Hello again all, Ol Yeller has once again been a busy boy, and after visiting his local Big Lots came away with three more Power Team Elite items that he figures fellow Joe fans might be interested in. For those who don't know or didn't read my earlier post, PTE has realistic military figures & vehicles in the 3 3/4" inch scale we all know and love. So far the only place I've seen PTE items are at clearance store Big Lots, but I know they're available elsewhere. They are very reasonably priced, with most vehicles ranging from $10-20 US, and large playsets top the line out at $30. The figures aren't so great...but I've been pretty impressed with the vehicles so far, and some of the weapons are pretty cool.
Like I said, I've got three items for ya: the howitzer, the patrol boat-river, and the Chenowth-style desert buggy. Let's start with the howitzer.
You'll have to forgive my lack of artillery knowledge; I searched online and could not find the exact cannon this toy is modeled after, but I know it exists...because they have one as a memorial in one of the parks in my hometown.
This is a BIG GUN. While not as massive as say, the Thunderclap's gun, the whole toy itself is almost exactly as long as the Mean Dog. It makes the Mountain Howitzer look itty-bitty by comparison. The barrel of the howitzer itself is about 18 inches long. Uh oh, I just realized I'm using American standards of measurement on a Canadian website...
The howitzer sits on a trailer that has four dual wheels on the back, and there is a small hitch with single wheels on either side that can attach to the front for transport. Other features include elevation and rotation of the gun, a moveable shell cradle (?? Again, I'm not an artillery person but it looks like this device would assist with loading and unloading the gun) and an opening hatch on the breech. This is one of the few electronic PTE items out there, as pressing a button on the left side of the cannon near the breech causes a loud firing sound, followed by an explosion. A red light in the barrel also lights up when "firing."
Realism suffers a little bit. The legs that would fold out to stabilize the howitzer during firing are permanently locked in the transport position. Also, the howitzer doesn't seem to be made as of sturdy a plastic as Joe toys or even the other PTE offerings. And the way the cannon is held at its elevation makes me shudder: it's the old system where a flexible piece of plastic attached to the bottom of the barrel locks in to a centered gear piece and clicks into place as you raise or lower the barrel. I hate this system because repeated raisings/lowerings will wear out the flexible plastic and you'll get a droopy barrel (though to its credit this PTE item has a lot sturdier plastic used for this than other vehicles I have seen...like the big green The Corps tank that's out there).
I checked the howitzer's Joe compatiblity...while the hitch would not fit on my Mean Dog (which has a thicker, more reinforced hitch post than earlier vehicles) it WOULD fit on my Vamp rather easily with some gentle maneuvering. So your older Joe vehicles could easily haul this bad boy into battle.
The howitzer also comes with various figures, vests, weapons, and other accessories, but I consider them more of a bonus than a part of the toy...especially because the figures are absolute crap compared to Joes. Overall, this isn't a bad vehicle, and it's nice to have a realistic artillery piece for your Joes to use. While not as great of a value as some of the other PTE stuff at $18 US, it's still worth a look.
