Overlord (2006)
The 1990 version of Overlord is a mystery. Appearing as a driver figure and an apparent new foe for the GI Joe team, he seemed poised to be a replacement for Cobra Commander. However nothing much came of his figure in the toyline or comic. It wasn’t until the 2000’s Devil’s Due comic series that anything of substance was done with the character. In it, he worked with the revived Serpentor and his Coil organization.
This figure was available as part of the Cobra’s Most Wanted: Mercenaries convention exclusive set. He’s a pastiche of both Joe and Cobra parts that work quite well on the whole and make for a great reinterpretation of a largely forgotten RAH figure. The storyline for this version more closely follows his original file card, painting him as a former Crimson Guardsman who plans to take over Cobra using his own army (also known as the Coil). Honestly, with all these different comic and toy continuities, it can get a bit tiring at times. How did GI Joe reach X-Men levels of confusion?
The Collectors Club was doing some pretty interesting things with these O-ring style con sets back in the 2000’s, often combining disparate parts to build new characters or new iterations of existing characters. In this case, the use of Barricade parts was inspired, particularly for its armored appearance and bulk. The beefed up look is supplemented by the use of the ’88 Destro torso, which lends a sort of aristocratic air to the figure. Of course, the monocle helps as well.
I had the original 1990 version of this guy. He was always one of my favorite figures. The vehicle was really cool too.
I’m surprised DIC never used him in their cartoon series–he was in one of the Sunbow-animated commercials for 1990, but never in the cartoon series from DIC. It’s odd. Then again, they never did use Rapid-Fire, and he was named after one of their executives!
This is a nice figure and the reuse of parts do work in his favor. The head sculpt is worth revisiting due to the monocle and overall detailing. I remember some fans speculating that the Overlord could be Serpentor in disguise. That idea never quite worked for me since I loathe Serpy with a passion, but this second version makes me think that Overlord might have made a better Destro subordinate ala Voltar than yet another Cobra wannabe out for CC’s catbird seat.
My last character I bought: http://www.joedios.com/dioramas/showimage.php?i=39426&c=10
I really like this figure. It’s a better version of the Overlord character for me. It’s that the reason he came to be was more ineptitude by Master Collector. They found the 88 Destro mold in 05 but mistakenly thought that collectors hated it. Instead, collectors hated the 05 Con Destro. So, the next year, we see the 88 Destro as Overlord. At least this figure works. I’d put him in the top 10% of Master Collector ARAH sculpt figures. Though, that isn’t as distinct a group as it should have been.
I still have the original version.I remember seeing him the store and getting my grandma to buy him for me! I always used him as some sort of military advisor when I’d set up my Joe Wars as a kid!
I read somewhere that Overlord was originally designed as a Cobra Commander figure WITH vehicle but the name was changed….I liked the original….Hasbro should remake him with his vehicle. I also liked his dossier.