Spy Troops Wave 2 (Wave 6) - Dr. Mindbender
Dr. Mindbender has had a questionable history, for sure. His first incarnation (and by far his most familiar) involved a bare chest, cape and purple pants, yet this version maintains a large level of popularity with Joe fans young and old. The second version had an even stranger color scheme, while it's a darker purple, the pants are a bright, almost blinding yellow color. The second Mindbender also seems much more cybernetic in nature...robotic eyepieces, a strange metal contraption on his chest. A much different, but equally strange look.
Wave 3 brought us yet another Dr. Mindbender. Very similar in style to the original version, he sports an open vest with very cool Cobra medallion. His uniform is quite interesting, with snake-skin patterned pants and some nicely detailed gloves and accessories. However, his feet are a little on the large side, and his arms are so strangely positioned, it is difficult to put him in even a semi-realistic pose. He was part of the ultra-stylized third Wave of Joe Vs. Cobra (supposedly Takara designed all of these figures, which explains a much more "anime" base to them) which makes it tough to work with in a more realistic setting. Tough, but not impossible...
This version makes it even more desirable to try to work Mindbender into the "real world". This figure is just plain striking. He finally pulls away from the purple shades and odd colors, and gets right down into the crimson and black that works on many Cobra elite. This Mindbender really pulls away from the crowd. His vest is now a deep, dark, regal red, which matches the mold nicely. His pants, which were purple/green snakeskin patterns before, are now a very nice combination of red and black. The gold accoutrements add an even nicer flair to this figure's new regal color scheme. He blends in perfectly with Cobra's elite, and looks much more menacing than he did in purple and yellow, and I really think this color alteration makes a world of difference.
Not only does this new Mindbender now stand apart from the previous versions, but he fits right in with another subset that's coming out soon, the Toys R Us Python Patrol. Recent pictures have revealed an excellent new equally striking paint scheme...a paint scheme extremely similar to the scale pattern on Mindbender's pants. This combination makes this figure even cooler in my book, as I'd love to have him more closely related to Python Patrol, since in my world, he used that technology and had a large hand in creating it.
Over all, the Dart/Mindbender 2 pack is, unfortunately, just a 2 pack of repaints. But the repaints are different enough to at least be moderately desirable. If money is tight, and new and different sculpts are your bag, you could easily skip this one, but the Mindbender and Dart look neat enough to draw me in, although I'd be much happier if they were new.