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Author Topic: Vintage Review - MAGGOT  (Read 2603 times)

olyeller01

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Vintage Review - MAGGOT
« on: May 17, 2010, 02:52:42 AM »

Don’t ya just hate when life interferes with fun?  You know, like being so busy you don’t have time to type out reviews?  Well, it happens, and it happened to me.  Worse, I had this review typed out a long time ago, and just never had time to sit down and take pics.  Anyway, without further ado, here’s yet another Ol Yeller review.  Enjoy!

Quick, name me one traditional Cobra tank or piece of heavy artillery.  Ok, ok, EXCLUDING the CAT…it’s just a repainted MOBAT anyway.  The HISS is more like what its acronym stands for…it’s more of a high-speed attack vehicle than a piece of artillery.  So really, for the longest time Cobra Command had no vehicles of their own that could be considered traditional armor or artillery.  Well, Cobra changed that when they started making the Maggot.

The Maggot is a hybrid tank/mobile/stationary artillery platform.  The main body is a blueish gray, the cannon and treads are black, and all other accents are bright yellow.  The body is hinged in the middle with a mechanism exactly like the one on the Mean Dog.  This allows the vehicle to turn in a manner similar to a John Deere 9030-series 4 wheel drive farm tractor...it pivots in the middle to allow easier turning for a vehicle of its length.

The front section has room for one occupant, and is armed with a coaxial machine gun set in a front right-offset mount.  The right rear corner of the front section houses a turret with a cannon on the outboard side and a radar dish.  The turret can rotate 360 degrees and the cannon and radar dish can be elevated and depressed.  The left rear part of the front section features a panel that can be removed to access the machinery underneath.

The rear section of the Maggot is just as large, if not larger than, the front section.  The rear section is raised above the front in a stadium-style arrangement.  The operator of the rear section sits in the very center, down low.  Three walls, high enough to conceal the occupant, surround and protect the rear section’s operator.  There’s also a small jumpseat at the very rear.  The jumpseat’s occupant faces to the right of the vehicle, and has a lever to pull and a viewscreen to watch.  The blueprints state that this is a “stationary armored command post,” so I suppose the operator in this jumpseat could coordinate an armored attack. 

A VERY large cannon sits in a position offset to the left side of the vehicle.  The barrel of the cannon is almost a foot long, can elevate almost straight up, and can even depress slightly.  When attached to the rear section of the Maggot, the whole section can rotate a full 360 degrees.  Of course, there’s more: disconnect the front and rear sections at the center hitch, and the Maggot is now both a small, swift scout tank and a self-propelled artillery platform.  But for even MORE fun, lift the top half of the Maggot’s rear section off, flip down the four yellow legs, and the top half now becomes a stationary, stand-alone artillery platform.  Removing the top half reveals a small operator’s station underneath where the figure stands up to control the vehicle, as well as two footpegs for hauling a couple of extra troops around.  So now, the Maggot is three vehicles in one!

The Maggot does not want for detail.  Besides the armor plating molded into the front and rear sections, there’s also the machinery beneath the panel on the front section; the various buttons, switches, screens, and even what looks like gas cylinders molded into the top rear section; and the controls and machinery that are revealed when the top half of the rear is lifted off.  Hasbro spent plenty of time sculpting detail into this vehicle!

There’s a lot to like about the Maggot, but like just about every GI Joe vehicle, it has its flaws.  The most glaring military fault is the bright yellow coloring on the front machine gun and cannon, on the tip of the barrel of the main gun, and on the rear section’s fold-down support legs.  While the yellow and blue-gray actually look pretty nice together, they’re not exactly stealthy.  The second complaint is that sure, you could remove the top rear half and make it a stationary gun platform…but why would you want to?  The bottom half of the rear section has no armament of its own.  Its armament would be limited to what the two figures who climbed onto the back for a ride were carrying.  And when separated, the top half loses any ability to rotate…the way the big gun’s aiming when the Maggot separates into three sections is the way the big gun’s gonna STAY aimed.  Also, the operators of the front and lower rear sections (especially the lower rear section!) would be highly susceptible to sniper fire.  The operators seated in the top rear section are the only ones that have any armor protection, and even THEY would easily fall prey to a sniper in a high perch. 

Besides its military flaws, the Maggot has a few physical flaws as well.  The legs on the top rear section don’t stay on too well.  The main gun is so big that it will eventually wear out the clip that holds it in place, making it floppy. It’s easy to crack the tip of the main gun’s barrel when attaching it if you’re not careful.  Over time, multiple separations and reattachments can wear out or break the clips on the hitch, making it hard to keep the two parts together.  Depending on how the vehicle’s turned and on the main gun’s position, it’s easy to whack the radar dish on the main gun’s barrel.  And, like every other Joe vehicle with an antenna or protruding radar dish, it’s pretty easy to break the radar on the Maggot. 

Despite the flaws, I still really like the Maggot.  It’s hard to go wrong with something that has a big, honkin’ gun on it, and I also like anything that has hidden features, like the separation.  I can even tolerate the bright yellow accents.  Even better, if you want one a Maggot will only run you $20-$45 in loose complete condition, and parts for it appear to be pretty plentiful.  It makes a nice addition to any Cobra fleet, and ya just gotta love something with a big, honking gun.

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« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
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OlYeller01
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bandonov

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Re: Vintage Review - MAGGOT
« Reply #1 on: May 17, 2010, 08:34:30 AM »

Excellent Review as usual.  It has been to long since your last one, I'm glad you are back at it!  ;D
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
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NeoDragonKnight

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Re: Vintage Review - MAGGOT
« Reply #2 on: May 17, 2010, 04:23:09 PM »

Good review, I loved this vehicle as a kid, I still have mine though I think its missing a sat dish on the turret
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
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dodge822

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Re: Vintage Review - MAGGOT
« Reply #3 on: May 17, 2010, 05:00:15 PM »

great review.

were you able tyo find a replacement sat dish? or did you glue the broken one that came with it?
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olyeller01

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Re: Vintage Review - MAGGOT
« Reply #4 on: May 17, 2010, 09:05:51 PM »

Quote from: "dodge822"
great review.

were you able tyo find a replacement sat dish? or did you glue the broken one that came with it?

A little Krazy Glue works wonders, Mike.  Actually I thought I had lost the damn sat dish, then last night, right before I took the pics I was digging through my parts and I found both it and the post! 
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
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OlYeller01
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