G.I. Joe’s Adventures in India
I’ve been looking longingly at mint on card G.I. Joes for awhile now, praying that someday I’ll be able to afford many of the exceedingly expensive Joe figures. Unless there’s some unlikely collapse of the G.I. Joe collector’s market, then I’m not going to get my own AFA certified Snake Eyes any time soon.
A year or so ago while looking around auction sites and cruising conventions, I began to run across some Joes that are super cheap. Version two of Storm Shadow in this bargain basement line is going for about ten bucks on eBay, carded and everything. That’s a huge difference from the Hasbro version which can fetch up to fifty dollars or more. The only difference that I could see between the two was the brand “Funskool” on the package and no mention of Hasbro. Not really being into G.I. Joe collecting as much as others, I was unfamiliar with what this was and why this was so cheap. What’s suprising to me is that there isn’t a lot of information on Funskool that is easily accesible. Hell, there isn’t even a Wikipedia entry about it. How is that even possible? Sure there’s a bit here and there across the vast interweb, but from my findings it was hard to answer all of my questions especially since a lot of it is dated. With as much internet digging as I could manage, I’ve attempted to provide you the extent of my findings.
Firstly, Funskool G.I. Joes aren’t some knock off product, the company had the full go ahead from Hasbro to produce Joe figures in India. One big clue that you’re looking at a non-U.S. produced toy is that the Joes are labeled “G.I. Joe: International Hero”, which makes sense considering they’re sold in India. From what I can find, Funskool started producing Joes in the early nineties and ended their production although I’ve been unable to find a definite answer to that question. The figures aren’t worth as much simply because they are more plentiful, cheaply produced, and the cards aren’t made with as heavy card stock, meaning that they’ll warp and bend very easily so mint on card collectors aren’t as interested in them as they might otherwise be.
In the interest of helping you and not to simply indulge my collecting habits… please go with me on this one… I ordered a couple of the Fun Skool figures online to see what I’d get. I ended up picking Storm Shadow (duh!) and Crazy Legs. After what seemed like months of waiting but was only a few days, I finally got them in the mail. Here are the pics:
Funskool Crazy Legs
Funskool Storm Shadow
The cards were about as bad of shape as I expected them to be. It’s really a shame that Funskool didn’t make these on heavier card stock. I would certainly be satisfied with them as a substitute for a Hasbro Storm Shadow. This is not the case, as the card is so bent up that releasing him from his packaging would almost be a thing of mercy. Crazy Legs’s (damn the plural name!) card isn’t as badly warped, but his bubble is coming off in one part so he too might be better released from his card. Like the old saying goes, you get what what you pay for, so I’m not disappointed in my purchase. If anything, this would be the easiest way to build up an army of loose Storm Shadows if you so choose to do so.
What’s interesting is that Funskool didn’t stick to just making straight on copies of Hasbro figures like my new Crazy Legs and Storm Shadow. No sir, aside from making bizarre color choices of a few of the figures like an almost neon colored Beachhead among others, they also dabbled in some more odd picks in the G.I. Joe line. Take for example, Superhero:
As you can see, he’s a cobbled together figure from the parts of a couple of Joes. Add one cape and a fancy repaint you have a world class Superman knock-off. Indian kids need a Superman too!
The craziest Joe I’ve seen from the Funskool line has got to be Windmill, who has a windmill on his back and looks disturbingly uncomfortable.
This is the kind of top notch technology that keeps us on the forefront of the battlefield. Sort of like the water wheel tanks that we so desperately need.
Another notable aspect of the Funskool G.I. Joe run was that they also produced some Joe figures in conjunction with the toothpaste brand Pepsodent. From what I can find, they didn’t make any toothpaste themed G.I. Joes, rather they simply put Joes on a Pepsodent branded card:
I’m not sure how the figure ties into the toothpaste, but a Snake Eyes is a Snake Eyes I guess. There are several figures that are only available on the Pepsodent cards, like a hooded Cobra commander and the Baroness who is called The Chameleon.
Another very interesting choice in the Joe line comes from the world of television. Fans of the short lived, nineteen eighties super motorcycle show Street Hawk might be interested to learn that FunSkool produced three versions of the Street Hawk figure with his motorcycle.
Each version of the figure was a retooled Joe and the motorcycle looked fairly close to the one on the show. Interestingly enough, the package even had the G.I. Joe label. This kind of brings Street Hawk into the world of G.I. Joe. Now, where’s my G.I. Joe vs. Transformers vs. Street Hawk comic damn it?
One of the best parts about the Funskool Joe line is that they produced a bunch of vehicles that are pretty cheap for those looking to build up a fleet or want loose rigs without the wear and tear of years worth of playing with them. Funskool’s greatest release in the vehicle line had to be the signature G.I. Joe aircraft, the Skystriker, which was released a few years ago. From what I have read it was a decent toy, but collectors should be careful when buying a Skystriker off of eBay. More than a few Joe fans have been burned by getting the FunSkool one instead of a complete Hasbro version in the mail.
The G.I. Joe run in India was a nice side adventure for the Joe team. Aside from the bad cards and odd color choices at times, the Indian market got some really cool toys that might appeal to a certain segment of the toy collecting market here in the United States. It just goes to show that the Joes fight Cobra on the other side of the world almost as well as they do here even with the hampering effect of a much smaller budget.
Some More Funskool G.I. Joe Info:
Also, if there is anyone out there who knows more about this or if I’ve got any of the facts wrong, please contact me so I can get the record straight.
toys, toy collecting, G.I. Joe, Funskool, India
April 20th, 2007 at 8:55 pm
I watched G.I.Joe all the time as a kid growing up and man I loved that show. Snake Eyes is the Sh#t,trying to hold down my vulgeralabity..is that even a word.??? I am wondering where the Transformers? Which to me ran along side with the Joes’. They even made a Tv show with them together. Original Transformers are the best in my book. Hands down.. No wonder G.I.Joes are International heros, hell if made in another world!
August 27th, 2007 at 7:00 am
[...] Thank you, Lord. Thank you. I have not been impressed at all with the cards that I have seen for the 25th line at all. They’ve actually reminded me of the ultra-cheap Funskool cards. [...]
October 14th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
Hey man, I am from India and I am a huge fan of GI Joe. Funskool was a subsidiary company of a tyre manufacturing industry known as MRF (see the Street Hawk bike tyres). We had a good range of toys, but started out very limited. It was first launched in late 1988, I remember because I got my first taste of the Joes in the form of VAMP and Clutch. Then my collection slowly started to build up. In 90’s, came out the second wave (limited, but awesome) with Zandar, Buzzer, Zarana, etc. For these ones actually, the cards were amazing, really glossy and absolutely non-bendable. Also they were dead cheap, like it cost only 29 rupees (around 60 cents). But wave 3 cards again sucked, but we finally got Cobra Commander (Dic Series one) and ShipWreck, which was God sent. And next came out Wave 4, my all time favourite, because Storm Shadow, my second all time fav was featured (the one you have purchased). But unfortunately, my most favourite of them all, Destro, never released in India. I’m still upset over that. And then came Wave 5 and Wave 6, which sucked to be honest, and then the final Wave in 2002, with my third most favourite character, Zartan. Surprisingly, Zartan was the most expensive GI Joe action figure ever, but still worth it as it was your first edition version of Zartan. In Wave 7, we also got Hawk, Crimson Guard, and a Cobra Commander. But the rest were all garbage. Then from 2002 onwards, our country completely stopped making toys. Funskool was dead. So was Leo (Mattel’s Indian manufacturer). But from then on we got a few Hasbro toys imported from US, but no GI Joe. This year, we finally got Transformers imported to our country, which is a huge accomplishment, I must say, because we only got Beast Wars before. But coming back to Joes, I could never be fortunate enough to get my hands on Destro, Serpentor, Dr. Mind Bender, Tomax and Xamot, Duke and Scarlett. But now, after seeing the 25th Anniversary line, I have decided that I will be invading e-Bay no matter what the risks are of getting the mail properly delivered to my house, because Funskool screwed my chances of getting them, so E-bay it is. So wish me luck. Peace.
October 14th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
And as for the toothpaste ones, they sucked, except for the hooded Cobra Commander, which I will cherish for life. And coming to the vehicles, I don’t have any complaints because they were quite awesome. I have a few vehicles in my collection which are worthy of bragging rights (atleast by Indian standards), and SkyStriker is the best of them all. It was so freaking expensive that only a few privileged kids (including me back in the days) could actually have the honour of bringing it to the house. So GI Joe has always served a special part in my childhood, and now as an adult, the memories are only going to get better.
June 16th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
[...] iconic Joe vehicles? Make a god damn new one! And how is this even possible? The Indian toy maker Funskool made ones a few years ago. Why can’t they partner up with them to get the tool [...]