 This is Zartan, version 2, The Master of Disguise from 1993. This figure was only available in 1993 and was part of the Ninja Force series. Ninja Force was first introduced in 1992, so this figure was part of the second year of Ninja Force. This is the second version of Zartan. The first version of Zartan was introduced in 1984. And he was released with a small vehicle, the Chameleon Swamp Skier. The 1984 Zartan had a gimmick the second version does not have. Both the figure and the vehicle have a color change gimmick. If exposed to sunlight, the skin on the figure and the light green part of the vehicle will change color. As a Master of Disguise, the 1984 figure actually had an accessory that would allow the figure to be disguised. In his backpack he hides a mask and that mask can actually be placed on the figure's face. And so the figure is actually disguised. The second version of Zartan doesn't come with anything like this. Although admittedly it's not very much of a disguise, he has a different face but he's wearing exactly the same very peculiar costume of Zartan. I don't think this would fool anyone. Whether it's a good disguise or not, at least version 1 of Zartan has a disguise which version 2 does not. Zartan is a character with many layers. The name Zartan is an anagram for Tarzan. Zartan is a Master of Disguise, a swamp dweller, the killer of ninjas, and the leader of the Dreadnocks. The Dreadnocks was a rogue motorcycle gang that often worked with Cobra. In 1985, three Dreadnock figures were released, Buzzer, Torch, and Ripper. More Dreadnock figures were released later, including some vehicles. Ninja Force was a set of ninja themed GI Joe figures released in 1992 and 1993. They often didn't look very ninja like. They were often very colorful. They all had action play features. And even though this series is kind of hit and miss and has a lot of duds, there were a few good figures, and the series gave us updated versions of some fan favorite characters like Snake Eyes, Scarlet, and Storm Shadow. The Force was discontinued for 1993, but in 1994, some of the molds for Ninja Force figures were reused for Shadow Ninjas. Shadow Ninjas had Inviso power. They were so ninja like and stealthy that nobody even remembers them, so let's not talk about them anymore. The second version of Zartan was in Ninja Force, but is Zartan a ninja? I don't think so, but Zartan did go up against ninjas, and he would frequently beat them. Zartan killed a few ninjas in his day. Zartan was one of the most important characters in the GI Joe universe. He was connected to so many other characters, including Cobra Commander, Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow, all of the Dreadlocks, and he even had a brother and a sister that had action figures. In 1986, Zartan's brother and sister Xandar and Zarena were introduced. Of the two, Zarena is the more remembered. These two figures had the same color change gimmick that the first version of Zartan had. If you exposed them to sunlight, their skin would change to a bluish color. Let's look at the card back for Ninja Force Zartan, and I actually have a carded example of this figure so we can see what the figure looked like when it was brand new. Looking at the card art, this is pretty typical of 90s figures. We have a pink swirl in the background. We have the character in kind of a knees up, leaping forward pose. This card is actually a variant of my other card back. This one has a small parts warning here in the center, and the advertisement for the action gimmick is over toward the side. On the other one, it does not have the small parts warning, and the action gimmick is in the center. And on this one, I notice that on the card art, the two knives that go on the leg are on the wrong side. The accessories came on this plastic tree, and you were supposed to clip them out. To my eye, this looks orange, but the camera is giving it a slightly more pinkish hue, but to me it looks straight orange. Flipping the card around to the back, we have the cross sell with more Ninja Force action figures and the Ninja Lightning motorcycle. That's one I'd like to get my hands on. A couple other subteams here. Then we have the file card for Zartan, and unfortunately it is in that same pinkish color. Let's take a look at Zartan's accessories, starting with the most important one, the bow. This orange bow is a direct copy of the black compound bow that came with version 2 of Storm Shadow in 1988. And of course, it does look a lot better in black. Disregarding the color, this is actually a really nice bow. It fits very snugly in the figure's hand, so you can see it's kind of scratched up there where he grips it. It also has three arrows sculpted on. This is a very important accessory for Zartan, again despite the color, it makes perfect sense. In the comic book series, Zartan is portrayed as being a master archer. In fact, if you wanted to recreate some of the scenes in the comic book, you could give version 1 of Zartan Storm Shadow's compound bow. His next accessory is this sword, and I believe this is the first time this sword was used. It was used later in the Street Fighter 2 series, and it was used for Nunchuck version 2, but I think this is the first use of it. There's nothing especially remarkable about this sword. It will fit in the figure's hand, but it's kind of a tight fit. The next accessory is this sickle, and this is a reuse of the weapon that came with 1992 Dojo. This weapon doesn't really have anything to do with Zartan, but he's in Ninja Force so he just has to come with a lot of melee weapons. Next we have what is frequently called a machete, even though it doesn't really look like a machete, it's kind of this short sword looking thing. This is a reuse of the machete that came with 1988 spearhead. Next he has two knives, and the knives actually have storage space on the figure. On the left leg, there are two slots where they can be sheathed, and that's a feature that I like a lot. Of course it looks a little bit ridiculous. They're sticking out really far on the outside, and on the inside they're kind of stabbing his other leg. But even so, we didn't get a lot of weapon storage on GI Joe figures, so I appreciate it when we get it. And lastly, we have the accessory that is always the best accessory on these 90s figures, the figure stand. 80s figures did not come with them, 90s figures did. Let's take a look at the articulation on Zartan. He did not have the typical articulation for a GI Joe figure because he had an action feature. His head would turn left and right and look up and down. He could swing his arm up at the shoulder and swivel at the shoulder all the way around. He had a hinge at the elbow that allowed him to bend his arm at the elbow about 90 degrees. He had a swivel at the bicep that allowed him to swivel his arm all the way around. He did not have an O-ring because he had a spring-loaded swivel on his hip, and that was the action feature. If you pull him back and snap him forward, he will punch. They called this the Moroto chop. Being past the Moroto chop, he could move his legs apart about so far he could swing his leg up 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 this figure. He has a huge orange mohawk, and I'm not saying it's not sculpted well, it's nicely done, but this is a huge departure from the hooded look of the Version 1 figure. It was always kind of a mystery what Zartan had under his cowl. He was a master of disguise, so he could change the way he looked anyway, so I guess it didn't really matter. This definitely is not what we expected. I don't think he has this mohawk under his hood. This is something that he did to himself later. He still sort of has his face makeup, but it's bright orange on the Version 2 figure, whereas it was black on Version 1, and had white, pupil-less eyes. He also has white eyes on the Version 2 figure. Does this face look like Zartan? Well, there's no way to tell. Zartan changes his look frequently. That's a trait of the character. As crazy as this head is, it kind of makes sense. I mean, the dreadknocks were not punk rockers, but they were anti-establishment, and so you could kind of imagine this as a dreadknock figure. Although this does not work for him as a master of disguise, I can't imagine Zartan taking on this non-conformist look. There is a scene in the comic book series where Zartan is not wearing his cowl, and he has black hair. But again, as a master of disguise, you can't take that as what he really looks like. That also could have been a disguise. Why did he have the cowl in the first place? Well, the real reason is just so he could fit the mask on for the gimmick on the action figure. On his chest, he has what the file card calls a raw hide leather jacket. It's really a vest. It has a high collar in the back. It has an orange painted chain around his right arm, and it has some unpainted chains hanging over his left shoulder. It is true that this chest is not nearly as iconic as the chest shield on version one. It's really not all that crazy. It's just basically a black leather jacket with an orange chain. The file card calls this a Kusari Fundo Assault Chain, and that is a real feudal Japanese chain weapon. It's worth noting, since this is not an O-ring figure, there is no screw hole in the back. This figure cannot carry a backpack. His arms are mostly bare. His left arm is totally uncovered. On his right forearm, he has a black brace with a couple straps to go around his forearm. The file card calls this a sword blocking forearm guard, and he has a black glove. On the waist piece, he has a purple studded belt with a black belt buckle, and he has bright neon green trousers. On his left leg, he has two purple raised details with some thin purple straps that go around his thigh, and of course, this is where you can sheath those knives. He has tall purple shin guards over tall black boots. Let's take a look at Zartan's file card. We've got a portrait of Zartan here. It says his codename is Zartan, filename unknown, primary military specialty is master of disguise, birthplace is unknown. It has a quote here. It says my personality changes as often as my looks, and they're both bad. Zartan can alter his skin color at will to blend in with his environment. He's a master of makeup and disguise, even though he does not come with a mask. A ventriloquist, a linguist in parentheses, he speaks over 20 languages and dialects, an acrobatic contortionist, and a practitioner of numerous mystical martial arts. Little is known about his background, but captured Cobra documents revealed reports listing him to be as lethal as a two-headed rattler disguised as a garter snake. He changes his appearance and personality so often even he can't keep track of them. Looking at how Zartan was used in GI Joe Media, he first appeared in the cartoon series in Revenge of Cobra Part 1. In that episode, he rescued Cobra Commander from imprisonment. Now, if you were a fan of the cartoon series, and you thought what Zartan had on his head was hair, you're not mistaken, it's not just you. The animators also made that mistake, and sometimes drew his cowl as hair. I would be remiss if I didn't mention the episode in which Cobra tried to take over the world via rock and roll, and Zartan and the Dreadknocks formed the heavy metal band Cold Slyther. Zartan was a popular character and had many appearances in the Sunbow Era, but he didn't make the transition to the Deak Era. So there are no appearances of Zartan in his version 2 uniform. In the comic book series, Zartan is one of the most important characters ever. He first appeared in issue number 24. It took some time for Larry Hama to figure out what to do with him. He was later integrated into the backstory of several characters. Zartan was hired by Cobra Commander to kill Snake Eyes, but instead accidentally killed the Hard Master, who was the head of the Arashakaga Ninja Clan and Storm Shadow's uncle. Storm Shadow infiltrated Cobra to find the identity of the assassin. When the truth was revealed, Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes attacked Cobra Island looking for Zartan. But Zartan had switched places with Ripcord and was taken to the GI Joe base, The Pit. He was later rescued by Zirana, Xandar, and the Dreadknocks. During the Cobra Civil War, Zartan sided with the Cobra Commander imposter, Fred VII, against Serpentor. Zartan ended the war by killing Serpentor with an arrow. He later killed another Ninja Master, The Blind Master, and for a while he took his identity. When the real Cobra Commander returned, he imprisoned Zartan along with his other enemies in a landlocked freighter and buried it under a volcano. Zartan escaped. Zartan even appeared in his version 2 outfit beginning in issue number 139. He had to reintroduce himself to the Baroness and Destro because they didn't recognize him.