1994 Star Brigade - Carded Set

In the second half of 1998, I really started to look to G.I. Joe collecting as my hobby of choice.  I had dabbled a bit in a Joe resurgence for a while.  But, the retail stream of new Star Wars figures consumed not only most of my money, but also my time.  However, by the summer of 1998, the Star Wars market was over-saturated.  The huge volume of shipments and new waves that included carry over figures from earlier releases had caused a pegwarming backup that was unprecedented.  While the early part of 1998 had been a great time of constant new figures and refreshed army builders, Hasbro had made too much and the waves planned for later in the year could not get out to retail.  This resulted in a some waves being cancelled, others only showing up in obscure retailers and the complete reboot of the line in early 1999.  To me, though, the retail frustration of Star Wars, coupled with my first major promotion in my adult career lead me down another path along which I could spend my money.  All of this, of course, coincided with the emergence of Ebay as a means to purchase items that were not available from local toy dealers or second hand shops.  As I shifted my collecting priorities, I first focused on a few items from the Joe line that I had long wanted.  Among them were a Hammer, the 1989 Rock and Roll and, at least one Lunartix Alien.

In 1998, the alien figures, MOC, fetched about $15 on the secondary market.  This seems low, but was a princely sum back then.  You could get lesser character 1985 figures MOC for that price at the time.  So, it was a large purchase when I bit the bullet and got a Lobotomaxx figure.  When he arrived, I realized how cool the overall card presentation was.  I liked the colors and look of Star Brigade.  And, I had a connection to the 1993 series that I had found at KB Toys liquidation stores a few years prior.  As I surveyed the other 1994 Star Brigade offerings, I was enthralled by the designs and colors.  At the time, the figures were relatively hard to find, especially if you wanted them loose.  However, you could find them carded: and they were cheap when you did.  So, I put together my first complete series of carded figures: the 1994 Star Brigade.

The '94 Star Brigade line was divided into two distinct series.  The first wave consisted of Cobra Commander, Cobra Blackstar, Sci Fi, Payload, Space Shot, Duke and Roadblock.  The second wave contained Ozone, Countdown, Effects, Lobotomaxx, Predacon and Carcass.  This left an unlucky 13 figures in the retail, single carded line.  But, the overall presentation remained.  Gone were the generic pink cards from 1993 and in was a visual delight of black, blue and purple with a clean G.I. Joe logo running up the card's left edge, culminating in a bright Star Brigade logo at the card's top.  Each character got his own, unique card art along with a yellow "gimmick" tag that touted some feature of each figure.  In short, they were a crisp, clean look for the last unique retail wave of figures to hit stores.

Wave 1 showcased Hasbro's commitment to the line.  5 of the 7 figures featured either mostly new parts, or all new parts.  On top of this, the characters all included a wide array of feature rich accessories that were essential for retail success at the time.  Hasbro did skimp on the overall paint applications, though.  Most of the figures only have three or four minor paint masks.  And, Duke and the variant Roadblock only featured one paint mask on their entire body.  This Roadblock and the Payload figure were repaints of Star Brigade molds that had been released in 1993.  Which, in turn, were mostly repaints of prior years' retail release figures.  So, the line spent money wisely in terms of bringing something new to the market.

1994 Star Brigade Wave 1: Duke, Sci Fi, Space Shot and Cobra Commander

1994 Star Brigade Space Shot

The 1994 Star Brigade series was one of the last items produced by Hasbro for the vintage Joe run. Like most of the subsets in the line's final years, it was a mix of existing molds and some newly scupted parts that were often paired with some pre-existing parts as well. It was all part of a drastic, but unsuccessful, cost cutting move that was intended to save the Joe line from cancellation. Despite the imposition of these mandates, Hasbro still managed to put a strong group of figures througout 1994. The regular Battle Corps line was a solid mix of military colors and neon brightness. Star Brigade was much the same. The 1994 series was a substantial upgrade from the 1993 group, even if all of the 1993 Joes made a return appearance, but with better paint applications, in 1994. Among the newly introduced figures in the Star Brigade line was the Joe's new pilot: Space Shot.

Spaceshot's overall look is more futuristic commercial airline pilot and less astronaut. The spacesuit is surprisingly formal with the buttoned tunic. The red, white and blue motif is subtly patriotic and is an exact match for the more common 1994 Payload figure. With the helmet on, I still see Space Shot as more of a terrestrially based pilot who would be a good fit for the Skystriker...if only his sculpt weren't so bulky and he actually fit into the iconic plane's cockpit.

Spaceshot's helmet is very reminiscent of the Egyptian inspired helmets from the original Battlestar Galactica franchise. In some ways, this is good as it gives the figure sci fi roots. In other ways, it is very derivative of existing work and makes the figure less original. Whichever stance you take on the helmet's appearance, though, everyone will admit that the helmet is the hallmark of the figure. Unfortunately, it has an open face. It's likely that a clear plastic visor inside the helmet would have been too expensive for a newly sculpted 1994 release. But, it would have made a world of difference with the figure.

In the late 1990's, I was on a mission to own every single 1994 Star Brigade figure both loose and carded. Back then, the figures were fairly hard to find carded and, basically, impossible to find loose. The upside, though, was that they were dirt cheap since collectors had largely written the entire series off as too "neon". Within a few months, I completed my goal with one exception. I never got around to finding a carded 1994 Space Shot. This is surprising when you consider that I had duplicates of most of the harder figures to find in the series and, in some cases, as many as three or four carded versions of specific figures. Space Shot, though, eluded me. I didn't realize I was missing him of course, until I did an inventory and realized that he was the one carded figure missing from my 1994 Star Brigade collection. I figured it wouldn't be difficult or expensive to fill the gap.

But, I quickly learned how wrong I was! It seems Space Shot has taken on something of a aftermarket popularity boom. Loose and carded figures are extremely scarce. Open auctions on carded figures can go as high as $60 with loose, mint and complete figures selling for $30. The upside is that there are still some old time dealers who don't really realize that some of the late run Joe items have become more than the bargain basement pegwarming fodder they were a decade and a half ago. And, from time to time, you see a carded Space Shot sold with a buy it now price of $12 to $20. Until I get lucky on one of those, though, Space Shot will remain the gap in my otherwise complete carded 1994 Star Brigade collection.