Mummy Mask - Power Commandos

The vintage G.I. Joe line had many imitators.  Usually, they were cheap lines that tried to ply on the Joe brand while appealing to the limited budgets of gift givers or parents.  As a kid, I abhorred most of the attempts to knock off G.I. Joe.  I found the quality, accessory and articulation differences to simply be too much to overcome.  So, none of the classic knock off lines like Remco, Sgt. Rock or even the CORPS! were ever part of my childhood toy experience.  This, of course, has carried over to my adult collecting.  In general, I have no interest in toy lines that attempt to mimic G.I. Joe.  While there are a few conversation pieces out there, I rarely find the figures actually compatible and avoid them.  But, the opening of the collector world to worldwide experiences has introduced some knock off brands that have been able to capture my attention.  In the case of the Power Commandos, the line gets me both due to the offbeat nature of the theme as well as the blatant rip offs they stole from the Joe line.  In recent years, the Power Commandos have become more famous.  Much of that has to do with the singular character of Mummy Mask: who is profiled today.

Mummy Mask is the perfect blend of complete oddball design with off putting colors.  There is no reason for the character to have any interest except for the fact that he's just so bizarre.  The primary selling point is that the figure is a mummy.  He's the classic all bandaged visage.  But, for some reason, he's wearing a captain's hat.  The result is something that both makes no sense and is still totally familiar looking.  On the surface, a mummy may seem too out there to be integrated into Joe.  But, Cobra had a snake man, a guy who dressed up as a bird, an alligator, monsters, zombies and a gypsy hypnotist on their roster.  So, I'll hold off on denigrating a mummy as too far out there.

Power Commandos are supposed to be a space themed line.  Mummy Mask brings an element of fantasy to it, too.  If you read the figure's bio-card, it refers to him as a creature.  He is an alien, as well.  His entire persona is a Master of Disguise and the bandages wrapping his face are an obfuscation of his true self since he only removes them to showcase the countenance of his disguised persona.  He is afraid of both fire and water.  So, if you can catch him on fire, he won't put himself out.  My favorite part of the dreadful writing is that he's from the "City of the Underworld".  I read it like various wrestling heels hailing from "Parts Unknown".  But, the cheesiness of the filecard fits the figure, perfectly.

If you look at the Mummy Mask parts, you can see the influence of the 1985 Tele Viper.  Mummy Mask's chest is, basically, the same as the Tele Viper.  It's pretty likely that the company who produced these items used real Joes as the basis for their parts and then modified just enough to avoid any legal issues.  (Lanard did the same thing with CORPS! accessories.)  It creates an cohesive look for these figures when posed with Joes, though, since the familiarity of the parts ties the two figures lines together.  The parts are used on additional figures in the line, so Lucky Bell worked hard to minimize their costs while still creating some interesting figures.

In the end, Mummy Mask is really no different a concept than many other out there Cobras who populate the Joe world.  And, in that regard, this figure can be a fun addition to any collection.  For me, he's going to be some sort of villain character.  But, I haven't found the perfect backstory for him, yet.  Until then, he's a fun conversation piece that can appear in photos.  In some ways, he's a good companion for Serpentor. But, that's also a bit too on point.  I'm not sure what would convince someone to dress up as a mummy as their gimmick.  A burn victim leaves too many questions.  But, a guy who's just kind of off may work.  I see the hat on his head as kind of a 1930's era pilot cap.  Again, though, I'm not sure how to make all of this fit into something that isn't too hackneyed.  I'll have to revisit this figure in a few years to see if I've made any progress.

Mummy Mask's gear is fun.  He's got a big blade thing that looks like it incorporated a bit of the Techno Viper's tools.  He's also got a pointed staff that's neither a spear nor a sword.  Both weapons fit with the oddity of the character.  His rifle is a black mash up of the 1986 Viper rifle and the barrel of a weapon I can't place from memory.  (There is a later Mummy Mask variant that includes a green version of this weapon.)  Sadly, the figure has tight, brittle thumbs that preclude me from really trying to get his accessories into his hands.  But, the gear is original, weird and still useful.  The quality of the weapons is high and the colors are realistic and match the figure.

Once upon a time, Power Commandos were super rare and rather expensive.  However, in the late 2010's, a large quantity of them began to show up in Mexico.  These were offered to American collectors for very cheap prices.  Buying in lots, you can buy the full first series of 6 figures for around $8 per figure.  If you can find complete figures individually, you'll pay a premium for Mummy Mask...usually to the tune of $15 to $20.  But, today, it is still a bit easier to find carded sets than it is loose samples.  The series 2 Power Commandos figures, which include a variant Mummy Mask who features much darker blue highlights as well as figures that are near exact matches for the Cobra Viper and BAT, remain incredibly rare.  Once the Mexican stock dries up, it's possible these series 1 figures will once again get hard to find and be priced accordingly.  As we've seen with both Plastirama and Funskool figures, once the common overstock is finally absorbed, pricing can increase quickly.  The good news is that Mummy Mask is a gimmick figure that isn't really all that necessary.  He's fun to own and can fit with an oddball Cobra army.  But, he's a knock off from an obscure line and that precludes him from ever being a key figure for anyone to own.  But, if you think you're ever going to want Mummy Mask, it's probably best to act now before they get harder to find, again.

Funskool Tripwire - Around the Web

Years ago, the Funskool Tripwire was just a somewhat popular $4 figure.  Everyone had him.  A few people even army built him.  There were few people who didn't like him.  Then, Funskool dried up.  In the ensuing decade, Tripwire got a little harder to find and his popularity lead to some price increases.  Now, though, G.I. Joe pricing is stupid and the Funskool Tripwire is a $100 figure.  That's way too much to pay for a figure like this.  But, that's what the market is demanding these days.  We'll see where we are two years from now, though.

There's a good amount of content out there on this figure.  (Proving it's far more common than the current pricing suggests.)

Funskool Tripwire Profile

Funskool Tripwire at The Viper Pit

Funskool Tripwire at JoeADay.com

Funskool Tripwire by SpecialMissionForce

Oreobuilder's 50 Shades of Tripwire

Funskool Tripwire by Skip A Frogman

Funskool Tripwire by whatsonjoemind

2005 Convention Exclusive Dragonsky - Around The Web

The 2005 Convention Dragonsky figure was one of the best kitbashes of the 2000's.  The parts, colors and accessories all combined to create an amazing figure.  For many years, though, this guy was a forgotten classic.  But, in recent times, he's gotten more expensive and difficult to find.  Here's the best of him from around the web.

Dragonsky Profile

Dragonsky at JoeADay.com

Dragonsky at GeneralsJoes.com

Dragonsky at JoeBattleLines.com

Dragonsky at Half the Battle

1992 Duke

Something happened to the Joe line between 1991 and 1992.  While 1991 saw the full complement of 17 standard carded figures, many of them were short shipped and only appeared at retail for one year.  In 1992, the Joe line was drastically cut down.  There were only 12 standard carded figures.  There were, though, 19 new figures that were branded under different subsets.  It seems the standard Joe line had gotten a bit stale at retail.  So, Hasbro pumped up new themes and refreshed some of the cardback designs to make the toys stand out more on retail shelves.  For most collectors, the 1992 year is defined by the perception of bright colors.  But, in looking at the 1992 releases, the neon that would be more common in 1993 is largely absent.  The standard line is full of muted, realistic colors.  The DEF figures are more traditionally colored.  It's not until you get to Eco Warriors and Ninja Force that the colors get out of whack.  (Though, I can forgive Eco Warriors as the colors make sense there.)  But, among the 12 carded figures, there are still missteps.  Brightly colored divers are forgiven due to their specialty.  But, the 1992 Duke features a poor color choice that doomed an otherwise excellent figure.

Most collectors know the 1992 Duke from either his ubiquity in the marketing materials of the day or for the parts base that created several figures during the 2000's repaint era.  But, as a figure, Duke stands mostly on his own.  The figure features a tan base color with brown highlights and golden metal accouterments.  He has muted cammo on his legs and some color splashes on his arms, neck, sleeves and boots.  All this sounds good so far, no?  There's one key detail here that is missing but defines the figure.  The color chose for those splashes, as well as the cammo pattern, is red.  Visually, the red ring around Duke's neck and even the sleeves could be forgiven.  But, the figure becomes a contrast in red when you view him in totality.  Were this red a green, black or brown, this figure would be the best Duke ever released.  But, he wasn't and, therefore, he's not.

But, from a pure sculpting and design standpoint, this Duke is excellent.  The headsculpt is very detailed.  It retains the idea of Duke.  But, the stupid grin is gone for a more hardened face.  The figure's chest features a flak jacket as well as a centrally aligned pistol as well as bandoleers and grenades.  His waist is full of pockets that give it some bulk and the rest of the figure is relatively unadorned which keeps Duke from being too busy.  His arms feature a weird shoulder length short sleeve.  It's different and weird and became the bane of collector's existence in the 2000's.  As a one off, the look can work.  But, beyond that, the sleeves become annoying.

Duke's gear is OK and terrible.  He is one of the last few figures (outside of Star Brigade) to include a removable helmet.  Duke includes a small brown knife and a large rifle as his weaponry.  The knife is well done.  The rifle is cool.  But, it's rather large.  The small stock and comically lone barrel and body make is less useful that it might otherwise be.  It should be noted, though, that the brown plastic used on these weapons is extremely brittle.  The knife is prone to snapping in two and the rifle's handle is easily stressed and will snap off as well.  Duke also includes a huge missile launcher.  This can be used in two ways.  The first is as a backpack.  It looks dumb.  The second way is that the launcher includes a stand and a seat.  Duke can sit atop the cannon and ride it.  This looks dumber.  On some level, the engineering to produce this launcher is impressive.  But, the reality is that it's a waste of resources that could have given this Duke more traditional gear.

In my collection, this Duke doesn't have a huge role.  I first acquired the figure in 1999 or so.  At that time, new figures were quickly entering my collection.  As I was a long time fan of the 1993 Duke (I had found him at retail a few years earlier.), I had no need for this Duke.  He went into a drawer and stayed there.  When the 2001 repaint was released, though, it showed how much potential this figure had.  By late 2001, I had the character represented by the 1993 Duke sent to die in prison for treason.  The 2001 Duke became the new field leader of the Joes.  This 1992 version was his older, less accomplished brother.  (The brown hair on the 2001 duke helped distinguish them as different people.)  The two brothers had an early bond since the character of this 1992 Duke was more experienced.  But, he had less talent.  This Duke was slowly left behind as the 2001 version became increasingly important...to the point where he is now the number three leader in the Joes.  If I ever want to use this figure mold, I use the 2001 version.  The 1992 version has seen precious little time in any photos I've taken through the years.  And, that's likely to remain his fate since the later repaint is so vastly superior.

1992 was also interesting in of the 12 characters released in the standard line, only four of them were new characters.  (You can make a case that General Flagg was also an existing character due to the comic, but this figure is his first appearance.)  The remaining figures are all updates of classic characters that were hold overs from the '80's.  Looking at the subset figures, the trend continues with Stalker, Cobra Commander, Hawk, Mutt, Cutter, Stormshadow and others.  It's almost like Hasbro gave the line a soft reboot to keep classic names front and center.  The 1990 series featured only 5 rehashed characters.  In 1991, slightly more than 50% of the carded figures were existing characters.  In 1992, it was 18 out of 31.  Maybe this was a way to connect buyers to cartoon reruns and recycled marketing material.  But, it is a definitive shift in the line's strategy in a very short time. 

This Duke version feels like it was heavily used.  The reality is that it really wasn't...outside of a couple of years in the early 2000's.  Several closely clustered uses of the mold made it appear common.  But, there is really one Duke figure that uses this body: the excellent 2001 version.  The ARAHC from that year is, easily, the best paint job on this mold and is the definitive use of the parts.  Later that same year, the chest appeared on the Leatherneck figure.  In 2004, the superb Desert Patrol Stalker used this Duke's body with a 1989 Stalker head.  Again, it's an excellent figure (one of the highlights of the repaint era) but it's Stalker instead of Duke.  Various Duke parts were then used on other figures, including the 2000's era Crimson Guard.  The mold was planned for a 2003 Wal Mart exclusive Sky Patrol Duke.  While the figures were cancelled and never actually released, hundreds or thousands of the pre-production figures made their way into the collecting community via Asian Joe sellers.  The Wal Mart figure is extremely well done and was once common enough to encourage collectors to track it down.  Now, it's a 3 digit figure that can months or years to find.  But, it does exist for fans of this mold.  I'd have loved to have seen this figure released in the 2000's in colors similar to the V1 Duke.  It would have been a great repaint.  But, it was not to be.

1992 Duke figures are cheap.  Despite the fact that the figure tends to discolor and the seat, stand, knife and his gun tend to be brittle, you can easily get mint and complete figures for around $8.00.  In this day and age, that's a pittance for a vintage figure that is pretty good.  Dealers will sell them for about double the open market pricing.  But, for a figure of a major character that's pretty well done and has good gear, you'd expect to pay much more.  A big part of that pricing, though, is the fact that this isn't the best paint job for Duke in this mold.  And, it's also not the best desert themed Duke.  So, collectors don't really need this figure for anything.  There are better options out there and that helps keep the figure affordable.  If you're looking for a decent enough Duke or just something different, though, this version is definitely one of the top options.

Fisher Price Turbo Hawk - By Past Nastification

I’m going to let you in on a little secret.  Cobra’s first jet wasn’t the Rattler.  It was the Fisher-Price Turbo Hawk. 

Released in 1982, a year before the beloved Sky Striker, this must have been Fisher-Price’s attempt at upping its game with the boys’ toys.  Released as a kit, the concept was that the child would assemble the toy.  The ARAH Joe vehicles were like this, but Hasbro didn’t stress the “kit” concept at all. 

Clearly a military vehicle based on the real word F-15, Fisher Price didn’t promote it that way.  There are no removable and/or molded-on missiles or a nose cannon, or any markings designating it as US Air Force.  It wasn’t molded in tombstone grey or olive drab.  But it is what it is.  When you look at it, it’s unmistakably a war machine.  The imagination of a 9 year old can make up for the “missing” weaponry and other issues.

Take a minute to appreciate the fact that Fisher Frickin’ Price made a 1:18 scale combat jet before Hasbro.  Not to mention a pretty good space shuttle, but that’s another review.     

Very under-scaled but moderately well detailed, the main body of the Turbo Hawk was also conveniently molded in a saturated blue instead of more realistic colors.  It’s not a dark early 80’s Cobra blue, but obviously GI Joe wouldn’t have a blue jet, right?  Hasbro would later use a similar blue on the HISS II or the ARAHC HISS, for what that’s worth.  The Turbo Hawk’s dark tinted canopy is also an elegant touch. 

I’m sure this vehicle has been customized in both black and Cobra blue, and I’m sure those look spectacular. 

The Sky Striker vs Rattler dogfight scenario always felt a bit lopsided in favor of the Joes.  With the Turbo Hawk, the playing field was a bit more level (despite its diminutive size and lack of any weapons).  Sky Striker vs. Turbo Hawk?  There’s a more evenly matched fight card.   

Speaking of the Sky Striker and the Rattler, they both fail the “drop test”.  Drop either one of them more than a foot and something will either pop off or break on them.  Much like the Tonka Hand Command Turbo Prop, the Turbo Hawk is a durable beast.   The canopy will likely pop off, but the rest of the vehicle will remain intact.  It’s a simple ruggedness that the ’82 wave of Joe vehicles had.  After the inaugural wave, most Joe vehicles lacked that sturdiness and it didn’t really return until the New Sculpt era.  Fisher-Price and Tonka vehicles, for the most part, were sturdy- and remain so today.  Think of how otherwise great items like the Killer Whale or Transportable Tactical Battle Platform turn into piles of parts over time.  Simple is better in some regards, and Fisher-Price was the king of simple.   

I obviously have a nostalgic soft spot for this vehicle, but it’s far from perfect.  It has no proper landing gear/struts, just tiny wheels on the bottom of the fuselage.  Like cutesy little shopping cart wheels.  The eye line of a figure standing next to the Turbo Hawk is higher than the canopy.  When I say the Turbo Hawk is under-scaled, that’s being generous.  It is the same length as the Battle Force 2000 Vector, with a nominally wider wingspan.  Because the Vector isn’t based on a real thing, it’s easier to accept it as being “realistic”.  Like how CGI dinosaurs look better than CGI humans, as you’ve never actually seen a real-life dinosaur with your own eyes (and, yes, I know that dinosaurs were real before becoming petroleum, which in turn became all the toys we adore, except for Lincoln Logs and Tinker Toys).  The cockpit has no detailing aside from a seat, and it’s a pretty bland seat at that.   

The Turbo Hawk included a very generic pilot.  The parts used don’t truly make for a convincing flight suit and give the figure a thicker look than you might expect for a fighter pilot.  The pilot is decked out in a crazy big helmet and a white jumpsuit.  The helmet’s size may have been accurately scaled for a generic safety helmet of the day.  I believe it was originally used for a dragster driver, but I’m not sure.  It doesn’t appear to be specifically designed as a “pilot” helmet.  For anyone toying with the idea of making Airwolf customs, this would actually be a good stand-in for those helmets.  As Adventure People go, it’s actually a fairly meh figure.  There’s just not much to it, aside from a nice logo on the back.  But for a figure designed to sit inside of the cockpit, it’s acceptable.

Almost any newer 1:18 scale jet would be an upgrade over the Turbo Hawk in terms of scale and detailing today.  Take your pick from Chap Mei, Solider Force, World Peace Keepers, GI Joe (when Hasbro actually tried), True Heroes, or maybe even Processed Plastics or similar super-cheap lines.  But there’s something to be said for the Fisher-Price Turbo Hawk, because it came first.