 It's my fault. The plague, the lockdown, everything. I decided this would be the year of the 90s. We were going to review a lot of 90s toys this year. Then what happened? 2020 became the worst year in human history and we're only halfway through it. I am overcome with guilt for my crime against humanity. How can I fix this? I feel that I must fulfill my obligation to review 1990s G.I. Joe toys, but how can I make it less painful? The only way I can think of to balance the destructive effect of the 1990s is to review a 90s figure of my favorite G.I. Joe character. Hello everybody hooded Cobra Commander 788 here. This is the show where we review every vintage G.I. Joe toy from 1982 to 1994. I am outdoors getting some fresh air. I've been cooped up for too long. We are going to fight this horrible deadly virus with some sunshine and some G.I. Joe action figures. Stalker is my favorite character in all of G.I. Joe. I connected with the character in the comic book and I thought his first action figure was really cool. Stalker had the role of Duke before Duke joined the team. He was a leader in the field and a guy you could trust in a hairy situation. Stalker was present at the beginning of the real American hero toy line and at the very end there was a Stalker action figure released in 1994, the final year of the line. By that time G.I. Joe had gone through a lot of changes. Stalker had changed too, but he remained true to his character. This figure has numerous variants. Thanks 3djoes.com for permission to use images of some of the variant cards for this action figure. Despite the year 2020 a little better, HCC 788 presents Stalker. This is Stalker, G.I. Joe's Ranger from 1994. This figure was available in 1994 only. 1994 was the final year of the vintage G.I. Joe toy line before it was canceled. This is version 5 of Stalker. He was in Battlecore, which was the name of the main G.I. Joe figure line in 1993 and 1994. As you can see we have more than one figure here, which means we have variations to look at. Version 1 of Stalker was released in 1982, the very first year of the relaunched G.I. Joe toy line. Version 1.5 of Stalker was released in 1983. It was basically the same as version 1, but it had some new articulation. Version 2 of Stalker was released in 1989. They went with a different angle on this figure. He had more winter gear and he came with a big kayak. Version 3 was released in 1992 as part of the Talking Battle Commander's set. He had a big backpack that made electronic sounds. Version 4 was issued in 1993 as a mail away offer. It was included with the Arctic Commando's set. It used the same mold as version 2, but with different colors. Version 5 was the final version of Stalker, meaning he was present at the beginning of the line and at the end. Of the original 1982 lineup, only three characters returned in 1994. Stalker, Snake Eyes, and Cobra Commander. Yes, that is Cobra Commander. I think that speaks to the importance of these characters to G.I. Joe. First Stalker figure was created by Ron Rudat for Hasbro. The character was created by Larry Hama, the writer of the Marvel comic book for the toys. Larry often based characters on people he knew. Given Larry's statements recently, I believe Stalker was based on Ed Davis, who Larry knew from the Krusty Bunkers at Continuity Studios in the 1970s. Obviously the name Stalker is a bit awkward now. In 1982, it didn't have the same meaning that it does now. His specialty is Ranger. He is a US Army Ranger, which means he is a graduate of US Army Ranger School. The rigorous training program prepares soldiers for close combat with the enemy. Stalker served in the Vietnam conflict where he met a couple of his future G.I. Joe teammates, Snake Eyes, and Storm Shadow. He was on a long range reconnaissance patrol team. LRRP, or LERP, teams ran scouting missions deep into enemy territory. With his background, he was an ideal selection for G.I. Joe. Stalker was the Duke of the team before Duke joined the team. He led missions. He was a field commander. He made sure the job got done no matter what it took. In the comic book, when Duke was introduced, Stalker continued to lead missions. He led at least as many missions as Duke did. Let's talk about the card on which Stalker was packaged. I have a sealed figure here. It's never been opened. There are some variations on this card, and we will talk about those. There are also a couple of variations on the figure. The card I have here has the vertical G.I. Joe logo. It is in the Battle Horse series. It's number nine in that series. This one has a sticker for a free G.I. Joe Commander figure offer. This was the Joe Colton figure that was available in 1994. We have the artwork here, and the artwork is okay, but definitely not as good as the Hector Garrido artwork we were used to seeing in 1980s G.I. Joe. The background is a color gradient from black to blue, and that is also not as interesting as the explosion backs that we had on cards in the 80s. As you can see, these figures came with accessories trees. This frame here that had the accessories attached to them, and the purchaser would have to cut those off themselves. And that was just a bit of laziness in the 1990s. In fact, this particular accessories tree is not unique to this figure. Missile Launcher shoots. This does include a spring-loaded missile launcher. Moving the card around to the back, we have the cross-sell with some other figures that were available in 1994. We have a couple of the sub-teams, Star Brigade and Street Fighter II. We have directions on how to use the figure stand and the missile launcher. This had one flag point. That was the 90s style flag point. And then we have this sad little file card. The card variations include a variation on the file card as well. So let's take a look at the different cards on which you will find this figure. Let's talk about those variations. There are a couple of variations on the figure. The most obvious variation is on some of the action figures there are yellow details painted on the chest, and on other figures those paint details are missing. The other variation is in the country of origin stamps. Some of the figures are stamped made in China, while others are stamped made in Indonesia. Thanks to 3djoes.com for providing a lot of information about the variations on the card and figure. There are two card variations. The earliest cards had a horizontal logo, and those cards also had a normal sized file card. Later releases had a vertical G.I. Joe logo, like what you see on my carded figure, and the file card was shrunk down to baseball card size, like this. 3djoes.com has identified four figure and card combinations. There is stalker with yellow chest details, a horizontal logo, and a country of origin stamp made in China. There's a stalker with yellow chest details, a vertical logo, and a country of origin stamp made in China. There's a stalker without yellow chest details, a vertical logo, and a country of origin stamp made in China. And finally, there's stalker with the yellow chest details, a vertical logo, and made in Indonesia. It appears the made in Indonesia figures are only available on the vertical logo cards. There is one other variation, and you can see it on my two figures. On the carded figure, on the left leg, there are green painted strap details. On my loose figure, those details on the inside left leg are unpainted. Let's take a look at Stalker's accessories. Keep in mind, his accessories came on a plastic frame, like this. You'd have to cut those accessories out yourself. The frame was black, so all of the accessories are black. There is no color variation, but that's okay since black is a good color. 3DJose has identified a variant accessories tree with rust paint on it. That's a really strange one, possibly a factory error. This accessories tree was originally issued in 1993 with Duke version 4, clutch version 3, and Ozone versions 2 and 3, also in black. A similar set was included with Gunho version 5, but the machete was slightly different. Let's start by looking at this submachine gun. It is black. It looks like a cross between a Heckler and Koch MP5 and an SP5K, with a foregrip and a suppressor. Since Stalker version 1 came with a submachine gun based on the MP5, I think this is an appropriate accessory for Stalker version 5. The mini file card calls this a machine gun with scope, which is hilarious because it is not a machine gun, and it does not have a scope. This submachine gun was originally issued with 1990 tracker in an orange color. It was reissued several times in a variety of colors. And as noted before, you could get an identical submachine gun with other figures, such as Duke version 4, and it was in that same black color. Next we have this shotgun. This shotgun is in black plastic, of course, since it came off of that accessories tree. It has a grip, and it's a pretty well sculpted shotgun. This is a copy of the shotgun that came with 1988 muskrat. In fact, it's very close to the original. It's much closer to the original than other reissues of this shotgun. If you would like to distinguish the 88 muskrat shotgun from the later releases, I would look at the glossier finish of the 90s shotgun, and the 90s shotgun is made of softer plastic. This accessory was also reissued many times and in a variety of different colors. Next we get to what might charitably be called a machine gun with a scope, or maybe an assault rifle. This is in black plastic. It has a big magazine. It does have a scope. It has a short stock. It's got lots of detail on it, but this looks like a science fiction weapon. It does not look like it's based on any real world weapon. This accessory is a reissue of the weapon that came with 1991 grunt version 3, also in black, but it's easy to distinguish the original from the 90s reissue. The original had two holes bored in the side because it would peg on his missile launcher. Next we have the machete in black. It's pretty simple, but it's fine. It's a machete. It serves its purpose. This is a reissue of the machete that came with 1988 muskrat. It was blue when muskrat had it. I have to say it's looking a bit better in black. Surprisingly, there was a molding change on this machete sometime, I think in 1993, because gung-ho version 4, even though he had mostly identical accessories to this stalker figure, had a different machete. It was very slightly different. The blade was slightly more curved. Finally, we get to the spring-loaded missile launcher. It is a black missile launcher with an orange trigger, and it included two black missiles. Like all of the other accessories, these are not original. This missile launcher was reissued a number of times in different colors. For instance, in a gold color for duke version 4, and in an orange color for mega marines gung-ho. I have seen some photos where collectors have been able to get this missile launcher in the figure's hand, but I simply can't do it. I can't get a good angle with this sort of arm guard thing, and I'm afraid if I force it, I will break the figure's thumb. The operation of this missile launcher is pretty straightforward. You just take one of the included black missiles and insert it in the barrel of the missile launcher with the notch side up. Press back until it clicks, and for mine it has to be pushed back pretty firmly. There we go. And to fire, you just press down on the orange trigger. Let's take aim at our favorite target, Dr. Mindbender. Just aim, press back on the trigger, to fire. These missile launchers had pretty powerful springs, and even though this gimmick came about after I was no longer into GI Joe, I understand a lot of kids in the 90s really like these things. Last but not least, we must not forget the figure stand. The figure stand was a great innovation of the 90s, even though the figure stands existed in the 80s, the action figures did not include them. Starting in the 90s, action figures did have their own figure stands, and I think that's good. With the accessories out of the way, let's take a look at the articulation on Stalker. He had the articulation that was standard for GI Joe figures well before 1994. He could turn his head from left to right and look up and down. He could swing his arm up at the shoulder and swivel at the shoulder all the way around. Unfortunately, because of the shape of the body, he cannot rest his arms all the way down at his sides, so that's a little bit of a hindrance. He had a hinge at the elbow, so he could bend his arm at the elbow about 90 degrees. He had a swivel at the bicep, so he could swivel his arm all the way around. This was an o-ring figure, meaning the figure was held together with a rubber o-ring that looped around the inside. That allowed him to move at the torso a bit. He could move his legs apart about so far. He could bend his leg at the hip about 90 degrees and bend at the knee about 90 degrees. Let's take a look at the sculpt design and color of Stalker starting with his head. On his head, he has a black knit hat. This hat is a carryover of the hat from the version 2 figure. That knit hat was camouflaged. It looks pretty good in black though, so that's not bad. The first iteration of Stalker had a beret, and although the knit hat is okay, I still prefer the beret look. He has an African American skin tone, black hair, a black mustache. It's a decent head sculpt. It does look a bit different from earlier versions of Stalker, but you could still imagine this is the same guy just a few years older. What is very strange about this head is on the neck there are sculpted rings. There's a detail that goes all the way around the neck, and it's obvious that's supposed to be a painted detail, but it is not painted in. That looks very strange. He looks like he has some kind of gross on his neck. This is the problem with cutting paint applications for cost. When it's a detail on skin, the missing paint is very obvious and looks pretty bad. On his chest, he has what I believe is supposed to be an armored vest in black. He has yellow rings around his arms and over his shoulders. I don't know what purpose those are supposed to serve. Looks like an old style science fiction outfit to me. He has yellow grenades and a few details on the chest, some pockets and buckles. This is the most obvious variation, as some Stalker action figures did not have the yellow paint application. Although the chest is a bit plain without the paint, because it's black, I still think it looks pretty good. His arms feature black rolled up sleeves and bare forearms, and on his left wrist, he has a band around his wrist that is unpainted. That's another unpainted detail on an area of exposed skin, and this is a big problem. Sometimes unpainted details on the uniform can be excused, but unpainted detail on the skin, that just looks bad. The waist piece is pretty plain. He has a green belt with some detail, but not very much. He has a couple sculpted pockets in the back. His legs are black, and on his right leg he has rings that go around his thigh. Those are painted in olive green, and that's a good color. I just don't know what purpose those rings serve. On his left thigh, he has a green pistol holster, implying he is left-handed. That pistol holster has two straps that go around his thigh, and on this variation, the paint on those straps stops at the inner thigh. The inner thigh is not painted. That is another paint variation, as on my carded example, those straps are painted on the inside leg. We finish with olive drab boots. The boots have rings around them. They look kind of like moon boots, but it's a good color. And there is a green knife on the right boot. The color scheme is not bad even with the yellow. The yellow may be a carryover from version 3, which had some yellow details. The green and overall black is better than the cream camouflage of version 3. Without the yellow, it looks like a good night mission uniform. He even comes with black accessories. You have sort of a night force stalker. Let's look at the file card. There are two variations, the full size card and the baseball size card. I will be relying on 3djoes.com for the full size file card. The full size card has a numbered list of features on the figure. It also has a quote that is not present on the smaller card. His codename is stalker. He is a ranger. His file name is Lonzo R. Wilkinson. His primary military specialty is infantry. Secondary military specialty is medic slash interpreter. His birthplace is Detroit, Michigan, and his grade is E7. So far, this is mostly the same as the version 1 file card, except the serial number changed. I don't really pay attention to that. And in 1982, he was an E5. He got promoted to E7. There's a quote apparently from stalker. It says, fight with me and win, or fight against me and be annihilated. That doesn't sound like something stalker would say. The text paragraph says, generals may win campaigns, but it's the sergeants who win the battles by taking charge and kicking butt. Stalker served in the LRRPs with snake eyes and storm shadow, so he's no stranger to winning battles first and asking questions later. Any GI Joe who has heard him shout, let's party in the thick of a firefight knows that he means business. Once stalker starts wheeling his razor sharp machete in one hand and firing a missile launcher in the other, there's no escape for any snake that dares stand in his way. That's a simple fact Cobra Commander will have to live with if he manages to live at all. First of all, this text is not very good. It's mostly just a copy of the file card for the talking battle commander's figure. That figure had a sound making gimmick and would actually say, let's party. That made sense in the context of the talking battle commander's figure, but not for the battle core figure. The rest of the file card is mostly an advertisement for a couple of his accessories, the machete and the missile launcher. I think it's very unlikely this file card was written by Larry Hama. Let's take a brief look at the smaller baseball card size file card. There's something I want to point out about the artwork, which was not obvious on the front of the card because it was partially covered up with the packaging. But the pistol holster is on the right leg on this artwork and those rings are on the left leg. It's reverse of what's on the figure. This image though was not reversed because the grenades are on the correct side. So I wonder why they put the pistol holster on the left side on the figure, but the right side on the artwork. The text is just a cut down version of the larger file card. They had to leave out the bit about the machete and the missile launcher and the thing on the end about Cobra Commander. This is not an inspiring file card. It's not even close to the best Stalker file card. Looking at how Stalker was used in GI Joe Media, he appeared in the first TV miniseries in 1983. He didn't have a lot to do. He tricked Cobra Commander into thinking GI Joe was surrendering. He appeared in the Dieck era of the series. In the opening miniseries Operation Dragonfire, he was in his version 2 uniform. Later, he appeared very briefly in his version 3 uniform. He was underutilized in the series. He made no appearances in his version 5 uniform. Stalker was extremely important in the comic book series published by Marvel Comics. He was in the series from the beginning to the end. He was a war buddy of Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow in Vietnam. He was one of the first recruits to the GI Joe team when it was formed. He led numerous missions and was as much of a field commander as Duke. I looked for an appearance in his version 5 uniform, but I don't think he ever wore it in the comic book. Looking at Stalker overall, this figure is good for its era, but it could have been better. I'm not a fan of the yellow details because they break up a pretty good night mission uniform. Without the yellow paint, the colors still look pretty good, though it is a bit plain. The lack of paint details on the uniform is excusable, but the lack of paint on the neck and the wrist, that looks very strange. The shape of the body is a problem, because it doesn't allow him to rest his arms at the side. He looks like he's always flexing. The accessories tree is typical 90s laziness and cost cutting, but at least the accessories are black, and at least it includes a submachine gun that works well for Stalker. I don't need spring loaded missile launchers, but I know fans of 90s GI Joe liked them. The figure is not exceptional, but I'm happy Stalker was able to survive to the end of the line. If any of the 1982 characters deserved to be there, heat it. That was my review of 1994 Stalker, I hope you enjoyed it. I apologize for destroying the world, hopefully it gets better. Now, I am going to enjoy some sunshine and a walk through the neighborhood. What's that? Thank you for watching this video. If you enjoyed it, I'm making more like it. So please give this video a thumbs up on YouTube, subscribe to the YouTube channel, hit the notification bell so you don't miss any future videos, and share this video with your friends. That's what helps this channel grow. You can find me on social media, on Facebook and Twitter, and I have a website, hcc788.com. If you want to know if I've already reviewed a vintage GI Joe item, that's a good place to check. Special thanks to all my supporters on Patreon, including the names you see on the screen now. Support on Patreon helps keep this show going. So if you like the show, and you'd like to support this show in that way, please consider checking out Patreon. You can get some special rewards, including early access to reviews, and you can find out how to decode the secret messages you see in these videos. Thank you for joining me on this adventure of collecting vintage GI Joe toys. I'll see you next time, and until then, remember, only GI Joe is GI Joe.