HCC788 - 1988 SPEARHEAD & MAX - Pointman & Bobcat - with FUNSKOOL (India) G.I. Joe toy review!

FunskoolRony:
/ ronynitro
Title Card: Mastaczajnik
Visit HCC788.com!
hcc788.com/
Facebook:
/ hoodedcobracommander788
Twitter:
/ hcc788
Patreon:
/ hcc788
Special Thanks to:
Geoff Adams, Sean Dowling, Jason Galligan, Droidwhisperer,
Jeff Mills (Biggypines), Ryan Wagner, James Swindell, Brian Zahn,
Byron Kellogg, Michael Johnson, Ben Penserga, Mike Smith,
Tyler Levens, Shaun Drefahl, Raz Holly, David Tejerina,
William J. Stelmack, Philip Hanks, Todd Humphrey, Kurt Kesler,
Martin Day, Venetian Snares, Magnus Lauglo, Mike Murdock,
Daryl Beck, Chris Piers, Brad Williams, Paul D. Kinnear
Troy Smith
Information and Sources:
Spearhead & Max on YoJoe.com:
www.yojoe.com/action/88/spearh...
Spearhead & Max on 3DJoes.com:
www.3djoes.com/spearhead.html
Bobcat:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobcat
Images:
By Bill W Ca at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0,
commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By No machine-readable author provided. Calibas assumed
(based on copyright claims). - No machine-readable source
provided. Own work assumed (based on copyright claims).,
Public Domain,
commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Dual-Magazine MP40/I:
www.forgottenweapons.com/dual...
Gladius:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladius
Image:
By No machine-readable author provided. Rama
assumed (based on copyright claims). - No
machine-readable source provided. Own work assumed
(based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0,
commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Peter Millman:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_M...
Spearhead on Halfbattle.com:
www.halfbattle.com/spearhead.html
Spearhead on JMM's G.I. Joe Comics Homepage:
www.myuselessknowledge.com/joe/
index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=273&Itemid=53
Music:
Chipper, Big Rock,
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons:
By Attribution 3.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
Elephants by Huma-Huma
G. I. Joe is (c) Hasbro.
All copyrighted material is used for the purpose of
comment and criticism, which constitutes a fair use
of such material.
This video is (c) Bryan Lower.

[@imveryharsh]

As a gijoe collector i was geeked out. Funskool joe that too presented by Rony and above all on Hooded Cobra Commander channel which i am big fan of. Great guys. Rony i am so proud of u, u did really good. #indiantoycollectors

[@trentavery3821]

I wanna say this out of my heart because Spearhead was one GI Joe l picked up when I was a kid at Toys "R" Us. I could remember it like it was yesterday The Orange camouflage scheme hit right at home with me because my dad was at the time a hunter safety Instructor with the division of wildlife in Colorado, so hunter Orange just was there for me. But spearhead was my 1st custom G.I. Joe I used Sergeant Slaughter's arms and Out Backs legs and waist and had my own figure I called Maverick. Because highway into the danger zone, But Spearhead is the one for me, it makes miss my dad. He read the file card to me when I was a kid. So it makes me choke up a little. This was a decent and awesome review and I'd like to see more of you interacting with our International G.I.Joe fans.😎

[@theheartofthestorywetell1081]

I was reading fantasy novels around the time I got Spearhead and Max, so the idea of an 'animal follower that is smarter and more well trained than other animals of its kind' just made sense to me. I always had the bobcat being like timber was in the cartoon, a good pet that can fight and scare the poop out of cobra. I don't mind the bright colors as much as you do even today, so tracker and Spearhead both were mainstays in my joe strikeforces... In more recent time, I like finance and those silly little facts like he sold insurance. I too would like the nightforce colors...

[@excillon]

I always liked spearhead. I didnt see him as a desert trooper. I think his camo is decent if he was in an autumn environment then the orange and brown works great. I cant gripe about Max when Shipwreck had a sentient parrot.

[@Beer-can_full_of_toes]

I’m with you on this. I grew up in the woods surrounded by oak so he blended well with the leaves on the ground and in the fall the leaves turning worked great. Bobcats are also indigenous where I am so that’s fine too. I agree on the animal sidekicks too.

[@blackcondor208]

It's great to see Rony in the video. I always enjoy talking to him, and he's an endless fountain of knowledge when it comes to Funskool figures. Awesome collaboration! I just used MAx as Spearhead's animal companion. Spearhead was probably my first GI Joe figure, so he means a lot to me. As a kid, I had no more problems believing a bobcat could be someone's friend than I had believing in the multitude of weird vehicles and laser weapons. It just made GI Joe even more fun for me.

[@KronnangDunn]

Greetings from Mexico. In my country the whole G.I. Joe franchise in its beginnings was actually considered a big deal and included everything from the comics to the toys and the cartoon. Here the series is called "COMANDOS HEROICOS: G.I. JOE" (which can be translated to English as "HEROIC COMMANDOS: G.I. JOE"). Since it was aimed at Mexican children the cartoon was dubbed in a way that toned down and eased down the highly pro-American and USA patriotic stance. So watching the cartoon show (which was a blast) was not considered something antipatriotic here at all. Me and my childhood friends loved it and had many figures. Here in Mexico during the 80s the first figures were initially produced by a company called Auriken and came in little boxes, not cards. Over the years I totally stopped collecting Joes as I moved on to other things like video games, but the comic was awesome and I continued collecting it well into the 90s. Now as an adult I returned to collecting Joe toys, but sadly the line has officially stopped. The last line we got here was the GIJOE: Retaliation line from 2012-2013... This is a Mexican TV ad from the 80s showing my favorite GIJOE vehicle of all time... kzbin.info/www/bejne/qHzHlXmAf996pa8

[@TheRealNightmare9]

I always imagined max as stalking about in the background... Following Spearhead from a distance until he got ambushed by Cobra... Then slinking back into the shadows after ripping a few snakes up.

[@lesliehapablap2848]

Spearhead was always the gunner in my Desert Fox 6WD vehicle. Max was usually ignored, as most of the other Joe animal companions were.

[@olizz5392]

Thanks HCC788 for your detailed explanations about spearhead & max I know it and I'm glad not the only one to observe details in figures since our childhood Nice to meet You Ronnie

[@ComicTropes]

I loved this review. The info from Rony on the Funskool version was a great addition. I have a different take on Spearhead. I really liked him. For me, he edges into the top tier. But I don't think he's supposed to be a desert trooper. I think of him as being ready for forests and mountainous areas in which case the tan and orange could be more appropriate camo colors. I base that idea off of the environment that Max would be indigenous to. Just a random thought.

[@timf7413]

FWIW Burnt amber (which I think the orange is supposed to represent) is a real world arid/mountain camo color.

[@olizz5392]

Could be

[@Bucky749]

Now that’s a knife !!

[@olizz5392]

😁

[@violagreene4643]

" Together they are Pointman & Bobcat. That's their band name. Last week they were calling the band Mouserat" Best bit of the review.

[@siddheshbagayatkar1155]

Funskool version of spearhead was my first Gi Joe so it has special place in my heart

[@JoeMotionVideos82]

We recently had a bobcat attack here in Az. The person who was attacked, was spearheading a trail with his dog Max, the bobcat was rabid, he shot the cat with his 9mm. True story accept for the dogs name. I couldn't resist throwing that part in.

[@matthewsirois3705]

Spearhead was always an enigma to me. His rifle was truly bizarre. It looked like it had a rotating barrel, maybe firing a different round from each magazine. Why did he have a sword? Was it so he could lead a charge? A saber would have made more sense. There always seemed more to his story than what we got. The only thing we really knew for sure about his was he could talk anyone into almost anything, be it an insurance policy, or charging headlong into overwhelming odds

[@psychoticbuzzsaw]

Great review. I loved this figure as a kid and used Max as an attack Bobcat, unfortunately he wasnt one of the figures I got during the great Funskool 4.99 sales of 2001 I was to busy buying Hydro-vipers, Night-vipers, and other cobras at the time.

[@MiKeMiDNiTe-77]

I always liked Spearhead I had him as a kid, I love the Funskool one he looks really cool

[@Trencher1375]

In my country GI Joe was called Action force international heroes. The comics although translated did not push any international team angle at all and had everything set in USA. And the stories that got translated was most often the most patriotic stories.

[@JMitsuruDavis]

I would say that Finance and Insurance Salesman are actually lined up. Many insurance reps have finance background, it helps for pricing and the financial concepts used to underwrite an insurance contract.

[@Klebersoaresmelo]

G.I. Joe arrived in Brazil in 1984 as "Comandos em Ação". In 85, with the arrival of the Sunbow cartoon and later the Marvel comics, we discover American lore, vaguely different from Brazilian one.

[@MakinHicks]

Oh man I’d forgotten about this guy. I had this. Thanks for bringing me back man.

[@kennethwagnerjr21]

Loved this figure as a kid.. I was in the store forever trying to choose between him or "hardball".. in the end i went with spearhead!

[@brett8481]

I'm an American so I got to buy '82 straight arm Joes long before the rest of the world. But I did know about Action Force through Marvel Comics early on. And when I went to the UK in the summer of '90, I was in Harrods in London and saw a lot of '87 figures on the pegs in Action Force cardbacks. I was tempted to pick them up because '87 was when I my collecting took a back seat to other interests and fell off. But I didn't want to be buying them in front of the rest of my tour group because toys were uncool at that time and age, and I didn't see a good way of carting them across Europe on our tour. :(

[@mattleuty5285]

I think Spearhead is a pointman so he could go far enough ahead of the team as to take a bite out of Max which is clearly just a bobcat shaped lump of toffee. Spearhead uses that huge knife to create a new Max for each mission. He stays ahead so the other Joe's don't​ notice that Max is gradually getting smaller and smaller as the mission goes on. He just has a sweet tooth!

[@n_explosion8199]

I used him as pointman on infiltration missions alongside Shockwave. Shockwave kicked down the door, the bobcat attacked the first Viper on sight and then Spearhead and Shockwave cleared the room, mostly...

[@carizmakeith326]

I love the Bobcat for this figure.. Spearhead was an Awesome edition to the GIJOE regime..

[@fakename2212]

I liked the background info from a joe collector from that region.

[@waelalabri7219]

Nice clip. I remember that Chad this toy for him long time ago.

[@rtd1409]

Great collaboration I follow both your guys work and have been a Funskool fanatic since I found them over 15 years ago for $3 or so carded! Nice comparison and a bridge to two areas of the Joe collecting community! I have asked Ron about how GI Joe was important to kids in India under this product line and its really cool to compare.

[@adamverwolf9499]

Great Review Ronnie & HCC788 Strange coloring on figures.

[@Draco20001]

Thanks for the great reviews from you and Rony, it's real nice to hear about G.I.Joe toys in other countries :) For me in the UK, I think my first time realizing that Action Force had something to do with G.I.Joe was from the comics as you would get reprints of some of the US stories that did not match up with the ones don't by Marvel UK, it was later confirmed when the toy branding changed to G.I.Joe the action force.

[@eklipsta]

Ugh this reminds me of all the joes i had got only for my evil older cousin to come and steal them when he stood over. My collection grew and shrunk at the same time

[@FoxofMaysville]

1) The weapon. I thought it was a prototype gun that had NATO rounds in one magazine and shotgun shells in the other. 2) I always thought Spearhead was a little suicidal. He felt guilty about past business deals. 3) Max just like Spearhead. Maybe it was Spearhead's con man personality, maybe it was the orange uniform.

[@mattdawg83686]

Fantastic review! Another reviewer I need to add 😊

[@jksiege110]

I used him as a fall season warrior. Orange and beige worked well.

[@Mr.fabart]

Cool review! Always strange to see toys soldiers united kids all around the world. 🤔😄 In France the SN is 075-09-4876 and his name is Champion et Max. 😅

[@KevinMayle1974]

Oh wow, this was a great collaboration!

[@KJ-tz7vc]

Go, G.I. Joe!

[@thomash9158]

This was a pretty interesting video. I really hope you follow up on this. I am very interested in hearing about GI Joe from an international perspective.

[@brianmather4048]

I Love animals w/ my G.I . Joe's & I kept a Poler Bear... w/ Snow Job... Mr.H.C.C.788 Dusk & Dawn Spearheads camouflage makes him Invisible. .

[@unknown-mt3cn]

How did we found GiJoe have American origin, darn, we know English, it's on the package, REAL AMERICAN HERO

[@ad58]

In Mexico, G.I. Joe was known as "comandos heroicos", distribuited by Auriken (I believe it was a joint society between Auriga & Kenner), the figures were not sold as carded, but in a box. Look for "comandos heroicos g.i.joe" en google images. Regards and good reviews.

[@nerdcraftercoley7305]

We had a pet bobcat for 4 years. When I was a kid we had a white wolf from a pup till it was killed by a pack of dogs when it was older. Currently I have a pet parrot.

[@anionhero]

Excellent video. I especially liked learning about the G.I. Joes from other countries. I have to say, I liked the Funskool version of Spearhead much better than the US version.

[@chubbyteddymonsterproducti1320]

Man I want this guy!

[@antiquariancrafts2454]

Cool seeing Rony!

[@MarcelosToyRoom]

Man those international GI joes that are exclusive are awesome :D I really like the estrela Brazilian GI joes :D

[@Pegwarmers]

I loved Spearhead as a kid! If a guy came with a pet he was one of my favorites. His gun also looks great with Sgt Slaughter from the Warthog. He's helmet never really fit right in my opinion.

[@timf7413]

None of the helmets from the mid to late 80's years really fit that well IMHO. I think it's because they tended to use a softer plastic than they did for the helmets earlier and later in the line.

[@bobbybucklew7898]

Haven't you ever seen the Orange cactus in the desert? Yeah me neither lol

[@jasonkerest394]

I didn't mind the Spearhead figure as a kid. I thought of the bobcat similarly to the depiction of Timber, Snake-Eyes wolf from 1985. I thought he would have raised it from being a cub and may have domesticated it. I didn't really think that bobcats would have been too dangerous as a kid. I was a dorky kid. I really liked the 1988 figure line as a whole over the 1987 line. In fact as an adult collector I have all the single carded Joe figures from 1988. When the most I can say is that the one real Melvin of the '88 Joe's is Lightfoot, that's saying something. Where 1987 Joes had Fast-Draw, Sneak Peek, Psyche-Out, and sometimes Chuckles & Crazylegs...For the year 1987, I had shifted gears and focused on the comics more- which is how I learned about the Action Force comics from England when i visited my Dad in Erie, PA. I picked up the issue where Destro shoots Lady Jaye, and the next issue Flint is out for revenge... Didn't something similar happen towards the end of the Image G.I. Joe run?

[@mgvillanmp478]

He look like a cool figure even though I never had this one nice work

[@kaylemathewcomendador7614]

I hope one of the customizers like Red Laser makes a more proper dessert camouflage for sale, it would be a cool figure.

[@dirus3142]

The knife looks like it came from a different toys line. Back in the late 80s there was a toy line that was similar to He Man. This toy line's theme was bugs. So the heros were bug human hybrids and had armor, and weapons that had an insect style to them.

[@TerryTurner]

At least he doesn't have a wisecracking parrot that insult him on a daily basis... Lol 😂

[@qui-gone]

GI Joe ARAH (Sunbow) aired between 1992-1995 (?) i guess.. on Fox's subsidiary Star network. That, combined with Funskool's GI Joe run (pretty popular in early 90s) made the 80s born kids of India somewhat comparable to the mid-late 70 borns of the US in terms of GI Joe fandom ;)

[@JefiKnight]

I laughed a lot in this one. Thanks.

[@jackburton3212]

This looks more like an updated Footloose. I think if they would have made him into a jungle trooper it would have made more sense (with a green color scheme). It would also explain the "knife."

[@mattlerch531]

I liked spearhead and max. Colors a bit off, but a great design. I have a lot of the funskool figures. The colors and plastic is not great, but nice to army build with

[@christianhafer9819]

You're rough, Hoodie. I think it's a great figure. Top tier all the way. Don't use him as a desert figure, if you think the orange camo doesn't work for the desert. In the comments it people have said mountain trooper, autumn environment. Sounds more probable. I think he's awesome. Great accessories too.

[@Thor13332]

I have a few Funskool figures. They were a cheaper alternative back in my collecting hayday.

[@gazz_N7]

If only he came in that rare Funskool driver paint app....

[@mattdawg83686]

Huge shout out to FunskoolRony!

[@elizabethorfightcreations178]

Great video. Will we be seeing Ronnie in Cobra Convergence?

[@pimpdaddysatan]

The new one is pretty badass, the fss.. I just got it. Way awesome!!

[@matthewneufer1758]

We had a Lynx when I was growing up they can be pets

[@leegray99]

I knew about the American GI Joe in the Uk quite early on in its run as one of the shops I purchased action force and star wars from for some reason had some American carded GI Joe figures in including Snow Serpent

[@Bucky749]

Maybe he was like the phantom and saved max as a kitten and it now Projects him .

[@edaniels240]

I still have him & Max but with a different looking knife

[@aaronimpactnz]

I like the paint job on the Russian and Indian Spearhead

[@andrethornton3371]

Great figure amazing review. I had him as a kid. I placed that huge gun and strap between his back and backpack. It made it look like the gun was attached to the backpack....just a thought

[@Bucky749]

Either he really likes orange or he was last in line when uniforms where given out .

[@mikesmith2718]

That's a beautiful cardback it's minty fresh lol I agree with this middle tier it could have been top tier if it had brown camo smaller recolored weapons brown pack etc

[@GoldBawls]

I mean.. outback australia, namibia and even the sahara are in parts bright orange. Dusty would be visible from miles away and spearhead would blend right in.

[@konstantinkoverchenko9587]

Hopefully there will be a classified version soon.

[@matthewnorman1303]

First Joe's I ever brought. Him and Fastball.

[@matthewnorman1303]

Hardball.

[@michaelpytel3280]

Speaking of orange, HCC looked a little orange in the video. Perfect camouflage for the Orange groves of Florida. Or cosplay as Aquaman. I like the Indian one better.

[@GarrySidhu]

They even aired cartoons in hindi in india

[@Deadduck2pt0]

I mentioned this on FormBX257's review of Spearhead, but I wonder if the knife is a spear tip converted over. Granted, that's giving it meaning after the fact, but it's right up there with him being best friends with a large temperamental North American feral cat.

[@badongbadong5571]

When I was young, I cut the strap off after I dot it. I lost max almost instantly. I put may with my other cheap plastic animals and my green army men figures.

[@leegray99]

The Funskool spearhead looks so much better

[@whozyourdaddy]

I think pointman is the wrong specialty for this guy. He's a LRRP for sure. Army infantry. He's got a bedroll and extra canteens as if he plans on staying out in the field for a while. His gun has a weird can on the end of it which is too big to be a muzzle break. My guess is that his rifle has two magazines because one has regular ammunition while the other has subsonic for the more silent approach. Would make sense why he has a big ass knife as well as the bayonet. For long walks, he slings his rifle. And he has a bobcat to let him know when the enemy is near and to cause distractions for silent take downs. Send him out with Recoil to have some fun. I just hope that orange camo doesn't get him killed.

[@dubuyajay9964]

It'll work in desert and dryer scrub country. Possibly Autumn gear.

[@benwalsh1]

I only knew of the american gi joe when our action force cards changed to gi joe. Maybe 87 i think. Our action force cards were the same as gi joe, just the different logo

[@johnnyutah892]

Why was he orange? It’s probably because we were heading towards the 90’s where realistic look, made Way to the neon phase! I think everybody prefers the realistic look nowadays but as a kid in the 90’s I loved them all, even if they were crazy colours.

[@PaoloGuanco]

I came across your channel and binge watched. I had a spearhed and I liked it since the costume was at least realistic (except the orange). I am from the Philippines and speaking of international variants, I remember my HISS driver's file card was in Japanese or chinese characters.

[@HCC788]

Awesome! I'm glad you found the channel!

[@PaoloGuanco]

HoodedCobraCommander788 have you had any idea about the japanese or chinese file cards?

[@HCC788]

Just a coincidence, a week after this video someone sent me a Japanese carded figure. It's the only Japanese card I have. I don't know much about them.

[@PaoloGuanco]

HoodedCobraCommander788 If i member it correctly the file card is in portrait orientation.

[@torpedo8384]

Never knew what to make of that oversized rifle. Sure GI Joe had wildly off scale weapons. Grunt's tiny M-16 for example, but that horrible Spearhead rifle just kept coming back with tons of reissues over the years. On the other hand, the orange back pack might be a "follow me" and like hunters "don't shoot here" color.

[@Mlopez_602]

I didn't use him much because of his orange camouflage. He would have been so much more useful if he was in a woodland camouflage. Never used the bobcat at all.

[@VorpalDerringer]

Pretty sure Spearhead's gun is supposed to be a Crossfire Mk1, the original semi-auto version: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mmaxfGODa614abs Which is appropriately high-speed low-drag enough for an outfit like the Joes. Definitely a character that needed some more development. A charismatic leader type, maybe, but with the ongoing characters in the comics, I guess there's little room for adding someone like that, when you already have people like Duke, Flint, Stalker, Hawk, etc.

[@juanelorriaga2840]

I remember stealing Spearhead (and tons of others) from a Toys R us in Brooklyn NY.....and I’m not proud of stealing a lot of figures either but I still liked this one alot

[@troyt6864]

Spearhead was the first to die as point man with orange camo and Max would run away.

[@pimpdaddysatan]

Birth place St Louis MO.. just think ozarks in october!! ;)

[@dubuyajay9964]

19:11. I'm pretty sure that's because Tunnel Rat specializes in underground/tunnel warfare? And even though he's a "point man" he has enough sense to know when to step aside and let a specialist do their job?

[@unknown-mt3cn]

I remember having spearhead with the Russian accessories

[@jakubbuszko3089]

Hi Commander if you need you should you can use black version of that rifle from Sonic fighters Lamprey ...

[@ZedKaizoku]

Cool review but as you said the knife is romain sword which is weird and the camo should have been brown... as for the GI Joe figure well in the middle east we used to have us and European version both but they stop bring them its from 1984 to 2010 rise of cobra movie now they only bring when there is movie only and I order my joes figures vintage or modern among others via internet

[@KronnangDunn]

Actually there are some desertic places where orange camo could work, like in Colorado's Grand Canyon...

[@_The_Worst_]

Leave the bobcat alone❗❗❗🧐 Max is his friend❗❗❗💯✔

[@papishow]

We had the US versions in the Caribbean.

[@fischgeist9664]

Those boots are weird. They remind me of the DUNE Stilgar figure by LJN.

[@grotezakhooi]

allright the orange is a bit odd but ive read some stuff about WW2 batlles in Africa , british commandos sometimes had PINK jeeps coz the sun and sand sometimes looked pink/orange like through the day or someting ... not sure if im right about it ...

[@JomasterTheSecond]

Can't hate him for having a bobcat. I mean hey, maybe he's just a Bubsy fan.

[@alexanderjbateman7340]

I only realised Action Force had an American Origin when they renamed it 'GI Joe, the Action Force', which was kind of a giveaway. That was in 1989 and I think I probably stopped really following the franchise the year before with the demise of the Comic. I think as a teen I probably blamed america for polluting my childhood toy soldiers with a ton of neon...

[@brett8481]

They weren't really neon here until 1986 when it crept into the line. What was the lag between US release of figures and the UK release? I was in Harrods in London in summer of 1990, and remember seeing 1987 figures on the pegs. I assume these were the picked over figs, and thus probably were new figures in 1989 and on their second year in stores in the UK in 1990?

[@alexanderjbateman7340]

Comparing release dates on Blood for the Baron versus yojoe.com, it does not look like the lag is particularly consistent tbh.

[@brett8481]

Is there a UK Action Force website equivalent of yojoe?

[@brett8481]

Found it: www.bloodforthebaron.com