Vehicles To Get
 

Most of my experience in buying 1/18th scale vehicles tend to be Joe/Cobra vehicles, from Hasbro. There are many excellent photos posted here with other brands of vehicles. So much so that I am now looking at other brands.

Recently I bought a 21st Century Navy SEAL Tactical Jeep and I'm impressed with the details of it. The plastics are of the type that takes to paint very nicely, so customizing and weathering is friendly. So now I am looking at Hummers, WWII German armored tracked vehicles, half-tracks, an ME-262, and others. But with various brands out there, which ones would you recommend?

For example, there's several companies doing Hummers, desert versions. Looking at the humvees on this page:
http://smalljoes.com/cgi-bin/pgen.c...tId=61&Start=24
and this page:
http://smalljoes.com/cgi-bin/pgen.c...tId=61&Start=48
Which ones is worth buying? Is it friendly to Joe scale? Doors open? Wheels turn or rotate?

So, I'm curious, which brand would you most recommend, and which (hasbro and non-hasbro) vehicle do you feel is essential to get?

BTW, anyone has experience with this 21st Century M16 quad 50 halftrack?

I purchased one a few months back from a local Hobbyshop... I returned it within a day. I was very disappointed with the design of it, you can't fit figures in it, you can't take it apart, you can barely roll it without the wheels snapping off.

I am very careful with my stuff and I am not one to be rough, yet in the few hours I had this"1/2-track" three of the rear wheels broke off (non repairable).

Over all the detail was ok, but it was not worth the money spent... Bravo Team (Target Exclusives) have a 1/2-track that I would recommend over the other. The Bravo Team one doesn't have all the opening areas and removable accessories, but its built better and can actually fit soldiers (25th, ARAH, and Clones).

That's my answer and I'm sticking to it.

I have two 21st century humvees, the desert soft top, and the woodland camo one, and they are both sweet vehicles. All the doors open, the wheels rotate, and the detail is awesome. The soft top on the desert humvee is removable, which gives it great playability. The only problem I've had with 21st century stuff is that the smaller parts of the vehicles tend to be a little fragile.

Have you considered Power Team Elite's desert humvee?
It's probably a bit less on the detailed side than BBi or 21st Century's stuff, but it's cheaper and a lot more durable.

And from what I heard, it features a double-hinged roof hatch neither the 21st Century or BBi versions possess.

Hrm, very interesting.

Concerning humvee's.. I am looking at this one specifically: Elite Force USMC Super Humvee.

There is a woodland camo one which I also want to get, that one is from 21 Century...here.

I have not considered Power Team Elite's humvee, but I am looking at one seriously. To me it looks smaller than the 21 Century one.. How does it scale to our Joes?


Concerning the half-track, that is disappointing about the 21 Century one. But thanks for info on that other one. I googled it and cound a store selling one, I think. Any one experienced with this online store? Bad Cat Toys

Anyway, the Elite Force Abrams looks interesting.

I have the Elite Force USMC Super Humvee and love it. Well worth the money.

I have all the vehicles mentioned in this thread and I have to say that they are all worth it. I have that halftrack and have not had any problems at all. Maybe you got a bad one or something, but mine is sturdy enough. It's not meant for rough play tho. The Super Hummvee is extremely worth it. I love it. I want more. The Abrams is over the top goodness. Perfect in every way, also very large. The PTE hummers are good, not as detailed, but put some paint and they work quite well. I dont have pics of the halftrack posted anywhere, (although my custom PAC-RAT has the quad 50 on it) but the rest of the stuff mentioned has made an appearance or two in my pictures. The Abrams was recently featured in my dio story, which is a rehash of some older pictures from my beginning on here.

As long as this topic is here...
There are a few things in Toys'R'Us's "True Heroes" series I'm looking at, wondering if they're worth their price tag.
Maybe someone here has them and can tell me how they stack up:

Military Attack Vehicle & ATV (25$ Canadian/20$ US + sales tax) - vehicle looks neat enough on its own, standing wheels and cannon mode looks like a fun bonus, ATV doesn't look half bad... wondering mainly about the toy's durability, and if the chainguns can be attached to the vehicle. A little bonus is that I've got use for the head of one of the included figures for a custom. Downside is, price tag is a bit high...

Chap Mei Oil Bunker & Jeep playset (17$ Canadian/14$ US + sales tax) - I have NO interested in the bunker. All I want is the jeep. Can't decide if it's worth that pretty big price tag though.

Chap Mei "Navy SEAL Boat" (40$ Canadian/32$ US + sales tax) - Price tag is a bit more reasonable than the other two given its size and it being good quality (after all, it's Chap Mei). It's also pretty much my only alternative to a Moray hydrofoil (that thing is simply too brittle to survive my storage, if the stories I heard are true). Downside is... it's really big. Not sure I have sufficient storage space for it.

So yeah. Anyone who's gotten these or had the opportunity to play with them, I'd love to hear your thoughts on them so I can decide if they're worth plopping down the money for them.

I have seen the hummer thing and the other thing, in person, they are somewhat cheesy, but have potential. The attack boat is awesome. very cool. Check my recent pictures for what I did to mine. It is the same one that is in the files section recently. I would highly recommend the boat if you need some naval power. The other stuff is so so, depends on how bad you need stuff. I personally passed on them, but I have lots of vehicles, so I didnt "need" them.

That Chap Mei Navy Seal boat is decent. It has a wheel on the bottom, off center so that when it rotates when the boat is pushed on the ground, it rises and falls as if it's riding the waves. It has it's uses as a patrol boat, and it seems to fit the joes well. Will have to do something to add foot pegs so joes could stand, especially in the back part. The six cannons on the back resemble the Ontos (sp?) cannons, and is easily removeable. One of the figures has the face that resembles that Dirty Jobs host. The machine guns on the bow and sides don't look so hot.. but can be removed.

I think it's a great boat for customizing. It resembles the Cobra Hydrofoil. Might look good as a compliment to the Hydrofoil. I haven't seen anyone paint this with Python Patrol colors, but even that might look good on this boat.

I'm probably debating the Hummer thingie solely on the fact that I keep not finding anything... Unless someone actually comes out and says "Get it. It's actually a lot of fun" (with proof to back it, of course), I'll probably keep passing it on.
As for the attack boat, I don't really want to mod it beyond a more Cobra-worthy color scheme. It definitely looks quite ferocious as is.


Well like I said... I'd be getting this INSTEAD of a Moray. The Moray is fragile and expensive (all versions of it! Even the GIJoe one from 2005! :eek: ), so this would be my big Cobra naval thingie, with one or two of those small Corps attack boats with the humongous cannons and maybe a Hydro-sled or two to complement the fleet. My Joes would probably use two of the following: Valor Vs Venom Pirhana boat, PTE Patrol Boat or Corps Patrol Boat, depending on what I can get cheap enough. I've already got a Tiger Fish for the speed aspect of combat. :p
All that to say... I don't want this to complement a Hydrofoil, I basically want it to replace it.
(Also, why do the side guns on that thing need to be removed when no one says the same thing about the Moray? :p )

By the way, Death_at_Midnight, I totally wanted to show you this earlier but couldn't remember the link:
http://www.thetoyroom-redux.com/specfeat_hmvcomp1.html
Comparison of numerous Joe-scale humvees. Hopefully it can help you make a decision.

Just an update, the Elite Force USMC Super Humvee is well worth the money. One came in today and I'm rather impressed. Probably will buy one or two more.

I'd say the tank from "The Corps" toy line

http://www.amazon.com/Lanard-03566-...k/dp/B000HEG69I

http://www.toysrus.com/product/inde...oductId=3147750

F-22 from toys R us.
Best
F-22
EVAR

may more to scale than the thunderwing, while not nearly as heavy. a nice sturdy build and easily sits our figures. (so far pilot Scarlet is this thing's main pilot) comes with 4 JDAMs and 2 AMRAAMs. although the jet says Motormax, it has PTE written all over it. the missiles off the F-18 from PTE work on it, but are a tad bit snug.

be warned, the figure it comes with should go to the same spot as the box and twist ties.

Yeah, that thing looks incredibly sweet, but I've no room for such large aircraft, so my Joes must make due with the X-16 Ghoststriker and a Corps stealth jet and Cobras must live with the Sky Sweeper and two Corps firebat-wannabes.

I have my eyes set on the F-22. Don't have room for it, so will hang it from the ceiling for the moment until I get a bigger house. Hope to get married later this year. Not sure where I'll be once that happens, might stay in the States, or move abroad. So I'm now trying to be selective to what vehicles I buy. But that F-22 is nice.. too nice to pass.

I'm also now looking at improving Joe armor. Have a vintage MOBAT, 2 new VAMPs, a Blackhawk. That's it. Looking at buying an Abrams. There's a bunch of very nice Vietname era and WWII armor out there that's been tempting me big time.

Also, COBRA needs some more wheels. I'm impressed with that custom vehicle recently been posted as a link to a Spanish site. It was transporting BATs and had a LEGO robot. Does anyone know what vehicle is that? Found two troop carriers at TRU today. None match exactly that vehicle, but both have enough room to transport troops or BATs.

So, ideas on armor?

Ideas for troop transport?

Abrams, eh? Well Frank did a review of some Abrams tanks over here:
http://www.joedios.com/dioramas/sho....php?i=9620&c=9
Otherwise, there's the Power Team Elite one:
http://www.generalsjoes.com/reviews/PTE/tank.html


Troops transport... well there's the Indiana Jones transport truck, or the Power Team Elite Flatbed and Covered Humvees...