1994 Shadow Ninja Night Creeper

Shadow Ninjas are one of those ideas that seems great in a marketing room.  As a design challenge, it was probably a lot of fun to work on.  But, as an end product, the final result is a toy that's fun for about 5 minutes before you break it.  And, that's not a recipe for success.  And, collectors have responded to the Shadow Ninjas concept in kind.  As all other 1994 G.I. Joe figures see a strong uptick in popularity through the years, Shadow Ninjas remain the forgotten stepchild of the genre.  There is little content on them out there and the figures almost never appear in photos or dioramas.  Their backstory allows for some story telling.  But, it has never caught on with the community, even as concepts like Ninja Force have found more acceptance.  Of the figures in the subset, the Shadow Ninja Night Creeper probably makes the most sense.  

The 1993 Night Creeper sculpt is pretty solid.  It's a look that didn't really exist in the Cobra world prior to his appearance.  I have a soft spot for the 1993 debut of this figure.  I'll tell that story when I profile him.  This Shadow Ninja version, has less going for him.  But, the gimmick that gives the Shadow Ninja name is also the detail the deprives the 1994 release of the vibrant colors that spark the joy like the 1993 figure.  Still, the overall colors on the 1994 figure aren't terrible.  The purplish/pink torso and arms are bright.  But, they fit with the motif of the figure.  And, they are not too far removed from the 1993 colors and that allows a bit of cohesion between them.  The greyish-white pants can make the figure look dirty or discolored.  But, when in the right state, they are a nice complement for the torso.

The real issue with the Shadow Ninja figures is that they are overly brittle.  The figures' thumbs might as well be made of glass for how easily they will snap off.  All of the Shadow Ninjas suffer from this.  And, as their accessories are also made of incredibly hard plastic, it's even easier to snap a thumb just by putting the first accessory into the figure's hands.  It's becoming harder and harder to find unbroken, loose Shadow Ninja figures.  You'll often find nicely conditioned and complete figures, but with broken thumbs.  (Look carefully at the thumbs, too, as even intact pieces usually have cracks already forming due to accessory use.)  It's an affliction that's caused by the design and materials used to make the figures.  So, the only real solution is extreme care or simply not using accessories at all.

The main gimmick of the Shadow Ninjas is that they will turn color in heat and cold.  This was the selling point for the figures and justified the higher than normal price tag.  Today, the gimmick still works on most figures.  You will see large quantities of Shadow Ninjas, though, that are very white or a dull grey.  You'll even see it on carded figures.  You can often recharge the color by putting the figure in the freezer for a while.  But, even this tends to be fleeting.  (Note that the figure's elbows and shoulder joints will remain white, a function of them being designed for stress  when the figure moves.  All of these parts are meant to be white and are not discolored.)  Zartan's color changing as driven by the sun is a better gimmick.  And, it's likely the color change plastic that's the cause of the brittleness in the figures.  But, the differently colored figures you see out there aren't variants.  They're just figures stuck in various phases of their color change.

In speaking to the gimmick, though, the color changing schtick wasn't widely loved.  The Shadow Ninjas were among the last figures from the vintage run that you could find at retail: lasting well into 1996 in most areas.  The high price point wasn't enough to really justify the gimmick.  And, kids and parents bought up the alternate Joe choices long before the Shadow Ninjas were considered.  As the Shadow Ninjas hit clearance prices, many of the early toy store scalpers started buying them: hoping for future riches.  This is how you'd find large lots of them for nearly nothing at various comic book stores and scalp kiosks at the flea market during the 2000's.  Even then, though, collectors mostly ignored them and it took decades for the stock to finally be absorbed in any significant way.

Speaking of accessories, the Night Creeper is well equipped.  He includes the same weapons tree from 1993 figure.  It's a large complement of weapons, far more than he can hold.  But, all the weapons are well done.  The Shadow Ninja weapons are all made of a super brittle translucent plastic.  So, fine details like those on the Night Creeper's bow will snap with just a bit of pressure.  All told, the Night Creeper includes two swords, two knives, the aforementioned bow, a sickle and a stand.  It's good gear that works with the figure.  (If you look at the 1993 Night Creeper card art, though, it seems he was originally intended to include the accessory tree from the 1993 Slice.)  The swords work nicely without being too big and the Night Creeper's bow is a good call back to the debut of the character in 1990.  You can tie a string to the sickle.  I've done that with a 1993 version and used it like that since I acquired it back in the mid 1990's.

The real question is what do you do with Shadow Ninja figures?  For me, most of them are gimmicks.  But, the Night Creeper works within the context of the stealth idea.  I see Night Creepers exactly as advertised in terms of being an independent group who works for Cobra.  I though, see them as joining with Cobra Commander much earlier in the Cobra timeline.  Cobra likely started in the mid to late '70's in order to grow into the organization we were introduced to in 1982.  In the early days, Cobra Commander had to work with hired mercenaries.  But, he could not yet afford the best.  We saw some of these anonymous early Cobras in the first issues of the comic.  I also see, though, foreign characters like the Cobra De Aco and Cobra Mortal being part of these early days.  As Cobra grew and had greater resources, Cobra Commander could afford the services of Destro, Firefly, Zartan and others.  But, he had the problem of the early leaders who were still around.

As noted in the comic, it's likely that more than a few of these other Cobra leaders eliminated themselves through battlefield ineptitude as the Joe team got more involved.  But, as they were early members of the Cobra command, they likely had access to highly sensitive information about Cobra operations, funding and personnel.  So, the Commander had to have them all killed.  This is where I see the early incarnations of the Night Creepers coming aboard.  They would have been among those the Commander hired to take out some of the hangers-on from the organizations earliest days.  I see the Night Creepers of that era being pre-cursors to Zartan who possessed some advanced stealth technology.  The 1994 Night Creeper is the result.  And, with their suits obscuring them, they were able to specifically kill the Cobra Mortal.  

From here, I'm open to interpretation.  I could see the Commander hiring a young Zartan to take out the Night Creepers and this is where he got his holographic technology.  This would then leave open the possibility that the Night Creepers the Commander sought out nearly a decade later were a different group.  Perhaps one that found the remnants of the original group, re-organized it and turned it into something far bigger and more powerful.  Of course, this reeks of the over dependence upon a single event that revolves around the Snake Eyes story.  So, at some point, I'll have to refine the story down into something less derivative.  But, the notion of these Night Creepers disposing of the Cobra Mortal is one aspect I want to keep.  Someone had to kill all those early Cobra leaders who never appeared again.  These Night Creepers are as good as anyone to be responsible.

This Night Creeper sculpt debuted in 1993 and got the Shadow Ninja repaint in 1994.  It then permanently disappeared.  While many other Ninja Force parts returned in both the Street Fighter Movie and Mortal Kombat Movie lines, Night Creeper was not among them.  There are some foreign carded variants where you can get unique card art for the Shadow Ninja Night Creeper.  (The Shadow Ninjas are the only time that generic card art was used in the US and specific card art was used in other countries.  1993 Star Brigade got generic card artwork, but never got a foreign upgrade.)  In the 2000's, Hasbro dusted off the Ninja Force Stormshadow and Slice molds.  It would have been nice to see a repainted Night Creeper, too.  Done in original colors or some other design, the mold might have been well received.  But, the 1990 Night Creeper was a better choice and Hasbro only repainted it in 1998 and 2004.  So, you can't really fault them for the decision to go that route.

For years, Shadow Ninjas could be purchased in bulk.  Lots of 4-10 MOC figures would sell for a couple of bucks per figure.  You'd get random samplings and figures like Night Creeper were pretty easy to find.  Slowly, though, the dealers who bought those lots split them into single offerings.  The collectors who bought them sold off the doubles in either smaller lots or as individuals.  Even in 2016, you could buy most of the Shadow Ninjas for under $20 MOC and could find them with ease.  But, in the post 2018 Joe world, even carded Shadow Ninjas have started to disappear.  And, with them, the few high quality loose samples have followed.  The upside is that, when you find them, you'll pay about the same for a carded figure as a loose, mint and complete figure.  At around $25 for each, that's not a small outlay for a gimmick figure.  Left to open pricing, though, loose Shadow Ninja Night Creepers will sell for $12 or so.  But, it might take months before you see one that isn't discolored or broken.  

Like all 1993 and 1994 figures, the vast loose quantities of figures that sat unsold on Ebay for years are mostly gone.  If you're a completist, the hunt might be a challenge to keep you interested for a while.  As a collector, one Shadow Ninja is really all you need to understand the gimmick.  In this case, the 1993 Night Creeper is superior to the Shadow Ninja version.  But, the translucent figure has a bit of charm that is fun to mix with the original release.  In that vein, the figure has some value.  I'm far more forgiving of figures like this now than I was back when they were on retail pegs.  A big part of that is that, back then, they were all I had available to buy.  Now, as something different from the thousands of other Joe figures that have been released and are readily available, the Shadow Ninjas are a fun diversion.  Your mileage may vary.  But, I recommend looking into at least one of the figures for something to break the monotony of the standard Ninja Force designs.

Rarities - 1994 Toys R Us Advertisement

The demise of Toys R Us is a sad story.  It died not due to diminished interest in toys.  But, instead, to unfettered corporate greed.  Really, KB Toys died the same way.  And, because of this, the idea of a toy store in 2023 is simply unfathomable.  My kids were fortunate to be old enough to enjoy Toys R Us for a couple of years.  They had great fun wandering the aisles, looking at all the cool toys that you couldn't find anywhere else.  But, it also died out before they were of an age to really appreciate it.  Now, when I see them scouring Amazon for obscure toys, I realize that were they just a few years older, we'd have gone to Toys R Us for them to browse and find something that interested them.

This takes us, then, to another lost form: the print advertisement.  Sunday newspapers used to be chock full of vibrant, color ads that were the main way many stores could communicate their goods and prices to their potential customers.  And, through these ads, we have a record of products and prices from their own times.  Below is one such piece: a 1994 Toys R Us print ad that appeared in newspapers throughout the US nearly 30 years ago.  

Some of the newspaper ads from previous years would include pre-production or early prototypes of toys.  In some cases, even an unproduced item or two might appear.  But, this one from 1994 is pretty innocuous.  The main thing you see is that Hasbro was really trying to push the 12" action figure line.  I never really understood this.  I fall right into the weird demographic who just missed 12" action figures as a thing and was there right as 3 3/4 was emerging.  So, I have no attachment or interest in larger toys.  But, Hasbro was hell bent on recapturing the emerging collector market and some kids with their 12" offerings.

From the 3 3/4 perspective, the ad doesn't feature much.  The line was dying at this point.  So, just featuring 3 products makes sense.  But, the outlandish $4.99 price on Shadow Ninjas offers all the insight you need into why that line stuck around well into 1996 at Toys R Us stores.  Those figures really didn't cost much more than that until the last few years when collectors have finally started to recognize how difficult they are to find in good condition.  I am pleased to see the white elbows, though, as this photo of them fresh from the factory with that condition shows that it was a feature of their design and not degradation from age.

The Blockbuster is a great toy.  I found mine at a Meijer store, though.  I'm not sure what I paid for it.  But, $25 seems about right.  I recall seeing the 1993 Jets at Toys R Us stores into 1995 and 1996.  But, they were ridiculously expensive for that era.  The first time I found the Blockbuster, I bought it.  So, my local store was sold out of them by the time I started searching out the ghosts of the Joe line.

The big showcase here is the Power Fighters.  Not that they are something we haven't seen before.  But, the fact that they were $9.99.  Nowadays, each of the figures from the Power Fighters will reach nearly $100 if they have the filecard.  So, seeing them so cheap is shocking.  But, to be honest, if I had found these at retail in 1995 or so, I don't know if I'd have bought them.  I don't like mechs.  And, that would mean paying $10 for a figure.  So, I might have missed out on them, even if the price seems absurdly cheap today.

The one thing that stores like KB and Toys R Us brought to the table was a guaranteed buyer for items that Wal Mart and Target might not want.  These days, toy retail is dictated by the whims of those two retailers.  When Toys R Us was around, their willingness to offer products that didn't sell out in 2 weeks allowed Hasbro and other toy companies to offer things that would otherwise have never appeared.  The only upside is that the direct to consumer model of things like Pulse still allows for some exclusives.  And, Haslabs offer larger scale toys that would have once been the domain of Toys R Us exclusives.  

I think we lose out by not being able to see toys on a shelf.  To see the packaging, hold it in your hand and want it.  But, that's also nostalgia talking.  That's a remnant of when I was a kid.  And, I see my kids getting excited over seeing something on Amazon, saving up for it and then getting it and then having the same enthusiasm for it as I did when I bought something at Sears when I was their age.  But, I still miss Toys R Us and wish things had turned out differently for it.

1994 Shadow Ninja Snake Eyes - Around The Web

I had to dig deep on this one.  Few people ever showcase the Shadow Ninjas.  Their alternate construction makes them tough to pose.  So, they aren't overly conducive to dioramas and photos.  But, I was able to find a decent amount of content on this figure out there.  You can see the figure in his various stages of color transformation, too.  I still say this Snake Eyes mold has the best head of any Snake Eyes figure.  It's just too difficult to use in customs.  But, the overall design is strong and would have been an amazing figure in standard Joe construction.

Shadow Ninja Snake Eyes Profile

Clear Ninja Force Prototypes

Shadow Ninja Snake Eyes by Slipstream80

Shadow Ninja Snake Eyes by HCC788

Shadow Ninja Snake Eyes by DragonFortress

Shadow Ninja Snake Eyes by Attica Gazette

Shadow Ninja Snake Eyes by toydujour

Shadow Ninja Snake Eyes by slipstream80

Shadow Ninja Snake Eyes by kushviper

Rarities - Clear Shadow Ninja Prototypes

A great many collectors hate the Shadow Ninjas.  Actually, that's probably not overly accurate.  It's more correct to state that most collectors are indifferent to the existence of the Shadow Ninjas.  They may own a couple that were acquired in lots of better figures.  But, few people actually collect them and fewer still consider them an integral part of the Joe line.

It appears, though, that the Shadow Ninja concept morphed a bit in the design process.  Instead of the color changing plastic that was released at retail, Hasbro originally considered clear figures for the series.  A few samples of these clear version made it out into the world and you can see examples of Snake Eyes, Stormshadow and Night Creeper below.

While the idea of clear figures would have been novel at the time, the design would have run its course quickly.  Maybe if one of the figures in the set had been "invisible", it would have been a cool gimmick.  But, a whole series of them quickly showed the fad's limitations.  You can see the inner workings of the figures.  And, since these molds all had spring loaded features, there's a lot of guts to see.

There's no real info as to why this concept was abandoned for the color changing plastic.  We can speculate that the color changing gimmick was better received than the clear plastic.  But, we don't know for sure.  These figures are an interesting look into what might have been, though.

Please read the comments below.  These were engineering samples designed to showcase the inner workings of the figures.  They seem to exist for the Shadow Ninja line.  It seems there are several sets of them out there.

Night Creeper Unreleased Figure

Clear Snake Eyes Unreleased Figure

Clear Stormshadow Unreleased Figure

1994 Shadow Ninja Snake Eyes

I have often talked about the final retail days of the Joe line.  I just started collecting again in 1995, right as the Joe line was disappearing from retail.  Every trip to a store included a jaunt to the toy aisle to see what I could find.  Often, there would be random Battle Corps figures that were either leftovers from 1994 shipments or backstock cases that were cleared out of the local retailer's distribution center.  But, there were also other, common figures that lingered at various retailers.  Some of the subsets that Hasbro introduced into the Joe line in 1993 and 1994 were not popular.  As such, they hung around retail through 1995, well into 1996 and, in one case, were still there at the end of 1997.  These subsets tend to be figures that even now, two decades later, are not popular with collectors.  The four main culprits were the Star Brigade Armor Tech figures, the 1993 Ninja Force figures (though some figures from the series did tend to sell out),  the Street Fighter Figures and the series that contains the subject of this profile: the Shadow Ninjas.

The Shadow Ninjas were one of Hasbro's last ditch attempts to throw something at the wall and see if it would stick with kids of the day.  They were translucent, color changing figures who included action features.  All three of these selling points diverged them from traditional Joe figures and, likely, lead to the substantially decreased popularity.  Hasbro was desperate to revive sluggish G.I. Joe sales and wanted something that could compete against Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers while not deviating too far from the standard Joe fare.  But, as the line wound down, the Hasbro designers became less and less attached to the legacy figures in their desperate hope they could spare the line from the post Kenner acquisition chopping block.

During the summer of 1995 and 1996, I would go to the local Toys R Us store three or four nights a week.  I was home from school for the summer, working a full time day job and didn't have anything to do on most nights.  So, I went toy hunting.  Ostensibly, I was after the new Star Wars figures that Hasbro/Kenner had debuted in 1995.  If you were collecting the POTFII line in 1995 and 1996, you know how incredibly frustrating it was.  Hasbro wouldn't ship cases for months and months.  When they did, the popular figures were shortpacked and impossible to find.  Lame figures pegwarmed in epic numbers.  You could go months without finding anything, skip two weeks and discover that the only shipment for that quarter in your area came in and sold out in that time.  To offset the Star Wars frustration, I also went looking for Joes.  The Toys R Us near me had a pretty solid selection of Battle Corps figures left over and was still putting out new cases of figures on a semi-regular basis through 1995.  In 1996, the new shipments were sparser as the overstock was mostly sold through.But, you could still find stuff that was decent.  What was constant, though, was peg after peg of Shadow Ninja figures.  They simply didn't sell.

Each day, I would go and search through the pegs.  On the nights there was something new, I'd buy it.  On the many nights there was not, I went home empty-handed.  After a few weeks of buying nothing, though, I'd get desperate.  In those times, I'd end up buying a figure or two that I didn't really want.  But, I wanted something new and would lower my standards for figures just to get something new.  This is how I ended up with the 1993 Ninja Force Night Creeper, Col. Courage, Snow Storm and other, less than stellar figures in my collection.  But, despite looking at them several times thinking that maybe I should give in and buy one, I simply never pulled the trigger on the Shadow Ninja figures.  They were too far gone from my idea of Joe for me to purchase.  As 1996 wound down, the traditional Joes at the store finally sold out with no more to come.  The Armor Tech, Street Fighter and Shadow Ninjas remained.  Slowly, the Street Fighter and Armor Tech figures disappeared.  As 1997 dawned, the Shadow Ninjas remained the last bastion of the vintage Joe line that was on retail shelves.  As I had no interest in them, I stopped looking for Joes on my TRU runs and solely focused on Star Wars figures.  At some point, they simply disappeared: likely clearanced out.  I didn't even notice they were gone and it wasn't until I found a cache of Armor Tech figures at a mall toy store in late 1997 that I even realized that I hadn't seen any Joes on the shelves in quite a while.

I am torn over this figure.  I had a carded version lying in a box for years, never thinking about him at all.  When I pulled him out for this profile, I was strangely drawn to the oddball face and eerie eyes.  In fairly short order, I convinced myself that this figure was actually somewhat cool and I should immediately open it up.  As I was about to cut open the bubble, I stopped myself.  While I have an idea for a photo I'd like to try with this figure, I've often found that my ideas of photos and the actuality of them differ greatly.  That lead me to rethink my decision to open the figure.  Maybe I should keep it around?  I think the packaged version is likely cooler than any loose version I would have.  Especially when I considered that if I opened the figure up and took the photos, he would then disappear into a drawer, box or bag: likely never to be seen again.  So, was there really a reason to open him for this one time use?

I considered buying a loose figure.  They are insanely cheap.  But, again, spending my sparse collecting dollars on a figure who would be used one time, in one photo just didn't make a lot of sense.  Especially when I had the carded version sitting there.  I've profiled figures of whom I only owned carded version before.  In those cases, though, the figure was pretty standard: just a different configuration than other figures I already owned.  Shadow Ninja Snake Eyes was slightly different.  The plastic quality, different construction, action features and oddball accessories are an integral part of the figure's existence and are the parts that most make him worth reviewing.  What to do?  What to do?

In the end, I opened the figure.  I figure I may regret it one day.  But, I sincerely doubt that any Shadow Ninja figure will ever become super expensive.  So, it's something easy to get in the future.  For now, I have a loose figure for the purpose of this profile.  Whether he is ever used again will remain to be seen.  For now, though, I find myself liking the figure.  There is something about the blank face, oddball coloring and overall design that is appealing.  It's likely just new figure afterglow.  But, I find myself thinking that this figure isn't all that bad.

This Shadow Ninja figure is a straight repaint of the 1993 Ninja Force Snake Eyes mold.  The mold is fairly solid and the head is the selling point with the blank face and hollow eyes.  The dark colors of the Shadow Ninja figure really sell this aspect of the mold and do add an element of creepiness to the overall ensemble.  The light purple base color is interesting and something that reappeared on the 2002 Snake Eyes figure.  It hints at a traditional Snake Eyes, but gives more flexibility within the concept of Shadow Ninjas.  The figure also changes color in cold temperatures to an almost all white version you can see in the photos below.

The figure's construction is different.  There is no O-ring.  So, there is no waist articulation.  The figure's arms move when you squeeze his legs together to create a "ninja chopping motion".  This means that the legs are fairly rigid: making the figure hard to stand or pose.  This also means that the position of the arms is determined by locking mechanisms inside the figure.  So, they will not hold specific positions and will always default back to the lowest "lock" that's available.  (This is why, in the photos, the arms of the full color figures are in the same position: there's no way to alter it slightly, you must do a massive move to change them at all.)  Due to to the action figures, the figure feels loose in your hands.  So, even straight out of the package figures don't seem to be gem mint: even if they are.  Also note that the figure's elbows always remain white.  This is due to the colors not changing on those sections: likely due to decreased plastic strength that would not work on these high stress areas.  Other Shadow Ninjas feature the same white elbows and it's likely the designers determined it was better to have always white sections on the colored figures than dark sections on the all white figures: even if the figure's natural state is full color.

To change the figure's color, you simply dip him in hot water.  Nearly boiling water turned mine the brilliant white you see below.  Within about ten minutes, the figure reverted to his normal color.  Through the years, figures stored in different conditions have different reactions.  It's possible to find carded figures that are in the all white state, or the full color state.  How the ones that are full white in the package would react to water are unknown.  But, if you see dealers selling all white "variants" of the Shadow Ninjas, it's just the color change feature.

The figure includes the standard weapons tree that was common in the final two years of the line.  On it are three swords, a knife, a battle stand, a set of nunchuks and two hand claws that are derived from the 1988 Stormshadow figure.  There are two major issues with the accessories.  First, the nunchuks.  They are molded in a straight line.  For other uses of this mold, the molding on the tree isn't an issue.  But, the brittle plastic used for the Shadow Ninja accessories does not allow for the nunchuks to flex on the rope that separates the handles.  So, the effect is more of a stick than actual nunchuks.  The second is the set of hand claws.  These are basically awesome accessories on every figure with which they were ever included.  However, the Shadow Ninja Snake Eyes versions are missing an essential element: anything with which to connect them to the figure!  There are neither grips nor plugs that will affix the claws to the figure's wrists or hands.  Instead, there is a simple rectangular peg that does not attach to the figure not really fits into the figure's hand.  So, you have these solid accessories, but no real way to use them with the figure.  These are minor points, especially since the grey, translucent plastic used for the swords and knife is actually pretty cool.

Shadow Ninja figures were not popular, are not popular and will never be popular.  Unlike the Series II Star Brigade figures where lower production runs drive up prices on obscure figures, it seems the Shadow Ninjas got a full production and were produced in more than ample numbers.  (The fact that the cards were marked with a 1993 date indicates they were early releases and likely not subject to the truncated production runs that were ordered once the line's cancellation was imminent.)  You don't often find Shadow Ninjas in the wild.  But, tons of dealers bought up the overstock on the shelves in the mid 1990's and those figures are largely still out there.  MOC, this figure can be had for under $12 shipped.  A loose, mint and complete with filecard figure can be had at any time for around $5 and, if you are patient, even cheaper when someone tries to sell one on its own.  From time to time, you see a figure spike in price.  But, those are anomalies and do not denote the true value of the figure.  Despite these low prices, I find it hard to recommend a Shadow Ninja figure.  They are odd and quirky and that makes them somewhat fun.  But, the action features, non standard construction and generally bizarre plastic make for a set of figures that really only have a place in the hearts of completists.  If you don't have any Shadow Ninjas, $5 is a paltry price to get one.  It's fun for about 8 seconds.  After that, you wonder why you spent $5 on this figure when there were so many other things that money could have done.As a relic of its time, this figure is interesting.  As anything else, though, it's a tough item to integrate into any collection.