G.I. Joe 25th Anniversary Variants
Doing a little research, I came across several figures in the new G.I. Joe 25th Anniversary series of figures that have variants. Most of these are in series 3 and the only other ones I know of are in the first series. I haven’t found any variants in series 2. Here is the list with the variation listed.
Shipwreck - Series 3 - The variant of this figure has an anchor tattoo on the right arm. The common figure has a shark tattoo on the right arm.
Zartan - Series 3 - Zartan has a packaging variant. One version has the logo that says “color changing face” on the packaging. The other version is missing this logo. Apparently, the one without this logo is more rare.
Stalker - Series 3 - The Stalker variant was a color correction by Hasbro. The rare version has yellow camouflage, and the corrected version has green camouflage.
Snake Eyes - Series 1 - The variant version of Snake Eyes has a black timber wolf. The common version has a gray wolf.
Cobra Commander - Series 1 - Not sure about this one, but some eBay sellers are saying there is a Cobra Commander variant. The variant is apparently that one has gold buckles on the leg and one has black buckles. This may be a running change by Hasbro, and I’m not sure which is more rare.
I’m not sure if there are any others out there, but if you find any, let us know. Thanks.
November 7, 2007 at 6:43 am
Since the anchor tattoo is the one featured in the photo on the package, isn’t that the one that should be more prevalent? I have both of the tatooed figures, the one with the anchor, and the one with the shark. I will say, when I purchased both at the same time, there was only the one shark tattooed figure, and 4 of the anchor tattooed figures available. On a collector’s note, on eBay, I have seen a lot more of the anchor tattooed fgures, and only a few of the shark tattooed figures listed. Is there any specific documentation somewhere that lists just which of these is the true variant?
November 25, 2007 at 7:46 pm
I have a 25th anniversary GI Joe Cobra 5 pack variant. It comes with the GI joe version of storm shadow instead of the Cobra version. I haven’t seen another one anywhere else. Does anyone know the deal with this variant??
December 4, 2007 at 12:47 pm
Some of the Zartans that are missing the “color change” logo do not actually change color. If you are a MISB/MOC’er you can check this by placing the carded figure in the freezer for a few seconds to see if his face changes colors or not.
Also I have seen here recently, carded Zartan figures where the “color change” logo is actually a sticker placed on the card afterwords, and not printed on it.
I think with Shipwreck, the shark tattoo may have turned out to be the variant, but I may be wrong about that one. It seems like once the anchor tattoo one showed up the shark tattoo one became impossable to find, but I’m still finding anchor tattoos all over the place.
December 8, 2007 at 3:20 am
The anchor was produced first and the shark after. There are also articulation variants on certain figures. Such as beach head. The original figures were made so that they couldn’t sit in vehicles and thier legs did the splits when you tried it. Now, there are a few figures that have “small crotches” so that the legs can stretch out in front of them. I won’t tell you what figures they are, where is the fun in that.
February 4, 2008 at 3:57 am
i have the 25th joe sets already, how come that roadblock doesnt have the dual jointed knees its less fun also with destro, and the crotch retooling i have th firefly and stalker that couldnt sit when i tried the leg splits and does not fit to thier classic vehicles.