I guess as far as old-school memories go, I don't have any hard nostalgia with this base. Even though it has been in my possession from WAY back in the day, it was never really on a permanent set up. It was usually in parts tucked away, and the WHALE hovercraft often served as a base as much as the actual base did.
It's still a pretty cool base, but, it does have a decent foot print. It was very much designed for 1983. Those first couple years really had a lot of nice cohesive design in a lot of things. But for keeping in the modern-era, it doesn't really fit very efficiently.
For instance, the vehicle bays are really limited to a Mauler or Equalizer on the tank side. The Warthog is too wide. Forget the Patriot Grizzly. And the Jeep side was meant for a VAMP. Although the AWE striker does fit in there, it's not a perfect wheel-base form fit. The lift is pretty well suited to adding the other towed weapons, like the HAL, which I don't have. (nor do I really want it back...)
Even the landing pad is a little small, anything bigger than a Dragonfly is a little awkward. It really works well for the Skyhawks, though.
The Jail Cell really does take up a lot of space, too.
And I don't mean to sound like I'm complaining, it has been a great base over the years. But, really, for the size of thing, and MOST OF ALL, for the fact that it is going to end up packed in a Rubbermaid container for many, many years to come, I think it is time for it to go.
I will miss it, but to get the most of my Joe collection, I want to be able to use the stuff, ya know?
It's no fun in a box, and my home is not a museum, so I hope to be able to use the funds from this and other things to further enhance other areas of my collection.
The weapon tray is the part I was going to chat about the most, though.
In the picture below is probably THE most nostalgic thing I've got invested into my HQ here. I put some masking tape on the trays, and pretty much did a name tag type thing for all my figures accessories.
This must have been about late 1990 or early 1991. I did some trading with my best bud in those days just before moving. The crossed out names are the ones I traded for the newer names added.
I think it is neat to take a look back at the simpler days of having less stuff.
That's quite the team, huh?
These days when we can have it all essentially, the imagination back then HAD to make due and get creative.
How does this compare to what you had "back in the day?"