The Super Trooper, Rapid Fire, and the new school.

It was sometime, back in the day, I first bought Rapid Fire.  It was something bought my Grandparents, I think, when we were in a small town drug store.   Back in those days, even in a small town of a population of less than 2000, one could find GIJoe stuff in multiple locations in town, such as that very drug store, or the Ben Franklin, or one of the hardware stores.  I think even the grocery store had some at one point.  But that is neither then or now, just a random point of information.


Rapid Fire came with a video cassette.  At this time in my history, despite the DIC G.I.Joe cartoon still being broadcast, this was huge.   I had never really seen the DIC series, in fact, the only time I would see it was when I was visiting my Grandparents, and it was on early so I often would only catch the very last bit of the show by the time I got up.   And back home, even considering home was a nice sized metropolitan area (combined, well over 100,000 people), no stations were carrying the cartoon.   Revenge of the Pharaohs is my only really long term familiarity with that cartoon series.

And the tape quality was just as fuzzy as the open-air broadcast signal I would see at my Grandparents.

Rapid Fire is a guy who came with what would become one of my favorite GIJoe weapons, the Dial Tone (1986) sub-machine gun.  Despite the neon green, this weapon got passed around.

Rapid Fire was never really a major player in any play or disPlay adventures.  Maybe it was the armor that detracted from me using this figure, I remember wanting to remove it quite a bit.  Or perhaps it was the obvious "franken-joe" aspect that made the figure less appealing..., I mean, I had 1986 Wet-Suit and it was immediately obvious who's arms they were.  And they looked a little...goofy, in some ways.  Zandar's legs weren't as obvious to me, though, even though Zandar was a major player in my play days.

As the days, years, decades went on, Rapid Fire never became a stand-out character or figure.  When I was on a figure/ character kick a few years back, I was heavily considering hunting down the Super Trooper.  But it would have been essentially the same figure, only coloring would be different.  And if you know from reading here, I'm not a huge fan of "twin" figures unless they were meant to be twins.  (Wild card vs. Major Altitude, for example.)


One aspect of both Rapid Fire and Super Trooper that still has me intrigued is the possibility of "other" aspects of a large GIJoe universe.   And these aspects of these characters are totally contained in the file cards, despite each one being something that should be taken with a grain of salt, no doubt.

The "new school" mentioned as these guys origins is what helps launch my imagination.  Super Trooper comes from secret school with no name, a school with an extremely low profile and no chance for advancement.  And he's a West Point officer, as well.  Rapid Fire, while most likely just a re-edit to make a "new character," contains a very similar profile.   The edit makes the secret no-name school a "new school for fast attack maneuvers," however, along with Congressional Medal of Honor recipient requirement.  Of course, he ranks as an officer, too.

Overall I never really found a good fit for Rapid Fire when I had my larger character/ figure collection going on.

I still find the secret  "new school" aspect something that could make for some good fan-made fiction.  Could they be some sort of Rapid Deployment Force?

Perhaps an off-shoot of the Steel Brigade, of the Steel Brigade itself?

How does Super Trooper or Rapid Fire or both fit in your collection?




I'd like to give a shout out here to Joe A Day, too, without them I would have never had known Rapid Fire was available in 1993!

Battle station

Being more permanently located, more options for permanent disPlay places abound here.  Real life biting around the edges aside, I haven't been able to decide on exactly what I would like to do "permanently."

So instead of running out and amassing a lot of new material, I'm going to play my way into the space with what I have laying around.  That playing around with the display and storage aspect of my GIJoe collecting is really just about as much a part of the hobby for me.  Sometimes it was because of where I was living, or even at one time, it was all I had; making creative use of what was available was the way to go.

I have definitely reworked it all, no matter how I set it up over the years, too. Even back in the day at my parents, I would take all the vehicles down and rearrange shelves. 

It was a constant evolution, and really, why should today be any different?

Up above, well..., that's what I got done.  The big steel legs on that table are the ones I mentioned in a previous post or two that I picked up in about 2007 and are just now getting used. 

The big brown board is one I found up in the rafters of my last apartment, it's been one of my main "battle" surfaces over the last few years, and is a solid piece of material.

Surprisingly, and welcomed, the legs lift the board up to a good height for sliding Rubbermaids under the sides.

I attached the same 6-foot white board you have seen in many pictures here before just above the table on the wall.  Originally this was a spare board found in an older apartment from 2003-2005.

From here, I will may go purchase another 6-foot board, likely not as deep, to attach on the wall just above the white board.

On the bottom, I'm thinking my drawers will be good for spare weaponry and what-have-you.

It's not much, but, something got done!

The future is near, or, I almost started getting stuff setting up.

When nothing new is coming along, it seems like discussion slows down on what is already out there.  It's not unlike my own personal activity with my GIJoe collection.  Not a whole lot new going, however, I almost started setting up some shelves to get my meager action figure forces out.

It really almost feels like I am starting from scratch at this point.  Not since being a younger person still back in the day at my parents have I had as permanent a location to reside at.   The years in between then and now when it came to GIJoe decisions, display set ups and the like, always had the "temporary" theme behind anything I did. 

Everything I have been doing with 'Joe has constantly evolved, too.  It hasn't been an easy set up for me to decide on.  It's not like putting up the TV on a stand in a corner, and plugging in the VCR and DVD (yes, I do still have a VCR). 

You may know about the little water seepage, which seems to be contained.   Past that, my usual bracket shelves are hard to find spots for.  I'm really limited to one basement wall in my corner, and despite it being fairly solid feeling, I don't feel confident about putting a lot of stuff on it.

Yesterday, I almost set up my big brown panel board, as seen in this old photo (2010; I kind of miss my HQ, by the way.).

I bought these heavy duty steel stand legs at a garage sale for the purpose of putting them under this board in 2007.  That never happened, but I almost started getting that little project started last night.  The "junior joes" decided otherwise for me, though. 

As I was thinking about where to snug this board table in my little basement corner, I started to wonder if I really need that big of a board since I don't have an '83 HQ to use as the centerpiece of a (hopefully) permanent display in my little corner?

And it was about that point that real life called me back from the basement as I almost started setting some GIJoe stuff up.

little things one forgets about

It's been roughly 9 months since I've had any of my figures out, or even had them in my sight.  I've opened up my very limited vehicles Rubbermaids a couple times (just for comparison shots with the Eliminator mostly).  

I'm thinking about this now since I have some free time.  The HQ shell has been more of a focus lately, some of it things that need to be taken care of, and some of it stuff that I have always thought would be fun (like landscaping, but that's way-off-blog-topic).

As we start our turn towards the fall season of the year, because August quickly turns into September, I think about all the stuff I have had and how many times I've packed it up, to re-discover what I had stored in some ways.

Growing up, my toys were always around.  Especially when we moved into civilization, a larger city, I didn't know anyone, and totally dug the availability of stores to browse.  I spent a good amount of time organizing in my formative years.

As the college years came in, I was able to leave some things out and about in my old room, but as time went shortly, I became concerned about sibling friends messing with my stuff when I was away at school, so I packed it up and stored most of it in boxes.

When I got an apartment where I was comfortable bringing my stuff down..., well, I had missed all my stuff, so..., I got all of it from my parents house.    In this apartment, I quickly ate up space as stuff came in and I unpacked it.

It really ate up space!

But in time, I repacked it for the destination of another apartment.   At that apartment, I took up most of the second room, and Rubbermaids filled out the closet solidly.   A few years later, we headed to my most previous apartment:  the apartment I was in during which the HQ was started.

At first, I didn't want to unpack everything, but I really wanted my stuff out.  The basement was originally going to be maybe a play area for the junior joe, but eventually I kind of took over most of it.

As time went on, I spent a lot of time picking through all my toys, eventually deciding on selling off everything else for the most part so I could really focus on 'Joe.

And it was good.  I was able to bring in more figures and other things.   From there, it was kind of a chore containing all the small things.  I sort of touched on storage and storage ideas in other posts.  And then it was making it all fit.

Essentially creating a whole personal imaginative " 'JoeVerse."  I had all sorts of organizing projects going on, especially on the GIJoe team side.  I was starting to build up Marauder, Inc. weapons assignments, too.

But as life goes, I made some changes.  I drastically cut my assets, essentially.  A few times.

Now, I have just a few Rubbermaids with GIJoe stuff.  My figures are all in little bags (from smalljoes.comhttp://smalljoes.com/, by the way; thanks for the dinner company at the 2005 convention guys; years later; still a great time to remember, I hope to do it again!!!).   But, in these little bags, everything is organized, even the supplemental Marauder, Inc. arms with figures I have certain weapons for.   The bags still have the air from my old home in them, never exposed to the air of the new, current, and hopefully permanent HQ.

Exactly what and where I organized it some 9-plus months ago, my memory is starting to go a little fuzzy, though.

And that brings me to my point.  After packing, acquiring, adding, repacking, unpacking, trading, selling, packing, acquiring, repacking, etc......, it comes right down to forgetting what I did, ya know?

That's one reason for the blog your reading (and of course, Thank you for doing so!!!!), so I can remember what I'm doing in this life with my GIJoes.  And it has been quite interesting, never would I have guessed just how circular my thinking and actions are.  Just when I think I have a new original idea...., I kind of had it just a few months ago.


After 9 months and then some, I would love to bust everything out and play.  I just don't have my area ready and comfortable for me to do so yet.  Life does have some other priorities, and even though they are out giving me some free time, this post is the best I can come up with.  OH, and my Eaglehawk, which is assembled next to me, which despite my little nit-pickings is still an AWESOME chopper.


But, the one little thing that has been most important to me over the last 9 months is the GIJOE online community at large.  It's a fun, playful, imaginative group of people that I would like for neighbors.  THAT would be fun.  Just like back in the day.   Bring each others forces over for a battle-royale!  






One aside from this random rambling, I gotta suggest checking out Sprecher  if you're looking for some good beverages.  There are a number of great flavors from root beers, colas, ginger ales, to other signature brews.

My Eaglehawk has landed

My Eaglehawk helicopter arrived today, I thought I would put that together this afternoon and share some photos and thoughts from first impression.  The box isn't very big.  Everything inside the box really was fit for maximum efficiency.

Outside of the box, the parts look familiar, but feel different and new.  They are definitely thinner in material, but most everything seems solid.

The first disappointment came during spreading the parts, where the big air-to-ground obstacle missiles were given these stand-in half missiles. 

The thinner plastic gave me a little concern, being able to flex these panels with little effort was something I don't remember being able to do with a Tomahawk.  But, they held up and sprung right back to form.

Some details just didn't feel as deep in comparison to the Tomahawk.

The side forms here.

The chin turret of the Eaglehawk.   The Tomahawk has one of my favorite GIJoe vehicle armaments. The chin turret went in very fluidly, it has a very nice smooth motion.

The front engine cover is gone, replaced by a whole piece with an intake facade.

I like how they have the fuselage designed out here, I can totally imagine this airframe rolling off the back of a certain cargo plane like this.   Also, note the rotor shaft has a slight forward tilt to it.

Here's the bottom prior to assembly.   There's no winch-box on the back end, I kind of like that.

The tail section came together all as one, the Eaglehawk has no thumbwheel on the tail rotor.   The engine panels are sealed in details here.   

These are some much larger connecting points on the wing from the original design.  Although I haven't had problems with the Tomahawks connecting pieces, I think the Eaglehawks connectors might be just a little stronger.  

 The rear ramp has foot pegs, why the two are off set like they are, I can only guess.   Either way, these pegs will not do my much good at all since, as you know, an old mold kind of collector.

I haven't unpacked my Tomahawk yet at the new HQ, but this back interior area seems a little different to me toward the top.   Is there a little more head room toward the inner cabin but a little less as a figure goes down the ramp?

This is what happens when the flash is touching the edge of the Eaglehawk as it goes off.  It's a neat effect.   Now, what are the little bumps with holes for?
The "fixed" seats are things I really don't care for, however, I am totally digging the deeper interior cabin deck;  that is cool.

I don't even know what this is.  Wait, I do, it is a bad picture.

There is a lot of detail, the front rotor tilt is more apparent here.

Here's another spot of disappointment:  manufacturing error.   The front landing gear wheel ended up flipped on one side.

Oops.

Here I turned the wheel around, but marking on the hub is still there.   I wonder if this was a sonic compression tool that put these wheels on the axle?

Well, it went  together very smoothly.  There was no usually satisfying "snaps" of parts going together.  Things went in very softly, and fairly snugly.  The part-to-part tolerances were pretty tight.

With regards to tolerances, with just a little finagling, the flip-down engine panels came together fairly tightly. 

The tail-less Eaglehawk.   Do you think the Eaglehawk (or Tomahawk) could fly with the tail missing?  Or I should say, will your imagination allow this.

That's not a bad looking joint.  If they had added the rivet details along this point, one would probably never know there were two pieces.

As things went, I found myself not liking the side pods.  There was a little movement on these, where on the Tomahawk it is part of the fuselage.  Perhaps it is a "used to" thing for me here, but feeling the little flex at one of the main points I hold the Eaglehawk makes it feel a little... less, I guess.  But I do really like the flat bottom here.  

 The folding rotors were one of the big points of interest for me on the Eaglehawk.   The Tomahawk, or even the Eaglehawk isn't really that huge, but the rotors really add to the space these helicopters need.

However, while it was great to stick with the five blade design, I don't think these "folding" rotors really did anything to exceed or outpace itself from the original rotors.    Here you can see the rotors folding still lead to a necessary removal if one wants to shorten this vehicle.   It is what it is, though.  The rotors seem really thin, too, and after just a few spins, the front rotor is knocking against the top of the fuselage.  (not unlike my old one.)

Time to take off!

So, all in all, it's a pretty sweet ride.


Are you on the fence with getting this one?   I wasn't, but now I'm wondering if I should have stayed on that fence?

For starters, in my personal 'Joeverse, I have wondered if there should be just one Tomahawk?   And it would have to be my original one.  With mostly all oring classic figures in my collection, I can't use the foot pegs on the Eaglehawk.  Short of using rubberbands, my figures won't be able to stay in their seats in back if Wild Bill starts maneuvering evasively.

Plus, the mission-variability of the Tomahawk is lost on Eaglehawk with the "fixed" seats in back.  There's no laying a wounded GIJoe teammate on one side, or hauling some sort of cargo to drop off the ramp.




As a display piece, heck yeah, definitely get this thing!  

As a toy, sure, why not?  It really comes down to a modern vs. old figure preference, and how you feel different figure styles work with either modern or old vehicles.  It's like foot pegs, ya know?

And as far as a toy, who is going to be doing more of the playing?   Compared to something like the 2011 VAMP, which is a tank that can take a tumbling of play by that ages 4+ crowd, could the Eaglehawk really stand up to the same play wear?

I think it will hold up better than my 1986 Tomahawk, I can be sure of that.  



Do you think that the Eaglehawk will be repainted for an exclusive Night Force version soon?  Or even a repainted version in green for general release, not unlike the PoC VAMP(s)?

Or maybe even better, a new version of 'hawk, maybe some special weapons variants, or mission variant?

vehicle collection trimming mistakes

You don't know what you got, 'til it's gone.   Yeah, it's a song and sentiment, one that hits me every once in awhile.   Unlike years ago, even when most or all of my GIJoe vehicles were packed in Rubbermaid boxes, I could still go dig one out if I had the urge to do so.   Usually this urge would be brought on by some online discussion, or a review, or even a diorama style picture or custom.

Part of why I trimmed vehicles out of my collection (of which I am still probably more of a vehicle fan, than figure fan) was that I just didn't feel like I was getting maximum enjoyment out of what amounted to crowded shelves or stacks of packed Rubbermaid totes.   It was just a mass of stuff, so while I still don't miss that mass of items, I have found myself sort of wanting to get some of those vehicles back.

As things evolved for me, I thought the best way to go was to keep some more mid-to-large vehicles to cover the basic land-sea-air adventures that could be had with the vehicles.   It was down to Hurricane vs Conquest, WHALE vs. Moray,  DTC HISS vs Equalizer, plus with some smaller vehicles, but that was kind of it.

However, even most of those were chopped in the last trimming, mostly due to the size and the influx of reality on my imagination.   The Conquest, for example would need a runway and facilities for upkeep.   I still feel ok with making these vehicles cuts. 

As I've re-evaluated, as I'm always doing it seems, I wanted to bring my GIJoe world back down to the ground.  So, instead of a Conquest, I'm interested in something that can operate imagination-wise world wide from a dirt road; maybe a Mudfighter?  Perhaps since Cobra no longer can maintain a Night Raven in my world without getting tracked back to their hideout base, Cobra has to get smaller, sneakier.

And so the smaller vehicles have been more appealing to me as of late.

And here is where I think I made a bad call for myself in going with the bigger, more "capital" sized vehicles for keepers.  Many of the smaller vehicles I had cut previous.

Some of those, I should have kept.  They are still pricey to obtain, especially in an army-building style.



Cobra is where I think the small vehicles really stand out for me right now.  I'm talking Ferrets, Fangs, HISS tanks, and even Stinger jeeps.  The Hydrofoil is great, but I think the Piranha in multiples would give GIJoe a run for the money. 


So, I made the call and trimmed things away.   But with much fewer vehicles and hopefully soon more space, I would like to start building up my motor pool with more directed focus.

Do you have small vehicles you would like to give up?

What's taking so long?

What's going on at the HQ that's taking so long?   Just no good time, plain and simple.


As you know, the HQ is to be located in the subterranean level of the HQ's outer defensive shell.  As I predicted, I've pretty much only moved Rubbermaids and other boxes of things around in the designated HQ's space.   I have only recently cracked open the audible recordable disc box* for limited playback from a temporary location within the last couple weeks, as an example of the slow progress. 


The junior 'Joes**  and their allies**1 keep things busy, mostly,  as does the real-life income obtaining assignment.***   Other aspects of the  HQ's outer defensive shell also play into the time factor.   Defensive points ranging from water mitigation****  and  terrain development *****, to the replacement of weak, decimated interior and exterior concrete pads******, among various other tasks******* and purchases*********.

To say official HQ missions have been on hiatus for the last 6 months would be correct, pending more time.   On the progress front, the new Eaglehawk has been put on procurement******** while the HQ motor pool facility waits for further building progress. 

With only one service door replacement project to go, and some winterizing projects, progress will hopefully be made so that by years end the HQ shell will be secure so the HQ can be set up for action,and Cobras ability to scheme for power and money can be countered!

The adventures and fun to come!!

Today I am on stand-by alert**********, though, so.... not today.




Water mitigation issue, in this case after a heavy spring snow storm; not figure friendly, even the Eco-Warriors!  (see last photo in post)





A corner which would be great for the HQ space, except no windows, a previous-owner built brick water holder, and that big crack.  No obvious water sighted.....yet!






This is one source of the cracks in the above picture, checking out the snow-salt direction melt/ flow, it is not a recipe for good for those of us wanting to use the subterranean level.  This has been replaced since with a new, level slab.




Backing up further shows sinking, cracking and general wear....., can you guess where water might have been flowing in the limbo area of freeze and thaw cycles over several winters?



 A strange smaller block on top of larger block, possibly to save money (as much as $400) by owners past, but also was used to support the slab on the outer edges....with a depth of just an inch?   An unknown explanation.... but since replaced, hopefully with no issues.

And  what is better than an HQ shell for a guy and his GIJoe collection than a back door that supports a sill plate?   This is the back door, through the garage, which had a loose sill plate on the door and when I went to fix this (thought to be) small issue, revealed some kind of strange patch that wore out awhile ago.
It did not help to have that outside step-slab sinking inward, ricocheting rain and weather right up to the doors bottom, not to mention allowing water to flow off to the right in the picture.  That's the corner of the first photo in the basement where you can see the water seeping through the block.






* CD player
** Kids
**1 neighborhood kids
***Job
**** Gutters
***** grade sloping
****** concrete slabs sliding and sloping, heaved and cracked!
******* lawn mowing, planting trees, foundation block mortar touch-ups, window wells, etc. etc....
********  BBTS "Pile of Loot" feature
********* Dehumidifier, Air conditioner parts,  etc.
********** on-call for work