2022 Stinger Driver

When Hasbro Pulse debuted some plans for a 40th Anniversary Joe line, it was full of possibilities.  Everyone assumed it would start small.  But, success would beget more ambitious products and offerings.  To a degree, that was true.  The Transformers sets were bold and used a lot of development resources to come to fruition.  We got an ambitious Haslab Skystriker.  But, the actual figure offerings were small and had a missing set in their numbering.  (It was cancelled.)  The Joe budget, rightfully, moved away from 3 3/4" figures into the 6" Classified line.  Vintage figure collectors were left with few releases.  Among them was one vehicle and it happened to include its iconic driver.  But, the 2022 Stinger Driver is a figure with limitations, even if he succeeds in being a solid homage.

The Stinger release was weird.  It was announced out of nowhere.  It went on sale shortly after the announcement.  And, it sold out quickly, despite a limit of 2 per customer.  They shipped almost right away.  Hasbro was coy by saying that Pulse would have "limited quantities"...implying that another retailer would pick up the rest of the production run.  But, that didn't happen.  Weeks turned to months and there was no further information as to where the remainder of the Stingers would show up.  Desperate collectors started to overpay.  Slowly, some stock showed up at small, independent European toy sellers.  Either Hasbro's intended retail partner backed out.  Or, Hasbro never had one and the production was underway before they realized that no one was going to buy the Stinger as a retail product.  Even now, four years later, the Stinger remains somewhat expensive and less common to find.  And, we never got an explanation as to what actually happened with the release.

The 1984 Stinger Driver is a repaint of the 1983 Cobra Officer.  And, this 2022 figure follows the same path.  Unfortunately, the 2022 Cobra Officer figure had a design flaw.  His right knee will only partially bend.  It's not a huge issue.  But, for a premium priced release, it's not acceptable.  This design flaw carried over to the Stinger Driver, too.  The leg bends enough that you can get him into his vehicle.  But, it does limit his poseability.  It's unfortunate that Hasbro both didn't catch the design flaw in quality control and that they allowed it to carry over to the Stinger Driver.  

My childhood Stinger Driver was a figure that opened possibilities.  While I used him as a "snow" trooper who manned the second seat in the Wolf, the real value was that he suggested that Cobra Troopers and Officers could exist in any color we wanted.  Sadly, this was never explored in the vintage line outside of the Python Patrol repaints.  In the 2000's, Hasbro brought back the Trooper and Officer molds.  But, again, they didn't offer the panoply of colors.  It took factory custom makers to finally fill the niche of Troopers for every occasion.  And, nearly 20 years later, they're still cranking out classic Trooper repaints in new colors.  It's weird that Hasbro could simply never get themselves to do this.  It was such an easy concept.  But, it was one they could never deliver upon.

As a kid, I enjoyed the Stinger.  But, ours broke relatively quickly.  And, Stingers weren't important to me for many years.  Around 2008 or so, though, I got on a Stinger kick.  I picked up a couple of nice jeeps.  And, I bought an army of drivers.  Having ignored the Stinger for so long lead me to a newfound appreciation for it.  That continues to this day.  So, the chance for a new Stinger wasn't something I was going to pass up.  As soon as the vehicle was announced, I was poised to purchase my allotted two.  I was fortunate in that I was sitting in the waiting room for a Dr. appointment when the sales opened.  So, I was able to get an order placed within an hour of the sales starting.  That proved fortuitous when the Stingers sold out.

The Stingers arrived a couple of weeks later.  In hand, they were...fine.  The quality was a bit soft.  But, overall, they weren't bad.  The achieved the look of the original without deviating in any way: good or bad.  The Stinger Driver figure was pretty much what we expected.  He's a near match for the vintage figure.  The only real difference being the plastic quality and the manner in which this plastic holds the colors.  If you didn't have a Stinger Driver, this was a perfect update.  Even if you did have one (or many) it was nice to get a clean one that won't discolor for a few more years.

It's unfortunate that Hasbro didn't try to set up some sort of boxed army builder release for collectors.  It seems like a missed opportunity.  Hasbro was selling Star Wars army builder packs in plain, black and white boxes.  Taking that idea over to Joe would have been great.  The Pulse two figure packs were heavy on expensive packaging.  Hasbro could have sold a boxed set of 4 army builders for about $15 per figure and done quite well with them.  A set with an Officer, Stinger Driver and two Troopers would have been an attractive product and likely sold through.  Even with army building no longer driving the hobby, collectors would have picked up an extra set or two since the figures were available.  That didn't happen.  And, the are no real avenues to army build the Stinger Driver without paying through the nose for one.  

As with all the Pulse era releases, I'm glad this Stinger Driver exists.  We didn't get a lot.  But, what we did get was safe and solid.  Vintage Stinger Drivers are yellowing and brittle.  Getting a new one was nice.  But, with no way to acquire multiples, the value diminishes.  I like to outfit my Stingers with a crew.  I can't do that with the Pulse figures.  But, that's OK.  Since I have a bunch  of vintage Stinger Drivers, I can use them instead.  The real thing about this figure is that he's pretty much just an update to any vintage release.  There's nothing new about him other than softer plastic.  That's good since we didn't get anything close to a Stinger Driver in the repaint era.  But, really only having an avenue to get one or two of them kind of sucked.  The thing about classic army builders is that you want them in multiples.  Having one is fine for a display.  But, the I'm still a collector of the early 2000's army builder vein.  I don't need 40 of a figure.  But, I'd like a shot at four or five for fair prices.  And, the main reason I don't really use the Pulse era army builders is because I don't have them in multiples.  I just wasn't keep on over paying for packaging that ended up in the recycling bin.  And, I didn't really have a chance at any more than two Stinger Drivers.

Stingers are one of the few (maybe the only!) Pulse era release to appreciate on the secondary market.  Boxed Stingers can be had around $75.  And, they seem to sell at that price.  Loose, mint and complete Stingers and the Driver tend to sell around the same price.  On his own, the Stinger Driver will run you between $25 and $30. That's a lot.  You're way better off buying up a boxed jeep to have the full set.  In a different world I'd have tried to army build this Stinger Driver.  The grey has always compelled me.  But, the wonky eyes, partially moving leg and lack of weapons has left me just focusing on vintage Stinger Drivers should I want an army.

2022 Stinger - Quick Hit

I don't really have the chutzpah to do a full profile on this Stinger release.  But, I thought I'd drop a quick hit that shows the packaging, contents and finished product from this new release.

In short, this Stinger is fine.  The colors are cool.  The sculpting is fine.  But, the plastic is incredibly soft.  As a toy, this thing would not hold up.  I nearly broke the steering wheel trying to get it into the slot on the dashboard.  The doors are very soft and are going to rip if they are taken on and off too many times.  As a display thing on a shelf, it won't be an issue.  But, this won't hold up to play.  And, I suspect the soft plastic will age poorly and lead to brittle doors just like the Sears Dreadnok Stinger from the '80's.

You'll note that the Stinger features reduced plastic packaging.  It worked just fine and isn't really an issue.  It was nice to have to toss all those plastic baggies that used to be in the box.  Speaking of the box, you'll note that they used the photography and artwork from the 1984 Stinger.  The jeep on the back is the 1984 version and the figure that appears is the 1984 Stinger Driver.  They didn't even update the photography for the toy that was actually produced.  This is odd as the Hasbro Star Wars team has said they can't create box photography using figures that are either not currently shipping or have shipped in the recent past.  I guess that didn't come over to the Joe team, though.

For $25, this thing would be OK.  At $40 shipped, that's a lot.  I have a feeling we're going to have a chance at some cheaper options for this guy in coming weeks.  But, we'll see where the remaining stock ends up.  Despite my blase feelings about this release, I'd buy at least one more if I found them at a discount retailers.  Maybe even 2 if the price was right.  So, I'm the real sucker in this deal.

June 22, 2022 - Hasbro Pulse Reveal (Cobra Stinger)

On 6/22/22, we got a couple of new product reveals.  The main one of interest is a new Cobra Stinger.  I know I'm late on a write up for this.  But, I had a bunch of new posts with set publication dates in June.  So, this is two weeks late in appearing.  The main reason I do this, though, is because one of my great regrets is not better documenting the Joe releases of the early 2000's.  Now, most of the info regarding case ratios, release dates and clearance pricing has been lost to long extinct forums.  At some point, the Pulse info will be gone, too.  So, I want to commemorate it so that I have some real time info to refer back to when I profile the 2022 Stinger Driver in 2039.

This new Stinger features some different color shades and a new driver based on the recently released 2022 Cobra Officer.  It will come in a vintage inspired box and not have the driver be a carded figure like we've seen with the Transformers releases.  The price point is $33.99.  After taxes and shipping, two of them will run you a little over $80 in the U.S.  We'll talk about pricing more later, though.  On to the vehicle itself.

You will note that this Stinger features a few changes from the vintage release.  Most notably, the grey highlights are lighter and more pronounced.  You also see a black brush guard instead of the vintage grey.  Both of these are fine changes to bring some diversity to a Stinger convoy without losing the overal aesthetic.  I would have very much liked Hasbro to have updated the missiles to match the two tone versions shown in the artwork.  Sure, you can update the Stinger with the missiles from a Pac Rat.  But, this would have been an easy update to really make this release stand out.

The other notable point is that the Driver has wonky eyes.  Now, this Driver is the same mold and paint masks as the just released Cobra Officer.  And, the Officer figures had fine eyes.  So, I expect this to be corrected upon release.  However, the Officer does have bad knee joints that are too large to allow for a full range of motion.  Again, I expect this to be corrected on the Stinger Driver.  Though, I'm not convinced it will happen.

The new box back gave me a good laugh.  It does not actually feature the new Stinger or its new driver.  Instead, the picture on the back features a vintage Stinger with vintage Driver.  It's odd for sure since the two are so visually different.  I assume it was because the box back photography was already done ahead of the prototypes being available.  So, they went with it.  But, it's weird and reminds of the 1997 Rage box that features a hand painted 1989 Alley Viper done by a collector instead of the figure actually included in the box.

I was surprised that this vehicle was only $33.99.  I figured that Hasbro would have tried $40 or more.  But, at the same time, a re-released vehicle with a more expensive figure type was released at retail in 2020 and 2021 for $24.99.  So, this is a $9 increase in under a year for, essentially, the same product.  After the sticker shock on the Transformers vehicles and figures, though, this Stinger seemed like a bargain.  That's not great.  It will be interesting to see how this sells in coming weeks.  As original Stingers have now gotten stupidly expensive while also turning brittle, the Stinger is a welcome addition to the Pulse line.  And, I'm really glad it wasn't a Hiss Tank or FANG this time around.

After just 1 day, the Stinger sold out.  This is odd as no o-ring items have ever sold out beyond Snake Eyes and Stormshadow being out before coming back into stock and then put on sale since so many are left.  Hasbro mentioned limited quantities of them would be available on Pulse.  So, it's pretty likely that this Stinger will show up at another retail partner at some point later in the year.  I wouldn't panic if you missed it...yet.  

1984 Stinger - Around The Web

The Stinger is the second highest profile Cobra land vehicle behind the Hiss Tank.  As a kid, though, I wasn't overly partial to it since it was kind of fragile and, once the missiles were gone, also rather defenseless.  And, standing two figures right in the missile exhaust was dumb even in 1984.  But, it looks cool and is more useful now, from a collecting perspective.  Here's the best of the Cobra Stinger jeep from around the web.

1984 Stinger Profile

Stinger by strikeforcecodename

1984 Stinger Video Review by HCC788

Stinger by JoeADay.com

Stinger by joe_hunter73

Stinger by _toyler_

Stinger at 3DJoes.com

1984 Stinger Driver

I've already profiled the basic blue Cobra trooper when I showcased the Viper Pilot. Since most collectors use Stinger Drivers as just another branch of the Cobra Officers (as that was all their filecard was!), you can see why this guy rarely gets any due. He is a figure for me, though, that has proven important for many years and one that, more recently, has become a larger part of my standard Cobra army.

I've never really liked the Stinger jeep. I liked the original VAMP, but hated the VAMP Mark II. The reason is simple, the doors and roof, while greatly adding to the aesthetics of the vehicle, greatly reduce its play value. On top of that, the Stinger only had a missile launcher. I wanted a jeep with a gun. For me, the missile launchers were mundane and boring. The primary reason the Wolf is so superior to the Snow Cat is simply because of the swivel machine gun it has located on the main body. It makes such a better weapon that I can hardly use the Snow Cat as comparison. That being said, the Stinger Driver quickly found himself in capacities beyond his original intentions.

The Stinger Driver, I think, was designed with the intention of him being a night force version of the Cobra Officer. As such, he was cast in a pale, grey color. This color, though, worked perfectly for all sorts of other specialties. Originally, the Stinger Driver was my Cobra Arctic trooper. When the Snow Serpent was release in 1985, though, he took over the Stinger Driver's functions there. However, at some point during my childhood, I made the connection that the hierarchy in Cobra went Crimson Guard - Eel - Snow Serpent. (I now know different, but had lots of fun as a child following this advancement scheme.) As such, the Snow Serpents were the creme-de-la-creme of the Cobra forces. They could not be stopped. The only way for the Joes to have a chance against any Cobra Arctic forces was for me to reintroduce the Stinger Driver as basic Cobra Arctic troops. I originally gave them white AK-47's from an accessory kit and had them serve under the tutelage of a more experienced Snow Serpent. Slowly, though, their usage slightly morphed. Then, for years, he was the gunner for the aforementioned Wolf. In the Arctic realm, this guy was an excellent crossover figure. It was in this capacity that the Stinger Driver stayed until just recently.

The past year has seen me greatly grow my Cobra armor ranks. I've doubled the amount of Hiss tanks in as well as added a couple of new Stingers to my collection. As these vehicles have been assimilated, I've had to search out proper drivers for them. As I've said many times, I like uniformity in my vehicle driver ranks. I have the Motor Viper drive all my Hiss tanks (I still don't like the original Hiss Driver.), the Ice Viper man all positions in my Wolves, and I finally decided to have Stinger Drivers operate all my Stingers and Rattler 4-WD jeeps. While I wish I could have found some other figure for this duty, none fit into the jeep in the same manner as its intended driver. Now, though, the jeeps and drivers are rightfully reunited. I must admit, that I now enjoy having these figures in the jeeps. They do look nice and add a nice touch to any diorama with a Cobra mechanized unit.

1984 was an odd year in terms of vehicle drivers. Both the Stinger and VAMP Mark II featured exclusive drivers who were nothing more than repaints of previously released figures. These were in stark contrast to the multitude of exclusive drivers from 1984 who were all new molds. It seems that the Stinger and VAMP might have been vehicles that were mostly profit for Hasbro. They featured the modified body of a vehicle that sold very well in the first two years of the line and figures whose molds were likely already paid for as well. Perhaps it was the inclusion of these vehicles in the line that allowed Hasbro to take a chance on a larger item like the Whale or Rattler since they knew they would make money on these jeeps.

Stinger Drivers aren't too tough to find these days. They were offered in a very popular and cheaply priced vehicle during Joe's peak years. Also, he was offered as a mail in figure for many more. Therefore, he exists in abundant quantities today. However, this figure is prone to discoloration. There are many Stinger Drivers out there that may otherwise be perfect, but they suffer from severe discoloration that rivals even the worst Storm Shadows and Snow Jobs. Also, Stinger Drivers are subject to a rather strange phenomenon. It seems that their hands are prone to breaking off. Now, I'm not talking about a broken thumb, or broken figures.
I'm talking about the hand just coming clean off at the wrist. I've got one that had this happen to him and many other collectors report the same thing. It doesn't seem to be a problem with most other figures, but the Stinger Driver is just prone to this kind of breakage. Taking all that into consideration, though, still leaves you with a cheap figure. He didn't have any accessories to lose, and most people consider him to be a lesser version of the highly sought Cobra Officer. Still, though, he is a Cobra trooper and many people like to have more than a couple of Stinger jeeps. All said, though, you can pick up a mint specimen for under $12.00. I don't think it too bad a price for this figure. He is definitely a nice addition to any Cobra army and is a figure well worth another look.

I'll take a couple of extra Stinger Drivers. If you want to get rid of them cheap, email me.