.  No doubt, Hasbro saw this too and took advantage of a chance to get a similar character back out to retail.

As a character, though, this Vypra has no relevance to the original figure.  This character is one of a set of twins who guard the Arashikage mystic sword forge.  All but the last line of the filecard is about the swordmaster and his amazing swords.  Vypra and her sister guard the forge.  There is no mention of why they work for Cobra and wear Cobra sigils on their uniforms.  The entirety of the figure's filecard rehashes a comic book arc from about 15 years prior to the figure's release and doesn't bother to explain why these sisters share a name with another Cobra nor why Cobra owns the swordsmithery.  The sisters are also not, technically, army builders.  They are unique characters who have an army of two.  But, with as horrible as the 2000's era filecards were, there was little chance that collectors were going to head them and be content with just the two figures.

Really, the who thing is kind of silly.  But, the explanation is that it was 2004 and Hasbro was starting to give up on G.I. Joe.  The brand managers of the time hated vintage style figures and wished they would go away.  Meanwhile, the new sculpts for 2004 had backed up at retail and pretty much everyone knew the line's second coming was nearing its end.  You can see the lack of effort the team put into the products as you follow the chronology.  The 2003 Toys R Us offerings were pretty great.  The first four 6 figure pack exclusives for 2004 had great figures, but relatively poor weapon choices.  By the time these Ninjas and the Desert Strike set were released, the figures were getting as lazy as the accessories.  In 2005, the sets turned into an embarrassing mess that not even Hasbro would admit to.  So, we're left with these figures without a decent explanation of who they are or why they affiliate with Cobra.

As for the Vypra figure...I'm of mixed opinions.  At her core, seeing the mold in colors so similar to Jinx seems highly derivative and unimaginative.  Both figures could have been done in Cobra blue, all black or even white to make them more distinctive than the original character for which the mold was created.  The artistic prints on the figures, though, are fairly well done.  The masks are intricate, voluminous and in line with the character.  But, we know that paint masks comprised a huge part of every set's expense during the 2000's.  (It was actually second behind packaging costs.)  So, all of the Ninja Strike's budget went into these paint masks.  This meant that there was less money to improve Stormshadow or even include some more interesting accessories like a new set of 1984 Stormshadow gear with any of the three V1 Stormshadow molded figures in the set.

While I can appreciate the paints masks on this figure, I feel that the money could have been better spent making the whole set more appealing and enduring.  15 years later, the Stormshadow figures are all but forgotten: replaced by better factory custom figures that were free of Hasbro's limitations.  The 1988 Stormshadow isn't a release most collectors would even recall.  It was a terrible design for Stormshadow and the colors fell flat.  Had the set made a few key improvements in paint applications and included better gear, it could be held in regard with things like the Anti-Venom set where collectors still appreciate the entire effort since it was mostly done right.

One big issue with the Ninja Strike set in general is the figure quality.  For some reason, the quality slipped a bit with this set.  The figures feature tight joints, easily rubbed paint and will have frozen rivets hindering movement.  It's very noticable when you compare a figure from this set with a figure from the Urban Strike, Desert Patrol or Anti-Venom sets which produced around the same time.  Collectors of the day noticed right away.  And, more than one collector stopped buying their army since they had no desire to acquire tons of poor quality figures.  At the time, you could accomplish that far better figure releases from Funskool.

Vypra's accessories are somewhat lame.  Her weapons are a black version of the 1989 Snake Eyes sword and a pair of nunchuks from the Ninja Force era of figures.  While you can't disparage the fact that she includes ninja type weapons, the complement of gear seems haphazard and lazy.  Despite two Jinx molds in the mix, the set did not include any of Jinx's original gear.  And, since they had used her gear in 2003, we know it was available to Hasbro.  She also includes a long skirt.  Here, the paint masks really come out.  The visual of the figure wearing it helps differentiate her from Jinx.  But, the skirt is very rigid plastic and greatly hinders the figure's movement.  It's a situation where appearance reigns over function.

In the early 2000's, female figures were still seen as collector bait.  As the Joe line was short on overall female figure options, all the females that Hasbro had available saw re-release after re-release.  The Jinx mold was no different.  After the 1998 Vypra release, Jinx returned as a member of Tiger Force in 2003.  In the summer of 2004, Jinx's body was used for the Comic Pack Scarlett.  These two Vypra releases finished off the mold and Jinx never appeared again.  (For Jinx fans, though, there is also the vintage version from 1987 and two variants of Sonya Blade that use Jinx's body, but a new head and different feet on the movie version.)  While there was always more that could have been done with a vintage figure mold, Hasbro got their money from Jinx and fans of the mold have far more to collect than exists with other characters of Jinx's release year.

It's hard to get a gauge on this Vypra's pricing.  It seems you can get loose, mint and complete Ninja Strike sets sell in the $40 range.  Yet, the 2 Vypras alone will often set you back $30.  This version, alone, seems to sell in the $13-$15 range if she is complete and has the filecard.  Since the Red Ninja Vipers aren't bad and the Black Dragon Ninja has some uses, too, it seems that its far more economical to just buy a full, loose set.  Hasbro made around 20,000 of these sets.  And, while they sold out at retail during the 2004 holiday season, they were never hard to find and any collector who wanted a set or six could easily find them both in stores and online.

For me, this figure is rather insignificant.  Jinx has never really resonated with me.  And, this figure just looks like Jinx with a paint job that ate up all the development money from this set and cost me decent Stormshadow gear for the better figures.  If I want to use a Vypra, I'll use the 1998 figure since it's something different.  But, lots of collectors love this figure.  That's why they still sell for a decent premium today.  The paint masks are intricate and show what Hasbro was capable of doing when they actually tried.  But, Joe interest was dying off as 2004 turned to 2005 and sets like this Ninja Strike were part of the reason why.  The set seemed so great and then delivered so little when it actually was released to collectors.

2004 Cobra Black Dragon Ninja

From 2003 through 2005, Toys R Us released 14 exclusive Joe and Cobra figure packs. (Most were 6 figures, with the Tiger Force only being 5.) These releases ranged from spectacular to worse than terrible. There were times when they got everything right on a figure. There were times when the failed so badly that Hasbro lied to the face of collectors and pulled the sets from the convention displays. But, most of the time, the sets were a mixture of one or two good figures, two or three unimpressive figures and 1, maybe two, real stinkers. With the early sets, it seems like Hasbro really tried to make something impressive. But, their level of care and commitment to quality diminished with every set that was released. The beginning of the end really was signalled at the end of 2004 with the release of the Desert Assault Joe set and the Ninja Strike Cobra set. Both sets suffered from bad weapon choices, less than stellar quality and general laziness. But, sometimes lazy can work...to an extent. As such, the Ninja Strike featured the derivative Black Dragon Ninja figure.

In 2004, pretty much every active collector was familiar with Satan and Ninja-Ku from Argentina. Online sellers had been overflowing with carded versions of these two Plastirama exclusive ninjas for a few years. By '04, the supply was starting to dry up and both of the figures were priced in the $50 range for a carded version. They were still very easy to get, but somewhat pricey when you considered how common they were. Rather than come up with an original idea, Hasbro decided to mimic these South American exclusives for release in the Ninja Strike set. Only, rather than name them Satan and Ninja-Ku, the decided to make the red ninja and black ninjas army builders to appease the army building craze that was finally starting to die down. The resulting set is not terrible, but feels like something that had been done before.

As a figure, the Black Dragon Ninja is vastly inferior to Ninja-Ku in some regards. But, in other aspects, he is vastly superior. Ninja-Ku is spectacular because of his simplicity. The black skin color combined with the simple black and gold color scheme makes for a mysterious and dangerous enemy. The Black Dragon Ninja loses the distinct skin color, but excels with additional paint applications on the belt, sash, wrist gauntlets and boots. The result is a more vibrant figure that looks more at place in a collection heavy on modern interpretations of classic figures. Ninja-Ku works well with vintage Joes. But, the Black Dragon Ninja works better with their modern repaints. With his white accents, though, the Black Dragon Ninja is a nice complement to a vintage Stormshadow.

The Ninja Strike Set was released as a Toys R Us Exclusive in late 2004. It was the Cobra companion piece to the Desert Patrol set. The set included one Black Dragon Ninja, two Red Ninja Vipers, two Vypra army builders (repaints of the Jinx mold) and a green and brown repaint of the 1988 Stormshadow mold. Despite production numbers of around 20,000 sets, these sold through very quickly during the holidays of 2004. Joe was still popular at the end of 2004. Toys R Us carried three exclusive sets that holiday season (they also had a VAMP/Whirlwind set.) and all sold very well. It was not until 2005 that the general interest in Joe declined.

My biggest issue with this figure is not that he's a poor man's Ninja-Ku rip off. (Though, if that's what they were going for, Hasbro should have given him the black skin and called it a day.) The real tragedy of the Ninja Strike set is that collectors were deprived of the chance to finally get a V1 Stormshadow figure in Cobra blue. Perhaps one of the most common customs out there is a blue Stormshadow. It's such an obvious repaint that every collector with a jar of blue paint and a yellowed Stormshadow has attempted it. I get the inclusion of the Red Ninja Vipers. They appeared in the comic and are also an obvious repaint. But, to include this black version of Stormshadow while not including a Cobra blue version seems like a great opportunity lost. To this day, collectors have no way to acquiring a factory produced Cobra blue Stormshadow. This set was their chance to get it. But, instead, we got this figure.

The Black Dragon Ninja is a new character. They were designed as ninja guardians for Cobra Commander who were brainwashed by Dr. Mindbender. However, Stormshadow was able to take control of their minds and make them loyal to him. As a comic plot, that's not a terrible characterization...especially for such a late addition to the line. As a long term character, it's not something you can build a great deal of plot around. Once their double loyalty is exposed, their use fullness is diminished. But, having other factions out there to battle Stormshadow or be nameless assassins under Cobra's employ is always a good way to expand a collection.

The accessory complement for the Ninja Strike was OK. It featured a wide variety of swords, knives, nunchuks, bows and arrows and even a rifle and a duffel bag. What it did not include in any way, shape or form, though, was any accessory from the V1 Stormshadow figure. In 1997, Hasbro released the full range of V1 Stormshadow accessories with that year's figure. Seven years later, the entire array of pack, knife, sword, bow and nunchuks were no where to be seen. Had this set included 4 copies of the V1 Stormshadow accessories, collectors would have been much more excited about it. Instead, the panoply of gear seemed overly random and none of these figures really had anything that made him stand out since his weapons were, basically, generic.

The Stormshadow mold was used around the world. He was released in the U.S. in 1984 and 1985. The mold was also used for the 1993 Ninja Viper. Between those times, the mold was released as the Cobra Do Gelo (Ice Cobra) in Brazil and as Satan, Ninja-Ku and Cobra De Heilo (Ice Cobra) in Argentina. Hasbro resumed use of the mold in 1997, but it then sat fallow until this set in 2004. In 2005, Hasbro used most of the mold for a comic pack Stormshadow and parts of the mold for other figures. Sadly, despite all these uses, collectors are still left with gaping holes such as the blue repaint and many other color schemes. It should be noted that Hasbro did produce the figure for China in 1994. However, in the late 2000's, someone bootlegged that mold. The market was quickly flooded with bootleg carded Chinese Stormshadows. When collectors got wise to this and the prices plummeted, the tactic was changed and bronzed and chromed versions of Stormshadow were made available. These are very interesting conversation pieces and show that there are unauthorized copies of the mold out there that could be used to fill the gaps that Hasbro has avoided.

In the near decade since this figure was released, they have gotten a bit harder to find. As such, pricing is difficult. If you have great patience, you can get this figure for under $10. But, most of them sell between $15 and $20. Due to the lower supply, these impatient sales make up the bulk of Black Dragon Ninjas that are available. At $10, this figure might be worth it. At $20, it's probably overpriced and is hard pressed to provide that kind of value to a collection. I was fortunate to get my fill of this figure when he was available at retail. Had I not, I doubt I would have spent the time to track this figure down. But, it is nice to have some Stormshadow variants in my collection. This figure does mesh well with the collecting years which are most meaningful to me. In the end, my feelings on this figure are mixed. I like having him, but really don't use him. If I want a black ninja, I use Ninja-Ku. But, at least this figure is a cheaper alternative that's available.

2004 Red Ninja Viper

In the time I have been profiling figures, I have actually examined very few ninjas. Sure, I've reviewed a few versions of Snake Eyes and Stormshadow and even went to far to dust off T'gin-Zu. But, for as strong a role as ninjas play in the Joe mythos, I have not really explored their overall role in my collection. In the past, this has been primarily due to the fact that most of the ninja figures from 1992-1994 were very poor molds who were saddled with action features, different construction methods and poor color choices. In recent years, though, Hasbro has offered collectors some better ninja alternatives: especially if you are collector of the new sculpt figures. One such ninja uses a good mold in collector demanded colors. Even though it is a blatant rip off of an obscure South American figure, the 2004 Red Ninja Viper has filled an important niche in the Joe collecting world.

First and foremost, this figure is just a rip-off of the Argentine Satan figure. Only, Satan was a vibrant shade of blood red and is actually superior in design to this figure. When I first saw the early pics of the Ninja Strike set, the only thing I could see was two unimaginative attempts to capitalize on superior foreign designs from 16 years earlier. As such, I didn't have a lot of enthusiasm for the set. While I do not personally own a Satan or Ninja Ku figure, they are both very common and easy to get. Granted, they will cost you a lot, but it's not like they aren't available. As such, I would have rather seen this figure in Cobra blue, a deep green, or a shadowy grey. Those would have been colors that fit the nature of the set and offered collectors something they could not get anywhere else. I am the type of collector who would rather see something completely new than see a cheaper version of something already done. I think that's why the more recent comic packs have been such disappointments to me. Basically, they are the same molds in the same colors as what was previously released. The one or two new parts aren't enough to get me interested in those figures over their original versions. Whereas, figures like Clutch and Steeler were somewhat interesting because they were completely new takes on the character. That's they way I think all the figures Hasbro releases should be done. But, I digress....

After I actually acquired a few of the sets, though, I did find myself warming up the Red Ninja. I had long wanted an army of red ninja figures and figured that, some day, I would be able to make a foray into Argentina and build my ninja forces that way. Now, though, I don't have to wait. This set did offer the best way for ARAH figure collectors to quickly accumulate the nameless, faceless Red Ninjas in army building numbers. So, I took advantage of that and built up a decent little force of the Red Ninjas with the thought that they would likely not ever be as cheap or easy to get as they were in this set.   The figure itself is decent enough. The deep red hues and long sleeves make them different enough from Satan that they can stand apart from him. The figure does suffer from an overabundance of paint wipes, though. The entire figure is washed in dark paint that gives the uniforms a more worn look. Paint wipes are always an issue of strong opinion in the collecting world. In this case, I think they neither enhance nor hinder the figure. It would be a good figure without them and a is a good figure with them. The figure definitely has the look of the Red Ninja (even if the uniform is a deviation from their comic appearances) and is useful either as a stand alone character or an army builder.

In the early days of Joe collecting, there were a few staples among the customizers of the day. Everyone had their own take on the Oktober Guard, Dr. Venom, Kwinn and, the red ninja. The idea of the red ninja was ingrained from issue #21 and was one of the easiest repaints to do, especially when you consider that in the mid '90's you could easily find non-mint, discolored V1 Storm Shadow figures for ridiculously cheap prices. As such, there has long been fan demand for this figure and even the large supply of overstock Argentine Satan figures did little to sate it. As such, after some reflection, it is difficult to fault Hasbro too much for this choice. If anything, they should be faulted for the absolutely TERRIBLE Vypra figures that were forced into the set.

For some reason, the Ninja Strike sets suffered from spotty quality. Many sets featured brittle figures and poor paint masks. The Red Ninja Viper was especially susceptible to this and is the figure who is most often cited as breaking right out of the package. I can feel a noticeable difference in quality between the ninjas and the Desert Patrol which was released at the same time. It is unknown if the poor quality was the result of a cost cutting attempt or if the V1 Storm Shadow mold is just finally wearing out. But, if you do purchase after market Red Ninja Vipers, be aware their original quality was poor and you need to be on the lookout for the better samples.

The other area where the Ninja Strike set failed was with the accessories. While it did include a few swords and knives, it also included an M-16, a front bar and an arrow for a crossbow (without the actual crossbow) and a duffel bag. In an of themselves, some of the superfluous weapons aren't bad. But, most really didn't fit with the Ninja theme. Plus, when you see a V1 Storm Shadow mold, you expect V1 Storm Shadow accessories to accompany it. As this set did not include any of the original Storm Shadow's accessories, there was no way that any accessory complement could be anything other than a disappointment. The Red Ninja Vipers themselves included swords that at least made sense with the figures. But, they are very large sword molds that don't really seem to fit the scale of the V1 Storm Shadow mold. Unfortunately, V1 Storm Shadow accessories aren't exactly common or cheap on today's second hand market. So, if you army built this set at all, you are going to be hard pressed to find cheaply available quality accessories to re-outfit your figures with. What is especially infuriating, though, is that the reason for the lame accessories was the depth of paint masks used on the Vypra figures. Had the set included only one Vypra (rather than ruining her characterization by making her an army builder) and another Red Ninja Viper, then we might have actually seen quality accessories in the set as well. But, the design money was wasted on the Vypra paint masks and the entire set suffered for it.

While the Ninja Strike sets hung on the pegs during their release period: their overall time on the shelves was very short. The set was released just before Christmas and very few of them were left after the holiday shopping season was finished. As such, if you took a few months off, it's likely you missed the set at retail. However, as collectors had plenty of advance notice on the set and it wasn't the type of set that was hoarded by army builders, if you went looking for it in November and December of 2004, you were going to find it. Hasbro produced roughly 20,000 of these sets (compared to about 16,000 Desert sets) and that number, except in the case of the Cobra Infantry, has historically proven to sell out without being scarce at retail. This pretty much sated collector demand for the set and now you can buy sets on the second hand market for just slightly above the original retail price. Of the figures in the set, though, the Red Ninjas are the most popular. Individually, they will set you back about $8 each. As such, if you are looking to army build then, I'd just buy full sets, keep the red and black ninjas and sell off the Vypras and Stormshadow. You'll save a little money in the long run. Personally, I have found the idea of having an army of Red Ninjas to have been more exciting than actually having one. The lack of decent accessories and the frantic number of other figure releases that were sandwiched around this figure has pretty much dropped these guys from my collection. They are cool to have around and do come in handy once in a while. But, for the most part, they stay packed away. I have a feeling that, in a few years, I might have more appreciation for this figure. Until then, I'll just sit on my small army of ninjas and use them in the rare cases where their specialty is required.