Rarities - Remco Ice Wonder/Yeti

Remco made an eclectic group of o-ring figures.  They were designed to be a cheap, non-licensed alternative to G.I. Joe figures that were available at discount chains.  (Many were K-Mart or Sears exclusives.)  Many of their early figures were, well, terrible.  The sculpting was bad, the quality was crap and the figures were boring.  But, as the company matured, so did the quality of their action figure offerings.  While I feel Remco peaked with their S.I.T. series, the reality is that many of their later designs are excellent.  Sadly, they are still defined by lower quality materials and wonky hands.  But, there's some interesting figures for collectors to discover.  Among them is the character of Ice Wonder: also known as Yeti.  Below are some samples that have captured my interest.

My main draw to this figure is the eerie similarity he has to Sub Zero.  But, the Remco figure debuted first.  While the idea of white and baby blue coloring on an arctic figure that also features a fur hooded coat isn't all that unique, the fact that Hasbro pretty much copied the exact design for Sub Zero seems like less of a coincidence and more an instance of influence.  But, all the military toy lines of the era seemed to borrow from one another.  It was just, usually, all the other knock-off companies copying Hasbro instead of vice-versa.

Once the figure appeared on my radar, I began to notice that he existed in a few different forms.  He was released in at least two different series: American Defense and U.S.  Forces.  (There might be more, Remco is a morass of poor documentation with few resources available.)  The few I've found seem to be named Ice Wonder for U.S. Forces and Yeti for American Defense.  But, again, there could be lots of variations among the packaging and naming, too.

Here you can see a carded Yeti and Ice Wonder:

The figure itself is full of variants.  Among them are different waists, heads with either a flesh colored neck or a white neck, and a sea of lower leg variants where the fur collars are positioned differently or don't exist at all.

Here are some head and waist variants.

Here is a figure with no fur collar on his boots.

Here is one with offset fur boot collars.  One is set at the knee and the other is set just below the knee.

Here is a sample where the fur boot collar is right above the ankle on both feet.

I'm sure there are more variants out there.  In the early days of Joe collecting, it wasn't uncommon  to get a lot of someone's childhood figures that would also include some Remco offerings.  As those collections were bought, sorted and resold, the Remco figures were removed.  Most were just tossed into junk bins as they had no collectability.  The result is that now, it's kind of hard to find decently conditioned Remco figures.  And, you tend to have to pay for them.  Back when you could buy a shoebox full of these guys for $4, it was fun to track down variants and various releases.  Now, it's more expensive that the end result is worth.  

Remco releases can be a challenging rabbit hole for a collector, though.  The Joe line is fairly well documented.  (Though, finding the documentation is now becoming hard due to the walled gardens & private communities.)  Something like Remco can keep you occupied for years as you try to track down all the various incarnations of their releases and all the variants within each one.

2024 Ghostbusters O-Ring Set

Two years ago, Hasbro made a surprise announcement at the 2024 Wondercon.  Here, they showcased a new set of vintage style o-ring figures of the 1984 Ghostbusters.  They were to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the movie.  Their appearance was startling and amazing.  Fans of the franchise had a different scale of figures to collect.  G.I. Joe fans had a new avenue to add to their collections.  And, everyone suddenly wondered about the immense possibilities this development could lead to.  Were o-ring Mask figures on the table?  Indiana Jones?  Marvel?  Or, even Star Wars?  Sadly, we now know that the possibilities will not be explored in any meaningful way.  But, this Ghostbusters set seemed a solid test case for possible future products.

At its core, the Ghostbusters "Plasma Pack", as the set is officially named, is a great product.  For $44, you got 4 distinct figures, a nice supply of gear for each of them and packaging in a nice window box that is the same size as a DVD collector package.  The box was designed to fit on a home video shelf and could be used for easy storage.  The figures themselves feature all newly sculpted parts.  Sure, a lot of the body parts are reused among the figures.  But, the Ghostbusters didn't have a lot of variety in their movie jumpsuits.  And, the heads are close enough to actor's likenesses to know who they are without treading on those pesky likeness rights that would have ensured performer compensation.

In short, it's just a nice presentation for some movie homage toys.  It's not overdone.  It's not cheesy.  If fits that perfect middle ground for someone like me who liked the Ghostbusters but wouldn't call himself a full fledged fan.  

One fun thing about non-Joe content is that it gives me a chance to reminisce about other childhood moments that didn't involve Joe.  One such occasion occurred in the summer of 1984.  

In the '80's, we lived relatively far from my school.  Now, the distance seems paltry.  But, as a kid, most of my friends lived a long ways away.  Part of this was that there is a canal that ran between my school and my neighborhood.  Most kids lived on the same side of the canal as the school.  I was one of the few who did not.  So, while some friends lived only a couple of blocks away, that distance was doubled or tripled by the fact that I had to go out of my way to get to a bridge to cross the canal (and the major street that ran along it) before I could go back down to their street.  As an adult, this hurdle doesn't seem insurmountable.  But, as a 10 year old, my options were limited.

There were just three of of us who lived on our side of the waterway.  Both of the other two lived, literally, as far away from my block as you could.  Their side of the neighborhood was blocked in by a river.  We were on a little spec of land that had once been a single farm: bound by the river and the canal.  My one classmate named Erik lived in the original farmhouse on the land.  Now, it was determinable only by the home's architecture.  He had a normal yard and was on a standard block like all the other houses in our area.  We first met in early 1983.  It was here, at his house, that I saw my first Sears Cobra Missile Command.  I just didn't believe it was an actual Joe toy since it was crappy cardboard and didn't appear in the catalog.  The remnants of it were strewn among an ocean of toys that defined every kid's playroom in the early '80's.

We played together a few times.  But, as 1984 dawned, I was able to more easily bike to his house.  And, we began a long running adventure that also included our third classmate, Matt who lived a few houses down from Erik.  Erik had an amazing collection of toy guns.  One day, we found a note that had been written by Erik's younger brother, detailing some plans that he and friends had.  Matt, Erik and I created a "detective agency" to decipher the plans.  That idea was then expanded into fictional adventures where we were dedicated to toppling the ultimate bad guy: Frank Lupo.  You might recognize that name.  Lupo was a credited produced on the A-Team.  (Among a slew of other shows.)  I just saw the name and thought it was cool.  So, he became our fictional bad guy.  

We'd then all load up with various guns and run around the neighborhood, chasing the imaginary Lupo and his goons.  When we got tired, we'd retreat to Erik's basement where it was cool.  As was par for that era, his dad had a bar in the basement sitting room.  We'd sit there and plan out the next phase of the story.  One particular detail I recall of this was that Erik's basement was always stocked with food.  Notably, several huge boxes of Honeycomb cereal.  My mother wouldn't buy us Honeycomb.  (She'd buy us Fruit Loops, Cocoa Krispies and all sorts of other sugary cereals.  No idea was Honeycomb was off limits.)  So, I remember the boxes, sitting on a shelf that was in a room opposite the sitting area where we'd listen to cassette tapes of the Police or RATT and plan out our next adventure.

The other thing Erik had in his backyard was an old VW van.  Oddly, another friend named Eric, who lived closer to school, also had a VW van in his backyard.  The two families weren't connected.  It was just one of those Doofenshmirtz coincidences.  But, we could play in this van, shooting at other cars and pretending to drive maniacally as we either pursued Lupo or were being chased by him.  It's somewhat surreal to think back about how we could play during the '80's.  We'd run all over the neighborhood, through people's yards, onto the public levees along the river and even go into stores all while carrying very realistic looking toy guns.  At any given moment, none of our parents really knew where we were.  But, they knew we were in the general neighborhood, and that was good enough.

One day in the summer of 1984, Erik's mom decided to take us to a movie.  Or, more accurately, drop us off at a movie for a couple of hours.  I suspect she just wanted some quiet time.  It was me, Erik and another classmate named Damian.  Damian's parents shuffled him around various friends over the summer.  So, on the day he was at Erik's, we went to see Ghostbusters.  Erik's mom dropped us off at a local theatre.  (Years later, after that theatre closed, my childhood comic book store moved out of my neighborhood and into the theatre.  No idea if it's still there today.)  We each had a couple of bucks and bought a drink, some popcorn and went into the most empty theatre to watch the movie.

One of the things that's been lost in recent years is the fact that movies were always meant to be cheap entertainment.  They were designed to be a cheap way to entertain lots of people.  In the past 10 or so years, though, that's changed.  But, back in the '80's, it was a cheap way to spend an  afternoon.  We sat about 1/2 way down the theatre and enjoyed this crazy movie.  In the latter half, my drink caught up with me and I had to use the restroom.  I missed the "dickless" joke while I was out of theatre.  And, of course, that was the one line from the movie that was most discussed upon our return to Erik's house.  It was quite a while later before I'd see an uncensored version of the film again and catch what everyone else thought was the funniest part of the movie.  We spent the rest of the afternoon laughing at other scenes and  just roaming around Erik's block.  All of the blocks were bisected by alleys which ranged from fully overgrown and impassible to perfectly manicured.  We'd wander up and down these, looking for things to do.  It was a pointless existence that was tons of fun just due to the weird things people discarded back then.

If you fast forward a couple of weeks, my parents were going to take my brothers and I to an ice cream social at our school.  It was weird to be at the school during the summer.  But, it was a good chance to see my friends who were otherwise cut off from me.  While waiting for my familty to come to the car, I was out there, listening to the radio and playing with the cigarette lighter.  I managed to burn the circular pattern onto one of my fingertips.  I did this when I was distracted by the Ghostbusters theme that came on the radio.  I remembered the song from the movie.  I never thought I'd hear it again.  I wasn't aware of movie themes being radio hits.  So, hearing it was novel.  We went to the event where I told some friends about hearing the song and burning my finger.  I had to keep the burn secret from my parents or they wouldn't let me play in the car any longer.  But, those two items are forever "burned" into my memory.

I'm not a huge Ghostbusters fan.  But, had these figures been released in 1984, I'd have bought them.  And, they'd have found a home with my Joes.  The failure of '80's TV and movie 3 3/4" figures was that they were always straight arm, knock off type toys.  Or, they were done in a scale and style too far astray of classic Joe for the other figures to be compatible with my collection.  While I desperately wanted the A-Team to be in my Joe world, the crappy Galoob figures just didn't work.  They were shockingly cheap when compared to Joes and just weren't fun to play with.  Cool figures like the Secret Wars products were too tall and lacked the articulation necessary to be useful.  I'm left with childhood daydreams of every property being in G.I. Joe style.  I'd have loved to have had a Batman, Spider Man, Indiana Jones, and the Clash of Titans characters done up with full Joe articulation, accessories and production quality.  

In the adult collecting era, we've finally seen some of this consolidation.  If you get 3 3/4" figures, they are all articulated and designed like anniversary Joes or are 5 POA ReAction figures.  If those are your thing, they work.  But, most of the scale compatibility has come in the 6 inch arena.  If you collect 6 inch figures, you can get IP from pretty much every property you can imagine.  So, you see collections of superheros, TV personalities, Star Wars and other pop culture figures all intermingled in one giant collector diaspora.  If 6 inch figures are your bag, they sky's the limit.  My childhood dreams of o-rings just aren't going to happen.  The format works.  It's just not popular enough.  Maybe we'll see occasional one offs like this Ghostbusters set.  But, my reverie of all things being in the best format will never come to be.

We need, though, to really look at the quality of this release.  Each figure includes the plasma pack and wand that is attached to the pack by a hose.  You get Ray's goggles, Egon's little detector thingie and a single ghost trap.  Not a bad complement of gear.  The backpacks are cheaply done and don't have the Joe peg construction.  The hoses on the wands are less brittle than I thought they'd be. I'm not sure how they or the overly large shoulder rivets will hold up over 30 or 40 years.  But, by then, who cares?  Each figure appears as he does in the movie.  You can't ask for much more than that.

A couple of years ago, I showed my kids the Ghostbusters movie.  They enjoyed it.  It wasn't the cultural touchstone it was for my generation.  They laughed at the "cgi".  (They call all special effects, cgi.)  They never watched the second one.  They had no interest in it.  But, chronologically, my showing them Ghostbusters was same as my Dad showing me Casablanca.  So, that puts the cultural references and such into better perspective.  They'll have their Ghostbusters movie story moment over something that was an age appropriate new release for them in the 2020's.  And, I'll shake my head in disbelief at the movie that creates an indelible experience for them.  

It's tough to know how well the Plasma Pack did at retail.  There is a large Ghostbusters fan base.  But, historically, they've been more into the cosplay elements of property appreciation.  The price per figure suggests that Hasbro did a decent production run on the figures.  And, they found a solid audience in Joe fans.  The set, though, has been in stock at Amazon for retail price for well over a year, now.  Amazon has done various discounts and it's fairly easy to get it for around $35.  Every few months, Amazon cycled through a heavy discount phase and dropped the set to 1/2 price.  At $22, the set is a no brainer, even if it's just for one moment of admiration.  Since the Plasma Pack's release, Hasbro has offered no other o-ring products with the exception of some reused Joe molds in the Void Rivals SDCC exclusive set from 2025.  So, it seems the Ghostbusters may have been a one off.  

Rarities - Remco Captain Impermeable

The various Remco action figure lines are full of lower quality toys that were meant to mimic more popular, and expensive, brands of the '80's.  They were a cheap alternative for the media driven icons of the decade.  Despite the poor quality, their 3 3/4 military inspired lines actually featured some really interesting ideas.  The pinnacle was their S.I.T. series of figures.  But, earlier Remco lines also featured some very interesting character designs that created figures with some merit.  As an example, we look at Captain Impermeable.

First off, Captain Impermeable is a fantastic name.  It's both an unheard of level of superhero cheesiness and a great moniker for a one off villain.  (Though, to be fair, this guy has no character.  So, him being a good guy or a bad guy was entirely up to the kid who owned him.)  The figure is black and silver and dons a full hazmat suit.  The figure's look is a weird combo of '80's fear mongering and World War II nostalgia.  The suit looks modern.  But, the ancient gas mask combo mish-mashes the look into something right out of a comic book.

To my knowledge, this figure is the first hazmat suit wearing 3 3/4" figure.  His 1986 release year predates anything Hasbro would do in G.I. Joe.  (The Toxo Viper wouldn't appear until 1988.)  And, appears to have beaten Lanard's hazmat themed figures to market, too.  The black and silver color scheme is also rather unique.  It wouldn't appear in the Joe line until the 1989 Snake Eyes.  The Hasbro team would have been knowledgeable of other competition in the marketplace.  But, we'll look at some other ideas they "borrowed" from Remco in next year's Rarities posts.

One aspect of play that Remco leaned into in their various military themed 3 3/4" lines was horror.  This isn't all that surprising since Remco released the classic 3 3/4", 5 POA monster figures at the start of the 1980's.  They had the classics of Wolf Man, Frankenstein, Dracula, the Mummy and the Creature from the Black Lagoon (among others.).  Remco later created their own Wolf Man character with a two-faced head for kids to mimic the transformation into the creature.  But, I see figures like Captain Impermeable in that same vein.  This guy looks like he crawled out of a crappy '80s slasher flick.  And, paired with some of the other Remco figures would have formed a creepy contingent of monsters and nightmares for the good guys to battle.  

Being a Remco figure, Captain Impermeable exists in a few different forms.  You can find his parts on other figures.  And, there are full repaints of the mold that are available.  I've seen them in both bright and olive green color schemes.  (This character was also sold under the name of Smokescreen.)  I'm not sure under which banners the repaints were released.  Remco is sparsely documented.  Which, makes it difficult to fully track down all uses of a figure's parts or even the universe of all the times the mold was repainted.

Back in the early days of online collecting, you'd often find lots of Joe figures that also included Remco and Lanard figures.  They were just mixed in because you were buying some kids' childhood toys.  Slowly, though, the knock-offs and discount lines were filtered out.  For many collectors, they all just went into a box or were sold off in large lots of non-Joe figures.  But, now, high quality Remco figures are pretty tough to find and they will cost you.  The poor quality of the original figures is part of this.  You'll often find Remco figures with broken parts (especially thumbs), heavily worn paint or missing accessories.  So, you'll pay a premium for mint specimens, especially if they happen to be interesting figures like this Captain Impermeable.

2024 Ghostbusters O-ring Figures - In Package

This is a good product.  For $44, it's properly priced and the packaging is a perfect combo of collector friendly and space conscious.  I'm not a huge fan of the "retro weathering".  But, it's consistent with the retro offerings from Star Wars and gives a vibe...I guess.  Even if they never do another o-ring homage with a media property, it's awesome that these toys exist.

The figures are what they were supposed to be.  The price is right.  I can only image Joe 4 packs that had been done in this format and at this price.  Maybe they'd still be viable.  But, I hope this Ghostbusters set sells out and inspires Hasbro to take more chances like this.  Hell, they could reuse the Ramis and Murray heads in a Stripes 4 pack.  Until then, though, we can enjoy an o-ring set done right.

2021 RIOT Commando (Eagle Force) - Around the Web

It's been a few years since this figure was released.  And, it's been completely forgotten.  Despite the overall quality of the Riot Commando, the figure completely failed to make a splash among the pandemic era collecting boom.  To me, this is utterly surprising.  Usually, I'm not much one for 3rd party o-ring figures.  But, I found the Riot Commando a really nice addition to the Joe line.  He perfectly supplemented many other figures and could integrate rather seamlessly with vintage and repaint era figures.

But, my tastes, once again, prove eclectic.  And, today, you don't see the Riot Commando much at all.  This is really too bad.  The figure failed so badly that it was offered at a discount for a while.  And, the future o-ring offerings that were planned for the Eagle Force line never came to be.  (Which is too bad as a couple of them were nice improvements that integrated with this figure.)  

Fortunately, there's a bit of content out there that features the figure.  Much of it was from the time of his release.  But, a couple of people still manage to keep him around and in photos every now and again.  I doubt I'll ever spark a Riot Commando renaissance.  But, I hope a few people will check out the photos below and find some appreciation for the figure.

2021 RIOT Commando Profile

2021 RIOT Commando by atwooddan

2021 RIOT Commando by gen_liederkranz

2021 Riot Commando by saintsyn

2021 Riot Commando by Gigamach

2021 Riot Commando by gen_leiderkranz

2021 Riot Commando by toy_attack

2021 Riot Commando by atwooddan

2021 Riot Commando by GigaMach

2021 Riot Commando by u.n.i.t_gi.joe

2021 Riot Commando at atwooddan

2021 Riot Commando by gen_liederkranz

2021 Riot Commando by gijoe_guy

Rarities - B.A. Baracus (Glasslite - Brazil)

We all know about the Estrela toy company from Brazil.  They were Hasbro's partner to release licensed G.I. Joe figures in their native market.  But, if you are a Star Wars collector, you are more likely to be familiar with another Brazilian toy company of the era: Glasslite.  

Most famously, Glasslite made the only production Vlix figure from the Droids line.  While not as rare as they once were, Vlixes are still holy grails among vintage Star Wars collectors.  But, Glasslite also made action figures under other licenses.  Among them were MacGyver, Airwolf and the A-Team.

Below you will see some images of the Glasslite B.A. Baracus figure that was based on the breakout character from the TV show who was played by Mr. T.  The card artwork is gorgeous.  And, the figure is drastically different from the B.A. figures released in the U.S.  

The U.S. BA is wearing a green jumpsuit.  While there are a few variant figures depending upon whether the figure was carded, boxed or a vehicle pack in, I'm not aware of any U.S. A-Team figure using the double bandolier chest that the Glasslite figures use.  (There are, though, plenty of uses of it in other knock off lines.)  The red color of the Brazilian release is more eye-catching.  And, while not anywhere near Mr. T's signature look from the show, is more flamboyant and in line with the B.A. Baracus character.

Sadly, the Galoob molds used for the A-Team figures were bad.  The heads all feature poor paint applications and creepy smiles that were likely a way to soften the fact that you were buying figures of vigilante terrorists who were wanted criminals.  And, the team's signature weapons were replaced with standard weapons that were recycled from other lines.  The Glasslite figure suffers the same fate.  While the colors and mold are better than the Galoob figures, they still are poor representations of the characters from the show.  You wonder what a company like Hasbro could have done with them.  

As a kid, we had the A-Team figures.  We watched the A-Team every week, at least for the first couple of seasons.  We had the van.  We also had one of the big boxed sets that included the repainted General Patch tank as well as a plethora of crappy accessories.  It was this gear, though, where I found value.  The A-Team figures were straight arms that were released in a swivel arm world.  They never had a chance.  But, the vehicles were relatively compatible with Joe.  And, for many years, my 1984 Copperhead figure wore one of the red backpacks from the A-Team set.  Stuck into the straps of the pack was the holster from the Endor Princess Leia figure.  And, Copperhead used her pistol for a long time.  I miss that type of imagination.  I was able to make Copperhead very important to my childhood play since he had that extra gear.  Now, I only use him as a color match when showcasing new Black Major figures.  

As an aside, a random memory I have of the A-Team is actually from the summer of 1993.  At the time, I was in Barcelona for a few weeks.  Every night, a TV station in the city played A-Team reruns, dubbed in Spanish, during prime time.  It was weird to see a nearly decade old show playing in such premium time in another country.  I watched an episode, just for nostalgia.  But, the shows are bad and even in 1993, they didn't hold up well at all.  I haven't watched an episode since.  I'd rather remember the cool factor of the original airing during my childhood than confirm the cheesiness of '80's TV that the series actually is.

Hasbro has recently announced a 4 figure pack of Ghostbusters characters that are made in vintage Joe format.  The absolute dreamer in me sees something like that and starts a reverie about Hasbro dropping oddball o-ring releases of things like Indiana Jones, the West Coast Avengers and, even, the A-Team.  The A-Team is the one most certain to not ever exist.  But, it's also the one that has the most potential cross over with Joe.  It was contemporary to Joe.  And, both Mr. T and Sgt. Slaughter were professional wrestlers.  But, things like that won't ever happen.  I'm left with silly musings about how my childhood would have been better had things like that existed in the 1980's.  

In the early 2000's, many Brazilian G.I. Joe sellers would also have A-Team, MacGuyver and Airwolf toys available.  But, they'd try to sell them for the same premiums that figures like the Cobra De-Aco would command.  So, few people bit on them.  Now, you don't see the toys all that often.  But, that's likely a function of the brands lacking enough cachet to bring high prices.  As a collectible, though, the Glasslite A-Team figures are a small and cool subset to collect.  I think they're better than the Galoob figures.  Just, good luck finding them.

Super7 O-Ring Figures

So, we finally get to see the Super7 take on o-ring G.I. Joe figures.  They are...pretty much as expected.  Basically, they are ReAction figures with vintage Joe articulation.  They feature the same heads, smooth sculpts and trademark hand design as the 5 points of articulation figures.  So, they will stand  out among vintage Joe figures.  But, they are also somewhat close and will work with vintage figures.

My thoughts:

1. The heads are too large and detailed for the vintage style bodies.  They will definitely not look like vintage figures.  
2. I'm not a fan of the hands.  But, the main reason is that the gear is much less likely to be compatible with vintage Joes.
3. The bodies are just too smooth.  They lack details that the vintage Hasbro team used to give the figures depth.  The smooth bodies look like knock off figures from the '80's.  (The smooth upper arms are especially egregious.)
4. The waists are too big and blocky.  This is a feature that also plagues many kickstarter figure lines.  
5. The crotch is short and stocky.  It's straight off of a K-Mart Remco figure.  It's hugely noticeable among vintage Joes.
6. The accessories don't look great.  The cartoon inspired designs are OK.  But, the guns included with the BAT and Snake Eyes look like Chap Mei type weapons that are overly large and embellished.

So, I'm left with an existential question: am I an o-ring figure collector or am I a vintage style Joe collector?  Because, I don't see these figures as being an extension of the vintage Joe line.  Really, the entire success of this line will likely hinge upon the paint masks.  If they offset the cheapness of the sculpting, these figures will be really nice.  But, even skimping on one or two masks will leave the figures looking more like knock-off Joes instead of an upgrade over Hasbro's work.

I'll  definitely use them to supplement my vintage collection.  Especially if they make missing figures like Dr. Venom or the Khaki shorts Kwinn.  Figures like Snake Eyes and Cobra Commander seem unnecessary since I have plenty of them that are already compatible with my collection.  The Twins (a surprise announcement!) and Cover Girl fall into the middle tier.  For the right price, I'll get them.  But, $50 or more for the Twins is a no.  Though, $35 might be doable.  

We're seeing Hasbro and other toy makers dropping prices and also pushing discount lines at brick and mortar retailers.  But, collector lines haven't felt the full pinch...yet.  So, it will be interesting to see where the price point on these ends up.  They were going to be expensive.  But, the market may not support that, now.  So, we'll see where they end up upon release.  I'll be hard pressed to pay $25 plus shipping for these figures.  $20 at my local Target seems like a lot for all but the best figures.  $12 seems great.  But, that's just not going to happen.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

O-Ring Ghostbusters Figures - Not an Early April Fools Joke

We all know that 3 3/4 o-ring Joes have been a retail flop.  Hasbro canned a planned 2 pack and we haven't seen any new packs in a couple of years.  The Transformers crossovers are collecting dust at every retailer who was dumb enough to buy them.  And, Amazon can't give away the Transformers sets for a fraction of the original retail price.  What if, though, the issue with the vintage Joe style is not the 40 year old engineering.  But, instead, it is the property on  which the style is used?  

Well, we're about to find out.  Hasbro threw a curve ball at Wondercon on 3/30/24 that no one saw coming.  They will be releasing a 3 3/4 o-ring set of the original Ghostbusters figures.  Now, I won't pretend that I ever wanted Joe compatible Ghostbusters.  But, for the right price, they are something I'll buy.  From the mock up image below, the figures look decent enough.  The heads will likely be a little overdetailed to be 100% matches for vintage Joes.  But, the rest of the bodies look like they were stripped straight from a 1983 Doc.  

It will be interesting to see how these do.  The Ghostbusters Haslab funded almost immediately.  So, there's a fanbase.  And, since everything but the heads and Bill Murray's lower legs look like reuse of the same parts, Hasbro doesn't have a ton invested in the tooling.  The proton packs look like 1982 Joe gear with the attached hoses.  They should be more pliable than the old Hasbro accessories.  And, I'm unlikely to be all that invested in their quality when these proton packs turn 40.  

As a kid, I wished that every toy line and property was available in Joe construction.  If Hasbro starts looking at other properties that could be ported over to classic construction, I wouldn't hate that.  But, I'm also unlikely to fully support every product released in the style.  But, if Joe isn't viable in the vintage style, I'm OK if other licensed characters are.  I'll approach them much like I do Kickstarters and Factory Customs.  If something's cool, I'll buy it.  But, I'll easily skip anything that doesn't really speak to me.

I'll be very curious on pricing.  If they price out at $22 each like the Pulse Joes, they will be a tougher buy for me.  If they're in the $13 range, they're much more palatable.  Supposedly, there is a compatible Ecto-1, too.  Getting an all new 3 3/4 compatible vehicle will be nice.  Though, the Ecto-1 is so iconic that it would be tough to integrate into a Joe collection.  But, cool toys are cool toys.  And, so far, these look OK and are a direction that isn't terrible for a company like Hasbro who has really struggled over the past couple of years.

(Update - it appears the figures will run about $44 for the set.  If so, that's an amazing price.  And, it also means that we paid $10-$11 extra per figure for the Pulse o-ring Joes....)

Rarities - General Patch Tank

Not too many people remember the General Patch line.  It was an obscure G.I. Joe knock off produced by the Galoob toy company.  The figures in general were pretty terrible.  The face sculpts were awful.  And, the quality wasn't great.  But, they made some vehicles, too.  And, one of them is pretty awesome.  It's also pretty famous.  But, the fame comes from a later repaint of the mold in the A-Team line.  In that line, the tank, missile launcher and trailer were redone in black.  

As a kid, this was the way that I knew this tank.  We got the A-Team tank one Christmas.  At first, I tried to integrate it into my Joe team.  But, in time, I realized that the tank worked better as a Cobra vehicle.  For one, it was a nice complement to the Hiss Tank.  Secondly, I didn't have tons of Cobra land vehicles at the time.  So, having a new tank was nice.  And, finally, the tank fits well with 1983 Cobra Officers and Troopers.  And, as our Stinger had been beat up and wasn't really useful any longer, the Stinger Driver joined the team, too.  With these figures, the tank became a tough opponent for Joes.

As a kid, I removed the cannon from the A-Team tank and managed to put the twin gatling cannons from the Thunder Machine into the slot.  With this, the tank became an incredible anti-infantry tank.  Cobra finally had a weapon that was more powerful than any Joe counterpart.  And, since the tank was armored, it would stand up to VAMPs and AWE Strikers with ease.

I had no idea, though, that the tank also existed in green as part of the General Patch line.  In fact, I had no idea there was a line called General Patch.  It wasn't something I had seen.  And, I didn't tend to look at any toy lines aside from Joe, Star Wars and, from time to time, Masters of the Universe.  So, things like this tank tended to fall under my radar.

The green on the tank, though, is pretty nice.  It would work well with Joes along with many of the Black Major Cobra Trooper repaints that have come out in recent years.  But, the tank is hard to find.  You don't often see it, even today.  And, because of that, it can get pricey.  Heck, even the A-Team repaint has gotten expensive in recent years.  So, tracking one down is a pain.  But, it's neat enough that it will fit with 1982 and 1983 Joes.  

Rarities - James Bond Jr. Black Parachute Pack

While G.I. Joe was the staple of Hasbro's action figure offerings, they did also make some other, lesser heralded action figures lines as well.  Among them is the 1991 James Bond Jr. line.  I have no recollection of the James Bond Jr. franchise.  I was out of toys in 1991 and not really watching afternoon TV, either.  However, it was a fairly ambitious project.  It featured 65 TV shows (an absurdly high number for an unproven concept), novels, comic books, games, video games and, yes, a full toy line with action figures and vehicles.  Despite all of this, the concept was pretty much dead by 1992.  I have to assume that some of the companies involved took a bath by investing so heavily in something that was so fleeting.  But, it didn't deter Hasbro from chasing other, licensed properties in later years.

The toy line is unremarkable.  There were 12 figures and 3 vehicles.  The figures are early 90's garbage with limited articulation and exaggerated features.  This likely made them cheap to produce.  So, that may have mitigated Hasbro's exposure.  The figures came with an accessory or two.  One, of those accessories, though, is remarkable because it was reused from the G.I. Joe line.

The James Bond Jr. in Flight Gear figure includes a black version of the 1990 Sky Patrol parachute pack.  In 1990, Hasbro had used this mold, extensively, for the Sky Patrol series of figures.  So, they knew that the mold was available and that it worked.  A working parachute is a neat feature for a toy.  So, reusing something like that from the Joe line was a great way to make a figure attractive to kids while also cost saving by using an existing mold.

The parachute pack was only released at retail in the black color with James Bond Jr. and the Paratrooper Guile.  However, in 1994, the rather rare Convention Exclusive Fighter Pilot also included a black parachute pack.  Many people find the black parachute pack from James Bond Jr. and think they've found a super rare gem from the obscure convention figure.  And, you'll see many, many, many, many, many, many questions about this James Bond Jr. pack in various forums, etc.  But, there are actually two different molds for the parachute packs.  The mail away version is different from the Sky Patrol version.  And, the James Bond Jr. pack is the only black pack that uses the Sky Patrol mold. 

The quickest tell as to which mold you have is the sculpted dials at the top of the back of the pack.  They do not exist on the 1985 mail away mold which is the basis for both the black Action Pilot and the Paratrooper Guile.  So, if you find a black parachute pack out in the wild that has the dials, it's from James Bond Jr.

As nobody cares about James Bond Jr., you can still buy the figures for cheap.  The black pack would be a great option for your Cobras.  And, is a great match for a figure like the Abutre Negro.  But, mostly, it's good to know that there is a difference between the accessory used in this release and the one that was colored black in the G.I. Joe and Street Fighter Movie lines.

2023 Retro Indiana Jones

In late January or early February of 1984, I was owed one figure by my parents.  It was for good grades.  Such incentives were common.  And, many of my figure acquisitions in the spring and fall of 1984 and 1985 were under similar circumstances.  This particular instance, though, I vividly remember.  We were at the Kohl's store on our side of town.  We went fairly often.  The store had only been open since the summer of 1983.  So, it was still new.  Back then, Kohl's had a toy department that rivaled that of Target or K-Mart.  (We didn't have Wal Marts, yet.)  And, in the latter half of 1983, it had been the go-to store for all the hard to find Joes.  I got my Dragonfly there.  And, the only instances of any of my friends finding Torpedo or Trip-Wire were at the store.  So, I had high hopes of getting a new figure for my collection.

When we arrived at the toy aisle, though, there was nothing but sheer retail devastation.  In the Christmas run up and then the post holiday clearance sales, the toy aisles were nearly bare.  One entire aisle that had been full of Star Wars and G.I. Joe was nothing buy empty pegs.  Sure, in 2023, this is a common sight.  But, 40 years prior, it was unfathomable for a store to sell out of such staple toy lines.  There were, though, just two figures hanging on the pegs.  One was a new 1984 Duke.  Normally, this should have been a source of excitement.  But, I had gotten the mail away Duke just a few weeks prior.  The other figure was a carded Indiana Jones figure.

Indiana Jones was iconic at the time.  Every kid knew about the whip and wit that defined the character.  I had passed on his toys, though, because they had articulation that wasn't really Star Wars but then, later, inferior to G.I. Joe.  I had a weird aesthetic where I needed my figure styles to match.  (This is why I could never get into He-Man or the super hero lines of the day.  I didn't see them as compatible to the figures I already had in my collection.)  I held the figure in my hands for a bit.  But, I was unsure if I wanted to waste my gift on him.  It was still a few months from lawn mowing season when I could start buying all the toys I wanted with my own money.  And, I had a weird hesitation about asking my mom to buy him.  I don't know if was just a fear of her going on about buying another all new toy line.  But, I put the Indiana Jones down and left the store.  A week or two later, I found the 1984 Firefly at a local Zayre store and bought him as my gift.  

So, the original Indiana Jones never entered my collection.  I did, though, get the Indiana Jones in Nazi uniform.  It's weird to think that was a thing in the '80's.  But, it was a cool figure.  The leg articulation was a bit weird, though.  And, it made him difficult to use in vehicles.  But, I used him as a generic good guy (the original green shirt!) until I dropped his bazooka in the grass under our jungle gym and couldn't find it.  Once that happened, the figure went into a box with my forgotten Star Wars collection and was, eventually, sold to the kid next door for a quarter per figure.

There is a new Indiana Jones movie coming out later this year. My kids were too young for the Star Wars revival in theatres. But, I'll be able to take them to see the final Indiana Jones movie. That will be fun.  Of course, there's lots of internet drama about the movie.  The usual forces are, of course, up in arms for a variety of reasons.  One thing I learned when watching the sequel trilogy with my boys, though, is that those were entertaining movies.  Maybe they weren't Order 66 level.  But, I had been waiting for that moment since 1983.  So, we'll go.  We'll enjoy the movie.  And, I'll move on with my life from there.

There is no 3 3/4 Indiana Jones line coming for this new movie aside from this retro line, though. That's probably OK since the 2008 line ended up on massive clearance. And, really, there's not much that could be done to the core characters that were made in 2008 that would update them enough to warrant the inevitable $17 price tag in 2023. You can buy MOC figures from 2008 for less than that.  There are, though, new 6" figures that look great.  So, they are the collectible to come from this final revival.

Sadly, though, the quality on this figure is...lacking.  Like the Haslab figures from earlier this year, Hasbro seems to have only intended these toys for MOC collectors.  From that perspective, the figure is great and checks all the boxes.  Once opened, though, the cut corners become apparent.  The pistol doesn't fit into the side holster very well.  And, the figure can't really hold either the gun or the whip.  The whip's always been a weird design.  But, the small hands struggle mightily to hold onto the whip for any period of time.  While the paint is good, the head is definitely different and looks more like a Kenner Han Solo and the vintage Jones figure.  And, finally, there's huge copyright information written on the figure's back.  It's no only offputting, but just seems unnecessary when the Retro Star Wars figures feature unobtrusive COO markings just like the vintage Kenner product.  But, at best, this figure is going to stand in a display case for decades, never seeing any use.  For that, it suffices.  But, I still find it disheartening that Hasbro now makes retail products that they don't even pretend to be anything other than MOC collectibles for adults.

The retro figures are cool because I can now get a facsimile Indiana Jones figure for $12.  Original figures from the '80's are expensive. And, Indy's pistol was one of the very earliest accessories to be bootlegged. So, ungraded ones will often include reproduction gear.  Mint and complete Indiana Jones figures will run up to $300-$400 these days.  I'm not sure if that's hype before the movie or residuals from the COVID hobby spike.  But, it's a pretty big disparity.  And, for my purposes, this figure is good enough.  I don't need an original as I never had one.  Getting a reasonable facsimile for cheap is the perfect compromise.  

Rarities - Remco S.I.T. Figures

As soon as G.I. Joe figures proved to be a retail hit, other companies found ways to cheaply ride Hasbro's coat tails.  $2.79 was a pretty expensive action figure back in 1982.  And, many parents were more comfortable with a $1 or $2 price point for a cheap gift.  So knock off companies came in and tried to catch the scraps from the G.I. Joe buyers who weren't willing to pay the higher price for the Hasbro figure.  Most of the figures, frankly, are junk.  They have cheap plastic, terrible head sculpts, more parts reuse than even the 1982 Joe line, cheap accessories and hands that won't hold them.  But, over time, some of the knock off lines got better.  Some even got to the point where they created some pretty interesting figures that could have a nice characterization.  Remco started off as cheap, crappy Joe knock offs.  But, in time, their line evolved into some figures that are actually kind of fun.

You will see a few hallmarks of Remco figures that are common among the S.I.T. series as well as both earlier and later figures.  The first is the higher rivet on the arm.  Remco put the swivel joint higher on the figures' arms and used a large elbow joint than Hasbro.  This was likely due to lower quality plastic that required more mass to remain stable in construction.  The second feature is the wonky hands on Remco figures.  Remco figures feature a gap between their fingers.  This was a likely design choice similar to the unique thumb on Hasbro's 12" figures from the '60's.  But, it is an easy identifier for a Remco made figure.  The last thing to be on the lookout for are construction and accessory variants.  Remco would often mix up accessories on some figures.  And, in other series of figures, you'll see the construction change and figures will have different waists, feet or even arms depending upon the production run.  I don't have enough samples of S.I.T. figure to know if these things occurred in that specific series.  But, it was endemic to Remco as a whole.

Around 1989, Remco produced a line of 8 exclusive figures for K-Mart.  Sold for under $2 each, the figures were substantially cheaper than G.I. Joes.  These figures were branded as the American Defense Spy Series.  They had a secondary branding of S.I.T. for Strategic Intelligence Team.  The line featured 8 figures, all of whom represent some of Remco's best work.  And, they brought some interesting concepts to 3 3/4 action figures that would make some collector favorites.  Below is the full roster of S.I.T. figures and my thoughts on each.

Forest Green:

Forest Green is different as he includes plants that are part of his camouflage.  It's an early version of a ghillie suit and was something you hadn't seen on a 3 3/4 figure before.  His vest makes him a bit bulky.  But, the green color is eye-catching and his plants certainly set him apart.

Trenchcoat:

Trenchcoat might be my personal favorite figure in this line.  You've got a pretty standard bad guy in black.  But, the vinyl cape gives him some panache.  The mustache with sunglasses look is kind of standard for Remco.  But, I think it really works in this context.  I can see him as some kind of freelancer who can work for Cobra or even the Dreadnoks.  Sadly, he's pretty hard to find in decent condition.  But, he also tends to sell on the low end of S.I.T. figures when you can find one.

The Fish

The Fish has some cool colors for a diver.  And, his underwater gear isn't bad.  The goggles sculpted to his head could be used for a variety of things.  I do think the Swamp Man figure (released in a different series) is a more useful diver to integrate with Joe.  But, the Fish has a lot of properties that would make for a cool Joe character, too.

Control:

Control is the first figure in the S.I.T. series to feature a two sided head.  Each side has a face and you can change the figure's look and character by swiveling it around.  It's possible that this swivel head idea existed in 3 3/4 figure prior to Remco's use.  But, I'm not aware of it.  Regardless, it's something that set Remco figures apart from Hasbro's G.I. Joe.  In this case, Control can have either a human face or a robotic face.  He features a headpiece to disguise the non-displayed face.  But, it probably lead to the many figures out there with paint wear on the head.  The overall figure is like a cross between the Cobra Mortal and a Cobra Trooper.

Hidden Force:

Hidden force is a clear ninja.  And, because of this, is one of the more popular S.I.T. figures and commands a premium.  Mint, loose figures will sell over $100.  He's a very popular design as he's among the first clear o-ring figures to exist.  

Robo

Robo looks like he's meant to recall Robo-Cop while not treading too closely to the movie look.  The green is a different look for a robotic character.  But, it definitely makes him stand out.

Fake Out:

Fake Out is interesting because his head is similar to some earlier Remco figures.  But, you could also make the case that he's based on Magnum P.I., too.  The huge "SPY" on his t-shirt is also somewhat comical.  But, you get a pretty good looking civilian figure with Fake Out and that's something that Hasbro would introduce with Chuckles in 1987.

Wolfman:

Wolfman battles with Hidden Force to be the most popular and expensive S.I.T. figure.  Mint and complete figures will, again, cross $100.  As his head covering is often missing, you'll pay a premium for a figure that includes it.  In this case, the figure is a normal human by day and can turn into a wolfman at night.  It's actually a really neat idea and would have been a toy I might have actually used with my Joes had it come into my childhood collection.  

The entire S.I.T. series is pretty difficult to find.  Most loose figures are broken or incomplete.   Carded figures are scarce.  The S.I.T. figures are popular enough that a lot of collectors have removed them from the lots of Remco figures you can still find from time time.  But, you can get lucky on occasion.  Pricing on them is disparate, though.  Some high quality figures will sell for $15.  But, Hidden Force and Wolfman will go between $100 and $150 for high quality loose samples.

The best part about this series of figures, though, is that they offer a disparate variety of character types.  And, they use powerful colors and strong head sculpts to give the figures some personality.  The line looks like it could have been part of a Hasbro lineup of figures.  And, that was Remco's likely goal.  They wanted parents to buy their toys vs. the more expensive Joe figures.  While the S.I.T. series still isn't Hasbro quality, it's a marked improvement from earlier Remco designs.  

Figures like this are a neat way to expand a Joe collection.  The characters could be used alongside Joes and they would not stand out among Hasbro releases like most other knock off brands in the '80's.  It's an interesting juxtaposition as, today, all the Joe knock off brands are high end kickstarters that are geared towards collectors and their deeper wallets.  And, at their core, few of them are as original or interesting as the S.I.T. lineup.  I'd actually like to see one of the various non-Hasbro entities to attempt an update of some of these characters with modern sculpting and materials.  I'd be more interested in that than I am for many of the reductive offerings I've seen in recent years.