Art Design: Standard carded figure with the the GI Joe Real American Hero logo and a photo of Dr. Mindbender on the back along with a story line that portended many more COBRA figures being made by Hasbro. Unfortunately, the 12" GI Joe line was cancelled, and Dr. Mindbender was one of the last figures issued.
History: Believe it or not, Dr. Mindbender started out as a dentist. You can bet that a doctor who carries a rifle and a handgun has not been paying his malpractice insurance! Dr. Mindbender is a member of COBRA who was first issued in 1986. According to the file card which is included with this figure, Dr. Mindbender is the Master of Mind Control, but he turned his evil genius towards developing a venom that could mutate and genetically bind the human and animal DNA. Thus, Dr. Mindbender created such COBRA agents as Sand Scorpion, Star-Viper, and Serpentor; who took over COBRA for a while.
Headsculpt: GI Joe can do some amazing work on their headsculpts when they want to. Dr. Mindbender is a perfect example of an outstanding headsculpt. The jaw line has a sharp angle, the Fu-Manchu mustache looks good, and the Doc got a bit of a sneer and an arched eyebrow. The monocle fits snugly into the eye socket, and that's another cool twist. The only odd thing is that the string that holds the monocle is embedded into the gold earring! Sci-Fi novelist J. Steven York advised that he replaced the black string with jewelry chain (photo-left). York posted more photos & explains how at his blog.
Articulation: This is one of those basic bodies with the molded-on sweater that limits the arm movement severely.
Outfit: Dr. Mindbender is wearing a nice lab coat that has a black elastic strap around it that can be used to attach test tubes, dental tools, or hand grenades. The purple pants look good, and they match the dark purple molded-on sweater. Though it looks black in the photos, the shirt is purple, and it looks like Dr. Mindbender is ready to join the Village People. Perhaps the shiny black boots are the best part of this outfit. Anyone who wants to kitbash a State Highway Patrol outfit should get this set just for the boots. The photos do not do them justice.
Gear: Dr. Mindbender brings a large handgun and a red rifle that shoots a yellow missile. These over-sized weapons seem to be holdovers from the old Hall of Fame era (1991-94). For some reason, during the modern era of GI Joe they never seemed to be able to stop using that oversized gear. It made many good sets look cheesy. When Power Team Elite and other companies (such as Blue Box Elite, Ultimate Soldier and the now defunct Formative Soldiers of the World) were putting realistic gear and weapons into their economical sets; GI Joe was apparently aiming for the younger kids? Since their Sigma Six line has kept using the over-sized weapons, apparently Hasbro believes that kids don't want realistic gear?
Overall: These sets were being sold at Dollar General for $6. at Christmas 2005. Some folks report still seeing them on the shelves occasionally. Otherwise, Yahoo auctions or e-bay is probably your best bet.
Grade: B
