G.I. Joe Spy Troops Vehicles - Road Rebel
While I may be a diehard G.I. Joe fan, and I will defend the new sculpt G.I. Joe Vs. Cobra figures to my utmost ability, I have to say that Hasbro is really missing the boat on most of their recent vehicles. Back in the day, even though there were some pretty bad vehicles, Hasbro was able to tread the line between unrealistic, but still maintaining a cool, fun atmosphere. These new ones, however, are just as unrealistic, but not nearly as fun.
Even when I first saw the Road Rebel, I wasn't too sure about it. It was like it was a 10 ton tank crammed into a 500 pound bag, and just did NOT look right. The gun was HUGE, the shape was awkward, and I just could not find a way to work it into my Joeverse. But sometimes when the vehicle actually comes out, I can find some way to work it in. That's going to be tough in this case. The Road Rebel is sleek and somewhat cool in shape. A small, one-man cockpit, nice angled treads and some pretty interesting styling. But that MASSIVE gun just looks weird. The best I can do with this is to think of it as a somewhat mobile missile defense system. The driver drives it to the designated location, puts it in "defensive mode" (a little side-mode, where the flaps flip down and at least give it a little support) and then leave it there to defend. Lord knows if someone tried to actually fire that thing while the vehicle was moving, it could get messy.
At any rate, even with a mild purpose of the vehicle, I just don't see where Hasbro was going with this. It is a little interesting, but just doesn't really do anything for me. It's baffling to me that Hasbro can make great vehicles like the Sand Razor, Night Attack Chopper, and the upcoming Patriot Tank, but then all of these other vehicles just fall short.
It's not like the figure is really a redeeming quality either. This is yet another version of Big Ben. This time they mix the parts up a little, giving him Tomahawk's body and legs, but the color scheme is bland and it just isn't something I really think I'll use. I can think of 3 other versions of Big Ben I'd rather use than this one, and they all came out within the last year and a half. :)
All in all, if you're a figure completist like me, you'll get it for the Big Ben. If not, don't stress over it, and I'd say save your money for the Patriot Tank or for Wave 6.
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