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.

2003 Tiger Force Wreckage - Around the Web

While just another Firefly repaint, the Wreckage character has his roots in an unproduced figure from 1988.  Here's the best of his content on the web:

Wreckage Profile

Wreckage at JoeBattleLines.com

Wreckage at Joe A Day

Wreckage by Scarrviper

Wreckage by silentdusty

Pre Production Wreckage at YoJoe.com

Wreckage by thevintagetoylife

2003 Tiger Force Wreckage

Back in my profile of the Tiger Force Recondo, I recounted some of the history surrounding the Tiger Force subset. Specifically, I mention the unproduced character of Sabretooth who was originally planned to be a member of the Tiger Force team. However, Sabretooth was never produced and fans were left with a bit of a hole in Joe toy continuity. Through the lean years, customizers filled the gaps by often producing their interpretations of Sabretooth. Then, at the 2002 G.I. Joe Convention, Hasbro showcased a Toys R Us exclusive Tiger Force set that was going to bring the popular sub-group back to the collecting community. Among the figures shown were Jinx, Stalker, Big Brawler and Dial Tone. It was the fifth member of the set, though, that really had everyone talking. Hasbro decided to throw fans a little Easter Egg and include a new character in the Tiger Force set. This figure, in an homage to the unproduced Sabretooth, utilized the 1984 Firefly mold and was named Wreckage.

Wreckage really shows that the current Joe team at Hasbro has a sense of history about the line. Sabretooth was a character that many long time collectors wanted to see. While that name may have not been available, the inclusion of Wreckage in this set was an obvious nod to collectors to let them know that Hasbro is capable of fulfilling some of their wants. While the new line's main focus has been the new sculpts, the few classic repaints that we have seen have been very collector focused. Themed sets, army builders and the return of classic molds seems to be a winning combination on the collector market. The fact that the figures have been well done as well, though, only helps matters even more.

As the classic Joe repaints have progressed, many collectors have heard rumblings about how a certain favorite mold was "lost" or damaged. While the lost molds can more easily be explained, it the damaged molds that most people have a problem with. When looking at my Wreckage figure, though, I discovered a few points about the mold that will give a bit more insight into how these molds can decay. First, look at the pictures below:



This picture shows the right arms of all 5 American releases of this mold. (Also remember, this mold was released in Europe, Japan and India.) As you look at the cuffs of Firefly's sleeve, you can see some differences. On the 1984 figure, the lines are sharp and clear. While it's hard to see, the same is still true on the '98 figure. However, in 2000, you start to see some "flatening" of the lines. The crispness of the earlier molds is starting to disappear. On the 2002 figure, it is a bit more pronounced and Wreckage's is the "softest" yet. You can see the same thing on the finger lines on the figure's hand. You can also notice it on the molded knife. The '98 knife is much sharper and the '03 knife. There is more, though.

 

This photo shows the molds' left legs. The mold has 2 small dial-like details on the thigh. On the earlier Firefly molds, there are raised > signs on the dials. On the '84 and '98 figure, these are very sharp. However, on the 2000 and 2002 figures, the arrows start to disappear. Now, on Wreckage, the arrows are almost impossible to see. Now, my first thought on this was that the differences in plastic that exist between the '84 figure and the '03 figure could be part of the problem. The newer plastic is softer and may not take to details as well as the harder stuff used in '84. However, the '98 figure (which also used softer plastic) still shows most of the detail you see on the '84 figure.

Basically, this is a great example that shows how molds can deteriorate over time. While the mold is hardly unusable, you can start to see some degradation of the details. After hundreds of thousands of injections with hot plastic over nearly 20 years, you would expect to see some loss of detail. However, it appears that once the process starts, molds can go quickly. Seeing a timeline like you can on Firefly, though, helps give collectors more insight into how some of our favorite figures can be gone forever. What the future holds for the Firefly mold, is still unknown. Personally, I've got all the Fireflies I'll ever need. You have him in 2 camo versions that are true to the character. You also have an arctic version for the specialized environment and a crimson version for those pompous ceremonies that Firefly needs to attend. Beyond that, you can still use Wreckage as yet another version of Firefly. With all these, if this mold were retired, I would feel that it got more than enough use.

Wreckage's greatest strength is also his greatest weakness. While using the Firefly mold is a great way to fill a gap in the line's history, the mold has simply outpaced Sabretooth's intended place in the line. At this point, this mold is definitively Firefly. Any collector who looks at any incarnation of the mold immediately knows that the character is supposed to be Firefly. Despite Firefly's later appearances, it is his original mold that is forever tied to the character. As such, Wreckage's use is severely limited. It's just too much of a stretch for a figure looking like this to be anyone other than Firefly. (Although, Wreckage could just be Firefly in disguise. It would follow the Spy Troops theme.) So, while this figure will probably be sought after in the short term, I don't foresee Wreckage ever becoming an icon among the collecting world. More likely, he will see his most use as a simple variation of Firefly's traditional uniform. It's not a bad lot and will probably keep this figure more in the limelight that it would otherwise have been.

Wreckage's use in my collection is still undetermined. I have written that I used the '00 Firefly figure as good guy SWAT troopers. (I just ignored the Cobra logo.) As such, I could see Wreckage falling into that role. His colors are nice and his accessories are top notch. (Though they didn't include a cover for his pack.) It would be unfortunate to not use the figure in some capacity. However, the character of Wreckage just doesn't fit into my Joe world well enough for him to become a player. The Joe team has enough demolitions specialists where one more, especially one that is a new creation, doesn't seem necessary. As such, I foresee Wreckage simply being a nameless, faceless Joe army builder. He will have some uses, but most of them will end with his death at the hands of the Cobra attackers. While it may not seem very glamorous, it does give the figure more use and keeps him out of the bottom of my newly founded 2003 Joe drawer.

If you want a Wreckage figure, the time to get one is now. You can still order the Tiger Force set from Amazon.com for $19.99. If that's not your style, word is that these sets are starting to appear in brick and mortar Toys R Us stores for the same price as well. Spending $20 for five figures is a good deal, regardless of what you might read on various message boards. In the long run, though, I think Wreckage will be the most popular figure from this set. Jinx has a pretty strong fan following, but I don't think it will be enough to overcome the coolness factor displayed by Wreckage. The other three figures are nice additions to a collection, but hardly the type of figure that people will seek out in the future. Still, Firefly molds usually remain fairly popular over time. While this is not Firefly, enough people will see him as such to make this figure more sought after than most of his contemporaries. When you know this is the case, it is always best to take advantage of retail availability. The entire Tiger Force set is well done. I enjoy it's inclusion in the line and will mingle these new figures with my existing Tiger Force collection, both foreign and domestic. Judging by the reception this set seems to have found in the collecting world, you can be sure I'm not alone.

I've got all the Wreckage figures I need. Are you ready to see this mold retired? Let me know.

E