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Author Topic: Quickie Review - Marauder GR Tent Accessory  (Read 4209 times)

olyeller01

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Quickie Review - Marauder GR Tent Accessory
« on: May 28, 2010, 01:49:41 AM »

With all the military accessories released over the years, you’d think that poor tired GI Joes would have a place to sleep out in the field.  Alas, such was not the case.  Sure, Hasbro tried to remedy that situation by releasing the Forward Observer and the Bivouac back in the day.  The Forward Observer, for those not in the know, included a small green plastic pup tent among its many accessories.  With barely room for one Joe, the tent wasn’t exactly spacious and the poor Joe inside would still be sleeping on the ground. The Bivouac included a GI cot along with a tent that had a roof and one side.  While the sleepy Joe at least would be off the ground with this arrangement, he’d still get plenty wet if it rained and the wind was blowing the wrong direction.  Nowadays, neither of these sets is very cheap (the tent for the Forward Observer alone can easily run ya $10) and they’re not exactly plentiful, either.  So what do you do if you want a GI Joe tent city?

Marauder Gun-Runners has released a wide variety of weapons and diorama accessories in the past.  If you’re not familiar with Marauder, they sell GI Joe-sized weaponry and accessories that either Hasbro has not yet released (such as the TOW launcher and big .50 sniper rifle) or that are big improvements over what Hasbro’s offered.  I have purchased quite a few products from Marauder in the past, and I have been impressed by the service and the very high quality of the weapons, as well as the EXTREMELY reasonable prices.  Now, Marauder’s come through again for diorama builders and sleepy Joes everywhere with the Marauder tent.

The Marauder tent is one of those things that’s so simple, you’ll wonder why no one ever thought of it before.  Order one, and you’ll get two plastic triangles (with a bar running through the middle of them) as well as three poles and a piece of triangular green nylon.  The triangular frame pieces have holes in them for the poles to snap into.  Snap all three into place, and you have a nice, triangular frame that also happens to be extremely flexible.  No worries about breakage here…you’d pretty much have to fall on your tent frame or have a very heavy weight land on it to break it. 

Anyway, snap together your frame (takes about 30 seconds, if that) so that the posts that run through the center of the triangular pieces are centered vertically.  Slip the green nylon over the frame.  It has pieces sewn on to the bottom of either side that the edges of the frame slip neatly into, holding the nylon in place.  Congratulations, you now have a Marauder tent that is large enough for two to four 25th-style Joes to lie in without so much as a foot sticking out!  If you want your Joes to stay off the ground, the Bivouac’s cot will fit neatly inside.  There are black nylon straps sewn to the “flaps” if you choose to tie your tent closed.  These seem a little long to me, but it’s nothing scissors or a utility knife won’t take care of.

I’m really impressed with this accessory.  It looks GREAT!  I spent a fair amount of my youth in a similarly styled tent in Boy Scouts, and the tent certainly brings back memories…except this time the tent doesn’t smell like mothballs.  This accessory is light, easy to quickly assemble and disassemble for storage, is very durable, and flat looks cool.  It’s a very simple but very nice product, and even better it only sells for $4.99.  At five bucks a pop, you could quickly and cheaply fit out a whole Joe task force with their own tents.  The only suggestion I have?  How about making these in blue so our Cobra troopers can have a sleeping place, too?

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

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Re: Quickie Review - Marauder GR Tent Accessory
« Reply #1 on: May 28, 2010, 09:15:01 AM »

Nice, man.  I was looking at these the other day.  The new fire extinguisher looks great too.  The med bed creeps me out though.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
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bandonov

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Re: Quickie Review - Marauder GR Tent Accessory
« Reply #2 on: May 28, 2010, 12:17:19 PM »

I love the tent!
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
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roger dodger

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Re: Quickie Review - Marauder GR Tent Accessory
« Reply #3 on: June 22, 2010, 10:36:59 PM »

Terrific review! I've ordered from Marauder before and was very impressed with their fast and professional service. I wonder if they'll be set up at the Joe Con in Toronto with their stuff?
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
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