Vintage Review: Mobile Command Center!
The Highs:
1. Yet another massive Joe playset
2. Heavily armed and versatile
3. Incredible play value
The Lows:
1. Not exactly centered in reality
2. Lots of pieces = lots of easy to lose pieces
3. A few fragile areas
The Verdict:
One of the greatest playsets of ANY toy brand ever built.
There’s vehicles, there’s playsets, and then on rare occasion there’s both. About once a year, Joe fans got something BIG to lust after. ’83 had the Joe HQ, ’85 the Flagg, ’86 the TerrorDrome. For 1987 Joe fans got not one but TWO big boys, the Defiant…and the Mobile Command Center. Another one of the biggest Joe toys out there is getting the review treatment…and fittingly, it’s one of the biggest OlYeller reviews yet!
The mighty Mobile Command Center is another one of those Joe vehicles that’s not exactly based in reality. Honestly, when closed up in transport mode, it more closely resembles a Star Wars Jawa Sandcrawler than anything else in the Joe universe. Though fat and tall, it rides on tank treads with its belly pretty much slammed to the ground…just like the Sandcrawler. There’s a large, three person cockpit up front, accessed by flipping the canopy glass forward and down. When closed up and rolling, the MCC may be big and slow, but it’s not exactly helpless. There are large laser cannons protruding from either side, below the cab. The radar dish up top holds four missiles, and there’s even a quad missile launcher on the back for rearward threats. One oddity: for some reason, there’s a small console with a seat waaayyy up top on the roof. Accessed via the elevator car on the side, don’t ask me why some poor Joe gets stuck up there…maybe he’s a spotter for when the MCC has to park?
As impressive as it is all closed up, opening the MCC up is where the real fun begins. Remove the large black piece with the elevator car on it from the right side of the vehicle, flip down the panel at the bottom, and open the MCC up like you would a tackle box. Fold the panels in the middle of the roof to make one big rectangular box. Flip the big plastic panels on the front and back forward, and attach the missile launcher, guns, and searchlights in their appropriate areas. Then, behold the glory of one of the best playsets out there.
The lower level is a vehicle repair bay/weapons storage area. The large panel that flips down from the middle of the MCC’s right side becomes a ramp. The ramp leads to a repair bay that is large enough to accommodate most small to medium-sized Joe vehicles. The repair bay features a refueling pump that can be wound into a barrel-like container, various diagnostic machines, and even a dual-hosed system for dispensing lubricants. The lubricant dispensers even have their own holders. The repair bay also features a small crane for hoisting vehicle parts and weapons. Included with the MCC is an engine from the AWE Striker, so you can do an engine swap should your AWE spin a bearing. The right side of the bay is outfitted with racks that are perfect for holding a TON of figure-sized weapons and other accessories.
Proceed on the left side of the bay (the rear of the MCC when closed) and go up the flight of stairs to the second level. That’s right, THIS playset actually has stairs to get between levels. I don’t know how many multi-level playsets I’ve seen over my years that technically had no way for the occupants to reach the upper level, but the fact that the MCC actually has some is quite refreshing. The middle level is the command, detention, and recovery level. Immediately in front of the stairs is a small jail cell that is accessed by raising it from the floor. The cell is small and quite Spartan, with only a small seat in the corner. It also makes an ideal place to store the clip-on machine guns and searchlights when the MCC is folded into transport mode. The middle of the command level features a pair of flip-down beds that to me resemble the bio-beds from Star Trek. They are nicely contoured so a figure placed in them could rest comfortably. The forward part of the command bay features the command section. There’s a clear, removable master situation board, computer control stations on both sides, and a bank of computers against the forward wall. Somewhat showing the age of the playset, the computer bank appears to have rolls of magnetic tape for restoring data. That, my friends, is pretty old-school. The situation board and computers are accessed via a chair that slides along a channel in the floor.
Proceeding up the stairs to the top level, the Mobile Command Center has one final level with a few more surprises. The top level is an armament storage level for the missile launcher on top. That rectangular box that the center roof section folds into holds a large missile launcher that holds a whopping six large missiles. The box can slide back and forth along railings built into the sides. Honestly, I can see this launcher being part of an automated defense system, tied into the large radar dish on the cab…or perhaps controlled from the command center. The front roof panel that flips forward is actually a small helipad. The helipad will accommodate something small like a Locust or Sky Hawk (or a captured Fang or Flight Pod) but nothing too big…and you have to be careful with the pad so as not to break it off by placing something too heavy on it (or accidentally kicking it when walking by). The panel at the rear features an escape route via the elevator from the MCC’s side. There’s one more hidden secret. Pressing a labeled area near the helipad will drop an emergency escape slide, accessed via a hole in the floor at the very top of all the stairs!
The Mobile Command Center has very few flaws. It’s unrealistic, the ton of small parts included with it means you will inevitably lose something, and there’s a few things you have to be careful not to break. As a mobile command center, it better not be a covert op. Cobra will feel that thing coming from 5 miles off, and because of that the ROCC would honestly make a much better mobile command center from a tactical standpoint. But that’s about it. Man, I LOVE this thing. If you want to love it too, be prepared to drop anywhere from $50-$200 depending on condition & completeness.
This is one of the best-designed and thought-out playsets, from any brand, in existence. It has a little bit of everything that makes a great playset great, and there’s no wasted space or features that feel like they don’t fit the overall style of the playset. I really, REALLY like the Mobile Command Center, much more than I thought I would when I got it. I should probably note that if mine looks a little odd in the pictures, it’s because I actually have the 2003 Toys R Us reissued one. There’s not much difference other than some color changes, but I swapped on a few old-school parts to replace some broken ones (the old MCC parts are MUCH more prevalent). If you like GI Joe, big playsets, or just awesome toys in general, pick up a Mobile Command Center. You won’t be disappointed!
