Moving forward with my collection, the GIJOE team here is going to be a very mobile team. I think the best way for the figures to be "mobile" in regards to my vehicle collection, is by using helicopters.
I find helicopters to be neat machines. A week or two ago, I attended a small fly-in at the local airport. There were planes of all sizes, from home-built stunt craft, to those passenger carrying brush planes with the big landing gear tires (like you might see on the Flying Wild Alaska show, if I remembered the name right of that show right..).
The best part of that little fly-in for me was watching the Robinson R44 that was available to take rides in. I didn't take the ride, but watching that little 4-seater helicopter zip around was just as fun. A very agile craft.
For my GIJoe team, I'm planning on using the Tomahawk as the main mode of transport. Most fans probably do this, too. It's a great helicopter, and a fun, detailed toy.
Now, when it comes to moving the Joes in the air, I've been considering bringing back a gunship. Essentially, this would be another helicopter, but it would be the helicopter that is there for battle. The Tomahawk can hold its own in most cases, but consider that Cobra has the Fang II's here, as well as a DTC HISS with some missiles, well....it might not be wise to allow the Tomahawk fully loaded with Joes to take them on. (plus, I have the Renegades Black Dragon coming in...)
I had the Dragonfly for most of my life up until just a couple weeks ago. For a 1983 vehicle it never really seemed too old feeling to me. Where it was falling in "like" for me was that the pylon weapons didn't have much "heavy" to them, where in real life a gunship like this would most likely have multiple rocket pods and twin rack TOW missiles. And I would have liked to have had a more detailed chin turret gun, too. But, it really is a helicopter that works with the '82-'84 figures best. I want just a little more "beef." Something that kind of fits in the middle in the '85-'94 span of years for figures style-wise.
I'm very surprise that Hasbro didn't re-tool a Dragonfly like they did other vehicles, like the Water Moccasin/ Sting Raider that essentially made the vehicle a little larger. (Fang vs. Dragonfly: how "anniversary" would that have been?)
And there are many other helicopter options out in the Joe world to choose from.
I don't think the Retaliator is going to be one I'll choose, though. This is a helicopter I haven't seen much discussion about online over the years. It's got a nice looking front end, but the crane/claw/tail end might not be my cup of tea. Without seeing much said about it online, and for me not seeing it in person ever, makes it hard to really get a feel on this craft. Anybody have one of these?
The Locust is another one I've never seen in person. This little bird has my interest lately. Just for the small size this little flying gun platform could be the answer to my wants. It could be used for those days when I just want a small mission, or if I want somebody to just go scout ahead for Cobra. For the size, it's packing the guns, though!
(And it would be shelf-space friendly.)
Of course, I could always get a Razorblade back in the collection. This one has been gone for almost 5 or 6 years now.
It wasn't that bad of a little 'copter. I thought the spring-fire launcher was rather well hidden (and black missiles, too). And while I never did use the string feature, the little backpack figure rescue catcher thing is a unique item. In my imagination, the string slider part was like the secret spy ball on real helicopters, that thing held all the top-secret "black box" surveillance gear.Style wise, the Razorblade looks like a solid armored battle craft. There is very little "sleek" about this thing. It was really built solid.
The one area about the craft I don't like is how the landing gear attaches to the body. If this thing was ever re-tooled, if the added an Apache looking in style hull bottom with some lowering wheels, I think this would be a more accepted toy.
Options that I know I don't really want are the Sky Hawk or the Sonic Apache AH-74. I traded my Apache for a FANG II. The only regret I have about that trade is that apparently the Apache has (or had) more dollar value for some reason. I could have sold it and bought more FANG II's with the cash, rather than just a straight trade. I still don't see the value in the Sonic Apache, though, it's one vehicle that I don't miss at all.
The Mudfighter is another craft that I could use for my "gunship" role. Being a propeller driven craft, it wouldn't need the runway like the "big fighter jets" and would be very supportive with the extensive payload of bombs.
Perhaps I should try to hunt one of these down along with a Locust?
Anyone have a Mudfighter, what do you think about this little plane?
What other "VTOL" or helicopters am I forgetting about? (No, the POC Dragonhawk is not an option ;) :) .)
Or maybe I don't need a gunship and my Joes are just fine with the Tomahawk?
Or, maybe like suggested on a thread at JoeDeclassified.com, I should look for the Halo: Reach Falcon? (I won't really, but wow, that is a nice looking machine! Poor Joe gets this.)
