SWAT RTV (2008)
The Hammer was one of the vehicles I’d missed out on, but always admired from afar. Until I happened upon a large lot of Joe stuff in the early 2000s, I hadn’t had hands-on an example. The mere fact it seated four figures was enough to push it into my favorites. The relaunch era’s remake of the vehicle as the Brawler didn’t strike my fancy thanks to its missile battery and paint job, but I’d still like to pick one up.
Thankfully this detailed ride made its way back to us via the collectors club in 2008. This is the sort of exclusive item that I think has been missing for a while: an older toy plucked from seeming oblivion and slightly modified. Of course, the club can only offer molds that are accessible, so maybe this is all just wishful thinking. At least they were able to leave the missile launcher out.
The Hammer mold works well as a SWAT vehicle. I’ve long thought its low-slung profile would be a liability in combat outside of a paved street, and now it has the perfect environment in which to function. Imagine this monster flying down city streets ready to take the fight to crime. I’d love to pile all the DEF crew (including the Battle Corps Guys) to run roughshod over some Headhunters.
The good thing about the toy are the modular weapons, since you can pull the heavy ordnance if you feel so inclined. I personally would want to limit collateral damage to the cityscape, but then again we’re talking about a fantasy situation. Maybe it’s cool to go full Robocop and worry about demolished buildings later.
Not sure why they bothered, the VvsV Humvees were far and way superior. Maybe Hasbro no longer had the license to make those, though and the Hammer was different enough to get a pass.
I had to get a Hammer when I first started collecting in the late 1990’s. They were hard to find and expensive for the time. I got a boxed version and opened it up. It was then that I realized it kind of sucked. It was brittle and difficult to get figures into. I sold it and didn’t buy the 2002 repaint. It was probably the most disappointing Joe vehicle I’ve ever tracked down and completely removed my focus from vehicles at all for 15 years.