1993 Star Fighter

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1993 Starfighter

The Star Brigade line overall made some really solid choices in molds to reuse for a space-only themed GI Joe line. The ‘87 POGO getting turned into the Invader, a spacecraft, was a good example of a pretty lame idea being reinvented as something a little more fun. For the Joes, you had the Starfighter, which was a retool of the Stellar Stiletto.

As a kid, and as a kid going into adulthood who never stopped buying toys, I tended to find myself frustrated with a lot of 90‘s items like this. There was always that feeling of knowing what you had was a repaint of an older toy you wanted more, which often made me feel a tad cheated with toys like this. Of course, I haven’t always known about the Stellar Stiletto, so before that point, I was sort of disinterested in the vehicle for thinking it looked cheap.

To that end, there’s elements of the deco I think cheapen the look of the vehicle. I tend to dislike the bright white plastic used for the main hull, it makes me think too much of an unfinished scratch-build made from generic styrene. Of course, nothing screams cheap more than the paper decals that were endemic to all of the post-’91 vehicles. It still makes for a decent space vehicle despite that, but apart from the Star Brigade, it’s not too impressive looking.

As I mentioned, the vehicle has actually been altered from the Stellar Stiletto in several areas, which is interesting. The first and most obvious change, is that the nose-gun has been replaced with a missile-launcher. Second, the entire nose-cone has been changed, and now has been replaced by a piece made from very soft plastic. Third, the tail-wing has been shortened considerably.

Compared to the Invader, I think this repaint has a lot more going against it, and even risks feeling somewhat phoned-in. Despite that, the Starfighter has some good qualities going for it, that make me relatively fond of the vehicle. It’s unique as being the only aircraft/spacecraft in the Star Brigade line, which strikes me as a bizarre and glaring omission. Even when Hasbro introduced new vehicles in ‘94, your choices were Armor-Bot and the Power-Fighters. I think that had a lot to do with the fact that the first year was comprised of cheap repaints, while the second year featured new items that seemed to be unreleased carry-overs from prior years (In the old live-action Battle Corps ad, you can clearly see Duke and Destro fighting around a blue Armor-Bot). Either way, it’s a strange distinction that belongs to the Starfighter, which I think makes it a more important piece in a Star Brigade collection for that reason alone.

Oddly, another nice thing about the Star Fighter is that it actually included a driver. I’ll save my comments on Sci-fi for a day when I do a post specifically on him, but it’s curious he was included at all, as this was at a point when vehicle drivers were increasingly rare.

The Starfighter is not very expensive, nor very rare. A complete one can be obtained for about $25, and ones missing a few parts can be had for even less. The missiles are often missing, but are easy to find from dealers sold on their own. I probably wouldn’t recommend this vehicle to anyone who’s not a Star Brigade nut, but it seems almost inseparable from that group given it’s their only spaceship.

gi joe star brigade 1994 hasbro 1993 vintage action figure sci-figi joe star brigade 1994 hasbro 1993 vintage action figure sci-fi

1993 Star Fighter Links:

3D Joes

When It Was Cool

HCC788 Review

2020 Sightline Snake Eyes (TBM Custom)

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2020 Sightline Snake Eyes (TBM Custom)

gi joe bootleg the black major 2020

2020 brought us another wave of ‘85 Snake Eyes repaints from the Black Major before he officially retired the mold, and of them he made some intricate and highly interesting repaints. One that stood out to me the most was this Snake Eyes in Sightline colors, which looked especially nice for being a new Snake Eyes, and not a random Cobra.

The ‘85 Snake Eyes customs are something I’m glad TBM decided to do, because while army-builders are nice, I still have a desire for new and interesting unique characters. From this Snake Eyes mold, we’ve gotten a number of unique and interesting color schemes that add more to various segments of my collection than you could ever expect from a typical Snake Eyes figure. Adding to that, because they’re all repaints of a virtually unexplored mold, each figure feels new and fresh to me.

This color scheme is particularly striking and nice to me. I’m personally a big fan of digital camo patterns and I love the way it looks when applied to military items, fictional or otherwise. The downside is that it doesn’t blend in well with most of my vintage collection, as there’s basically no o-ring figures that have a camo pattern like this. At the same time, it’s also something I like about the figure, as there again it’s very fresh and new feeling. Preventing the figure from being too drab, he has red details painted all over him just like the 50th Anniversary figures that sported this color scheme, which finishes this figure’s deco off quite nicely.

bootleg snake eyes parts

For parts, you get the full ‘85 Snake Eyes kit, plus Timber, as you might expect. This time, the parts are rendered in light gray, which is a reasonable looking color. Like with many of the TBM Snake Eyes figures, the parts don’t contrast very well against the figure, I think black or green parts would’ve looked better here. Of course, there’s a plethora of other figures these gray parts would still pair nicely with, so they’re not without their uses. They just don’t look very good with this figure.

The quality seems only okay, at least on my figure. While the figures that came in the same wave as the Ghost Mortal were pretty solid, this figure has rather floppy arms and a molding defect on one of his lower legs. It’s certainly not something that ruins the figure, but at least from this one example, the quality seems like a downgrade from the first wave of ‘85 Snake Eyes repaints.

As of right now, this Snake Eyes is still available and somewhat easy to come across for it’s initial price of $18. For that much money, I’ll definitely pass on some of the sillier repaints. For an interesting and high quality color scheme like this however, I think the price is fair. I’d speculate there will be more demand for this figure when supplies dry up compared to his contemporaries, but that’s based on the assumption my opinions on this color scheme are fairly mainstream.

gi joe bootleg the black major 2020

2020 Sightline Snake Eyes (TBM Custom)

Photo by DreadnokDread

Forgotten Figures Review of Bonecrusher (His wave-mate)

1989 TARGAT

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1989 TARGAT

I’ve talked before about a few figures that I used extensively as a kid, which included the Frag Viper and Vapor. The third figure I used almost all the time was the TARGAT, who was another major member of my Cobra-robot army (I didn’t have the filecards and I liked androids, so most of my Cobras were reimagined as robots). Because of that, I’m pretty sentimental towards this figure and his Star Brigade repaint, but objectively I do think he’s one of the better Iron Grenadiers.

The TARGAT is a “Trans Atmospheric Rapid Global Assault Trooper”, who deploys into orbit from a space shuttle, and then flies to their mission area on earth, according to his file card. With some suspension of disbelief, it sounds neat, though personally I just see them as normal paratroopers. Maybe the whole idea is a bit cooler in the comics, but I just started reading the Marvel run again and haven’t gotten to the issues where they show up (if they do).

There was some nice uniformity on the colors of the early Iron Grenadiers. I like that the TARGAT keeps the red and black theme of the Iron Grenadier, but replaces the gold with sky-blue. It’s attractive and different looking, while still fitting with the established look for the group. This was something I didn’t like about the later convention Iron Grenadiers, like the Iron Anvils, where they went to strictly using the black/red/gold pattern with no changes. It makes the figures too generic when they all have the exact same colors.

The TARGAT is a pretty nice mold. There’s a fair amount of detail on it, but it’s mostly kept to little things like the stitches on his chest or the ribbed part of his uniform. I always really liked his head and visor combo, especially as a kid, and I think it was executed a slightly better than the fragile mask on the Alley Viper. The belt of grenades around his waist exemplifies the start of a trend we saw more of in the 90‘s, but here it’s not too overdone.

Originally he included a pistol, a control stick, a hose, the visor, and his flight unit with folding wings. The flight unit is really cool, it’s bulky and surprisingly large for a pack-in item. The control stick is extremely small, so although it was a nice detail, I tend to ignore it since it’s usually missing and doesn’t add much. The pistol is also an interesting, if not somewhat weird part. It’s made of a flexible plastic and clips onto his bicep while he holds it, I guess to make it easier to use while he’s flying? It’s unique at the very least, though personally I think it’s easy to replace with a normal gun.

I find it somewhat surprising as to the amount of repaints this mold received. After this release, it showed up again in ‘93 for Star Brigade , and sans the head as Create-a-Cobra, before going to India where Funskool used it for their own version of the Star Brigade figure, followed by a recolor as Street Hawk. Then, the mold was returned to Hasbro, and was used one last time for the convention Coil Troopers (with a Decimator head). All of those mold uses were pretty good, though personally I think the original here had the best colors of them all.

Complete TARGATs can trend around $25, but ones missing just the control stick go as low as $10. I don’t really think that part adds that much to the figure, which means this guy is still a fairly affordable and fun army-builder in 2021. After getting a couple mostly complete examples, I enjoy picking up the occasional extra with only his visor.

 

1989 TARGAT Links:

Forgotten Figures

3D Joes

Half the Battle

2005 Storm Shadow (Comic Pack)

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2005 Storm Shadow (Comic Pack)

In modern times, I have mixed feelings about the 2000‘s comic pack figures. Most of them were not very good, and they had all the negative hallmarks you’d expect from a post-’94 figure. Yet, compared to now, most of these sets seem like dreams. 3 figures with accessories and a comic for something like $10? In a world where AWE Strikers run $25 at retail, I really miss the ability to get that kind of value in a GI Joe item.

Storm Shadow here is an especially nice offering from the line, as it’s the closest thing Hasbro’s ever given us to a V1 Storm Shadow reissue. I think people have a tendency to overstate the degradation of vintage plastic, but discoloring happens on a much more regular basis, to the point that I think for some figures it’s inevitable. I don’t mind it so much anymore, but it’s nice having a stark white Storm Shadow, who’s also a little more safe to play with.

For the most part, the entire vintage mold is intact, save for the biceps, which were switched for ‘91 Dusty’s. The size of those muscles doesn’t really blend well with the early-80‘s sculpting, but overall I’d say it looks good, and I like the more comic-accurate appearance. It’s not better than ‘84 Storm Shadow’s look, but it’s an okay alternative, and introduces some nice variety if you already have a few version of the mold.

Paint applications are very similar to the ‘84 figure here, but done in style of all of the 2000‘s Joes with a smaller, more intricate Cobra symbol, and peachy-skin. The skin tone really drives me nuts here, particularly because this would be such a good alternative to the ‘84 figure were it not for this. It’s also kind of weird for a Japanese guy to be such a peachy-reddish tone, as I don’t know of any Asians that would tan this color.

His parts are okay. The excellent kit from the original Storm Shadow, which was kept with the ‘97 release, is unfortunately gone here and replaced by a new-sculpt sword and scabbard. It works as something different, but I think these parts pale in comparison to the original selection. The softly sculpted details on the scabbard/backpack look especially out of place, which was a common problem when Hasbro paired new accessories with old sculpts.

Overall, he’s not the best comic-pack era figure, but he’s certainly decent and is made better for being a solid alternative to ‘84 Storm Shadow. 16 (almost 17) years since his release, the figures are holding up pretty well (unlike contemporaries such as Scrap-Iron), which is nice, seeing as how I can play with this figure without the fear of damaging an overpriced original. Nowadays, I see sporadic auctions for this figure that go for well more than $20, but there’s no consistent pattern to the pricing, and examples sold carded or in lots are often going for less than ones sold by themselves. I chalk that up to nooby tomfoolery, and I don’t think anyone should pay more than $10 for this figure.

2005 Storm Shadow Links:

Half the Battle

Joe a Day

2003 Dial Tone (Tiger Force)

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2003 Dial-Tone (Tiger Force)

Hasbro was prone to some curious choices in the 2000‘s, and one clear example of that was the 2003 Tiger Force 5-pack. In general, I think you could easily regard this as a botched set that failed fans in several regards, such as the inclusion of the maligned Big Brawler, the usage of UK Tiger Force colors, or other tired mold choices like Dial-Tone, who saw a glut of repaints at that time. A little more foresight could have made for a superior set that might be more well regarded, but personally what we did get has aged pretty well.

As I mentioned, Hasbro deviated from the original Tiger Force color palette and went for something closer to the UK Tiger Force colors, seen on figures like Hit&Run and Psyche Out. It’s kind of neat, in that it homages rare and costly foreign figures that most of us will probably never own. However, a large part of the novelty with sub-groups like Tiger Force and Python Patrol, is that the figures feature uniform team colors. Dial-Tone does nicely match up with the UK figures and some from the ’04 convention set, but sadly not with the vintage US figures.

There’s a lot of Dial-Tone repaints, and most of them are figures I don’t think are worth having. This figure is on the nicer end of Dial-Tone repaints, as it’s unique and visually interesting. The black and blue make for a nicely dark colored figure offset by the bright orange tiger patterns that make him stand out. There’s quite a few separate colors painted on him, and I’m even tempted to say this might be the most detailed Dial-Tone repaint. I think this figure would be a lot more memorable had they colored him more like the 2015 convention figure, but the colors and paint are still pretty nice here despite that.

The parts are basically the typical 2000‘s junk you’d expect, with a ’91 Red Star rifle and a ‘92 Gung-Ho backpack. While his original gun is somewhat common, I’d have really loved to have gotten ‘86 Dial-Tone’s backpack in black at some point. As he is, this gear is serviceable, but certainly generic.

For whatever it’s worth, there’s a light-skinned variant of this Dial-Tone out there. I don’t find it particularly interesting, as the skin-tone is more on the pasty side, similar to many of the ARAHC figures. I believe it’s the somewhat rarer variant, as I certainly see it floating around much less than the peachy colored one you see photographed here, but I could be wrong on that.

You don’t see these figures as much any more, which makes them a little hard to price. The sealed set he’s featured in only goes for about $100 MISB, and given that at least Wreckage and maybe a few more of his packmates are more popular than him, I’d find it hard to say these are worth more than $20, and an auction might even go as low as $15.

2003 Dial Tone (Tiger Force) Links:

GeneralsJoes

PeterDB.net

Half the Battle

1994 Shipwreck

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1994 Shipwreck

Shipwreck is probably among the most memorable and iconic GI Joe characters in the franchise. Especially for people who came in on Sunbow, Shipwreck was kind of the cartoon’s alternative to Clutch, as a similar kind of personality who was easier to identify with than characters like Flint, Duke or Snake Eyes. Despite his popularity, he really never received all that many toys, only being represented by his original in ‘85 and this Battle Corps version nine years later.

So this version of Shipwreck is a diver, which is hard to say whether this makes Shipwreck more usable or less usable. Although it’s the most recognizable element of the character, Shipwreck seems a little more cohesive outside of his sailor duds. It weakens his identity a bit, but also makes me imagine a lot of different scenarios where you might find Shippy in diving gear. Since I was a kid I’ve always imagined this Shipwreck going on a lot of sabotage missions, rendering him somewhat of a Joe equivalent to Firefly.

Like many ‘93 and ‘94 figures, Shipwreck is recycles the waist and legs from older sculpts, in this case ‘86 Wet Suit. In a few cases this mold recycling was a little more arbitrary, like with ‘94 Major Bludd, but here I feel like it somewhat benefits the figure for tying him back to Wet Suit, and adds a little continuity to their designs. They’re both GI Joe divers, it sort of makes sense to me that they’d share similar equipment/outfits.

For parts, you get a diving mask, two flippers, a Shockwave pistol, Bullhorn’s Steyr AUG, and a Hit&Run riffle and knife all in black, in addition to a silver missile launcher (and it’s missiles). I always appreciate old figures that came with decent looking black guns, even if it might’ve been nicer for him to have some kind of diver-specific part like a spear gun. The rubber mask is really one of the most fun parts that comes with this figure, as it also makes him one of the only diver figures that has a fully removable mask and air-intake.

This mold got a couple of repaints, most of which weren’t really better than this release, but not really worse either. He showed up in ‘98 as a part of the Navy Assault Unit set, colored black with bright green highlights. He then showed up another time in 2001 as apart of the ARAHC line, looking just like this figure with the addition of paint-wipes. This figure already had fine colors, so I’m not sure there’s much else you’d do with it, though a brighter repaint might’ve been kind of neat.

‘94 Shipwrecks go for about $15 to $20 complete, though for much less incomplete. I notice this with more Battle Corps figures these days, where there’s huge discrepancies between what a complete and incomplete figure will go for. It strikes me as odd, given that with most of these figures like Shipwreck, the parts are totally generic and not even unique to the figure. His exact same tree of parts was included with both Cross-Country and the two versions of Battle Corps Roadblock, so between the three of them, there’s a lot of these parts out there. Either way, he’s a nice figure, and worth getting in some fashion.

1994 Shipwreck Links:

Forgotten Figures

3D Joes

JoeaDay

1988 Repeater

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1988 Repeater

Repeater is one of those figures who was never a collecting goal for me, and whom I’ve rarely had much interest in using. He’s a fairly popular figure and I’ve personally held that the toy is for the most part somewhat overrated, however, there’s some objectively good things about him. In fact, he’s probably among the upper tier of late-eighties Joes, it’s just that he doesn’t appeal to me that much personally.

Right away, one of my biggest issues I’ve always had with this figure is his head. His head looks super ugly to me, to the point it almost feels hard to take him seriously. The rest of the sculpt comes across as being nice, but somewhat average, with the best part probably being his chest. The chest sculpt featured a really nice vest with some sharp details on it. It could have looked great mixed in with some other parts on repaints later on, but that wasn’t to be. I may rectify that in my collection with some customs at some point, but GI Joe customs tend to be a drag to make.

His colors are really nice though. The figure is mostly a khaki color, with brown camo and green and black accents. The camo patterns on these late-eighties figures were very nice and distinct, very similar to digital camouflage though I don’t think that was being used at the time. Most of the guys from ‘88 are fairly colorful and bright, so Repeater with his grounded colors stands out as a nice change of pace.

The accessories are one of the most distinct elements of the figure. Specializing as a “Steadi-Cam Machine Gunner”, he indeed includes a steadi-cam machine gun… which isn’t real, but looks pretty neat. His full kit is a green backpack, the machine gun, and hip-mount stabilizer for it. The gun isn’t too unrealistic, as there’s been a few real-life attempts at making a gun with similar ergonomics, but kind of like with this toy, they’ve never been very practical. Repeater can’t really pose or hold his gun very much while mounted to the stabilizer, which renders the set-up useless to me. If you want to get a two-handed pose with it, the best you can do is balance the gun on the stabilizer. While mounted, there’s barely even room for his thumb to hold the gun’s receiver. Putting that aside, the gun and backpack do look very nice though.

Besides the Night Force repaint, this guy got released in Brazil twice, once as Retaguarda and again as Urzor. I’ve always wanted Urzor, namely because he includes a BEAR, but not enough to pay the absurd prices those figures go for. Heck, even the Night Force repaint commends a price far more than he’s worth, which really leaves us with this figure being the only version of the sculpt that’s decently accessible. Given, I think it’s also fair to say that the ‘88 release is the best version too, seeing as how the Night Force repaint has no camo and fewer painted details.

Repeaters are thankfully still cheap on a regular basis. Typically a complete Repeater will run around $8, which isn’t much to pay for a figure that’s relatively so nice. My main gripe is that his head’s ugly and his gun is cumbersome, but everything else about the figure is well done. In an age where collectors are willing to pay $100+ for obtuse, common items, I’m always a little stunned when a decent figure like this one doesn’t go for much.

1988 Repeater Links:

Forgotten Figures

3D Joes

Half the Battle

2002 Fast Blast Viper

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2002 Fast Blast Viper

The 2002 BJ’s 8-pack captivates me probably far more than it should, but it’s one of those things that’s just so odd for existing that I can’t help but look at it every now and then. Among the 4 Cobras included in the set is the Fast Blast Viper, a carry-forward of the HEAT Viper retool from ARAHC. I’m not a huge fan of the V1 HEAT Viper, or the Fast Blast Viper, but this figure is probably the more interesting take on the design.

Armed with specially designed battlefield weapons, FAST BLAST VIPERS are sent out to lead an attack with only one objective: stop G.I. JOE forces. Each one has learned to withstand tough battlefield conditions. They obey every order from COBRA COMMANDER instantly and without question. To make them formidable, FAST BLAST VIPERS have been trained to wipe out any fear or hesitation in attack situations—they show no emotion no matter what happens. They are mean and aggressive opponents with many combat skills and are tough enemies of the G.I. JOE team.
“We fight until we win.”

The Fast Blast Viper is a fairly vague entity who as a character I don’t like very much. If you read the file card included with this toy, it’s actually amazing how it manages to say so little about what he is, in so many sentences. “Fast Blast Vipers fear nothing… do exactly what Cobra Commanders says… are good at everything, blah, blah, blah”. What on earth is he supposed to be? Obviously, the answer to that is nothing, but that still doesn’t render the figure useless. This red repaint in particular makes a nice grunt for stuffing in vehicles and pairing with other crimson figures. I don’t mind it, but I wish Hasbro’s laziness was a little less transparent here.

Like the rest of his pack-mates, the BJ’s Fast Blast Viper is decked out in Crimson Guard-esque red colors. One of the curious problems of the BJ’s 8-pack is that no two of the figures really have a matching color scheme despite all being red, though the Fast Blast Viper here probably came out on top for the usage of black and gold on his details (compared to an Undertow with bits of gray, a Storm Shadow with brown, and Firefly with copper and gray). It’s a good look and provides some options for the FBV, who doesn’t serve much of a purpose if you already have or like HEAT Vipers in your collection. To be honest, this is probably the second best usage of the HEAT Viper mold after the Python Patrol variant from 2003.

I never really liked the mold changes made to the FBV over the ‘89 HEAT Viper. The balaclava head is generic and doesn’t provide much benefit to the figure, even if the original HEAT Viper head was a weird asymmetrical design. Other than that, they went out of their way to remove the shoulder peg from the original sculpt, which really didn’t benefit the figure any and leaves behind this weird tab where it should’ve been. None of this really ruins the figure, and in his own right the FBV is something that looks pretty good, I just don’t understand why Hasbro made these seemingly pointless tooling changes.

The parts are an obvious area where this figure is going to lose out. You get a Sound Attack version of the Spearhead rifle, a Hit & Run knife, ‘91 Dusty pistol, and a ‘91 Sci-Fi gun. All very generic stuff you should have piles of if you’ve ever collected 90‘s and 00‘s Joes, and a poor selection of gear at that. I used to really mind this figure’s lack of missiles for his legs, but really he looks fine without them, and all they really do is make me nervous one’s going to fall off.

From the looks of it, this figure has gotten a little bit harder to find than his black counterpart. Despite this, it’s still safe to say that the BJ’s Fast Blast Viper is worth less than the black one, and you can find them from time to time for probably $6 to $8. Usually they’re more often in lots, and without parts as many of the ones you see on the market are likely the Chinese overstock that was saturating eBay a few years back. Like the figures he’s packaged with, it’s a toy no one’s collection desperately needs, but it’s nice to have if you like crimson figures.

2002 Fast Blast Viper Links:

Forgotten Figures

Half the Battle

GeneralsJoes

2002 Firefly

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2002 Firefly

When Hasbro debuted the New-Sculpt style figures in 2002, I was still firmly a kid. I think this makes my perspective on them a lot different than most collectors who first saw them as adults, as there’s a few figures from this era that have some sentimental value to me. These days, I don’t think a figure like this Firefly is anything to write home about, but 18 years ago I thought it was a pretty cool looking figure.

My childhood collection of Joes started off with mostly ‘94 clearance figures, so mostly stuff like Armor Tech and Ninja Force figures that were still easy to find. For the most part, I totally missed the glory days of ARAH, but I had a lot of ‘87 through ‘94 figures that I had open access to thanks to my brother’s collection. With that and Sunbow on VHS tapes, I had a pretty good taste for GIJoe even if I came in on the brand late, but the 2002 line was my first chance to experience getting Joes at retail.

As things would turn out though, I only bought 1 set of Joes from the Joe vs. Cobra line, this Firefly and Nunchuck set. I wanted to try and remember a specific reason why I didn’t get more, but thinking about it, there really wasn’t one. I sort of slept on the figures just for a lack of seeing them around much. I’ve long thought that one of Hasbro’s biggest missteps of that era was their lack of a decent media push, as I personally would’ve bought more had I just seen the brand around. Of course, I was also a poor kid and 2002 wasn’t a very good year, so that probably had a lot to do with my lack of purchases too.

To an adult that focuses more on quality aesthetics, these New-sculpt designs simply don’t compare to the ARAH sculpts. However, Hasbro was still producing the premier military toys on the market at that time, as there was nothing that really compared well to GI Joe. Even if you compare Joes from around this point to something like Star Wars, I think it’s safe to say Joe came out on top. Then if you go by today’s standards, these New-sculpt designs are more functional and way better looking than anything Lanard or Jazwares is pumping out. In some ways, I think they don’t get enough credit when you look at them like this.

Moving on to the figure… There’s a certain disparity between what I thought of this figure as a kid versus what I think about it now. As a kid, I liked this toy a lot. He had good articulation, wore reasonable colors, and fit in well enough with the rest of my collection that I had no issues using him with classic sculpts. Amusingly, I really hated bright colors for the most part, so figures like ‘92 Firefly were unappealing to me compared to a drab figure like this.

As an adult however, I can’t find much objective appeal in this figure. Anything I like about it amounts to mere nostalgia. The proportions of the sculpt are pretty wacky, and the design of the figure isn’t overtly appealing. He’s got super bulky biceps that make his arms stick out worse than any of the buff 90‘s sculpts. I also find the excessive silver armor and akimbo pistols on his chest to be a pretty cheesy, dated look now. Overall, he’s an especially mediocre figure but there’s nothing too wrong with him besides that.

There’s two sets of parts that came with this Firefly, one for the original two-pack release, and a different set for the single-carded mission disc release. The two-pack figure came with a sound-attack version of ‘84 Firefly’s gun, then normal versions of ‘86 Beachhead’s gun, and ‘91 Dusty’s pistol. The single pack figure has an arguably better load out, as it removes the sound attack tab from the Firefly gun, and then replaces the other parts with the Neo-Viper’s scorpion pistol, and three grenades from Big Ben.

This figure like most of his contemporaries, is virtually worthless. You can get this Firefly complete from a dealer for around $5, or MOSC for about the same price. Of course, the figure is so cheap because there’s almost no one left who collects New-sculpts. Maybe in 2035, there will be a wave of nostalgia for these old figures and you’ll see collector interest develop in them like there is for 90‘s Joes right now. I personally doubt that though.

2002 Firefly Links:

Joeaday

Firefly at Half the Battle

1993 Mail Away General Hawk

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1993 Mail Away General Hawk

A lot of the 90‘s mail aways are some pretty weird figures. Whereas early mail away items were often early releases of figures like Major Bludd or Duke, and often entirely new characters like Star Duster, by the 90‘s, they went to doing more repaints of older figures. The result of this was often gaudy figures that were non-essential to a collection, but are interesting in their own right for the bright alternative colors, such as with this General Hawk.

Straight away, the most distinct aspect of this figure is the loud color scheme he comes in. It’s actually not that bad, as the colors themselves look somewhat harmonious; the brightness of the greens and yellows are certainly on par with Eco-Warriors or Funskool, however. Since the figure’s exact role is somewhat open for interpretation, I could see him being used in a couple of ways with these bright colors. He pairs well with the Star Brigade, so using him as an extra astronaut alongside Roadblock is an option. He also matches up pretty well with Clean Sweep and ’91 Flint thanks to those colors, so it wouldn’t be out of place to use him as an Eco Warrior too.

Ultimately, the appeal this figure provides is pure novelty. Other versions of the sculpt including the original release are superior in most aspects, but the fun and distinctly loud 90‘s colors are what makes this figure interesting. The ‘91 Hawk mold is a really strong sculpt I like collecting repaints of, so it was inevitable that this figure would have a home in my collection. If I were less of a toy-hoarder and kept a smaller collection, I’d definitely chose a different version of this sculpt to have over this one. I don’t have to make those choices though, so I like this figure for how he pairs with his contemporaries.

The parts included here are pretty lackluster, though in ways they’re apart of the oddness that makes the figure fun. While the first release of this sculpt included a nifty jet pack with folding wings, you instead get a black version of Super Sonic Fighters Major Bludd’s backpack with this release. Additionally, the original gun and helmet from ‘91 Hawk are carried forward with this release, in bright green and bright yellow respectively.

For a very long time after his release, surplus mail away Hawks were available and cheap. I got this figure MISB around 2011, and paid a humble $10 for him as I recall. Not much has changed, and there’s still good amounts of these that appear sealed in their bags for around $20. There’s a few other versions of this mold I’d consider better than this release, but there’s something here to love if only for the neon.

1993 Mail Away General Hawk Links:

Forgotten Figures

Joeaday

3DJoes

Half the Battle