G.I.JOE: A Real American Hero was cancelled in August of 1994, after most of the 1994 product had hit shelves. The Manimals (seen below) were advertised in the 1994 Toy Fair Catalog but never reached retail.*
*That is, until 2001 – see below!
*That is, until 2001 – see below!
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Manimals (series one, late 1994)• From a distant universe come these radical reptile aliens!
• Each figure features its own mutating body-change action! • Kids convert them from "normal" aliens to the meanest mutated monsters this side of the Milky Way! 1994 Toy Fair Catalog courtesy of JoeADay.com
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The Manimals were intended to hit shelves in late 1994, and several Manimals made it through to production before being pulled. According to YoJoe, "a few dozen loose and perhaps one dozen carded of the original Manimals samples are available in the collector's market." Four AFA graded specimens can bee seen below, courtesy of Chris Cardillo. Please check him out on eBay, or give him a shout on twitter. Roll over the images below to find out more, or click the images to enlarge them.
Chris also has a collection of factory produced Manimals samples. Roll over the images below to find out more, or click the images to enlarge them.
Manimals pre-production and production collection!
The original concept for the Manimals (seen below) was developed by Ron Magers of MDesign. He has been inventing since the 60s and has run MDesign since 1985. His son Ross Magers recently unearthed a stash of old Manimals materials and decided to share these artifacts with the G.I.Joe community through 3DJoes. Roll over the images below to find out more, or click the images to enlarge them.
The original Manimals prototype!
The most interesting artifact in this collection is the original submission - a hand crafted half-man half-animal! His torso swivels open at the shoulders to reveal an alligator like creature with a hinged jaw and an articulate tongue. This original concept, that a humanoid warrior would transform into a beast-like creature, is in my opinion much more interesting and plausible in the G.I.Joe universe than the eventual Manimals that were developed, "normal" alien creatures that transformed into "the meanest mutated monsters this side of the Milky Way." Just imagine if Dr. Mindbender invented a method to transform humans into feral man-beasts that heed Cobra’s bidding. He could call the process "Venomization!” Oh wait, that was the plot to 2004 animated film, Valor Vs. Venom. See, it fits G.I.Joe much better.
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Roll over the images below to find out more, or click the images to enlarge them.
1994 Manimals factory produced samples
This collection also includes five of the six factory produced samples for the 1994 Manimals.
1994 Manimals: Spasma
Spasma features a button that you push to open his face mask and reveal a hideous creature inside.
1994 Manimals: Iguanus
Iguanus features a swiveling torso much like the prototype above, which reveals an alligator-like face with articulated jaw and tongue.
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1994 Manimals: Slythor
Slythor's head tilts back, which allows a snake-like head on three hinges to unfurl.
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1994 Manimals: Warwolf
Warwolf features a swiveling torso much like the prototype above, which reveals an alligator-like face with articulated jaw and tongue.
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1994 Manimals: ZigZag
ZigZag has two heads on opposite sides of the torso, you simply push one down to reveal the other. The heads are facing opposite directions for the front of one head is the back of the other head.
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1994 Manimals: Vortex (not pictured)
Vortex was not included, and has been reported as nearly impossible to find due to some manufacturing problems. Vortex's chest and head splits down the middle to open and reveal a smaller alien controlling the larger alien figure. This hinged mechanism often broke, so there are far fewer working Vortex samples than the other five figures.
2001 Manimals: the not-so-triumphant return!
In 2001 Hasbro planned to release all six Manimals through KB Toys as a store exclusive. All six figures were modified with new paint apps, perhaps to preserve the integrity or collecter value of the canceled 1995 releases, or perhaps because tastes in colors at retail are constantly evolving. Hasbro and KB Toys planned to release the six Manimals in two waves of three, labeled Special Collectors Edition Series 1 and Series 2. Series 1 consisted of Warwolf, Iguanus and Slythor. Series 2 consisted of Spasma, Vortex, and ZigZag. Unfortunately, Series 1 performed poorly at retail and Hasbro and KB Toys canceled Series 2.
Lucky for us, Series 2 wasn't canceled before some carded samples were produced – and thanks to Andrew Felsburg we have images of these incredibly rare Series 2 figures below! Roll over the images below to find out more, or click the images to enlarge them.
Lucky for us, Series 2 wasn't canceled before some carded samples were produced – and thanks to Andrew Felsburg we have images of these incredibly rare Series 2 figures below! Roll over the images below to find out more, or click the images to enlarge them.
More Manimals from the collection of Ross Magers
The image galleries below show everything the Magers had in their collection. You will see some odd colored figures, which are referred to as test shots. Chris Murray of Joe Declassified shed some light on this terminology: "Test shots and first shots are two terms that are interchangeable in the collecting community, but they mean different things. It can be hard to tell the difference in some cases. A first shot is the very first figures made from the steel mold. They can be created using non-production colors plastics or in production color plastics. It is thought that the factory would use various plastics they had available for first shots. These were created to make sure the steel molds worked correctly and that all the details were correct. Typically there will be no manufacturing marks on the first shot. A test shot is created to test the actual plastics that will be used to create the final toy. Test shots will be found in production colors."
Most of the items shown below are 1994 factory produced samples with full paint apps, and 2001 test shots created using non-production colors plastics. Roll over the images below to find out more, or click the images to enlarge them.
Most of the items shown below are 1994 factory produced samples with full paint apps, and 2001 test shots created using non-production colors plastics. Roll over the images below to find out more, or click the images to enlarge them.
