G.I. JOE VEHICLE SHOWDOWN Part 4 - 1985

THE G.I.JOE VEHICLE SHOWDOWN

PART 4:  Series 4 / 1985

It Was The Best Of Times...

    I remember in 1985 thinking "this is the best year of G.I. Joe EVER!"  And in a lot of ways - it was.  It's possible some would argue that, but to me this was the peak year.  While in 1982, Hasbro possibly wasn't 100% sure where they wanted to take the toyline in the future, now they were dialed in.  I'm not saying there wasn't more mind-blowing items coming down the pike, there was.  But 1985 was something special!  

    In some ways, I saw it as a replacement year.  We had a new tank, a new jeep, a new base, and more.  Like in the way I thought the MOBAT was awesome, but the Mauler was a little better.  At the same time, they could co-exist.  (Of course, I never had either till I was a collector, so in 1985 I guess it was a moot point).

    Then we added amazing items like the U.S.S. Flagg!  Both Joes and Cobra were adding spectacular new characters that would be iconic to the line for years to come.  Plus we finally had Dreadnoks now!  If that wasn't enough, the cartoons were fun, the comics were hitting some story arcs that would define certain characters forever.  It was great and I'm glad I was there to see it happen.

    Now let's look at these vehicles...  Here's the rating system in case you forgot.  

10 - Awesome, Fantastic

9 - 7 - Various levels of Greatness

6 - 4 - Various levels of "Okay"

3 - Mediocre

2 -1 - Levels of Crapiness 

1 - PARACHUTE PACK  (mail-in)

    A friend of mine had this.  A fun, real-working parachute for your Joe figures.  We spend hours tossing our Joes up into the air and watching them float down (I had my Skystriker parachute).  This little thing rocked and therefore gets an 8.    

2 - AMMO DUMP

    Man, what a dump!  What can I say?  It's a crate, with weapons that don't really go to anything.  It's a nice crate, but still just a crate.  Adds to the "world-building" but not much going on here.  It's a crate.  It's a 4.

3 - FORWARD OBSERVER

    This one's pretty cool.  I like the idea of someone like Spirit, or Alpine, staked out far away from Cobra.  Keeping a distant eye on what they have going on.  It's got the tent, the mortar, and the field glasses.  This is a favorite among these mini-bases.  It's a 7.

4 - COBRA RIFLE RANGE

    More "world-building", but this time for Cobra.  It's alright.  I like the barrier wall.  You can use that in any battle.  I don't recall sending my Cobra's to test out their shooting skills before they went into battle, but whatever.  It's a 6.

5 - COBRA NIGHT LANDING

    I remember a friend telling me about this before I ever saw it and I thought the concept was great.  A sneaky, little boat for Firefly or Eels to use and sabotage some Joes.  Very cool.  It's a 9.

6 - COBRA FERRIT

    The awesomeness of the 1985 line really starts to reveal itself here.  This crazy-cool ATV was an easy buy to add to your Cobra forces.  Several Cobra's in the media used this thing - Tomax and Xamot, the Dreadnoks, Firefly.  Definitely a favorite!  This is a 10 all the way!   

7 - COBRA FLIGHT POD

    Another mini Cobra vehicle for your bad guys.  Kinda weird looking, but you expect a certain amount of that from Cobra.  ...And I like it.  Needed to be a little more durable, but still cool.  I'll give it a 8.  

8 - BOMB DISPOSAL

    Not a lot going on here.  Kinda mid, but necessary.  Never had it.  A 5.

9 - WEAPONS TRANSPORT

    I wonder if the kids that had this AND had the U.S.S. Flagg, put them together?  I think it would fit well on there.  Otherwise, not a lot happening.  Another 5.

10 - SILVER MIRAGE MOTORCYCLE

    This one is tough.  It's in the same vein as the Swampskier...  Looks awesome, yet falls apart and breaks.  It's gets a 6.  If it were more durable it would have gotten higher.    

11 - ARMADILLO MINI-TANK

    I had this one and really liked it at the time.  Footloose was usually my driver for it.  It was pretty solid.  No real flaws, just not a lot going on.  Maybe a 7...?   

12 - AIR DEFENSE BASE

    Never had this one.  An air defense base?  Pretty cool.  It is what it is.  Nothing more, nothing less.  It's alright!  A 6?

13 - CHECK POINT

    I don't know, but I always thought this one was pretty cool.  Stage it near your Joe Headquarters to check folks coming through.  This one was fun!  I'll give it an 8!

14 - COBRA BUNKER

    A bunker for Cobra... okay.  It's cool with it's machine guns, missile, and "blow-up" ability.  The biggest drawback is that it looks like HALF a base.  HOWEVER, and I didn't know this back in the day, if you bought a second one - they fit together back-to-back.  But back then, us kids weren't buying 2 of these.  Anyways, it's fine.  It gets a 6.

15 - A.W.E. STRIKER, with Crankcase

    Cool, awesome, amazing!!!  I loved this vehicle.  Cool look, figure, working suspension.  This one was a favorite.  Heck yeah it's a 10!

16 - BRIDGELAYER, with Tollbooth

    Okay, so this is an odd one.  I really like this vehicle, I think it looks great and it got a cool gimmick of laying that bridge out for Joes to cross.  For me there was a slight problem.  You know, the commercials were great where the boys have a ravine that has stopped them.  So they call in the Bridge Layer to save the day.  Well, I didn't have anything like that.  So mine didn't have a lot to do.  I like it, I just didn't use it all that much!  Still, it will catch a rating of 7.

17 - SNOW CAT, with Frostbite

    Cobra's got Snow Serpents running all around the Arctic now.  Snow Job is going to need some help... and he gets it in the form of Frostbite and his Snow Cat.  What a cool vehicle!  The overall awesomeness is going to over-rule the easy-to-break clips on the missile rack.  It gets a a 10. 

18 - COBRA CAT TANK

    Didn't have it and didn't know anything about it till years later.  The MOBAT was awesome, and so is this Cobra repaint!  I can let go of the fact it didn't come with a figure, because it really needed a Crimson Guard to drive it.  It's a 10 easy.   

19 - COBRA SMS

    Never even knew of this thing's existence till long after.  My friend's and I would have been after this!  Clever repaint and looks great.  Might be a cool vehicle for Tomax and Xamot.  The Crimson Guard's are getting a lot of heavy hardware for a bunch of dudes undercover...  Still it's awesome.  Another 10.

20 - MAULER TANK, with Heavy Metal

    They corrected the issue with the MOBAT tank where you couldn't put figures into the main body of it.  Now you can.  They can hop in and batten down the hatches.  Very cool.  Motorized.  Plus, has desert camo now.  I never had it, but I thin it's great!  A 10!

21 - COBRA MORAY HYDROFOIL, with Lamprey

    I got this for Christmas and this thing was AMAZING!  Just look at it!  It looks fast, dangerous, and unbeatable!  It had great colors!  You could fit multiple Cobra Troops on here.  Cool figure!  And the box art was some of the finest from the folks at Hasbro!  I'm even cutting it a break from the torpedo rack that sometimes fell apart.  10 all the way!

22 - TACTICAL BATTLE PLATFORM

    This is a playset I wanted but never managed to get.  I think it looks like a lot of fun.  It had a great appearance in the comics, several places for your figures, and even a landing spot for the Sky Hawk (No, the Dragonfly is too big)!  I dig it.  Hasbro, give yourselves another 10.

23 - U.S.S. FLAGG AIRCRAFT CARRIER, with Admiral Keel-Haul

    It's a 10!  Let's not beat around the bush here.  This was the coveted piece of the G.I. Joe line!  I have heard tales of flimsy parts somewhere on it, but still this thing is amazing.  I never had it and none of my friends had it, but seeing it for the first time in the catalog left us all awe-struck!

    Going back over these vehicles was a reminder of how great 1985 really was for this toyline!  Look at all those high ratings at the end of the list.  Topping a year like this is near-impossible, but Hasbro would try and they would come very close.    

    I will say that it was a bummer that I was not aware of the Crimson Guard vehicles.  Because there was a Sears at the other end of town and my friends and I would have tried to get those.  Oh well, what do you do?

    So tell me your thoughts on this year?  Were you amazed by the G.I. Joe vehicles in 1985?  What did you have?  What did you not have?  How would you rate them?