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Hasbro G.I.JOE Retro Card Dr. Mindbender Figure Review
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00:00To think he went from aligning teeth to realigning human DNA.
00:04Here's your look at the Hasbro. This is the G.I. Joe retro card back, Dr. Mindbender.
00:09Dr. Mindbender was once an orthodontist who made the tragic mistake of experimenting on himself.
00:31While tinkering with an electric brainwave stimulation as the means of relieving dental pain,
00:35he underwent a complete personality change and became hateful, deceitful, and vain.
00:40His personal mission is now to bring the miracle of thought control to everyone.
00:43I don't mind the part about the mind control, just as long as it can be covered through my company's insurance.
00:47Let's, shall we, take the tape measure and see how tall the retro card Dr. Mindbender stands.
00:52And I'll bring in a couple of other figures for comparisons.
00:54I had the original one as a kid from 1985.
00:57I didn't get my chance to grab the classified edition, and now it's going for some stupid money.
01:01From what I can see, at least, Dr. Mindbender looks to be using the same body.
01:05He seems to also be coming to include with his same accessories.
01:08Let's do, as promised, the tape measure is going to tell us that Dr. Mindbender, as crazy as it may seem,
01:14is going to stand at six inches in height.
01:16It's no crazy as well to think that the figure is going to be 15 and a half centimeters tall.
01:20As for Hasbro's other offerings, here's what Dr. Mindbender looks like with the retro card back Cobra Commander.
01:26Not really quite the retro card back, but still stands in scale.
01:28Well, here's what he also looks like with the classified series Battle Android Trooper, or Bat if you prefer.
01:34And while we're still sticking with retro card backs, even though he's not part of Cobra yet,
01:37here's what the figure looks like with G.I. Joe leader Duke.
01:40Let me also bring this to your attention as well, that the retro card back figures do have,
01:44though being much bigger this time around, a file card that you can cut out for yourself.
01:48It has the languages represented here.
01:50I think that's English, Spanish, a few other things as well.
01:53I suppose French is probably in there as well.
01:54And some advertisements as well of other retro card figures as part of this wave.
01:58We've got Rock and Roll and a Viper.
02:02Definitely want to get my hands on that Viper.
02:03Let's move that off all to the side, though.
02:06So, Dr. Mindbender, from what I can see at least, seems to be using the same body as the classified series.
02:11He's a little less, though, on the accessory count, but I don't think he really is missing a whole lot.
02:16He does have, at least, though, things that are referenced back to the 1985 release of Dr. Mindbender.
02:20Not one of them happened to be, though, a display stand.
02:23The old days of G.I. Joe never really had display stands.
02:26You could always really buy the accessory packs after the fact.
02:30But, of course, you've got yourself a display stand here.
02:32This does have Cobra on the top.
02:34If I just grab one here to the side, this is, I think, may have been the one that came to the side with Duke.
02:38Same size stands.
02:39Of course, you've got the stars and stripes on the one side.
02:41You've got Cobra's logo on the other.
02:43I always thought that Cobra had a cooler logo.
02:44So, being that it also does have two pegs instead of just the one, you can take, actually, both of Mindbender's feet holes and plug them onto the display base.
02:53Now, he doesn't have a name at all placard on the front of this, even though this really is a flat section and an ideal section.
02:58Because if you look at this side, this side's completely smooth, right?
03:02This side is a flat spot, almost just the ideal spot, to write Dr. Mindbender.
03:07Although, if I wrote it, I'd never be able to write it that small.
03:09It would just probably be, some of the D would probably be carrying off to the top.
03:12But, I would never be able to get something that small.
03:14But, I think that they probably could have either easily put Dr. Mindbender on the front, or they could have just phoned it in and called it Cobra instead.
03:22Anyways, let's move that outside.
03:24The original vintage Dr. Mindbender did come included with a couple of these accessories that look really familiar.
03:30Now, in the original one, they would have actually come with a little square box that would have then plugged to a hose here.
03:36The box looked very much like a guitar amp.
03:38He has something a little bit more simplified this time around.
03:40It actually looks like one of those more expensive water bottles.
03:43You know, the ones that are, I have one of them, so I can't really talk.
03:46But, it's like stainless steel on the inside.
03:48It's BPA-free.
03:49It's all that fun stuff.
03:50Mine is also inside of its own water bottle cozy.
03:53I think I probably paid like $50 for it.
03:55Stop that.
03:57This is all molded, though, in all black plastic.
03:59It does have a little hose there.
04:00A little peg on the top for the hose.
04:02The hose is just going to plug in place just like that.
04:05Kind of line up the hole, and you know how it works.
04:07Now, the original vintage toy and the classified series also had this as well.
04:12What it actually did do, I had no idea.
04:14Even as a kid, I had no idea.
04:15I always kind of pretended like it was just a laser gun.
04:17This would have originally all been cast in gray plastic.
04:20This time around, we actually get a black plastic with a silver-ended handle, or silver-ended nozzle.
04:25And then that just plugs on, because there's a peg right there.
04:28It just plugs onto the other end of the hose.
04:30Now, Dr. Mindbender could hold this in his hands.
04:33Normally, in the original vintage toy, there would have not been a place to store this.
04:36I think the backside probably would have even been hollow.
04:38However, though, with the new release of Mindbender,
04:41got to move his cape, by the way.
04:44There's a hole right here.
04:45And if you look at the expensive water bottle, there's a peg right here.
04:48So you just take the peg and line it to the hole.
04:51Plug it in place.
04:52And I was actually surprised that it stayed as well as it did.
04:56Although, unfortunately, it kind of pushes the curtain of the cape to the side.
05:00And, of course, you can just go ahead and put that into his hands.
05:02Now, you can have it displayed, I suppose, this way.
05:05So it looks more like a weather prod.
05:08One of the weather rods?
05:10Weather rods.
05:10Or you can also have it just displayed that way.
05:12And it looks like he has a squirting gun.
05:14And the other thing that he also does come included with as well,
05:19if you want to still stick with vintage,
05:21a somewhat vintage-looking pistol.
05:23Like with that wand or whatever that thing was,
05:25it was originally cast in gray plastic.
05:27The same could be said as well for the pistol.
05:29The pistol would have been all done in gray plastic.
05:31This time around, we get it in black.
05:32It does fit into Dr. Mindbender's hands.
05:35Just like that.
05:36Hey, that's super easy.
05:39And then, of course, you can just lift the arm.
05:41There is also a holster on the side.
05:42They can take the pistol and holster it right there.
05:46It's strange, though, that there's other companies
05:48that can't release their figures with guns.
05:50Yet, Hasbro apparently has no issues at all
05:52of releasing figures with pistols.
05:53Like real-looking pistols, too.
05:55Not futuristic things, either.
05:57Speaking of futuristic things,
05:58the figure does also come in clear with this gun.
06:00That looks like the original 60s Mr. Freeze gun.
06:03Very similar, in fact.
06:05It's molded in the same black plastic.
06:07It has the same silver that gets the end nozzle done.
06:10And, of course, that can fit into his hand as well.
06:12You also have a peg right here, too.
06:14So, if you don't like the look of it like this,
06:16you just detach this and plug it onto the end of here.
06:19So, now you can have it that way.
06:20So, that does certainly look a little bit more
06:22like Mr. Freeze's Freeze gun.
06:24And this, of course, the expensive water bottle.
06:26Plug in the exact same spot.
06:28The last thing that Dr. Mindbender comes included with
06:30for his accessories is this gun here.
06:33Now, while the Vintage never had this,
06:35the Classified series certainly did.
06:37The Classified, while this not having a removable piece,
06:39did seem to also come included with tiny little silver canisters
06:42that, I guess, in theory, Dr. Mindbender would be able to just
06:46pull the one off that he's not using anymore
06:47and just plug the new one in place.
06:50The Classified series Dr. Mindbender also came included
06:52with kind of like a red kind of container,
06:56like a canister.
06:57Came also included with a brain.
06:58Came also included with, I think, a severed hand,
07:01like a little mummified hand.
07:02Perhaps all the things that he needs to make himself Serpentor.
07:05We know how successful Serpentor really was.
07:07Apparently, though, just smashing one of the canisters with a chain
07:10was just enough for Serpentor to be a flawed character,
07:15even though really he had the things of all the greatest warriors
07:18and intellectual geniuses over history.
07:21Either way, though, this can also really be stored in his holster, too.
07:25Though the thing about it, though, is because this has a little piece sticking up,
07:29when you are putting it in place, it's really harder to fit in there.
07:32And I know it's not really supposed to be in there,
07:34but if you want a place to kind of store it, you can kind of somewhat phone it in
07:38and store it on the side as well,
07:40because there is no other place, really, that can plug onto the figure's body.
07:43With that all being said, let's get a closer look at Mindbender here.
07:46Man, I really wish I had the original 80s one.
07:49Though growing up with G.I. Joe, my favorite time for Joe's was around 85.
07:5485, where kind of Flint took over.
07:56Duke maybe wasn't as much in the front and center.
07:58We also had the introduction of Hawk.
07:59And all the 80s, like the mid-80s characters, Serpentor being one of them,
08:03the Battle and Droid Troopers being another, and the Cobra Viper,
08:05one of my favorite Cobra Troopers of all time.
08:08Cobra Viper became the infantry for, of course, Cobra.
08:11Now, the head sculpt, though, for Dr. Mindbender,
08:14from what I can see, at least, seems to be the exact same one
08:16that the Classified series got as well.
08:18He's got a little monocle on the side.
08:20Don't try to peel this off, first to think that there's maybe an eye underneath.
08:24Maybe there is an eye.
08:25It's kind of hard to really see through the plastic,
08:27but I would imagine it would be a hard time to kind of get the thing back in place.
08:30It follows very much the format of the original vintage Cobra, or Dr. Mindbender,
08:35right down to the fact he's got a very muscular torso.
08:38I was always kind of really alarmed the fact that this guy would be the genius madman
08:41behind the scenes, the mad scientist of Cobra.
08:43And yet he was very overly muscular.
08:45He has all the basic things that the original Dr. Mindbender would have had.
08:48It was like the purple pants, for example,
08:51the little gauntlets that he has on his arms
08:52that really get a nice little bit of silver added in there as well.
08:55The big boots, for example, it's got the flaps on the tops.
08:58Now, these are a soft plastic.
09:00They probably made them soft like this
09:01so that when it comes to the figure's articulation,
09:03you shouldn't have too much of an issue at all.
09:05Now, on the back, though, of the figure's body,
09:07like with the original,
09:08the original Mindbender would have had almost like a felt cape
09:12with a big Cobra symbol on the back down in silver.
09:15This one has this as well.
09:16Although with the original one, I think it didn't plug in.
09:19Oh, yes, it did.
09:20It kind of wrapped around very similar to like the old Star Wars vintage toys.
09:25We kind of had the arms be the things that hold the cape in place.
09:28Mindbenders, from what I remember, also did the exact same thing.
09:31They did this too here.
09:33One thing I'm happy at least to see
09:35is that they allotted for enough fabric on this side
09:37because I was kind of initially thinking
09:39if this was really thin fabric, that would so easily rip.
09:43But it does look like they've used a decent quality material,
09:46one that as well with this being as thick as it is,
09:49probably isn't going to rip.
09:50Plus, too, they've allotted for enough space,
09:52not only for his pits to breathe,
09:54but also I think I would imagine that that's just enough
09:55that if you rotate the arms around,
09:57you're moving them out and about like that,
09:58you're not going to probably start to clip the fabric.
10:01The only thing I would really say, though,
10:03I don't love the way they've done the top of the cape.
10:07From what I remember,
10:08Dr. Mindbender had this kind of really large crest,
10:11kind of the top to his cape like that.
10:12And this doesn't really have any...
10:15Have they only maybe added a wire or something like that
10:18where at least the top of the cape,
10:20the collar, I guess, the collar of the cape
10:22could have stuck up a little bit further like this.
10:24I mean, I guess you could also fold it back, too.
10:26It's just personal preference.
10:27I personally like my cape a little bit higher on Mindbender.
10:30It looks just like the original 80s toy,
10:33just a lot bigger
10:34and obviously having a lot more articulation as well,
10:37which we will run through right now.
10:38Dr. Mindbender's head is going to be on a ball joint.
10:40It allows the head to rotate all the way around.
10:43The head's going to look up and down.
10:45And of course, in between, you can move it back and forth.
10:48In addition to that, you may be able to see
10:49that Dr. Mindbender does also have a ball joint
10:51at the base of the neck.
10:52So that works hand in hand with the ball joint
10:54we've already had a look at.
10:56As for his arms, they rotate all the way around.
10:58No issues there.
10:59They've also allotted for enough space
11:01where he can bring those arms out.
11:02There's like a cut done to the top of the torso
11:05where he can bring those arms up at 90 degrees
11:07or a T pose if you prefer.
11:09This arm, unfortunately, is a little tighter.
11:11But it still moves out.
11:12Still gets that 90 degree angle done.
11:14You've got the bicep swivel, of course.
11:15The figure does also have a double hinge on the elbow.
11:18And the hands rotate all the way around.
11:20The top of the torso is on a crunch.
11:22One thing to see as well is as you move the crunch forward,
11:25these straps aren't attached to anything.
11:27They're only really attached down below here,
11:29but they're not glued enough in place.
11:31So at least when you're moving the torso around,
11:32you're not going to have any issues there.
11:33I had actually more issues with the kick kind of sliding down.
11:36But you're probably never going to have to figure,
11:38unless he's dealing with arthritis,
11:39you're probably never going to have him on the shelf looking like this.
11:42So yeah, he does have the top of the torso crunch.
11:44He has a bit of a swivel back and forth for the waist.
11:46Legs do split out.
11:48And of course, you can take them and move them forward and back.
11:51The legs do drop down too.
11:52I mean, not that he's going to be sitting inside of a vehicle,
11:54but there's always that option available.
11:56You just pop the leg back in place.
11:57There's a swivel there at the top of the thigh,
11:59a double hinge on the knee.
12:00The boots do move separately.
12:03There is some ankle pivot there as well,
12:05an ankle rocker.
12:06Mentioned this already.
12:07I'll mention it again.
12:08The figure does also have pegels on the bottoms of his feet.
12:12Dr. Mindbender.
12:13Yeah, I know, you know,
12:15collecting like the classified series figures,
12:17I know for a while,
12:18like Hasbro really was kind of reinventing the line.
12:21And then after a while,
12:21it almost just seems like they gave up and said,
12:23you know what?
12:24Old collectors like my age would probably be more interested
12:27to get larger scale Joes and Cobras
12:29that looked essentially like the original vintage toys.
12:31So it seems like after really like the first wave
12:34of G.I. Joe classified series figures,
12:36they sort of have now just given into the idea
12:39that collectors just want the same thing
12:40that they had when they were as a kid,
12:42which is why even like the retro card figures
12:44all kind of really look like the original 80s toys.
12:47Again, that's not really the retro card back
12:49of the Cobra Bat,
12:50but that's the classified series.
12:52But then we also had ourselves
12:53a retro card back Cobra Commander.
12:55I had a Destro at one point as well.
12:58I don't know where Destro's whereabouts went.
13:01But I do like the look of Dr. Mindbender.
13:02I do actually like that he comes and includes
13:04some accessories that are a throwback
13:05to the original days of collecting these toys as a kid.
13:08Again, you got the hose there
13:10and you got the little wand piece that he has
13:12that just connects to the end.
13:13Unlike this one though,
13:14with the original toy,
13:15where there really wasn't a place to store the guitar amp,
13:17even though I know it really wasn't a guitar amp,
13:19there are at least a peg
13:20on this expensive water bottle
13:22that can plug onto the back of Dr. Mindbender's body.
13:24So there's a place at least to store that
13:26when he's carrying around the wand.
13:28Whatever he's going to be doing with the wand,
13:30I can't imagine it's going to be good,
13:31especially if there's Joe's currently in his clutches.
13:35If in fact this is a bored over Bender
13:36from the original classified release,
13:38then the only thing really that the classified
13:40could say that it had that the retro card couldn't
13:42was it also came in clear with a couple of domes.
13:44They were all red tinted domes.
13:46You actually got two of them.
13:47One was a little longer than the other
13:48and I think you could open them up
13:50and store inside a mummified human hand,
13:52a brain or skull.
13:54I mean, those all sound like fun things.
13:56What I don't though want to spend
13:57is $150 to $200 to get my hands
13:59on a classified series Dr. Mindbender
14:00when if I'm getting the same figure here,
14:03I can get the retro card back for around 30 to 35.
14:06In actual fact,
14:07I actually grabbed this one
14:08from the Facebook selling group.
14:10Couldn't find this guy at all in the stores
14:11and I tried looking too.
14:13But luckily though,
14:14Popeye the Toy Man,
14:15boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop,
14:16had it as one of his more recent listings
14:19and I quickly grabbed it from him.
14:21I still want to get my hands though
14:22on rock and roll
14:23and I would really like to get
14:24at least a couple of the Cobra Vipers
14:26because for me,
14:28the 1985 time frame of G.I. Joe
14:30was really more my jam.
14:32I love like the original,
14:33I don't want to say generation one
14:34because I know we tend to think of that
14:35with Transformers.
14:36But the early days of G.I. Joe,
14:38I still love those old cartoons,
14:40but right around the 80s,
14:41like the mid 80s
14:42was when we got like the Serpentors,
14:44we got Dr. Mindbenders,
14:45we got the Cobra Stuns.
14:47I really always liked the Cobra Stun
14:48a lot more than the Cobra Hiss.
14:50Right now,
14:51I'm ducking to make sure
14:51nobody's throwing anything at me.
14:53What do you guys think
14:54of Retro Cardback Dr. Mindbender?
14:56Let me know down below
14:57in the comment section.
14:58Were you guys lucky enough
14:59to pick up the Classified series
15:00or are you happy
15:01just to stick with the Retro Cardback?
15:03If you guys did also want to go back
15:05and check out my previous reviews
15:07that I've done for G.I. Joe,
15:08granted I haven't really done
15:09a lot of them,
15:10but hopefully that will be changing
15:11in the upcoming videos.
15:13But if you guys also
15:14did enjoy this video,
15:15how about doing a solid
15:16and throwing a like?
15:17You guys want to stick around
15:18for more so?
15:19I hope so.
15:20Hit the subscribe,
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15:24and come back.
15:25There's always going to be
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15:27on this channel.
15:28As always,
15:28thanks for watching.
15:29See you guys next time.
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