Post by: Colonel Abernathy on June 05, 2006, 10:39:24 AM
Post by: Pete The Greek on June 05, 2006, 11:42:11 AM
Quote from: ""Colonel Abernathy""
I was never really interested in these because of their substandard quality, but MIP they are awesome! from a moderate distance, I don't anyone but a hardcore collector could tell they aren't North American. Other than the giant Funskool logo near the bottom :) I got my MIP Funskool Airtight for $8. The guy at the flea market said he had more earlier, but I rarely go to the market these days, so I missed out. Still, if I ever get the chance to pick up more MIP for cheap, I'll do it. They are definitely a cool display piece!
I use to have the same mentality when it came to Funskool figures. I do collect international figures but these guys were last on my list to get for a couple of reasons. a) the quality, b) the amount of freaking variants, c) and the collector market in India has yet to peak like in other countries (England, Brazil etc.). The more figures there are for sale, you figure the price would come down on some of the harder to find stuff. Or at least cut down the amount of effort involved by establishing some contacts to trade with.
But Ed's Purple shirt Ripper started a nasty trend for me as I ended up starting to collect the line. All it takes one to start the dominoes to fall down. My grail in this line is to find a funskool Snow Job.
Post by: morgardee on June 05, 2006, 11:52:51 AM
MOC I have an older Ripper with different coloured weapons (red I think), Zap and a white Iceberg. I think that's it for the more rare stuff. Man, it's only been a month since I pulled down my Joe room and I'm already forgetting what I have. :(
Post by: Scramble on June 05, 2006, 12:50:42 PM
Some Funskool figures can be wacky, others are great for parts, and some are honestly up to par with the American release.
Post by: morgardee on June 05, 2006, 01:54:16 PM
Post by: Deadshot on June 05, 2006, 06:30:46 PM
I also have a loose complete Zap a MOC Baroness and Snow Job. Pete
Quote
. My grail in this line is to find a funskool Snow Job.
I was aiming on one for you on ebay.. I saw it.. bid.. and was wining for a while, but in the end went for way more than I thought it should have.
I'll continue to keep a look out for it for ya.
Post by: Redmao on June 05, 2006, 08:24:35 PM
Its sad to see them on auction site going for high prices though...
Post by: Pete The Greek on June 05, 2006, 11:05:19 PM
Quote from: ""Deadshot""
I was aiming on one for you on ebay.. I saw it.. bid.. and was wining for a while, but in the end went for way more than I thought it should have.
I'll continue to keep a look out for it for ya.
I hate to ask but how high did it go for?
Post by: Deadshot on June 06, 2006, 06:51:49 AM
Quote
I hate to ask but how high did it go for?
$120 + range if i remember right.
Post by: Jay on June 07, 2006, 12:47:12 PM
I also have that Battle Hawk helicopter. It's unique but it'll take a lot of modifications before it's compatible with 3 3/4" Joes.
Post by: Muskrat88 on June 08, 2006, 09:54:12 AM
By the way, you paid $8? You can get them at SmallJoes for only $3.99 USD!
Post by: Jay on June 08, 2006, 10:51:41 AM
Quote from: ""Muskrat88""
By the way, you paid $8? You can get them at SmallJoes for only $3.99 USD!
Factor in the shipping and the exchange rate and you're paying $8-9CAD easily for a single Funskool figure at Smalljoes.
Post by: morgardee on June 08, 2006, 11:22:07 AM
Quote from: ""Jay""
Quote from: ""Muskrat88""By the way, you paid $8? You can get them at SmallJoes for only $3.99 USD!Factor in the shipping and the exchange rate and you're paying $8-9CAD easily for a single Funskool figure at Smalljoes.
That's why you buy more then one at a time. :thumbsup:
Besides, the US - Canada change rate is pretty good for us right now.
Post by: Jay on June 08, 2006, 11:57:30 AM
Post by: Muskrat88 on June 08, 2006, 05:55:38 PM
Quote from: ""morgardee""
Quote from: ""Jay""Quote from: ""Muskrat88""By the way, you paid $8? You can get them at SmallJoes for only $3.99 USD!Factor in the shipping and the exchange rate and you're paying $8-9CAD easily for a single Funskool figure at Smalljoes.
That's why you buy more then one at a time. :thumbsup:
Besides, the US - Canada change rate is pretty good for us right now.
Yup, thats exactly my plan. This weekend I might order some, probably Flint, Beachead, Lifeline, Storm Shadow, I'll see. It's too bad I didn't order during March break, SmallJoes had a Funskool $0.99 sale!
Post by: Colonel Abernathy on June 08, 2006, 08:27:56 PM
Post by: Muskrat88 on June 09, 2006, 09:14:22 AM
Quote from: ""Jay""
I've split my Funskool purchases between Smalljoes and GIJoeHQ. Usually if I have the gear already (from JvC stuff or just by switching accessories around) I'll just get a baggied Funskool figure for about 2$ and free shipping from GIJoeHQ. That's what I did for Roadblock, who's using an accessory pack v1 Roadblock backpack and JvC Heavy Duty's M-2 Browning.
I've never ordered from the HQ. Do they have good service? How long does shipping take?
Post by: Maple Viper on June 11, 2006, 09:38:40 PM
A) Their cheap in quality but also cheap in price which makes it a nice way to build joe or cobra armies on the cheap.
B) I find that some Funskool figures look much better than others. For example as has been pointed out the night viper and cg immortal are decent quality and mesh in very well with arah army building.
When I started recollecting Joes I basically had to start my collection from scratch and some of the first purchases I made were funskool because of the fact that you could buy misb and moc arah stuff for cheap. I really like the vehicles as well. Some of them look almost as good as their arah counterparts such as the fang, claw, weapons transport, and sky striker.
Basically if you want to get Funskool figures in bulk go with smalljoes.com
Sometimes the shipping can be a bit slow, thats not a complaint just something people encountered with them. Still worth it. bigbadtoystore used to have all the Funskool vehicles but they sold out years ago. Same for smalljoes.
Muskrat88, HQ is a great site and their customer service is A1. Problem is he doesn't have much Funskool stuff although that MOC Baroness is tempting.
BTW, someone found some obscure site which has some funskool vehicles including a brown variant of the bomb disposal which I have never seen before. Ill try and find the link.
Post by: Raptor on June 12, 2006, 12:03:42 AM
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Post by: Pete The Greek on June 12, 2006, 09:49:35 AM
Quote from: ""Maple Viper""
Basically if you want to get Funskool figures in bulk go with smalljoes.com Sometimes the shipping can be a bit slow, thats not a complaint just something people encountered with them. Still worth it. bigbadtoystore used to have all the Funskool vehicles but they sold out years ago. Same for smalljoes.
Muskrat88, HQ is a great site and their customer service is A1. Problem is he doesn't have much Funskool stuff although that MOC Baroness is tempting.
If you want to buy in bulk, I agree smalljoes.com only makes sence.
As for GIJOEHQ, I check it out and buy any older versions that I need. The inventory changes often. You can't really do that with most online sites out there.
Post by: Colonel Abernathy on July 09, 2006, 09:09:00 AM
Does anyway know the history of the Funskool Joe project? like a list of every figure they've done, that kind of thing. According to yojoe.com, Funskool has been doing Joes since at least 1988.
Post by: Pete The Greek on July 09, 2006, 01:08:07 PM
http://www.backinthedaytoys.com/bitdt.htm (http://www.backinthedaytoys.com/bitdt.htm)
has the best listing of funskool figures to date. Yojoe.com for international items is unorganized and doesn't give a collector the entire picture to what is out there.
The problem with the funskool line is that there are too many minor variants for any collector to know. In brief, here the figures released according to the book.
Series 1
Baroness
Clutch
Firefly
Gung-Ho
Hawk
Major Bludd
Scrap Iron
Short Fuze
Snake Eyes
Snow Job
Stalker
Torpedo
Zap
Series 2
Beach Head
Buzzer
Chuckles
Iceberg
Lady Jaye
Ripper
Street Hawk
Superhero
Zandar
Zarana
Series 3
Airtight
B.A.T.
Barbecue
Cobra Commander
Crazy Legs
Flint
Hawk
Mainframe
Quick Kick
Sgt. Smasher
Shipwreck
Series 4
Croc Master
Spearhead
Storm Shadow
Toxo-Viper
Series 5
Budo
Hydro-Viper
Muskrat
Night Viper
Sky Diver
Series 6
Deep Six
Road Pig
Rock N Roll
Series 7
Psyche-Out
Roadblock
Sci-Fi
T.A.R.G.E.T.
Series 8
Big Boa
Countdown
Dial Tone
Dodger
Eels
Lifeline
Ozone
Tunnel Rat
Series 9
Capt. Grid Iron
Cutter
General Flagg
General Hawk
Tracker
Series 10
Blaster
Blocker
Cobra COmmander
Desert Scorpion
Mercer
Series 11
Crimson Guard Immortal
Red Dog
Wild Bill
Zartan
Series 12
Cross Country
Law
Major Bludd
Metal Head
Wild Weasel
Series 13
Big Brawler
Grunt
Incinerator
Series 14
Tripwire
Windmill
Misc.
Super Cop
Post by: Colonel Abernathy on July 09, 2006, 05:33:28 PM
I'll probably order those books sometime soon.
I'm also interested in things like:
How do molds get lost or damaged? Does Hasbro send out every single mold they have for a specific figure to licensees? Wouldn't it be a good idea to have a vault back in Rhode Island with a set of master molds from which new molds can be cast? Does Hasbro lose track of what molds each licensee has? Do the licensees get to keep the molds for a specific time and not have to return them to Hasbro until the due date? Maybe I don't fully understand the toy-making process. It's fascinated me for the last 9 years (since the 1997 re-launch) how certain figures need to be modified (different arms/waists/legs/etc) and others can just plain out no longer be produced by Hasbro, the company that invented them. This is not a complaint, but rather a serious interest. Perhaps those books will shed some light...
Post by: Pete The Greek on July 09, 2006, 11:27:39 PM
Quote from: ""Colonel Abernathy""
How do molds get lost or damaged?
This thread touches on your question
http://forums.yojoe.com/showthread.php?t=38275 (http://forums.yojoe.com/showthread.php?t=38275)
Post by: Colonel Abernathy on July 10, 2006, 01:19:35 AM
Quote from: ""Pete The Greek""
Quote from: ""Colonel Abernathy""How do molds get lost or damaged?
This thread touches on your question
http://forums.yojoe.com/showthread.php?t=38275 (http://forums.yojoe.com/showthread.php?t=38275)
Thanks Pete! That helped a lot.
I still question the wisdom of farming out molds with no master back-up at Hasbro HQ, though.
Post by: Raptor on July 10, 2006, 08:46:16 AM
Quote from: ""Pete The Greek""
The problem with the funskool line is that there are too many minor variants for any collector to know. In brief, here the figures released according to the book.
It begs the question, what constitutes an Indian variant? MRF commonly makes toys with whatever plastic and dye is cheaply available at the time. They could shift in the middle of the run to a cheaper dye solution, leaving you with a purple looking figure when it should be blue. The dyes are also really subject to UV, and I've seen a bunch of the figures bleached out in package. Retrofun has a Law in a light brown vest, in package. Is that a variant, a damaged figure or a mistake/production error?
A white snake eyes is clearly a variant. A blue and yellow Bludd is clearly a variant. A slightly different green on a Deep Six? Does that even count?
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Post by: Pete The Greek on July 10, 2006, 04:46:49 PM
Quote from: ""Raptor""
A slightly different green on a Deep Six? Does that even count?
It counts if there was a production run of them.