1986, The Figures Part III: The BAT, an Icon
By Destro Designs – Viper Den Studios
Some of my favorite figures come calling in this edition of G.I. Joe1986. The remainder of the figures I consider icons. As this year progressed, some of my favorite figures came out. The militaristic realism, mixed with a little bit of futuristic elements, made these figures so ridiculously awesome.
The BAT (Battle Android Trooper)
One of the most noticeably absurd aspects of the Sunbow cartoon was that everyone was the worst shot of all time, and everyone was an escape artist. Whether it was a tank exploding, a CLAW, or a Snow Cat, the vehicle would blow up and the driver would come leaping out. Or five or six Joes would launch a barrage of lasers and missiles at a platoon of Cobra Troopers, and not a single thing would cause a lick of damage. It was hysterical.
But the BAT would change all that.
So many BATs were blasted into oblivion at the hands of the Joes, and it was glorious. From the opening episodes of Season 2, we see Bazooka mangle a BAT with a rocket. But the BATs were also completely freaking awesome. The design, with the hologram on the chest showing the inner workings of the robot, along with the helmet that looked like something an actual person would wear, made up the anthropomorphic look of this awesome figure.
The colors were killer: dark tones mixed with yellow accents, the red face mask, and the chrome arms — all totally awesome. They moved in the cartoon with a clumsy human feel and seemed closer to cyborgs than true robots, but it worked. The backpack, with interchangeable hands, was a feat for such a small 3¾-inch figure. The claw was probably my favorite, as it could grab a neck or some ordnance to move around. But they also had hands, so they could shoulder a rifle and blast away with the best of them.
Having the lore be that Cobra’s “save money and cut corners” attitude made these bad boys so unpredictable that they could shoot anyone — even people and vehicles on their own side — was perfect. True cannon fodder that could also take out your brothers. It’s Cobra all the way.
Between the cartoon, the comic, and the figure, I dub this character and figure iconic. It’s a staple of the Cobra army, like the Trooper: badass, deadly to everyone, and able to take a laser blast to the chest and explode like a watermelon when we kids were begging for that to happen.
They made their debut in the Sunbow cartoon in Season 2, Episode 1, in a killer way. The camera cuts from Destro looking over Cobra Commander’s shoulder to Scrap-Iron affixing a head onto the final BAT, ready for battle. Scrap-Iron spits out what the acronym stands for, and the BAT comes to life, moving in a hulking manner.
All of the BATs roll into the school bus and subsequently roll out in front of the Joe base. But before they even have a chance to overwhelm the Joes, in rolls the first appearance of Sgt. Slaughter, who makes quick work of the whole platoon of BATs.
In true form, Cobra Commander calls for retreat and leaves the BATs behind as they return to the Silent Castle. The Commander blames everyone else for his poor military acumen in the moment, and it sparks the thought of a new leader — and the time for him is now.
I love the BATs in their original form and all the variants in Classified, the best being maybe the Iron Grenadier BAT. But the Arctic, Python Patrol, Crimson, and Retro BATs are all incredible.
Also, when I was a kid, my favorite thing was to have the Joes set a trap and my BATs would fall into it. Then, once subdued, I would have Mainframe and Dial-Tone reprogram them to work for the Joes. Freaking loved it.
How did you feel about the BATs? Did you have them as a kid? Which Classified BAT is your favorite?
Stay tuned — up next, The Viper!
