Baroness (2002)

Do not adjust your screens. Your eyes do not deceive you; this is a bubblegum colored Baroness. It’s more popularly known as fuchsia Baroness, but I’ve always thought her outfit exhibits a particularly bubble gummy shade of pink. I don’t know why I sometimes gravitate towards food, and specifically candy, when describing some toys. Maybe I shouldn’t write on an empty stomach. The story on the fuchsia set is that the wrong shade of red was initially made, and so the errant sets were available bagged at the show. Now each year, a set of the current con exclusive figures are also available bagged at the show. If the story is true, it’s funny to think that the bagged set tradition had its origins as the result of an error.

What can be said about the 1984 Baroness mold? It had been done and redone by the end of the o-ring’s life. This one, like most convention figures, ramps up the painted detail, with tiny silver and even gold highlights. Nothing has been changed mold-wise, but the new paint scheme at least adds interest. I still prefer the original head sculpt over the later comic pack version, even if it doesn’t have a classically beautiful female face.

She’s one of only two figures I still have from the 2002 con exclusives. I bought her and a Viper initially just to have some example of that year’s set. I later bought and then later sold a red Crimson Strike Team set. I don’t really know why I eventually sold it, since I’ve held onto all of my other o-ring con sets. Maybe the 2009 modern version made me think I didn’t need the original any more. I’ve since been kicking myself a bit about the decision, but oh well. Such is the life of a collector. Things come into one’s hands, and they pass back out. At least with Joe, I’ve only done one sell-off of my collection, and that was at the end of my childhood days. I can’t say the same for Transformers or Masters of the Universe, as I’ve bought and sold small collections of those two properties at least twice. Joe and vintage Star Wars have never gotten the axe from me, and I doubt they ever will.

10 comments

  • There’s something missing from this figure….Oh yeah–LIPSTICK.

  • Suppose pink has its place in the Joeverse. My namesake has a pink cap and Banzai is covered in pink sploges. Any chance of a cartoon colours Daina?

    I too have had to stop collecting modern star wars stuff. I’ve been buying it since ’95 and the last time i was dusting it i said to myself “Lookl at all the space these Lukes take up” so i put all the modern [95-2012] stuff in a plastic tub and gave all the shelf space to the vintage stuff. I think once ive finished amassing all 92 of the Kenner figures i will not be buying anymore. I’m also glad i saw Retroblastings horrible truth about that Droids cartoon and its dumb tie in figure line. Where i live, Uncle Gundy goes for 85 bucks. I’ll save that money and spend it one something less stupid and more useful.

    The only modern star wars figures i buy are for customs. I’ve been asked to make figures based on a certain popular equine property Hasbro has.

  • That Droids piece which Mike did was brilliant. I love RetroBlasting and look forward to each new installment.

    I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve sold or given away my collections. As a kid, it was due to moving about a lot. As an adult, it’s been all about income. My last comic and toy collection helped finance my college degree. It’s regrettable because some items are never to be found again. But as you said, such is our lot as collectors.

  • I like this figure. The red’s a nice change of pace and it helps bring out more details on the outfit. The only downside is that she doesn’t have lipstick. The original Baroness is easily one of my all time favorite Joe figures and this one’s only lacking in the lips department.

  • That smile she has without the lipstick reminds me of this older woman I used to work with. She parked her machine in everyone’s way all the time. God we all hated her.

  • I made my own version of this Baroness by taking the head from a ´84 Baroness and using the repainted body from the 2002(?) Imperial Procession set and adding a holster from a Terminator John Connor figure as well as the original ´84 backpack and rifle. I wanted to get the convention exclusive when it came out but looking on E-Bay it´s so overpriced that I decided to Frankenstein my own and thankfully it looks a lot better than this original one. The Baroness is my all-time favorite female comic characters. Too bad Hasbro never released the Battle Corps Baroness, that would be awesome to have. COBRAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!

  • Is there any detail left in her hair? I first noticed on the 2000 Chameleon figure that the hair is almost completely smooth. Pretty good figure though, and like this one, the painted details really dress up the mold.

  • She looks like Tina from Bob’s Burgers.

  • The notion of a Crimson Baroness was decent enough at the time. Really, between the Crimson and Fucshia versions, these were the two best repaints of the Baroness mold. The details were solid and the color brought out some of the mold’s finer points.

    There was a time when this was a $50 figure. But, time has tempered the prices to a point where this figure is more of a value.

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