Unreleased Carded Sample - Deep Six with Killer Whale

Before an action figure is produced and shipped to stores, a handful of carded versions are produced for quality control purposes. Once these samples are signed off on, then the toy begins full-scale production.

Pictured above is a carded sample of Eco-Warriors Deep Six (1992) with the black Killer Whale sidekick. During quality control, these figures were rejected and never released to the public. Production of the figure was redone with the Dolphin sidekick in gray, instead of black.

These carded samples never reached toy stores. However, the approximately 24 carded samples that were produced have slowly made their way into the hands of collectors.

Despire the fact that the toy was never released in toy stores, Deep Six with Killer Whale was picked up on by Action Figure magazines and hyped up. As a result, this prototype has become very well-known among G.I.Joe collectors.