Proto Crimson Twins
I’ve been fascinated for a while with the yearly Toy Fair catalogs that were common in the days before the internet. Paging through them is akin to a trip back in time, and at times even more enjoyable than looking through old Wish Book and Christmas catalogs. The industry catalogs definitely boast much higher resolution photos than what was available at the time via pack-ins and the aforementioned store catalogs. In the 90s, many of the pages graced issues of Tomart’s Action Figure Digest. I’ve picked up a few catalogs from the 90s, but haven’t had much luck procuring the 80s offerings. Someone I know has, however…
The twins have been seen in this early form since 1985’s catalog, but in a decidedly low-res format. This shot of the 1985 Hasbro Toy Fair catalog, courtesy of Flag Points’ Dave, shows the early version of the iconic figures in greater detail. Dig those different head sculpts. They look like twin 1980s versions of actor Sam Neill. In the same catalog, there’s also a packaged shot featuring what appears to be these same prototypes. I can’t recall seeing something like this before. Makes me wonder if this survived.
1985 Pack-in catalog featuring the prototype Crimson Twins.
What a coincidence. In the mail today, I received some comics; which included the Crimson twins debute issue
The “Corsican Twins”!
The photos are hand painted prototypes. But, what’s interesting is that the accessories, which are unique to the figures, are done. So, they must have finished up those molds ahead of time. It’s possible that the weapons actually exist in production level cast is silver plastic. Though, they could be hand painted, too. It’s tough to tell.
These headsculpts seemed older and wiser. I remember that when I found the twins at retail in 1985, I was shocked at how different they were from the catalog photos I had obsessed over.
”Tomax/Xamot-The Twin Leaders of the Cobra Elite Crimson Guard!”
Looks like they used Ripcords head sculpt and just added hair. Notice no ball-joint necks.