2005 Heavy Assault Squad Snake Eyes - Around The Web

The HAS set has largely disappeared from the collecting conscience.  Part of that is just due to the late release date and collector malaise at the time.  That left the set as a clearanced out dud.  Few collectors bothered to stockpile extras...even at closeout prices.  So, today, few people have the figures from the set.  And, it's kind of pain to find loose samples when you're out and about.  Despite the set being one of Hasbro's worst efforts, the reality is that Snake Eyes and Roadblock are pretty good figures.  It might be blasphemous to suggest that this is the best paint job on the 1991 Snake Eyes mold.  But, I'll argue that point.

I often use the figure just because he's so obscure.  But, he's also solid and tends to get people talking a bit about him.  There isn't a lot of content on him out there, though.  Even back in 2005, few people bother to really review the entire HAS set because the Joe world was so dead after the "Hiatus" announcement.  So, check out what little I could find on the figure and enjoy one of those weird "end of the line" oddities who's a surprisingly quality release.

2005 HAS Snake Eyes Profile

2005 HAS Snake Eyes by General Liederkranz

2005 HAS Snake Eyes by corpscommandercody

2005 HAS Snake Eyes by Gen_Liederkranz

2005 HAS Set at Joe Battle Lines.com

2005 HAS Snake Eyes by Gen_Liederkranz

2005 HAS Snake Eyes by twindigtoys

2005 HAS Snake Eyes by Gen_Liederkranz

1997 Cobra Commander - Random Photos of the Day

A decade after the debut of the 1987 Cobra Commander, Hasbro released a repaint.  Originally, the figure in the 1997 Cobra Command set was supposed to be the 1983 Cobra Commander mold.  It was supposed to be a helmeted version of the classic character but in the color scheme of the 1984 Hooded mail away.  It would have finally gotten collectors a Cobra blue version of the faction's titular leader.  (A gap that still exists today!)  But, mold shenanigans reared their head and Hasbro could not locate the original Cobra Commander mold.  (It had been used as recently as 1994, even!)  So, they went with the less popular 1987 mold.  Instead of the metallic silver of the original, though, Hasbro kept the Cobra blue with gold highlight motif.  And, collectors were gifted the 1997 Cobra Commander.

I looked at this figure almost 8 years ago.  But, at the time, I really didn't have much to say about him.  The profile was a rush job as, I still hadn't really found a great use for the figure.  Since then, I've found value in the 1997 Cobra Commander.  The color scheme is classic.  And, between factory customs and the Pulse era releases, there are now more options for classically blue Cobras who can match up with a properly colored Cobra Commander.  So, I've had more occasion to use the 1997 figure in my photos.

The real story of this figure is the intricacy of the paint masks.  Against the dark blue, the figure features gold, red and black details.  The layering of gold and red on the chest is especially impressive.  Hasbro really worked hard to deliver high quality paint jobs on the 1997 and 1998 figures.  After that, the retail masks got more sparse while the finely detailed molds became the domain of premium priced convention figures.  The main reason the 1997 and 1998 series have held up so well is due to the complex paint masks that give even bland character designs and base colors tremendous additional depth.

It's amazing how much of a difference the air hose on the figure's head makes.  Sans this accessory, the head is bland and strikingly plain.  The hose adds a tremendous amount of detail.  But, the hose was not included with the 1997 figure.  So, you have to take one from a 1987 or 2001 figure to make the 1997 figure whole.  The mouth hole, though, is shortened on this version.  So, the hose is a precarious fit at best.  And, it isn't practical to actually use the figure with the hose attached as it will just fall off and get lost in the weeds, forever.

I miss the days when Hasbro would take weird chances with figures.  They missed way more than they hit.  But, when they did hit, like with this Cobra Commander, the results were spectacular.  The first couple of waves of the Super7 ReAction+ line were too staid and predictable for me.  I'm glad that they deviated a bit with some weird repaints as SDCC exclusives.  I assume the lack of previews of future waves was just due to the uncertainty of...everything.  I'm holding out hope that they start to get a little more daring and can come up with some weird combos of mold and parts that creates an unexpected classic like this 1997 release.

2005 Heavy Assault Set Duke

In 2003, G.I. Joe was riding high.  Hasbro was investing massive resources into the brand.  Retailers were stocking Joe toys in numbers second only to Star Wars.  And, consumers were buying the toys as fast as the stores could get them onto the shelves.  The collecting community was strong, vibrant and interesting.  The Christmas holiday of that year marked the crescendo of the repaint and JvC era.  At that time, we didn't know that.  But, less than 18 months after that amazing time in the hobby, the Joe line had completely crashed at retail.  Hasbro cancelled marketing pushes and packaging refreshes.  Toys stopped appearing on shelves as retailers had no faith in carrying volume in their stores.  And, Hasbro, knowing the end was near, dialed in some products that were outright embarrassments.  The 2005 Heavy Assault Set (or, HAS set) was as bad as it got.

At the 2005 G.I. Joe convention, Hasbro was getting heavy pressure from the collecting community.  Everyone knew the line was in trouble.  But, Hasbro didn't even acknowledge that elephant in the room.  Instead, they pulled typical subterfuge that was common for them and those in their orbit during the early 2000's.  Hasbro showcased the HAS set at their booth on the first day of the convention.  And, they took flak for how much the set sucked.  By the third day, Hasbro had pulled the HAS set from the display: claiming that what they had on hand wasn't "ready", yet and shouldn't be showcased.  Just a couple of short weeks later, though, the exact set that was shown on Day 1 started showing up at Toys R Us stores all over the country.  It was another bold faced lie from a cowardly team.  The worst thing, though, was that Hasbro knew about the upcoming DTC experiment.  Rather than generating excitement among the fan base over this innovative idea, they simply ignored the fate the line.  This killed collector interest.  So much so that the community shrunk in just the few weeks between the failure of the convention and the announcement of DTC.  This tanked DTC's chances of success.  And, about a year later, DTC was dead and the last remnants of the Joe line were liquidated to Toys R Us for pennies on the dollar.

The HAS Set was bad in a lot of ways.  It used three figure molds that had all appeared in Toys R Us exclusive sets in 2004.  And, in each case, barely recolored them outside of the pants.  The Greenshirts were a bad figure mold.  And, Greenshirt sets were still backed up at every Toys R Us store in the country when the HAS set was released.  And, those Greenshirts included helmets, backpacks and an armory of weapons.  The figures in the HAS weren't even different from those in the Greenshirt set.  They just had crappier gear.  

It didn't have to be this way, though.  Originally, the HAS set was going to include Ace and Mutt.  We don't know which molds would have been used.  But, they still have filecards on the back of the package.  You can't determine their molds or color choices, though, as the artwork used on the filecards was art Hasbro made for other releases of the characters in the JvC line.  Poor Roadblock, though, doesn't have a HAS filecard: showing he was a late edition to the set.  You wonder what would have happened if the HAS set had included a repainted 1992 Mutt and 1992 Ace.  Even the Anti-Venom Mutt and the 1983 ACE would have been interesting choices that would have given the set more cachet.  

This Duke figure, though, isn't all that great.  The grey pants with dark cammo spots jus don't really work.  And, when matched against the dark greenish/blue shirt, the whole figures clashes.  The figure's chest, though, has potential.  It's nicely painted.  And, set against a different pair of legs, it might have worked.  Black Major produced a similarly colored Steel Brigade figure in the mid 2020's and it turned out very nice.  So, the color can work.  But, the terrible 1984 Roadblock arms suck any usefulness out of the design.  The arms are just too scrawny for the chest.  And, the thick face paint on the figure's head makes it too large for the chest, too.  So, you have this weird visual where the figure is top heavy while being puny at the same time.  The whole package just doesn't work.

G.I. Joe conventions used to be well documented.  Every collector who attended took photos.  And, every Joe website hosted massive convention galleries.  There were first hand write ups and recording of the various sessions.  All of that, of course, is now gone.  The forums have all disappeared.  Most of the websites have gone dark.  In short, much of the documentation that we have on the history of the Joe line of the early 2000's is now lost.  It's an unfortunate byproduct of the internet era.  And, with social media ravaging content outside of their walled gardens, there's little hope we'll ever recover that information.  Again, looking at the current slate of online videos that document the Hasbro livestreams of the Classified era, we think that they are permanent artifacts of the line's history.  But, our legacy is that these relics will also, at some point, be lost.  It probably doesn't matter.  But, for those of us who were around during those days, it's tough to confirm our memories as their original sources have all disappeared.

Duke's gear is terrible.  Hasbro gave up on the HAS set and we were just given a couple of overstock, commonly used weapons with the figures.  Hasbro didn't even go the extra step of loading up the pack with a bunch of superfluous weapons like they had with some other dud sets.  So, Duke just gets a silver version  of the 1986 Low Light Uzi and a black shotgun that was sculpted in the 2000's and released with just a ton of different figures.  The gear isn't sensical for Duke and doesn't look good with him at all.  Sans helmet or pack, Duke feels lightly covered and the flaws of the Duke parts become more obvious.  You'll note that I try a variety of different gear combos on my figure in the photos below.  This is just an attempt to find a look for this figure that works since he didn't include any accessories that improved the figure beyond his paint applications.

This is a 20 year old figure.  The ARAHC figures that started Joe's return to full retail in 2000 are 25 years old.  This Duke is now as old as the 1985 Flint figure was when this Duke was first released.  It's difficult to wrap my head around this figure being two decades old.  It seems like the Joe line was at retail not that long ago.  What I do find interesting, though, is that the Joe team of the early 2000's never really understood collectors.  It took them years to find a way to appease collector wants.  And, even when they scored a hit, it was never followed up upon.  Hasbro's current Joe team, though, are not long time collectors.  And, yet, they seem to have a pretty good idea of what collectors want.  The Classified Haslabs are bona-fide hits.  Each new figure release seems to be met with, at worst, tepid enthusiasm.  And, most releases are considered solid if not great.  Maybe the designers not being collectors is what makes them good at getting items for collectors.  But, it's sad to see a team lead by a "collector' fail so miserably to get collector wants fulfilled in the 2000's while a new team consistently nails every release even though they don't really have a conduit into the fandom like the Hasbro team of the early 2000's did.

It's tough to price this Duke.  Dealers sell loose figures for between $20 and $30.  And, they try to get $40 or more for a complete with filecard figure.  But, those figures sit and sit with no interest.  You'll see carded HAS sets sell in  the $120 range.  Which is appalling on its face.  Most of the interest seems to be around Roadblock and Snake Eyes who make up over half of the carded pricing.  If you can find a market priced seller, this is probably around a $10 figure.  And, frankly, that's too much.  This is a bad figure from a bad release that really has no purpose in your collection.  He doesn't match the two good figures in the set and isn't even a useful Duke.  If you want the character, buy the 2022 version.  He's about the same price, has better coloring and includes amazing accessories.  

2004 Urban Strike Scrap Iron - Random Photos of the Day

This is another figure that's now over 20 years old.  I still remember this set being released.  Collectors were torn on it since it had three really awesome army builders, but also three characters.  It did help that Firefly, Scrap Iron and Stormshadow all had amazing paint jobs...even if the Stormshadow mold choice left something to be desired.  I bought my standard 7 sets at the time and thought I had a nice little army.  My local Toys R Us store, though, partook in a nationwide promotion on this set and offered it for $15 in the store for a few weeks.  At the time, I had enough.  In retrospect, I should have grabbed a couple of extra sets.

I'll now argue that the Urban Assault set was the best TRU exclusive 6 pack.  (Python Patrol is a strong challenger, though.)  While the accessories weren't spectacular, the figure choice and overall coloring was.  The dark, Cobra blue combined with black and leathery brown all made for great figures that have stood the test of time better than most of the other sets that were released.  

As Scrap Iron goes, I tend to ebb and flow with interest in him.  I'll pretty much forget about the character and his figures for a long time.  Then, I'll see someone use him in a great photo and my interest is peaked.  I then try to capture the cool essence of the figure that drew me to him in the first place.  But, I almost always fail to do so.  So, Scrap Iron goes back into his drawer until my interest is sparked once again.

But, I am pleased with the selection of photos I've gotten of the Urban Assault Scrap Iron.  I saw someone pair him up with the Battle Gear missile launcher.  So, I stole that look and have really enjoyed what it's brought to the figure.  In good lighting, you can see just how much detail was painted on this Scrap Iron figure.  And, there's an argument to be made that he might be a better visual than even the vintage figure from 1984.  

Here's some of my favorite photos I've taken of this guy in recent years.  I'll probably continue to get more because he does photograph well and classic Cobras are always popular photo subjects.

1998 Cobra Trooper - Random Photos of the Day

 These 1998 figures are so old that they are, technically, vintage.  (At least in antique terms....)  But, to me, they are still relatively "new".  Mostly, that's because they entered my collection when I was an adult.  So, they have always seemed more like a collectible than a toy.

The 1998 Cobra Infantry Team is the single best army builder set that Hasbro ever produced.  You got three nearly perfect army building figures for $10.  The figures featured classic colors, plenty of paint masks and a cadre of well placed accessories.  No other set that Hasbro ever did could live up to all those amenities and be offered at a price point that was actually conducive to multiple purchases.

And, purchase multiples, I did.  There were at least three separate production runs of these figures: in the fall of 1998, the summer of 1999 and the holidays of 1999, again.  So, there were several chances to acquire some sets.  And, I bought a couple in each round.  At the time, I thought I had bought too many because I didn't see a way to ever get 18 or 20 of any other figure.  But, it turns out I didn't buy enough.  Between late 2002 and mid 2004, I traded several carded sets of these to collectors based in Brazil and Europe.  In exchange, I got many of my earliest international exclusive Joes.  

Now, I don't get these guys out as often as I should.  Not really sure why, though.  I still think these are great figures and they are conducive to photos with a great many post 1984 figures.  Maybe this will get me to break these guys out more often.  They work so well with classic vehicles and figures.  It's just too bad Hasbro wasn't able to capture this magic more often during the repaint era.

2005 Winter Operations Frostbite

When you see this figure, you'll instantly recognize the mold as that belonging to the 1983 Snow Job.  Despite this easy connection, though, Hasbro actually released this mold as many times with a different character name as they did under the name of Snow Job.  Between 1998 and 2010, Hasbro never used the mold for the titular character who is forever associated with the beard, hood and goggles.  Instead, it was used first for a new character and then twice renamed and released as Frostbite.  Were it not for the ill-conceived "Then and Now" Snow Job who bombed at retail in 2011 or so, this mold would have been used the same amount of times for Snow Job and Frostbite.  And, that seems like something that shouldn't have happened.  Snow Job is iconic.  And, even while writing this, I actually wrote Snow Job in reference to this figure instead of Frostbite on multiple occasions.  So, really, I just take this release as another color scheme for Snow Job.  And, in that vein, this figure works way better than it should.

Blue is a tough color to make work on a Joe.  Blue is Cobra's color.  And, an especially dark blue color as an accent is even more closely associated with Cobra.  So, having the blue coat on this figure doesn't make much sense.  For a time, I had designs of getting a few extra Comic Pack Trooper or Officer heads and trying them out on this body for a Cobra snow trooper.  But, I never really got around to trying it.  The hues of blue are off just enough that it would be a tough match. And, my fascination with a Cobra head on every 1982-1984 Joe body has been played out now that there are 100's of Cobra Troopers to choose from.  

I'm not sure why they just painted the inside of the figure's arms blue.  It's a weird design choice.  But, the hint of color does help break up the figure.  The one thing that is really nice, though, is that Frostbite's coat is painted onto his waist.  So, you can see the full sculpting of the coat and how it extends below his belt.  The black gloves and details, along with the rich blue, make this a more serious looking figure.  The brown beard takes a bit away from the Snow Job visage.  But, I can see his hair turning darker as the character aged.  Sadly, vintage Joe plastic is a different finish that than of the 2000's.  So, that makes a vintage Snow Job head a difficult replacement on this Frostbite body.  The sheens just don't match up.

Beyond the blue, the figure features a difficult to see but amazing detailed cream colored splatter pattern on the legs.  The color difference is subtle.  (I'm not sure if the plastic is white with the brownish strewn cream color as paint, or vice versa.)  It's difficult to see.  But, it's there.  And, it probably cost a great deal of the entire set's production budget.  You'd have thought it would be on something easier to spot on the figures.  It's not until you really examine the figure that you notice how intricate the paint masks really are.  They are easily on par with the Vypra figures from a few months prior.  With the pattern and other, detailed paint applications, this Frostbite is more akin to a convention figure than a TRU release.  Collectors don't really notice, though, because winter figures aren't overly popular and this set was out of the collective mind before it even had a chance to collect dust at retail.

Frostbite's gear is both OK and also underwhelming.  By 2005, Hasbro had given up on the notion of matching accessory complements to a figure mold.  And, they had really given up trying to give any of the Toys R Us 6 pack figures any memorable gear at all.  Despite Snow Job's ski pack, skis and ski poles being ubiquitous during the 2001/2002 release years, they were not included with this set.  Instead, the set came with a series of 1988 Blizzard snow shoes and skis.  They aren't bad.  But, they aren't as fun as the 1983 skis, either.  In addition, the figure included a 1992 Gung Ho backpack, a sniper rifle from the JvC era and the Comic Pack inspired M-16 rifle. The sniper and Gung Ho's pack with the molded rope always reminded me of Snow Job climbing the Alps in the opening panels of G.I. Joe #23.  With this gear, he'd have made a good Comic Pack figure.   As a whole, the gear isn't bad and makes for a decent looking figure.  But, it's tough to see the Snow Job mold without his iconic XMLR and ski gear.  

Despite the character choice, the enemy specific colors and the bland gear, though, this figure does work.  It looks really nice.  It's not discoloring...yet.  The more pliable plastic is preferable for any winter accoutrements you wish to pair with the figure.  And, the figure looks close enough to Snow Job that you can easily just make it Snow Job in whatever mechanism you have for the figure.  This is one of those releases in the repaint era that holds up pretty well: even though it was completely forgotten during its release window.  It's not not a figure you remember like the clear Mirage or the excellent Snake Eyes.  But, you don't hate is like you do the Backblast figure.  He's just another repaint that was blasted out to retail during a time when  Hasbro was dumping everything they could before pivoting to the DTC model.  

That, though, lead me to rediscover this figure nearly 20 years after his initial release.  I had no need for another release of Snow Job mold back in 2005.  But, now, he's much more palatable.  1983 Snow Jobs discolor very easily.  The 1997 repaint and Whiteout are both pretty close to the 1983 colors, too.  The 2003 Frostbite is a nice match for the 1994 Windchill.  But, he had no gear.  So, that leaves this figure as an alternative to the more traditional Snow Job role.  This, certainly, isn't a figure that I'd go out of my way to include in a photograph.  But, 2 weeks of snow this year has given me an opportunity to better explore my winter themed Joes and has rejuvenated a bit of interest in the hobby that I've lost in the past couple of years.  

Winter Operations figures aren't all that common to find.  By 2005, Hasbro had reduced the production run on the G.I. Joe themed sets to around 16,000 total sets.  That's down from the 20,000 that were typical for Cobra sets.  On top of that, collectors were leaving the hobby in droves by the time this set was released.  Couple that with the general malaise towards the overall set, and few collectors even bothered to buy it.  Those who did almost never bought multiples.  So, the set didn't find an afterlife from disillusioned 2000's era collectors liquidating their duplicates in the early 2010's.  You'll see dealer pricing on this figure in the $20-$25 range...which is entirely too high.  At best, he's half that on the open market.  But, there is simply no supply right now.  So, your options to  acquire the figure are limited.  But, really, if you have the 1983 Snow Job, the 1997 Snow Job, the 2001 Whiteout or the 2011 Snow Job, you have much more useful figures to represent any character you choose.  So, those are the better route to seek should you want a cheap representation of this mold in your collection.

2005 Crimson Shadow Guard - Random Photos of the Day

The Crimson Shadow Guard was a low effort release that Hasbro dropped at the end of the retail line.  It joined the HAS Set as the final sets Hasbro would give to Toys R Us as exclusives.  But, sometimes low effort is still OK.  And, in the case of the Shadow Guard, the black uniform take on the Crimson Guard worked out quite well.  We didn't need 6 of them in a single set, of course.  But, as an army builder, there were many worse releases in the repaint era.  

Of course, the Shadow Guard were flawed as they included terrible, non-sensical accessories that were mostly ninja weapons.  But, by 2005, Hasbro had all but given up when it came to the weapons included with figures.  The aftermarket had also stepped in and Marauder's Gun Runners was able to fully take advantage of Hasbro's lazy weapon complement.  

The real oddity was the inclusion of 6 identical figures.  Even the Cobra Infantry had made each figure unique.  And, later, the Viper Pit would break up the weapons and offer 1 exclusive figure among the identical soldiers.  But, this set was produced to be cheap.  So, 6 identical figures with easy to produce gear was the order.  Of course, that meant that army building collectors stopped at one or two sets since they were able to fill out obscure squads with small purchases.  But, even army building had become passe by 2005.  So, the Shadow Guard somewhat faded into obscurity.

Hasbro pretty much killed the online Joe collector community in 2005.  Their bizarre handling of the line drove away collectors en masse.  So, sets like this Shadow Guard got clearanced out.  And, when they dropped to $4 for a set, I bought way too many.  For under a buck per figure, it made sense to buy up more than I wanted.  Now, twenty years later, the Shadow Guard is still one of my most numerous army builders.  And, since they don't discolor and feature the pliable plastic of the 2000's, I actually use them way more than most figures I actually do like.

In the photos below, you'll see a version with a Fred head from the Comic Packs.  There's another with the Agent Faces head, too.  These two customs help break up the Shadow Guard.  And, with these "commanders", my Shadow Guard has a bit of characterization to it that has kept it somewhat relevant in recent years.  The Crimson Guard remains loyal to Cobra Commander.  But, the Shadow Guard is less certain in their allegiance.  If I ever want to work some intrigue within the Cobra ranks, the Shadow Guard are the first figures to come to mind.

The Shadow Guards remain pretty unloved.  While people will comment about how they like the design, the sales prices say that everyone has the figures they want.  Of the Toys R Us releases, Shadow Guards are among the cheapest figures to acquire.  And, while lots of dealers still cling to 2021 era pricing for repaint era Joe toys, they struggle to move any of them.  $15 is about the going rate for a figure.  But, you can get a carded set for under that price...indicating that the few sales are about frustrated collectors giving in to low demand.  The real price is probably half that.  But, you're going to grow grey waiting for them to come around in numbers.

1989 Night Force Repeater - Random Photos of the Day

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

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

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

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

1997 Lady Jaye - Random Photos of the Day

The 1997 Lady Jaye is a weird combo.  She features a great paint job that is a drastic departure from prior Lady Jaye figures.  But, she also features poor quality and weird plastic.  So, as an overall release, she's kind of relegated to second tier status.  Even during her release window, collectors didn't really warm to her since the quality was poor.  So, this has become the lost version of Lady Jaye.  It's not a figure you see very often.  And, the best I can tell, she has never had even an homage to this color in subsequent variations of the Joe line.  

If you have one, she can be a fun figure since she brings such a different appearance to Lady Jaye.  But, her skin looks like she's made of soap (thanks A-Man!).  And, her face paint looks like it was applied by Plastirama.  So, the figure looks more like a bootleg than a real release.  So, that leaves an obscure and unloved figure.

After ignoring her for many years, though, I now use this Lady Jaye more than I would have thought.  The 1985 version has never really appealed to me.  The Funskool version is fun to see.  But, she also has quality concerns.  And, that's the extent of my Lady Jaye collection.  So, it really leaves this 1997 figure as my default.  But, she looks good with a variety of Flint figures.  And, she does bring something unexpected to the Lady Jaye character.

1986 Mission to Brazil Mainframe

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rarities - 1985 CAT Tank (Sears Exclusive)

The MOBAT sucks.  It's important to start out with that as a statement.  It was, easily, the worst toy to debut in the line in 1982.  And, it was never compelling.  Sure, it was cool in the comic and cartoon.  But, there, you got to see characters interacting with it in a way that was simply not possible with the actual toy.  So, Hasbro recoloring the tank in black and red for release as a Sears exclusive in 1985 didn't really solve any of the limitations of the toy.  But, the Crimson Attack Tank (CAT) exists and remains a prized piece for collectors: even if it's undeserved.

It's tough to remember that Sears was the king of retailers as the '80's dawned.  The catalog sales model was a proven way to reach massive amounts of consumers who didn't have access to a physical Sears store.  But, Sears was also pretty effective at getting stores into even small towns.  (The small town where my cousins grew up had a stand alone Sears store.  It was about the size that a Dollar Store is today.  But, it was clean and efficient.  It stocked a few items.  But, mostly, it was a place where customers could come in and order from the catalog.)  So, them being able to afford an exclusive run of toys made a lot of sense.  And, starting in 1982, Sears carried their first exclusive Joe toy, the craptastic Cobra Missile Command.  

In other profiles, I've written about how my dad was a Sears junkie.  He could go in and look at the tools for just as long as I would look at the toys.  And, as they were near each other in our local store, I'd often find myself free to wander the ample toy section while he browsed the hardware.  Really, my only memories of spending time looking at toy lines I didn't collect was in Sears.  My time in Toys R Us or Children's Palace was always Joe focused with little time to spend browsing around.  I recall looking at He-Man and Sectaurs at that Sears store on the north side of Indianapolis.  In these sessions, though, I also discovered the CAT and the SMS.  I distinctly recall both of them being on the end of an aisle and the boxes were neatly stacked on the floor.  The display was huge and the stock was more than ample.  The following year, I found the Dreadnok exclusives in similar format.  Since my dad liked Sears, we found these toys under the tree.  Except, that is, for the CAT.

For Christmas of 1981 or 1982, my dad's best friend bought my brothers and I, each, a remote controlled tank.  They were undersized for Joes and not really meant for action figures.  We played with them for a day or two.  Once home, though, they got tossed into the toy box where they'd stay.  They were too big to match the grocery store plastic soldiers that every kid in the early '80's had in spades.  And, they were too small for Joes or Star Wars figures.  So, they weren't that fun.  Because we had these, though, my mother was adamantly against us getting any more motorized tanks.  I asked for the MOBAT once because I wanted Steeler.  The tone of my mother's "no" ensured I didn't ask again.  

Aside from Steeler, though, I don't think we really missed anything.  Our friend around the block had a MOBAT.  And, no one every played with it.  It was big, didn't interact well with figures, and, you couldn't roll it into battle like you could the toys with free-rolling wheels.  

To this day, I do not own any incarnation of the MOBAT.  Through the years, I've had the original and the 1998 versions.  But, I sold them all off as they are bad toys and worse display pieces.  I've never owned either CAT.  And, I've never had any inclination to do so.  It makes no sense to pay a premium for a vehicle that I don't like and would never, ever use.  But, the CAT is a relatively hard to find item, especially complete with the gun cap.  And, for that reason, it's always been popular with collectors.  The 1985 version has always commanded a premium price, even when alternative versions were getting clearanced from KB Toys' website for a couple of bucks each.  

At its core, the CAT is just a MOBAT colored in black and red.  If the MOBAT were a good toy, this recolor would be an awesome addition to the Cobra army.  But, since it's not, the CAT is just a big hunk of black plastic that takes up huge amounts of space in photos and can't hold any figures.  In Canada, an all black MOBAT was released.  I actually prefer the two-tone CAT, though.  While both toys are rare (the Canadian being substantially more so) they both are heavily limited by the MOBAT design.

Today, with a bit of perseverance, you can find an open sale of the tank for about $250.  But, this is an  item that dealers always pick out.  So, there is consistently plenty of stock available.  The tanks are just sold in the $350-$400 range.  And, lots of people pay that price since the tanks are there for the taking and $100 is worth not having to wait for a year or more to get one at a real market price.  

1997 Snake Eyes - Random Photos of the Day

In 1997, the idea of a Snake Eyes figure with painted details was one of the great missing links from the vintage Joe line.  Hasbro was quick to fill that gap with an updated Snake Eyes figure in the Stars & Stripes set.  But, the best laid plans were quickly foiled when the 1985 Snake Eyes mold was not found.  Hasbro was then left with an open slot in one of the three figure packs that were going to supplement the 8 figure boxed set.  So, rather than nixing Snake Eyes altogether, they released a second repaint of the 1983 figure.  These two figures had subtle details to differentiate them.  But, in the end, it was a harbinger of things to come when it came to the Joe Team's favorite Commando.

Over the next few years, Hasbro would release a take on the original Snake Eyes 4 additional times.  All offered something slightly different.  But, with the overuse, the mold became passe.  And, even today, most collectors are tired of Snake Eyes' classic look.  But, these early repaints of Snake Eyes do have value. And, they are one of the few figures from the repaint era that can be stood among original 13 figures from 1983 and not look completely out of place.  

Sadly, this version also introduced the 1986 Roadblock waist to the Snake Eyes mold.  It's never really looked or felt right with the rest of the figure parts.  You can see both versions of the figure in the photos below.  I have no idea which figure is from the Stars & Stripes and which is from the 3 pack.  On some level, I don't care.  But, the three pack includes much better gear.  So, that's worthwhile.  Both figures are nice.  And, at the time of their release, both were the best 1983 derived Snake Eyes figures that Hasbro had ever made.  Really, they still could be.  The differences between all the various incarnations of this mold are subtle and really boil down to whether you like one particular detail on one particular release.  

The 1997 series has held up very well over the years.  And, it's a shame that the paint mask and overall design quality of the 1997 and 1998 figures didn't carry over into the 2000's.  But, the weird bridge between the vintage line and Joe's return to retail in 2000 remain one of the highlights of the repaint era.