1984 Mutt

In the past couple of days, I've been rereading all of my Joe comics. I had left them at my parents' house so this is the first time in about 4 years where I've been able to catch up on them. For whatever reason, I started with #41 and worked forward. After that, I went back and reread the first 40 issues. While reading issue #25, the immortal Zartan introduction issue, I was fondly reminded of the summer of '84. I had most of the figures that had come out that year and used them all incessantly. While '83 had seen my scant toy dollar spread between Star Wars figures and Joes, '84 was the first year that was Joe only. As such, I was able to buy many of the vehicles and figures myself and didn't have to rely on the holidays to fill the gaps in my collection. As I bought most of the figures with my own money, I kept my figures in very nice condition. My brothers, however, had no qualms about destroying any figures they were given. Among the figures who they owned and destroyed was the Joe dog handler, Mutt.

I've already visited the Mutt character. However, that figure was one I acquired as an adult and, though I do enjoy it, it is a figure that never saw use as the intended character like this original version did. You see, when we first got Mutt, I had also just discovered the comic. I started at issue #27, but was able to fill the gaps rather quickly by simply going to the neighborhood comic store. Seeing Mutt's important role in issues 25-27 made me like him much more than I would normally have. The reason I let my brother get this figure was because of the dog. I didn't like dogs and saw no use for them. (Don't tell the two dogs I currently own this, though!) Since I considered Junkyard a waste, I wasn't too keen on owning the figure myself. Once my brother got Mutt, though, I was hooked. The military colors, awesome, silenced pistol, nightstick, and muzzle made for a figure that just had to be used. Unfortunately, since Mutt was not mine, his condition quickly deteriorated beyond usability. We lost his accessories and Mutt's thumbs broke. After that, this guy went on the junkheap and stayed there for many years.

When I returned to Joe, one of the figures I decided I wanted was a nice Mutt. However, I had plenty of other armies to build. Since I was focusing on figures like Chuckles, Law, Dial Tone, Range Vipers, and divers, I didn't ever get any lots that included a nice Mutt figure. At some point, I did manage to get a nice figure, but he was missing his accessories. About a year ago, though, I acquired a magnificent lot of Joes (see the Viper Pilot) that included a mint, complete Mutt and Junkyard. As soon as I saw his nightstick in the bin of accessories, Mutt once again joined my collection.

I hold a very important distinction between Mutt and Law. Law was the MP, a cop who happened to also use a dog. Mutt was a military commando who also used a dog. Many of my friends just assumed that Law replaced Mutt on the Joe team. However, Law never really partook in any totally military operations. Mutt was often involved in military style raids, not only in urban settings, but also in the actual field. While there are still many people out there who still lump these two figures together, I think they represent totally different specialties that wouldn't really cross over all that much. While the photo below does show the two figures together, I still use Mutt primarily as a soldier. He accompanies figures the character represented by the '97 Snake Eyes and Bullhorn on commando style raids in urban environments. He is one who clashes with my Cobra Urban Death Squads that are fronted by Alley and Range Vipers. He just works well as a tough, no nonsense, urban commando. Plus, his bulkier sculpt allows to him stand right alongside any other year of figures and not look out of place.

Mutt figures aren't too tough to find. Finding complete, unbroken Mutt figures along with the original, brown bellied Junkyard, though, can pose a challenge. Still, this guy is remarkably cheap for just how cool of a figure he really is. Mutt's thumbs are prone to breakage, as his his crotch. His small accessories are also easily and often lost. His nightstick is one of the more troublesome accessories to find out there. Even with all that, though, Mutt is a Joe and Joes tend to sell for far less than Cobras. Mutt is a figure, though, that has some popularity. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to someday see either this classic mold, or the '92, make an appearance in the new releases. He is a character that many old time collectors enjoy and possesses a mold that is very updatable and would fit well with any new release. At any rate, though, Mutt is a classic character and one that I know many people like. He is once again a nice part of my collection and one of the few non-ball headed figures I use. Given a chance, I think you could find a nice spot for him in your collection as well.

I like Mutt, but don't need any more of him. I would, though, like one of those black and red European exclusive Mutt's. From what Joe year do you hold your fondest memories?, Let me know.

1990 Topside

Back in the mid '90's, I was returning from school to my parent's house for a winter break. En route, my dad and I stopped off at a little antique mall in Circleville, IN. (Circleville is on a sneaky little backroad between Indianapolis and Oxford. The roads back there were a great way for a car with Ohio plates to bring kegs of beer from Richmond, Indiana to Ohio.) Now this was back in the day when the only toys antique malls carried were some '70's Barbie dolls and maybe some 6 Million Dollar Man stuff. There were, of course, lots of sports card, though. While my dad was browsing through the furniture and such, I found a little book that simply enthralled me. It was the DeSimone guide to 3 3/4" Joes. I had never seen this book and paged through it for about an hour, looking back at all the figures I had stashed under my bed at my parent's house, buy mostly at the figures released from '89 through '91. I had never really seen many of these guys and thought they were very cool. After absorbing so much in such a short time, few figures really stuck in my mind. One of these guys was Topside.

When I first started buying up large lots of figures back in '98, I really focused on lots containing figures from '89 - '91. Those were the guys I didn't have and had never had. In fact, you may see a bias on this site towards figures from the latter half of the line. The reason for this is that they are the ones I have sought out and not had time enough to grow tired of. To me, many of the original figures are worn out. It's guys like Topside who keep the hobby interesting. With nearly 600 unique figures in the Joe run, there is always something new to keep me from getting bored. I think that's why the vintage Star Wars, and now POTFII, bore me. There is just not enough going to keep my interest. With Joes, you can always find new combinations, or new series of figures who mesh well together. At any rate, though, for some reason, those lots never contained a Topside figure. While I quickly amassed Stretchers and Sub Zeros, Topside remained elusive. I also couldn't find just a simple loose one that wasn't horribly expensive. Finally, I managed to snag one. Then, like rabbits, Topsides began to multiply in my collection. Soon, I had the 5 who now call my collection home.

There are a number of reasons that I like this guy. First: he lends himself to army building. I've said many times before that I like army builders for my Joes as well as my Cobras. Topside is a perfect figure to fit that role. Like Shipwreck, he works as a simple, faceless longshoreman or as a fully named Joe. Second: his mold is great. He has the life jacket and naval uniform that look very convincing as a naval commando and make me want to use him as crewmembers of the Tactical Battle Platform, Hovercraft, or Shark 9000. The third reason this guy is so cool is his accessories. His gun is compact, two handled machine gun that looks like something a commando would use. His helmet adds that element of military trooper to him that really allows for a great expansion of his role. His missile launcher backpack isn't an accessory I use all that often, but is a nice add on, nonetheless. (Be careful with this pack. A complete Topside actually has 3 missiles. Of course, his pack only holds 2 and he has no other place to put the 3rd. It is kind of silly, but something of which to be aware.) All of these things add up to a figure that really should be a lot more popular than he is.

From the moment I got my first Topside, he has been a rather prolific member of my collection. I like to center a lot of my use of my toys around water based themes. The reason is that boats are much easier to play with than large planes, but still allow leeway that ground based adventures do not. For that reason, figures like Topside get lots of use. He is both a defender of a Joe position and an attacker of Cobra held installations. In either scenario, the figure works perfectly. I've said before that I hope to someday have a USS Flagg. When that day comes, I'll have a squadron of Topsides who will act as the ship's first strike commandos. Until then, though, I've still got plenty of places where this guy will get more than his fair share of use.

It is also with great sadness that I write this profile. The reason is simple. Topside will be the final figure I profile that has pictures taken from my Arizona home. As most of you may know, I'm no longer a desert rat. I'm not just another ordinary, average mid westerner who lives in no place special just like most other people in this country. As to how this affects this Joe page and my fandom, well, it doesn't. Basically, it means that all the cool pictures of the tropical jungles, pool, cracked desert floor, succulent plant life and, most importantly, the waterfall, are no more. Once I have a new house, then I will once again have the settings for some new dioramas based on mud puddles, overgrown grass, messy leaves, and, Heaven for fend, snow. At any rate, this ushers in a new era in Joe collecting for me. I will still post a few, scattered AZ pics from time to time, but, for the most part, they are up. As a kid I had dreamed of a backyard like that one. Now, at least I was able to have the memories....

Topsides are not hard to find. In fact, they can usually be had for next to nothing. He is just a figure that I had trouble finding at a time when all '90 and '91 figures were tough to find. Now, he can be had with just about no effort at all. Of course, this is not a bad thing. I love having figures like this guy available for reasonable prices. While some other figures from Topside's year, Bullhorn, have become remarkable expensive and very frustrating for cheap bastards like me to acquire, Topside offers a nice opportunity to build armies without breaking your budget. I've heard many collectors complaining that the new releases are too focused on aquatic troops. (They have released a lot of divers.) Frankly, I don't mind this. I've always used water as an integral part of my adventures. In fact, I'm already looking into installing a pond and fountain in my new backyard so that I still have some elements of home around. Toys and water mix and mix well. When a lack of aquatic troops will keep us from getting figures of Topside's quality, then I think we, as collectors, will have lost a great deal.

While I like Topside armies, I've got enough of these guys for now. What do you think of this figure? Let me know.

1997 Alley Viper

I will admit that I was not always high on the '97 Joes. In fact, I didn't buy any of them except for the Star And Stripes set because I felt they weren't worth the $9.99 retail cost. I have, though, taken to a couple of figures from that Star And Stripes set, the aforeprofiled Stalker and Snake Eyes. Aside from those two, though, there was not another '97 figure that I had who I liked, or another that I wanted. As the years have passed, though, I've become a completist and wanted to fill in those missing holes in '97. This process has proven incredibly frustrating as '97 Joes were almost non-existent on the second hand market. The few you could find were to overpriced that I couldn't justify them. Since there was still no one figure that I really wanted, I just kept putting their purchase off. A couple of months ago, though, I was reading General Hawk's fabulous dio-story Power Struggle and saw where he made the '97 Alley Viper a key player in one episode. That piqued my curiosity and I started searching for a '97 Alley Viper. Just recently, though, I've got lucky and hit upon a couple of great stashes of '97 figures. One of these included my much sought after Alley Viper.

I've been wanting to profile an Alley Viper. All versions of him are just great. The original, though, is a very renowned figure that sees lots of use in most people's collections. He just didn't fit the normal definition of a Forgotten Figure. The '93 version of the Alley Viper is also very nice. The yellow and black color scheme along with the updated, scarier face mask make this guy an almost better figure than the original. However, my lone '93 suffers from severe paint wear. Because of that, I was trying to upgrade my figure before he appeared here. (Strangely enough, the lot in which I acquired the '97 Alley Viper also included an excellent '93 Alley Viper as well. Oh, well. He still may appear here one day.) The '94 Alley Viper is one that most people don't even know about and would have been a logical choice to appear here. Since I don't own one, though, I had to wait for him as well. I had never really given the '97 Alley Viper any thought as I didn't think I was going to get one for a long time. He is, though, now my favorite version of the character and one that I wish I could amass as easily as I do the '89's.

The primary thing about this version of the Alley Viper is his color scheme. While the original versions of the Alley Viper all featured bright yellow or orange (which worked with them), this guy offered us Cobra blue as his primary color. What makes this so surprising is that the other figures that came out in '97 were usually in truly terrible color choices. The fact that they got this guy so right is really out of place. The blue, black, and white allow this guy to mingle with other Cobra Troopers and not stand out. He also features the updated face mask. For me, this is what makes the figure. These masks impart the type of fear that would make a unit of urban commandos too fearsome. I always imagined Alley Vipers as the guys who came in the middle of the night and just took over small towns in rural America. They are big, strong, and designed to look like they mean business. If this uniform wouldn't portray that message, then I don't know what would.

There is only one drawback to this version of the Alley Viper: his gun. The original Alley Viper gun that came with the '89 and '93 version is one of my all time favorites. All my Alley Vipers carry it, as do my armies of '92 and '93 Headhunters. Alas, though, this guy does include that great weapon. Instead, he comes with a black version of the original Dial Tone's weapon. It is okay, but just doesn't do the figure justice. As my available Joes are limited right now, I only had a couple of weapons with which to outfit this guy. The one I chose is the rifle from Red Star. This rifle seems to fit a Cobra character much better. The size and design of the weapon also seem to fit with this Alley Viper. The weapon I turned to because of necessity will now be this guy's permanent gun. While it is hard to see against the dark background, it is the gun the figure in the picture below is holding. It just goes to show, though, that a good, though poorly accessorized, figure can always be made better by a quick trip to your weapon reserves.

Lately, 1997's have become a bit easier to find. That still doesn't mean they won't cost you, it just means you can actually buy them on the second hand market. Alley Vipers, though, aren't too expensive. Mint and complete, they sell for around $15. Considering how few of them were actually separated from their Rage, that's not too bad. (One other thing to consider. Back in '97, many of these guys were stolen right out of the Rage box. If you find someone who has a whole bunch of loose, incomplete '97 Alley Vipers and no Rages or anything else to back them up, chances are you might be buying stolen property. Just something to think about.) I've currently got just the one of these guys, but have a pending deal to acquire another. Frankly, I probably wouldn't stop until I've got about 12 of these guys. They just work great as army builders who blend in with other, more subtly colored Cobra forces. Since I'm not alone in this thinking, though, I don't expect it will be easy to find these guys in any numbers for several more years. Still, I'm taking advantage of any opportunities I have to pick any of these guys up. They are a great addition to your collection and will certainly be worth their current price.

I like this guy. I know there are many people out there who claim not to. If you are serious in disliking this guy, email me. I'm pretty sure I can take them off of your hands.

1987 Mail Away Starduster

In the late '80's, Hasbro was offering many, many figures via mail order. The vast majority of these were simply reissues of figure molds that had been "retired" from retail. Others, like the Hooded Cobra Commander were never available via retail outlets. Joe was flying high in popularity, and corporate support. As part of the plan to keep the Joe empire ever expanding, Hasbro licensed a cereal based on G.I. Joe. To get kids to eat this tripe, they offered an exclusive mail in figure that was only available if you bought the cereal: Starduster.

I never had a Starduster. Apparently, I was not alone in this. The G.I. Joe cereal was short lived. The mail in promotion for Starduster was even shorter lived. However, he did come back several other times as a mail in available from Hasbro Direct. The thing was, as a kid, I wasn't interested in this guy. He was in powder blue. What kind of hard core soldier wears powder blue?!? (Of course, as a child, I never went to the fact that it was to blend into the sky. Perfect cover for a jet pack trooper who would be seen by looking against the blue sky background.) Because of this alone, Starduster was nothing more than an afterthought to me. Much like the Steel Brigade and Joseph Colton, the pictures of the figure were not enough to entice me to the offer, even if the figure was one that would never be available via any other avenue.

Now, though, Starduster has a kitsch about him that makes me like the figure. The soft, pastel blue is actually easy on the eyes and offers some welcome relief when he is displayed among most of his contemporary Joes. His helmet and dark visor are nice touches that proved the original Joes could be improved upon. (The black visor is also highly reminiscent of the prototype Joe photos that appeared in the very first insert catalog back in '82. All the visored Joes had dark black visors that are nearly identical to Starduster's. Were Starduster's visor not so problematic to find, I think it would be very cool to put together a set of these original Joes outfitted as they were back in '82. Now, if I could only find those concept Cobras they put in there as well!) The silver version of Gung-Ho's grenade launcher is also nice. It is not so out of whack that you could dismiss totally. Also, the very fact that he comes with just the jet pack from the JUMP is enough to make me now wish I had actually picked up a couple of these guys back in the '80's. That accessory is enough to make this guy someone that would have seen some use. Though it probably would have been as an officer as other, more suitable, figures would have actually donned the jet pack.

There is something very interesting about Starduster. Back in late 1985, a comic Marvel produced entitled Marvel Age had a special issue on G.I. Joe. This "comic" was kind of an insider magazine that gave the reader a preview of the comics Marvel released that month, but it also allowed them to spotlight whatever property it was they wanted to promote. In issue #34, it was Joe. Here, they profiled many of the new Joes who would join the team and have toys made of them in 1986. The original art that had some off colors is interesting in itself, as was the mis named character named Hot Spot who later became Sci Fi in the actual assortment. The most interesting profile they offered, though, was of a new character named Hedge-Hopper. Hedge-Hopper had no art affiliated with him, but he was supposed to a jet pack trooper. This made sense as only the recolored Silver Pads Grand Slam had already had a specialty anything close to this. For whatever reason, though, Hedge-Hopper was not to be. The figure was never released and the character never came to light in any Joe arena. However, in 1987, Starduster was released. While the two could be entirely separate entities, the coincidences are too great. Most likely, Hedge-Hopper was a placeholder name that was used to identify the jet pack trooper. Due to some unknown circumstance, the character never panned out. Perhaps they felt the notion wouldn't be enough to carry a figure at retail. It might also be that they had the G.I. Joe cereal promotion planned and wanted to use a throwaway character on it. Whatever the circumstances were, though, Hedge-Hopper is an interesting footnote to Joe history of which not too many people are aware and adds more obscurity to the Starduster character.

Like Super Trooper, Starduster only appeared in Joedom as a figure. However, his earliest versions came with some mini comics that were supposed to give kids some sort of background they could apply to him. Hasbro, though, always wanted the mainstream comic and cartoon to push what was for sale on the shelves. Upon reading his filecard you quickly realize that there wasn't a whole lot of thought put into this guy's characterization. Being an obscure mail in, there was no way he was ever going to have any credibility among the Joe creative team. For that reason, it reinforces my opinion that this guy was just a cast off concept that could never get out of the creative strategy meetings in Rhode Island. The fact that he did make it to a figure, though, makes you realize that there must have been some other concepts bandied about that were truly terrible. (Look no further than the supposed "Chef" concept art. {shudder}) It's too bad, though, because the notion of a jet pack trooper was something that I think kids would have gotten into. Of course, he would have needed to be a much cooler figure than Starduster, but I think that a singularly carded jet pack trooper would have experience retail success.

Many collectors have been lead to believe there are three distinct versions of Starduster. However, in recent years, many hard core collectors of substantial resources have been trying to prove the existence of the Version "B" Starduster figure. In the past 6 years in which I have kept track of such things, no one has found any conclusive proof that the Version "B" figure actually exists as a legit variant. There are loose ones out there, but they are almost certainly Frankensteins of broken Version "A"s and Version "C"s. Until a solid amount of bagged version "B" Stardusters are found, I think it is safe for collectors to consider their collection complete if they only have the Version "A" and Version "C".

Stardusters are a bear to find. The first version from the cereal that uses the Recondo chest is the toughest and is usually rated by serious collectors as one of the 5 most difficult figures to find in the entire line. Even the more "common" variations of Starduster, like the one below, are seldom seen. Because of this, mint and complete versions are very, very pricey. Bagged versions of the Recondo chest Starduster can easily get into the $80-$100 range. Even loose, mint, complete specimens of the most common versions will set you back $30! The thing that makes Starduster hard to find is that he was only available as a mail in and he was just a repaint of a swivel head mold in a time when the ball headed molds made the figures so much better. He is also prone to heavy discolorations and finding mint Stardusters can be very frustrating. I have found many Stardusters who have been subjected to cigarette smoke and are now permanently ruined. His lack of popularity in his own day has manifested itself by making this figure among the rarest American Joes today. Fortunately, the powder blue takes away from the figure and keeps this guy from being at a price point where he would rival such things as the Mickey Mouse Cobra Commander in value. Personally, I've found this figure to be only useful as he is required for the completion of my collection. Aside from that, he seldom, if ever, sees any use. His specialty is cool, but there were so many other figures released whose molds lend themselves to something like this so much better, like the 91 General Hawk, that I haven't found him to a vital part of my collection. Perhaps, someday, that will change. For now, though, Starduster is one of those frustrating figures that I can't acquire for a cheap enough price for me to justify additional variations.

The version of Starduster you see below is the only one I have. Of course, I have two separate figures for that version. If you have a different version, or his visor, email me.

Sokerk - Argentine Exclusive

In 1999 and early 2000, Joe figures from Argentina were incredibly scarce in the U.S. Ninja-Ku's sold for $300-$400 a piece for carded specimens. Even straight up reissues of American molds were incredibly hard to find. Then, in the early fall of 2000, Argentinian Joes began to appear with great regularity on the American second hand market. Figures like Airborne, Sgt. Slaughter, Alpine, Blowtorch, Doc, Ripcord, Sparta, Destro, Ninja Ku, Satan, Storm Shadow, and Sokerk suddenly became very affordable and easily acquired in the U.S. While I'm not often one to be high on some of these Argentine issues, I am also not one who lets a good deal pass him by. For just about nothing, I picked up Sparta (a Cover Girl repaint with unique card art), Destro, Ripcord and the figure I am now profiling: Sokerk.

Apparently, there are two versions of Sokerk. One version is actually the Tan Grunt. The figure matches the card art. The second version, and the one that seems to be more prevalent right now, is the one you see here. It is a straight repaint of the Ripcord mold that has been recolored to more closely match the tan uniform you see on the card art. Frankly, this feature was simply a bonus. You see, I purchased the figure just for the card art. I like things that weren't available in the U.S. Since the Tan Grunt figure was never available on the card here, I seized the opportunity to pick up one of the foreign versions that was. It was just a happy coincidence that the figure I bought happened to be the repainted Ripcord. For once, I got doubly lucky. I managed to acquire not only unique card art, but a unique figure as well.

I will quickly admit that I am not anywhere near an authority on South American Joes. In fact, I know very little about them. However, I do know that the series of which Sokerk was part seems to be fairly plentiful. There is an earlier series of Argentine Joes that features straight armed figures that are very unique repaints from their American versions. Figures like Topson, Shimik, and the legendary Cobra Mortal are among the scarcest Joe figures ever produced in any country. In fact, in the years that I've been buying Joes online, I have never, ever seen any figure from that original Argentine assortment offered for sale. While Brazilian figures like the Cobra De-Aco and Cobra Invasor seem to appear several times every year, these original Argentine figures are impossible to find. I would run for cover should a gem like a Cobra Mortal ever appear for sale in a public forum. My guess is that his sale price would shame even those of the 1995 prototypes that have found their way to the second hand market.

Frankly, I like Sokerk. The figure is a very nice take on the classic American figure. In fact, it was only through careful scrutiny that I was able to determine this to be the same mold as Ripcord. The colorations are that different that you would never know they were the same mold. The one problem with this guy, though, is that the paint job sucks. I don't think the Argentines were as careful with paint mask and attention to quality as their American counterparts. For that reason, this figure looks terrible. It's no fault of anyone's, save the manufacturer. This is a common problem with early South American Joes and it takes away from the figure. I was once planning to open both Sokerk and Sparta. After seeing them, though, I decided that it just made no sense to do so. The quality of the figure is so low that taking them off the card would make them useless. It is unfortunate, though, as I would have liked to have had Sokerk available in loose form for various missions. I think he and Sparta both would have helped expound the interest in some basic dioramas I was planning. At any rate, though, he will remain as one of the few carded figures in my collection if only for the fact that I currently like him that way.

Were I writing this profile even one year ago, I would tell you how Sokerk was a very difficult figure to find in the U.S. and a carded version of him would probably cost $40-$70. Now, the story is very different. Sokerks are very easy to find and they are pretty cheap. Sure, a few MOC specimens still fetch $20-$25, but that is usually due to uninformed buyers. It is much more common for this figure to sell in the $12-$15 range for a MOC figure. At that price, he is a great acquisition. Sokerk offers you the opportunity to add a unique foreign figure with unique card art to your collection without setting you back an entire collecting year's budget. However, I would take advantage of Sokerk's availability now. The supply of these guys that has made its way to the U.S. could dry up. Collectors are slowly absorbing Sokerk and his other brethren. I would imagine that in a few years, figures like Sokerk will be a tougher find once again. At his current price levels, though, even if this guy became more common, he is still attractive. It's getting very hard to find any American Joes MOC for under $10. As more and more collectors move away from loose collections and into the carded realm, I would think this will remain the case. Having a figure like Sokerk gives your collection some individuality and provides some relief from the monotony of American Joes. At any rate, I enjoy this figure and see myself keeping him for a long time. I think you will find he fits into your collection very nicely as well.

Sokerk's cool, but I don't want any more. Frankly, I don't really know if I want any more Argentine figures. Well, unless you've got a Shimik, Topson, or Cobra Mortal you want to get rid of for cheap! ;-> At any rate, what is your opinion of the South American Joes? Let me know.