I have a relative that worked for FMC in Minnesota some years back now. The company is now more based in chemicals and other things, and you can look up information on them on the web now. Here are a couple of possible "GIJOE" inspired concepts that came from FMC's defense contractor days. I am purely speculating on the inspiration part, but I'm thinking very much so in regards to the Night Rhino (Warthog) angle.In the above picture, what is being launched from that amphibian is a essentially a beach clearing device. The rocket would get the projectiles over the area to land on and 'clear' it of danger. There is another FMC publication that had more details laid out in it, but I think I set it aside for sharing among the Joe community....and now I don't know where I set it aside to. But, I have this issue with the cover above.
Below is what was probably many sketches for the real world competition to build a bridge-layer. So, perhaps the Joe design team was inspired by this, or another companies bid sketches. Or maybe the Hasbro team challenged themselves and created their bid for the bridge layer competition and that is how they made their "unique" toy design?
