Cobra Flying Scorpion (Brazil) - 25 Years Later

I guess it's tradition to post up the Flying Scorpion every 5 years.  Today, though, marks 25 years since I first posted my original profile on the Brazilian exclusive.  At that time, he was an obscure release that no one really cared about.  Now, he's among the more expensive foreign figures and commands a stupid premium.  None of that has changed his importance to me.  He remains the flagship figure in my collection.  He's the most expensive figure I still use with any frequency.  Some of the flair and creativity behind him has faded into the background.  I don't have deep and evolving characterization for him any longer.  But, the figure remains one of my personal favorites and one I love dusting off every few years.

Twenty Five years is a long time.  It's hard to really imagine the world of August, 2001.  It was such a drastically different time.  2001 was really the dawn of the Joe collecting boom.  Starting in that year, prices rose, forums exploded and G.I. Joe looked like it was set to return to the cultural zeitgeist.  The next three years were a blur of hundreds of new figures, constant news about the line and voluminous fan content that kept even the most voracious collector well sated.  

All good things must end, though.  And, Joe took a drastic downturn at the start of 2004.  By the middle of 2005, the line was cancelled.  Hasbro was ambitious, though, and offered the cancelled line as part of their Direct To Consumer (DTC) strategy.  You can't call the Joe items anything but a failure.  They were dumped to Toy R Us in 2006.  But, the DTC idea was the pre-cursor to Hasbro Pulse and was a harbinger of the 2020's online focused toy collecting experience.  O-ring Joes were all but silent for more than 15 years.  In 2022, Hasbro Pulse brought some underwhelming releases back.  They were fine.  But, nothing that really caused any sort of collecting resurgence.  Now, Hasbro has outsourced their o-ring Joes to Super7.  And, fan creators are releasing wave after wave of factory created o-ring figures that were inspired by G.I. Joe.  (Most are more Remco than Hasbro, though.)  So, it's not a bad time to be a collector, these days, provided you are not trying to fill hundreds of vintage holes.  Those prices remain artificially inflated.

It's kind of fun that there are now some figures who match up with the Flying Scorpion.  Not all of them make sense when taken  against the Sky Patrol theme.  But, you can build out a nice collection of similar figures to augment this guy.  

Originally, this figure represented a new character in my collection.  He still does.  But, I rarely photograph him in that role.  It's just too difficult to convey his importance and role in a photo unless someone has my 32 years of backstory that began at a boring job in the summer of 1994.  So, he usually appears as a single operator with some troops behind him...not much different than any other named Cobra.  I still like the idea of him as the new leader of Cobra.  But, the practicality of making that evident just doesn't work out.

In the early 2000's, it was pretty easy to get Flying Scorpion figures.  You could find carded versions for around $30.  Loose figures were harder to find unless you had a connection in Brazil.  But, the figures were cheap.  Those days are long gone.  And, you'll pay a substantial premium to add any high quality members of the Patrulha do Ar to your collection.  The figure isn't rare.  He's just popular and his price tag reflects that aspect of the demand curve.

Due to his high pricetag, there's not a ton of Flying Scorpion content out there.  Aside from being expensive, he's also fragile.  So, taking him out in the rain to pose him in the wet rocks doesn't hold a lot of appeal for those who own him.  But, I still do.  So, enjoy all the photos below and I'll see you again in August of 2031.

Flying Scorpion Profile

Flying Scorpion 15th Anniversary

Flying Scorpion 20th Anniversary

Flying Scorpion by comandos_em_acao_gijoe

Flying Scorpion by 00zxcvb

Flying Scorpion by relinquished1979

Flying Scorpion by Scarrviper

Flying Scorpion by Harry Hendriks

Flying Scorpion by relinquished1979

Flying Scorpion by don_zartan

Flying Scorpion by relinquished1979

Rarities - Unproduced 2003 Wal Mart Sky Patrol Figures

Back in 2003, Wal Mart worked with Hasbro to release an exclusive 6 figure set.  The toys were expected to be released around the 2003 holiday season.  The original plan was for the figures to be vintage inspired o-ring figures who would include working parachutes.  It was a novel idea and one that was sure to be a hit among collectors.  Hasbro went so far as to show off hand painted samples of the figures at various shows.  Collectors got excited about the figures as any new vintage style figures were always welcomed.  But, something happened between the planning and production stages for the figures.  And, the o-ring figures were cancelled and replaced by a hasty set of JvC style figures that included one urban camo Cobra and a desert clad Joe.  In the madness that was 2003 Joe retail, these figures were still quickly gobbled up and even commanded premium pricing for a while.  But, the real story was the demise of the more highly anticipated o-ring figures.

Supposedly, the reason for the cancellation was that the parachutes that were planned for the figures would not pass safety tests.  Why this lead to the demise of the entire wave of figures instead of just the problematic accessory is anyone's guess.  (At the time, the 2003 Ripcord was supposed to include a parachute.  His accessory was also removed.  But, the figure was still released, albiet a couple of weeks delayed.)   We would, though, later learn that Wal Mart wasn't as keen on vintage style figures as they were the newer sculpting style of the JvC designs.  And, Wal Mart would later take a lot of blame for vintage style Joe completely disappearing from retail assortments and being relegated to Toys R Us exclusives and Comic Packs.  How much of this is true and how much was just Wal Mart being a convenient scape goat isn't really clear.  But, a highly desired wave of 6 figures became something of an afterthought when it was changed to something completely different.

You will note that collectors often refer to these figures as "Sky Patrol".  There is no official documentation to back that up.  It was just an easy moniker applied to this set since we didn't know their official names.  The figures that replaced them at Wal Mart did not have any special markings on them and they were just packaged as standard Venom Vs. Valor releases.  So, the "Sky Patrol" is a colloquialism meant for quick reference to this series since the "Cancelled Wal Mart Exclusive O-Ring Figure Wave that Would Have Included Parachutes" is just too cumbersome to say.

The story wasn't over, though.  First, someone found a weird pack at retail that featured an oddly colored Snake Eyes and Stormshadow in a two pack.  The figures were pre-production samples of the Wal Mart figures that had, accidentally, gotten packaged and slipped through quality control.  Shortly after this, tons of the 6 figures began to appear from Asian sellers.  As 2004 progressed, the stock didn't dry up.  And, for a while, most of the Wal Mart figures could be had for under $15 each from Asian sellers.  Despite that heavy supply, the Wal Mart figures now command a premium and run in the hundreds of dollars each, even though they exist in ample supply.

We'll start with one of the original images from a Hasbro display.  There are many things of note in this photo.  Duke appears to actually be a paint master for the 2000/2001 figure.  While he's hand painted, the coloring is nearly identical to the earlier retail figure.  There's some differences.  But, the pre-production Duke is vastly different.  Snake Eyes is just a straight up production figure from the 2002 BJ's set.  The Hiss Driver/Rip It features a gold chest.  This would be changed.  Low Light is pretty close to his final colors.  The Alley Viper is blocked out in this photo.  But, he appears to also be drastically different from the final pre-production figure.  Stormshadow isn't featured at all.

Now for the individual figures.  Each  of these are full production level figures that were widely available.  It is noteworthy, though, that there are variants of most figure.  They exist in different blue hues and some have painted logos that others don't.  There's even a hair color variant on Duke.

Snake Eyes:

Snake Eyes is the least interesting of the figures in the set.  He retains the mostly black body.  He features red goggles.  This would have been a new look for Snake eyes.  But, it doesn't really match up and isn't visually appealing.  His arms have their weird blue forearms and rivet joint.  This might have been cleaned up had the figure gone to production.  It makes Snake Eyes look like he's half trying to be a Cobra.  When the Wal Mart figures were available, Snake Eyes was always the cheapest since he offered nothing new or interesting.  Had he been released, this figure would be as ignored as the 2002 BJ's version.

Stormshadow:

The Stormshadow figure wasn't shown in some of the convention displays.  He uses the 1992 Ninja Force mold.  Hasbro had used this mold in the 2002 BJ's set.  It was an OK figure.  The mold also returned in 2004 in the Urban Strike set.  A 2003 release would have been overkill.  The blue on this figure is different, though.  And, the color scheme was well liked by collectors of the day.  Had this figure been any other Stormshadow mold, it would be better remembered and a bigger loss.  

Low Light:

Low Light was the second most anticipated figure from this set.  And, as the army building nonsense of the 2000's died down, he's supplanted the Hiss Driver as the most interesting figure in the set.  The main reason is that this is the only use of the V1 Low Light mold that Hasbro offered for retail.  We got the 1991 Low Light in 2001 with his parts also appearing on other figures.  But, the V1 Low Light didn't appear until he was released as a convention exclusive in 2008.  

It really made no sense why Hasbro didn't get this mold into the Desert set in 2004 or the arctic set in 2005.  Both would have been great slots for Low Light and would have allowed him to replace a lackluster figure or character in each of those sets.  You'll note that this Low Light uses the same paint masks as the Slaughter's Marauders version.  So, Hasbro didn't spend a ton of money to update his painted details.  In general, this is a solid look for Low Light.  And, him including his real accessories would have been a big plus that put him over the top for collectors of the day.  (You'll note his rifle later appeared in some TRU sets.)  He's very much a more muted Slaughter's Marauders figure and would be a fairly popular figure had he seen wide release.

Alley Viper:

The Alley Viper was the most popular figure when this set first showed up on Ebay.  He would command the highest prices and always sell.  This was due to the extremes of the army building mentality among collectors of the day.  They would overpay for any army builder.

This figure, though, is among the weaker in the set.  While his colors blend with the other Cobras, the reality is that they are an inferior mix to figures that had just been released at retail.  If you wanted a light blue Alley Viper, there was a great one in Wave 1.5 that was cheap and easy to get.  If you wanted a red Alley Viper, there was one in Wave 2 that was well done.  (Though, it was shortpacked and somewhat harder to find than the blue version.)  This amalgamation of the two color schemes is a nice  middle ground between them.  But, it wasn't a figure that was really needed.  And, had it been released, it would have overlapped with the Wave 7.75 blue Alley Vipers at retail and been followed up with the Urban Strike Alley Viper.  There are some variants of this Alley Viper in terms of the coloring hues and if he has a Cobra sigil or not.  So, be on the watch for that.

In short, this figure would have been even more oversaturation of a figure mold that collectors were tiring of.  I don't think we lost anything with this figure's cancellation.  But, his popularity of the time suggests that I was not representative of collecting as a whole with my sentiment.

Duke:

The Duke figure from this set is the one I lament the most.  It would have been a great Duke.  Duke has the greatest variants among the unproduced figures as there are brown haired and blonde haired heads.  There are also green pants or brown pants.  You can see both versions of the figure below.  (There are likely more, subtle variants, too.)  The green pants version is a close take to the 1984 color scheme on the 1992 mold.  Hasbro should have made more figures like this since they had so many later versions of classic characters.

Duke had a bunch of accessories.  He included an exclusive helmet.  He then came with a black version of the Snow Serpent backpack and either one or two rifles.  The common weapon between the versions was a black Beach Head rifle.  Some also included an Ambush rifle.  The accessories were decent and worked with the figure.  The brown hair were the, likely, earlier figures with the the blonde hair figure being the one we would have gotten at retail.  A blonde Duke with the green pants would have been the best Duke released during the repaint era.  It's sad we didn't get it.

Hiss Driver (Rip It):

The Hiss Driver mold was the most anticipated figure in the set.  Collectors had gotten a couple of very easy to find retail Alley Vipers.  But, the Hiss Driver mold hadn't been seen since late 2000/early 2001 when it was included in the Toys R Us exclusive Hiss III.  Collectors were keen to army build it, especially in these colors.  

It is a near certainty that this figure would have been released as Rip It instead of as a Hiss Driver.  Hasbro was keen on characters.  So, this would have likely been one rather than a nameless army builder.  But, sans an official release, the figure simply became known as the Hiss Driver.  As he was readily available and not overly expensive back in the mid 2000's, many people were able to get a few of them to drive their armies of Hiss Tanks.  The blue was close enough to the classic Cobra color that everyone wanted for every single Cobra figure mold that Hasbro had in their library.  

There is a variant of this figure.  Some are darker blue.  And, some have Cobra logos on their arms while others don't.  Neither seems more rare than the other.  Hasbro never got the Hiss Driver mold to retail, again.  There was a short run 2007 Convention Rip It, tough.  That figure is notable as it uses an inverse color scheme to this Wal Mart Hiss Driver.  Together, the two figures are a great looking pair.  But, it would cost you nearly $1000 to get both of them, today.

In the end, it's a shame collectors didn't get this set.  But, with how quickly the Wal Mart exclusive Valor Vs. Venom figures sold out, it's also likely that many collectors would have missed these at retail and they would have commanded a premium on the secondary market.  As the Joe line cratered in 2007 through 2010, collectors might have been able to get the quantities they wanted.  But, these figures would have remained highly desired and expensive today, even if they had gone to retail.  

Today, the figures command premium prices.  Most newer collectors are unaware that these were available for several years from Asian sellers.  Most of the figures were available for under $15 each for quite a while.  Some collectors army built the Alley Vipers and Hiss Drivers.  So, the figures are out there in numbers.  It's just that they are mostly held by collectors who have little interest in selling them.  Many of the figures have reached nearly $500 each in recent sales.  That's too much for these figures.  But, sanity over recently released and somewhat common items has completely left the collecting world.  So, for most collectors, their closest way to experience these figures is through photos and stories from earlier times.

Sky Patrol Steel Brigade - Red Laser Army

I'm not a great fan of the Steel Brigade.  But, every now and then, a repaint of a bad figure or bad idea comes along that redeems the figure or character in my eyes.  In 2017, this occurred with a Red Laser Army release of the Steel Brigade done in up in a combo of silverish grey and blue.  This "Sky Patrol" version of the anonymous Joe army builder was a new look for the character and created a striking color contrast that really worked with the mold.  The colors matched up well enough with vintage Sky Patrol figures and created a great little subset of figures with which a Sky Patrol army could be built.  While this figure hasn't removed the stigma of Steel Brigade in general, it has allowed me an opportunity to enjoy the mold more so than I have with most other repaints.

Sky Patrol has also long been a concept to which I've been cool.  Even during my heyday of buying Joes, I only ever got a couple of the figures.  Now, I have just two of them.  It was never a subset that really clicked for me.  And, I'm not a big fan of the Steel Brigade, either.  Yet, together, the concepts mesh extremely well.  The idea of support troops for a unit that I kind of see as ancillary to G.I. Joe rather than integrated within it works for me.  

Somehow, the Steel Brigade mold ended up being released by both Black Major and Red Laser.  Each made different color schemes.  So, that created a wide variety for the character.  In very short order, there were desert, arctic, black, blue and even Action Force Steel Brigade figures released.  The plethora of army building options allowed collectors to fill out their Steel Brigade armies.  Some were great repaints.  Others were just OK.  Personally, I found this blue and silver version to be the most compelling.  The colors aren't often seen in the Joe line.  And, the Sky Patrol figures that debuted the color scheme no longer call my collection home.  So, the colors were even more unique to me.

When I first saw this Sky Patrol rendition of the Steel Brigade, my first thought was that they'd make a solid crew for the Tomahawk.  The blue and silver shouldn't work with the brown helicopter.  But, that was my main thought about usage for the figures.  I suspect that the connection was just a manifestation of my desire to use the Tomahawk more.  But, with the figures in hand, I still didn't do anything with the Tomahawk.  Even today, I have yet to put it together, again.  I will do it at some point.  And, then, I'll finally take photos of the iconic chopper with their crew.  Until then, I often look at these Steel Brigade figures with grandiose ideas in my head.  And, I then utterly fail to properly showcase how cool the figures are in any attempt at photos.  

Sadly, these Steel Brigade figures suffer from a design flaw.  The hands are extremely small.  So small that they won't really hold the rifles without either modifying the rifle or modifying the hands.  Both are bad options.  And, it really limits these figures since it's very difficult to get them to hold their weapons without risking thumb breakage.  Aside from that, though, the quality is very good.  The plastic is different from vintage and repaint era Hasbro plastic.  So, you'll notice it once in hand.  But, the joints are tight and the paint masks are crisp.  So, the these Steel Brigades work well in a collection.

The figures included a nice complement of accessories.  The coolest piece was the silver backpack.  It is a cool color that works perfectly with the figure.  He also includes a small pistol and knife.  I'm not 100% sure of the origin of these sculpts.  They are Joe-adjacent and not reproductions of vintage Joe gear.  The coup de gras, though, was the inclusion of a black Steel Brigade rifle.  This rifle was highly desired outside of the baby blue in which it debuted with Recoil back in 1989.  And, for the first decade of online Joe collecting, it was acquirable.  But, that had changed by 2017.  So, being able to acquire large quantities of properly colored versions of the weapon was the real value in the figure.  As the very common version "D" Steel Brigade was my entry point to the character, I only consider the Recoil weapon as the viable weapon for any Steel Brigades.  So, it's great to have it included with this version.

In the late 2010's, Black Major produced a dozen or so repaints of the Steel Brigade.  Simultaneously, Red Laser Army released another 1/2 dozen, give or take, repaints of the mold.  Black Major's figures included an alternate, Airborne torso to help differentiate your armies.  The Red Laser figures, though, did not.  Black Major's figures also included an Airborne rifle while Red Laser Army included a more modernly sculpted pistol that didn't fit into the figure's hands.  Between the two factions, there were more than enough Steel Brigades to go around.  But, after the initial runs were completed, the molds disappeared from both sellers.  In 2023, Black Major brought the Steel Brigades back with a newly updated mold.  Again, many new repaints were produced.  The Airborne torso was gone.  But, the new figures filled in gaps that had been missing for nearly 40 years.  

Sadly, Sky Patrol Steel Brigade figures have pretty much dried up.  You could buy lots of three figures for $12 each for a long time.  But, those days are gone.  And, all of the Red Laser Steel Brigade flavors have gotten much harder to find.  You can expect to pay in excess of $30 for one of the figures these days.  The popularity of Steel Brigade in general, the high quality of this figure and the usefulness of this specialty within the Steel Brigade ranks all add up to a desirable acquisition for newer collectors.  It's really amazing to me how much the Joe world changed between 2017 and 2020.  That short span fundamentally altered the landscape of collecting from an affordable past time to a speculative collectible with a high cost of entry.  It's too bad.  Because, figures like this Steel Brigade were designed to be an affordable way to build the army you always wanted as a kid.  Now, they're single purchases that get tucked away in drawers or boxes and check off a box on a spreadsheet.  It's fun to recall these days of Red Laser Army as they speak to a simpler time in the collecting world.  I think this figure represents the innocence of that era and the potential that still existed in the line.

 

1990 Sky Patrol Altitude - Around the Web

Sky Patrol is one of those subsets that I should really like.  But, for some reason, I'm rather indifferent to it.  Sure, the figures are really nicely done...even if they are majoritively repaints.  I really like the idea of Sky Patrol and I've tried to implement them into my collection.  But, to this day, I only have two of them in my collection.  The upside is that I'm able to enjoy each figure on it's own merits rather than taking the subset as a whole.  This has lead to Altitude remaining a figure I get out for photos more often than other, similar rarity figures.  

It seems others take the same approach as Altitude has some pretty decent content on him out there.  Some of this stuff is really old and worth taking another look at.  (Though, sadly, some of the links may have expired between the time I first cataloged them and now...especially at Joedios.com.)  But, scroll through all the creators and enjoy their looks at the 1990 Altitude.

1990 Sky Patrol Altitude Profile

1990 Altitude by corpscommandercody

1990 Altitude by Hit and Run

1990 Altitude by Outrider

1990 Altitude by silencer

1990 Altitude by jogunwarrior

1990 Altitude by thedustinmccoy

1990 Altitude by slipstream80

1990 Altitude by gi_joeisthere

1990 Altitude by thedustinmccoy

1990 Altitude by ptytoys2021

1990 Altitude by thedustinmccoy

Rarities - James Bond Jr. Black Parachute Pack

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

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

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

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

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

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

Abutre Negro - Random Photos of the Day

My foray into Brazilian figures was entirely driven by the Cobra Flying Scorpion.  It was a figure that, once I was aware of its existence, I had to own.  And, in the 21 years since then, the Flying Scorpion has appeared time and time again on this site.  I get him out relatively often for a super fragile figure.  And, there's a lot of different photo shoots in which he plays a central part.  Lost in the personal appeal that the Flying Scorpion holds for me, though, is that his Cobra team mate in the Brazilian Sky Patrol might actually be a better figure.  And, while I've owned the Abutre Negro figure almost as long as I've had a Flying Scorpion, he is used infrequently and takes an undeserved back seat the primary Estrela figure in my collection.

The Abutre Negro is black, silver and red.  The color scheme works with classic Cobras as well as later Cobra releases.  Originally, I matched him up with the 1988 Destro and team.  As Iron Grenadiers have lost prominence in my collection, though, this figure finds himself more on his own.  As a kitbash, the figure is well done.  Cesspool's chest is one that should have had more uses in the Cobra ranks.  And, Dee Jay's head recolored not only gives the figure a completely different look but also gives a bit of disguising face covering that was common on most Cobras.  In short, if you found this figure in the 1990's, there is nothing about it that suggests anything other than these parts were meant to work together to create this character.

Oddly, though, this figure remains pretty obscure in my collection.  I've only photographed him once since 2012.  Which seems odd since the figure is so well done.  I just haven't had occasion to get him out and use him as often as his quality demands.  Part of that was that I rarely use aircraft in photos.  The other part is that I'm hesitant to attempt to pose him too much in fear of the brittle crotch and thumbs getting broken.  I opened my figure straight off the card back in 2002.  So, he's always been more of a collectible than a plaything.  Hopefully, I can get some more photos of him in the coming years.

One point of interest to me is that I refer to the Flying Scorpion by the English translation of his Brazilian name of Escorpiao Voador.  Yet, for the Abutre Negro, I refer to him by his Brazilian name instead of the translation of Black Vulture of Black Buzzard.  I assume it's just laziness since Escorpioa Voador is more of a mouthful than Abutre Negro.  But, also, in my collection the Flying Scorpion figure is a different character.  So, I really only ever refer to him by his proper name in collecting forums.

So, yeah, Abutre Negros are stupidly expensive.  Patrulha do Ar figures were among the first Brazilian figures to be readily available in the US.  But, they quickly disappeared by the early 2000's.  And, as wave after wave of Brazilian Python Patrol and Tiger Force figures showed up in the 2010's, the Estrela Sky Patrol figures remained relatively scarce.  As they were late releases, it's likely that the stock that was common in the late 1990's and early 2000's was overstock that was purchased by dealers and resellers and few of them were actually toys.  (Much like the 1994 figures in the US.)  So, now you'll pay well over $200 for a mint loose and complete Abutre Negro.  It's a lot and probably more than the pleasure of owning the figure is worth.

I hope that at some point the Pulse collection will move away from straight vintage homages and into more unique territory.  Producing a figure like this would be a strong way to get collectors something they wanted while not straying too far from purpose of the line.  I doubt it will happen, though, as releases have been too sparse so far for them to get into any deep cuts.

1990 Sky Patrol Altitude

I have never really been a Sky Patrol fan.  I'm not sure why.  But, even in my heady collecting days when I bought any and everything, Sky Patrol was never a focus.  In fact, until the acquisition of this figure, I actually owned more Brazilian Patrulha do Ar figures than I did of Hasbro Sky Patrol.  Even looking at everything I've ever owned, the two series are tied and I've even owned more of the unproduced 2003 Sky Patrol Wal Mart figures than I have 1990 Sky Patrol.  For some reason, Sky Patrol wasn't something I actively sought out.  And, due to their general release type and scarcity, they were not something that often appeared in lots of 1990's figures that were the staple of my acquisitions back in the early 2000's.  So, I have not had occasion to really examine Sky Patrol in quite a while.  

Recently, though, I came across some Sky Patrol figures at a local haunt.  I could choose between an Airborne and a Altitude.  While I've long wanted Airborne due to his distinct look, the Altitude figure was in better shape, the same price and fully complete.  So, I went with Altitude and didn't look back.  Once in hand, I found the figure a nice addition to my collection.  The newly sculpted head for the character was very distinct.  His colors are muted, complementary and not often seen on vintage Joes figures.  And, the mold chosen for his body makes sense in the context of his specialty.  In short, he's a solid figure that expands my collection in a different direction than most of my neon-heavy acquisitions.

All of the Sky Patrol figures were repaints of pre-existing vehicle drivers who were given new heads.  Some of the bodies chosen were Joe and some were Cobra.  It was a cheap way for Hasbro to make new figures that included expensive accessories like the parachutes.  The unifying theme of the figures was that they all included chrome colored parachutes that were packed into repaints of the 1985 Parachute Pack case.  Along with the new heads, each figure included an array of unique accessories.  The calling card, though, were the unique helmets that were given to each figure.  No two figures got the same helmet, but all the characters wore them to give the team a modicum of uniformity.  Each figure also included new weapons.  Some were better than others.  But, all were distinct to the Sky Patrol theme.  The end result was that parents were asked to pay a premium price for a product that appeared new and an adequate value.  Even for collectors of the day, the radically different paint schemes on the bodies as well as the elapsed time since their last use helped make the Sky Patrol figures all feel new and worth the extra price.

The Sky Patrol figures, though, lack a real uniformity in their appearance.  While the chrome parachutes tie them together, each figure is individually colored.  Skydive and Static Line share blue and silver hues.  But, the blues are drastically different and Static Line features some off white.  Airwave is cast in tan and pea green.  Airborne is all grey.  Altitude and Dropzone both feature brown.  But, Dropzone's is offset by grey instead of Altitude's green.  In short, the figures look less like a subset as they had previously existed in the Joe world and more like a group of individuals who shared a specialty.  There's enough complementary colors that you can kind of see them together if you really reach for a theme.  But, that also allowed for any kid who just got one of the figures to be able to find a special place for him without feeling cheated that he didn't have the rest of the team.

In thinking about Sky Patrol, it hit me that there really isn't a breakout character among the members.  This struck me as odd.  But, in other subsets, the popularity of a figure is usually determined by the popularity of their original release.  (Think Tiger Force Flint or the Python Patrol Viper.)  Figures like Cesspool, Headhunter and even the Star Brigade Roadblock have found some breakthrough success.  But, they are the exception rather than the rule.  All of the Sky Patrol figures remain about equally difficult to find, in same price range and appear with the same frequency in old collections.  That's probably due to them being packed at equal ratios as well as all being good guys.  Were there one or two Cobra villains in the subset, I'm sure they'd command premium prices over the Joes.  

Altitude pretty much sums up the uses I find for Sky Patrol figures, though.  He looks great in the Tomahawk.  Though, I also suspect he'd fit in nicely with both the Razor Blade and Dragonfly.  As part of the helicopter crew, his flight suit makes sense.  The helmet is icing on the cake for this role.  But, I can't really see Altitude as a ground trooper.  I'd much rather give his gear to a different figure for that role.  Altitude's colors work better for ground missions than some of the other Sky Patrol figures.  But, he's still a stretch.  So, it's likely that he'll simply man one of my choppers.  Here, his colors will work and he'll fit within a specialty.  I like figures like this because not everyone on the Joe team can be all things.  The point of an elite unit is that they have extreme specialists who are the best.  A guy like Altitude might lead a team through a high altitude parachute jump.  But, once on the ground, he was sort of a tag-along.  He had a role and did it fantastically.  But, once that's done, there's less use for him.

About half of the Sky Patrol weapons are awesome.  The other half are not.  Unfortunately, Altitude falls into the latter category.  His weapon is just inane.  He includes a small pistol that looks like the kid brother of the 1987 Blaster's gun.  It's lame and uninteresting.  Then, though, it takes a turn to the absurd.  Altitude's gun has a slot where a blast shield affixes to it.  Then, a missile affixes to the blast shield.  So, Altitude's little pistol becomes a missile launching bastion of death.  Of course, if he uses it in his right hand, Altitude will be the one dying.  In this direction, the blast shield would protect Altitude's gloved hand and covered arm.  All of the blast from the missile rocket, though, would be directed straight into Altitude's uncovered chin.  I guess it works as a left handed weapon (like the Alley Viper's rifle).  But, the whole set up is just bad.  The engineering to make a three piece weapon was rare in 1990, though.  So, it represented a step forward in Joe accessory design.  The design was just not very good.

Altitude uses the mold from the 1986 Slipstream figure.  Neither this body nor the new head sculpted for Altitude were ever used again.  (There is a red Slipstream from Italy named Jet Man.  But, it's likely that figure was created from a Hasbro Slipstream instead of them actually having the mold.)  It's a shame.  As, the Sky Patrol heads would have been a fun way to update some repaints in the 2000's.  But, Slipstream being both a Joe and a pilot makes him a perfect choice to get the repaint treatment in Sky Patrol.  Altitude having a flight suit with built in survival gear works for a guy who would jump out of airplanes at high altitudes.  And, the coloring is different enough that it's not completely obvious that Altitude and Slipstream share the same body.  (The fact that Slipstream isn't a very popular figure also helps!)  All of the Sky Patrol figures were colored well enough that the mold sharing isn't overly obvious.  But, Altitude, in particular, brings new life into an existing mold that didn't have a great paint job the first time it was used.

The last oddity about Sky Patrol is that they were released in a year that also saw a paratrooper released in the standard carded line.  Freefall debuted in 1990.  In terms of design and gear, Freefall is probably a superior release.  But, he didn't include a working parachute.  If you bought Sky Patrol figures in 1990, the only Joe aircraft on the shelves were the Locust, Mud Fighter and Retaliator.  So, the repaint of the 1986 Night Raven in the Sky Patrol line was the only real airplace for Sky Patrol.  And, a super sonic jet isn't really the type of thing that drops highly skilled paratroopers behind enemy lines.  But, were I a kid in 1990, I wouldn't have let the lack of planes stop me and I'd have found ways to insert a Sky Patrol figure into a situation, even if all I had was a single jet pack.

Dealers will sell mint and complete Altitudes in the $60-$80 range.  The higher end of the range usually includes the filecard, too.  Left to open pricing, Altitude is about a $45 figure.  That's not terrible in this insane market.  Especially when you consider the high price of Night Force and even Tiger Force figures.  Sky Patrol has always had its following.  And, you don't find high quality, complete figures like you used to.  Altitude is one of the stronger colorings for the subset.  And, his helmet isn't bad.  Really, after acquiring him, I wondered why I haven't gone after figures like Altitude before.  I buy Cobra army builders that cost more than a Sky Patrol figure.  So, there's no excuse to not own more.  Maybe it's time for me to accept that, enjoy the concept and finally go about finishing my Sky Patrol collection.

Something, Something...Cobra Flying Scorpion

So, I had plans for a new profile today.  But, work got busy, the kids started school and suddenly, it's late on Monday night and I have nothing ready to go.  I wanted to showcase a figure that ties into the Brazilian Flying Scorpion figure, though.  You see, it was 20 years ago this week that I first profiled that figure.  At the time, he was known to about two dozen collectors who got into obscure foreign figures.  Now, he's an essential part of many collections.  So, instead of showing off some other obscure release, I'll take another shallow dive on the Brazilian Flying Scorpion figure.

I've had the figure out, recently.  Partly because this anniversary was coming.  But, also because Black Major and Zica Toys have both released figures in color schemes that complement the Flying Scorpion figure.  The Riot Commandos are a bit darker than Escorpiao Voador.  But, they still work nicely as his personal troops.  The Black Major figures are a bit lighter.  But, again, they work well enough with the figure and give him some complementary figures with whom he can be posed.

You will note in the 2nd photo below how I have the figures posed.  Ignore the fact that they are on a box on top of a shelf.  I took that photo in August of 2001.  We've come a long way since then.  But, you can clearly see my Cobra hierarchy and how my version of Cobra split into various factions.  (RTG at the Attica Gazette recently reminded me of these old photos.  And, it's interesting to see how things have changed in 20 years.)  The Sea Slug is not the figure who represents the new Cobra any longer.  I've taken on various versions of Cobra Commander for him.  The Decimator is now an army builder instead of a character.  And, many of the generals standing behind the Flying Scorpion are dead or have moved on.  It's a testament that my collection keeps evolving over the years.  But, it's fun to look back at how I used to see things.

What I like about this figure is that he's different.  Right away, you can spot the figure as a Cobra.  But, he doesn't mix with the figures from whom he draws his parts.  Escorpiao Voador posed next to Cesspool is perfectly fine because the figures are so different.  The colors are relatively unique to the character.  And, the Flying Scorpion remains the only vintage Cobra who is not white.  

What I don't like about this figure is that carded versions will run you hundreds of dollars and loose, mint and complete figures will run $250 or more.  That sucks as it prevents many collectors from experiencing the fun of a new Cobra villain.  There are anniversary style convention figures of the character.  But, the lack the charm and subtlety of the original.  Sadly, the days of cheap and available Brazilian figures are behind us.  Two decades ago, I paid $30 for a MOC figure.  At that price, I opened it.  No one would ever do that now due to the value.  But, that keeps some collectors from being able to enjoy the figure as the toy he was meant to be instead of the collectible he has become.

In total, the past 20 years have seen international Joes change from a niche area of collecting into something that pretty much every collector enjoys.  Foreign Joes are so ubiquitous that most people have a few, even if they are just Funskool.  But, seeing modern collectors thinking that all foreign figures have always been hard to find is tough.  There was a time when Brazilian figures like the Patrulha Do Ar figures were available and affordable.  Dealers used to sit on tons of carded Estrela figures that would go unsold for $20 each.  Of course, those are gone, now.  But, old timers remember how much more available figures like this used to be.  They might not have been common.  But, few were worth spending triple digits to acquire.

So, maybe I'll be more prepared next week and have a profile to go.  I have a bunch of them saved for after Labor Day that will take us into the holidays.  Some have tangential relations to the Flying Scorpion, too.  Until then, thanks for stopping by!

Rarities - Unproduced Wal Mart Duke Variant

In 2003, Hasbro confirmed that Wal Mart would be getting an exclusive set of figures.  Originally, they were planned to be "Sky Patrol" figure who would have parachutes.  The figures would have been vintage Joe style.  But, along the way, something happened.  Supposedly, the parachutes didn't pass a safety test.  So, the figures were cancelled and replaced with JvC style figures.

However, Hasbro did produce a small run of the figures that became available to Asian Joe sellers.  The main six figures were widely available.  But, there were also several variants of the figures that were available.  The most egregious is the Duke figure.

The more common figure has Duke's traditional blonde hair.  He also had dark brown pants.  But, there is also a variant available where Duke has brown hair and greener pants.  You can see the alternate figure in the pictures below.  The alternate photo that was common has tan elbows.  But, there are likely figures with the correctly colored arms, too.  In general, the blonde Duke is more desirable just due to the traditional hair color.  But, these days, either figure is a pain to find.

20th Anniversary Key Moments - Escorpiao Voador (Cobra Flying Scorpion)

As 2001 progressed, foreign figures became a bigger part of the site.  But none made such an impression as the Escorpiao Voador figure from Brazil.  In August of 2001, Brazilian figures were mostly unknowns.  Few collectors cared about them and those who did usually ended at the Cobra Invasor or Cobra De Aco.  The later run figures popped up for sale from time to time.  But, they rarely made a splash in the Joe world.  Few collectors really considered loose foreign figures as integral parts of a collection and photos of them out in the wild were simply unheard of.  Slowly, that changed.  And, I like to think I played a part in that transition.

The Flying Scorpion is an interesting concoction.  The legs from Scoop and chest and arms from Recoil work well enough.  The Cesspool head, though, gives the figure a more serious appearance.  Making the character black, though, completely changes the look of the head and makes this figure appear not as a repainted kitbash, but something completely new.  Unfortunately, in hand, you see that the head is a bit large for the body and isn't a perfect fit.  Little quality details like this can gnaw at you for a while.  But, taken as a whole the figure looks like it was created as a single release rather than parts of many others.

And, it was this look that drove me to find this figure.  In the summer of 1994, I sketched out several Cobra characters who would dominate my post vintage Joe world.  As I tracked down the ghosts of the retail line, I was able to apply some of the newly released figures to those characters.  But, the flagship character: the Cobra who would become Commander and lead the organization to great glory, was a character I could not pin to a figure.  None of the releases I was finding were worthy of such a noteworthy part of my Joe lore.  When a collector's offhand comment about this recolored Cesspool head caught my attention, I discovered the figure that would represent the future of my Cobra hierarchy.  Within a few months of searching, I tracked down a MOC figure.  I waited a long month for the Brazilian post office to get the figure to me.  And, upon his receipt, sliced open the bubble and the most important character in my Cobra command structure was finally represented in plastic form.

The Flying Scorpion has yet to disappoint.  Over the years, I've found that he's rarely someone I photograph, though.  This is partially due to the fact that his helmet was deteriorating inside the bubble of the figure I opened only 7 years after his retail release.  It's also due to the fairly brittle nature of the figure.  I'm afraid I'll snap a thumb or crotch should I pose the figure in the wrong manner or try to force an accessory into his hand.  So, he's only appeared in a handful of photo shoots in the site's history.  Despite that, though, the spectre of the figure looms large over the entire site as he remains one my most famous profiles and a figure that remains associated with this site to a great extent.

In the nearly 20 years since I showcased this figure, he's gone from a $30 MOC figure to a $200+ loose figure.  High quality loose samples are few and far between.  Carded samples have gotten even scarcer.  Collectors have made him a staple of their custom efforts.  And, he even appeared in a convention set.  (Though, it was a pretty tame anniversary style figure.)  He remains one of the most popular foreign characters and many people are willing to shell out large sums of money for him due to the uniqueness of the figure and his distinctive appearance within the Cobra ranks.

Though the years, my various sites have seen a fair share of traffic.  I'm never the top Joe site.  And, even in the site's heyday of 150,000+ hits per month, it wasn't close to the top 5.  But, enough people stopped by to reach the various Flying Scorpion profiles that I do take credit for popularizing him (and his companion, the Abutre Negro figure!) in the Joe world.  That's probably quite a bit of hubris talking.  But, the ensuing popularity of this figure is something that I feel responsible for.  Even today, the original Flying Scorpion profile remains one of the most popular posts on the entire site.  The reality is that I was just the first to showcase the figure.  Had I not, someone else would have since the figure is of excellent quality.  But, if the Flying Scorpion is my legacy to the collecting community, I can consider my time here a success.

Rarities - Unproduced Wal Mart Duke

Duke is one of the most iconic characters in the G.I. Joe mythos.  How much of this is due to Hasbro's persistent pushing of him and how much is actual collector appreciation, though, is unknown.  But, since 2002, Hasbro has made it so Duke appeared at retail frequently.  Often, this was to great collector angst and the figures were not all that great.  However, in 2003, Hasbro planned a Duke release that collectors were looking forward to.  A series of ARAH style three packs were given to Wal Mart as an exclusive.  They were going to be Sky Patrol themed and include working parachutes.  The figures appeared at conventions and in Hasbro photography.  However, the parachutes could not pass the safety standards for a retail release.  Instead, Hasbro gave Wal Mart an exclusive set of desert Joes and Urban Cobras.

This Duke is one of my favorite unproduced figures.  It had a decent color scheme and the most common versions featured Duke's blonde hair.  He included an exclusive black helmet, a black version of Beach Head's rifle and a black Snow Serpent backpack.  It was a decent set of gear for a figure of that era.  He has the terrible G.I. Joe logo on his leg, though.  And, that is a big detriment to the figure.  This figure was relatively easy to find for many years and remained relatively cheap.  But, the series has since dried up and has gotten a lot more expensive.  This Duke is the second most popular unproduced Wal Mart figure behind the Hiss Driver.

Aguia Comando - Carded Figure

In Brazil, a small series of Sky Patrol figures were released under the Patrulha Do Ar subset.  The four members of this group were all characters, figure combinations and paint schemes exclusive to Brazil.  Through the years, I've showcased three of the four members of this set.  The final member, Aguia Comando was part of my collection for a long time.  I got a carded version of him back when such things were easy to find and cheap to acquire.  I meant to open him just as I had opened the other members of this set.  But, I never got around to it.  And, the price kept rising.  He, ultimately, became one of the figures I sold in the great purge just because I figured I'd get a loose one someday.
Well, someday still hasn't come.  But, I have the images from when Aguia Comando called my collection home.

Aguia Comando MOC