Adventure Team 6 Wheeled ATV (2010)
Oh, what could have been. When the collectors club announced its series of small-scale versions of the Adventure Team, I was excited about the possibilities. Sure, it would be great to integrate these legendary members of the GI Joe legacy into the smaller scale, but I was imagining the translations of the Adventure Team’s vehicles, accessories and mission-specific outfits as much as the iconic basic figures themselves. In the end, we did get a nice set of most of the main figures (minus the Man of Action and the African American figures–bummer) as well as a Dr. Venom. However, the product didn’t move fast enough for the club to warrant more releases beyond the Sea Adventurer and his sub. Par for the course, I suppose, since much of the club’s output outside of convention and yearly member exclusives seems to hang about quite a while.
The ATV is a passable effort, considering what the club had available to work with. We all would probably have flipped over an actual scale representation of the original AT 6-wheeler, but it just wasn’t to be. On the positive side, I like what they attempted here, using the Battle Blitz mold’s most ridiculous feature to interesting effect. The Battle Blitz was one of those chunky, undersized vehicles from the 2000s series, and one of its features was a secret land luge. This feature, while unique, was ultimately laughable as it meant there was a poor soul who had to ride in the belly of the vehicle, waiting to be shot out at high speed. I wonder who drew the short straw? For the AT release, the Battle Luge Guy was nixed, and the empty space was used to store some nicely equipped weapons ans accessory crates. Now the Adventure Team were no strangers to weaponry, but I have to question what the team needs to do with an M-16, Dragunov and tactical shotgun. Those pygmy gorillas must have gotten pretty fierce within the last 45 years.
Overall, the chunky look of the mold fits the concept well, and all things considered the ends result was a nice extra. I think most folks simply cared about the figure anyway. Had the series continued, I would have hoped for some of the 80s motorized action packs to make a re-appearance. Those things were right up the nutty alley of Adventure Team gear like the chest winch. Alas, a missed opportunity.
Nice, but why can’t, or won’t they just make small Joe replicas of all of the 60’s, and 70’s vehicles, helicopters, etc? The technology to do this kind of thing actually does exist. Or am I wrong? Isn’t it called 3D printing? Or am I missing something? Or do fans, and collectors, have to send millions, or billions, of emails, letters, phone calls, or whatever, to these folks, to let them know that we want these things made? Or are there not enough G.I. Joe fans that want 1:18 scale versions of those classic toys? There is this guy on a website called G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club, at http://www.gijoeclub.com, and he calls himself Ltfalcon. And he made some 1:18 scale replicas of some of the Adventure Team vehicles from the 70’s. He’s got some photos of them on the website. So, if he can do that, a big company like Hasbro can also do it. As for these Adventure Team figures, I wish that they had been available in o-ring versions back in the early 2000’s.
It’s no Desert Fox, but I do like the inclusion of the crates.
These were strong ideas. But, they were weaker club offerings. Had they been done a couple of years earlier when the online Joe community was larger and stronger, they might have fared better. But, this sculpting style was, basically, dead by the time these came out so their market was pretty limited from the get go. Timing plays a big role in product success. But, that’s a function of knowing your customers and their desires.
The Adventure Team has really always been a black ops unit masquerading as a civilian science and disaster-relief agency, so heavy weaponry is pretty much par for the course (see Secret Mission to Spy Island, Black Widow Rendezvous, Magnum Power, et al). One could argue that there’s a direct line of descent from the Vietnam-era Special Forces “A-Teams” (as represented by the original G.I. Joe Green Berets) to the Adventure Team, to Operational Detachment Delta, AKA “G.I. Joe”.