Yeah, I know seeing as how only a handful of reviewers have gotten their hands on the GI Joe Classified Series and the first series is still months away it’s probably premature to speculate on potential HasLab GI Joe vehicles. But that’s the fun of figure collecting, right? Imagining all the fun possibilities with our favorite lines.
And the sheer excitement of a 6-inch GI Joe line has me going revisiting everything I love about the property from the Larry Hama comics to the cartoon movies like Pyramid of Darkness.
And with HasLab already knocking out Jabba’s Sail Barge for Star Wars fans, a Unicron for Transformers collectors and the tease of a Sentinel for the Marvel Legends line it’s not crazy to think eventually Hasbro might tackle something Joe related.
For the sake of splitting Joe fandom, I decided the list wasn’t going to feature any re-imaginings of classic vehicles. It’s strictly Real American Hero style for these offerings.
In coming up with my list, I considered what Hasbro’s been able to release in some form or fashion through regular channels like the Star Wars Black Series Snowspeeder, Sandspeeder, Speeder Bikes and even a TIE Fighter.
It wouldn’t be shocking to see a Polar Battle Bear, Trouble Bubbles or even an AWE Striker make the cut. I think depending on the assembly, a VAMP could also get released to retail or as exclusive to online distributors.
With that said, let’s go to the list. And in all these cases, you better believe the figure attached to the vehicle would be thrown in as well.
5. Skystriker (with Ace)
This was the signature Joe fighter plane and a hallmark of just about every Joe episode. The Skystriker is the kind of iconic vehicle that has to get done in this format to allow for a cockpit that holds Ace and a co-pilot. Just to accomplish the proper scale of the Skystriker there’s no real chance it could get released at retail and it’s a vehicle a lot of Joe fans would be on board funding.
4. Dragonfly (with Wild Bill)
Just like the Skystriker, the Dragonfly was an all-day, every-day kind of vehicle for the Joes. This was a toss-up between the Tomahawk, but Wild Bill > Lift Ticket and I like the sleeker nature of the Dragonfly. It’s basically all cockpit although this would be a fun vehicle to do a little action feature with rotating blades (slowly) and a working wench.
3. H.I.S.S. Tank (with HISS Driver)
When you think of iconic Cobra vehicles chances are you think of the HISS. It’s the quintessential Cobra tank. I was torn on this as I’m not entirely sure it couldn’t be made in a way that it could be packaged in the box allowing collectors to just stack assemble it. Just in case that’s not feasible and due to its overall importance to Cobra, it made the cut.
2. Cobra Moray Hydrofoil
I’m a big fan of vehicles that I can load a fleet of figures on and the Hydrofoil accomplished that big time. With its big machine guns on the side, torpedoes, missiles and a gun turret this is a fully loaded vehicle capable of doing some major damage to the Joes. It’s the kind of vehicle HasLab might be able to make on the somewhat cheaper scale allowing for collectors to buy more than one. I’m only adding this above the HISS as it would absolutely be a large scale vehicle.
1. Killer WHALE (with Cutter)
The WHALE was one of my favorite Joe vehicles that I didn’t own. It was featured in some classic storylines in the comic and was a fixture of the cartoon. This seems like the best use of the HasLab format with the ability for Hasbro to basically size up the original model and make it a legit troop carrier. Sure it would be a bit of a display shelf hog, but that’s what bathtubs are for, right?
So that’s my list. Let’s debate away and see how you’d prioritize Joe and Cobra vehicles you’d like to see if Hasbro adds one to the HasLab schedule.
