Ferret ATV (Bright Blue Version)
If there’s one vehicle that for me exemplifies 1985’s full-on entrance into the fantastic and unusual elements that came to define the Real American Hero era of GI Joe, it’s the Ferret. I can remember it vividly from the first comic book appearance of the Crimson Twins. A four-wheeled off-road vehicle was a perfect complement for a couple of gaudily dressed circus acrobats who also happened to be in charge of an elite unit of undercover Cobra agents. It’s all so crazy that somehow it makes sense. Have I mentioned before that I love GI Joe?
As a kid, I wasn’t too fond of the smaller vehicles, in fact the only small vehicle I had before the Ferret was the Cobra CLAW. Something about the Ferret struck me as an 80’s kid, most likely the fact that it was a real vehicle. I couldn’t get a real one, so this was the next best thing.
The first release of the Ferret was a deep Cobra blue, but the mail-order version available from the late 80s through the 90’s was bright blue. Some foreign releases were also bright blue, as was the French version I picked up in the 90’s. As an adult collector and a lover of all Joe things brightly colored, it was a fun pickup and now serves as a boss ride for my ’84 and ’85 Cobras.
A ninja on a quad. Made perfect sense to me when I was 12.
The Ferrett was one of my faves when I was a kid. But, only Tomax and Xamot were allowed to ride it. To this day the pulley and rope from the Twins sits in the storage compartment of my Ferrett. The small size and easy playability kept it around in my collection long after many other 85 vehicles were retired or broken. I’d like to pick up one these mail away versions. But, mail away vehicle prices have gotten pretty high and I don’t want it that much…yet.
I have the Ferret, 2 Tiger POW and the R.O.C. version: I love’em!
I never had the Ferret or CLAW as a kid but a friend did. Decades later, another friend of mine gave me his collection and they were both to be found among the massive loot haul, if memory serves. Lanard has sold a lot of similar ATVs based on the Ferret’s popularity through their long-running Corps line, but the original Cobra version remains the coolest yet.