The Power of Packaging: 1985 Buzzer
Some figures sell themselves based on concept, others need a boost from their packaging. Buzzer didn’t need any help to snare me back in the day, although I will say the in-your-face chainsaw helped steer me a bit toward his favor over the other ‘Noks that day.
The unique feature to the packaging art here is the presence of a bit of scenery alongside the character. You can’t have a devastating weapon without showing it off, so Buzzer demonstrates his saw’s ability to slice up a tank tread. Very effective.
And hey, was Target a little high on their prices?
You’ve even got the “repressed psychotic anger” variant. Buzzer is my favorite Dreadnok just because he had a lot more to his character than Ripper or Torch. Hama brought that out nicely in the comic.
I’ve always assumed the Dreadnoks were meant to be 1984 releases. However, I also recall that the versions sold at Sears in late 1984 had 1985 cardbacks since my friends and I all tried to figure out who the new ’85 characters were. I’ve never seen one on an ’84 cardback before. Interesting.
The cardback caught my eye too, I knew the Dreadnoks were in the comic long before 85 so had wondered if they’d come out earlier…..
YoJoe doesn’t have that cardback for Buzzer: http://www.yojoe.com/action/85/buzzer.shtml
At $2.79 at Target, that would be about twenty cents cheaper than usual.
$2.99 was the standard price I remember for GI Joe figures, but I also realize now, my rural area that had Pamidas, Kmarts and drug stores for toy shopping, may have had higher prices than more urban areas with the larger discount stores. YoJoe.com’s retail prices always look stunningly low to what I remember things costing.
”When Zartan was not around, it was Buzzer who was left in charge of Ripper/Torch.”
Buzzer. Strong emotional attachment to this figure. My late Dad bought me him in 1987 as part of the Hasbro UK Action Force range…had that figure for years. Extremely durable even after all the hell I put him through…never broke at all. And was still in great condition…I now have the 25th version which is a great figure…
I always based him off his filecard – extremely intelligent and not as thick as Sunbow or Marvel to a lesser extent made him out to be…and what a filecard. How eloquent is that? “Geejaws”…now that’s a word…
In the UK Marvel run, the Dreadnoks were homicidal psychopathic types…far more deadlier than Hamas Joe comic had them pegged to be. The Action Force Monthly story “Death or Glory” really illustrated how deadly they were…
Ps, it’s clear the Dreadnoks were 84 designs but pushed into the 85 range…
There’s a clip of Jay Leno mocking the Dreadnocks circa 1985
It’s a pity no one mocks Jay Leno…Ive never understood why he’s “famous”…hes unamusing and talentless…