1984 Eaton’s Catalog A-Team
We’re going off the rails tonight, but it’s still tangentially Joe related–in my eyes, at least. I’m fascinated by the myriad me-too military toy lines that arose in the early 80s after GI Joe’s relaunch broke into the big time. Sure, Hasbro cribbed the o-ring and rivet format from Mego/Takara (and Hasbro itself by proxy if you want to get into genealogy) but Joe’s success made the construction style more widespread than it had been before. Galoob got in on the game with Gen. Patch and later its small-scale A-Team line. The bodies shared parts here and there, but the heads were nicely done, if a little too happy-looking. Other companies also used the same body molds and accessories for Demon Enemy/National Defense, among others.
I had the gift set that included all four team members, a play mat and a bevy of accessories. This thing got almost as much play in the days after Christmas as my Joe gifts. It really was a battle in a box, albeit without enemies to fight.
”I pity you if you don’t like G. I.Joe-says Mr.T”
I came across that 4 pack about 9 years ago [the same day i bought my namesake]. I didnt know who the other 3 were supposed to be. But i definatly knew who mr T was
I had the combat headquarters as a kid. I still have the 4 figures and some of the equipment.
My younger brother got that 4 pack and the playmat. I wasn’t interested in the figures since they weren’t swivel arm. But, the gear was decent enough. My Copperhead wore the pack that the some rockets in it for quite a while. The A Team van later became my default “terrorist” van. It would pull up to a Joe or Cobra compound with a bunch of crappy figures inside who represented some group with a cause: usually armed with uzi’s or M-16’s. They’d attack and then speed away in the van before it was blown up by a Stun, Mauler or bazooka.
Not pictured here is the A Team tank. It is all black and (if you remove the stickers) is a perfect match for Cobra. It has a turret and a cockpit for 2 figures. It’s a bit small, but works well enough with early Joes if you can find it. I think it came with an orange cannon that could be placed in a trailer behind it.
I remember the A team line also having a half track. A guy i went to school with used it as a cobra vehicle.
It’s a 6-wheeler, but kinda looks like a halftrack with a tank turret on top. I got one missing the turret; it’s a touch small, but still neat. I kinda like the A-team figures, but they’re fragile these days.
Great toys!
I’ve never seen the Command Centre before. It’s so out of scale and sparsely equipped… I love it!
I wonder if Hannibal got a sweet deal when Barbie moved out of that Dream House?
It was made for the 6 1/2 scale A-Team figures and still looks too bug for them!
They were so cheap, making the bad guys with 5 points of articulation! You’d think they’d just reuse captain patch bodies with new heads.