Mail Time! - TERRIFYING LASERS OF DESTRUCTION

    Is it just me... or did all the catalogs, mail-in offers and blueprints, add another level of excitement when buying G.I. Joe stuff??? I always looked forward to the pack-ins when buying a vehicle (and sometimes the figures)... especially the mail-away booklet! It was always exciting to discover what discontinued items were suddenly available again or something unique that was being offered for the first time! 

    Hasbro would typically create a story to weave the toys together. New artwork, photography or both would also be added. These were fun to look at and expanded the G.I. Joe universe in their own way.

    In 1993, we got the booklet - Terrifying Lasers Of Destruction. The storyline was that Cobra had created "quantum lasers" that were capable of destroying entire buildings. They then dispersed these lasers around the world in different ways. Some were on vehicles while others were stationary.

    The first was a Cobra Sea Ray that was armed with these lasers and waiting to begin its attack somewhere along the Pacific Coast.  From the wording, it sounds as if it was a single Sea Ray. Most likely because kids would likely only order one.

    For the others lasers, there is one located in the Antarctic - manned by a Snow Serpent and another one at a Cobra fortress in Europe. The Cobra Emperor, Serpentor, has his Air Chariot armed with Quantum Lasers in Siberia and the Cobra Battle Barge and Jet Pack are in the “American West” (kind of a broad location…?).  No info on who exactly is in control of the fortress in Europe or the Battle Barge and Jet Pack.

    G.I. Joe has learned of this sinister plot and has dispatched some troops to counter the threat.  The Arctic Commandos - Stalker, Sub-Zero and Dee-Jay have been sent to the Antarctic while the Martial Arts Unit, Jinx and Quick Kick, are sent to Europe.  The Swampmasher vehicle (no driver mentioned, but Jinx is in the picture) will move out for Siberia and the Battle Copter Pilots, Major Altitude and Interrogator, are headed out West.

    The story basically ends there.  Kids could order the toys and finish out the battle themselves.  It’s a fun little story, kind of basic, with no deep details, but it's some good fuel for the imagination.  There are additional items not tied into the storyline such as the collector case, the Steel Brigade offer and the Create-A-Cobra.

    The items included are interesting.  Some of the figures are re-issues of previously released figures with new color schemes.  Sub-Zero, Snow Serpent, Dee-Jay, Stalker, Major Altitude and Interrogator fall in this category.  These figures are pretty rare these days.  I remember seeing the colors of these figures in the booklet and thinking that they could not be the actual colors - that they were errors or prototypes.  Especially someone like Interrogator, I figured there is no way they would actually make that figure in yellow and purple.  Umm, yeah, apparently I was wrong…

    Stalker is charging the Snow Serpent with a sai???

    Although the strange colors are correct, there are a couple of fun mistakes to note in the booklet.  For one, it is odd that there is no one out there to counter the Sea Ray that was mentioned first!

    Also, the story mentions that Major Altitude and Interrogator are going Westward after the Cobras - together!?!?  This isn’t right… Interrogator IS a Cobra and has not not defected.  I can’t imagine having a Joe named “Interrogator”!!!

    Another one is the Cobra Battle Barge, which seats 3 figures, has Ninja-Viper at the forefront manning one of the three guns.  The other two guns are facing away, but if you look, you can see they are being operated by a Joe figure- Big Ben, and an October Guard figure - Big Bear.  Certainly an odd group to be sharing space on the Battle Barge together!?!?

    Did Jinx tell Quick Kick that she changed her mind and is heading to Siberia instead?

    Looking deeper, the file cards that actually came with both the Arctic Commandos and the Battle Copter pilots tell different stories than the one in this booklet.  For the Commandos, there is a laser they are trying to take out, but it is located on Mount Everest in Asia... not Antarctica.  The Battle Copter story is completely different.

    I still have many of these mail-in offers in my collection, it's fun to look back on them. Though, I kind of kick myself for not ordering ANY of the rare figures in this booklet... from the Arctic Commandos to the Create-A-Cobra. I don't think I had any idea how scarce some of these items would become down the road. But in 1993, we had no idea that the following year would be the last one. Did anyone acquire any of these hard-to-find figures back in the day? Have anyone even really SEEN them???

    A little maze on the back of the booklet for your entertainment...