Love 'em or hate em, I think we all owe the Joe vs Cobra/Valor vs Venom and Spytroops lines a debt of gratitude. After all, before them 3 3/4" Joes were pretty much off the mainstream toy radar. Sure, there were some great rerelease offerings at Toys R Us and some new DTC stuff, but that was pretty much it. Walk into Wal-Mart during those years looking for 3 3/4" military figures and you'd walk out with a bunch of that crappy Corps! stuff. So without the JvC/VvV/ST lines, there may very well have been no 25th Anniversary figures and no Rise of Cobra movie or movie toys. Ok, some of you may argue that last point, but hey, it's MY review, not yours!
Personally as soon as I saw the JvC stuff I was pumped. I immediately picked up the old Hammer rerelease, the Brawler, and Destro's Dominator, as well as a bunch of figures. GI Joe was back, and I was loving it!
I faithfully collected the line for a while, and then my interest kind of waned. I picked up stuff here and there-the Night Attack Chopper was WAY too cool to pass up-but, much to my later chagrin, I passed on most of the line and thus some pretty cool stuff.
Though some of the newer, non-rerelease vehicles were kind of hit or miss (HISS IV, anyone?) there were a few absolute home runs from those days. The Night Attack Chopper was one of them. The other? The Patriot Grizzly main battle tank.
Obviously based off the M1A1 Abrams, the Patriot Grizzly absolutely dwarfs every Joe tank before or since. Its main body alone is just as long as the entire Mauler, including cannon. Done in a realistic (and very nice) desert tan and grayish-green tiger stripe camo, the PG looks plenty real. All the stickers on the sides denoting unit numbers and affiliation (even the Joe logo) are done in the camo scheme. The only bright stickers to be found anywhere on the whole vehicle are some Cobra logos on the front right of the turret denoting kills. To roll around, the Patriot Grizzly uses the old static treads/hidden wheels trick like just about every other Joe tank since the line's inception.
Like the old Mauler, there are two seats in the front of the tank for the driver and loader. One sits with his head exposed, and the other has an opening hatch. There is also a small gatling gun mounted in the front righthand part of the tank. Unlike the Mauler, there is an opening hatch in the turret, which can hold a figure. The figure can't exactly sit in the turret, but if you're using it as designed he (or she!) won't want to...because mounted in the perfect spot for the Joe in the turret to handle it is a big .50 machine gun. There are two smaller...guns?...smoke grenade launchers? (I have NO idea, really) on either side at the rear of the turret. These can traverse in 45 degree arcs. A very large, metallic antenna lets the tank communicate with other Joe units.
The PG has several storage options, too. There are racks on the left side and rear of the turret. And, turn the turret to the left, and a very large, deep compartment at the left rear of the tank can be accessed. So this big tank can also haul a big load of Joe gear!
But that's not all. A switch on the bottom (along with some not-included batteries) activates electronic sounds and features. Push the PG forward and you get to hear the sound of a powerful turbine starting up and roaring off. And there's more. The very center rear portion of the tank is actually a flip-out joystick! Thoughtfully, the joystick has a wheel on the bottom so you can roll the tank around with the joystick deployed. Twisting the knob on top of the joystick moves the .50 back and forth and causes a machine-gun firing sound. And twisting the joystick itself moves the turret, complete with a motorized whirring sound! There's a trigger down there, too. Raise the hatch on the large bulge that's on the top left of the turret (just behind the cannon) and you'll discover a space to load the included long, gray shells. Once loaded, depress the trigger. A motor inside the turret will whir, and augmented by both the sound effects of a tank's main gun firing and a loud click from inside, a shell will come flying out of the main gun! After the firing sound, you'll hear the sound effect of a shell flying through the air, then exploding.
While this is one big, badass tank that both looks cool on the shelf and is a blast to play with, there are (like always) a few complaints. The joystick and its features are neat, but the tank still looks dumb with it deployed. I really don't like the bogey design, with five smaller, more normal-sized bogey wheels at the front and two very large ones at the rear. Though probably a good thing to prevent breakage, the barrel of the main gun falls off pretty easily. Though functional, the loading/storage compartment for the shells on the turret looks slightly goofy. The turret only traverses a grand total of 45 degrees...and after traversing it, you'll have to fiddle with the .50 to get it back straight, because it traverses too whenever you move the turret. It would have been nice for the .50 to be able to traverse completely independently of the turret. Though it would probably have been impossible without sacrificing the shell firing feature, I wish the main gun elevated. The shells don't always cycle into firing position correctly, meaning you'll shoot a few blanks here and there. Though there are plenty of foot pegs for figures to ride on the Patriot Grizzly, I don't see many Joes wanting to unless they're in a parade...because standing on those foot pegs puts them in a very exposed position on top of a very big target! The antenna, like every other antenna on every other Joe toy ever made, is easy to break and easy to lose (note that my pictures don't feature it!) Be careful when storing it, as it's easy to bend the tank's nose gun. And this may be total nitpicking on my part, but I've always HATED the GI Joe logo that has the Action Soldier's head over the J, and it's this logo that graces the sides of the PG.
One other oddity is this tank's name. While Patriot Grizzly does seem like a good name for a tank, it breaks Joe tradition in a sense. TomCat/SkyStriker. Cobra/Dragonfly. Thunderbolt II/Rattler. Abrams/Patriot Grizzly? I guess if Hasbro had called this tank just the "Patriot" a lot of people would have either thought of that really weird vehicle released at the end of the original line, or thought it was an antimissile system. And if they had called it just the "Grizzly" most people would have either thought it was Russian or a big GI Joe ATV. Still, there had to be a better name for this tank...
Like my Hurricane review, my complaint paragraph is pretty long and it seems like I don't like this tank. WRONG! Again, I'm just trying to bring up EVERY possible nitpick. I would put this bad boy at the very front of any GI Joe armored column. This tank just LOOKS like it's bringing the wood, and boy is it ever. I guess to be perfect in my book, this tank would have the .50 mounted in front of the turret hatch so it could close all the way. The turret would be able to traverse 360 degrees instead of just 45, and the gun would elevate. And the joystick wouldn't be back there. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go line up a bunch of Cobras and see how many I can shoot with the joystick...oh, wait, what?
AHEM!
Anyway, if you want one, expect to spend $60-100 for a MIB example. Considering the fact that most people that bought one appear to have bought it either to keep MIB & sell later or keep loose for themselves, loose examples are pretty rare. If you see one loose, figure on $40-50.
The Patriot Grizzly continues the fine Joe tradition of realistic military hardware ugraded for GI Joe use. It's one of the most realistic Joe vehicles out there...and not only is it a great tank and a great vehicle, it's a great toy...one that is REALLY fun to play with, whether you're a jaded collector or a kid.
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