G.I. Joe Die-Cast Metal & And Micro Figures

Today, I'm looking at a few G.I. Joe based lines from the 80's and "today". First, I'm starting with:

G.I. Joe Die-Cast Metal
Aviva
1983

Aviva produced a very small run of vehicles in 1983 which were based on the original wave of vehicles from Hasbro.

There were six released in total, and each featured moving wheels and parts, such as rotating turrets. It terms of design, these metal miniatures were spot on to those of their larger plastic counterparts. Sadly, there were never released in conjunction with any miniature figures to coincide with them.

 Attack Cannon (FLAK)*Heavy Artillery Laser (HAL)

 Battle Tank (MOBAT)*Rapid Fire Motorcycle (RAM)

Mobile Missile System (MMS)*Attack Vehicle (VAMP)

Aviva also release a pack of three vehicles. However, these were just a multipack of the individually carded VAMP, RAM and HAL.

It's interesting that Aviva never released a second three pack to incorporate the remaining vehicles into one package.

G.I. Joe Micro Figures

Hasbro

1989

In 1989, Hasbro ran an interesting promotion with their 3 3/4 inch line of G.I. Joe toys. They incorporated into each carded figure a miniature, or micro if you will, figurine made from flexible PVC.

There were twenty produced in total, and the character included a vast assortment of some of the most popular figures since the beginning of the 1982 wave, all the way through 1989.

 Bazooka

 Beach Head

 Blowtorch

 B.A.T.S.

 Cobra Commander (Metal Helmet)

 Crimson Guard

 Cobra Officer

 Destro

 Duke

 Flint

 General Hawk

 Grunt

 Gung Ho

 Major Blood

 Quick Kick

 Roadblock

 Rock N' Roll (his head anyway, with Repeater's body and gun)

 Sgt. Slaughter

 Snake-Eyes

 Wet Suit

Hopefully you noticed the poster to the left of each figure. This was a mail away premium, which offered throughout the entire promotion.

Speaking of mail away promos, Hasbro also produced eight micro vehicles. Much like the poster, collectors could send in their request for them with the aid of two of their Flagg Points plus $7.75 With the exception of 1986 and 1989, there was a vehicle representing each year since the first 1982 wave.

MOBAT*Persuader*APC*Warthog A.I.F.V.

Snow Cat*Cobra H.I.S.S.*A.W.E. Striker*Vamp MK II

Unfortunately, these vehicles were too small to incorporate the figures into.

However, with all of this said, it leads me into what actually inspired and spawned today's post.

G.I. Joe World's Smallest Action Figure

Super Impulse

2019 / 2020

I don't normally collect modern toys, but when I saw these being talked about on the Youtube channel of formbx257.

Super Impulse has made an entire line of various toy lines, and some of those include The Transformers, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Barbie, as well as several other novelty and nostalgic based toys. I highly recommend you check them out. If for nothing else, for how cool they are.

Anyway, back to the point at hand.

Super Impulse released three Worlds Smallest G.I. Joe figures.

 Duke

Squint your eyes if you have to. These are 1 1/4 inch tall action figures which come in their own blister packs, all neatly packed inside of a plastic bubble. Now, the cards for the figures aren't actually cardboard. Instead, they're acrylic. To get the figures, and their removable accessories, out, simply open the hatch on the back and remove the contents within.

 Roadblock

What's equally neat about these is that the miniature "cardbacks" can stand straight up on their own, making them just as fun to display in their packages. However, if you want to remove them, each figure not only has a foot peg hole, but also comes with its own clear action figure stand.

Snake-Eyes

While I don't know if you'll find these "everywhere", I do know you can find them, and some of the other Worlds Smallest toys, at Cracker Barrel (of all places). Yes, the restaurant. Or, better stated, their gift shop. They'll set you back around nine or ten dollars each, which is a bit high for something so small.

I found the three I picked up on ebay and bought them as a set for around $27.00 with free shipping. The guy selling them had nine more sets as of yesterday evening.

These things are really cool and I hope there is a plan to make more of them.

This leads me to one last item for today.

Cobra H.I.S.S. Tank with Lights and Sounds

Running Press

2014

For those of you who own the 2014 Cobra H.I.S.S. Tank with Lights and Sounds, you may be happy to hear that the above noted figures from Super Impulse are compatible with it. However, this is probably not intentionally done. Still, it's a pleasant surprise.

Unfortunately, this vehicle isn't as readily available as it was back in 2014, but you can still find them around here and there - If you look hard enough.

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The Dark Crystal (Sideshow Collectibles)

The Dark Crystal
2002
Sideshow Collectibles

The Dark Crystal was an odd film for family friendly Jim Henson to develop back in the 80's. It was almost as if he was playing a joke on movie going patrons who had long since supported his kid themed shows such as The Muppets and Sesame Street. For whatever reason, Mr. Henson unleashed this dark film on unsuspecting children, causing much fear amongst their little minds.

Unless you've got pockets so deep that your hands never reach the bottom of your pants, you're probably not looking to get the original Aviva prototypes based on the classic Jim Henson film, The Dark Crystal - Not that you'd have much luck finding them anyway. Sadly, if you're a fan of the film, and want to find some of the few toy related items out there, you're most likely setting your sites on the still expensive, but more easily ascertained twelve inch dolls from Sideshow Collectibles.

When first released, Sideshow Collectibles sold each doll for $40.00 plus shipping directly from their website. Unfortunately if you want one these days, you're looking at spending anywhere from two to three times that.

Jen

The dolls are spot on depictions of their screen characters, and that in and of itself is a great reason to get excited about this series. The sculpt work and clothing is amazing - Particularly all the layers to the clothing. A feature that fans really enjoyed with the Kira doll was that it included her pet Fizzgig - Also screen accurate.

Kira

BONUS

The Dark Crystal
Aviva/Hasbro
1982 (Unproduced)

Okay, but let's be honest here. We really didn't want to talk about the Sideshow Collectibles dolls. No, instead it's these prototypes that really take center stage for this post. Yes, the SC dolls are fantastic, but these here...These are just vaulted nostalgia.

Way back in 1982, Aviva, a subdivision of Hasbro, contracted with Jim Henson to develop and release an action figure line based on the film. Though it's unknown why the plug was eventually pulled on the line, fans speculate that it was due to the film performing horribly at the box office.

Despite not going into mass production, a handful of prototypes were produced of both the basic and deluxe figures. Though it is unknown just how many in total were produced, to date there are two complete sets of the six carded basic figures, and two non packaged sets of the three deluxe figures confirmed to exist.

For those of you who have done a search for these particular figures before on Google, you've most likely seen these images before in the collection of Justin Kerns back in 2002. We've cleaned them up a bit, and presented them in our own layout, however the actual images are the property of Mr. Kerns.

As we mentioned above, six figures were initially planned for the line. These particular carded versions below are one of the two known sets. The bubbles are hand made, and attached to the cardback via staples.

Jen*Kira*Happy Pod Peasant*Skeksis

Aughra*Slave Pod Peasant

At the time of his original posting of the photos, Mr. Kerns was the known owner of ten of the twelve carded prototype figures produced (one full set, and four additional). At that time he offered the duplicates up for sale, so it is unknown as to who owns them at this point.

The cardback for the set was produced in black and white, and it is unknown if a color version would have been used for the final product. This particular version featured hand drawn images of the figures as well as directions for fitting the six crystal pieces together.

One crystal piece was packaged with each figure, and would have been packaged to the right of each figure with their included accessory.

Below are the three prototype versions of the deluxe figures. As we mentioned above, there are two complete sets known to exist. Unlike the basic figures, the deluxe versions are not known to exist in their packaging which would have been rectangular window boxes.

Mystic

Landstrider

Garthim

In all honesty, your chances of finding a set of the Aviva prototypes is pretty much non existent. You'd probably have more of a chance of winning the lottery, and it would probably cost you a fair chunk of those winnings to afford a set if you found them.

These items are so rare that even production photos have sold for as much as $750.00 for a set. That's right, not the actual toys themselves, but production photographs. To say there's a demand for The Dark Crystal toys is apparently an understatement, and an opportunity that someone out there should capitalize on. Perhaps with Funko's recent popularity with retro style figures, it's not so impossible to think that a line of retro designed The Dark Crystal figures could happen.

Join us next time when we take a look at Gangsta Babies!

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