1991 GI Joe Product Catalog: Part 5

We at the final stretch of the 1991 catalog, and this page is all about Joe vehicles. The three new features rides are instantly recognizable as 1990s efforts. Not only does each one incorporate some form of brightly colored plastic, but each also features a firing weapon. I can remember looking at the early 80s packaging and taking note of the “weapons do not shoot” blurb. It seemed strange to me at the time that kids would need to be told that the paintings on the front of the box didn’t depict what the toy inside was capable of doing. Now that the cannons, etc did actually work, the ad copy was loudly declaring the innovations. These days, toy packaging goes even further into CYA territory about the items’ abilities by including phrases like “toy depicted in fantasy situation.”

In 1991, construction changes creep into the line, and many are not for the better. We start to see a softer type of plastic being used for vehicle shells, along with fewer snap-on parts. The effect is one that makes the later line offerings look cheaper than what’s come before. Despite this, I find some things to like among them. The Brawler is my favorite of the bunch, and although the bright highlights are a distraction, I enjoy the features, and the tank cuts an impressively large silhouette. It’s one of the last of its kind among the 1990s JOe vehicles. The Attack Cruiser is an odd piece of asymmetrical armor. The glider bomb has always seemed to me to fit Cobra’s mode of fighting rather than the Joes. I suppose something like this nowadays could be used as a recon drone launcher. The last new vehicle on the page, the Badger, is an interesting and underrated one-man fast attack vehicle. Of course, it’s hard to overlook the color. At the bottom of the page sits the General, the monstrous holdover from the previous year. One of these days, I’ll get around to an article about the toy itself. It’s simultaneously elaborate and cheesy.

And that wraps up the 1991 catalog. The product for the most part doesn’t live up to the glory days of the line, but at least some of the presentation recalls the style of previous catalogs. A final note about the vehicles for the year in comparison to the 1980s–I’m still surprised at the lack of driver figures for larger sets like the Battle Wagon and Brawler. It’s a GI Joe tradition that seemed to fade as the series went into its final years.