1988 Night Shade: A Dive Into G.I. Joe’s Toys R Us Night Force Exclusive
Story By Mitchell Smith
Welcome to the Outpost. Today I’m taking a look at the G.I. Joe 1988 Night Shade. This was a repaint of the original S.H.A.R.K. The Night Shade was part of the Toys R Us exclusive Night Force. I had a few Tiger Force figures and a couple vehicles growing up, but I did not have any of the Night Force. Many fans love the darker and sometimes more realistic look of the Night Force figures, but I never hear much about the vehicles. I love the concept of the original Shark being a land, air, and sea vehicle.
Although the original design was meant for the unique Deep Six figure the Night Shade did not come with this figure, so it kind of leaves the cockpit with a little too much space for 1 figure and not quite enough space for 2. In the animated series the pilots always sit straight up facing forward, but the vehicle is designed for the pilot to be on his stomach face down. The figure works either way, but I’m curious which way do you display them? Although this Night Force vehicle has orange highlights and glow in the dark stickers it makes for a really nice repaint of one of my favorite concept vehicles from the early eighties. This is the only Night Force vehicle I have and I think this has its place in GI Joe history.
This is a small enough vehicle that I think Hasbro could do a version of the Night Shade or the Shark and include a really cool Deep Six, maybe a Night Force figure with an original design that could head swap over to regular figure such as a Torpedo body. Just thinking out loud. Overall this is a cool vehicle and it would be fun to see one down the road. Make sure to check back for our next discussion.
