Fuego - Argentine Exclusive Ripcord

In 1984, my youngest brother got two Ripcord figures.  I'm not sure why he got two of them.  And, I'm not sure why he never got any other 1984 figures aside from those two Ripcords.  But, his acquisitions brought Ripcord into my childhood collection.  And, as I was loathe to use multiples of the same Joes, it also brought a second set of his parachute gear into my adventures where they were then used on Airborne, Duke and even Flint as they took second fiddle in the Skystriker.  Ripcord, though, had trouble staying near the top of the play list.  Once I removed his parachute pack, Ripcord was kind of plain.  While it didn't make sense to have Ripcord traipsing around the bush while wearing his parachute and airmask, I didn't find the figure all that cool sans these accouterments.  

So, Ripcord kind of fell to the wayside.  Until he appeared as a major player in the comic, that is.  As Ripcord's importance to the comic story grew, I brought the figure back around.  Ripcord found new importance to me and continued to be an often used figure through 1986 where he joined the Tomahawk crew.  One of my great disappointments as a kid was finding how lame Crazylegs was when compared to Ripcord.  The later paratrooper simply didn't match up.  Fifteen years later, though, I found a figure that did.  And, it was simply a slight repaint of Ripcord who breathed some new life into the Ripcord mold and made me appreciate the original figure all over again.  That variant is the Plastirama Fuego figure that was released in Argentina.

The Plastirama figures were a relatively small line of Joe figures released in Argentina.  While there are a few very significant coloring and mold combination exclusives in the line, the bulk of it was slight repaints of Hasbro paint jobs.  This was mostly so that the foreign companies could repurpose marketing materials that Hasbro had created for their markets.  But, it also created a bunch of slight variants that offer modern collectors slightly different looks for many of their line's early, classic characters.  Among them was Ripcord.  The Plastirama variant features different greens from the Hasbro figure as well as nice, blue cammo.  The main calling card, though, is that Fuego features flesh colored hands.  He is the only version of Ripcord released anywhere in the world that is not wearing gloves.  Usually, I prefer gloves.  But, in this case, the figure having uncovered hands allows for a different look for the Ripcord character, even if it's slight.

And, really, that's how I use him.  I like Ripcord and try to include him in various photos.  Having the Brazilian, Hasbro and Argentine versions allows for some diversity when he appears in various backgrounds and scenes.  The colors of this Plastirama release, though, really pop and they are the brightest and most vibrant of all the Ripcord variants.  The quality, though, isn't great and I'm leery of putting the rifle in his hand.  But, since he was used to cheap, the quality was less important than the visuals that the figure offered.  

Fuego includes all of the gear from the original Ripcord.  Though, there are significant differences that let the two sets of accessories stand on their own.  Fuego's pack is cast in a greyish-brown color that does not match the figure.  It is a color unique to Argentina and actually works with the repainted Ripcord figure named Sokerk.  His helmet is the same as the classic Ripcord.  But, it is cast in a glossy black.  It is shiny and easy to distinguish from other uses of the helmet mold.  The mask is tougher to discern.  But, it tends to be rigid and shiny as well.  Finally, Fuego's rifle is cast in black.  The Auriken release from Mexico also has a near black rifle.  American collectors are aware of the dark version of the gun from the Tactical Battle Platform.  And, the Gatilho figure from Brazil also includes a blackish version of the gun.  But, Fuego's rifle, once again, is defined by the sheen.  It is a very glossy weapon that is unique to Argentina.  In an age when loose figures from childhood collections defined foreign Joes that were imported to the US, these distinctions would be crucial.  But, since most of the Fuegos in the hands of collectors came via opened carded samples from the Plastirama warehouse find in the late 1990's/early 2000's, most of the figures you see out there will include the correct gear.

Ripcord appeared all over the world.  Yet, despite that fact, there are really only two major versions of the character.  After the figure's use by Hasbro, he was planned for release in the 1988 Tiger Force subset.  Unfortunately, the mold had already been sent away.  So, the mock up Tiger Force Ripcord never saw production and we're left with a couple of catalog images of what the figure might have looked like.  (I often wonder how we'd view Ripcord had the Tiger Force version been released.  It's pretty likely that the figure would, today, command a premium over even the original Ripcord figure.)  From there, the Ripcord mold appeared as Fumaca in Brazil, as Soga in Mexico and then as Fuego in Argentina.  All of these figures are based on the appearance of the Hasbro original: though they all have differences among them.  Ripcord was used twice more, though as new characters in each instance.  In Argentina, Ripcord's mold was used as the second, later and more common Sokerk figure.  And, in Brazil, he was turned into a Cobra and released as Relampago in the Python Patrol subset.  Ripcord's absence was a large hole in the 2000's as collectors would have gobbled up any repaint.  But, there are a lot of Ripcord figures to track down...even if most of them are very similar.  Hasbro finally released a new Ripcord in 2023 as part of the Haslab Skystriker.  This Night Force Ripcord looks great, but has poor quality, especially on the gear.  Maybe we'll someday get a repaint of it and finally see a Tiger Force release.

Time was, MOC Fuego figures were stupidly cheap.  You could buy individual figures for under $5 and you could buy up lots of a half a dozen figures for just a couple of bucks per fig.  Fuego was among the least popular Plastirama releases.  And, his lack of popularity continues today.  You'll probably pay around $25 for a carded figure.  Though, you might find loose versions for less if you have the patience.  Figures in COPS boxes tend to be a bit more popular.  Though, those are desirable for the packaging and the figures in the window are less important unless they are one of the ninjas or TNT.  For the money, this figure doesn't make a lot of sense.  You can get a mint and complete American Ripcord for about the same price as a carded Fuego and Ripcord is a better figure and is higher quality.  But, Fuego's unique coloring does make him distinctive and the lack of gloves is a fun update to a classic figure.  I'm a sucker for foreign versions of characters that are barely repaints of the original.  So, I probably get a lot more value out of figures like Fuego than most collectors.  But, I also got him at a time when he was cheaper to buy than retail Joes put out by Hasbro.  So, your mileage on this figure will likely vary from mine.

Funskool General Flagg - Around The Web

Back in late 2000, I imported a couple of Funskool figures from Malaysia.  The seller had a few harder to find 1993 and 1994 figures, too.  So, it made a lot of sense to pick up some relatively cheap Funskool figures.  Among them was a brand new figure that had never appeared anywhere else prior: General Flagg.  When I got the figure in hand, it was more awesome than I had imagined.  The quality was good and the colors were amazing.  That Flagg then became widely available in Feb. of 2001 when mass quantities of Funskool figures began to be imported to the U.S.  

Since then, the figure still remains my favored use of the General Flagg mold.  I try to use it as often as I can since you don't see it all that often.  Below, you'll find what links on the figure I could find.  Not a ton of content.  But, General Flagg is generally obscure.  And, an Indian release of him wasn't a figure that a ton of collectors really coveted back in the early 2000's.

Funskool General Flagg Profile

Funskool General Flagg Variants by Funskool Rony

Funskool General Flagg by kushviper

Funskool General Flagg by Funskool Rony

Funskool General Flagg by the Dragon Fortress

Funskool General Flagg by shaleenguharoy

Funskool General Flagg by aicrtm

Funskool General Flagg by toysjoy357

Funskool General Flagg by shaleenguharoy

Funskool General Flagg by Funskool Rony

Satan - Plastirama (Argentina) Exclusive

What do you do when you've owned a figure for nearly 15 years, but never actually been able to use it?  The answer, of course, is you find a close enough proximal figure and finally bring one of the most sought after characters to your collection.  But, what happens if you miss those, too?  And, suddenly, your desire for any representation of the figure is suppressed by prices that seem out of line for rarity and popularity of the figure?  The answer there is, you go without.  And, one of the most iconic foreign repaints in the entire history of G.I. Joe is among the last figures from Argentina to make an appearance on a site that was heavily built upon the introduction of foreign figures to American collectors.  All due to the generosity of a fellow collector who had a spare Black Major figure he was willing to give to me.  Thus, without further ado, I present a profile on, really, 2 figures: the Satan figure that is exclusive to Argentina and the Black Major homage from 2016 or so.

As 2007 wore on, I decided to close the gaps in my Plastirama collection.  I had noticed that a few figures that were once common were starting to disappear.  So, in short order, I completed my run of the common swivel arm figures.  Two of the last three acquisitions were Cobra De Hielo and Satan.  The plan, of course was to open the figures.  I had just taken most of the other Plastirama releases off their cards.  And, Satan and Cobra De Hielo were next.  But, I never got around to it.  Shortly after I acquired these figures, I started a new job, lost interest in Joe for a bit and simply left the figures out in the garage for years.  I accidentally acquired a second Cobra De Hielo and did open that figure for my loose version.  This sparked my interest in Satan.  But, upon reviewing Ebay listings for him, I found that the figure was now worth way more than I had thought he'd be.  And, as such, opening him became a fool's errand.  It's one thing to open a $10 carded figure.  It's another to open a $150 carded figure.  So, Satan stays on his card to this day...something that I'll never open due to the current collectible value.

That's where the Black Major comes in.  In the middle 2010's, Black Major started producing Storm Shadow repaints.  Among the earliest releases was a red repaint based on Satan.  Sure, Hasbro had tried the Red Ninja thing in 2004.  But, those figures were a poor man's Satan.  Black Major's version was tied to the original figure and featured colors very similar to the Argentine release.  And, as a huge bonus, the Black Major figure included a full complement of 1984 Stormshadow accessories.  In short, it was a cheap way for people to acquire a Satan (or an army of red ninjas) for sane prices.  

There is the question of how to pronounce this character's name.  Of course, there is the generally accepted SAY-tan.  This, though, ties the figure too much to a devilish motif and seems overly cliched.  I prefer to say Sah-TAN as it's less obvious where the name's origins lie.  Modern comic writers, most ignorant of foreign Joe characters beyond Ebay listings, incorporated the character with various mnemonic takes of the name.  Some are better than others.  But, in the end, it was the basic Red Ninjas who were introduced in Silent Interlude (#21) that were the driving force behind the collector appeal of this figure.  The Satan name only became interesting after the fact when there were other Red Ninjas available and collectors were desperate to find anything that could break their Joe worlds from the Hama-verse and set them a bit apart.

For me, though, having the figure carded meant that he didn't really join my collection.  But, I also acquired the figure late in the game, as I was losing interest in Joe for a bit.  So, I never really came up with a characterization of him.  While Ninja Ku often appears in photos as a random ninja, I have yet to find Satan as useful.  Having the Black Major figure finally gives me a loose version to use.  I just haven't found myself incorporating him into the fold like I thought I would.  There was a time when an army of red ninjas was enticing.  But, I built one with the 2004 Red Ninja Vipers and found that it wasn't all that interesting.  If I ever set up a Cobra display with early figures, you can be sure that Satan will find a way to be a part of it.  I just don't think that's ever really going to happen, though.

So, here's the thing.  Satan's aren't rare.  They're not.  Tons of cases of them were imported to the U.S.  And, all the carded figures you could ever want sat unsold on Ebay for between $30 and $50 between 2001 and 2003.  Satan's case mates of Cobra De Hielo and Ninja Ku were similar.  As were Destro, Sparta and Sokerk.  Those three are important as the Destro figure exists in similar quantities as Satan.  Yet, he's very available and cheap.  For every Fuera De La Ley, there is a Satan.  And, there are more Satans because, in the early 2000's as Argentine collectors foraged every nook and cranny of their native land for G.I. Joes to sell to American collectors in American currency during that particular economic crisis in Argentina.  Those collectors found many additional, loose Satan and Ninja Ku figures to offer to collectors who could pay in stable currency.

The reality is, Satan is super popular.  Neither the 2004 Red Ninja Viper nor the anniversary figure release did much to offset the massive appeal of Satan.  And, because of that, Satan is way too expensive today for as common as the figure is.  You can be sure there are many collectors from 2001 - 2004 who have long been out of the hobby with carded Satans and Ninja Kus in their basement who have no idea the figure has increased in price more than 40 fold in the past twenty years.  In the summer of 2020, Satans were $600+ MOC figures.  Just one year later, carded figures sold for $1200+!  Now, you can get MOC figures under $1000 again.  But, some still climb to $1500.  Loose, mint versions are $250 or more.  Even figures with broken thumbs or broken crotches will break $100.  This is difficult to swallow as I remember all those figures sitting, unsold, with $30 buy it now prices.  I remember thinking $30 was way too much for a loose, complete with cardback 3 figure set of Satan, Ninja Ku and Cobra De Hielo.  But, I also remember scrambling to buy the last Satan I could find for $70 in 2007 in fear that he would continue to rise out of my price range.  

You see way too many collectors who are new to the Joe world incorrectly calling this figure "rare" because they can't find one.  He's not rare.  He's popular.  And, that popularity drives the price...even if there are hundreds, or thousands, of carded examples that were imported to the U.S. and now sit in tons of old collections.  This, though, has been the fate of many of the foreign Joes that were readily available for cheap prices in the early days of online Joedom.  Action Force vehicle drivers, Funskool Street Hawks, Brazilian Eco Warriors and all of the Plastirama figures have dried up and are now thought to be only the domain of enterprising collectors who braved foreign postal services to acquire the figures.  Old timers know differently.  But, in the end, it is demand that drives prices and the current crop of collectors are willing to overpay for items like Satan since they think it's something exotic.  If only they really knew how these figures were ignored and derided by earlier generations.

European Exclusive Spirit Iron Knife - Around the Web

With the new month, we'll bring back one of our old favorites: International Joe Month.  This month will be all about international Joe figures.  There will be profiles, Around the Web and some other features: all showcasing international figures.  So, we'll start with the European Exclusive Spirit.  The fact that he's missing eyebrows is a cruel joke.  But, this is still a great update for a classic mold.

European Spirit Profile

Euro Spirit at JoeADay.com

Euro Spirit by specialmissionforce

Euro Spirit by bruxovigo

Euro Spirit by dreadnokdread

Euro Spirit by nightforcetunnelrat

Euro Spirit by jsteved.yardsale

Euro Spirit by viper_space

Euro Spirit by cobra_florence

Euro Spirit by g.i. boyz

2023 Star Wars Retro Biker Scout

It's that time to once again look at a retro Star Wars figure.  Back in 2020, I looked at an Empire Strikes Back figure.  Three years later, it's time to look at a Return of the Jedi figure.  Or, in other words, it took the same amount of time between the original Luke Bespin in 1980 and the original Biker Scout in 1983 as it did to get the two Retro figures.  Honestly, I had no idea it had been that long.  But, there were a couple Mandalorian waves, Obi Wan Kenobi figures and some Amazon exclusive bounty hunters in there.  But, finally, we have the Return of the Jedi figures.  And, for nostalgic reasons, most of the figures in the 6 figure set are interesting to me.  Naturally, the most interesting in the Luke Jedi.  But, I talked about why that was back in 2016.  So, instead, I'm going to look at this Biker Scout as he was my entry figure into the Return of the Jedi world.

In the spring of 1983, the kid around the block from us invited us over.  And, he promptly showed us his new Biker Scout figure.  It was from the new Star Wars movie and was simply overwhelming.  He looked like an amazingly updated Stormtrooper.  He had the black and white trappings of the empire.  But, he was way more detailed than standard troopers.  And, his pistol was a marvel of design.  It was, at the time, the coolest Star Wars gun that I thought Kenner had ever produced.  Our friend informed us that he found the figures at the local Toys R Us.  So, the following Saturday, I convinced my mom to take us to the store.  There we were greeted by the standard wall of Star Wars figures that now had a few Return of the Jedi figures interspersed among the leftover figures from prior movies.  

I quickly grabbed a Biker Scout for my purchase.  And, my younger brother bought an Emperor's Royal Guard.  I have no idea what other figures they had that day.  But, the pickings had to be slim since I'd have bought a Luke with a new lightsaber if they had it in stock.  I can remember the excitement of find the figure I wanted on the shelf.  Even if I don't really recall looking at the cardback to see what other figures could, possibly, be available on the shelves.  Regardless, for our two first figures from Jedi, the Biker Scout and Royal Guard were pretty good choices.  

I got the figure home and wanted to find a use for him.  The Speeder Bike and this figure are now inseparable.  But, in early 1983, we had not yet seen the bikes that this figure would ride.  I just knew that I had to find him a vehicle.  It turns out that I had removed the seats from the original Tie Fighter and Darth Vader's Tie Fighter.  I had done it in a vain search for lost weapons hidden underneath them.  But, I ended up liking the little pods as vehicles.  So, I put the Biker Scout in Darth Vader's seat and found my Tie Fighter Pilot for the Tie Fighter Seat and the two figures combed the grass underneath our swingset in the yard.  I imagined guns on the front.  And, they, eventually, stunned a Fisher Price motorcycle rider.  That figure was orange and was a close enough approximation for an unnamed Rebel.  This became a recurring theme and the motorcycle rider eventually found himself encased in mud and baked on the hot metal slide as punishment for joining the rebels.

The impression left on me from that day still hangs around, 40 years later.  I can't recall any other Biker Scout adventures.  I'm not even sure if he went with me to my grandparents' house that summer.  But, as the Speeder Bikes came out, we ended up with multiple speeders and multiple Biker Scouts.  But, by the time all of that entered our collection, I had discovered swivel arm battle grip and G.I. Joe was forever relegating Star Wars to forgotten status.

When I first returned to collecting in the mid 1990's, I picked up a complete Biker Scout from somewhere.  Back then, no one who wasn't into the toy scene really cared about old Star Wars figures.  And, I'd get little boxes with a few figures and weapons from various people.  One friend even found another Royal Guard in the engineering lab where some prior student had used the figure for scale on a model machine.  The only person I couldn't crack was one of my room mates.  His father actually worked for Kenner, though not on the Star Wars division.  But, every day, his father would spend his lunch change at the Kenner store.  And, my friend had over 100 of each Imperial trooper at least through Empire.  And, he understood the potential value in his collection.  Knowing what we do now, in 2023, I wonder what treasures he had hidden in there.  But, I'll never know.

While looking over this figure, it isn't a great toy for 1983.  The sculpting and proportions are light years ahead of Star Wars figures from 1977.  But, when you compare this figure to the Joe line of 1983, it is night and day.  Joe had added articulation of swivel arm battle grip.  And, the accessory complement for Joe was ratcheted up from the original offerings in 1982.  Sans the hype of the "final" Star Wars movie, it's doubtful these figures would have been enough to pry me away from Joe as my primary play choice.  But, that hype was real.  And, it was powerful.  And, after tiring of my 1982 Joes, I was full into the Return of the Jedi line.  That interest lasted until July of 1983.  By then, the movie had been released and the story told by my figures was over.  Plus, G.I. Joe figures were blowing the Star Wars offerings away.  So, I pivoted back to G.I. Joe and retain the summer of 1983 as my final time playing with Star Wars figures.

The Return of the Jedi wave is somewhat odd as it is being shipped in solid cases.  There's an upside to this as online dealers can load up on popular figures without being saddled with poor sellers.  At retail, though, it's hit and miss.  My local Target store got a full case of Biker Scouts and Luke Jedis.  These will sell out.  If it was a case of Emperors and Landos, though, a single case of each could block any future cases from coming to your local store.  But, let's face it.  Star Wars collectors are an online, pre-order creature.  The people finding them at retail either already have pre-orders that they may either keep or cancel.  Or, they are casual collectors who don't really follow the line, but will buy something neat if they find it at the store.

The Star Wars Retro figures sold pretty well until the Obi Wan series hit.  Those are still sitting on shelves all over the country despite having the best 5 POA Darth Vader ever made.  Hasbro seems to have gotten their production numbers more accurate since the early waves.  Though, they did overproduce the Mandalorian wave and many of its figures can be had for sale or closeout prices at various online retailers.  But, there's plenty of these figures available from various pre-orders and retail stores.  They run $12.  It's possible that we'll see some clearance sales if these as overproduced as the previous waves.  But, we'll see.  It's doubtful these will take off in value, though.  The Empire Boba Fett had a pretty decent after market for a bit.  But, after an Amazon re-release, they can now be had for around original retail price.  But, really, these figures aren't meant to be valuable collectibles.  They are meant to represent valuable memories from childhood.  They do succeed in that.