We now return you to our regularly scheduled entry...
Okay, Wal*Mart redeemed themselves by having the new G.I. Joe tank in stock. The G.I. Joe Patriot Grizzly.
This is certainly a piece that I've been waiting for since they first put pictures of the tank out. Apparently the name, according to Spy Troops: The Movie, is a compromise between the designers. Regardless, from tip of the barrel to the back, its about 2 feet long(roughly). Size is something that the PG certainly has. There are 3 compartments for figures, a driver seat(with an exposed cockpit -_-), a closed cockpit next to this station, and a gunner up in the turret. There are several pegs located throughout the body, for figures to stand on. Coloring has the tank in desert tans and browns. Sticker placement is rather good, with several military desgins, like the upside down V on the sides. Interesting to note, some people have gotten the PG with the "Cobra Kills" sticker upside down, but mine was rightside up.
The turret can move right or left, though it cannot turn 360 degrees. The gunner station has a large .50 caliber looking gun mounted on an arm. With this in place, the hatch cannot close, though. The turret features two swivel guns mounted towards the back, a movable radar dish, an antenna, and equipment racks. The hopper for the missles opens up and holds a bunch of the little grey missles.
The back of the tank features a covered storage compartment next to the handle for the "Action Attack" feature.
Action Attack!:
This is a very cool feature. It replaces the much lamented "Sound Attack" feature. What the Action Attack does is simple: Makes this a playable toy, in my opinion. First up, the tank does have sound. Moving the tank forward or backwards activates a tank start up sound followed by a driving sound that continues until you stop moving it. Then the tank has an idling sound, followed by a shut down noise. Next, the handle, once in position controls the turret, moving right or left, depending on which way you twist it. There is a turret moving sound that accompanies this. Depressing the trigger will fire off one of the missle rounds complete with sounds, first the firing of the round, then the round traveling through the air and finally, the round striking the target. If you fire more than one round, the traveling and explosion sounds will only follow after the last round leaves the barrel. The missles travel quite far, too, so its not a wimpy firing mechanism. It will fire all the rounds in the hopper too, and there are a lot of them. Lastly, the knob on top of the handle moves the gunner station around, with accompanying machine gun sounds.
Gripes:
First and foremost, you have non-functioning treads. The tank rolls on 4(or five if the handle is down and in use) small wheels on the back of the treads. Now, I'd love to have rolling treads, it's not going to take too much away from this tank. Another gripe is the fact that the barrel doesn't elevate and the turret doesn't traverse beyond a certain arc. This is due to the firing mechanisim so its understandable. I'd love it to be more tank like in this as well, but again, I don't much mind. The only other major gripe is the G.I. Joe logo on the sides; it's the "doll-head" logo that Hasbro adopted a few waves ago. Thankfully, this logo is going bye-bye in the near future.
For $34.95 its a bit pricy, but you are getting one huge(and heavy) tank. If I had the money and space, I'd certainly buy more of these. In my opinion, this is the M.O.B.A.T. for this line. Like that first Joe tank 20 years ago, this one is just plain fun to play with.
This is certainly a piece that I've been waiting for since they first put pictures of the tank out. Apparently the name, according to Spy Troops: The Movie, is a compromise between the designers. Regardless, from tip of the barrel to the back, its about 2 feet long(roughly). Size is something that the PG certainly has. There are 3 compartments for figures, a driver seat(with an exposed cockpit -_-), a closed cockpit next to this station, and a gunner up in the turret. There are several pegs located throughout the body, for figures to stand on. Coloring has the tank in desert tans and browns. Sticker placement is rather good, with several military desgins, like the upside down V on the sides. Interesting to note, some people have gotten the PG with the "Cobra Kills" sticker upside down, but mine was rightside up.
The turret can move right or left, though it cannot turn 360 degrees. The gunner station has a large .50 caliber looking gun mounted on an arm. With this in place, the hatch cannot close, though. The turret features two swivel guns mounted towards the back, a movable radar dish, an antenna, and equipment racks. The hopper for the missles opens up and holds a bunch of the little grey missles.
The back of the tank features a covered storage compartment next to the handle for the "Action Attack" feature.
Action Attack!:
This is a very cool feature. It replaces the much lamented "Sound Attack" feature. What the Action Attack does is simple: Makes this a playable toy, in my opinion. First up, the tank does have sound. Moving the tank forward or backwards activates a tank start up sound followed by a driving sound that continues until you stop moving it. Then the tank has an idling sound, followed by a shut down noise. Next, the handle, once in position controls the turret, moving right or left, depending on which way you twist it. There is a turret moving sound that accompanies this. Depressing the trigger will fire off one of the missle rounds complete with sounds, first the firing of the round, then the round traveling through the air and finally, the round striking the target. If you fire more than one round, the traveling and explosion sounds will only follow after the last round leaves the barrel. The missles travel quite far, too, so its not a wimpy firing mechanism. It will fire all the rounds in the hopper too, and there are a lot of them. Lastly, the knob on top of the handle moves the gunner station around, with accompanying machine gun sounds.
Gripes:
First and foremost, you have non-functioning treads. The tank rolls on 4(or five if the handle is down and in use) small wheels on the back of the treads. Now, I'd love to have rolling treads, it's not going to take too much away from this tank. Another gripe is the fact that the barrel doesn't elevate and the turret doesn't traverse beyond a certain arc. This is due to the firing mechanisim so its understandable. I'd love it to be more tank like in this as well, but again, I don't much mind. The only other major gripe is the G.I. Joe logo on the sides; it's the "doll-head" logo that Hasbro adopted a few waves ago. Thankfully, this logo is going bye-bye in the near future.
For $34.95 its a bit pricy, but you are getting one huge(and heavy) tank. If I had the money and space, I'd certainly buy more of these. In my opinion, this is the M.O.B.A.T. for this line. Like that first Joe tank 20 years ago, this one is just plain fun to play with.