Crimson Guard (1985)
Can you believe it’s taken me this long to get to this figure? What have I been waiting for these last three years? Well, I’ve tried to keep the “big gun” subjects spread out a bit. After all, you wouldn’t want to end up stuck with reading about stuff like Switch Gears repaints and 2002 Dukes after just a couple years of posts, right? So here’s the mighty CG, finally.
Truth be told, I didn’t have a Crimson Guard figure as a kid. I know–horror of horrors! When I think back to the 1985 figures I had collected as a kid, I realize that I was missing more than a few key characters. I think for some reason it was a less Joe-focused year for me in terms of toys. 1984 was the banner year, when I got most of the figures and vehicles during the big birthday and Christmas gift giving periods. Most of the figures I had from ’84 came from the Sears catalog multi-packs, but I don’t remember getting any catalog packs in ’85. In fact, I had to trade with friends to get a few guys, like Snake Eyes, my favorite and most-used figure of the year. Okay okay,–I’ll admit it. Voltron and MASK were to blame for my drop in GI Joe toy interest that year. Can you blame me? It was an embarrassment of toy riches!
What can I say about the Crimson Guard? The idea was one of the most inventive in terms of 80s toy villainy; its nefarious methods and purpose portrayed most effectively in the pages of the Marvel comic. I still wonder if one of my neighbors has a siegie uniform hanging in his closet.
The figure has been recolored and remolded time after time, and continues to be represented in modern lines. The original became one of the darlings of army builders in the 2000s (along with the Viper) and I can certainly understand why. The mold is the perfect representation of a Cobra dress uniform. Line up a row of these handsomely tailored henchmen, and it’s a sight to behold. Later versions of the troop have attempted to replicate the regal yet lethal look with less successful results. The original Crimson Guard is simply a good looking toy.
I always wanted a CG as a kid. Heck, I remember scouring stores for the Python Patrol version because I just thought they were so cool but I never saw it anywhere. They’re a really classy looking figure and an inventive concept. I don’t know if I knew about the filecard side of things, but I definitely remember them being pretty important in their few cartoon appearances and my kid brain really latched onto them.
The red makes no sense for a uniform but it does make the CG stand out. Maybe their uniforms are a symbol of pride and they wear them despite how unpracticle they might be.
Larry Hamma was certainly ahead of the all the other comic writers. He showed that the real enemy were accountants and lawyers, hiding in plain sight; not the dying soviet union.
Ah, at last a true classic is spotlighted! I never owned one as a kid either, but a friend of mine had one. These guys were Cobra’s equivalent of the Emperor’s Royal Guard. Sharply dressed, they were meant to be army built and displayed alongside CC, the Twins, and the rest of Cobra’s hierarchy while the regular Cobra Soldiers and Vipers did their usual cannon fodder routine, not unlike like the Stormtroopers from Star Wars. There’s a reason why both lines competed with each other in the earlier years.
I liked how the Crimson Guardsmen were portrayed in the Sunbow cartoon, often acting as spies or elite agents rather than the endless droves of Fred Brocas found in the comic. I could fully understand having them work undercover as shady accountants, lawyers, and doctors, but the notion of having a legion of dudes wearing the exact same face made no sense to me. How the heck could they go about their dirty business without people noticing their multiple likenesses? I never understood why Larry came up with the whole plastic surgery angle when guys like Candy’s scientists dad didn’t use it, but Larry is still milking it heavily in the current GI Joe comic series, so he obviously digs the concept.
http://youtu.be/LvdLovAaYzM
@Clutch
Your comment reminds me of the episode “The Germ” which is the only Sunbow episode [i can think of] that has a CG undergoing plastic surgery. That episode also has two cobra guys complaining about how the CG gets all the glory while the blue shirts do all the leg work.
I know its a pretty goofy episode but it does a good job representing the C.G. I guess the same can be said for “The greenhouse effect”
Perfect Cobra soldier!
And I like their story in the Marvel Comics (Fred I,II,III,IV,etc…)!
1985 really started to expand Cobra further (1984 did too). We got the Dreadnoks (making Zartan heading up his own group rather than being a lone freak), the very first Viper (Tele-Viper) and specialized generics (besides drivers). The Crimson Guard, as elite rank & file, went with the Crimson Guard Commanders coming out as new members of Cobra’s hierarchy. It was a strong year all-round (which is why it is so widely remembered).
@ Kansas Brawler
That’s odd because where I was, I recall Crimson Guards & Tele-Vipers being the only common generic Cobras from 1985. Snow Serpents & Eels were nowhere to be seen. And Python Crimson Guard (along with Tele-Viper) seemed to be the ones that didn’t sell as well as the others so accumulated a bit. Funny how some figures’ sales can be very regional.
@ Clutch
Yeah, the Emperor’s guards instantly came to mind when I saw the Crimson Guards.
The CG with that rifle is an awesome figure. Flanking the Cobra heirarchy, they truly look the part. It’s a lot harder to use them on the battlefield, but I guess that was the point. As a kid, they looked too dress-uniform, and as an adult they’re just too bright red. But I love the mold, and they’re vital in a Cobra base of any type.
My second Cobra after the Televiper and still one of my favorites!
@Joe Clutch Castro: Crimson Guard were brilliant. Hama’s concept was that ‘Fred Broca’ could be anywhere in Mainland America, thats why multiples of the same face were never spotted in the same place….if one died, another could simply take his place. Its a pretty simple concept really….And they were ‘The Fred Series’, ergo, not all were given plastic surgery, like Professor Appel….’Broca’s’ represented the ‘Ayran Ideal’ of ‘All Americana’ according to Cobra Commanders skewed world view, they were the perfect specimen sent out to infiltrate and take control of Middle / Upper America via its own legal and political and industrial infrastructures under the cover of a model citizen in full public eye….and then, the world…how you didn’t understand the Hama concept is a bit silly….Yes, its all hokum but still, the comic gave a lucid M.O. for the Broca C.G. Series…
You could use them on the battle field as high ranking commanders or officers. In the UK comic, many C.G.s were used as leaders of teams on operations, both undercover and then bedecked in full outfit. I think the 1985 figure was and still is a beautiful design. I had 2 originally. Now I have about 3 25th C.G.s and like them just as much. I also have 2 Desert C.G.s and the Fred Imposter Cobra Commander, who I actually liked in the comics…its a pity fan backlash over the ‘death’ of the true CC lead to Fred being killed off….he had the makings of a great Cobra Commander…I also think the C.G.s rifle is just as iconic as the figure himself.
I painted a spare vintage CG head black and put it on one of those Shadow Guardsmen. Looks great. CG’s are ceremonial and emergency uniforms only in my Joeverse. My firmest memory of the CG is the shirt on a hanger in a Springfield closet.
I don’t care what kind of gimmicks, surgical enhancements, training, ect. other groups of Cobra soldiers went through. Of all the Cobra troopers, the Crimson Guard are to me the most bad ass and the most elite.