Rarities - Rubiplas Fang II (Venezuela)

There is a fairly direct line between exclusive G.I. Joe toys produced by the Plastirama toy company in Argentina in the 1980s and those also produced by the Rubiplas toy company in Venezuela.  Most collectors know about the Venezuelan Cobra Mortal exclusive who is all white instead of red, chrome and black like the Argentinian release.  But, Rubiplas produced a robust line of G.I. Joe figures and vehicles, all of which are exclusive to Venezuela.

Below is a FANG II produced by Rubiplas.  This toy was likely released in the early 1990's.  It's possible there was an accomopanying line of figures that are less known that accompanied this toy.  (For example, the 1989 Snake Eyes was also released by Rubiplas around this time.)  But, it is interesting to see an exclusive vehicle produced for the Venezuelan market.

Rubiplas releases are the most difficult foreign exclusives to acquire.  (Yes, there are individual items from other countries rarer than Rubiplas toys.  But, overall, you can get samples of Funskool, Estrela, Plastirama and even Nilco more easily than you can find Rubiplas items.)  For a brief window in the mid 2010's, there were a few avenues to acquire the items directly from Venezuela.  But, as Venezuela has faced political crises, many of those doors have closed.  As such, you'll pay a premium for any Rubiplas release.

Generally, the Rubiplas vehicles are based on the Hasbro color schemes.  (There are a couple of notable exceptions like the Thunder Machine.)  But, there are the traditional shading and hue differences in the plastic colors.  But, to most collectors, the differences on these vehicles are slight and would be difficult to notice.  So, these items are more interesting as an obscure something to have from a different continent.

Rarities - Flash (Rubiplas Version from Venezuela)

Today, we feature the rarest of the foreign Flash figures: the Rubiplas release from Venezuela.  Rubiplas figures are the last great, unexplored reaches of the Joe line.  While we have some good info about earlier releases, they were releasing figures in Venezuela for many years after these straight arms were retired.  

There are two points of interest on this figure.  First, he includes a dark green version of Doc's helmet instead of the standard 1982/1983 helmet.  The second is the light brown hair color.  It's very distinctive and nicely offsets the darker green of the body.  These two items represent the biggest tells of the Rubiplas figure.  

In general, Rubiplas figures are not easy to find.  There was a time for a couple of years where there were a couple of different ways to acquire them.  But, those seem to have dried up.  Now, you're left chasing the few samples that were imported when the Venezuelan sellers were active.

They're neat because they are different and have some weird oddities to them.  There's really no explanation why this Flash features a Doc helmet.  But, this helmet wasn't available in a similar color to the dark Rubiplas green anywhere else.  (The AP helmet from Hasbro is drastically different.)  So, the figures have a cachet since they are so distinguishable.  Someday, I hope to see better info on the full Rubiplas line come to light.  Until then, it's just crumbs here and there.

Rarities - Carded Rubiplas Topson From Venezuela

We all know about the second series of Plastirama figures released in Argentina.  The six figures are stuff of legend and remain among the rarest and most expensive figures released anywhere in the world.  But, there are even rarer versions.  The Rubiplas toy company in Venezuela also produced the figures from this series.  Most of the figures have slight differences.  They are even rarer than the Argentine versions of the characters.  Below, though, is a carded sample of a Rubliplas Topson figure.

There is an obvious difference with this figure: the Recondo rifle.  This is interesting for a couple of reasons.  The Plastirama Topson (as far as we know) came with a version of Grunt's M-16.  We know that Recondo was sent to Brazil for release there around 1987 or 1988.  Recondo appeared on the cardbacks of Plastirama figures: but was never released in Argentina.  So, it's possible that Plastirama had the mold and Rubiplas got ahold of it.  But, why use the gun for this Topson?  Was the Grunt M-16 separated from theses figures and not available?  You'll also note he has a helmet mold originally from Blowtorch.  The Plastirama version has been found with the classic 1982 helmet, molded in grey instead of this Blowtorch version.  But, it's possible that both helmet combos were released in Argentina, too.

The card artwork for this figure is a combination of classic Joe excellence with a bit of foreign silliness.  We see Topson clearly holding the ammo pack originally included with Snake Eyes.  But, it has an added antenna to it to make it appear as a radio.  This Topson figure includes an unaltered ammo pack.  There is some disagreement as to what the Plastirama version of Topson includes in regards to the radio.  We'll have to find a carded version from Argentina to be sure.  But, the different Recondo rifle opens up the door that other accessories were changed between the countries, too.

Rarities - Rubiplas (Venezuela) Figures

Everyone knows of the ultra rare 2nd series figures from Plastirama in Argentina.  In 2003, though, it was discovered that this figure wave also saw an exclusive re-do in Venezuela from the Rubiplas toy company.  Shimik, Redmack, Glenda, Manleh, Topson and the infamous Cobra Mortal were released in Venezuela: some with unique paint applications.  While the white Cobra Mortal is the most famous variation, some other figures features slight differences as well.  Collectors love nothing more than a foreign repaint of a super rare figure that is even rarer than the original.  Below are some of the Rubiplas figures.

While the differences on the non Mortal figures are slight, it is the Mortal itself that is the most interesting.  The white base of the figure is much more useful than the red, black and chrome version from Argentina.  Though, had the white version come first, I suspect that some of the luster would have fallen from the Mortal since this version isn't as strikingly odd as the Plastirama figure.

We still don't know why Plastirama came up with the 6 new characters for their 2nd series of figures.  Nor do we know why they are so scarce.  The fact they sent them to Venezuela where Rubiplas also produced them is one of those oddities that befell the Joe line.  The rarity and popularity of these figures prices them out of most collectors' range.  The fact that they are straight arm figures limits my interest in them.  It would have been cool to see someone produce a set of these with swivel arms when the majority of the molds were still around.  I'd have loved a Manleh and Shimik figure.  But, like many obvious re-uses of vintage Joe molds, that's a desire left unfulfilled.

Venezuelan Joes are among the most difficult to find in the world.  Though, we have seen more and more of their items available as the Internet makes the world a smaller place.  (A tanking Venezuelan economy also plays a part.  Plastirama figures were nearly impossible to find until the Argentine economy collapsed in the early 2000's.  Then, they suddenly became almost common for a while.)  These figures are an example of the wide array of interpretations the Joe line received in other countries.  Were it not for their rarity, I wonder if they would be overly popular.  But, as we've seen in recent years, foreign oddities, even ones that exist in large numbers in the U.S. have steadily risen in price.  So, the uniqueness of their release would likely ensure collector interest, even if these were as common as the Plastirama Sgt. Slaughter.