That ONE vintage vehicle. . .

[Cerebral Dissolution]

Yesterday I commented on the worst Joe vehicle of all time, and it actually got me thinking about my favorites. I was wondering what everyone's favorite all-time vehicle was they got when they were a kid. I dont mean as an adult, I mean that one vehicle you got when you were a kid that just blew you away. And why.

Mine was the WHALE. I rarely got big toys from my parents (like my friends had AT-ATs and Millenium Falcons while I got the Mini-Rigs :/ ), so I was stunned when my Dad actually got me the WHALE for my birthday one summer. I lived in asia at the time, so we would come back to the states every summer and that was my only chance to get Joes, and I was terrible saving money to buy toys, so I was usually limited to buying a few figures here and there.

But the WHALE. . . it was everything to me. Didnt matter if I was in the family room, bedroom, or in the pool it was the vehicle I had the most fun with. And it helped that the only 2 GI Joe comics I had at the time was issue 16, and issue 28 - when the Joes had the WHALE in the Florida Everglades (I am from Miami), so it all just came together for me.

I never owned a Rattler, and it was something I wish I could have had to battle it. That is prob my second fav vehicle.

[CVdelgado]

S-T-I-N-G-E-R, that was the awesome first vehicle i had as a kid and i will always love that one.

last year i also added the one i always wanted as a kid, an arah rattler. :)

[CVdelgado]

Yesterday I commented on the worst Joe vehicle of all time, and it actually got me thinking about my favorites. I was wondering what everyone's favorite all-time vehicle was they got when they were a kid. I dont mean as an adult, I mean that one vehicle you got when you were a kid that just blew you away. And why.

Mine was the WHALE. I rarely got big toys from my parents (like my friends had AT-ATs and Millenium Falcons while I got the Mini-Rigs :/ ), so I was stunned when my Dad actually got me the WHALE for my birthday one summer. I lived in asia at the time, so we would come back to the states every summer and that was my only chance to get Joes, and I was terrible saving money to buy toys, so I was usually limited to buying a few figures here and there.

But the WHALE. . . it was everything to me. Didnt matter if I was in the family room, bedroom, or in the pool it was the vehicle I had the most fun with. And it helped that the only 2 GI Joe comics I had at the time was issue 16, and issue 28 - when the Joes had the WHALE in the Florida Everglades (I am from Miami), so it all just came together for me.

I never owned a Rattler, and it was something I wish I could have had to battle it. That is prob my second fav vehicle.

yup. whale is 100% awesome. ill say that is my favorite joe vehicle for sure. it was one of the first i sought out to rebuild when i got back into gi joe.

[Black Llama]

It's a tie for me. I love the Singer and the Wolverine in equal amounts.

Though I will take the S.A.S. Wolverine ANY day of the week:

http://perso.wanadoo.es/gbarsi1/hawk/GIJoe/Micole/Fotosp/aforce/Wolverine.jpg

[Taterbot]

The Thunderclap. I literally played with it until everything broke on it and still played with it.

[sithlordsmart]

I use to collect broke cars when I was young and make junkyard bases for cobra. So when I got the thunder machine it was perfect!!

[Ripcord]

I'll agree with the Whale comments, that thing was super sweet. I also loved the GI Joe HQ.

[07GT500 COBRA]

The Skystriker was my first vehicle and I loved it, but getting the WHALE for my 10th birthday was awesome. It was only topped when I got the Flagg for my 12th birthday.

[Taterbot]

The Skystriker was my first vehicle and I loved it, but getting the WHALE for my 10th birthday was awesome. It was only topped when I got the Flagg for my 12th birthday.

Very Nice. I saw a Flagg last weekend and almost bought it. Good thing I didnt. Way too big. My son was almost in disbeif when he saw it. I wich I could have got a picture of his expression.

[bassistcarlos]

I had the whale as a kid too. I enjoyed your background story on how you got the whale. I had the opposite problem. Every week, when I got my $5 allowance, It went straight to a new figure. The leftover money got saved for vehicles. I needed a vehicle that could hold my figures. That vehicle was the APC. I played with that troop carrier until a wheel fell off. Same thing as you said. I played with it in the pool, at the beach, everywhere.

[MightyMegs]

When I first saw the Terror Drome, I thought I had gone to some magical, alternate universe where all things were good and your most-special dreams came true.

But if you want a vehicle... it would be the BUGG. It was a water toy... WITH WHEELS! Living in Florida, everytime I would pass soem swampy body of water, I would imagine my BUGG filled with my favorite Cobras, exploring it's depths.

[Lt Bear]

I deffinately went in vehichle phases when I was a kid. The one that I was in awe over when I first saw the box was the Whale. I came down on Easter Morning and there it was in all its glory. A large Easter Gift like that never really happened so it was especially surprising.

Honorable mentions go to the Havoc and Wolf. These were go to vehicles for me on most missions.

I also have a special place in my heart for the Pogo. I know it is loathed and ridiculed for the most part, but when I was a kid the thought of the thing bouncing around avoiding fire and confusing the joes was just cool. I always considered it a step above a Trouble Bubble.

[togo26]

The Armadillo was one of my first and favorite vehicles. second favorite would have to be the wolf

[wertdog91]

The Flagg. As well as my two Conquests I had on her

[Nyloc]

My favorite was the Desert Fox 6 W.D. It was played with everywhere I was allowed to bring it. Poor Skidmark...what an unfortunate name.

[VideoViper]

Oddly enough The Ram Cycle, was one of my personal favorites. One of my 1st vehicles that got a lot of play.

I had the whale but I liked the star wars stuff better.

Didn't get the orginal Rattler so I settled for the tiger rat which made tiger force passable. Loved that plane & years later when my nephew found what was left of it, he loved it too.

[Viper6]

cobra rattler; its just THEE most bad ass vehicle... bombs, missiles, gun turret, vtol, WILD WEASEL, man this thing was win, nothing sent the joes scrambling for cover like the appearance of the rattler ....and the ensuing distruction of their convoys, bases, armor columns, etc etc...just put a new set of stickers on my vinatge one, damn she looks good!

[Python Viper]

Rolling Thunder. Christmas of 1988 I spent 2 or 3 hours putting that sucker together. After that, nothing came close to that awesomeness. It was huge and it stretched to be even bigger with tons of missiles, giant rockets and loads of playability. I would load that sucker up with figures and drive it around my room for hours.

[jogunwarrior]

Thunderclap was mine. I remember cataching a glimpse of the box before my parents had a chance to wrap it up for X-mas and I spent so many sleeping nights leading up to X-mas morning imagining what was in their and how awesome could it be. It easily surpassed my expectations, that thing could split into three different vehicles, hold almost all my figures, and had a giant cannon that ejected the shells!

[worldgorger]

Rolling Thunder and the Mobile Command Center were definitely the biggest toygasms of my youth...

[Laser Viper]

Mine was the MAGGOT, Thunderclap, Terror Drome and the Avalanche.

[Night Viper 143]

I can't believe no one said Tomahawk yet...

Whale was amazing but I only used it on Amphibious missions, but that Tomahawk was used for insertion on the daily.

The Poor maintenance crew must of hated us.

[england joe]

I,m a tank man so when i got mauler over the moon loved it.
Always wanted tomahawk.

[RogueWingnut]

honestly....the Badger.
I got 5 Badgers by mistake.
They became the default Dreadnok vehicle with the Thunder Machine

[monstermonkey]

It's hard to pick just one. I do remembering wanting the VAMP the most, and spazzed out like a doofus when I opened it on X-Mas morning 1982. Even better, I also got the HAL, MOBAT and MMS that X-Mas, Santa apparently went Joe-crazy. All were cool, but the VAMP was the absolute best at the time. I still have my original, and despite all the rough action it had seen, is surprisingly in decent shape. I still have the gas cans, even.

[Troops of Doom]

The VAMP! I don't remember what made me want to get it, I didn't have any Joes yet. What I do remember is my parents wouldn't get it for me because my mother didn't want me playing with guns. So the first chance I got free of my parents in the mall I bought it myself. Bwa-ha-ha! It took a lot of beating and missing parts from being played with so much but last year I was finally able to replace my original with another near mint. It still holds up as a great vehicle today.

[spiderpumpkin]

deleted

[Balaclava]

The Tomahawk. I was probably 4 when I got it. (Way too young). It was under the Christmas tree fully assembled with Joes ready to go on mission. My dad later rigged it up from the ceiling in my room with a rudimentary pully system. This allowed me to put it at a "hover" and use FRIES/SPIES to get my Joes on the OBJ. It didn't last long. (Probably because I basically slept with it in my bed and never put it down.) I remeber the rotor blades slowyly breaking off over time. The imagination stepped in and it continued to fly. That thing was epic...

[r3v3n63]

Oh God, thats tough. I think the original VAMP got the most use and playtime for me. The WHALE was pretty incredable but for some reason it was the Cobra Moray. There was something about it that just screamed COBRA to me; it was sleek, fast, just the right size to hold a dangerous amount of figures. It was like a high speed knife designed for rapid assault and springing out from a cove to blast the crap out of Joe.
Might have helped that my dad watched Miami Vice every week and getting to see that cigar boat that Crocket and Tubbs zipped around in inspired me.

[blayze5150]

As a kid, nothing topped the Skystriker for me...

.....until I got a USS Flagg as an adult!!!

[killeykahn]

Got the Rattler for a b-day present as a kid, still remember playing with it and using maps in my father's TIME magazines as target references wild weasel would use when flying to his targets. loved it so much as kid, and still do today w/ my 25th version.

[Cerebral Dissolution]

I'll agree with the Whale comments, that thing was super sweet. I also loved the GI Joe HQ.

Oh man the HQ was a holy grail to me. All I had was a Joe catalog from 84 to show me all that I was missing out on, and I drooled over the HQ. So I showed my dad and he took a wooden wine box that was about the same size, drilled out some gun ports, and cut out one of the sides so peeps and vehicles could get in, and painted it silver. That was my hq. Over time i collected all the stuff i could use for stuff to put in it from other toys to left over toilet paper rolls for pipes to make it look like some kind of instalation. Used what few collector cards i had for monitors. Pretty funny but it was all I had and I made the best of it. It was used in every battle.

And of course I have a fully restored command center today. :)

[Riotheory]

I tended to get piddly stuff as a kid, and I looked longingly at my friend's Rattler and Dragonfly, but one Christmas I got a Tomahawk; I really gave that thing a beating. It was so cool. I loved loading it up with figures.

A close second would have to be the Water Moccasin. I loved everything about it. I don't have any idea what happened to it, but I've looked on ebay for a replacement, and they are all either missing tons of parts or way out of my price range. It was a sweet boat.

R.

[DaveViper]

For me it would be the Mauler, I remember stacking up books to see how many of them my Mauler would crawl over. Second would be my Mobile Command Center I got for Christmas. After I opened it, I disappeared for the rest of the day to put the stickers on it and play with it. If my memory serves me well I think this is the last Christmas that the whole family got together at my Grandma's house. My cousin who was a little older then me was also into Gi Joes so we would both get them it was almost like a competition between us. I had the best childhood, thanks Hasbro you played a little part in that too. :)

[THALASTDRAGON]

One of my favorites as a kid was the Mudbuster. I loved it as a kid. It was blue, had an on-board weapon, and the biggest plus for me was that it could hold multiple figures. When I got back into collecting, I picked it up again.

[Laser Viper]

WOW! i know i already posted, but no one has said anything about the Water Moccasin or Sting Raider (since this did float back then and i think the new does too) The BUGG, The Night Raven, Mamba or the Moray hydrofoil! I think there is one vehicle we always have in hearts and memories as a kid, but in reality we loved them all.

[THALASTDRAGON]

I didn't have any of the older Joe stuff as a kid. Most of my stuff was from around '89/90-'93. So I definitely missed the best years, but I still think the 90's had some good stuff too.

[CVdelgado]

there really are so many awesome vehicles for me from those early days. my run was from about 84-86. i had a pretty good haul back in the day. thanks mom and dad. :P

[MJjoe4life]

It was the Hammerhead for me, I had all the little vehicles attached to it. I especially love the little jet ski looking black ones. That thing was crazy. 6 vehicles in one. I used to love taking the square shaped sub on the top off just so i could extend out the missiles hidden inside. Hell i loved the vehicle, i need to get that out of storage.

[In Like Flint]

Tie between the APC and the Warthog for me.

[CrimsonTwins]

Transportable Battle Platform - SOOOO MANY POSSIBILITIES!!!

2nd - Dragonfly
3rd - SkyStriker
4th - Devilfish
5th - Mauler

[Outbackk]

A.W.E. Striker - I never went into battle without it. I still have the one I had as a kid. I wish I knew how many hours of play I put into that sucker as a kid. Loved it.

It's only rival would have been a Devilfish at a close second. The biggest vehicle I had as a kid was the Havoc so the smaller vehicles saw quite a bit of action.

[Sapper]

As a kid it was probably a tie between the VAMP (MK 1) and the WHALE.

The first real Joe vehicle I owned was the VAMP. I remember picking up my bike from the shop on the corner having fixed a flat tire for me (I swear I was cursed, every week I got a flat and it was always the back tire) and going to pick it up with extra money... and using that money to buy a VAMP with. I think Clutch was even straight-armed. Unfortunately it didn't last very long... my buddies and I set up all our Joe stuff and had a battle throwing pebbles at each others' battle lines... well the rocks slowly got bigger and bigger until my VAMP ate a rock about the size of a football. Which QUICKLY ended that war (still don't know if the Joes or Cobra won that one...)

I remember getting the WHALE for Christmas, not sure if it was '84 or '85. I don't remember if we went to church that morning or the night before, but I remember putting it together in the hallway upstairs. I lost one of the flaps that went between the fantail rudders somehow on the carpet, it was very low pile but roughly the same color, I swear i looked for it for an hour in a 6x6' area and never did find it. I don't remember if eventually my mom found it while vacuuming much much later or not. Out of all the toys I owned, I don't think anything broke anywhere near as much as that WHALE (rocket launcher posts, fantail rudders, the pins on the fantail linkage) but it sure was a lot of fun. Held a ton of figures, it floated, spring-launched raft, depth charges, "bike" etc. Tried to fix one of the side-cannons (that elevate up/down) because the piece that snapped over it had broken tabs... still have that WHALE but it's got a huge lump of glue on the pontoon piece below where the side-cannon was... dusty as you wouldn't believe... for how much these go for I'm terrified of restoring it.

As an adult, probably the most impressive vehicle to me today is the Rolling Thunder. Speaking of restoration... I'm such a hypocrite, but maybe this Rolling Thunder was the first vehicle I ever restored. Was able to get ALL the missing pieces through trades. All I need to do is repair/restore the side ramps (connector tabs are shot/snapped off). Maybe I just got lucky on this one, or maybe the Rolling Thunder was just much more sturdy than the WHALE? Anyway... yeah, the Rolling Thunder is BOSS and chock full of WIN to me. Kinda like a WHALE, but goes on land instead... has two BIG FREAKING MISSILES that drop baby missiles out of 'em... cockpit looks like something from Space:1999... can carry twice as many figures as a WHALE... not to mention Don Figueroa made that amazing Optimus Prime-Rolling Thunder crossover sketch that stills blows minds today...

[Rambo]

The Tomahawk. I dreamed of it for years.

[46 Zone]

When I got the WHALE for X-mas, I was blown away. I remember staying up all night trying to put it together as it didn't come with instructions, which made the experience that much better. I got a lot of use out of it, but traded it to another tanker last year.

[khill926]

My first "vehicle" was the MMS. I loved that thing. We didn't have alot of money when I was a kid, so when I got something bigger than a fig, it was usually something that size. But, my all time favorite vehicle would have to be the RAM motorcicle. I played with mine for so long that I wore the back tire off. Probablly from doing 180 turns.

[WVMojo]

The whale was fun and I had a blast playing in the small plastic pools as a kid with it, but the Triple T was my favorite. I watched wrestling and GI Joe as a kid so when that thing hit it's the only thing I wanted for Christmas. Parents ordered one from Sears and it was guarenteed delivery by Christmas eve...well it didn't show up and Christmas morning I got a bunch of GI Joes, and no Triple T. Back when stores still cared about customers, a Sears employee dropped it by the house Christmas day around lunchtime. My mom wrapped it real quick and hid it under the end table. I was playing with my other toys and my parents said he what's that package. I got all excited ripped it open and there was my Triple T. Needless to say that is one of the best Christmas memories I have.

I really really want a MISB Triple T to put up on my shelf...one of these days.

[Ford]

I'm going to have to go with something a bit smaller, that was versatile enough to be used in pretty much every battle: The F.A.N.G. It always let Cobra Commander escape at the last minute. Or was a good vehicle for Snake Eyes to steal when he got captured.

The H.I.S.S. would be a very close second. It was the first vehicle that I ever got, so it was used in the most battles.

The Snow Cat is up there too. It's really the perfect vehicle.

The one I always wanted but never got was the M.A.N.T.A. Only because even as a kid I hated having to deal with stuff you had to mail away and wait for.

[jeffafa]

For me, hands down it was the Tomahawk.

[docdrako]

Zartan's Swamp Skier. I loved it and still do. It's the only ARAH vehicle in my collection. I thought it was cool that Zartan could take it apart and haul it around while in disguise as a junk dealer (that was my story for him anyways).

[Snow Wolf]

3 words...Cobra Night Raven...got it back in November 1986 and it's still one of my favs.

[Indiana Joe]

For me it has to be the APC [Amphibious Personnel Carrier]

Since it "Holds 23 G.I. Joe Soldiers" where ever it was going everybody was going ! I always took all my joes out to play and this was a big help!

[Siegie1129]

For me it was the Tommahawk. Got it for my Birthday in 86 and it quickly became my favorite vehicle.

[SteelersMobat]

The Mobat was always my favorite, but the Mauler might just be the best all around toy tank ever made.

[Lifeline 71]

For me, like a lot of others, the WHALE was one of my favorites as a kid. After seeing it in #28, I had to have one. Since I lived on a lake, every summer it was in the water with me. I think I wound up with 2 at some point, I believe the sled launcher didn't work right on the first one. The Tommahawk was a close second, since it could hold a lot of troops and just looked cool. Looking back, I think what made (and still makes) the Tommahawk an awesome vehicle is its simplicity. No electronics, no launching anything, and you have to spin the rotors yourself. And, I'm sure, seeing it regularly on the cartoon helped ;)

[Colder Soldier]

As a kid: Rolling Thunder

As an adult: S6 Iron Hammer after I put the POC Mech seat in it. Favorite vehicle of all time.

[5h4rK]

As a kid: Rolling Thunder

Same here!

..today?.. too many to list!

[gruppenfuhrer88]

3 words...cobra night raven...got it back in november 1986 and it's still one of my favs.

^^this^^

[DavisT78]

I also came from a family that couldn't afford expensive vehicles. The first vehicle I ever got that wasn't second hand was The Mamba. It will always remain my favorite. I'm resto-modding one right now for use with ME figures.

[Darth Awgmon]

I got the Whale for Christmas from my Granny. My Granny always got me the best stuff. As a hovercraft, you could use it in the sea or on land,. It held a bunch of Joes. It had two small vehicles that could be deployed. It had lots of firepower. Best of all, it was big! Maybe my favorite toy of all time...period!

[wormser]

the cobra BUGG

[a1veedubber]

I had a lot of vehicles I loved back then, but the Night Raven was always my favorite. It still is. I got it the same year my little brother got the Conquest. I ruled the skies!

I loved it soo much I even made a little song that went like this:

While flying in my Night Raven,
what to my surprise?
A Conquest X30 was shadowing me
let's see how well he flies.
The guy must have thought his jet had more thrust
but at this height I'm in my own
I'll show him that my Night Raven's
the best that's ever flown!

If you have ever heard the song "Beep Beep (the little Nash Rambler) the song might look familiar......I merely changed the words!

[lazlo76]

I tended to get more figures than vehicles but my favorite was the Snow Cat, I loved the rugged sturdiness of it and that it could hold 10 Joes on it.

The AWE Striker was another cool one because of it's bounciness to it on the carpet.

[Cobraoner]

Night raven .. with the drone having much hours invested ... it was a two-for .... That and then it was my sea ray

[grunt0341]

My friends had all the good dhit...Skystrikers, Dragonfly's, Terror Drome...I had the VAMP, but one Christmas my uncle got the Mamba for me! Finally I got the good shit! He got my brother the Tomahawk (dirty bastard), probably one more reason my brother and I fought all the time...I loved the Mamba..,my brother inadvertently broke it...now my 'Holy Grail' is the Tomahawk...

[MightyMegs]

I had a lot of vehicles I loved back then, but the Night Raven was always my favorite. It still is. I got it the same year my little brother got the Conquest. I ruled the skies!

I loved it soo much I even made a little song that went like this:

While flying in my Night Raven,
what to my surprise?
A Conquest X30 was shadowing me
let's see how well he flies.
The guy must have thought his jet had more thrust
but at this height I'm in my own
I'll show him that my Night Raven's
the best that's ever flown!

If you have ever heard the song "Beep Beep (the little Nash Rambler) the song might look familiar......I merely changed the words!

Awesome. I think Cold Slither have their next hit!

[fireflyguy]

For me it was the Tomahawk.

[allen dane]

Very Nice. I saw a Flagg last weekend and almost bought it. Good thing I didnt.

I bet this doesn't get typed here on the tank too often. HAHAHA

["SR"]

As a Kid? The Bugg hands down. I had an aunt that worked for Hasbro and got to go to one of their shows for new product. That was when I first saw it, I fell in love right there and I didn't stop talking about it unitl that Christmas when I got it. I ran that thing in to the ground I used it so much. I have a MIB Bugg now and it's probably my favorite thing in my collection.

I was also a big fan of the Rolling Thunder and the Hammerhead.

[Dem_Yoe'z!]

For me it was the MCC. I had so much fun setting up desert bases with that thing in the back yard. The 2 nd would be the defiant, which I built a huge base around