Funskool Tripwire

Funskool Tripwire

Funskool GI Joes seem to be an nearly unending source of interest in the realm of collecting. You have figures that provide high quality repaints such as the Toxo Viper, or interesting alternatives to classics like V1 Flint. Then you have the downright bizarre figures, one such example being this Funskool Tripwire.

In recent years Funskool Tripwire has become a rather sought after figure, almost to the degree of Listen N Fun Tripwire. But in the late 2000‘s heading into the early 2010‘s, he was held in disregard and was a common figure. I still remember my first encounter with him being baffled at the design choices they made, and generally being disinterested in the figure in favor of the more well colored Funskool figures. Back then, I scoffed at the figure for a measly $3, but just a few years later I ended up feeling like I got a deal when I acquired one for $15. It’s a really stunning example of how these figures seem like they’ve just evaporated from the market.

Tripwire is in my opinion, one of the most interesting and odd Funskool figures. He’s decked out in purple, with red, gold, and bright orange details as well as a little flesh color for his face. The paint is rather detailed on this figure, and I have to say he’s more visually interesting than any of the Hasbro Tripwires. His chest also features some large text that says “BOMB SQUAD”, which is probably one of the most memorable details present here.

His accessories are also rather interesting. Although he comes with a backpack and mine detector just like Hasbro’s Tripwire, the parts are not the same. First, his backpack has been modified to feature a peg, so now it connects to his mine detector with a rubber hose. Likewise, the mine detector is totally new. It’s smaller, and it isn’t held the same way as the Hasbro mine detector, as it lacks the perpendicular grip. Interestingly, they painted a few details on it as well. It’s easy to say that this detector is inferior to Hasbro’s, but the fact that it’s a new sculpt makes the figure a whole lot more interesting.

Funskool Tripwire is stupidly expensive. Like I mentioned earlier, at one time you could acquire these with ease for $3. Now, one shows up on eBay maybe once a month or so, and is running $100 routinely. Given that Funskool was known for making extremely large production runs, I don’t think that price will remain forever. Though similarly, I also doubt it’ll ever come down that much. Either way, it’s testament to how interesting he is as a figure.

Funskool Tripwire Links:

Yo Joe

Forgotten Figures