Iron Grenadiers Stealth AGP (2005)
The AGP is one of those vehicles about which I find myself saying, “Oh yeah, that exists.” I’m not trying to be rude, but the thing just doesn’t hold much interest for me. I also have no nostalgia for it, since I wasn’t collecting the toys at the time of its release. Even among the Iron Grenadiers vehicles, it seems like the odd man out.
The Stealth AGP from the 2005 JoeCon should provide more interest to me, considering that much of the vehicle is made up of translucent plastic. I LOVE translucent toys. Crystar, Micronauts and Tron are some of my favorite action figures, so it would seem natural to love this variation. The color scheme is a partial color of the original AGP. Okay, that’s something else to pique my interest. Maybe if it had been molded in a transparent, uncolored plastic, I would have been more excited. I could even have put a Super Powers Wonder Woman inside to stand in for the invisible jet Kenner never made.
This is the one Joe Con exclusive vintage piece that I really wish I could run down. I remember being kind of fascinated with the AGP even though I didn’t have one (probably because my brain thought the Nullifier was pretty cool). Again, nothing I think of as a hole in my collection, but it fascinated me for some reason and I’d kind of like to find this version or a vintage one some day. It’s a neat piece and like you, Rob, I love the translucent plastic and I’m a sucker for just about anything that does that.
I found my ’88 AGP the other day. Like you, I was out of toys when it came out. But, my younger brother had it. So, I was familiar with it. But, it was the only enemy aircraft I had in the mid 1990’s when I came back to collecting. So, I have a soft spot for it from that time. It’s an odd design, but I do like it, if only because the pilot is ludicrously exposed and that fits with the Cobra motif of exposing their highly trained operators of stupidly expensive equipment to the maximum amount of enemy fire.
I was never a fan of the AGP, but I really do think Wonder Woman’s invisible jet is probably better left to pretending her figure’s flying around in it rather than having an actual toy made.
I thought manner did make an invisible jet? Let me ask the ol’ Internet’s.
Nope
Mego did for their 3 3/4″ Superheroes line in the late 70’s. It was really small.
http://www.megomuseum.com/heroes/tower.shtml
”This Iron Grenadier version,( 2005 ),of the 1988 Iron Grenadiers AGP looks almost identical.If you remove the black jet engines and replace them with, the v1 AGP(1988) red jet engines, replace the oval clear canopy, with the v1 AGP(1988) red canopy, then anyone would have something that would look totally awesome today.”
The one I got at the convention had a base wing that was shorted some plastic in the wing. Let’s just say not all missiles could be used and it leaned on the landing pad. I didn’t catch it at the convention, I didn’t even look at it there…., we were told to check the Sky Hawks, though, and I did check them. Mailed back to the club hoping for a replacement…., disappeared forever. Stealth!
The V1 was never released in the UK. A shame. I liked it. The figure was odd but rumour has it, Nullifier was originally designed as part of the 1987 G.I.JOE Movie ” Cobra – La subtheme which got cancelled at design stage after the movie went straight to video and the 3 pack didn’t sell well. I’ve seen design drawings for a Cobra – La Cycle and looking at Ol’ Nullifier, he fits the bill as its driver…I also imagine the windscreen being made of a super tough experimental material preventing harm coming to the pilot. Destro was good like that. Rob, if you dislike it, sell it. ☺
Destros army had the potential to be the best. But All his vehicles are terribly designed suicide machines. They wouldn’t last ten minutes on a battlefield!
The agp probably couldn’t even fly, the razor back has an even bigger windshield than the Havoc, the helicopter tank might be the most bizar. No helicopter that size could lift off carrying that much weight. And how is it a tank with no turret or main gun?
At least some of the bf2000 line is plausible as a weapon system…….