The two sets from 2005 were very elusive for me. The Marvel comic had its influence on me, and I wanted to add these characters to my collection. It wasn't until a chance stop at a Target in Dubuque, IA, where I finally found these. And it was just the two of them there! The only packs of these I saw at all.Looking back at them now, the heads are a tad on the small side, and some of the hands aren't formed quite right. Especially on Brekhov's figure.
The accessories must not have impressed me, as I've obviously armed them with Marauder, Inc. equipment pretty much across the board with the Soviet-style (at least to me it is) items.
The Oktober Guard was present prior to these comic packs, I actually got the 1998 Oktober Guard 3-pack about the time it came out. YoJoe has a picture of that here.
I had these 3 TRU exclusive figures with me in my small travel tin container when I was doing the school thing. I wanted some figures to set up in my room, and the 2000-'01 figures were what I had in it. And the 1998 Oktober Guard. I have since traded off the "Brekhov" and "Volga" from that pack, as those were straight repaints of previous figures that I still intended to use. "Volga" wasn't as obvious as Lady Jaye, but pretty much was that figure, ball-cap and all. And "Red Star" was most likely present in my collection, already. So that "Brekhov" just couldn't be THE Brekhov...., it was Red Star.
Plus, I lost THAT Brekhov's hat in a dorm room. Go figure..., a 10'x15' space, where something is on a shelf or in a tin, and I lost it... ???
Red Star is where it was at for on that figure. The guy was an original figure afterall, this was a more tangible character to me from the start. If I remember right, I pretty much had to trade to get all his accessories assembled for this figure below. And Red Star has some seriously nice stuff. From the rifle, to the mini-gatling gun, all the way to the RTO backpack with knife. Add in that Red Star has one of THE BEST spring fired missile launchers out there, well, it's a darn nice figure!
I think Big Bear was added in loose to my collection, too, and I know that I did trade for his double-barreled launcher. I'm not too concerned about the missiles themselves.
Just above in the picture with Red Star and Big Bear are the other "newer" Oktober Guard members, Lt. Gorky, and Sgt. Misha. These are the 2006 Comic Pack figures, and the Comic Pack Dragonsky came with them. I think the trio of these figures have better sized heads. Misha is really a nice figure with a unique hat.Lt. Gorky has a nice head, but got the shaft with the 1964 soldier body. I've tried to find a better body for the guy from spar parts, but it just hasn't happened. I guess it isn't so bad. At least THIS Gorky isn't looking like the Big-Bear-look-alike Gorky from the 1998 TRU 3-pack.
It's the look-a-likes and characters that could be what was supposed this character issue that faces my Oktober Guard today.
Below, for example.
We had a Dragonsky in 2005 from the GIJoe Collector Club. And it's a great figure, but it's Blast-off. With the comic pack figure and the GIJCC figure, which do I pick? How do I avoid the matching uniform issue with the 2005 Gung-ho?
Also, was Big Bear intended to be Horror Show the whole time? Two big guys, in that dark solid green uniform, both with some kind of anti-tank weapon.... A coincidence? Should Horror Show "die" in my Joe-verse like in the comic book, so Big Bear can stand apart and get some use?"Dead" characters were considered "dead" for a time when the new figures started coming back at the beginning of the century, after all. Brehkov would have to suffer the same fate if in my Joe-verse, Horror Show were to be considered, "dead." I think it was a later Marvel issue that kind of explained that Red Star looked similar to Brehkov, too, but with such a small team, do I have two leaders present at the same time? Just figure-wise here, I prefer Red Star over my Comic Pack Brehkov, quite easily.
Below you can see poor Gorky. If the hands weren't a lighter tone on the 1998 Gorky, I wouldn't mind just swapping the heads. It's too bad, I think Gorky could really have been a strong figure/ character in my Joe-verse had the body been a little more, I dunno..., good?
It's not that I dislike the '64-style body, it is just fine, it really has the feel of the 12" guys from that time. I did play with some of those, too! On the forwarding collection issue:
Now, "dead is dead," this is an issue that didn't make sense to me. Sure, in the comic, they're gone, not to be seen again. In toy form, they're still here and just as functional as any other toy.
However, should I reduce the Oktober guard? Should I completely bring them into my GIJoe team?
Should Brehkov, Horror-Show, Shrage, and Stormavik, be sent away so the "newer generation" of Oktober Guard character/figures get a chance to get developed?
Do I need an Oktober Guard team?
What do you think?