1993 Mutt & Junkyard
I’ve really come to be fascinated by the 1993 lineup of figures. It’s weird, because I really don’t think this is a very strong year quality-wise, and I’d even go further to say it might even be the worst year of the 90‘s. Garish colors, generic accessories, a deluge of low-quality repaints, those are just some of the problems that reach their peak in this year, while the ‘94 figures seemed to make a return to better quality overall. Still, the ‘93 figures feel interesting to me, I think if nothing else for just how odd so many of them are.
‘93 Mutt & Junkyard is one of those repaint oddities that makes me scratch my head in some ways, but I really like the figure. Mutt doen’t have a bad figure of his four releases in ARAH, though speaking of which, the first thing I find odd is that Mutt (& Junkyard) got four releases! He seems like such an odd character to dedicate two molds and two repaints to for back then, but I suppose dogs are popular, so that’s probably a selling point that warranted his occasional return.
The colors are so-so on this version of the sculpt. The orange doesn’t really bother me, and browns and greens are exactly the same as the DEF release. Still, the orange and blue are just so saturated, it throws off the look of the other parts. Oddly, I think the bright colors look nicer for night-shots with cool and dark colors, as it makes him a little easier to see. It’s a niche reasoning, but for me it matters a lot, since photos are one of the ways I still get to enjoy playing with my toys.
He’s a very bulky sculpt, though it’s not as odd or inhibiting to him as it is for others (Like Mace). According to his filecard, he’s wearing a life vest flak jacket, which I find neat and mildly justifies the aforementioned orange color. It also gives him some added life for your boat and naval crews, which is nice (and likely meant to tie-in with the Shark 9000). He’s also really decked out with shin-guards and elbow-pads, which makes him a few shades of black away from being a POC or Classified figure. Other than that, it’s a modest and simple sculpt that I like a lot.
Note that the G11 here appears to be a bad casting. It’s perfectly smooth on all of the parts where details are missing. I also just realized that one of the childhood G11’s I have is shiny and one is dull, so they are not exactly the same as most sites indicate. If you know which one is Headman’s and which one is Mutt’s, I”d love to hear it.
The pistol connoisseur in me is very glad that DEF Mutt’s pistol made a return for this release, with the addition of Headman’s gear, only with an opaque launcher and no light. Included is his pistol, Junkyard, Headman’s G11, missile launcher and a stand. The pistol is a really nice sculpt worthy of having multiples off. To that end, I think it’s really sad that a nice accessory like this wasn’t used more in favor of something awful like V1 Shockwave’s pistol. The Headman gear is really weird: a drug-kingpin having a tacky, gold G11 made some sense, but why Mutt? It just seems so odd for him to be toting around an experimental prototype gun (With costly, proprietary ammo!), and one that’s in gold no less. Might’ve been cool if we had gotten this sculpt in black, but for now it remains another addition to Saddam Hussein’s armory. Oh, and Junkyard is the same toy dog he was in ‘84, which interestingly makes him quite an old accessory to still be in use by this point.
It’s hard to peg down exactly what a ‘93 Mutt and Junkyard are worth right now. At the very least, you can get a complete one for $20 and a carded one for $30, so he’s not worth too much. Of course many examples are missing his pistol, but even that part is not too hard to come by on it’s own. With a little luck, I think a complete one should really only be worth around $15, since most of his parts are not unique and appear to be fairly common.
While has more color changes than some other recolors from 1992, his hat being black again was maybe a bit disappointing. But it’s and adequate version of Mutt, at least it doesn’t have the Marauder’s brittle plastic issues.
And the Headman weapons. I guess they big net launcher was more expensive to make with the cloth. Why not Shockwave’s? Maybe fitting on the smaller cards was a criteria. I dunno.
I’ve always wanted an explanation as to why Headman was also repainted in 1993. Especially since his gear shows up here. But, I guess Gristle was close enough to justify no Headman in 1993.
This Mutt has always been hard for me to find. I had to open one off the card in 2002 or so to get him. I did find my current one at a local shop when they happened to get in a large collection of ’90’s figures. But, in general, the 1993 repaints have always seemed harder to find for me.
I’ve been trying to do a write on this guy since 2020. But, just can’t find the words. I do like him. But, he doesn’t really have a role. Your observation about the tie in to the Shark 9000, though, is a good one and will, likely, be the role he fills from here on out.
There were only 2 Joe and 1 enemy recolor slots per 1993 Battle Corps wave. (I know wave 3 with Backblast, Keel-Haul and CC is its own thing)
Cutter lucked out and got to be a vehicle driver again.
Headman and Shockwave were out in the cold. Me, I would’ve recolored Shockwave over Mutt, but…
Also, Hasbro dumped the DEF (except in Australia) and drug references, so retconning Headman as some sort of generic smuggler and thief? How lame would that be? (Meanwhile, in 2002).
Great write up as always, my friend.
I remember first finding this figure at a Toys’R’Us in Co-Op City (Bronx, NY). I think you hit the essence of my thoughts, exactly – He’s a head scratcher, but still a (somewhat) enjoyable offering.
I was a completist even in those days, so I picked him up, but he was quickly put in a bin and forgotten about, as his DEF release was enough to scratch that “battle corps style update” itch on my shelf.
Funny how quickly Hasbro dropped the whole DEF/Say no to drugs bit. Who would’ve thought being square wouldn’t resonate with the kid-folk? Oops.