This is the latest in a series (of indefinite length and regularity) of blog posts memorializing cancelled toys. Our figure today is Hasbro's "Battle Rangers" Flint.
1994 was the last year of the original Real American Hero line. Because of the way toy production works, however, the 1995 assortment was already pretty far into development, and right on the cusp of going into production, so we know a lot about what their plans were.
While there were still going to be a fair number of wild sci-fi releases, Hasbro was also planning a subset called "Battle Rangers," similar to the way 93/94 saw the "Battle Corps." What concept art has turned up suggests the colors on the Battle Rangers would have been toned down, giving kids more military figures and fewer neon nightmares.
This prototype has been circulating among fan communities for many years now, and while it's never been accompanied by an official name (even on the design sheets, which have turned up), but the head sculpt looks exactly like Flint in the cartoon, and the vest matches what he's wearing in the art up above (the other character is apparently Battle Rangers Footloose).
Part of the reason GI Joe ended in 1994 was declining sales, of course, but also Star Wars was prepping to make a comeback, and Hasbro (having acquired Kenner in 1991) wanted to free up resources to have a team working on that. In some alternate world, perhaps Kenner remained independent or Lucasfilm didn't start the run-up to the prequels so early, and GI Joe was able to continue on closer to the millennium.
