Leaky Suit Brigade

A Blog About All Things GI Joe

Tag Archives: Holy Grail


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Let’s Make That Two – Funskool Commando Force Canary Ann

This year will likely go down as the biggest collecting year ever for me! Not only have I been lucky enough to make multiple deals with Aire, win two lots from Shane Watson’s Vectis auctions (more later on that), but I just completed a deal for one of the most rare and desirable figures in the hobby – Canary Ann!!!! This deal fell into my lap and I pulled out all the stops to make it happen. I have to thank the seller for making this one of the easiest and best transactions I’ve ever had. It definitely made me nervous went I sent the payment – but the seller was AWESOME.

I am sure that more Canary Anns will be found (I know there is at least a 3rd, maybe a 4th), this is definitely the first, but hopefully not the last to be shared publicly. Now that it is hands on I can get some great pictures of it to share with everyone. It is complete and in absolutely great shape, tight joints and just some minor paint wear on the gloves and one boot. The first order of business when I get home will be to switch out the screws (they aren’t rusted, but I’d like new ones in anyway) and then to place her right next to my other Commando Force figures!

Before I get to the pictures, here is the background info on the Funskool Commando Force figures:

They were the free figures, that were given away on the purchase of ‘Complan Chocolate Health Drink’.

Their names:
Emerald Gung Ho/Zap – “Striker”.
Red/Purple Scrap Iron/Zap – “Cross Country”
Blue/Yellow Firefly/Short Fuse – ??
Red Baroness – “Rednok”
Yellow Lady Jaye – “Canary Ann”

Enjoy the pictures!


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Balls of Steel

Well last night I took a huge risk and decided it was time to attempt to retore my Rednok (Red Baroness) from the Funskool/Complan Commando Force. When I first picked up the figure, she looked like she was beat with an ugly stick, so because Rednok and Funskool Baroness have an identical head I found one to swap out with. The first, problem or minor issue was coming to grips with opening up a MOC Funskool Baroness, but I got over that pretty quickly as Rednok is much more rare.

The real issue came when I attempted to unscrew the back screw… It was completely rusted out. It just crumbled when I put my precision screwdriver into it. At this point I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. I had an incredibly rare and expensive figure that sooner or later would have an O-ring shape and then I would be left with pieces of an incredibly rare and expensive figure. So, after going back and forth on the issue for awhile I decided to get out my Dremel and drill the screw-head off so I could open up the figure.

The nightmare scenario would have been drilling into the screw and pushing it right out her chest, effectively destroying the figure. After deciding I would live with the results I slowly and carefully drilled the screw-head off. Once that was accomplished her body came apart like any normal figure and I too the remaining part of the screw out with some pliers. Then I popped off the old head that had definitely seen better days and put on a mint as can be, fresh off the card head. I think it turned out great and was well worth the gamble. Rednok got the plastic surgery she always wanted and looks like a million bucks now on display!

Rednok Before

Rednok Before

Rednok After

Rednok After


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3 AWESOME Figures I just Picked Up! 2 Super Rare Commando Force Figures and One Brazilian Figure

Posts haven’t been as frequent as there hasn’t been too much going on.  I am very late on my xmas gifts (coming soon TM), but those can wait because in the last week, I finally pulled the trigger on one figure that has been available for awhile and also picked up two others that just came on the market. First up, we have the Funskool Commando Force Cross Country. This figure comes from the same set as the Canary Ann and Rednok (Red Baroness) that were giveaways with a Complan chocolate drink in India. I had my eyes on this figure for a while now and the price and timing were perfect to pick this up. All of these are birthday presents to myself; I celebrated my 28th yesterday. Second, is a Funskool Commando Force Striker! It has a broken hand, but I am think about switching it out with a Funskool Gung Ho hand seeing as they are identical. With these picks ups, I only need a Canary Ann (but with only 1 known and a 3K price tag – I may be waiting awhile) and the Firefly/Short Fuze to complete the Commando Force set. So, if any of you out there have the Firefly/Short Fuze, I am interested. But I’d like some time to recover from buying these first! Third, I picked up a mint/complete Brazilian Maligno (aka the Toxo-Viper). This was a must buy for me, I had been looking for one for a long time and this one was in great shape and came with all its accessories including the electronic backpack!

 

Commando Force Striker

Commando Force Striker

Brazil Maligno - Toxo-Viper

Brazil Maligno – Toxo-Viper

Commando Force Cross Country

Commando Force Cross Country


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Never Before Seen, One-of-a-Kind Funskool Canary Ann

This figure truly is one of the holy grails in terms of international GI Joe collecting. This is the first and only known example of Canary Ann. Until a few weeks ago, there was only a picture of her file card. This figure was privately sold. I didn’t have the cash on had to buy this, as I have been on quite the buying spree. However, I will be saving up and setting aside some cash for future grail finds such as this. I waited a couple weeks to show to hoping that the buyer would post pictures somewhere. I believe that things like this should be shown, there is absolutely no reason to hide stuff. So, I’m revealing it to everyone because no one else will.

Here is some background on this figure as well as the other figures it was released with.They were the free figures, that were given away on the purchase of ‘Complan Chocolate Health Drink’.

Their names:
Emerald Gung Ho/Zap – “Striker”.
Red/Purple Scrap Iron/Zap – “Cross Country”
Blue/Yellow Firefly/Short Fuse – ??
Red Baroness – “Rednok”
Yellow Lady Jaye – “Canary Ann”

Here are the first ever pictures (front and back) of Canary Ann, as well as the file card (front and back).

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First-ever Images of Super Rare Funskool Mobat!

On Hisstank, curtsy of vatsalsharma posted the first known pictures of the Funskool Mobat. Apparently he says that they are out there, and not as mythical as some of us think, but he lives in India, so he has better access than us. Apparently he sold at least one to a buyer in Singapore. Here are the pictures:

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My Funskool Rock N Roll

So I have talked about this before, but there is an update to the story. When I bought the figure, the seller could only find 2 of the accessories, but he said he would continue to look for the other pieces. Well, he contacted me again saying he found 2 more accessories! He found the green “sonic” backpack and the green stand for the big gun. Sadly I don’t have the big gun but I might just place an ARAH version on it to replace it. I also put sonic in quotes because the backpack is not sonic at all. It seems that for the Funskool version they retooled the backpack, eliminating the sound part and replacing the rubber buttons with hard plastic painted yellow, in what seems like an attempt to mimic buttons. The Funskool version also eliminated the red lights that were at the top of the backpack, leaving 2 empty holes. It just got delievered so it is a little dirty, but take a look at the backpack and a reposted pic of the figure!

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Just Scored That Interesting eBay Auction!!!!

So earlier today I mentioned a secret interesting auction I found on eBay. I kept it close to the vest because this is the first time in about 3 years that I have seen this item for sale!  I scored the rare Funskool Lifelife yellow shirt/grey boots variant MOC! I have been checking eBay almost every day for this item. This figure has been high up on my target list for a long time because it is in the Tiger Force theme, one of my favorite sub-teams. I also picked up a MOC Funskool Eel from the same seller. I like the powder blue that this figure comes in. Can’t wait to see this in person! I also still have one more secret auction that I am waiting to pounce on, although it is more of a gamble.

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Interesting eBay Auctions

There have been several pretty cool auction on eBay recently (and a couple that are currently active that I will keep secret until they are over). There were several really rare international items: Manleh file card, Topson file card, Funskool Spearhead with gold boots and variant paint scheme, and two cool prototype auctions, resin ARAH Tracker and A Sludge(?) Viper resin (not pictured).

I like to post these kinds of things from time to time because unless you are looking for them, these types of things are rarely seen by the average Joe fan. The Argen 7 file cards are incredibly rare and super expensive. More expensive than the figures themselves. A little piece of cardboard can easily set you back $1,000 or more. I did not end up winning or bidding on these. It was bad timing for these to come up. I’ll have to wait till next time.

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Super Rare Funskool Rock N Roll!!!!

So here is the 3rd ultra rare funskool item that I was talking about. It came in a separate shipment than the others and that caused my delay in posting it. While it is not as flashy as the Red Stalker or Red Baroness, this figure is probably equally as hard to find. I only know of one other in collector’s hands, but I sure there are a few more out there. It is in pretty decent shape, with nothing broken, and even came with some of its original weapons (which  is tough to find with any funskool figure coming from India. They aren’t big collectors.)

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