A W.H.A.L.E. tale

 Origin.

Using old pictures, I've nailed down my 8th birthday as the day I received the WHALE hovercraft.  

It came from  Grandparents who lived in the Twin Cities of Minnesota.  I remember seeing it in one of their closets sometime before I got it on my birthday at their place, so it was possibly a gift originally intended for a previous Christmas or even a previous birthday.  Plus, being in the Twin Cities, those Grandparents had the proximity of all the big stores.   And their respective big discount outlets and all stores for overstock blowout sales and whatnot.  

We lived in Upper Michigan at that time, too, so not close to each other at all.  Either way, this is how I got the WHALE.

From there, the WHALE saw primary action while we lived in Upper Michigan where it was opened and assembled.   The WHALE had many adventures on the blue rug in my old room, the rug served as "water," of course.  I tried to float the WHALE in the bathtub at at least one point in time, too.

One memorable "mission" that I attempted was a planned battle with a neighbor who had a Hydrofoil Moray (1985).  It must have started out as a discussion with that neighbor, I decided to transport my WHALE down to his place to get this naturally epic battle on.   I used the wheelhouse area as a handle to carry the WHALE, the spot that Cutter would be peering over as he looked forward through the windscreen.   Well, that wasn't a very good spot to use as a carrying handle, as the deck separated, dropping the skirt/hull and parts all over the street.   Of course, the parents saw this, and ordered me back inside with the WHALE.  The battle never happened....

Over the years in Upper Michigan, the WHALE's missions took the toll on the steering vanes, but that seems to be a common item of wear and breakage on it.   At some point, the recon. bike went A.W.O.L., too.

While I did have the official 1983 H.Q., I do have memories of often using my WHALE as a base in itself since it was so big and had an interior.   It took less set up time, and the next biggest vehicle I had during those years was the Cobra S.T.U.N., and that is not a natural adversarial vehicle!   The WHALE was stored under the bed, in a sliding door box shelf thing, and an old toy box with a top shelf that was in the basement for awhile.

Moving.

From there, we moved over to the Duluth-Superior area.  A much different area than the middle of nowhere small town of Upper Michigan.   The WHALE, of course, accompanied along during the move.

It was about this time I considered myself a collector, and while I added many other boats over the next few years, including the SHARK 9000, it just couldn't replace my WHALE as the king of the seas in my collection.  I think there's something about that interior space, and more realistic pivoting and swiveling armaments, not to mention small recon. vehicles, that just say awesome.

Later in High school and into college years, I worked at getting the worn parts replaced, and I replaced the long-missing recon. bike.   Back to prime condition.

The WHALE came along with me to three consecutive apartments from there after college.   Being so big, it was one of the last vehicles to ever get put into any Rubbermaid for storage.

Modern life.

Over the course of time, I drastically reduced the vehicles in my collection a couple times.  The WHALE was the core of my sea squad, and at one time in 2008 it was literally within hand-off distance to being sold away.  Literally, I could have walked it through the door and took the cash, but I decided to keep it at the last minute.  (which the buyer was totally understanding of...)

The Grandpa half of the Grandparents mentioned above had just passed a week before this sizable vehicle sell-off, and in fact, we were on the way to the funeral when I was dropping all this stuff off.  This is where that sentimental attachment, that emotional connection actually came through. 

Not only since this WHALE was a childhood toy, given by a deceased relative, but also due to the fact that this Grandpa was a World War II Navy Veteran.   And not just a Veteran, but one who served on an amphibious ship.

A question that can never be answered now, but I wonder if their decision to buy the WHALE had something to do with his Navy service and amphibious craft.  Although hovercraft were not around during his time in service, he also worked for one of the biggest defense contractors in the Twin Cities, and I gotta wonder if they had some bids for a Navy hovercraft like the GIJOE Killer WHALE?   (the company has a couple vehicles which would actually seemingly fit the bill for GIJOE vehicle inspiration.)


The sentiment has passed however, as I have now sold my WHALE.  It's been gone for quite awhile now, actually.

It is a great vehicle, but as I've really analyzed my collection over the last couple years, it really fits best with a core 1982-1985 collection.   My collection is more geared 1986 to 1992 for the most part now.

I also think it needed to be held by a collector that could do more with it, and have more fun, and get more enjoyment out of it.

As is, it would have sat on a basement shelf at best here, and more than likely in a Rubbermaid container wrapped in bubble wrap, for the next decade or so.  I just don't feel like I'm having fun keeping it all contained like this.   Plus, not that I would have minded sharing the toy in the future, but with young "joes" in the house, and the WHALE being more fragile in some spots, I don't think it would last long in its fairly good condition.


Summary.


Have you ever wondered where a GIJOE toy has come from?   I have wondered about some of these that I've acquired over the years, I mean, who had them, what adventures, and those types of questions.

The WHALE I had has had a pretty good traveling record, as you can see.

From the Twin Cities of Minnesota, to the wilds of Upper Michigan, to the Twin Ports of Duluth-Superior, to rural western Wisconsin, and finally to its last known location just near the border with Minnesota.

And that's not to mention where all the different parts that I upgraded and replaced came from.   I think the recon. bike came from a trade from a person in Florida, for example.

Lot of traveling for an old toy.