So...just HOW many variants are we looking at?

[airedevon]

Out of curiosity, I wanted to see if the numbers on the back of the cardbacks could be useful in determining whether or not the Green Stalker had a hole or not..

I just opened two Green Stalkers - both with the number 72502 - and one had the hole and the other did not.... hmmmm....

Aire

[GIJoeCollector]

I just opened two Green Stalkers - both with the number 72502 - and one had the hole and the other did not.... hmmmm....

Aire

I believe those are packaging dates, not production dates. They can be used as a guide, but say they had some old stock left and packaged it the same day as the new stock, they would have the same packaging date.

[airedevon]

Cool! Thanks for the info!

[Shogi]

I believe those are packaging dates, not production dates. They can be used as a guide, but say they had some old stock left and packaged it the same day as the new stock, they would have the same packaging date.

Yep, Captain-DC has stated that those production numbers are imprinted into the cards at the same time the bubble is sealed to the card

[notpicard]

Thanks for the info, aire. It looks like I'll have to track down one of those Stalkers.

I just found another hole/no hole variant. This one is on the Cobra Trooper from the Legions 5-pack.

I am curious about one other change I noticed while he was packaged. The buckle is painted differently where it snaps together. The one with the hole is painted silver on the part that is snapped over. Perhaps this is a giveaway which one is in the package.

I'll have to get images up later, but I wanted to give a heads up now.

[Derek2783]

I think there's some confusion in the 'Joe community between people saying they have a non-color change version and meaning they have a card without the color change logo, and those who are claiming their Zartan doesn't have the color change coating applied to his skin. I suspect there’s also some misunderstanding on the part of readers who see those posts.

Just to clarify: Our illustrious Administrator contacted Neal Hoffman at Hasbro and inquired about the Zartan situation, and from what he was told, all the Zartans are supposed to be color change regardless of what their package says. So unless it's a factory goof or something, there isn't a non-color change version.

This was posted over at Joesightings.com when I inquired about a non-changing Zartan. So it sounds like they ALL have color change to some degree or another.

[rageseven]

I just found another hole/no hole variant. This one is on the Cobra Trooper from the Legions 5-pack.

I am curious about one other change I noticed while he was packaged. The buckle is painted differently where it snaps together. The one with the hole is painted silver on the part that is snapped over. Perhaps this is a giveaway which one is in the package.

I'll have to get images up later, but I wanted to give a heads up now.

Does the Stinger Driver have a similar variation? Seems like the change would be made to it as well since it has the same body construction.

notpicard, do your Stinger Drivers have the hole in the back?

[notpicard]

No, I was surprised to find that my Stinger Driver still did not have a hole in his back.

However, I did find that he was not the same as my first Stinger Driver because of the way the eyebrows are painted.

I know that some eyebrow details look slightly different from one figure to the next. But this isn't that. If you put several 25th soldiers and officers next to each other, you'll seel that some have an eyebrow that is a simle arc while others are curved eyebrows that look either angry (or worried.) My first Stinger Driver has an arc. My second has the worried curved look. I'm fairly convinced it isn't just a difference from one figure to the next.

I stopped by Wal*Mart on the way home from work tonight and in 3 Legions 5-packs, all 3 were 72532 and all 3 had Troopers with the inner buckle painted silver. It may be a way of spotting a Trooper with a hole from outside the box.

[notpicard]

As I had hoped, I got some images ready.

Some pages with confirmed variations have been updated:

http://www.yojoe.com/action/07/beachhead10.shtml
http://www.yojoe.com/action/07/cobratrooper8.shtml

An image of Firefly's variation is up and ready for the archive:
http://www.yojoe.com/action/variations/firefly14var.jpg

And I uploaded images of what I am talking about (but this isn't in the archive) on Stinger Driver. I need more samples of the eyebrows to be sure, but it really looks to be two different kinds rather than varying degrees on one.

http://www.yojoe.com/action/variatio...driver2var.jpg

[notpicard]

To add to the Zartan conversation, I found two that looked worth buying and grabbed them.

One had a neck that looked like it had absolutely no color-change paint on it at all, especially compared the head. The other definitely had a blue neck, but his face looked like it was pretty clear of paint.

I grabbed them at TRU while on break at work. Being impatient I tossed them in the freezer there. After a few minutes I pulled them out. The one with the light neck had a blue face and a neck that was clearly still flesh in tone. There was no visible change at all to the neck.

But that wasn't a good enough test for me. When I got home, I cranked the temperature on my freezer and left him in for half an hour. This time, I pulled him out and the neck had finally changed.

I think various amounts of paint, various times, and various temperatures have probably gotten a lot of Zartans misreported as not changing color. I know that the changing paint is usually pretty visible even when it isn't blue. But this one I have really looks like a flesh tone without it. I'd encourage everyone to double check with another freezer.

I do believe some non-changing figures are out there. But they seem to be coming around from other countries and possibly from paint errors.

So the info from Hasbro is much appreciated.