Tiger Fish (1989)
Is there anything that can’t be made cooler with a animal mouth motif painted on the front of it? Not that the Devilfish needed any help in the coolness department. For a small vehicle, it sure rose to the top of my list quickly in ’86 and saw tons of use both in the living room and pool. I suppose its exciting first appearance in Marvel issue #47 was a large part of the impression it made on me.
Repainted as the Tiger Fish, the mold gets a new lease on life. The tiger stripes break up the overall shape. The red bits add even more color and also call back somewhat to the original’s hull color. It may not have been intentional, but I like it nevertheless.
I think this design ranks up with the VAMP as a mold that could be done in twelve different colors and still be interesting. I imagine that Some extra tooled detail bits could have been worked in as well to create slightly different looks. How about a snap-on roll cage for the cockpit, or a missile launcher in place of the guns. Sounds like a cool idea for a customizer.
The original Devil Fish was my very first Joe vehicle. And as a huge fan of Tiger Force, I must say that the tiger paint really makes this one look that much more awesome.
I’ve never owned any Tiger Force vehicle. They’ve always seemed a bit…much. But, you’re right in that you can’t go wrong with the Devilfish. May have to rethink this one….
I don’t know if the Tiger Fish was my first Joe vehicle, but it’s the one I have the strongest memories of, so I’m kind of assuming it is. I’m sure I got it to go with my Tiger Force Flint and Roadblock figures. I know I played that thing to death. I was pretty careful with my toys as a kid, but I know for a fact that the years of constant use led to the piece on top of the seat getting broken and it wouldn’t surprise me if I wore out the rudder mechanism. It’s a great vehicle and I was very happy to have it. I didn’t know about the original Devil Fish since it came out a little bit before my time in the Joe line, but the repainted version I got thanks to Tiger Force introduced me to an incredible Joe boat.
”Original two-tone Orange/Grey 1986 version, or remake 1989 Tiger Force, the Devilfish has its support,in all collectors.”
Tiger Force had two water vehicles, Python Patrol had none, unless you lived in Brazil. But then I doubt the Swampfire in boat mode could take on the Tiger Shark or Tiger Fish.
But Cobra had a fair amount water craft in the regular line around that time, while GI JOE didn’t. From 1987-1991 the only new Joe water items were the Scuba Pack and the Warthog…sort of. I never saw the Vindicator as a water vehicle, while Cobra got the Sea Ray, the Bugg, Battle Barge, Battlefield Robot Hovercraft, Piranha and Hammerhead.
GI JOE used all the old ones repainted, Tiger Fish, Tiger Shark, Night Shade, Night Striker, Night Ray and Sky Sharc.