1982

Cobra Commander - prototype Cobra emblem on chest or regular emblem (straight-arm figure only); straight-arm and swivel arm

Cobra - reddish-brown eyes and eyebrows and straight-arm or black eyes and eyebrows and swivel arm

Cobra Officer - reddish-brown eyes and eyebrows and straight arm or black eyes and eyebrows and swivel arm.

Stalker - light or dark camouflage; straight-arm and swivel arm

Steeler - store figures (visor binoculars and black uzi) or mail-in (with Duke's binoculars and "off black" uzi); straight-arm and swivel arm

Short-Fuze - mortar launcher has closed handle (original figures), thin open handle, or thick open handle (final figures); straight-arm and swivel arm

Zap - bazooka has two handles (original figures), one thin handle, or one thick handle (final figures); straight-arm and swivel arm

Breaker - straight-arm and swivel arm

Clutch - straight-arm and swivel arm

Flash - straight-arm and swivel arm

Grand Slam - straight-arm and swivel arm

Grunt - straight-arm and swivel arm

Hawk - straight-arm and swivel arm

Rock 'N Roll - straight-arm and swivel arm

Scarlett - straight-arm and swivel arm

Snake Eyes - straight-arm and swivel arm

1983

Covergirl - dark eyebrows and lighter shirt or hair-matching eyebrows and darker shirt

Duke - Many differences exist between the mail-in and store Duke figures. The most notable of which is the helmet without holes (mail-in) or with (store figures), The earliest mail-ins included a small American flag sticker, a wider head sculpt, and slightly different colors.

Destro - with or without date stamp on leg

1984

Blowtorch - with holes in helmet or without, flamethrower made of hard, rigid plastic or of softer plastic (also is slightly larger), eyes and eyebrows same shade as hair, others are darker

Copperhead - light green gloves with light waist, slightly darker gloves with dark waist, or dark green gloves with dark waist.

Firefly - black eyes and eyebrows or light brown eyes and eyebrows

Mutt - helmet without holes or with

Recondo - thick brown camouflage stripes, thin brown camouflage stripes, or green camouflage stripes

Ripcord - with holes in helmet or without

Spirit - small or large right arm patch

Zartan - color changing on only one side of the stickers(early figures) or color changing characteristics on both sides (later figures)

1985

Bazooka - missile launcher the same as Footloose's or as Tiger Force Bazooka's

Crimson Guard - backpack completely hollowed (and light in color), hollowed only in the center and light in color, hollowed only in the center and darker in color; Also, the figure is either dark or light in color.

Dusty - light or dark camo

Heavy Metal - The 1991 mail order figure, which is newly identified as Rampage did not come with the mouthpiece or 5 o'clock shadow

Keel Haul - emblem on arm (store figures and later mail-ins) or no emblem (early mail-ins), later mail-ins often had no pistol

Quick Kick - Hasbro Direct mail-in is slightly different in color shades and has flimsier plastic on the figure and accessories

Sgt. Slaughter - center of rank below chevrons is filled yellow or red

Shipwreck - small or large tattoo

Tomax - Cobra logo low or high on chest

Xamot - has short pink scar or long red scar, long scar also may be pink

1986

A.V.A.C. - retail figure with soft parachute pack (Made in Hong Kong)or Hasbro Direct mail-in with hard parachute pack (Made in China)

B.A.T. - yellow paint or orange paint

Claymore - included either the Snake Eyes Uzi or Low-Light Uzi

Dial-Tone - light hair & matching glove patches or dark hair & peach glove patches

Lifeline - store figures has details on legs, 1991 mail-in figures have no gun or pocket on legs (recolored Frostbite legs) and included only the backpack and medical case

Hawk - 1991 mail-in figures include 1991 Cobra Commander gun as its only accessory

Iceberg - mail-in figure includes Rock Viper's large gun as its only accessory

Lift-Ticket - large or small eyes

Motor Viper - head cast in light blue plastic, head cast in dark blue plastic "Made in China, or head cast in dark blue plastic "Made in Hong Kong."

Zarana - with earrings (original head sculpt) or without. There is also a variation of the Zarana without earrings that was colored more like the figure with earrings. It (pictured at right) had lighter red details and different paint apps.

Serpentor - Store figure (Made in Hong Kong) or Hasbro Direct mail-in (with hooked snake tails and "Made in China"). The mail-in included snakes in various grades of color. These used either a brown or green translucent base color plastic with differing amounts of opaque metallic coloring that caused the many grades. Also, some mail-ins included several daggers but no capes.

Sgt. Slaughter - two different camo patterns on his pants

Slipstream - "MADE IN HONG KONG" with solid teeth or "MADE IN CHINA." with individual teeth (and darker brown throughout the figure).

The Fridge - belt buckle either silver or brown with different logos; wrist bands painted either white, red, blue; or white, blue, red

1987

Avalanche - nunchuks colored either grey or silver

Blocker - with visor and red inner left arm or without visor and with matching inner left arm.

Cobra Commander - flesh-based or silver-based plastic head

Dodger - Thick (light in color) or thin (darker in color) handle on his weapon.

Golobulus - two different scale patterns on tail

Knockdown - Thick (light in color) or thin (darker in color) handle on his weapon.

Outback - 2 slightly different camouflage patterns

Steel Brigade - 4 figures in the original color. Version A has Airborne chest & Scrap-Iron legs, Version B has Duke chest & Scrap-Iron legs, Version C has Airborne legs & Gung-Ho waist, Version D has Airborne legs & Cobra Soldier waist, and Version E has Scrap-Iron legs &Cobra Soldier waist. An additional 6th version with Doc's legs has been found, but it's origin is unknown. Additionally, version A came with two different patches, and version D came with earlier or later rifles or no rifle at all. (The final version of the figure had an entirely new paint scheme with a gold helmet.)

Starduster - 3 figures - Version A has Recondo's torso, Version B has Duke's torso and Recondo's waist, Version C has Duke's torso and Iceberg's waist

Hard Top - some were packaged with a pistol and some weren't

Zanzibar - short mustache (Made in Hong Kong) or long mustache (Made in China)

1988

Blizzard - dark brown (Made in China) or light brown (Made in Hong Kong)

Charbroil - with red eyes or black eyes

Crazylegs - Made in China or Made in Hong Kong

Frostbite - brown, crimson, or red eyes

Hit & Run - Target stores exclusive includes parachute with pack

Iron Grenadier - gold or bronze sword; figure Made in Hong Kong or Made in China (with different reds)

Lightfoot - Made in China or Made in Hong Kong

Lt. Falcon - Made in China (under shirt), Made in China (factory scraped), or Made in Hong Kong (with different greens)

Muskrat - Made in China or Made in Hong Kong

Psyche-Out - Made in China or Made in Hong Kong

Sneak-Peek - Made in China or Made in Hong Kong

Tunnel Rat - Made in China or Made in Hong Kong

1989

Alley Viper - Made in China or Made in Hong Kong

Annihilator - Made in China or Made in Hong Kong

Countdown - hard helmet (no inner supports) or soft helmet (with inner supports)

Downtown - yellow or flesh-colored hands

Frag-Viper - Made in China or Made in Hong Kong

H.E.A.T. Viper - Made in China or Made in Hong Kong

Night Viper - Made in China or Made in Hong Kong

Python Tele-Viper - with a black hose or without

Recoil - flat or round claymore case handle; Made in China or Made in Hong Kong

Rock & Roll - Made in China or Made in Hong Kong

Scoop - Made in China or Made in Hong Kong

Snake Eyes - light or dark accessories; figure Made in China or Made in Hong Kong

Stalker - light camouflage (Made in China) or dark camouflage (Made in Hong Kong)

T.A.R.G.A.T. - soft or hard gold gun; figure Made in China or Made in Hong Kong

1990

Ambush - light or dark camo

Captain Grid-Iron - soft or hard helmet

Dial Tone - 3 different backpacks

Dodger - 3 different backpacks

Lampreys - 3 different backpacks

Law - 3 different backpacks

Metal-Head - thick leg tabs with thin holes in launchers or thin leg tabs with thick holes in launchers

Tunnel Rat - 3 different backpacks

Updraft - light or dark brown

Viper - 3 different backpacks

1991

Cobra Commander - without eyebrows or with

Desert Scorpion - rubber antenna or plastic antenna (they look identical, distinguishable only by touch)

Major Bludd - grey or silver cannon

Psyche-Out - backpack has either a hole or a peg for the hose

Sci-Fi - light or dark missile

Sludge Viper - two different color-changing sludge patterns

Zap - grey or silver accessories

1992

Cobra Ninja Viper - Early figures had no swords and a dark Cobra emblem. Later figures had either light or dark grey swords and typically had a lighter emblem.

Deep Six - few (some reports say only 24) had a black dolphin/Killer Whale, these are only sample prototypes that were never released in stores and not production variations. This prototype is listed here for clarity due to its inclusion in variation lists from several sources.

Nunchuk -earlier figures have no torso tabs and no holes in waist to keep figure from swiveling

Dojo - earlier figures have no torso tabs and no holes in waist to keep figure from swiveling

Slice -earlier figures have no torso tabs and no holes in waist to keep figure from swiveling

Roadblock - with recalled accessories (disk launcher, rifle, knife and disk) or with revised accessories.

1993

Astro Viper - launcher has loop for string (Made in China) or does not (Made in Indonesia)

Backblast - small emblem or large emblem on chest

Clutch - arms orange with yellow paint or yellow with orange paint

Countdown - some had a brown launcher (Made in China) and others had a black launcher (Made in Indonesia)

Gristle - launcher has loop for string or does not ; figure Made in China or Made in Indonesia

Headhunter Stormtrooper - missile launcher has spot for string to attach or doesn't ; figure Made in China or Made in Indonesia

Iceberg - GI Joe logo on bottom of board faces either left or right

Keel-Haul - small emblem or large emblem on the jacket back

M. Bison (carded) - some came with a silver shoulder guard and others didn't

M. Bison (w/vehicle) - some came with a silver shoulder guard and others didn't. Note that the shoulder guard on this version was actually glued onto the figure and is not removable.

Outback - first version came in ECO-Warriors color scheme which had camo pants, blue shirt and a yellow helmet. Second version had a black helmet, without camo pants and had a green shirt. Some collectors consider these new versions to be variations.

Payload - The first (available Made in China or Made in Indonesia) was black with green highlights and green helmet. The second version was black with blue highlights with a black helmet. Some collectors consider these new versions to be variations. The black and blue figure came with orange accessories with an orange launcher tab in 1993 and gray accessories with a black launcher tab in 1994.

Rock 'N Roll - some had yellow weapons (early figures) and others had purple weapons (later figures)

Scarlett - neck has either a ball joint or side to side movement

Snow Storm - first version came in ECO-Warriors color scheme, orange with yellow trim. Second version was blue with orange trim. Some collectors consider these new versions to be variations.

Jinx (Convention) - has either a blue or black logo

1994

Action Soldier - brown boot bottom or black boot bottom; Also brown accessories (single pack figure) or black accessories (5 pack figure)

Flint - some had leg bands that were painted black (Made in China) and others had leg bands that were not painted (Made in Indonesia)

Dial-Tone - green highlights (Made in Indonesia) on torso or no green highlights (Made in China)

Shipwreck - some had arm bands that were painted black (Made in China) and others had unpainted armbands (Made in Indonesia)

Alley Viper - no stripes on legs (Made in Indonesia) or stripes on legs

Lifeline - gray t-shirt and black highlight on his left shoulder (Made in Indonesia) or solid red chest; mouthpiece either glued on or loose

Major Bludd - Made in China or Made in Indonesia (with slight weapons variation)

Roadblock - grenades painted or unpainted

Stalker - yellow highlights (Made in Indonesia) or no yellow highlights (Made in China) on chest

Payload - figure 1) black with blue highlights (same as second figure from 1993) or figure 2) white with red highlights

Fighter Pilot (convention premium) - white & blue backpack (Officer's Club), or silver & black

1997

Ace - upper part of lower legs either painted or base color

Destro - with pink or black launcher

Rock N Roll - light colored skin or dark colored skin

Short Fuze - Green with OD green shells or Green with black shells

Zap - backpack black with green shells or green with black shells

1998

No known figure variations

2000

Big Ben - Some pictures of carded Big Bens were seen where the figure included a bipod for the rifle. However, none of these Big Bens with the bipod ever reached stores.

Undertow - peg on chest for hose, or hole for hose

Wild Bill - hat with 4 inner supports (early figures) or 1 inner support (later figures)

2001

Pathfinder - front and back belt buckles black (2001 release) or unpainted (2004 release). Also, the 2004 release included accessories.

Wet-Down - flag on left arm or on right arm

2002

Agent Scarlett - waistline on the torso that does not fit smoothly into the waist (earliest figures), a fitting torso with paint that continues to the hole at the base of the torso, and a fitting torso with paint that stops before the hole.

Cobra B.A.T. - short or long gun handle

Cobra Commander - light (earlier figures) or dark (later figures) red

Cobra Commander - light (two-pack figures) or dark (single-packed figures)

Cobra Moray - light (earlier figures) or dark (later figures) red

Duke v10 - light (earlier figures) or dark (later figures) tan

Duke v11 - earlier gloss black details (earlier figures) or later flat black details (VHS and single-pack release)

Frostbite - light (earlier figures) or dark (later figures) collar

Gung-Ho - without (earlier figures) or with goatee (later figures)

Mirage - foggy or clear visor

Neo-Viper - small or large gun handle

Snake Eyes v13 - dark (earlier figures) or light purple (Operation Avalanche figures). Additionally, some collectors consider Snake Eyes v13 to be the early variation of the same figure as Snake Eyes v14, as they were both packed with the same Cobra Commander v13 and available as part of the 2002 "Wave 3" release of figures.

Snake Eyes v14 - light (earlier figures) or dark gray (VHS and single-pack release). Additionally, some collectors consider Snake Eyes v13 to be the early variation of the same figure as Snake Eyes v14, as they were both packed with the same Cobra Commander v13 and available as part of the 2002 "Wave 3" release of figures.

Stalker - light (earlier figures) or dark (single carded figures)

Tomax - Both Tomax (v2) and Xamot (v2) have the scar normally indicative of Xamot. While images of Tomax (v2) without the scar have surfaced, these are images of pre-production samples, not of variations. No examples of this are known to have ever been released.

Wet-Suit - light (earlier figures) or dark (later figures) green

Baroness - crimson or fuschia

Crimson Viper - crimson or fuschia

Tomax - crimson or fuschia

Xamot - crimson or fuschia

2003

Agent Faces - with the front edge of the crimson guard helmet painted or with the area around it painted.

Barrel Roll - painted head or flesh-based plastic head

Beach Head - Mission disk figures included either the Snake Eyes Uzi or Low-Light Uzi

Big Brawler - light skin and red hair (earlier figures) or dark skin and brown hair (later figures)

Cobra C.L.A.W.S. Commander - painted head or flesh-based plastic head

Cobra Viper - painted belt buckle and waist side (earlier figures) or unpainted belt buckle and waist side (later figures)

Cross Hair - head painted & body paint wiped (early figures), head unpainted & body paint wiped (later figures), head unpainted & body not paint wiped or (single packed figures)

Dial-Tone - light (early figures) or dark skin (later figures)

Grunt - early figures (carded) had unpainted knee pads while later versions (boxed) had silver knee pads. This should not be confused with Grunt v6 which had silver knee pads and a tattoo on his arm.

Gung-Ho - blonde goatee (earlier figures) or brown goatee (later figures)

Heavy Duty - light (early figures) or dark (later figures) elbow joints

Hollow Point (BTR) - with green or blue chest

Neo-Viper - darker gray and empty head on Cobra symbol (two-pack figures) or lighter gray detail and filled in head on Cobra symbol (single-packed figures)

Pit Viper - light (carded) or dark (Battle in a Box) guns

Roadblock - short neck (early figures) or long neck (later figures)

Scalpel - painted head or flesh-based plastic head

Sgt. Hacker - painted head or flesh-based plastic head

Sgt. Stalker - light or dark accessories

Switch Gears - logo on the left leg or on the right leg

Tunnel Rat - green boot detail (2-pack figures) or all-black boots (single packed figures)

Wreckage - light (early figures) or dark skin (later figures)

2004

Alpine (single carded) - Later figures were available with the addition of a black rope and a black pistol.

Alpine (Tiger Force)- light or dark flesh tone

Backblast - with light eyebrows or dark eyebrows

Cobra B.A.T. (single carded) - chestplate with red outer arcs or red inner arcs.

Cobra B.A.T. v4 (single carded) - Earlier figures had a purple left and purple right hand while later figures were available with a red left and red right hand.

Cobra Commander - without yellow stripe on right leg (earlier versions) or with yellow stripe on right leg (later versions)

Cobra Squad Leader - brown or black lapel pins

Cobra Swamp Rat (single carded) - Later figures were available with the addition of a green helmet.

Gung Ho - with small or large tattoo.

Heavy Duty - light skin (early figures) or dark skin (later figures)

Neurotoxin/Sand Scorpion - earlier figures were named Neurotoxin and had slightly darker yellow paint.

Razor Trooper - Earlier figures had no belt while later figures came with a belt that could not be removed without disassembling the figure.

2005

Snake Eyes - wolf with heavy dark gray overspray or very little dark gray overspray

Snow Serpent - logo on either the front of the left arm or side of the right arm.

Swamp Rat - gray & black helmet or green & yellow helmet; dull or bright red details

2006