1987 G.I. Joe Motorized Battle Packs: Overlooked but Awesome
Story By Mitchell Smith
Welcome to The Outpost. 1987 was an interesting year. This was the year Aretha Franklin was inducted to the Hall of Fame, the Montreal Expos were still a team and G.I. Joe had potentially peaked and was on an uncontrollable slide. There were still some awesome vehicles being produced like the Cobra Wolf, Battle Force 2000 base, and one of the holy grails themselves the Defiant space shuttle. There were also a great lineup of characters such as Falcon, Tunnel Rat and Law and Order from the 1987 G.I. Joe the Movie.
Cobra had the Cobra La set of Golobulus, Nemesis Enforcer, and the Royal Guard along with many other really cool figures and vehicles. There were a very small set of vehicles that were over shadowed though. Those consisting of the Motorized Battle Packs. I did not have any of these as a kid but these are really cool. They wind up and some have just moving parts such as the Radar Station and the Earth Borer, but others are a bit more advanced such as the Rope Walker and Rope Crosser. The line was continued in 1988 with vehicles like the GI Joe ATV that had a pull back feature and Dreadnok Battle Axe with chopping motion.
The packs are a bit bulky to pose a figure with it on his back but they do look cool when set up in battle mode. I really like the radar station and it has a practical use. Overall some of these are odd and some are really cool. I only have a few so I might track more of these down but I’m happy with what I have. Make sure to check back next week for the next discussion at The Outpost.
