2004 Scrap Iron

2004 Scrap Iron

2000‘s era Joes were myriad in missed opportunities, but every now and then Hasbro produced an excellent figure that made great use of a vintage mold. For the most part, that’s true of the Scrap Iron from the 2004 Cobra Strike Team – Urban Division set.

The Scarp Iron mold was one that had been acquired by Funskool in the 90‘s but then returned to Hasbro in the 2000‘s upon demands by collectors. Hasbro used the mold to make two figures, this fantastic one, and a horrendous comic-pack figure. Most of the molds they reacquired from Funskool were never used much, or were only used for one or two crappy repaints, but that thankfully wasn’t the case with Scarp Iron here.

During the transition, some of the mold seems to have been lost. So the arms and legs have been swapped out for the same combination used on the 2004 Infantry Forces. It’s a good fit, and oddly enough I feel glad for the swap. Now he’s more similar to the contemporary Cobra Trooper of the era, and it provides some variety if you’ve collected a few versions of Scrap Iron already. I also feel like the Thunder arms are a bitter fit for this figure than the Infantry Forces.

Frankly, this may be the best color scheme Scarp Iron’s ever been sold in. The solid black with red ties him into the colors for most of Cobra’s classic armory, and especially pairs well with the SMS. The paint applications are further complimented with some brown for the boots and gloves, blue for the collar, and some grey to break up his helmet. There’s some really blase figures with far fewer paint applications from around this time, so one like this really stands out in my opinion.

The parts are a comical example of how lazy Hasbro got with accessories in the 2000’s. Scrap Iron is known for his trademark missile launcher, but now it’s no where to be seen. Instead, we have the Range Viper’s backpack in green, as well as his grenade launcher in black… sans the magazine! Lastly, he includes the twin barrel laser riffle from Sonic Fighters Major Bludd, because the other gun wasn’t just crappy and random enough.

At one time, this figure was common, and pretty cheap. Collector’s hoarded the Cobra Urban Division set for it’s high quality army builders and were left dumping the Scrap Iron and Storm Shadow on eBay at a pretty high rate. But, a lot can change in 14 years, and now this figure isn’t as common. I personally found two eBay listings for this guy in the past three months, which actually makes him more scarce than Funskool Tripwire for comparison. When you find him though, they look to be selling around $11, which is fair enough if you like Scrap Iron enough.

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2004 Scrap Iron Links:

Yo Joe

Forgotten Figures

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4 Responses to 2004 Scrap Iron

  1. Mike T. says:

    This Scrap Iron is actually an all new mold. For some reason, Hasbro re-cast him. (Lady Jaye was another they re-did.) Funskool released a Scrap Iron as late as 2009 from the original mold.

    I don’t know why this particular version of Scrap Iron warranted a remake while V2 Snake Eyes, V1 Alley Viper, V1 Destro and V1 Cobra Commander did not. But, it all fits with the general bumbling Hasbro of that era who were simply not able to figure out the Joe line and how to work with collectors.

    • A-Man says:

      Beat me to it.

      Storm Shadow V1 and parts of Mutt V1 were also recreated (as well as parts of the Cobra Officer and trooper for the TRU 6-pack). Mutt is obvious because now his hair has texture. Storm Shadow has the “lip” edges on the bottom of his feet.

      Scrap Iron’s obvious difference is his arms are set deeper in his sockets. I dislike this. If you take him apart more molding differences can be noticed, the neck post is shorter at the bottom.

  2. Erick says:

    I absolutely love this version. Great write up, Brother!

  3. R.T.G. says:

    This is a figure that, despite the molding differences, I’m a big fan of. The head is a nice nod to the colouring of the cartoon, and the overall colors are pretty nice.

    I like to use spare Scrap Iron v1 accessories with him, or a black Zap bazooka.

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