For this addition of #ThrowbackThursday, I’m putting a little spin on the premise, by revisiting a previous article. Now, you may think to yourself “isn’t that what #TBT is?” Well, sure, but this time around, we get to feast our eyes on a new pair of images, courtesy of a fine gentleman by the name of Jonathan R.! Let’s get to it!
Way back in October of 2018, an auction appeared for a 1984 G.I.Joe Zap with alternate head. G.I.Joe enthusiasts were excited, as we hadn’t really ever since one of these grail pieces outside of Dan Klingensmith’s book.
Shortly thereafter, more images began to surface, including images of not only Zap, but Breaker and Short-Fuze as well. In an article I posted titled “More Images of Rare 1984 G.I.Joe Zap, Short Fuze and Breaker with Alternate Heads“, we got to check out an assortment of images that included a comparison shot of Breaker, highlighting the retail vs alternate head. Check it out –
In the aforementioned article, I made mention that I was not aware of who the rightful owner of this glorious piece was. Thankfully, that gentleman, Mr. Jonathan R. not only reached out to confirm that the piece was his, but was also so gracious as to share another set of images that I can in turn share with you! This time around, we get a really sharp close up look at both the front & back of Breaker’s card. Have a look –
I still can’t get over how cool that head sculpt is! Truth be told, I’m almost glad we didn’t get it at retail. If we would’ve, then discussions about how awesome it is may not have happened.
I can’t thank Jonathan enough for sharing more images of this grail piece with us! Now, the million dollar question: Which sculpt do you like more? This alternate version, or the sculpt we received? Sound off in the comments section below!
SURVEILLANCE PORT 
How do we know these (Breaker and Zap) are legit? And not some kind of counterfeit?
Not a rhetorical question. I really want to know how these have been confirmed as real. I don’t think they’re phonies.
The head sculpts are very good and match the style of the early 80s. I don’t think you could easily fake them.
But why would Hasbro produce these as one-offs? Why package them? Why make head molds and use them once? Are these early carded prototypes, errors, or what? Maybe these more individualized heads were proposed “improvements” to go along with the new swivel arms?
I like these heads, especially Zaps. Grunt’s head is too ugly to be used for anyone else! 🙂
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Good question – Thankfully, they’re well documented as legit. Dan Klingensmith Jr. has even shared them in his “Creating G.I.Joe” series. They were the original designs that were later changed in to what became mass releases.
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