1992 Hidden Power Terminator (Kenner Terminator 2 Future Wars)

For this post, I’m changing my usual format to show the GI Joe relevant content first, as opposed to making you read to the end, while assuming that I’m converting this blog into a general category toy-nostalgia blog about brands I have low to no investment in. While I’m at it, I’ll review the figure too, since this post would be too short if I stopped at the accessories.

So the odd thing that prompted this post, is that ol’ Arnie’s gun of choice is none other than a modified version of the ‘91 Grunt gun. I discovered this really by chance, as when I found the gun in an old storage tub, I wondered what random ‘93 or ‘94 figure it went to. Instead, I discovered that the gun went to a toy from a different company, in a completely different toy line! Of course, the Kenner purchase happened mid-’91, so that’s probably why this happened.

As you can see, it’s nearly a complete clone of the sculpt, with only a few changes made. The peg holes that were present on Grunt’s gun have been filled in, but not in the same way as later Hasbro versions of the sculpt (also pictured). Of course, the lower receiver has been completely changed, so that way it has a handle that the larger Terminator figure can actually hold. Slightly in front of where a trigger should be, there’s some weird scarring and detail loss, which is present on all the copies I found on eBay as well. The sloppiness of the scarring seems to highlight the lack of effort that was put into this.

Other than that, Hidden Power Terminator is about what you’d expect from a goofy 90‘s movie tie-in. Just like the real Arnold Schwarzenegger, he has 5-points of articulation and gimmicks that might entertain for a few minutes. A few of these Terminator figures that Kenner made were kind of neat, but it’s a movie franchise I’ve found grating more often than not, so that’s about the extent of my interest in it.

It’s kind of funny to take a look outside of the Joe market at similarly old toys and see how much they’re worth. You can still get a MOSC Hidden Power Terminator for $10, which would probably be a fair price for a less than great, sealed Valor vs Venom toy at this point. Probably not a great comparison, since I really don’t think toy lines like this hold the same, enduring appeal that GI Joe does. At the same time, it’s funny to think about how a lot of niche 90‘s Joes weren’t worth that much either until just recently.