Funskool T.A.R.G.A.T.

Posted on November 20, 2023 by mwnekoman

Funskool T.A.R.G.A.T.

So as I mentioned before I’m a big fan of the T.A.R.G.A.T. (or as I refer to him henceforth as the TARGAT). He features fun elements from the Alley Viper (flip down visor), he’s basically an astronaut, who’s also kinda like a jet-pack paratrooper kinda thing. Stretch your imagination a bit and you have a fun Cobra/Iron Grenadier that appears out of thin air and begins attacking, and unlike the Annihilator he doesn’t look terrible. Another thing to like about the TARGAT, is that he has a few cool repaints to collect, such as this Funskool figure.

I’m not sure to say that the Funskool TARGAT’s aged like wine, but one figure it has inevitably shown it’s appeal over is the Star Brigade TARGAT, whose color scheme it’s based on. Of course, the reason for this is because the Hasbro figure suffers from GPS, meaning that sooner or later the figure will fully turn to dust, whereas the Funskool figure replaces most of the gold with a copper-colored soft plastic. At a certain point, you’ll be hard pressed to find a V2 TARGAT with intact knee-pins, so a similar alternative is very much a welcomed thing.

I miss the depth of that gold color a little bit, though in many ways the Funskool version is absolutely better than the Star Brigade release. All of the orange details were replaced with yellow ones in most of the same spots. though you lose the painted details on his biceps. Although the head’s left purple, his purple paint applications have been replaced by more of a German Grey color, which looks pretty nice for the added variety, though the purple was quite good originally. He’s also kept the black on his grenades and gold on his visor, with the later color gaining the added benefit of some extra contrast, given that now the visor isn’t painted the same color as the entire figure. For the most part, everything’s pretty similar between the two figures, but different enough to make owning them both pretty fun. Except for the Hasbro one crumbling, that’s not any fun.

It used to entertain me to assign asinine roles to every repaint or variant that came into my possession. For the TARGAT, the original ‘89 release was the basic trooper, with the ‘93 version becoming the officers. The Funskool version became something that was ambiguously a unique character and another generic, and was the TARGAT flight instructor. He’s a senior operator among the Iron Grenadiers and an expert at using the complicated TARGAT flight gear, so he’s responsible for teaching the rest of them tactics and how to use this crap. I like this idea still and mostly associate the figure with that role, but it’s also somewhat frustrating to pigeonhole a figure I have into such a relatively niche role. With that in mind, I sometimes hesitate at creating new repaint characters, at the cost of being more hedonistic with owning recolors that serve no real purpose.

A major flaw of both this figure and the original Star Brigade release is the inclusion of generic 90‘s gear. I think the TARGAT works pretty well with ordinary guns, but the backpack was cool and a defining part of the figure. Included here is a Rock Viper PSG1, the Annihilator’s SMG, the V1 Iron Grenadier’s pistol and a missile-launcher (HEAT Viper, M. Bison, Night Creeper Leader and later Metal Head’s), plus missiles and a stand in eye-searing pink. There’s a lot of variants on the coloring of these, with the colors ranging from red to orange and some looking a little more florescent pink than others, though bright pink seems to be the most common color. I think PINK is probably the worst color you put Joe guns into, but as a novelty it makes him odd at the very least. Plus now you have some guns that might look nice with other pink-clad figures like Banzai- haven’t you always wanted that?

Fortunately this is still one of the more common and less popular Funskool releases, and with a little bit of patience you can get a Funskool TARGAT for around $15. If you’re a Star Brigade fan, he’s a nice alternative to Hasbro’s release, since you can still safely pose him and have a little bit of fun as opposed to sealing him in an acrylic case and waiting for gravity to finish him off. Though, it’s also reasonable to find this figure and the one it’s based on to be horribly garish, but I collect TARGATs so I’m forced to ignore such a notion.

Funskool T.A.R.G.A.T. Links:

The Dragon Fortress

1994 Techno Viper

Posted on October 20, 2021 by mwnekoman

1994 Techno Viper

1994 and the Star Brigade line in particular are memorable for the amount of tooling Hasbro recycled during that period. One source of repaints came via the drivers for the obscure Power-Fighters, which included Gears for the Joes and a Techno Viper for Cobra. Just for being seldom seen and offering alternatives for some good sculpts, they’re fun repaints, though, that’s about the extent of what you can say about them.

Like a lot of collectors, I’m really fond of Techno Vipers. They do a great job filling a support role for Cobra in a way that’s a lot more fun than the Tele-Viper. I like Tele-Vipers too, but that figure is arguably the worst sculpt from ‘85, while the Techno Viper has little competition for the best Cobra from ‘87. Despite that, there’s only one solid variation of the Techno Viper, and it’s this repaint from the very tail-end of the line.

You never really see this Techno Viper or Gears very much, even by 1994 standards. I attribute some of that to the fact that the Power-Fighters never got out very well, and to this day are hard to find items. It’s also worth mentioning that on top of that, the Power-Fighters are awful toys, and the only reason you’d want the sets is for the odd repaint drivers.

The ‘94 Techno Viper is a solid recolor which for the most part, has darker colors than the toy it’s based on. It’s also a lot worse looking than the original Techno Viper, mainly because so many paint applications were cut for this release. On a figure like Gears, that really didn’t hurt the Barricade sculpt too bad. However, the V1 Techno Viper was a very detailed and well-painted figure, which makes this ‘94 release look much worse by comparison. There’s a lot of blank space on the ‘94 release, where the paint is so sparse he doesn’t even have a Cobra symbol. The helmet too, is a particular area where I feel the toy is bowdlerized compared to the original, featuring only two colors compared to four.

Early production samples of this figure feature all of the copper colors replaced with bright yellow. You can see pictures of this variant on the back of the box (3D Joes), which implies to me it was changed to copper a bit later in the production process. It’s a curious thing that they swapped the colors like that, though I must say I’m glad, because this figure would be way worse with the yellow.

In my collection, this figure has often had the role of an officer, a generic idea I often apply to one-off repaints. Sadly, there’s not much else to do with a figure like this. Army-building this figure is far from easy, likewise, there’s no other practical role or niche to put him in. So for that, he defaults to being a simple team leader. I enjoy him in this role, and have sometimes contemplated him being a unique character akin to Skullbuster. Still, I’ve never found him important enough to develop that idea much further.

1994 Techno Vipers are very hard to find, and costly too. Last one on eBay as of this writing sold for $92, probably a little more than it was worth, but it’s what you can expect to pay if you want one. These have always been on the pricey end, and I have to say I find it amusing how figures like this one haven’t increased in value parallel to V1 Cobra Commanders and Funskool Sky Divers. I suppose that speaks to how niche this figure remains, and for that, it’s pretty interesting.

When I was 15 I thought this was clever. Fun times.

1994 Techno Viper Links:

Forgotten Figures

3D Joes

Half the Battle

1993 Star Fighter

Posted on March 9, 2021 by mwnekoman

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.

1993 Star Fighter Links:

3D Joes

When It Was Cool

HCC788 Review

1994 Payload (Version 4), Star Brigade

Posted on June 17, 2019 by mwnekoman

1994 Payload (Version 4), Star Brigade

One sad flaw of the Star Brigade line, is that ultimately most of the figures are repaints. 1994 brought more new sculpts here than the previous year, but the line remained saturated with older sculpts. Some of the repaints are of superb quality no doubt, and while that may not describe this Payload figure, he certainly looks decent.

Payload is a recolor of Eco Warriors Barbecue, and this figure is one of three repaints of that figure in the Star Brigade line. It’s really astounding they recolored this mold that many times over the course of a few years, and in a way it diminishes the significance of a few of the figures. Of them, this black and blue variation is the one I find the most appealing.

The colors are quite strong on this version. It reuses most of the paint-masks from the previous green Star Brigade Payload, but loses one paint application on the chest. Of the two, they’re pretty similar and it’s quite subjective which one is better, but for whatever reason I think the blue and gold looks more interesting than the green and silver.

I’ve never commented on this sculpt before, but I feel it works much better as an Eco-Warrior than an Astronaut. Star Brigade Roadblock for example was a perfect mold reuse for this line, while Payload here feels a tad forced. Something about the shape and folds of the suit just don’t strike me as a space-suit in the slightest. The head sculpt is probably the coolest part of the mold regardless, with the translucent visor and painted face underneath.

As a kid, this guy and all of his repaints were consistent villains in my scenarios. For whatever reason Eco-Warriors Barbecue struck me as an unfriendly looking character, so I turned him into a more Overkill-like cyborg character who worked with all of his repaints for Vapor. His face under his visor was all that was left of his humanity, and was being preserved in fluid, hence the need for the suit. I think their minds might’ve been linked through the Internet too.

One thing this figure has over his green counterpart, is vastly superior accessories. He comes with ‘92 Shockwave’s XM-15, Ambush’s EM-2, Updraft’s pistol, and ‘91 Low-Light’s knife, all in a nice shade of light gray. It’s a huge upgrade over fluorescent red, and for some spare parts these were some decent weapons at the time. Most of the sculpts are good, and light gray is a workable color.

So in the end the figure provides a nice alternative to an already pretty decent sculpt, with some decent parts as an added bonus. The downside is that he’s a pretty rare figure, and on top of that you usually find them carded more often than not. This puts the figure around $25 typically, and requires some hunting at that. It’s not more than the figure’s worth, but the green ‘93 version provides most of the same entertainment value for a lot less.

1994 Payload Links:

1994 Space Shot

Posted on May 21, 2018 by mwnekoman

1994 Space Shot

Although when I think of the ‘94 Joes, I typically think of the various updates to 80‘s characters that came out that year. Despite this, there were a few interesting new characters that came out as well, such as Space Shot in the Star Brigade sub-line.

Space Shot’s a pretty weird figure like many of his ‘94 brethren. Personally, I’ve had this figure since my childhood and I really don’t have many strong memories of him. That’s not to say he’s bad, but compared with some of the other Star Brigade offerings he’s a tad on the bland side. The design aesthetic looks more like someone who’d be a crew member on a Star Trek-esque space opera and less like some sort of astronaut. He also lacks a clear visor unlike many of the other Star Brigade Joes, so that’s probably why he fell flat on me for so long.

As an adult, I think Space Shot could have a lot of uses in a collection. One lazier option would be to use him as a spare pilot, which I think his colors and helmet look well suited for. Though a more left field usage could also be to include him with the Battle Force 2000, who matches his aesthetic pretty well.

Interestingly, he also reuses more parts than the typical figure, but I think it’s pulled off pretty well. The waist and legs are from ‘92 Mutt, while the arms are from ‘88 Countdown. The chest and head are new, though at first glance his face really resembles Mutt. On his neck there’s a sculpted and painted portion of his suit’s collar, which I thought was a really nice detail to have present. Also, his chest is REALLY bulky. It doesn’t feel like it hampers his articulation bad compared to say the ‘91 Incinerator, but it’s definitely one of the bigger feeling chest sculpts in the line.

For parts, he includes a new helmet, backpack, and a black version of ‘90 Ambush’s grenade pistol. For a gimmick oriented piece, I find that the backpack is surprisingly fun. It has a grappling hook that allows him to hang from things, locks into position, and automatically recoils once unlocked. His helmet is pretty cool too, reassembling one of the Rebel Fleet troopers from Star Wars. A visor would’ve made it better in my eyes, but it’s not bad. Lastly, the Ambush gun feels like a pretty sci-fi looking weapon, so it’s inclusion here seems appropriate.

Space Shot is unfortunately one of those rare and costly ‘94 figures. More often, you find these from dealers who want $30 to $40 for a carded example. Lose figures may only fetch around $15, but finding an auction for a loose one isn’t too easy either. With patience, I think Space Shot is a fun figure to have for the lower price, but isn’t really interesting or exotic enough to warrant more than that. Collector’s bought up a ton of the excess 1994 stock as evidenced by the amount you find MOSC, so his scarcity shouldn’t be overstated.

1994 Space Shot Links:

Forgotten Figures

Yo Joe

3D Joes

1994 Blackstar

Posted on December 10, 2017 by mwnekoman

As 1994 is the infamous year that “killed” GI Joe, there are many figures from that year that are well known for their goofiness. The Lunartix aliens, Shadow Ninjas, and the unfortunately named Ice Cream Soldier are all examples of figures that a lot of GI Joe fans know, but in a fairly negative way. Blackstar is in my opinion, possibly the most obscure Cobra character ever made, and he’s not a terrible figure, either. Unlike the other guys, he’s just not outrageous enough to stand out.

When people look at 1994 figures, only what’s stupid or silly stands out to them. Anything that’s less than that falls between the cracks, which leaves figures like Blackstar being severely overlooked. Additionally, his bio is one that leaves him somewhat poorly defined as a character. It refers to the Blackstar as some sort of space mercenaries, but then to this figure as “This particular Cobra Blackstar”. It’s a little confusing as to if he’s a generic soldier or a unique character, but I suppose that’s up to the owners imagination. In either case, it’s another element adding to his obscurity.

The most redeeming quality of this figure is his sculpt. He has a very detailed and cool looking chest and helmet, albeit the details are lost somewhat amid the black plastic. His legs are reused from Barricade, and I think it’s fair to say they’re a decent match. His head was later reused for a Joecon Steel Brigade figure, but it would have been nice if Hasbro could’ve done something with the entire mold in better colors.

Speaking of colors, the figure has an only passable palette. There’s a decent combination of yellow, neon green, silver and black, colors that aren’t terrible, but really do the sculpted details no favors. Sans the green, it’s the same scheme as the 1986 BAT, so as a Joe fan I think the colors are at least forgivable. The BAT’s sculpt was more simplistic in the black areas though, so it didn’t suffer from obscuring it’s own details in the way Blackstar does.

His accessories are also rather poor, even for a late 90‘s figure. Blackstar includes a unique, backpack mounted missile launcher and a black Rock Viper pistol. The Rock Viper pistol looks better in black and does have a rather spacey look to it, but other than that the lame launcher is all you get. I suppose he’s a pilot of some sort, so the lacking parts can be overlooked, but still.

Ultimately, Blackstar is useful as a blank-slate Cobra. His background is poorly detailed and his character is nonexistent, so it’s easy to use him as anything you like. He could pass for a next gen BAT, a spare Eco Warrior, or he could even look really good paired with the V2 Alley Viper. He has an excellent look that could easily work in a number of different ways.

Like a lot of 1994 figures, he’s pretty hard to find, and his value tends to vary greatly. Some, especially partless or in lots, go as low as around $6, but others edge towards upwards of $30. This figure could add a lot of novelty to a collection when you find him on the cheaper end, however, he’s certainly not worth paying an exuberant amount for.

1994 Blackstar Links:

The Viper Pit

Tag Archives: Star Brigade

Funskool T.A.R.G.A.T.

Funskool T.A.R.G.A.T.

Funskool T.A.R.G.A.T. Links:

1994 Techno Viper

1994 Techno Viper

1994 Techno Viper Links:

1993 Star Fighter

1993 Starfighter

1993 Star Fighter Links:

1994 Payload (Version 4), Star Brigade

1994 Payload (Version 4), Star Brigade

1994 Payload Links:

1994 Space Shot

1994 Space Shot

1994 Space Shot Links:

1994 Blackstar

1994 Blackstar Links: