Growing up on reruns of the old Sunbow cartoon, the H.I.S.S. tank was front and center for the action.
It wasn't until 1991 that I had a Cobra H.I.S.S. through the mail-in catalog. With the cartoon advertising and staring at the pictures of the toy on the insert catalogs, this was THE vehicle of Cobra for me. It some ways even at the time I finally got one I kind of did feel like it was underwhelming.
Maybe it was because at that time, the Mobile Battle Bunker was my "main battle tank" for my G.I.Joe force. Sure, none of these are tanks. Even though the Track Viper file card refers to the H.I.S.S. II as a main battle tank lineage. I had to work with and enjoy what I had at that time.
Pound for pound, the Mobile Battle Bunker steamrolled the 1991 mail-in H.I.S.S.. Heck, Fast Draw was more than a match for that H.I.S.S., let's be honest.
But when it comes to the "High Speed Sentry" part, the cartoon and media uses the H.I.S.S. a lot but the Cobra STUN is often left in the mid-'80's and doesn't seem to get as much of a nostalgia driven recycling. It's a "high speed sentry" as well.
And I never did buy that "H.I.S.S. III" as that was simply a regular H.I.S.S. My one and only H.I.S.S. II didn't stick around long. In some ways I found it clunky and it nose-dived a lot. As cool as the drop down canopy was along with the slide out troop tray seats, I found myself preferring the 1990 Rage and 1991 Paralyzer much more. (Although the Track Viper is my favorite "tank" driver.)
The "D.T.C." HISS or 2005 HISS is my favorite HISS. No acronym. Some might say HISS V but unofficially. And there's the H.I.S.S. IV, which despite the super organic and snake like body, has the obvious tread lineage. I prefer the "Strike Hiss" naming of this one, and that may have been in the trading card game or a comic, I don't know. I really liked this one and this was my main big gun for Cobra. I even did a custom armament on a 2nd one I got. In the end, as a person who is somewhat on the edge of homeless during a divorce, real life strikes, and it's time to refocus and get lighter for the next life move. Whatever that may be.
The Pursuit of Cobra HISS and Retaliation HISS took the form into a more monster tread vehicle area and I was never able to pick up either of these at the time they were out in the stores. I wanted a black one and after we knew what box code to look for to figure which one was inside a box, I waited for one to make the rounds in the store. Of course, it never did.
Here we are today.
I was thinking about it and starting to draw some a little bit. With pencils, pens, paper. I used to do this more way back in the day and I had fun with it. Just doodling. Nothing super "good" or anything but something to have fun with. Before I tossed these, I scanned some to preserve something that no one on the planet really would care about.
I liked how G.I.Joe had a progression in the G.I.Joe A Real American Hero line. We had version 2, 3, 4, or figures. They weren't just generic army men redone in some different uniform but they had character built into them. 1989 Stalker is my favorite Stalker, for example. Great sculpt, awesome mission gear. Adds to the 1982 Stalker figure seven years later. It's original and fresh.
Same with vehicles. The Cobra H.I.S.S. II. Or Fang II. I like these.
They have the acronyms and we can definitely debate on whether the acronyms apply to what they are. Such as the 1983 Fully Armed Negator Copter versus just "Fang" for the Fang II.
But in action, what does Cobra do. Cobra comes at you with hiss and a fang, a rattler, or a stinger. Unlike the acronym W.H.A.L.E. or M.M.S., for example, is a strong military way of doing things, Cobra may be more of an entire battle system of action. Then maybe there is an Arbco or Extensive Enterprises selling these things and that's where the acronym is applied in a fictional world.
Either way, this is all getting to me thinking about the H.I.S.S. III.
Something is missing and I feel like it would be a fun thing to play around with today. Where would a real original and new "H.I.S.S. III" fit in in the original A Real American Hero line if YOU could go back in time. What would it look like?
Me?
Using the STUN high speed sentry description, I'm going to step back and maybe wonder if the STUN wasn't a 1983 HISS replacement. Then maybe that wasn't very successful and it moved into Python Patrol in 1989 for that reason. And also to make room for the H.I.S.S. II.
Older H.I.S.S. tanks were used in 1991 for the Septic Tank.
Thinking in lines of progression, the Cobra H.I.S.S.II should have been the main battle vehicle and if it was successful, like the 1983 H.I.S.S., it should have been around more often. Right?
But in 1990, the Rage seemed very present as well as the 1991 Paralyzer getting some media use, too.
So, if the years in between the "high speed sentry" vehicles are equal, we should have seen a H.I.S.S. III in 1992.
That didn't happen.
But what if it did. Can you play vehicle designer and create a vehicle that would fill the role of the H.I.S.S. and make it fit for 1992?
Will your design fit for the later G.I.Joe versus Cobra H.I.S.S. IV and 2005 Cobra HISS?
