GI Joe Hasbro Master (HM) "prototype" figures

[Silent Ninja]

Does anyone else here have any Hasbro Master (HM) "prototype" 25th (or non 25th) Joe figures? I have one (I think) and wanted to share it with the rest of the Tankers. I also wouldn't mind getting my hands on any others.

[SnakeMoe]

sweet jesus

[Silent Ninja]

sweet jesus

Exactly what I said when I saw it up for grabs!

[minstrelboy]

Can you explain that a little better?

[Silent Ninja]

Sure, I read a post dated 12/2007, here on the Tank, where a member found an "HM" on the back of his Flint, and under Flint's feet. There was a discussion about what it meant and some other members stated it stood for "Hasbro Master" and that the figure was probably the final product that would be used as a template, if you will, for final production figures. Like a master copy. That member got his through a trade with another Tanker, but opened it. The person who found it orinally did so on the shelf at a store. I was fortunate to find this, before I learned about the post, and always wondered what it meant. Since his was found at retail it must mean that there are others out there, hopefully still mint on card like mine.

[JamesxOnly]

Wow that is awesome. That's like getting the test pressing of a record.

[C.I.A.D.]

S.N., I remember that thread. Quite honestly, you are the second person I've ever heard of obtaining a figure with those initials on a figure. Lucky! [/napoleondynomite]

[Silent Ninja]

Thank you. I know there has to be more of em out there though.

[Snow Job]

Quite a find, buddy! I think I might be willing to say that is better than a variant!

[Amberbratt]

ok so its painted better or something?

it looks the same...


I could write HM on mine to :D

(not saying you did but I am just saying I could and how could i tell who is what?

[Silent Ninja]

Actually there is more to this piece than just the "HM." Timber is painted differently and there are several other things on the card (yes, it is MOC btw) that NO OTHER 25th carded fig has.

[ceraurus]

Nice find! It's great that you could see it in the package.

[ceraurus]

Actually there is more to this piece than just the "HM." Timber is painted differently and there are several other things on the card (yes, it is MOC btw) that NO OTHER 25th carded fig has.

Well....show us!!!!

[Silent Ninja]

Here you go. These are the variations: (1) Timber has a grey stripe along his backside. (2)There is extra plastic/flash around the bubble area that is sealed to the card. On other 25th anni figs you normally see an indentation around where the bubble is sealed to the card, which indicates that probably a machine cuts the extra plastic/flash off of the card. (3) The area behind the hang tab, which normally has a plastic piece to reinforce it, has none on this.

[Silent Ninja]

ok so its painted better or something?

it looks the same...


I could write HM on mine to :D

(not saying you did but I am just saying I could and how could i tell who is what?

If that's not enough for ya, this is the kicker! If you compare this pic to the same area of any other 25th fig what difference do you see? Vioala!!!

[Derek2783]

S.N., I remember that thread. Quite honestly, you are the second person I've ever heard of obtaining a figure with those initials on a figure. Lucky! [/napoleondynomite]


I actually passed a Gung-Ho, Duke, and Roadblock up. I thoght someone was messing with the figures and re-gluing them back on or whatever. So I picked up the Flint for Phorpus and went on my way. Turns out, that Flint had it too.

Crazy.

[ceraurus]

If that's not enough for ya, this is the kicker! If you compare this pic to the same area of any other 25th fig what difference do you see? Vioala!!!

Cool! Thanks for the picks. My next questions was about the date stamp...never mind!

[darthfoley]

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I have a Storm Shadow with the HM on the bottom of his foot. He is unfortunately out of the package. I didn't notice it until he was almost custom fodder, to be honest.

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa306/darthfoley/ssfoot.jpg

I realize this will probably be met with some skepticism since this is my first post at HissTank, which is understandable, but I just wanted to confirm that there are more out there. :)

[Silent Ninja]

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I have a Storm Shadow with the HM on the bottom of his foot. He is unfortunately out of the package. I didn't notice it until he was almost custom fodder, to be honest.

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa306/darthfoley/ssfoot.jpg

I realize this will probably be met with some skepticism since this is my first post at HissTank, which is understandable, but I just wanted to confirm that there are more out there. :)

Any differences to the card?

[darthfoley]

Any differences to the card?

The cardback that I have looks like all the others, with the plastic support on the hook and so forth. I honestly don't know if this SS was carded or out of the first five pack boxed set, though. I have had a couple of loose ones go the customized route for friends of mine and don't have any way of knowing if this one was on the card or out of the boxed set.

Unfortunately, with him being out of the blister I don't think there's any way for me to 'prove' he's legit. *I* know I didn't write that on his foot, but there's no way to verify it. :)

[Silent Ninja]

I actually passed a Gung-Ho, Duke, and Roadblock up. I thoght someone was messing with the figures and re-gluing them back on or whatever. So I picked up the Flint for Phorpus and went on my way. Turns out, that Flint had it too.

Crazy.

Wow! It would've been cool to score those!

[Silent Ninja]

That being said, I think everyone should check theres. Especially carded figs!

[Silent Ninja]

Not sure if I attached this pic. Looks a bit clearer.

[COBRAVAMPIRE]

anyone else find anything? I'm intrigued :)

[Silent Ninja]

Yeah, I wanted to raise awareness, which is why I started this thread. Hopefully others will be found.

[Lt. Faceless]

That is a nice one of a kind piece.If another Snake eyes with Hasbro Master on it pops up,does that mean it can't mean Hasbro Master?There can't be 2 master copys can there?

I would of never seen that,I opened my black timber and paid no attention that he wasn't grey.....until after i opened him.

[Silent Ninja]

Hmm, your probably right. The only other I've seen on the tank was member Phorpus who found a Flint that was marked on the back. He obviously didn't see it before he opened it, which is too bad. I got lucky because I bought it already knowing it was marked, along with knowing that it had no number stamped on the back where you normally find them on all others.

[Dream]

This would be a good question to ask for the Q&A.

[Commtech]

Don't want to let this thread die, huh Ninja? LOL! Oh well, I guess you got braggin' rights by owning this piece. And I wonder how much money would some people pay for this kind of collectible.

[Silent Ninja]

Hahaha, how'd you guess? In all honesty, I would like to add more of these to my collection. Though if someone found another, I doubt they would sell it. I know I won't. As far as asking about this on the Q&A, do you all think they would answer something like that?

[General Hawk]

Not to burst anyone's bubble, but "HM" does not stand for "Hasbro Master", it is usually a denotation of what factory produced that particular figure. While this item is a pre-production item that is at least somewhat interesting, it is definitely not some sort of "Master Template" that is used to produce every other figure.

It's a neat piece, but wouldn't call it a one of a kind invaluable item. Especially in the early 2000's, you could do an eBay search and come across dozens of these figures, some in test shot colors, and some in actual production colors. This one looks like it accidentally got packaged and shipped.

An interesting conversation piece, but not a whole lot more.

Cool stuff, tho.

Justin

[Silent Ninja]

Good to know, but it doesn't make sense why they would want anyone to know what factory produced it, if they weren't going to mark all of them. Say with coins for instance; Every coin is stamped "D," and other letters to denote what factory. Why paint it on only one figure if it wasn't a template. Not only that, looking at all the other differences as far as the packaging and timber color variation, there doesn't seem to be anything "accidental" about it. Additionally, how many carded test shots do you see, and how many with all the variations noted? Just my take...

[hectorxd]

I saw HM written on a few of the figs at Joecon in the pics. I think it may have been some of the new 3 packs from TRU.

[ceraurus]

I saw HM written on a few of the figs at Joecon in the pics. I think it may have been some of the new 3 packs from TRU.

I noticed that, too.

[Commtech]

Silent Ninja: Admit it. You are happy that some one bumped your thread! LOL!

[Silent Ninja]

Silent Ninja: Admit it. You are happy that some one bumped your thread! LOL!

LOL, true, true!!

As far as you all seeing the "HM" at Joecon with three packs, that is exactly what I think the figure I have was. Kind of a sample of what the final product would look like.

[Commtech]

Whatever it is, it's a one of a kind. Ok, even if there were 2 or 3 in existence (which I doubt, especially as a variant), it's still very rare. Everyone here would love to own it and many people would pay big bucks for it.

Now... sell it to me!

[Silent Ninja]

Whatever it is, it's a one of a kind. Ok, even if there were 2 or 3 in existence (which I doubt, especially as a variant), it's still very rare. Everyone here would love to own it and many people would pay big bucks for it.

Now... sell it to me!

Thanks for agreeing with me. If I decide down the road to let it go, I'll let you know Commtech.

[tnswman]

Hahaha, how'd you guess? In all honesty, I would like to add more of these to my collection. Though if someone found another, I doubt they would sell it. I know I won't. As far as asking about this on the Q&A, do you all think they would answer something like that?

I got Two of these from the Indy line from my contacts in Hong Kong.. I got them in Jan of this year ( the indy line was released in may ) Both were carded but one of them had crayon like writing of numbers on the bubble

These cats that got them for me didn't seem to think anything about it.

[tnswman]

Good to know, but it doesn't make sense why they would want anyone to know what factory produced it, if they weren't going to mark all of them. Say with coins for instance; Every coin is stamped "D," and other letters to denote what factory. Why paint it on only one figure if it wasn't a template. Not only that, looking at all the other differences as far as the packaging and timber color variation, there doesn't seem to be anything "accidental" about it. Additionally, how many carded test shots do you see, and how many with all the variations noted? Just my take...


Yea, Don't let that last poster rain on your day :) this baby is rare and WILL command a good price..The great thing is the variations to the card. You can't beat that on top of the figure and timber themselves.

[Silent Ninja]

I got Two of these from the Indy line from my contacts in Hong Kong.. I got them in Jan of this year ( the indy line was released in may ) Both were carded but one of them had crayon like writing of numbers on the bubble

These cats that got them for me didn't seem to think anything about it.

Hey, it's cool you got your hands on those! Try not to let em go now. Even if they end up not being worth anything (which is doubt) in the long run, at least you still know you have something nobody else has and can never get. Yeah, mine came from a Hong Kong based seller, who I believe, had corporate connections.

Yeah, regarding that Tanker's take on making it seem like these are a dime-a-dozen out on the market, there's no way. I search eBay all the time for these and don't ever see them. Only prototype loose figs, which ARE a dime-a-dozen.