Iron Grenadiers: A Sub-Team That’s Not Just Repaints!
By Destro Designs – Viper Den Studios
When I was a Joe-obsessed kid in the 1980s, I wanted Joes in all forms. So when the sub-teams started to roll out, like Tiger Force and Night Force in 1988, I was excited to get more Joes. But I was also sort of meh on the idea of having some bangers wrapped in tiger striping.
It was an instant love-hate relationship with Tiger Force. Night Force was a Toys “R” Us exclusive, and I didn’t get out there much, but they looked cooler than Tiger Force. For the record, I can dig the Classified Tiger Force figures. I think those figures are awesome. Tiger Force Dusty is a little boring, and for some reason, Tiger Force Tripwire is meh, mostly because it has too much tiger striping. And the first Classified Tripwire is such an amazing figure.
I don’t recall seeing a lot of Slaughter’s Marauders, but Python Patrol was alive and well, and I thought they were awesome. It seemed like a very cool idea. Cobra was about snakes, and this seemed to fit logically into my single-digit-years-old brain. The others didn’t exactly. But Night Force did make sense. I struggled to see Shockwave and Lightfoot in muted colors, but their awesomeness is undeniable.
And then there were the Iron Grenadiers.
First, they signified the idea that I had been screaming at the TV for a couple of years:
“JUST LET DESTRO DECIDE!”
Finally! The beryllium-plated mastermind was going to be calling the shots with his own army. Now, even as a kid, it seemed beneficial to still align with the Cobra Army. Strength in numbers and all that. But it was happening. Destro was in control of the decisions. Sort of.
It didn’t play out that way in the Sunbow cartoon, so the head canon was all-encompassing on this.
Troop building was born for me with the Iron Grenadiers. It was the first figure I wanted multiples of. It was an amazing figure, and I displayed Gold-Headed Destro with two Iron Grenadiers flanking him, like on the cover of issue #69 — nice — of the ARAH line. I was very proud of this. And like I said, the troop builder was born!
But most importantly, Destro was getting a whole slew of new figures and characters.
His troops were the Iron Grenadiers, and they were glorious. That same year, I grabbed Voltar, and I loved that Destro had a field general. He was Major Bludd, minus the flawless uniform. The purple is a little much, but I loved Voltar.
And then, in 1989, we got such absolutely killer figures like Darklon, T.A.R.G.A.T., Annihilator, and Undertow. All specific to environment: land, sea, and air.
Darklon, in my head canon, wound up stealing Python Patrol and ran that crew as a sub-team for the Iron Grenadiers. Which was awesome. I loved this. Darklon is unique, and his Classified figure is crazy underrated.
T.A.R.G.A.T. came along and was totally unreal awesome. He was a spy for the Iron Grenadiers who flew over the battlefield at such high altitudes that he was able to go undetected by radar. A true tactical advantage for Destro, the military genius.
And my favorite of this group was Annihilator. So much awesome. Obviously, his helicopter backpack was crazy cool. His handheld weapon reminded me of the Alley Viper’s primary weapon. And the colors were very Alley Viper-ish. I sort of slid the Alley Viper into an elite Iron Grenadier trooper role, working in tandem with the Annihilator to secure the city streets for hostile takeovers for Destro.
Loved, loved, loved the Annihilator.
Destro also got a slew of really awesome vehicles. Darklon’s Evader was so-so, but it started with the Despoiler and ran through the killer looks of the A.G.P., which also had a very unique-looking pilot that I dug.
But the D.E.M.O.N., the Razorback, and the Dominator are all crazy freaking awesome.
The D.E.M.O.N. allowed Destro’s Despoiler to mount onto it as Destro led the crew into battle.
The Razorback was a sleek and fast-moving hell-on-wheels vehicle similar to the D.E.M.O.N. I didn’t get this one until a couple of years after its release, but what also sold me was the killer figures on the box art: T.A.R.G.A.T., Annihilator, and the vehicle’s driver.
But one of my all-time favorite vehicles in any team was the Dominator. A tank that could also turn into a helicopter, and in my head canon, could float like a boat that had pontoon skids. The treads doubled as a way to get that bad boy to float! This also reminded me of a Mamba-style vehicle, and that was also super cool.
What I loved about all of these vehicles was that there were multiple cockpit-style places to put a driver, gunner, or operator. This was key. It made them stand out from the symmetry of Cobra vehicles.
But as a whole, I LOVED the Iron Grenadiers, and I can’t wait to get more in the Classified line.
Thank y’all for joining me once again to chat about my memories of playing with these toys. I’ve got some cool-as-hell articles coming up, so stay tuned.
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