Rarities - The Great 2021 Ninja Commandos Lot

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

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

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

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

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

Rarities - 1995 Ninja Commando Road Pig Production Sample

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

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

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

Funskool Road Pig

At some point in either 1987 or early 1988, I saw a published interview with Larry Hama.  In it, he mentioned that one of the new characters to which he was most looking forward was a new Dreadnok named Road Pig.  I don't recall much other than that.  But, the mere mention of a new character name and the fact that he was a favorite of Larry Hama gave Road Pig all the street cred that he needed.  I was looking forward to seeing the new figure.  (I hadn't, yet, realized that I would be all but abandoning Joe toys as 1987 ended.)  Finally, the character appeared.  Almost immediately, I found the character uninteresting and annoying.  As 1988 moved into 1989, I dreaded any comic cover that featured Road Pig and any story where he figured prominently in the plot.

As I looked to fill in the holes in my collection in the late 1990's, Road Pig simply wasn't a figure I wanted to track down.  I still hated the character and didn't think his figure was all that interesting, either.  For me, the Dreadnoks worked best as offbeat characters who filled multiple roles.  As I had them in my childhood collection, I was more forgiving of them.  While I don't really think Road Pig is any more outlandish than Zanzibar, the fact was that Zanzibar was a figure I owned as a kid and, therefore, has value.  Road Pig's existence is just a reminder of my least favorite parts of the comic.

To this day, I'm not sure why Road Pig never resonated with me.  In terms of comic characters, he's really no more annoying than any of the other Cobra foils who were introduced just to sell their action figure.  I think it was the dual personality that ruined the character for me.  I didn't like the juxtaposition of the uber smart Donald and the neanderthal Road Pig.  To me, it was too much of a Hulk rip off in non superhero form.  (To be fair, I never much cared for the Hulk, either.)  I preferred characters who could develop arcs and who could grow.  I supposed that Road Pig's inner struggle to gain control of himself could have been an angle worth exploring.  But, by 1988, there were over 300 Hulk comics that already covered that ground.  And, again, since I wasn't actively collecting the toys, Road Pig never got the chance to get developed into something other than his comic character.

As a figure, though, Road Pig is well designed.  While I don't care for the Mad Max inspired design, it is well done and Road Pig is recognizable as a trope.  The figure's head is well sculpted and is in scale with the massive torso that conveys Road Pig's considerable bulk.  The legs are accented with darts and detailed boots.  While the black base of the figure isn't anything interesting, the combination of brown, silver and the flesh colored top help give the figure depth beyond what you'd expect from the color palette.  The white hair with a red stripe also convey the figure is a villain while also being different enough from any other Joe released to that point.

Gear-wise, Road Pig stands out.  While his gear isn't as useful as that of the 1985 Dreadnok class, they fit with his character.  Of course, the hallmark is the shoulder pads.  These aid in the Road Warrior-esque facade of the figure.  And, they give Road Pig something that also breaks up the bare chest to face.  He also has an arm shield and a wrist mounted crossbow that shoots explosive projectiles.  Road Pig having some sort of firearm allows him to be more useful in a combat setting.  The character's signature weapon, though, is a cinder block hammer.  The massive weapon makes no sense.  The head looks like the triple shot power up from the Castlevania game.  But, in the context of Road Pig, it works.  You have this over the top trope of a figure who carries around a hammer with a concrete block on the end.  The uses for such a weapon are limited.  But, in the right setting, they would be devastating.  For me, the weapons make Road Pig worth displaying.  But, to this day, I don't think I've ever really used the figure for anything.

The Funskool version of Road Pig is, basically, the same as the 1988 American figure.  The base coloring is close enough that there is no reason to own one figure over the other if you are trying to economize either money or display space.  Funskool Road Pigs are usually of decent quality, even the ones produced during Funskool's quality lapse in the early 2000's.  As he was a staple of online Joe dealers of that time, there are plenty of Funskool Road Pigs out there.  He was a rather popular figure during that time both due to the fact that Hasbro Road Pigs were somewhat expensive and the fact that customizers loved cheap versions of him to outfit their post apocalyptic customs.  Funskool also released Road Pig on a Russian card.  And, large quantities of those have continued to be available through the 2010's, keeping Road Pig more available than his popularity would otherwise dictate.

Road Pig got a nice bit of use.  This original figure was discontinued in 1989.  In 1991, though, the entire mold was repainted as the Super Sonic Fighters Road Pig figure.   Orange accessories notwithstanding, this isn't a bad figure when you consider he's a Dreadnok.  In his case, the orange hair and outlandish colors are more sensical than they'd be for other, more military inclined figures.  The entire Road Pig mold then showed up in India.  Funskool released this exclusive Road Pig, based on the 1988 figure, for many years.  He was a staple of the Funskool heady days of 2001-2004 and was a great way for collectors to get a version of the figure as he included his full complement of gear.  Road Pig was then one of the molds that Funskool returned to Hasbro in April of 2003.  He quickly showed up in the 2004 Dreadnok Convention set.  Again, he had his full array of accessories.  But, the figure wasn't too different from the 1988 release.  (Though, to be fair, you can't do too much with a guy who doesn't wear a shirt.)  The figure disappeared after that.  (The character did reappear in the Anniversary sculpt style in 2011.)  Road Pig was the only full vintage Dreadnok mold that appeared in the 2004 convention set that did not also later appear in a comic pack.  Considering how many comics featured Road Pig, this seems like it must have been an intentional omission.  But, collectors have three very unique versions to track down and one foreign version that's easy to find.  For a figure that doesn't really lend himself to massive repaints, that's not too bad.

Road Pig remains relatively popular.  American figures are among the more expensive 1988 carded figures.  But, the Funskool version remains a $15 to $20 acquisition if you want a MOC specimen.  It's relatively hard to find a loose, mint and complete Funskool Road Pig.  If you can track one down, you'll still pay around $10.  So, it's easier to just get a MOC figure and call it a day.   The figure remains a favorite of many customerizers who prize Road Pigs for their adaptability to other franchises' custom characters.  Personally, I couldn't pay that much for a figure that I don't really like.  But, I'm in the minority on Road Pig's appeal.  For many other collectors, he's a solid character and one of the characters who is a must own in some form: either as a way to complete the Dreadnoks or as a complement to Zarana.  Either way, the character and his original figure are popular.

Rarities - 1995 Ninja Commando Road Pig

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

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

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

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

Diorama - Island Raid

In my old backyard, there was a section on the left hand side that was the "forest" of about 20 younger trees.  The ground beneath them was small river rock over a plastic tarp to keep the weeds down.  But, when it rained, I got large puddles in the area that make for a great photo setting.  You can see the location used often in profiles from 2001 to 2003 on the site.

It was still raining when I went out take these pics.  The water was at it's highest and there just a single dry patch.  My intent was to showcase my newly acquired 2002 Shipwreck figure that you can see below.  But, it ended up being a good way to get some Dreadnok shots.  Again, you see the theme of a large force being necessary to take out the Dreadnoks. I don't know why I return to that theme a few times as the Dreadnoks as characters were not a huge part of my childhood Joe collection.  But, they made for some different show of force type shots.

1991 Super Sonic Fighter Road Pig

First off, I want to make it clear that I hate this figure. I thought Road Pig was a lame figure and character to begin with. To color him in neon and give him a backpack full of lame sounds was one of the worst ideas Hasbro ever had. That's saying something.

Why, then, would I profile this figure here? The simple answer is that I scanned him in and had the picture available. The better answer is that, while I personally hate this figure, many people like the Road Pig character. Personally, after the original three Dreadnoks, I thought the idea was stale. On the bright side, though, Road Pig was the one new Dreadnok who had some individuality. Rather than being just a carbon copy of the others like Thrasher, Zanzibar, and Monkeywrench were, Road Pig had some characterization to him. Larry Hama, the one who created many of the personalities of the Joe characters, once said that Road Pig was one of the new characters he was most looking forward to. I think this is why Road Pig stands out as the one later Dreadnok who has some popularity. It also explains why many people still like the character, if not the figure.

The other issue here, besides, the character, is the Super Sonic Fighters crap. Why did this sound like a good idea? The bad thing is that the line actually had some very cool figures that were a part of it. I really like the Psyche Out and Falcon figures. The Dial Tone and the Viper were also pretty cool. This line, though, marked the beginning of Hasbro's neon fascination. I will admit that I like many of the neon paint jobs in other sub sets. I think the Eco Warriors and many of the Star Brigade figures that were done in neon are some of the best figures in the line. However, neon has no place in the rank and file world. Science fiction characters should wear neon. Soldiers who are trying to blend into the forest should not. The fact that this Road Pig is so grossly miscolored only makes me hate it even more. I would even go so far to say that this figure is the worst of the entire line. He even beats out immortals like Raptor and Big Boa.

Of course, I'm being overly critical of this figure. The real reason it's featured here is because this figure gets no press. Many people refer to the original Road Pig, but never even acknowledge this figure's existence. Because of its awful color scheme, and low sales, you don't see this figure featured for sale very often. He is very easy, though, to pick up in lots of figures and he is often found still on the card. Overall, I still hate this figure. I just have no use for him. I do, though, understand the character's popularity with Joe fans. Hell, if he weren't a popular character, he would never have had a second or (planned!) third version of him made.