|
Community Links |
Social Groups |
Pictures & Albums |
Members List |
Search Forums |
Advanced Search |
Go to Page... |
|
Thread Tools |
05-16-2018, 01:23 PM | #1 |
Crimson Guard
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: San Diego, Ca
Posts: 1,971
|
So like many of you, I have my list of favorite figures and vehicles of the ARAH run. Also like many of you, I have my list of vehicles and figures that I just couldn't latch on to or really didn't like. My focus for this thread are those "in-between" vehicles, that were good, but could have been great had it not been for a feature, a build, a color, bad plastic or weak parts etc. Here are my top 5 vehicles that were good, but could have been great. Please post up a list of your own (if you have one)
1) 1986 GI Joe Devilfish: This small, sleek attack boat had alot of great features. It had twin cannons, 4 missiles and 2 torpedoes making it one of the most heavily armed small watercraft in the Joe arsenal. The thing that keeps this in the "good" not "great" category is that it's ORANGE! In an era of tactical green and camouflaged vehicles, the Joe's decided that their fast attack water craft should be orange. I would have painted it either OD green, or color matched it to the Tomahawk from the same year. 2) The 1982 MOBAT: Modeled after an actual tank in the US arsenal, this was one of the best toys of it's era. It was motorized, it was green, and you could even tow other things behind it. 2 things kept it from being great. First, its driver cockpit could barely house the figure, exposing over half of their body to enemy gunfire. Second, and the biggest flaw I find with the vehicle (especially one of that size) was that there were no foot pegs added for transporting additional figures. I didn't need extra hatches or an opening cargo area (although that would have been awesome) but I did wish I could have had more members of the Joe team ride that baby into battle. 3) The 1983 Skytriker: FIst off. don't blast me for this one. As a child of the 80's, I was a huge fan of Top Gun and loved the F-14 Tomcat. There were 2 major issues I had with the Skystriker and they were easy fixes IMO. First, I feel like the wing-swing gimmick was engineered backwards. I would have liked the ability to have the wings out and landing gear recessed. Second, the white plastic. Brand new, it looked fantastic, but could have been cast in a darker grey allowing it to better survive the tests of time. These are small gripes, but enough to keep the Skystriker out of the "great" category. 4) The 1984 Killer Whale: As a larger, ALPHA class vehicle for 1984, this was the biggest toy I had ever owned. For the first 2 days after opening it, I had some great battles....then the issues started happening! The infamous wind vanes started breaking and stress marks already showed their ugly faces on the front hatch assembly. To me, these were design flaws that could have been easily remedied with a little more engineering. First, the front hatch could have been permanently attached top and bottom using a metal support bar, much like the wheels on the VAMP. This would have allowed the same function of the vehicle while strengthening the overall engineering qualities of the attachment point. Second, the wind vanes. The idea was solid, but they had already engineered a stronger attachment platform on a vehicle from the same year...the 1984 Cobra Water Moccasin. Had they used this same engineering, we would see a lot more intact Whales today. To me, the made an otherwise "great vehicle" simply good. 5) 1984 Skyhwak: Oh were to begin. Let's start with the egg shell like landing skid attachment. This was brittle, even in the 80's when the vehicle was new. It's hard to even find a SkyHawk without the broken landing skid attachment. The canopy.....yikes. Made from a plastic as thin as the landing skids, this thing warps and was designed poorly to support a driver in the cockpit. Most of your figures heads will stick up out of the canopy. Let's talk missiles. Next to the FANG, these are the most difficult missiles to put on a vehicle IMO. Was there no way to engineer a slightly larger connection point for a missile. The side panels and tail wing relied entirely on the graces of physics to stay on. Couldn't these have been a clip on feature or been molded attachments? Every time my Joes took off for a mission in the SkyHawk, they had to abort quickly due to parts malfunctions. Just frustrating. The update in the modern era addressed a lot of these issues and has since become SkyHawk in my collection. What are some of your vehicles that could have been great if...?
__________________
More than just undercover agents, the Crimson Guard goes deeper, earning the trust of the gullible public who don't know their true loyalty... http://www.hisstank.com/forum/buy-se...msonguard.html Last edited by CrimsonGuard; 05-16-2018 at 01:25 PM.. |
05-16-2018, 01:40 PM | #2 |
Hisstank.Com General
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Vancouver, BC
Posts: 17,152
|
Quote:
2) The 1982 MOBAT: Modeled after an actual tank in the US arsenal, this was one of the best toys of it's era. It was motorized, it was green, and you could even tow other things behind it. 2 things kept it from being great. First, its driver cockpit could barely house the figure, exposing over half of their body to enemy gunfire. Second, and the biggest flaw I find with the vehicle (especially one of that size) was that there were no foot pegs added for transporting additional figures. I didn't need extra hatches or an opening cargo area (although that would have been awesome) but I did wish I could have had more members of the Joe team ride that baby into battle. Quote:
3) The 1983 Skytriker: FIst off. don't blast me for this one. As a child of the 80's, I was a huge fan of Top Gun and loved the F-14 Tomcat. There were 2 major issues I had with the Skystriker and they were easy fixes IMO. First, I feel like the wing-swing gimmick was engineered backwards. I would have liked the ability to have the wings out and landing gear recessed. Second, the white plastic. Brand new, it looked fantastic, but could have been cast in a darker grey allowing it to better survive the tests of time. These are small gripes, but enough to keep the Skystriker out of the "great" category.
Quote:
4) The 1984 Killer Whale: As a larger, ALPHA class vehicle for 1984, this was the biggest toy I had ever owned. For the first 2 days after opening it, I had some great battles....then the issues started happening! The infamous wind vanes started breaking and stress marks already showed their ugly faces on the front hatch assembly. To me, these were design flaws that could have been easily remedied with a little more engineering. First, the front hatch could have been permanently attached top and bottom using a metal support bar, much like the wheels on the VAMP. This would have allowed the same function of the vehicle while strengthening the overall engineering qualities of the attachment point. Second, the wind vanes. The idea was solid, but they had already engineered a stronger attachment platform on a vehicle from the same year...the 1984 Cobra Water Moccasin. Had they used this same engineering, we would see a lot more intact Whales today. To me, the made an otherwise "great vehicle" simply good.
__________________
Nighthawk's Feedback | HasLab figures FS Wants: female Hiss driver from HISS Haslab My Ebay auctions: kalwin_woo | eBay |
05-16-2018, 01:42 PM | #3 |
Crimson Guard
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Val Verde
Posts: 2,345
|
Any armored vehicle that had a giant glass cockpit. Have you seen the aftermarket HISS canopy that someone was making a while back? Changes the whole thing completely!
__________________
Needs : AOCI Lamprey Vests, (or similar), ROC Flash helmets, ROC Shipwreck flippers, 25th Dusty Torsos (or similar), BBTS Bull (Taurus) head, Snake Eyes V.52 forearms. |
05-16-2018, 02:55 PM | #4 |
Crimson Guard
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Iowa
Posts: 4,254
|
The HISS tank's gun pegs that are crazy thin and break easily, leaving droopy cannons.\
APC needed a tow hook! Water Mocassin's crampt cockpit with the windscreen that wouldn't stay on and the torpedo thing that would not stay on. Mamba needed some land gear, I think. SHARC would've better if it could accommodate regular figures, esepcially on all the reissues that did not include DEEP SIX. Still, probably would not have been "great" though. Mudfughter needed two things, canopy "glass" and separately molded miniguns, not sculpted on. Paralyzer and Badger needed better colors. |
05-16-2018, 03:57 PM | #5 |
Hisstank.Com General
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Vancouver, BC
Posts: 17,152
|
Quote:
More pics here: http://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-jo...t-spectre.html One thing that I really wished was that the APC's top was a wire frame with a cloth canvas that fits over it so we can display it without the top but still have the frame. Another big one for me was the MCC. There was a custom on here where there was a ramp modified onto the cockpit area to illustrate how the driver's can get out and go to the inside of the base if they wanted to. Lastly, this one always gets me, but how do the people get from the main floor to the second floor and vice versa on the Terrordrome?
__________________
Nighthawk's Feedback | HasLab figures FS Wants: female Hiss driver from HISS Haslab My Ebay auctions: kalwin_woo | eBay |
05-16-2018, 04:46 PM | #6 |
Gunslinger
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: MidWorld
Posts: 38,081
|
I always wanted the HISS to be like the one if the comics. Large enough to allow two pilots and with the drop down cockpit. Of course the smaller design kept the HISS affordable and we did get updates like the HISS 2 which incorporated what I'm asking for, but it wasn't the same thing.
__________________
FS/FT: Planet Grn Valley, Eagle Force Action Force http://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-jo...sell-list.html |
05-16-2018, 05:13 PM | #7 |
Hisstank.Com General
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Cobra Island & Massachusetts
Posts: 6,378
|
I will start with your list..
Devil fish for some reason or another I love and I don't mind the Orange at all. Why? Your guess is as good as mine as even as a kid I perfered the more military looking vehicles. Mobat I agree with everything you just said. Skystriker agreed again. I WILL ALSO AGREE WITH THE WHALE but the Skyhawk has far too many flaws to list. My list would Start with one of my all time favorites the Apc I always wished it had a turret like the one on the Action Force version. Next would be the Vamp/Stinger and all others using the same mold. The cab area could have been bigger allowing the figures to get in and out easier. This same issue brings me to what's next on my list. Snow Cat again the Cab area was far to small and should have been designed to actually fit 2 figures without crowding them. Next we have the Havoc. Which has the weirdest driving position I can imagine leaving it's operator completely vulnerable to being shot right in the cranium. Correct me if I am wrong but weren't they in the seated position in the Sunbow series? Serpentor's Air Chariot. Now I do like the overall look of this but I think the controls should have been higher allowing the figure to stand correctly on it. Something that I think could have been addressed when Hasbro brought it back in the 25th line. Next we have the Hiss II badass vehicle hold 4times the amount of figures as it's predecessor if only it came in Black or Cobra blue instead of the grey I think it would have put this vehicle over the top as one of my all time favs. Another vehicle I think could have been better with a simple color change would be the Razorback. Put An IG color scheme on that and it would have made all the difference to me.
__________________
Find me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/CLfj0G2A...d=pgwcw5tzs78m truejoefan's B/S/T Thread TJF's ARAH B-S-T http://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-jo...rah-b-s-t.html | truejoefan's Feedback Thread |
05-16-2018, 05:17 PM | #8 |
I just want foam gliders.
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Tooele (two-willa), Utah
Posts: 18,727
|
Quote:
The Snow Cats in Haul Down the Heavens were huge!
__________________
Problems with the Club? Click me.... How to post pics to Hisstank? Click me.... BST Feedback |
05-16-2018, 05:33 PM | #9 |
Hisstank.Com General
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Cobra Island & Massachusetts
Posts: 6,378
|
Thats how I wish we got a Snow Cat. I remember the sharc being a two seater a couple times and I thought I remembered a two seater hiss but wasn't actually I almost put that on my list but opted to add the 2nd in its place . Ah the good ole days of Sunbow where Any one could pilot just about anything.
__________________
Find me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/CLfj0G2A...d=pgwcw5tzs78m truejoefan's B/S/T Thread TJF's ARAH B-S-T http://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-jo...rah-b-s-t.html | truejoefan's Feedback Thread |
05-16-2018, 06:14 PM | #10 |
Hisstank.Com General
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Vancouver, BC
Posts: 17,152
|
I think there was an episode that the Skystrikers were two seaters. One pilot up front and 2 behind the pilot.
__________________
Nighthawk's Feedback | HasLab figures FS Wants: female Hiss driver from HISS Haslab My Ebay auctions: kalwin_woo | eBay |
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
The great vehicle clear out! R.H.I.N.O. and more! | Gun-Haver | G.I. Joe on Ebay | 0 | 04-03-2017 12:34 PM |
Tons of great vehicle lots custom fodder HISS tanks more!!! | KrymsynGardImmoral | G.I. Joe on Ebay | 3 | 02-17-2015 09:11 PM |
Target Exclusive Rhino vehicle for sale. Vehicle Only | illinijoe | G.I. Joe Buy Sell Trade | 2 | 08-11-2009 09:29 PM |
1988- WartHog Vehicle. A great APC even for modern era. | Grimwing | G.I. Joe Toys Vintage Discussion | 23 | 06-17-2009 01:31 PM |
|
|