#1073 G.I. JOE – COBRA TROOPER and COBRA VIPER (1982 and 1986)

When I deal with the most popular toylines of the major toy companies, my blog receive almost no visits. Of course, everything I could say here about G.I. Joe has already been said somewhere else, or, if you are looking for some information, you have yojoe.com or many other sites to read for hours.

Still, I love to write about lines such as G.I. Joe and taking my figures out for a photo session, so this time I´d like to talk about the main characters of Cobra´s armies: the Cobra Trooper and the Cobra Viper. They are the infantry soldiers of the terrorist organisation, and where always present in the comics and the TV series. First the Cobra Trooper, who was one of the figures in the very first wave in 1982, then updated in 1986 to look less human and more like a sci-fi character. There is a second version of Viper from 1994, but this one is much rarer and I still don´t have it. In any case, the really remarkable ones are these two.

The Cobra Trooper was released, as I just said, in 1982 with straight arms, but then “updated” the following year with swivel arms, which is the version in the pictures. It came with a black machine gun only. It is not to be mistaken by the Cobra Officer, which is a very similar figure, whose more remarkable difference is a silver emblem in the chest. Since we are going today for the “cannon fodder” only, I'll reserve the Cobra Officer for some other day.

 

The Cobra Viper looks much more menacing with its silver visor or helmet and has a much more detailed body sculpt. It seems to be wearing a special jacket (maybe bullet-proof), protective gloves and googles. This other figure came with a grey rifle and a black backpack. The dark blue is the same, as it is the corporate colour of Cobra and suits well for night actions or city guerrilla.

 

Both figures are highly interesting for collectors, as you cannot have only one, you need a bunch of them! In the community in which I used to participate many years ago, there were many advanced collectors who had 10, 50, 100 of each of these two for armybuilding. Crazy! Fortunately, they are not so scarce that they are impossible to find, with some effort (also economical effort), you can find one complete and in good shape. And if, not, they has been cloned and can be bought new, almost indistinguishable of the original ones.

Here is the Spanish fullcard of Viper (Víboras)

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: COBRA TROOPER and VIPER
• Toy Line: G.I. Joe
• Year: 1983 and 1986
• Company: Hasbro (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: 10 cm approx.

#1055 GO-BOTS - HANS-CUFF (MR-13) and SLICKS (MR-32) (1983 and 1984)

The first model today is a police car called Hans-Cuff or Police-Robo (MR-13). It belongs to the first series from 1983. It represents a Toyota Crown S110, which I tend to guess that it was used as a police car in Japan in the 80s. The car looks great, and the robot transformation is simple and nice. It has the same construction as many transforming robots that turn into cars.

As a general rule, I think that Go-Bots took special care on the alternate-forms of the robots, which are much nice than the alternate forms of Takara/Hasbro´s Transformers (personal opinion here).

The Formula 1 represents a Renault F1 from the early 80s and its called Slicks, although it is also known as F1-Robo or Renault Man (MR-32). It was part of the second series from 1984. As you probably know, the term slicks refer to the tires used in the speed racing championships, especially those used for good weather conditions which had no thread pattern at all (they are completely flat for a better grip). 

 

The Go-Bot behind it is rather complex, and difficult to transform. Due to its many parts, it is difficult to let it stand in a particular position, as, with the use, some connections or articulations are a bit loose. Still, as shown in the pictures, it looks truly great also in robot form.

Both robots were designed and commercialized by Tonka in 1983 in US, Canada and Japan and one year later by Bandai in other parts of the world, maybe with some colour changes or variations. The original Slicks was partly black, while this European Machine Robo version is completely yellow.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: HANS-CUFF (MR-13) and SLICKS (MR-32)
• Toy Line: Go-Bots
• Year: 1983 and 1984
• Company: Bandai (Japan)
• Size of the figures: Approx. 7-9 cm length

#1007 STAR WARS - DARTH VADER and IMPERIAL GUARD (1977 and 1983)

This character here does not need to be introduced, anybody will recognise it immediatly. It is Darth Vader, as it was released in 1978 (copyrighted in 1977) by Kenner and representing the character of the first movie of the Star Wars saga (Episode IV: A New Hope) premiered in 1977. The reason why the figures were a bit late and all the topic with the mail away coupons is also well known.

  

I will only say that the retractable lightsaber that came as an accessory has its tip broken, which is something extremely common, as the tip is so thin and so fragile that it is rarely unbroken. I had somewhere a repro lightsaber, but I decided to keep the original one. The vynil cloak is also original and it is removable, although this is not recommendable, as the holes for the arms may open and even break, especially after so many years.

Those of you who haven't watched the movie The Return of the Jedi many times, may not recognise the three guys behind Darth Vader. They are imperial guards, and appear in very few scenes of that movie. Their mission is just to scort The Emperor wherever he goes, but in that particular scene, they appear behind the Emperor and Darth Vader. It is one of my favorite figures ever released by Kenner in this toyline, as the mask and the cloak have a very specific design. Also the burgundy red perfectly contrast the white or the different troopers and the black of Darth Vader and the Emperor. In this case, the cloak is not removable, but behind it, there is a quite elaborated sculpt (not painted, though). How the artist imagines what is below the cloaks, or if they just took some parts they happened to have around (from some unreleased project), is something I would really like to know.

In the official films they do not have a great protagonism, so I do not know much about them.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: DARTH VADER and IMPERIAL GUARD
• Toy Line: Star Wars (Star Wars and The Return of the Jedi)
• Year: 1977 and 1983
• Company: Kenner (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: 9,5 cm (3 3/4'')

#1000 GUISVAL - RENAULT 5 (Nr. 14) and RENAULT 5 RALLYE (Nr. 51) (1979, 1981 and 1983)

This car is one of the best-selling cars in the history of automobiles in Spain, and also one of the most successful die-cast models made by Guisval. It was also reproduced by the most important die-cast manufacturers at the time: Matchbox, Majorette, Polistil… the Guisval version, although not so well finished, it is still beautiful, especially in some of its variants.

The car first appeared in 1975 catalogue, in orange with the classic first generation wheels, but I do not have this model. It is very interesting that Guisval changed the colour only after 10 years, so most of the versions you’ll find of the basic version are orange.

 

For example, the second generation from 1979 came with chromed base, and the third from 1983 with black metallic base, but otherwise, they are difficult to tell between the two. The third version is generally darker than the second one. Note the models in the pictures. Note that this model depicted individually is different from the one in the group picture as it has two round holes in the base, while the other has the two frames which came later. Also the colour of the windshields is different, so I guess there are many variants out there to be catalogued, as it happens with models that had very long runs.

Finally, in 1985, the colour was changed to light blue, and it still kept its metallic base in black. Up to then, it always kept the number 14 in the Campeon series.

The rally version is one of my favorites, and I keep it since I was a child. It came with that mud flaps in red plastic that is so representative of Guisval models. This version ran partially in parallel to the previous one, so it carried a different number in the series, and it was 51. The first version appeared in 1980 and was released in yellow with decals. This reference also lived long, and first in 1987, it changed the base to plastic, and the decals to stickers, but the base colour remained.

Having practicable doors, it was never available in the Club series, but some R5s were part of sets like this one here, in which a yellow body was released in the standard version and not the rallye one.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: RENAULT 5 (Nr. 14) and RENAULT 5 RALLYE (Nr. 51)
  
• Scale: 1:64 (approx.)
• Year: 1979, 1981 and 1983
• Company: Guisval (Spain)
• Size: Around 6 cm long

#992 MATCHBOX – BURNIN’ KEY CARS – DODGE CHARGER DAYTONA and KENWORTH MAGIC TRUCK (1983)

As early as in entry #25, I already wrote an extensive text about Kidco, the company that was producing the Burnin’ Key Cars before Matchbox, so please visit it again to find information about Kidco and the relation between Kidco and Matchbox.

 

This time I will just present this two excellent blisterpacks containing no less than a Dodge Charger Daytona and a Kenworth Magic Truck “Blue Chief”, unopened, but with some wear on the card and the blister. There were several of these cards made, but all of them included, of course, the key to activate the car (in an orange keyring with a sticker that passed to the car decoration). Later reissues of the cars (in new decorations) changed the key design and came without the keyring. In the pictures, behind the key there is a piece of cardboard that could be mistaken for a box for the card, but it is not.

 

 

Interestingly, one of the cardbacks still has an original price tag from Morawa, marking 49 Austrian Schillings, which is around 3,50 Euro…. Extremely expensive for the early-mid 80s, at least in my opinion. Maybe this is the reason why they are rare to find nowadays… they didn’t sold well at the time. The price tag at the front is obviously newer and has no interest for collector.

 

The backcard shows the complete series of cars (14 models) and trucks (8 models), I think these were the first series available, but it would later be expanded with new decorations for this original models, new models and even sub-series such as the Demolition Cars.

 

I guess many collectors despise them because they are not die-cast. The base is metallic, but the body is made of plastic, which is good, since it is a toy that suffers a lot of rough play, and the front part is made of a softer plastic, as if it was an oversized bumper. As a toy it is great, and the mechanism was copied by many other manufacturers inmediatly. Anybody can recognize this kind of toy and surely recalls having or playing with one of them, if not Kidco or Matchbox, from another toymaker.

 

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: DODGE CHARGER DAYTONA and KENWORTH MAGIC TRUCK (BURNIN’ KEY CARS)
• Scale: 1:64 (approx.)
• Year: 1983
• Company: Matchbox (United Kingdom) / Kidco (Macau)
• Size: Around 7 cm long

#980 GAMA – OPEL REKORD, ASCONA and CORSA (893, 1140, 1159, 1176) (1978, 1981, 1983, 1984)

This is my second entry showing Gama die-cast cars. In the previous occasion, I showed a 60s Porsche Carrera in 1:43 scale, and this time I am showing four Opel/Vauxhall models from the late 70s and the 80s.

Not to repeat everything four times, I would like to summarize the common characteristics of these models. They are all 1:43 scale die-cast, have practicable parts, detailed interiors and the base include not only the name of the car, brand, etc., but also some technical specs for a particular model such as speed, power and 0-100 km acceleration time.

I would say they are all excellent, you cannot really confuse the models with any other Opels and the combination of metal and plastic parts, some of them painted in two colours shows probably the most accurate representation of the models available at the time. All these and most Gama I have seen on the Internet are in very good condition, so probably they were not really intended for children, but adult collectors, or they had an astounding paint quality, or, most probably, both at the same time.

They were marketed under the GAMAmini brand and sold in cardboard boxes with windows, but I also suspect they were sold at Opel athorised dealers to owners of the real cars or car enthusiasts in general.

So, chronologically…

Opel Rekord Limousine 4-Türig (893) / Vauxhall Carlton

The real model was for sale between 1977 and 1982, and this toy was probably made in 1978. It is the oldest model in the lot and was manufactured in Hong-Kong, while all the others were manufactured in Western-Germany. Curious that the production was moved from Hong-Kong to Germany and not the other way round, how did that happen? Hong-Kong marked models seem to be somewhat rarer than the German ones, and also more exensive, although any of these can be easily found on eBay or similar sites.

Opel Ascona Stufenheck-Limousine 4-Türig (1140) / Vauxhall Cavalier

This thrid version of the ascona premiered in 1981 and wasn’t modified until 1984. It represesented the mid-upper-range car by Opel between Rekord and Kadett. After a facelift, it was still sold untl 1988, and then it was replaced by the Opel Astra. This model was far more common than the Rekord on the streets when I was a child, but still a good expensive car.

Opel Corsa SR (1159) / Vauxhall Nova

At the time, he smallest Opel available, this car was expremely popular at the time. It was launched in 1982 and wasn’t modified until 1985, although not much. I recall this car as a kid, and I even travelled in it a couple of times, maybe because of this, it is my favorite model. Note that it has a practicable trunk door, but the bonnet cannot be opened, as it was the case of the Ascona. The other two models have both practicable trunk and bonnet parts.

 
Opel Rekord Limousine 4-Türig (1176) / Vauxhall Carlton

This car is the 1983-facelift Rekord that we have just seen before. It would remain for sale until 1986, when it was replaced by the Opel Omega. It is interesting to compare this model with the pre-facelift one, and see, for example, that the base is exactly the same, and the bodies also very similar to each other, I would say the main structure is exactly the same, and only the practicable parts and the front and back plastic pieces are different.

I bought altogether in the last half of 2019 for 5 euro/piece.

 

 

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: OPEL REKORD, ASCONA and CORSA (893, 1140, 1159, 1176)
• Scale: 1:43
• Year: 1978, 1981, 1983, 1984
• Company: Gama (Germany/Hong-Kong)
• Size: Around 9 cm