Initially when I made my motor pools smaller, I was thinking I would do best with one big vehicle per area; I mean, one big tank, one big plane, one big boat, things like that to cover all the "places" that Joes (or bad guys) might go.
But then I thought about the grounding of an imaginative play scenario, like with the X-30 I had kept, it isn't a huge plane, but it is going to need a runway. It's going to need a support staff and supplies. And it is pretty much a support vehicle that makes a bomb run, dogfights other planes, or is there simply as a show of force. And these are all good things, but it does not make for a well-rounded, very-well and very often used vehicle. Despite being a very cool plane, it kinda ends up sitting on the shelf until being called in/ sent in more than it is used. In my imagination, I think I have the ability to call in air support help from nearby active air forces.
The same was kind of happening with the Equalizer for me. I've thought about
if I really need tanks before, and before that. And so, out goes another vehicle, the Equalizer. When it comes to a favorite GIJoe tank, yeah, this tank was it. When I picked out the big "staple" vehicles, the "land, sea, and air" parts of my collection at that time, I had also kept my '83 HQ. As you likely know, the '83 HQ has a landing pad, a "jeep" bay, and a "tank" bay. The Equalizer remained as a pick also due to this, as it fit, and in some ways became a part of the HQ behind its armor walls as another weapon to an extent. But, then I also decided to step away from the "base," it wasn't huge, but it became a target in itself that had a good size to it. Also, the "tank" is heavy duty, has big ordnance, uses (pretend) fuel, and creates a
large target for the enemy. Not the best thing for my somewhat speedy,
somewhat covert team. Plus, a (supposedly) self sufficient team has
got to work harder to drag a tank across the globe......, with the
potential to get stuck in the mud.
On one hand, I think it would very fun to get a big tank department, fill the tanks with Joes and have a big battle against a Cobra arsenal. But in reality, I don't think I'll ever get much time to do all that. And overall this goes into my reasons for keeping a small collection. I would like the adventures I have time for fit and be fun with what I have. I suppose, like the imaginary aircraft I can launch at any time, I can really imagine my GIJoe team (or Cobra) running amid a large tank battle, with tanks all over the place, and my Joes ducking and weaving in an adventure.
That's the kind of imagination, or the pretending, I really had to do back in the day.
Maybe my imagination is too serious and I've put too much thought into it? Really, despite my original reasons for keeping the Equalizer in my tiny trimmings, the
Equalizer still ended up sitting on a shelf very often. Either way, we say goodbye to a cool tank and hope it has many adventures at a new base of operations!
However, would an Armadillo be handy to have around......?
