Tag Archives: 2003

2003 Agent Faces

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2003 Agent Faces

I don’t really understand the fascination collectoys used to have with mail-away figures. To my understanding, the Agent Faces mail-away was well done and met with a great amount of collector enthusiasm. I wouldn’t really know since I was 9 when it happened, but there seemed to be this residual sentiment by GI Joe fans when I started browsing the forums later of “DO A MAIL-IN JUST LIKE IN THE 80‘S!!!”, followed by the 25th Doc mail-in, which proved a disaster. Who likes jumping through more hoops just to get crap? I don’t, but apparently Agent Feces was the last good one, so here’s some sentences strung together about him, along with two old pictures as always.

2003 in some ways was the last best year for GI Joe. Say what you will about them, the Spy Troops toy line had a robust selection of characters, figures that were good enough, visual variety, fun gimmicks, and even fun little side-shows like Agent Faces to encourage more and more Joe purchases. It was a toy line that was still for kids, but after Valor vs Venom and Sigma 6 shit the bed, GI Joe has been strictly reduced to a line supported by the often fickle, nostalgic longings of old men. I could rant about the miserable progression from then till now, but the point is that Agent Faces feels like something that’s as far gone now as those beautiful aisles of an eighties TRU lined with GI Joe from front to back.

We tend to make these funny little mental barriers splitting up Joes by their construction, and often even release year. It makes this figure funny to me, since you could say that he’s meant to be interchangeable with the New Sculpt Agent Faces, even though this figure is made up of classic tooling. More over, he’s made up from both 1985 sculpting (Crimson Guard), 1992 sculpting (Duke and DEF Shockwave), and the newly sculpted helmet from 2003. The parts look mildly mismatched, but as someone who invents weird rules for my photos and collecting, I find a lot of amusement in the stuff that completely turns that on it’s head.

Do the 2000‘s Crimson Guards really get a fair shake from most of us Joe aficionados these days? Seems like “Black Major did them better.” and “V1 is still the best.” is the general notion I see, typically with this figure being used as a case study for why removable helmets don’t really work out so well. I say that because I tend to think all of those things, but Agent Faces does good to remind me of the childlike value of a gimmick. Sure it looks worse, but isn’t it more fun? I find room to forgive the odd looks of the helmet just for enhancing the play value. The Duke biceps that limit his articulation less so, but at least this version has a slightly better head than the normal Segies.

His paint job is decent. There’s no arm patches like the original had, which cheapens the look of the figure. Though, I do think the dark gold trim and buttons nicely differentiate this figure from the original, without looking bad. The main thing I don’t like is the orange Cobra patch on his chest. They did this color with the Infantry Forces too, and it doesn’t look too good. A metallic emblem looks much better, like with the Crimson Guard Force set, but orange was something they were trying out… for some reason.

Besides his helmet, Agent Faces comes with a Franchi SPAS-12 shotgun. Why? I have no clue. Hasbro seemed to have decided that this shotgun was the standard arms of the Crimson Guard, as the Operation Crimson Sabotage guys all came with one too. The later TRU set swapped it for a generic M4. Never really was sure what to think about that, but the M4 is probably a better replacement for their classic carbines as opposed to these somewhat random shotguns. Oh, and as for the helmet: it’s really big and doesn’t fit on the reused Duke head too well.

Mail-Away Agent Faces don’t show up for auction that much, but you can get the complete figure, usually still in his original bag for around $14. In 2024 money, that’s cheap entertainment, though it still feels like a lot to pay for a repaint-era figure. Though, I think Agent Faces is especially worth having, as he has the added novelty of being a new character, as opposed to doofy take on the Crimson Guard that doesn’t look as good as the original.

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2003 Crimson Guard Immortal

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2003 Crimson Guard Immortal

If you just went by names and themes that seem popular with collectors, it’s hard to imagine that the 2003 CAT II and it’s driver, the Crimson Guard Immortal, have spent most of their lives languishing as undesired clearance items. Personally I chalk that up to poor execution, but I don’t really have too much of a personal investment in this Crimson Guard Immortal either, and he’s without a doubt, more popular than the vehicle he came with.

A big deal in the 2000‘s was that Funskool had many of the popular vintage molds that fans wanted Hasbro to make new figures from. So about a dozen and a half of these molds were recalled by Hasbro and put to use for a handful of repaints before disappearing forever. Ultimately, I think it’s better to have a few more new toys to collect than a few more thousand Funskool figures that are off somewhere where I’ll never see them. Of course, the big disappointment was that Hasbro (and the Club) didn’t really do anything with these molds, and only used them for a short window at that.

The Crimson Guard Immortal is an interesting character. By his file card, he seems almost just like a new version of the standard Crimson Guard as opposed to a new rank in Cobra, but I suppose there’s a little fun in being able to interpret him as either one (‘91 catalog just refers to him as “Crimson Guard”, so he’s really a V2). Another interesting thing I never noticed, is that he’s apparently always been a vehicle driver with the original being “Licensed to operate: All Cobra land and air vehicles, including Hammerhead and Hurricane.”. The Spy Troops release modifies this text to “Licensed to operate: All COBRA land and air vehicles, including Cobra Cat-2”. Reducing a CGI to being a generic vehicle driver doesn’t really strike a chord with me, but at least there’s precedent for it!

This figure goes the route of the Python Guard, with the crimson he’s named for represented by a few details rather than his main color. So this Crimson Guard Immortal is mostly a dark gray with some red on his mask. I think it’s a little weird that a Crimson Guard Immortal who drives a big red Crimson Attack Tank is for some reason mostly grey, especially when black with a little more red would’ve been a nice reference to the original CAT’s colors, but it looks nice enough, so whatever. The tone of the grey coupled with his red mask makes me think of Interrogator, but I’m not sure I’d have them be related in any way (in my own fiction, of course).

This figure comes with no accessories, which makes him seem a little more bland than he already is. Of course, the original Crimson Guard Immortal’s accessories aren’t a set I find essential to the figure, despite that he has a leg peg that’s specifically designed for those parts. The wacky guns-akimbo set up was barely okay for Rock&Roll V2, but doesn’t really seem so natural for a lawyer/tank driver.

So the steadiest price I can currently discern for the 2003 Crimson Guard Immortal is around $40. This figure used to never go for half of that, but the Coof-Collectors pushed prices up above where they currently are, so $40 seems fair now. Personally, I’d much rather stock up on two or three of the ‘91 CGI, or frankly any other version of the Crimson Guard than this one. This figure isn’t bad, but he also is rather lacking in any substance to make him worth that much. Another thing, you might notice he’s made from the cursed 2000‘s plastic that spontaneously yellows for no reason, so keep that in mind too.

gi joe spy troops 2003 cobra crimson guard immortal v2 version 2 gi joe spy troops 2003 cobra crimson guard immortal v2 version 2

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2003 C.A.T. II

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2003 C.A.T. II

In terms of Hasbro’s 2000‘s failures with GI Joe, few items strike me as more of a flop than the KB Toys exclusive Crimson Attack Tank. Mind you, I didn’t watch that go down live, as in 2003, I was a mere 9-years old. But the 2003 CAT had a long life at retail, and languished on the aftermarket long enough for me to pick one up cheaply as a teenager. Because of that, I probably like it better than I should.

You wouldn’t know it now, but used to, Big Bad Toy Store sold a decent amount of vintage items. Usually, their prices weren’t all that good, but every now and then something would set around for long enough that they’d put it on clearance. Occasionally, I’d pick up a decent deal from them this way, such as with the CAT II, which had been rotting at KB Toys stores a few years prior. I missed out on the best CAT II clearances there, mainly because I was only taken to KB Toys once a year. Though, if I had seen the CAT II at retail, I can guarantee I wouldn’t have bought it, because I was a germophobe as a child and refused any toys with open-packaging like the Spy Troops line had.

The CAT II was my introduction to the MOBAT mold, and I have to say, I’m glad I started with a CAT II and not the MOBAT. I’ve always enjoyed this vehicle for providing me with an interesting, realistic looking tank for my Cobra arsenal, that also stands out nicely in photos. However, outside of the niche the CAT II provides, the MOBAT sucks. It barely does anything, figures don’t fit on it, the sculpted details are clearly closer to 1/35 as opposed to 1/18… There’s barely anything good I can think to say about it. The only thing fun about this toy is sitting it in the background of photos.

With that said, I don’t hate the CAT II at all. It has all the problems of the MOBAT, but at the very least the CAT II is interesting and eye-catching, while the MOBAT is dull and easily replaced by several better GI Joe tanks (the Mauler). I do wish that I could fit a few more troops on the CAT, or at least a driver, but for $10 with a cool Crimson Guard Immortal repaint, I’ve gotten more than my money’s worth out of it. That said, I’ll probably never buy an ’85 CAT unless I find it near that price too.

Cobra having GI Joe weapons is a seedy and interesting idea that really appeals to me in the fiction. GI Joe’s top-secret and experimental weapons falling into enemy hands speaks not only to Cobra’s fighting capabilities, but also to the levels of Cobra’s entrenchment. Personally I’m not really familiar with the CAT’s comic appearances (if it even had any), but it speaks to the traitorous nature of the arms industry, and works well with a shady character like Destro slipping around. It gives me something to play around with in my head, which again, is more than I can say for the MOBAT.

Sadly, the days of cheap-as-free CATs are all but over. Now, it’s hard to find a CAT II, and when you do, it’s usually some nerd selling it as a buy-it-now for $100. It’s not worth that in any regard, but it’s not very often you’ll find one left to open pricing besides that. I honestly wonder how many of these were just tossed in the trash or ended up in landfills somewhere. There had to be thousands of these that never sold, and most collectors only wanted it for the CGI repaint. Personally, I think it’s a neat toy, but it’s only fun for a few dollars.

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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:

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2003 Major Bludd (Python Patrol)

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2003 Major Bludd (Python Patrol)

So in total, there’s been at least three very distinct color schemes that have represented the Python Patrol. The original vintage palette, a palette closer to the vintage vehicles from a 2003 6-pack, and a similar scheme to that, but with large amounts of gray used for New Sculpt figures. Truth be told, all three variants of the Python Patrol team colors are pretty good. Of the 2003 Pythons, I think this Major Bludd might be my favorite.

There’s a few curious things going on with this Major Bludd, namely that he’s newly made from ‘91 Zap’s body, and not an existing release like most of the Python Patrol. It’s a perfect body to use for a Major Bludd, given that details such as the shells on his chest or armor on his legs fits pretty well with the character’s original aesthetic. It’s also a rare example of Hasbro using a mold in a genuinely creative and new way, something they rarely did in the 2000‘s.

I like the colors used on this set, which includes this Major Bludd. My favorite Python Patrol colors would have to be the originals, but these are a pretty good alternative, plus they look visually interesting. The figure is mainly black with a red diamond pattern across the black areas, and some more bright red and gold for details. Despite being 2000‘s figures, these Pythons look in place with the vintage Python Patrol vehicles, because the colors are so similar. Heck, I’d go as far as to say that these Python Patrol colors are better than the originals, but those figures I prefer just for being eye-catching and fun looking.

The parts here aren’t very good, but not for the usual reasons, surprisingly enough. This figure opted to retain a few of the original parts from ‘91 Zap, his bazooka and hand-cannon, but they don’t work very well here. That’s mainly because you don’t get the muzzle for the bazooka, and the cannon is meant for Zap’s backpack, which you don’t get. Normally Hasbro would screw vintage sculpts during the 2000‘s by not including the original parts, although with this release, they gave you that: only half of them!

Despite my love for Python Patrol, it’s honestly almost a shame that this figure came out in this sub-team. I say that because the truth is, I think this might be one of the best Major Bludd toys besides Chinese Major Bludd. If we could’ve gotten him in normal colors in some way, I think this would be a go-to Bludd for many collectors. As it stands, the figure is very nice, but easy to ignore since his identity is lost among a sea of Python Patrol releases.

These figures aren’t too common, but surprisingly, aren’t too expensive either. Python Patrol Major Bludd’s seem to trend around $10, complete or incomplete. It’s likely because a lot of people bought this set for army-building, creating a surplus of unneeded Bludds. On that end, it was pretty lousy of Hasbro to put Major Bludd in an otherwise perfect set for army-building. On the other hand, it’s probably the nicest figure from the set, so in ways I’m glad they took a risk on it.

Major Bludd Python Patrol GI Joe Cobra Hasbro Vintage 2003

Major Bludd Python Patrol GI Joe Cobra Hasbro Vintage 2003

Major Bludd Python Patrol GI Joe Cobra Hasbro Vintage 2003

2003 Major Bludd (Python Patrol) Links:

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2003 Wreckage

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2003 Wreckage

I recall the 2000‘s as an era of mostly missed opportunities for Hasbro and GI Joe. There was some nice stuff, but more that often missed the mark. This is certainly not the case always, and one example of a figure that holds up well is 2003 Wreckage.

It’s funny that some of Hasbro’s better item’s from back then were Firefly repaints. V1 Firefly was one of the molds they honestly used a bit too much, but it’s still hard to fault any of the repaints as being bad figures besides maybe BJ’s Firefly. The unfortunate side effect of this is some mold degradation that affects figures like Wreckage a good amount, but it’s not too noticeable thanks to his darker colors.

Wreckage is a worthy and cool repaint for paying homage to the unreleased Tiger Force Sabre Tooth from the vintage line. Of course, the two figures don’t look much alike, beyond both being Firefly in a Tiger Force centric color scheme. Sabre Tooth has more of the classic TF green and orange, while Wreckage swaps these colors for yellow, black and tan. While it’s somewhat off putting to me that the original Sabre Tooth colors were ignored in favor of new ones, I honestly think that these colors are more unique and interesting on Wreckage, and help him stand apart in the sea of similar colors featured on the vintage Tiger Force.

I get really curious as to what Sabre Tooth’s filecard might have been like. Wreckage’s bio seems pretty juvenile to me:

WRECKAGE perfected his craft at the Army Jungle Warfare Training Center, where he served as a member of the OpFor (Opposing Forces) cadre. It was his job to play the enemy in training exercises, and he took his job very seriously indeed. His favorite trick was to sneak up behind a trainee and write “bang, you’re dead,” on the back of his helmet without him knowing he was there. Once, he booby-trapped a drink cooler with a live skunk and left it in the path of a thirsty trainee patrol. His methods may have been irregular, but they worked; his victims never forgot the lessons he taught them. Any demolitions specialist can set a charge and blow something up, but WRECKAGE is also an expert at defusing and disarming demolitions. This is quite an asset in hostile territory where one is apt to find all sorts of dangerous stuff just lying around waiting to be stepped on or activated by a trip wire. He is even better at spotting these troublesome devices and avoiding them entirely, which is why the other members of the G.I. JOE TIGER FORCE team are always glad to have WRECKAGE along on any mission.
“If it goes off with a bang, I treat it with respect. Even if it’s a little firecracker. Anybody who doesn’t is a fool, plain and simple.”

It’s not as bad as something like Big Brawler’s bio, but it bounces between making him some kind of trickster and a Tripwire replacement. So, I’m left to my own devices to figure out what Wreckage really is. “Jungle Warfare Instructor” is a pretty cool secondary MOS, so I like to think that he might have helped reinforce the training for all members of the Tiger Force, and might still serve as something of a tactical advisor. He’s also good enough when I just turn my brain off and use him as Tiger Force Firefly.

GI Joe Tiger Force TRU Toys R Us 2003 Firefly cobra sabre tooth wreckage

Like almost every release of the V1 Firefly mold, Wreckage comes with the same gun, backpack and walkie-talkie. Oddly though, this figure doesn’t include the cover for his backpack, and I’m left clueless as to why. It couldn’t have cost that much to include it, and subsequent Firefly’s had it, so they didn’t lose the mold. It was just removed for no apparent reason. Otherwise, his accessories leave me with no real impression. It’s good they kept the vintage parts, though as a tiny criticism I wish they were some color unique to this release instead of black.

For an oddball exclusive from 2003, Wreckage is a lot more common than I’d have thought. I think it’s safe to say he was the most interesting figure from the set he came in, so likely many collector’s have sought him out in particular at some point. The prices tend to range on him a bit too, but $10 to $15 seems to be what’s typical. I think this is an interesting figure, and of the post-ARAH Tiger Force releases, this one seems to add the most to the vintage assortment.

GI Joe Tiger Force TRU Toys R Us 2003 Firefly cobra sabre tooth wreckage

2003 Wreckage Links:

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2003 Convention Falcon

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2003 Convention Falcon

I think on this blog I’ve had a habit of being harsh on convention figures, including popular ones like the Iron Anvil and less popular like Buzzer. Falcon puts me in a weird spot, because I think this figure has some serious issues offset by some highly attractive elements as well.

The 2003 Convention set is not held in great regards by most collectors I encounter. I attribute this largely to the somewhat bizarre figure choices for the set, and also to the fact that a few of the figures were of questionable quality. Oddly enough though, this set’s one of my personal favorites. Compared to other items the club pumped out, everything here except for the Cobra Commander is fairly unique and original, which scores a lot of points with me.

Falcon is in uniform colors with the Lady Jaye and Major Storm in the set. This cohesion makes the figure a lot more fun and I enjoy the trio as a team. The deco looks really solid, and the paint applications also highlight all of the sculpted details present on Falcon.

The construction is where this figure is fatally flawed. Although the upper half is of V1 Falcon, the waist and legs are from V1 Grunt… This combination of parts looks extremely awkward. The difference in sculpting between the ‘82 figures and the ‘87 figures are like night and day, and the proportions look mildly off like this as well. It’s such a shame, as almost any other set of legs might have matched better, but instead they went for this.

I acquired this figure without his parts, but it doesn’t really matter to me as they’re a pretty generic set. He came with the M4 from V11 Duke, the M16 from V2 Ripper, V1 Shockwave’s pistol, and Red Star’s backpack and knife. In other words, a selection of generic parts ranging from mediocre to terrible.

As you might expect, a fifteen year old convention figures isn’t the easiest to find. But they show up, and don’t go for an awful lot when they do. The few I’ve seen of late have gone between $20 and $30, but I’d bet more often you could acquire this figure for $20. For that much, I think there’s a lot of other Falcon figures that are a bit nicer you could acquire. The figure certainly isn’t bad though, and personally I enjoy the camo and novelty he provides enough to overlook his flaws.

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2003 Overkill

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2003 Overkill

In the early 2000‘s, I was still a kid. So the online exclusive BAT 6-pack was an item I had absolutely no clue existed. Had I known about it then, I can guarantee you I’d have passed on it, as I really had no interest in characters and molds that weren’t from the Sunbow cartoon. In the late 2000‘s though, my interest in older figures had broadened and I eventually came across this set floating around for some odd amount of chump change and ordered one. Chief among the figures that appealed to me in the set was this Overkill, a character I’d never owned before.

The 2003 BAT 6-pack wasn’t a bad idea from Hasbro, as back then more than ever were collector’s demanding army builders. The execution however, was far from perfect. Taken in on their own, the two varieties of BATs are interesting, fun figures and the Overkill repaint is a fine reuse of that mold. All of these things together, however, aren’t overly compelling for an army builder set. No one wanted unique characters packed with army builders, and the Inferno BAT is far too odd and niche to illicit collectors to hoard large armies of them. So, the set flopped and the figures were easy to acquire for pennies on the dollar for years after it’s release.

In a way, that means this Overkill repaint owns a good amount of the blame for killing the BAT 6-pack. Though for me, it was a cool character to expand my Cobra roster with for basically nothing, so I was rather ecstatic to own him years ago.

In a lot of ways this figure is a serious upgrade over the ‘92 version. The colors maintain some brighter shades that make a character like this fun, but are far less gaudy than on the ’92 figure. Many of the details have been highlighted on this version with paint applications not present before, which also helps me appreciate the sculpt. I think one of the best examples of this is the figure’s head, where before it was just gold plastic with red eyes, now he has separate colors for the different sections of his head. It’s surprisingly detailed honestly.

The parts are also pretty cool. All of the original Overkill’s parts are here, just now in black. I think Overkill’s gun and arm attachment are pretty strange, but there’s a lot of detail on them that’s easier to digest in black compared to fluorescent red. Plus any ARAH figure that kept his original parts in the 2000’s was something to admire.

At one time, you could buy the entire BAT army builder 6-pack for as little as $6. That however, was at the height of this item’s saturation. Now, these are a bit harder to find, and you’ll see the full set or single figures sell for random, and usually very stupid prices on eBay. Of course, you can also grab a surplus figure from China for $6.50 shipped. I think this is a pretty underrated repaint, and although that’s a lot more than he used to cost, it’s still a high quality figure I think is worth that much.

gi joe overkill BAT Spy troops vintage action figure ARAH BAT BATS gi joe overkill BAT Spy troops vintage action figure ARAH BAT BATS

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