Rarities - Palitoy Action Force G.I. Joe Figures

In the grand scheme of things, carded Palitoy Action Force figures are not rare.  In fact, many are quite common and will sell for only a slight premium over the cost of a gem mint and complete version of the figure inside.  But, rarity is forgiven in this instance for the sake of the oddity of the figures and the package design.  While not overly dynamic, the Action Force card designs have some cool aspects.  And, there are a couple of figures who feature European exclusive accessory variants as well.

The Action Force carded Joes used the packaging design from the 5 points of articulation, European exclusive series of toys that were produced by Palitoy.  The series features G.I. Joe figures from 1983 and 1984.  (The 1982 figures are all 1983 swivel arm versions.)  When Palitoy started releasing 1985 figures, they also changed the packaging to be more in line with American G.I. Joe designs.

We'll start with a couple of examples of the five points of articulation figures that were exclusive to Europe.  You will note the accessories are a mix of exclusives and repainted G.I. Joe weapons.  While some of the weapons are indistinguishable from the Hasbro releases of the same molds, many of the Action Force items are in colors that are exclusive to the European Action Force line.

One of the odd things with Palitoy figures is that Palitoy was also the European distributor of Star Wars figures.  As such, you can find carded Action Force figures that include Star Wars weapons.  Below are two Baron Ironblood figures.  One including a Kenner Han Solo Blaster and another including a Snake Eyes Uzi.  As Palitoy dumped their overstock onto the market, odd combos happened and these crossovers are an interesting intersection of Star Wars and the G.I. Joe figures who succeeded them as retail king of the action figures.

As Palitoy transitioned away from their exclusive figures and into G.I. Joe molds, the packaging remained intact.  Here you can see some examples of carded G.I. Joe figures using the classic Action Force packaging.  For the most part, these figures are the same as the American released versions.  There is some speculation that there might be slight accessory variants with the European releases.  You will note that some figures included extra accessories in these early Action Force packages.  I seem to recall a Cobra Trooper that included a blue or black version of Grunt's backpack.  But, all my searching could not turn up the image of that figure.  So, if you have information regarding the existence of this item, please leave the info in the comments below.  Not the awesome alternate Cobra logo that was featured on this early figures, too.

One item that was exclusive to Europe were the Action Force accessory sets.  These are notable for a few reasons.  The first, of course, is the opportunity to get many classic G.I. Joe accessories in exclusive colors.  The second is that European exclusive accessories were often packed in the same packs.  So, collectors after exclusively colored Joe items can experience some of the exclusive weapons to the European line.  (Many of which are excellently done.)  Finally, though, is the oddity where Hasbro molds and Palitoy molds exist on the same plastric sprue.  This is notable as it implies that Hasbro and Palitoy teamed up to create these accessory packs with new molds for the weapons since it was unlikely the co-existed prior to the release of these packs.  You'll note in the photos below the exclusive colors and mix of gear.

If you want the real skinny on all things Action Force, visit Blood For the Baron.  It is the definitive Action Force site out there.

Rarities - Unproduced Cobra Island Infiltrate 3 Pack

At the 2003 G.I. Joe convention, Hasbro gave collectors a collective heart attack at their booth.  Aside from the early samples of the figures upcoming in the regular retail line, Hasbro also showcased their planned army building sets that would round out late 2003 and early 2004.  Collectors were agape at newly constructed Crimson Guards, Cobra Troopers and Cobra Officers.  There was no limit to the excitement as banners thanking Hasbro were created in the zeal of them finally listening to what collectors wanted.  One of the upcoming sets was the Cobra Island Infiltrate set.

The premise was that three Joes dressed as Crimson Guards were going to infiltrate Cobra Island.  The set included the infiltration raft and three figures: Gung Ho, Duke and Snake Eyes.  The selling point, of course, was that each figure included a removable helmet that would allow collectors to simply buy the sets en masse and use the figures as helmeted Crimson Guard army builders.  (The early set showed a Thunder head, but the test shots of the actual figures later included the Duke head.)  The catch, though, was that the figures would not be sold at mass retail.  They would, instead, go to a designation of retailers known as "Market 6".  This meant that Wal Mart, Target and Toys R Us would not stock the set.  In their stead, non traditional retailers such as Walgreens and smaller, regional retailers would have access to the product.  This also meant that online G.I. Joe sellers would also be able to offer the product and sell it.  Joe dealers having access to the set quickly ignited the dealer world and most quickly put up pre-orders for the set and began to collect money in anticipation of coming sales.

Lost in all this enthusiasm for the new army builders, though, were a couple of troubling signs.  First, the BAT pack from earlier in 2003 had been a retail dud.  They didn't sell like Hasbro was hoping and Hasbro ended up having to clearance them out discount and overstock retail stores.  Even online Joe dealers, who were dialed in to the online army building community were sitting on thousands of unsold BAT 6 figure sets.  Simultaneously, Toys R Us was reducing their orders on the 6 figure packs from 25,000 units to 20,000 units after Tiger Force and Python Patrol sold somewhat slowly.  On the flipside, Joes were flying off of retail shelves and Hasbro could not keep up with the demand for Waves 7.5 (the army builder wave) and Wave 8.  So, there were mixed signals.

As 2003 wound to a close, collectors began to grumble about the timing of the Cobra Island Infiltrate set.  It wasn't showing up, even while all of the other toys shown for release in the same time frame were.  Collectors got worried that it would come out over Christmas and they wouldn't have enough money to buy all they wanted.  Still, though, there was no word on the set.  Then, quietly, Hasbro cancelled the set.  Dealers got notice and communicated to their customers and the collecting world in general.  Collectors were extremely disappointed.  But, the coming waves of army builders in early 2004 quickly diverted attention away from the Infiltrate set's cancellation.

The aftermath of this set's cancellation hit on a few levels.  For most collectors, the failure of this set to garner any retail support was the first real sign that the G.I. Joe renaissance of the early 2000's was far more fragile than they believed.  Within a year of this set's failure acknowledgement, the Joe line was cancelled.  The other reality is that this set bankrupted several online G.I. Joe dealers.  In some ways, this was bad.  But, it had some good side effects.

A few dealers had pre-charged people and collected money on this set.  They used that money for the $10,000 retainer with Hasbro to secure their order.  However, Hasbro had the right to keep that money and allocate it for other merchandise if specific items were cancelled.  So, when the set was cancelled, the dealers did not get their money back from Hasbro, but they had to refund it to their customers.  For most of the dealers who were part timers, this was too much of a financial burden and they went bankrupt.  A few managed to work out credits with their customers.  But, the items that collectors most desired were not available to these small sellers and the whole situation left the selling world smaller.

This wasn't a terrible thing, though.  From the ashes rose stronger and larger dealers.  While they weren't Joe specific, they had the financial wherewithal to weather blips like the Infiltrate set.  Also gone are the days where you pre-order something and pay up front.  That's good for consumers and creates a healthier market.  So, that is a positive legacy for this set.

At the time, not getting this set at retail seemed like a huge missed opportunity for collectors.  While Agent Faces was around to get some cheap Crimson Guards, this set would have been a quick hit for many of the deepest pocketed collectors to quickly build large armies.  But, in late 2004, Hasbro released the Operation Crimson Sabotage set that gave collectors three legit army builders.  That was followed in early 2005 with a Toys R Us exclusive Crimson Guard set that featured 4 Crimson Guards.  So, collectors ended up with many, better ways to get modern Crimson Guards into their collections.

This set made it very far into the production process.  But, not as far as some other abandoned concepts.  Full body, unpainted figures exist for Gung Ho, Duke and Snake Eyes.  So, Hasbro had the molds ready to go.  But, there are no factory painted examples out there.  So, it's unlikely they made it to a pre-production run.  (The samples below are hand painted proto types and kitbashes.)  Hasbro made packaging mock ups to showcase to prospective buyers.  So, they committed some decent resources to this set and fully expected it to take off.  Had this set happened today, it's likely that an online dealer or two would have been able to bankroll the run and get an exclusive.  But, in 2003, dealers didn't yet have that wherewithal and Hasbro still didn't believe in giving low production run items to non traditional retailers.

When taken against the later releases, the value of this set greatly diminishes.  Agent Faces was a cool novelty to have a Joe in Cobra disguise.  But, getting a bunch of Joes in Cobra uniforms seemed like a lazy headswap...especially since the Duke and Gung Ho heads had recently been used.  The real loss was the V1 inspired Snake Eyes head with a ball joint.  Hasbro got this head to pre production level.  But, it was never used.  It could have been used to create an awesome amalgamated figure using some of the swivel arm Snake Eyes bodies that Hasbro had in the 2000's.  This is another of those baffling choices that Hasbro made during that time.  Collectors were given Snake Eyes figures to death.  Yet, Hasbro had something new that actually would have pleased said collectors available, but then chose to not use it.  It's just odd.

At a proposed retail price of 9.99, this set would have been a huge bargain.  (Though, it's likely that no store would have actually charged that low since these were non traditional toy retailers.)  Three figures and a raft would have been a good deal even at a marked up price.  But, considering the releases that Hasbro did give to retailers in the subsequent years, collectors aren't really missing anything from this set's cancellation.  Sure, more figures are better than fewer and I would have loved a few extra Snake Eyes heads.  But, that's about the extent of the set's value.  It is certainly an interesting look into what could have been.  But, collectors didn't really lose anything too unique or interesting by not seeing this set released to retail.

Rarities - Then and Now Unproduced Figures

Supposedly, Hasbro had kicked around an idea of "Then and Now" figure packs for quite some time.  (They may have been marketed under the "Past and Present" banner as well.)  The idea being a way to showcase original sculpt Joes and how they have evolved over the years.  As a concept, it seems pretty weak.  In 2002, the Skullbuster figure (done in ARAH style) was packaged with a new sculpt figure.  Those who hated new sculpts were not swayed by buying the Skullbuster.  Around 2009, Hasbro resurrected the concept.  Some key G.I. Joe movie characters would be done up in two packs to sell an original style figure and the anniversary style figure.  Fittingly, these duds were cancelled before they got too far into the product pipeline.  But, they did get far enough where near production level figures of the ARAH style characters were produced.

First up is Duke.  The mold for the figure debuted in the terrible comic pack #24.  This figure, though, actually kind of works.  The head is MUCH better when cast in flesh colored plastic with painted hair than the flesh painted version that was released in 2005.  The uniform is a hearkening back to the classic 1984 release and looks pretty good.  You see the vibrant gold lapel pin and the classic colors.  The Gung Ho arms (meant to be bare) still look bad with the paint.  But, overall, this isn't a terrible figure choice and I'd have bought one.  He was meant to include a classically styled helmet in matching green, a green version of his classic M-32 as well as a pistol from the 2000's era of accessories.  It's possible he would have included more, but those items were showcased in some Hasbro pics from the time.

Unreleased Then and Now Duke

Unreleased Then and Now Duke

Next up is Destro.  This figure may also appear familiar as this mold configuration for the character also debuted in the terrible Comic Pack #24.  But, this Destro figure is also a nice improvement over that retail release.  You see that he has unpainted, black hands.  This is a nice step up from the white painted version from 2005.  This allows his left wrist gauntlet to stand out more.  The head is not very chrome on this version.  Anything retail would have had to have been painted rather than chromed.  But, other photography shows the figure with a more metallic head.  So, this paint color was likely an earlier sample and is duller than what we would have gotten at production.  The figure would have included the 1992 Destro weapon.  Like most uses of this mold, though, this figure doesn't really offer anything you can't get from the 1992, 2001 or 2005 versions.

Rounding out the ensemble is Stormshadow.  This figure is close to the 2005 Comic Pack #21 version.  But, he has painted upper arms.  For Stormshadow, this is more acceptable (though the arms were designed to be completely bare) since you could make a case for him wearing sleeves that are more form fitting.  There are unproduced Comic Pack Stormshadows from 2005 with painted sleeves, too.  So, be careful not to confuse the two.  This figure would have likely included a sword from the anniversary era sculpts.  It would have been painted and featured the Arashikage symbol.  While getting more Stormshadows at retail was usually a good thing, this figure is nothing the clearance fodder comic pack didn't offer.  And, not getting the mold's full complement of vintage accessories was always a letdown.

Unreleased Then and Now Stormshadow

Unreleased Then and Now Stormshadow

In general, these products were rather bland and uninspired.  While it would have been nice for vintage Joes to get a proper send off before the guard at Hasbro who didn't like them sent them off to the trash heap, I'm not sure these sets would have accomplished that.  Of the three figures, I'd have only really liked the Duke.  And, I doubt I would have paid the $15 or so these sets would have cost.  They are an interesting glimpse into the time when Hasbro had some faith in the brand.  But, they are also a grim reminder that Hasbro has definitely left the vintage figures and their collectors behind.

Rarities - Cobra M.S.V. (Canadian Exclusive)

In 2000, I bought a lot of figures and vehicle parts from a Canadian who was selling his childhood collection.  In the photos was a Rumbler, who I needed at the time.  So, coupled with a few army builders, this was enough to get me to bite on it.  He told me there was another pile of stuff, too.  When it arrived, it turned out the other "pile of stuff" was quite a bit of figures and gear.  I was ecstatic to get a not pictured Star Duster, Night Viper and Alley Viper.  There was also a lot of miscellaneous vehicle parts.  I didn't really look at them and put them into a case that was included while I sorted and put away the figures.  A year or two later, I was looking through the parts when two VAMP gas cans molded in black grabbed my attention.

They were flat black rather than the glossy black versions that were included with the Tiger Force VAMP.  Also in the pile was a black center piece to an MMS.  I thought it might be from the SMS.  But, that wasn't released in Canada.  That's when I realized that I had pieces to the Canadian Exclusive MSV.

The MSV was a retailer exclusive in Canada.  The set included a black version of the VAMP with an all black version of the MMS which were now aligned with Cobra.  The VAMP uses the 192 VAMP mold without the shovel on the hood.  The MMS appears to be unchanged from the original release, other than the color.  It's a classic pairing of iconic Joe vehicles done up in colors that would perfectly match the Hiss Tank.

At it's core, I'm torn on this toy.  It's extremely cool.  But, the fact is that we do have the Stinger jeep which is a very similar mold in the same colors.  The SMS is hard to find, but is the same as the MSV missile base and the only difference is red missiles instead of black.  Taking a Stinger and SMS missile trailer gives you a more visually attractive MSV at a fraction of the price.  So, from a practicality standpoint, the MSV offers very little to a Cobra army.  On the other hand, though, the all black VAMP is sleek and the differences with the mounted twin gun are enough that makes me really want a few MSV's to round our my classic Cobras.

High quality MSV's are very rare and very expensive.  Gem mint specimens easily top $1,000.  The extremely low production run and high propensity for breakage or lost pieces makes getting a perfect one a very difficult proposition.  The fact that it's the highly coveted VAMP mold in black and given to Cobra just adds to the mystique.  This set would look great among an early Cobra army.  I can picture Stinger Drivers manning the jeep with Cobra Troopers setting up the MMS.  It would be a perfect blend with other, early Cobra vehicles.  The price and availability, though, make this one a stretch dream for me, though.

Rarities - Unproduced Copper Cobra Imperial Processional Figures

Hasbro produced a lot of exclusive vintage style Joe figure sets for Toys R Us in the 2003-2005 timeframe.  These sets were extremely popular with collectors and proved to be the only real outlet for vintage Joe aficionados to acquire new releases at reasonable prices.  Some of the sets were great.  Some were terrible and most were in between the extremes.  However, just about all of the sets had some unproduced and pre production variants.  While many of them are well known and common in the collecting world, others are more obscure.  A case in point are the copper figures from the 2005 Imperial Processional set.

Below you see the Baroness and the Cobra Imperial Guard figures.  The Baroness is noteworthy for the missing Cobra sigil on her chest.  But, both figures are a much duller copper color than the figures that were released at retail.  The full production figures were more red and had a generally brighter hue.  These copper alternatives seem like color tests from early runs.

These figures are somewhat dull.  But, the Processional figures were dull even as production releases.  I'm not sure if one set is really that much better than the other.  But, these copper releases are fairly rare and are not often seen when you search out unproduced figures from this era.

Unproduced Imperial Processional Baroness

Unproduced Imperial Processional Cobra Imperial Guard