Rarities - Unproduced Alternate Head 1983 Zap

One of the great laments among collectors is that the heads from the original 13 Joes were too repetitive and did not match the look of the characters from the comic.  In the Marvel series, each character had some distinctive look that allowed the reader to differentiate the characters when they appeared on the printed page.  But, the actual action figures reused parts and Hawk, Short Fuse, Steeler and Flash used the same head, Breaker, Rock and Roll and Clutch used the same head and Zap, Grunt and Grand Slam also used the same head.  Hasbro did their best to differentiate the characters by using different paint colors on the hair.  But, in the end, the figures had a sameness that simply was inferior to their comic book appearance.

It seems, though, that Hasbro had a plan to rectify this in 1983.  Originally, Hasbro planned to release a few of the swivel arm versions of the original 13 Joes with newly updated heads.  These would be unique to the figures and give the full line of 9 carded Joes all with distinct heads.  The heads got so far into the process of design that full production loose figures and even carded samples exist.  For some reason, though, Hasbro abandoned the idea.  And, the swivel arm figures kept the heads from their straight arm debut.  

Zap was one of the figures who was intended to get a new head.  Instead of the experienced Grunt head, he got a younger look that was given a Zorro mustache to give Zap real panache.  You can see the head in the photos below.

As a modern collector who was introduced to the concept of alternate heads as an adult, I don't find them all that interesting.  I think the alternate head loses something for the character.  But, a big part of that is that I'm conditioned to think of the original 13 as parts-sharing cohesion.  And, my only exposure to the alternate head is online photos.  They look weird to me because I had spent over 30 years "knowing" what a Zap figure looked like.  Once you get past that bias, you can see that the heads have merit.  While this Zap head isn't perfect.  It's an  upgrade over the repainted, grumpy old man head that he shared with Grunt and Grand Slam.  

The reality is, as a kid, the new head would have been enough for me to want the figure again.  I'd have noticed the difference and annoyingly explained to my mom that the figures were different and I needed another Zap.  So, the ploy would have worked.  (And, we had very few swivel arm versions of original 13 characters.)  I'm not sure if it would have scaled to masses of other kids.  But, the sheer volume of Joe toys sold really make you wonder why these heads weren't used.  

Hasbro spent all the money to develop them and get them to full production status.  These aren't hand painted samples.  So, all the expense had been absorbed by the line.  And, some 1983 figures were still in production as late as 1985.  Hasbro could easily have sold them in high enough volume to recoup the costs.  Imagine the "Original Adventure Team" mail away.  I ignored it as it was figures I already had.  But, think about it with a marketing caption of "All new heads!".  I'd have saved up my money and sent away for it.  Just think if the Palitoy, Takara or, even Funskool versions of these figures had featured the alternate heads.  Hasbro had plenty of opportunity to recoup the costs.  Maybe the logistics were just too much to match up the new heads with the pre-existing bodies.  But, it seems that these heads not seeing full production runs was a matter of choice rather than opportunity.

_____Update_____

Some good info on one of the comments that indicates these were planned for a 1984 release.  The card forts (specifically on the swivel arm battle grip logo) indicate the cards were 1984's.  Which, really raises the possibility that, had these been released, it would have been a shorter 1984 run and swivel arm figures would exist with both heads.  That does, though, cement the fact that, had these been released, they'd command a premium over the original head.

Since this figure's original discovery, many more have surfaced.  There are loose and carded versions out there.  Like most rarities, once one of them is finally revealed, many others come out of the woodwork.  It's like people keep  them hidden to prevent anyone from knowing about the item.  But, once it gets out, everyone pulls theirs out of hiding so they can get the street cred of owing the rare piece.  It's dumb.  But, that's how the Joe world has always worked.

Seeing items like this makes me think of how the Joe world would have changed had these been released.  For many of the earliest years, collectors often considered straight arms and swivel arms of the original 13 interchangeable.  Had these heads been used, that would not have been the case.  Would it have made the original heads or the new heads the more desirable piece?  I suspect the new heads would have made many of the swivel arm figures more desirable for kids.  Which would have translated to greater collector interest as they became adults.

Since many of the original 13 swivel arm figures are already expensive, I don't know if having new heads would have driven the prices higher.  It would have, though, lead to thousands of ancient message board posts from someone who had a "rare variant" of a swivel Zap with the straight arm head.  Those would have been insufferable.  But, the heads would have been a net positive for the line.  It's a shame they didn't happen and no one's gotten the full story as to why they were abandoned when they were so close to production.

Rarities - Unproduced 1988 Tiger Force Figures

Since the early days of online collecting, we've known that the Tiger Force team underwent drastic changes between the time of it's retail solicitation and actual production.  Tiger Force Ripcord was a staple of late 1990's and early 2000's customizers.  And, even Hasbro got in on the action when  they released a Wreckage figure in 2003 that was an homage to the unproduced Sabretooth.

The reasons for some of the changes are almost certainly just a function of available molds.  Ripcord and Recondo were both in production in South America around 1988.  So, it's unlikely that Hasbro had the parts to make them.  Recondo ended up being produced by Estrela simply because he and the Tiger Fly mold were both in Brazil at the time.  

We'll start with the original concept for the single carded figure team.

Only three of the six figures shown ended up being released in the production set.  (Dusty, Lifeline and Duke)  The retail set would end up including 7 figures.  Instead of Sabretooth, Recondo and Ripcord, the set included Tripwire, Roadblock, Flint and Bazooka.  The Toy Fair solicitation explicitly mentions it's a 6-man squad.  So, the change to a 7 figure team is odd.  Especially since 7 would not divide equally into a case assortment.  I can't find details on how the actual Tiger Force figure cases broke down.  But, a figure (or figures!) were either overpacked or shortpacked in order to fit the 7 man team into a case.

Another interesting aspect is the gear shown with the figures.  Since the figures are hand painted mock ups, the gear is all from original figures.  Duke's is correct.  But, everyone else is holding some gear from one of the other figures in the set.  This is likely just a photographer either having fun or simply not knowing which gear went with whom and doing their best to match it up.  The oddballs, though, are Dusty & Ripcord.  Ripcord is holding Frostbite's rifle.  While Frostbite did end up in Tiger Force, he wasn't shown (nor was the Tiger Cat) in this Toy Fair catalog.  For some reason, Dusty is using Falcon's gear.  Falcon never appeared in Tiger Force and wasn't part of these designs.  So, how his gear ended up in the photo is anyone's guess.

In looking at the figures, themselves, Duke, Lifeline and Dusty ended with production figures that are starkly close to these early mock ups.  I'll argue that the production Tiger Force Recondo is better than this planned carded release with the brown shirt.  Sabretooth and Ripcord are the two, though, that are most interesting to me.  

First is just the fact that both are solid paint jobs.  Sabretooth is remarkably detailed.  And, the colors used on him are rich and vibrant.  You realize what a pale imitation Wreckage actually was when you see this mock up in better detail.  I can't help but wonder how fans would view Sabretooth had he been released.  While we associate that mold only with Firefly today, that is largely a function of the fact that Hasbro released it as Firefly at least 8 times in the repaint era.  Had Sabretooth been released, an entire generation of Joe fans who came of age in the late 1980's would only associate that mold with Sabretooth.  

Ripcord features a rich brown lower body and what appears to be an olive upper body.  His helmet features the paint job that was, eventually, used on the Tiger Force Roadblock helmet.  Had this Ripcord been released, it would be interesting to see which was preferred among collectors.  While the original Ripcord is an iconic look, this Tiger Force version was less Tiger Force and more just an alternate look for the character that used more color.  I'm not sure which would be my preferred look for the character.  But, there's no doubt this Tiger Force version would have been well loved by collectors.  It's a shame Hasbro wasn't able to get a version of him into the Pulse assortment since they had already recast the Ripcord mold.

There's another fun little appearance on the photo for the Tiger Shark.  While the Dusty figure appears in the turret, you'll see what appears to be a yellow painted Torpedo driving the vehicle.  This is the figure's only appearance.  The catalog is clear that "Figure sold separately."  So, there's barely even a reference to the figure's existence in his own time.  It's doubtful Torpedo made it this far in the process for Tiger Force.  But, it's possible that the Tiger Shark was, in its infancy, planned to include a figure just like the Water Moccasin from four years prior.  The appearance is one of those oddball cameos that would occur more frequently in later toy commercials but was very rare in pre-production solicitation and marketing material.

Here's a different angle of the original Recondo.  Flint ended up getting a color scheme that was reminiscent of this Recondo.  Though, the Flint uses a darker brown and a lighter green for his torso and legs, respectively.  I still prefer the production Recondo to this version.  But, the brown would have been an interesting take on a desert Recondo.  So, I wouldn't have hated this version had it come to be.

Next up is the Tiger Rat.  You can kind of see the figure that would become Skystriker in the cockpit.  It's notable that the accompanying text to the Tiger Rat says that it includes the pilot "Thunder".  Skystriker would use the Thunder head, helmet and headgear.  So, the original intent, at least, was not to create a new character for the Tiger Rat.

Lastly, we have the Tiger Fly.  Here, you can see the unproduced Tiger Force Wild Bill.  Wild Bill's omission is a function  of reverse mold availability.  While Ripcord was stuck in Brazil and couldn't be added to the carded assortment cases, Wild Bill was likely in Asia, unable to be packaged with the Brazilian made Tiger Fly.  So, the logistics dictated that Recondo become the Tiger Fly pilot.  (I guess both he and Wild Bill have mustaches and wear hats....)  The original color scheme for Recondo was changed to match up the color scheme that was planned for this Wild Bill.  

Aside from all the changes to this set and the various fun it's sparked from all the unproduced elements of it, Tiger Force also caused a fundamental change in how Joes were made in Brazil.  As my friend Attica Gazette points out, prior to the release of the Tiger Force Recondo, all the figures made in Brazil featured a more sunburnt skin tone.  It's a hallmark of the early Estrela line and makes the figures recognizable.  However, after Estrela had to make a Recondo with a skin tone that matched that of the other figures in the Tiger Force set, all of their subsequent figures used the skin tone that was more in line with Hasbro's colors.  It sucked one of the unique elements of the Estrela line away.  We don't know if Hasbro mandated this change on all new figures going forward.  Or, if Estrela simply went with it because the color was now readily available.  Regardless, that's one of the unintended legacies of Tiger Force.

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.

Rarities - Alternate Weapon Schematics for 1994 Star Brigade Predacon

It's tough to say that Predacon is most distinctive of the 1994 Lunartix Aliens.  But, his figures do tend to be the most popular.  It's likely because he's the closest to a standard Joe.  And, he's easier to play with and pose than either Carcass or Lobotomaxx.  Predacon's calling card is his four arms.  To outfit him, Hasbro included a standard weapon tree with four weapons so that Predacon had a gun for each hand.  The tree had debuted in 1993 with Col. Courage.  It featured a 1987 Tunnel Rat rifle, a 1990 Sky Patrol Airborne rifle, 1987 Blaster's "pistol" and the smaller, ubiquitous pistol that had debuted with the 1988 Shockwave figure.  As weapon trees go, it's one of the best ones.  And, with Predacon, it was only used three times: two of them with short run figures.  (Predacon and the 1993 Dino Hunters Ambush.)

However, according to Hasbro documentation, Predacon was originally intended to include a different array of weapons.  And, in these cases, the weapons were not ones that had previously appeared on standard weapons trees.

The first weapon listed is the Skycreeper pistol.  This isn't a weapon you see all that often.  And, it has a very science fiction look.  

I've always felt that the Super Sonic Fighters Road Pig included great weapons.  They are a bit offbeat.  But, they work in a lot of contexts.  And, had they existed in a color outside of bright orange, they'd have been a lot more popular.  But, early customizers both ignored brightly colored weapons and didn't tend to have access to some of the 1990's weapons molds.  Seeing one as a possibility for Predacon is interesting as it would have opened up the weapon to more exposure.  And, it might be more popular today had that happened.

The next weapon is listed as being from Pysche Out.  But, it was actually used for the 1992 Talking Battle Commander Cobra Commander figure.  It is a terrible accessory.  It's not worse than some of the other molds used on '90's weapon trees.  But, it's not good and would have been a lackluster inclusion.  Though, it does fit the aesthetic of the other weapons that were being considered.

We don't know if these weapons were originally intended to be part of a weapon tree.  Or, if they would have been individually packaged like we later saw with Street Fighter Movie and Mortal Kombat figures.  The line was over by the time the Lunartix got to retail.  And, they were likely victims of cost cutting as production numbers were lowered.  

Had Predacon included these accessories, they would have felt more "his" than the generic tree he ended up with.  These weapons were more obscure, all only being included his higher price point, specialty figures.  So, they would have felt more unique.  Really, it's a shame they weren't released with the figure.  Though, had they been, they'd be among the more expensive gear from the '90's.

Rarities - Pre-Production T'Gin Zu

The 1993 vehicle assortment wasn't much.  Most of the entries were pretty bad.  And, the Ninja Force vehicles were among the worst.  As such, the drivers of those vehicles, T'Gin Zu and the Red Ninja are relatively hard to come by.  Few people collect them in earnest, though.  So, their scarcity is largely offset by lack of demand.

It is that disinterest in the figures that allows for oddities like the original paint job on T'Gin-Zu to slip by collector's eyes.  And, the fact that it's prominently displayed on the back of the 1993 Pile Driver box just shows how little of an impact a figure like T'Gin-Zu has on the collector zeitgeist.

Below, though, you see T'Gin-Zu's original paint job.  It is much more orange than the production figure.  It appears to be a straight re-use of the 1992 Stormshadow paint masks, just in orange in yellow.  And, frankly, it makes for a better figure.  This all orange version would have leaned into the neon-ness of the '90's and created a figure that would have found at least a few fans among the more accepting collectors who grew up in the '90's.  Instead, Hasbro kind of chickened out and gave us a more muted T'Gin-Zu offering.

As a bonus, the pre-production figure also appeared in the 1993 Toy Fair catalog.  The more you look at it, the more you realize it's a shame we didn't get this coloring.  The production T'Gin Zu isn't a figure anyone really prioritizes.  So, having him be even more outlandish would have made him more fun.  Maybe we'll get a factory custom that's like this.  It's out best hope for ever seeing an homage to this unproduced design.

Rarities - 2004 Comic Pack Cobra Trooper (Alternate Head)

In 2004, Hasbro resculpted a Cobra Trooper.  4 of them were then released as part of a Toys R Us 6 figure pack.  For $20, you got an army in a box.  Later in the year, Hasbro announced a new product: Comic Book packs.  For $10, you'd get three classic Joe figures and a reprinted issue of the Marvel Comic.  It was a novel idea and made for great products.  When the first images of the figures dropped, collectors were ecstatic.  Most of the designs looked like renditions of the characters they had always wanted.  Sadly, the Comic Packs were not a retail success.  Part of that was too much repetition in the early packs.  The other was collector malaise was setting in after a solid three year of brand growth.  

Lost in the details of the actual figures, though, was that the Cobra Trooper from the first Comic Pack had changed.  The pre-production images had shown the Trooper using the mold from the Toys R Us pack.  It made sense as Hasbro had spent the money to resculpt the new figure.  But, upon release, the actual figure brought back the classic chest and head from the original, 1983 Cobra Trooper.

Supposedly, Hasbro had found the mold for the original Cobra Trooper and Officer.  They were a bit sketchy on the details.  But, we now had the original head back after more than 20 years.  The story went that the TRU mold wasn't in the same factory as the Cobra Commander and Baroness molds.  But, there were many stories that Hasbro never verified or denied.  The end result, though, was a new parts combination for the Cobra Trooper that hadn't been released before and would return in the 2005 Night Watch set, too.  The 2004 Cobra Trooper and Officer parts combo would never appear again.  An odd fate for what was Hasbro's most successful Toys R Us exclusive set.

Personally, I never cared for this Comic Pack Trooper.  While the colors weren't terrible, his accessories were.  And, I have never liked Cobra Troopers with bare hands.  The Comic Pack Cobra Officer, who uses the same color scheme as this Trooper, is one of my favorite army builders of that era.  The difference being and appropriate rifle and gloved hands.  Little details go a long way.  The promo photo also shows two weapons that didn't end up being included with the pack: the 2 1992 Shockwave rifles posed with the Baroness and Trooper.  The production Baroness also included a knife that's not shown in the promo photo.

I do think the TRU Trooper mold was better than the mold used for the production Trooper.  The smooth arms and large waist didn't do the figure any favors.  The TRU Trooper used bulkier Thunder arms and a waist that was designed for the figure's legs.  In this case, the pre-production mold would have been better.  I'm not sure I'd still have any of them.  But, it would have been a better figure than the original mold based figure.

Rarities - Unproduced 1997 Stars & Stripes Set

The 1997 Toys R Us G.I. Joe releases were a mess.  The extent to which they were botched is really difficult to comprehend.  Hasbro's plans for the line were both drastically different and more grandiose than what actually transpired.  But, all the signs of a looming iceberg were there.  And, it's never more evident than with the early images of what Hasbro intended for the Stars and Stripes set.

The Stars and Stripes set was supposed to be the flagship product in Joe's triumphant return to retail.  It was going to include 8 of the original 9 carded figures that had started the line just 15 years prior.  (Fun fact.  There's been almost twice as much time that's passed since the release of this set in 1997 as had passed between the Joe line's debut in 1982 and this set's production in 1997!)  The plan was to use all original molds of the figures.  But, to repaint them into a more "modern" interpretation.  Some of this was a response to the collectors of the day who claimed they wanted "gritty and realistic" figures.  But, really, it was a way for Hasbro to massively update the looks of the original Joes.

The idea was sound.  But, the execution was, well, a problem.  All of the Hasbro Joe team from the vintage days had been let go by Hasbro in 1994.  And, the brand had been taken over by former Kenner employees who had been placed in charge of the action figure division.  Their lack of experience with the Joe brand lead to a comedy of errors that just multiplied as the product got closer to production.  But, we'll start with the basics.

Below you will see two images of the original plans for the Stars & Stripes set.  You'll see some figures that look familiar to their production designs as well as some molds that were missing from the production set.  .  

The first image is the image that is actually on the back of the production Stars & Stripes box.  It is incredibly different from the figures inside the window when you turned the box over.  As someone whose first exposure to this product was when they found it on a Toys R Us shelf in 1997, this was weirdly confusing.  The two figures using the 1986 Hawk head (Breaker and Rock and Roll) were obviously out of place in the set.  Not only were they nothing like their vintage counterparts, they didn't fit the aesthetic of the set, at all.  Also missing from the set was Flash.  You can argue that Flash is the most interesting figure from the initial lineup of retail figures.  He was gone.  And, in  his stead, was a figure not shown on the box-back: Grunt.

The choice to originally exclude Grunt is a weird one.  While I'm not a Grunt fan, Grunt was the face of the Joe line for the first couple of years.  If you mention G.I. Joe to a non-fan who grew up in the early '80's, it's pretty likely that their first association with the name is Grunt's cardback image.  It was the brand's calling card.  There's no indication of why Grunt was the original odd man out in the set.  But, his inclusion was a far better choice than adding a 3rd oddball 1986 Hawk/Roadblock mashup repaint to the set.

Aside from the mold fiasco, just looking at this set, you see some other glaring issues that should have been above Hasbro in 1997.  The second photo below is from a 1997 Tomart's magazine where they announced G.I. Joe's return to retail.  It appears to be a different photo shoot of the Stars & Stripes set with a few, key differences from the production box back.  But, many of the figures are the same, too.  We'll go through each figure one by one and review all the chaos that's going on.

Scarlett

Scarlett is the least interesting figure in these images.  This is because she's pretty close to the production figure actually released in 1997.  The purple is more muted and darker.  And, her jumpsuit is more brown.  But, you see all the painted details on her mold.  She is still a repainted 1983 figure in this shot.  But, she's pretty close to the figure in the box.  

Breaker

Here, we have our first major deviation.  The Breaker in both photos isn't the classic figure.  But, it's a close-enough amalgamation.  The figure in both photos uses Clutch's head.  This is close as he and Breaker share the same head in 1982/1983.  But, the black hair makes it Clutch rather than Breaker.  The figure features a tan shirt.  This would have been a great addition to the set.  Adding a 3rd tan Joe to the original 13 would have been a nice homage to Clutch and Grunt.  The darker green pants offset him, nicely, too.  This color scheme would appear on some later figures and in factory customs.  Just on not on this parts configuration.  Breaker's gear shows his iconic headset.  But, for some reason, he doesn't have a helmet.  It's a terrible, aesthetic choice as it makes the figure look incomplete.  The production figure, that used 1986 Hawk and Roadblock parts, did include a helmet.  But, it didn't include the headset.  On top of that, this photographed figure includes Airborne's rifle while the production figure ended up including accessories from the 1982/83 Flash.

Short Fuse

Short Fuse is weird.  The figure in both photos actually features Grunt's torso instead of the classic Short Fuse design.  He has no cammo on his chest.  But, his legs are done in an intricate pattern.  The colors on his legs are very close to the production paint job that ended up on Stalker.  The production Short Fuse used the correct chest for the figure.  And, he didn't have any cammo pattern on him aside from a slight spray on his legs.  You'll note the figure used for the sample is a repainted straight arm Short Fuse.  The Tomart's photo features him wearing a 1985 Lady Jaye backpack.  While the box back shows him with the correct backpack.  

Snake Eyes

In the Tomart's photo, the Snake Eyes is actually an Action Force Stalker figure.  Hasbro had a ton of overstock Action Force figures and both Stalker and Quarrel were dumped as early '90's convention exclusives.  So, Hasbro had spare figures lying around.  His unaltered inclusion is an interesting choice.  It shows that Hasbro always had intention of adding painted details to the 1997 Snake Eyes figure.  Hasbro's original plan was that the 1982/83 Snake Eyes was going to be included in the boxed set and the 1985 Snake Eyes mold was going to be included in the 3 figure pack with Stormshadow and Lady Jaye.  When the '85 mold wasn't available, they went with two '82/'83 figures instead.  Both heavily used grey as the highlight color: reminiscent of the European Stalker figure.

On the box back, Snake Eyes is posed with is back to the photographer.  It's an odd pose for the most popular character in the set.  It doesn't appear that the figure in this photograph is the Action Force Stalker.  But, it's difficult to tell.  The figure is also wearing a backpack.  It's difficult for me to see.  But, it looks like a Zap/Short Fuse backpack painted all black.  It's just an odd choice to see Snake Eyes with a pack.  And, not featuring him prominently was an interesting design choice.

Zap

Zap appears to have been two very different figures in the different photos.  In the Tomart's photo, Zap is a swivel arm figure.  Instead of the solid color with some overspray paint job that ended up on the production figure, he features the paint job that was, eventually, used on Grunt.  His legs are not painted, though.  And, appear very close to the colors of the production figure.  He is wearing his backpack and is the only figure to be wearing a visor.

On the box back, the Zap figure is very different.  He's heavily obscured by the figures in front on him.  But, he's a repainted straight arm figure.  Worst of all, he has two broken thumbs!  Hasbro actually put a broken toy on the back of the packaging!  Aside from that, the figure features a helmet with cammo paint.  Hasbro never painted up an original helmet.  Zap's entire body, including his legs, are done in the same cammo pattern.  It is not a pattern that was actually used in the set.  But, most importantly, Zap has painted on facial hair.  It's at least a goatee and might be a full beard.  The facial hair would have been a new paint application and made for an interesting take on Zap.  Sadly, it was not to be.

Stalker

The Stalker figure in the two photos appears to be the same.  He's even in nearly the same pose between the two photos.  He's wearing a Zap/Short Fuse backpack in the Tomart's photo.  The production Stalker toned down the tan portion of the cammo.  And, it ended up using a darker green base.  The actual colors for Stalker's cammo are pretty close to what appears on Short Fuse's legs.  But, the figure in these early photos is a decent representation of what the production figure ended up being.  

Flash

Flash is the biggest what-if in this set.  Hasbro was never able to reproduce the classic Flash mold: despite collector calls for it to return for a decade after the Star & Stripes set's release.  Flash's entire character was pulled from the set and replaced with Grunt.  However, Flash's laser rifle was, baffingly, included with the Breaker figure in the set.  Flash is a repainted swivel arm figure and it appears it's the same figure in both photos.  The darker green base and yellow pads were a strong update for Flash's look.  I'm not sure they would have supplanted his original red pads as his iconic look.  But, it would have been nice to have another Flash version.  On  the box back, Flash is wearing the only visor.  Though, in the Tomart's photo, the visor is given to Zap.) The fact that factory customs have failed to deliver this Flash version  is another glaring omission.  It seems like such an easy win for a figure.  And, I'll opine that Flash's absence from this set is the greatest loss in the changes from concept to production.

Rock and Roll

The final figure in the set was Rock and Roll.  We all know that the terrible 1986 Roadblock/General Hawk mashup figure that was released as Rock and Roll in this set happens to have a very rare, race changing variant.  But, the real story is that Rock and Roll was supposed to use his original mold for the character.  The figure featured in both photos is a repainted straight arm.  He is armed with  the 1986 Roadblock's machine gun.  This gets weird because the production figure ended up using the 1986 Roadblock body but included the 1982/83 Rock and Roll's M-60 and bi-pod.  The figure is wearing the Lady Jaye backpack on the box back.  But, not in the Tomart's photo.  

Rock and Roll would have rivaled Stalker and Scarlett as the best repaint in the set.  His black shirt, cammo pants and updated bullet strap paint job would have made a striking figure.  Personally, I lament his absence the most just because Rock and Roll is a figure that I use way more often than Flash.  The upside is that the 2018 Hollowpoint figure from Red Laser Army is based on this 1997 Rock and Roll and is a good enough representation of the planned paint job.  

From the box back, you can see examples of all the shortcuts that Hasbro took when creating the 1997 lineup.  Granted, it was a low production run line that was sold only at Toys R Us.  But, the vintage Hasbro team would never have created such a lackluster presentation for their packaging.  It's sad that missing molds did in so much of the plans for 1997.  1983 Cobra Commander, Destro, Rock and Roll, Flash and Breaker would have been much more beloved than the figures we got.  And, a repainted 1985 Snake Eyes might have been the character's definitive appearance in toy form.  But, none of that happened.  Instead, we have ghosts of the plans that live on in early photos like these.

2004 Unproduced White Pants Night Force Flint

You all know that Flint is my favorite figure in the Joe line.  I spend way too much time trying to find little, nuanced releases of Flint that I can add to my collection.  And, while there are a lot of figures that are based on the 1985 coloring, there aren't too many Flints that fall outside his main motif.  You have the 1988 Tiger Force version.  And, then the 2004 Night Force version.  And, that's it.  Well, almost.  There is one more main variant of Flint.  And, that is this unproduced version of the 2004 Night Force figure.  It's not materially different from the production figure with the exception of the figure's pants color.  Instead of the retail version's black pants, this pre-production figure features white pants.  This should create a lesser figure.  But, in a lot of ways, the white pants version of Flint is more interesting than the production figure and offers one of the few alternatives for a Flint figure in the vintage line.

I can't really argue that the white pants on these pre-production Night Force figures are better than the black pants that were used on the production versions.  They aren't.  The black is a better match for the hunter green of the upper bodies and is more true to the vision of Night Force than the white pants would have been.  What the white pants variants do offer, though, is a visual contrast.  As a production figure, they would not have worked.  But, as pre-production variants, they do.  These aren't supposed to be better than the production samples.  And, the white pants bring a different visual to this Flint while also not making any sense within the context of his release.  So, you can see why Hasbro changed them from white to black.  

For me, I just like having alternate looks for Flint.  From the waist up, the production and pre-production figures are essentially identical.  But, when the figures are out and about, the white pants and black pants differences are enough to make both useful.  The golden belt buckle really pops on the white pants figure.  And, that sticks out, to me.  As such, you'll see the white pants figure appear more often in the background of photos here than you do the production figure.  Much of that is the element of scarcity and the fact that you don't often see the alternate figures used these days.  The white pants get people to double take and question why the figure looks different.  It's a petty use.  But, it's one of the reasons I enjoy the figure.  And, were the white pants version  the production release and the black pants the pre-production figure, I'm sure I'd use the black pants version in a similar vein.

The Night Force set was one of the more intricate retail releases of the early 2000's.  The figures featured convention level paint masks and color combos.  These features would be stripped away as the sets matured and Hasbro tried to squeeze every last penny out of them.  And, the poor accessory complement included with the Night Force set was also a harbinger of the cheapness to come.  But, as just figures, the Night Force set features convention quality paint masks.  This Flint features at least 8 different colors.  That's more than most vintage figures would receive.  And, it shows that Hasbro invested money when they developed the Night Force set.

Night Force gear was bad.  And, Flint's accessories from the set were no exception.  He included a hodge-podge of common weapons that would appear over and over again during his era.  For some reason, Flint got a near complete set of Firefly's gear...missing only the backpack cover.  The upside is that this gear is easy to find.  So, equipping one of the pre-production figures with it isn't difficult or expensive.  But, the weapons make no sense and are so tied to Firefly that it's tough to see anyone, especially an iconic Joe character, using them.  Funskool had the full array of Flint accessories.  But, those never saw another Hasbro release.  So, there's no telling what happened to them between the end of the Funskool production run in 2003 and the appearance of this figure in 2004.  

So, that leaves you searching for proper gear for Flint.  In the photos below, you'll see some different options.  As I often lost Flint's shotgun back in my childhood days, I often had to find alternate gear for even the vintage figure.  My two go-to's were the sub machine gun from the 1985 Night Landing and the charcoal Ripcord rifle from the Tactical Battle Platform.  But, I've tried many other weapons with this Flint and found that many look really nice with him.  When a figure is as nicely done as Flint, the accessories are just an adornment that enhances an already amazing design.

The alternate, Asian figures that dominated discussion forums in late 2004 and early 2005 have faded into the obscure recesses of the Joe world.  Many of those who bought up every variant as it appeared are no longer active in the community.  Newer collectors who came aboard during the Anniversary era have no real recollection of these figures or their widespread and cheap availability.  Now, most of the alternate, Asian figures are stupidly expensive and seldom seen.  It's too bad.  As, the alternate looks were often a fun way to differentiate a photo or spark conversation in a forum.  Now, they are the domain of well-heeled collectors who have financial interest in downplaying just how common the figures actually are.  

With the Toys R Us exclusive sets, Hasbro started out by offering new looks for classic sub teams.  The first three sets were Tiger Force, Python Patrol and Night Force.  None of the TRU sets featured figures in color schemes that were homages or even matches for the original members of those sub teams.  Instead, Hasbro tried something different.  The Tiger Force featured some European inspired blues and oranges.  Python Patrol offered figures that were better matches for Python Patrol vehicles.  Night Force just went in an entirely new direction.  The figures didn't match vintage Night Force figures.  Nor did they match Night Force vehicles.  And, this was good.  The original Night Force figures are bland and mostly two tone in green and black.  The 2004 set offered a more complex look for some figures.  You can't really make this Flint the leader of a faction of 1988 and 1989 Night Force figures.  But, he does look great as a stand alone figure when mixed with other 1997-2010 releases.  

And, this works.  Within just a few months of the Night Force set's release, I was already noting how the figures worked very well as, well, figures.  The Night Force theme was less important to the overall, long term success of set.  It was more of a marketing term to get Joe fans interested than it was a continuation of a team from 15 years prior.  And, that's part of the reason that Night Force (and, really, all of the 2003 and 2004 Toys R Us sets) has held up so well.  It was about as big a chance as the Hasbro of the early 2000's was willing to take.  It was enough to make the set memorable and allowed the figures to find lives of their own.  

You can't discuss the 2000's era repaints without touching upon how crappy the plastic is and how likely it is to discolor.  The Night Force figures, with their dark hues, have been mostly immune from those plights.  These white pants figures, though, are susceptible to discoloration.  The white will take on a yellow hue, even on properly stored figures.  There's nothing you can do to stop it.  You can just slow it down a bit.  It's a sad legacy of early 2000's Hasbro that their plastics were so poor.  All of the toy lines from this time suffer from easy discoloration.  And, that would discourage me from splurging on a mint piece.  Eventually, time catches up with the materials and they will decay.  Yellowing figures are a personal pet peeve.  They bother me over other afflictions.  I'll take paint wear and loose joints every time over an otherwise mint figure that features a tinge of yellow.  Others have different tolerances.  And, for many Joe figures, discoloration is so common that newer collectors don't really know what a mint figure is supposed to look like.  It's something to be aware of with figures like this Flint.

It's time to break some hearts.  Between 2005 and 2007, this figure was pretty easy to find.  He'd go unsold on Ebay for under $5.  You could buy a complete set of 6 alternate Night Force figures (including the Night Force Tracker!) for $60.  And, they sat and sat and sat.  You could get one whenever you wanted.  Slowly, though, the stock got absorbed.  Once it was gone, no one cared for a while.  Around 2015/2016, you started to see old timers talking about how the once common alternate Asian figures had turned scarce.  Then, in 2018 or so, prices started spiking.  In 2020, these Flint figures sold between $75 and $100.  Really, that's way too much.  And, for such an uninteresting variant, there's really no bang for that kind of scratch.  But, the market is stupid and filled with new collectors who don't really understand how common figures like this really are.  It will correct soon enough.  Until then, I'm glad I was able to get figures like this when they were cheap.  And, I'm sad that this figure is one of the few that I have remaining.  

Rarities - 1989 Deep Six (Unproduced Diving Shoes)

The 1989 Deep Six is not a beloved figure.  He is, though, a pretty great figure for his specialty.  He was the perfect blend of 1989 modernity that defined the Joe line and old-timey diving suits that every kid in the '80's knew from the Fisher Price figure that came with the orange octopus.  Originally, though, the figure was supposed to include even more gear than he did.  Along with all his production pieces, Deep Six was also going to include two diving shoes that attached to his feet.  You can see them in the catalog image below.

It's certain that these shoes were removed for cost cutting reasons.  They really offered nothing to the figure.  And, Deep Six included a nice amount of gear, even without them.  And, no kid was making a purchase decision on Deep Six based on whether or not he included some weighted shoes.  They were small pieces that would have been easily lost.  So, much like Mainframe's computer stand from 1986, the accessories were entirely superfluous and didn't really affect the overall impression of the figure were they removed.

If you look very closely at Deep Six's card artwork, you can just barely see the shoes.  Hasbro was deft in their editing, though.  And, the bottom of Deep Six's feet are cut off by the edges of the card.  Knowing the shoes were axed and this would have just been a matter of cropping the photo slightly differently, it's tough to see the feet being so close to the edge as anything other than intentional.  

It's always interesting to see items like this.  We know that the cost to develop an accessory is the biggest part of the overall expense.  But, even in the late '80's, Hasbro was making at least 150,000-200,000 of their least popular figures.  So, saving a few pennies on a figure could add up across the whole line...even if Hasbro had incurred the cost to make the parts.  The shoes appearing in a promo catalog with production level figures, though, tells you they were a late strike from the figure's complement of gear.  While I would love for their to be a complicated back story as to why these pieces were chosen for elimination, the truth is that it is certain to be nothing more than financial.  And, decisions like that are both boring and depressing while also driving home that, to the Hasbro guys, the Joe line was, at the end of the day, a job.  

Rarities - Unproduced Brazilian Figures

While Estrela produced around 150 total figures in their exclusive Comandos Em Acao line, they  had intended for there to be more.  In the 1990's, Estrela showcased 5 figures in various forms that ended up never getting released.  These figures not only appeared as cross sells on various cardbacks, but even appeared in catalogs used to sell the products.  The 5 figures were all 1991 releases from Hasbro.  The figures were: Grunt, Crimson Guard Immortal, Mercer, Tracker and Cobra Commander.  (Their names in Brazil would have been Arsenal, Flagelo, Desertor, Correnteza and Tirano.)

Hasbro's 1991 figures were one of the rare years that didn't see a second year of release.  This was due to Hasbro trying to reboot the line in 1992 with familiar characters.  So, 1991 molds became common sights in later repaint lines and international releases.  You'll note that all of the figures that appear in the Estrela promotional material shown below are Hasbro made figures and not the Estrela figures.  So, this marketing propaganda was made prior to Estrela having their own wares to photograph.  

You'll often find international guides that list these figures as being available in Brazil.  But, many of these were from the early days of collecting before it was determined that these figures never saw production.  One early guide even features a few Hasbro figures in the placeholders for these names.  And, one thing that's constant in the Joe line is that mistakes and errors from the early collecting years are often repeated and rarely corrected.

Below are two promo photos.  One features just the 5 cancelled figures.  The other shows them interspersed with some other figures that were released in Brazil.  Seeing them all in one shot suggests to me that they were planned as a new wave at one point.  But, the entire wave was halted.  Maybe Hasbro didn't send the molds for whatever reason.  Or, it could have just been that Estrela determined they didn't want another wave.  These figures would have appeared closer to the end of the Comandos Em Acao line.  And, this was the time when Estrela was starting to move away from the standard carded figures that had defined their line and towards the themed subsets of figures that featured bigger cards and more gimmicks.

It's interesting to note that all 5 of these unproduced figures from Estrela did, later, appear as exclusive Funskool releases.  So, Hasbro did recoup more of their cost as they moved the molds around the world.  And, the molds weren't in an unusable state for Esrela.  But, the reasons for these figures being cancelled in Brazil remain lost.