SCC Figure Spotlight - NIGHT CREEPER LEADER (Versions 1 and 2)

"If Atilla the Hun had a blackbelt, an MBA, and was armed with lasers he'd resemble me, except not as mean!" - Night Creeper Leader, 1993.

- - - - -

NINJA SUPREME MASTER - NIGHT CREEPER LEADER  (Ver. 1)

    The Cobra Organization got it's first ninja, Storm Shadow, in 1984.  He served as a spy and an assassin as well as Cobra Commander's personal bodyguard. Eventually, however, Storm Shadow left and defected to the G.I. Joe Team.  Cobra waited several years until they recruited more martial artists for their side.  Finally, in 1990, they brought in a group of "high tech" ninjas called the Night Creepers. Though they worked for Cobra, they had their own command structure.  The head of this group was revealed and released three years later in 1993 - the Cobra Ninja Supreme Master - the Night Creeper Leader. 

    Like some other characters, his name is his job... Cobra Commander is the "Cobra Commander" or Interrogator is the "interrogator".  Night Creeper Leader is simply that - the Night Creeper Leader.  Are you still following me?  His name is a little "wordy", so I will refer to him as NCL from time to time!  

    The file card is strangely vague.  It really doesn't tell much about the Night Creeper Leader.  It mainly reiterates information from the standard Night Creeper's file card about "captured Cobra documents, blah blah, syndicate of high-tech ninjas, blah blah".  Between the five file cards (3 Night Creeper and 2 Night Creeper Leader) not much new is said.  I would have appreciated a little more intrigue with the figure and file card.  With all the connections characters had with Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow over the years, they really could have added some strange ties between the ninja clans....?

    Night Creeper Leader was released in the barrage of figures that Hasbro released in 1993.  They released more figures that year than any other in the line.  Strangely though, the NCL was in the main Battle Corps line, even though Ninja Force was on the store pegs at the same time.  This is a benefit to the figure though, as Ninja Force all had internal mechanisms for spring-loaded arms or legs, thus hindering their articulation.  NCL, as a Battle Corps figure, was able to side-step that pitfall and has the great standard articulation collectors have come to expect!!

    The first version of the NCL was decked out in black and orange.  On his head he wears a black "skull cap" and an orange bandana (blindfold?) across his eyes.  He is bare chested, in exception for the harness straps going over his shoulders which are adorned with grenades, smoke bombs and/or knives.  Then he is wearing orange pants with black stripes.  YouTube G.I. Joe reviewer, HCC788, said it looked like he was wearing a Tigger pants... and it does!!

    For weapons, of course he comes with the uninspired 90's weapons tree.  On the tree were 2 swords (originally Snake Eyes (v4)), a large crossbow (Night Creeper), a knife (Hydro-Viper), a shield and a mini-crossbow (Road Pig) and a missile launcher and 2 missiles.  All of these, except the black launcher, were molded in a similar orange to the figure.

    I don't know about some of these weapon choices... The swords are kind of standard looking, so they work... I like them.  The Night Creeper crossbow?  He is their leader, so I thought this was a nice touch!  The Hydro-Viper knife is okay.  A missile launcher??  Well, they are supposed to be "high-tech" ninjas, so I guess I can roll with that.  What I do NOT like is, using Dreadnok weapons for anyone else.  The Dreadnoks always had unique weapons, and giving them to other people takes away from that.  Road Pig's gear should stay with Road Pig!

    What he is missing, is a visual connection to the Night Creeper figure.  He looks nothing like the troops he commands.  Obviously, he needs to stand apart from the standard Night Creeper, but he also needs something to say that the two belong together.  This could have been done with color, but the Night Creepers wear purple and the Night Creeper Leader is in orange...  So color didn't work to establish a connection here.

    Despite the ugly color of the accessories and the Tigger pants, I have to say... I do like this figure!  It was a good idea to give the Night Creeper organization a leader/ninja master.  I like the blindfold concept too (though I think it's looks more like a bandana).  I mean, the idea was robbed from Jinx or maybe Poison's Bret Michaels, but it was still cool.  It makes it seem as if he is extremely skilled and he can successfully rely on his other senses to fight!

    So I would give the Night Creeper Leader a rating of 3 out of 5 Bret Michaels Bandanas!  He is a good figure, I like the concept, but there are a few things that could have really improved the figure.  Still he faired pretty well.

- - - - -

    

COBRA NINJA SUPREME MASTER - NIGHT CREEPER LEADER  (Ver. 2)

    In the last few years of it's run, Hasbro was really diving into the repaints.  Some figures would get re-released with a slight change while others would be completely recolored.  The latter was the case for the Night Creeper Leader.  

    The second version of the figure did away with the orange and black and instead he went with yellow and purple.  This color choice was still a little wild, but I thought was an improvement!  The purple was not the same shade as the the standard Night Creeper, but it did bring the two closer together.  

    His accessories were the same, only now molded in gold, even the rocket launcher.  Again, this was a better color than the orange.  It also matched part of his outfit as he now sported a gold "skull cap" above his blindfold.  

    Maybe I'm crazy, but I liked this Night Creeper Leader figure over the other!  The purple is more in line with the Night Creeper's uniform.  The weapons tree idea will always be dull, but at least the color is an improvement!  Gold swords are better than orange ones!  A big plus for this figure is the fact he retains the great articulation that G.I. Joe figures typically have, whereas the Ninja Force figures lost this.  All this considered, I'm going to dare give NCL2 a rating of 4 out of 5 Bret Michaels Bandanas!?!?!

    I really think they could have done some interesting things with this character, but they didn't.  That was a missed opportunity.  Maybe slip something in the file card to add some intrigue.  Something that draws a faint connection between him, the Night Creepers and the Joe Ninja Force.  I don't know... but as it stands he's kind of a blank slate.

    So where do you stand with the Night Creeper Leader?  Can't stand him?  Love him so much you have your own pair of Tigger pants on order RIGHT NOW from Amazon???  Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Behind-the-Scenes and other ramblings:

--- The Night Creeper Leader only appeared in one issue of the original G.I. Joe comic run - #141.

--- I'm not making fun of Bret Michaels by comparing the bandanas!

--- NCL even made list for Top 10 Weird Joe Figures I Actually Like!