20th Anniversary Key Moments - 1995 Unproduced Dr. Mindbender

In 1999, I dropped way too much money on a figure that was sold as a 1995 Battle Rangers Flint prototype.  I missed out, though, on the figure I really wanted: the unproduced 1995 Battle Rangers Dr. Mindbender.  The person who bought it had every intention of hiding it away and keeping it from collectors.  But, a cool thing happened: turns out the dealer selling the prototypes had an extra Mindbender and he sold it to another collector who kept photos of it in the community.  As luck would have it, this person wanted to sell his right at the time I was in position to buy one.  And, with a little negotiating, the 1995 Dr. Mindbender entered my collection in May of 2001.

I like weird figures.  G.I. Joe's appeal to me was that it wasn't just some random military line where every guy was in the same color and basic uniform.  Really, it was super heroes that happened to be in the military.  And, wacky figures that stretched the boundaries of realism were what attracted me to the line and kept me in to this day.  This Dr. Mindbender would have been the culmination of that tradition.  The figure is an homage to the self-mutilating 1993 Dr. Mindbender while also having roots in the iconic 1986 version.  It would have been the perfect benchmark villain for 1995.  But, that never got to be.

The Joe line died before this figure saw the light of day.  Many collectors deride the 1990's as moving off topic of the classic Joe of the 1980's.  But, really, only 1993 heavily strayed from the military fantasy of the bygone decade.  1994 did have Star Brigade and Hasbro was going to go heavy on the aliens and Manimals in later 1994 and 1995.  But, the core of the Battle Corps Rangers would have matched with the 1994 Battle Corps in that it was pretty true to the line's roots.  And, 1995 would have seen many classic characters return to the line...just like we saw in 1994.  In short, it wasn't the neon or a loss of focus on Joe's core that derailed the line.  G.I. Joe had just run it's course after 13 consecutive years of retail release.  1995 would not have saved the line.  But, had it seen production, it's likely that collectors of 2020 would be hugely over-paying for the lower production runs that surely would have accompanied the 1995 retail releases.

This Mindbender really started a trend for me showcasing more and more rare figures.  Mostly, I branched into foreign Joes as those became my focal point after my acquisition of this Mindbender.  And, from the summer of 2001 through 2004, the site became known more for foreign and rare releases than the actual lesser appreciated figures that had driven the first 18 months of the site's life.  It was a reputation that lasted for a long time.  In the past 5 years, though, I've exhausted my supply of rare releases.  So, I've turned more to the site's roots of finding uncovered gems or just odd figures that no one cares about.  Each focus was aligned with my collecting philosophy of the time.

I no longer own this Mindbender.  He was a casualty of my collection purge in the early 2010's.  I simply didn't have a need to own him any longer and got a good enough offer that it made sense to liquidate him.  In some ways, I regret it.  This figure is great and it was always fun owning a piece of Joe history.  But, in other ways, it made no sense to hold onto a figure that was barely a display piece.  My collection is focused on loose toys as that's what I played with as a kid and appreciate today.  This Mindbender wasn't painted and, therefore, wasn't all that useful to me beyond being a conversation piece.

Since 2001, a lot more of these figures have surfaced.  We even have found hand painted samples.  And, Hasbro released the intended card for this figure a few years ago.  So, we know a lot more about him than we did 19 years ago.  But, the age of social media is swallowing the Joe knowledge that's out there.  And, photos, info and stories of figures like this Mindbender are lost in private groups and the poor search functions that plague sites whose only purpose for existing is to get users to constantly share new content (so they can sell ads).  The Joe world is losing its collective archive and most of the discoveries of the past decade are not well documented in a place that's easily accessible to Joe fans.  I bought this Mindbender to help prevent that from happening.  For a while, things were OK.  But, the past few years have turned the tide and the secretive nature of the Joe world has won out and collectors of today simply don't have access to the recesses of the Joe line's history and many gems like this Mindbender will simply never be known to the Joe collecting public.  And, that's too bad.

1986 Dial Tone - Around The Web

I've told the story of my brother finding Dial Tone on some shelf of towels back in early 1986.  My insane jealousy over this still resonates today and I never feel like I appreciate Dial Tone enough in my collection.  He's a great figure and one of the highlights of Hasbro's iconic years.  His gear is amazing.  His colors are fun and work well.  And, he just fits with the rest of the line.  Here's the best of the 1986 Dial Tone from around the web.

1986 Dialtone Profile

1986 Dialtone by Danish Dude

1986 Dialtone by yorktownjoe

1986 Dialtone by Flint

1986 Dialtone by gi_joeisthere

1986 Dialtone by el_fototoygrafer

1989 TARGAT

It's really tough to pin down the "greatest" year of the vintage Joe line.  Really, there were examples of creativity, quality and disaster in each and every year.  Some years were more heavy on one of those attributes than others.  But, overall, every vintage year has some gems.  1989 is no exception.  In fact, it's probably one of those years that super high on quality and creativity and low on disaster.  In the case of the 1989 TARGAT figure, even the less than stellar design is made up for by the amount of creativity that went into the character.  And, while I consider the TARGAT to be among the least valuable enemy troopers, the design still has quite a bit of usefulness.

1989 saw a solid slate of Cobra army builders released.  The iconic Alley and Night Vipers remain among the most popular figures with collectors and have seen factory custom makers take the sculpts to new heights.  The Frag Viper, Annihilator and HEAT Viper all serve important functions within Cobra and feature both fun designs and amazing gear.  On the outside looking in, though, is the TARGAT.  The TARGAT not only features an odd specialty, he has clashing colors and his gear, while numerous and bulky, isn't all that cool.  In a down year of Joe, he might have slid by, unnoticed.  But, in a year full of great figures like 1989 was, TARGAT stands out as a bit of a misfire.

Space was big for Hasbro in 1989.  On the Joe side, Countdown was released as a single carded figure and cheaper version of the space shuttle, the Crusader, was released with a new Payload as well.  Cobra still had the 1988 Astro Viper and Stellar Stiletto on the shelves.  So, there was a good amount of space toys for a kid.  TARGAT was themed with those releases.  He is a Trans Atomspheric Rapid Global Assault Trooper (T.A.R.G.A.T.) who is launched out of a space shuttle and streaks to earth like a meteor to attack their enemies.  On some level, this is the type of insanity that is perfectly in line with other Cobra specialties.  It also have kids another figure who could battle the Joes in space or be a land based jet pack trooper who could quickly deploy to a battlefield.

In 1989, I was out of Joe toys.  I was buying the comic.  But, TARGAT had no memorable appearances there.  (At least, none I can remember.)  My only exposure to the TARGAT figure was when we spent a week at a friend of my mother's home up in Vermont.  Their kids were a bit younger and had the full contingent of 1989 Joe figures.  From their toy bins, I assembled the Alley Viper, Annihilator and TARGAT figures.  I put their gear together from either a catalog they had in their toy room or a cardback.  I got some of the weapons wrong.  But, it was close enough to realize that 1989 had some cool figures.  But, being a teenager but but still too young to drive, it would be another year before I'd break down and buy a retail Joe figure from a local Kohl's store while on my lunch break.

When I became a full fledged collector and was focused on lots containing figures from 1988-1992, TARGAT was not a figure I included in the calculation of whether a lot was worth it or not.  Once I had a single version, I had no need for further TARGATs.  Instead, I focused on the 1993 version that could be acquired carded for a buck or two back then.  At one point, I had half a dozen or so TARGATs acquired through acquisitions focused on other figures.  But, they didn't survive my collection purge and I only retained one complete figure to maintain my 1989 run.  In looking back through the site, I don't find any photos of the 1989 TARGAT figure.  That's a rarity as I usually try to include as many figures as I can in photos and pride myself on having at least one photo of close to every vintage Joe.  So, that tells you my interest level in the TARGAT figure.  Heck, it wasn't until this profile that I realized he was actually an Iron Grenadier release instead of Cobra.  Just another testament to this figure's lack of significance in my collection.

TARGAT's accessories aren't all that exciting.  When you compare his bulky jet pack with either the JUMP or even the Annihilator's helicopter pack, the TARGAT's gear is just huge.  It might make sense with him being deployed from space and all.  But, it lacks the subtle nuance of most vintage Joe accessories and comes across as something whose impressiveness was all tied to its size.  The figure's face shield does work well and is a cooler piece than even Fast Draw's mask.  It is a nice pilot helmet and the TARGAT does work in the Hurricane and other Cobra jets.  The two small pistols are boring, though.  They aren't cool enough to belie their tininess.  When compared to the Alley Viper's gun or the Night Viper's rifle, the little pistols seem very inadequate.

In the 20+ years I've had this site, I've profiled hundreds of Joe figures from all areas of the line.  The site started as a way to give exposure to figures made after 1988 because, at the time, the collecting world pretended that the vintage Joe line pretty much ended in 1987.  In time, though, I morphed into showcasing figures that I personally liked.  Through the years, I hit most of those and have moved into obscure releases and figures that I'm not as keen on.  In some ways, this frames the line in a light of negativity as many of my subjects are figures with whom I find fault.  But, it's a natural progression of both doing the things you love first and then having the thing you love convert into something lasting.  I search long and hard for figures that I really enjoy to showcase. They're tough to find.  But, sometimes, I discover some good in a figure that I've long either ignored or outright disliked.

That being said, we once again find the community at a crossroads.  Lovers of the new figure scale are doing exactly what the anniversary collectors did in 2007.  They ignore legit criticism of the product and quickly turn to off putting tactics to shut down criticism they don't want to hear.  It's as if they hear anything negative about the toys they want to love that it will undermine their ability to collect them.  The 6" Joes are something new.  The people who will collect them are not, for the most part, actual G.I. Joe collectors.  They are guys who collect that scale.  It's a large demographic and any Joe collectors that Hasbro gets to tag along for the ride are just gravy for them.  But, don't fool yourself.  Look at the G.I. Joe packaging, figure design and presentation and compare it to Marvel or Star Wars or even the niche Ghostbusters releases.  You know who the red-headed stepchild of Hasbro is.  And, it won't be long before we're reminded of that again and again.

The TARGAT mold has 5 main uses: this original figure, the 1993 Star Brigade repaint, the Funskool TARGAT (based on the 1993 figure), the Funskool Street Hawk figure (Which is now so expensive that it's, essentially, unattainable.  Seriously, does no one remember SmallJoes.com having them for ~$7 for years and never selling out?!?) and the 2006 convention Coil figures.  When the Funskool figures were plentiful, this left enough variations and availability to create all sorts of cool kitbashes among the various releases.  Now, that's far less common.  While I'd have loved to have seen a 1994 Star Brigade repaint of this mold or even a use in a Toys R Us six pack, I can't complain too much.  This mold isn't a favorite of mine and all of it's colorings work when you consider the environment in which the TARGAT's specialty should be used.  (Oh, yeah.  This body mold was also used for the 1993 Create a Cobra.  Thanks to the comments for that!)

These days, mint and complete with filecard TARGATs are about $20 figures.  You can find incomplete versions for half that amount and even get discolored complete versions for much cheaper.  Oddly, 1993 TARGATs run about the same price for mint and complete versions.  So, there's no real savings there if you want a high quality example of the figure.  Even in the days when TARGATs were dirt cheap, though, I had no desire to really army build them.  And, few other collectors did, either.  The figure is one of those that most people acquire for completeness and then forget about.  There isn't really a good way to display Cobra astronauts.  And, that limits the TARGAT.  For current pricing, I'd pass this guy by as he's certain to fall in price during the next Joe interest lull.  When that happens, I might pick up a couple of extras to just have around.  But, if I don't, it's no big loss as this isn't a figure that's ever really piqued my interest.

1986 Leatherneck - Around The Web

1986 introduced even more new characters who featured redundant specialties of the earlier Joe team.  Leatherneck was the new marine, meant as a supplement/enhancement/replacement for Gung Ho.  Quickly, though, Leatherneck began to stand on his own.  He retained some of the gruff characteristics of a marine.  But, the figure and his gear were different enough make him unique from Gung Ho.  Here's the best of his original paint job from around the web.

1986 Leatherneck Profile

1986 Leatherneck by specialmissionforce

1986 Leatherneck at JoeBattleLines.com

1986 Leatherneck by steelbrigade

1986 Leatherneck by wigramjoe

1986 Leatherneck by HCC788

1986 Leatherneck at JoeADay.com

1986 Leatherneck by Scarrviper

1986 Leatherneck by Hit and Run

1986 Leatherneck by Otto The Otter

1985 Lady Jaye

In the beginning of 1985, I was in competition with a couple of my friends to find the newly released Joes.  At various points, one of us pulled ahead of the other.  But, usually, we all found the same figures around the same time.  And, realizing that the end game was that we all had the same stuff, the quest turned more to finding a figure first.  My most famous find was when I came across a recently opened case of figures at the local Toys R Us store on the Friday afternoon that Spring Break began in 1985.  From it, I plucked a Snake Eyes.  None of my friends would find him for months.  But, luck struck again a few weeks later when I came across a Lady Jaye at the local Target store.

We all knew Lady Jaye from the 1984 cartoon series.  Her figure, along with Flint and Shipwreck, was one of the most anticipated 1985 releases.  She made a cameo in the final comic (#33) of 1984 and then took a starring role in the first issue released in 1985.  Upon finding her figure, though, I was somewhat shocked at her appearance.  Gone was her signature javelin quiver.  The rifle was still there.  But, it seemed empty.  More glaring, though, was that the figure was wearing a hat.  She had never had a headcover in the cartoon.  So, the look was jarringly different from the character we had come to know.

This wasn't all that relevant for me, though.  You see, the Sunday before we found Lady Jaye, I came across a Dusty figure at the local KB store.  I begged my parents for him and even promised to not ask for any more figures for a while.  They bought him for me.  So, when I found Lady Jaye and the Snow Serpent (the last figure for whom we learned the code name in 1985) at that Target, my younger brothers each got a figure and I did not.  As Lady Jaye belonged to one of them, she didn't quickly join the various adventures I played out in my room each day after school and right before bed.  Losing this crucial time when the figure was new somewhat limited Lady Jaye for me.

The other thing that soured me on the figure was that I had two friends who simply loved her.  Annoying loved her.  Not only would she be their first choice for a mission, but they would endow her with super powers and make her an unbeatable superwoman.  Playing with others who took this tact got tiresome and left me uninterested in Lady Jaye.  My frustrations with them were transferred to Lady Jaye and she never managed to take off as a viable character in my Joe world.  Even now, she's not really a figure I tend to display with my other 1985 figures as I see her as somewhat out of place with my childhood favorites.

As a figure, Lady Jaye works well enough.  She is a somewhat bright green.  One of the great things about the vintage Joe line was that the designers had an eye for how the figures would appear when randomly stocked on store pegs.  They made sure to choose complementary colors and not create too many figures that looked like one another and would be indistinguishable from one another.  This allowed kids to quickly recognize the figure they were seeking.  So, Lady Jaye uses green.  But, it's a different green from Flint, Footloose or Alpine.  This keeps her "military-esque" and makes her more visually distinctive than releases from when Hasbro foolishly abandoned this practice in the 2000's.

Lady Jaye's gear isn't all that interesting.  But, it is definitely essential to the figure.  The harpoon gun is Lady Jaye's and Lady Jaye's alone.  It looks perfect with the figure and doesn't really work with any other figure.  Her backpack is scaled to Lady Jaye's sculpt and, again, works well with her while also not really working with any other figures.  Her final piece of gear is a video camera.  It's comically dated now.  But, in 1985, something so small was novel.  And, as a kid, I found more uses for the camera than I did even Lady Jaye herself.  It found itself a vital piece of equipment for spying on Cobra, taking video of the Dreadnok nefarious deeds or even catching a Joe double agent at work.  The camera found its way into the hands of many figures while the rest of Lady Jaye's gear really only works for her.

Lady Jaye had little first life, a somewhat chaotic second life and then a collector based final life before the mold was retired and replaced by a completely new one.  Hasbro released just one Lady Jaye in 1985.  From there, the mold went to Funskool.  She was released in India for many years in the mid 1990's and has several minor variants of body shading and accessory colors.  Funskool also used her for the Canary Ann figure in the Complan Commandos line.  Hasbro got the mold back for the 1997 anniversary figures and released her in an excellent black and grey paint job.  The body was used again in 1998 with a less than stellar head as the new character Volga.  Despite collector demand for Lady Jaye, Hasbro didn't use the mold again until 2003 when she appeared as a Convention release.  This was the final usage of the original mold.  In 2005, Hasbro created an all new body mold that was used on Daina.  It was used again on the 2006 Comic Pack Lady Jaye and the 2007 Convention Doc.  For a character as popular as she was, Lady Jaye really didn't get many releases.  Scarlett and Baroness dominated the slots for female characters in the 2000's and Lady Jaye was really neglected.

There was a time when collectors believed that because Lady Jaye was a female figure that she existed in drastically lower numbers than other figures.  Time has proven that if that was true, it has had no impact on the figure's availability today.  There are always tons of mint, complete and with filecard Lady Jaye figures available.  They sell anywhere from $15 to $30, with the bulk of them in the $25 range.  That's a lot.  But, there aren't a lot of other options for the Lady Jaye character.  And, the original version is easily her most iconic look.  I'm not a huge fan of this figure.  But, I'm also not as against it as I was in earlier days.  Lady Jaye has her place in the collecting pantheon.  But each collector finds her useful or not.  I'm glad I have one from my early collecting days.  But, I'd also not miss her were she absent.