I think this argument can be made for a lot of Joe vehicles-- that there's no place to store the ammo (Mean Dog), or that a glass canopy/ open cockpit design is plain dumb (HISS/ Fang), or that it just wouldn't work (Skyhawk). Honestly, I had the most fun with some of the most unrealistic toys as a kid. And, as an adult, I've had fun explaining away some of those flaws. I think It just enhances the sci-fi elements of Joe.

Imagine if steel could be somehow treated with some kind of chemical and stretched so thin as to become transparent. Ta Da! Glass canopies.

You're welcome.

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Nope, it's just transparent aluminum like the windows on the Enterprise

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The military is currently testing a clear ceramic armor, that's aluminum based. Transparent aluminum is real.

I prefer armored canopies on armored vehicles. They look much more imposing.

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One of my favorite vehicles is also one of the most illogical: the Mamba. And don't go digging out that picture of the concept helicopter with twin rotors, because that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the suicide pods. Seriously, how bad do you have to piss your CO off to get that assignment? There's no way to steer them, no wings for sustained flight, and no way to land or reattach to the main copter...they're just manned missiles! Still, I couldn't have loved it more when I was a kid. Same with the Stun and a lot of other illogical vehicles. It was the ones that made sense that bored me.

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The Cobra Ringneck. Seriously, no protection for the guy in front except for that tiny little gun.

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I'd almost call that a coincidence if not for the shovel on the hood.


Trubble Bubbles. The entire idea behind them seems too goofy. The CLAW is an okay flight pack, provided the pilot does not burn his legs off but firing missiles? That'd probably cause the thing to spin out of control. Likewise, that big red rocket pack(the one that got redone for Target ROC) is basically a flying brick and pushes any sane level of reality. Serpentor's Air Chariot is also another one I question.

But Joe seems to work on "magitech" at times and tinkers with the idea that these groups are developing new tech on all levels that seem to break new grounds. Cobra could probably make more money and be better off if they went fully legit and sold the tech rather than using it. I am aware they have legit fronts but Destro holds back and I just don't see either MARS or EE as being plausible business fronts when pretty much everyone knows Destro works with Cobra.

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I so want one of those now...

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I always saw them as trooper-deployment 'drop pods', a way to get some boots on the ground for whatever reason. The main chopper stays aloft for air dominance while a pair of serious ass-kickers take control up close and personal-like.

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I'll talk about that. Can you even spin the rotors on the toy without them hitting against each other? That's most of the fun of a helicopter toy. I like to imagine Cobra having a fleet of these that all explode on take-off.

As far as I am concerned, who ever designed the HAVOC should be forced to drive one from the top seat in a firefight. I mean seriously, that is just stupid. Every part of it is bad. You'd be better off grabbing one of the missiles off the side and just throwing it at a hiss.

- R

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I'm ing at your reference...

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On my Mamba, the rotors are set on some saw-tooth gears that mesh with another pair connected to the spinny wheel on the belly. The gears are really blunt and wide/shallow so that the rotors will slide across them should the rotors ever hit each other. But they are meant to be 90-degrees perpendicular to each other to prevent that, and they could be glued in place on the gears to do exactly that. It looks pretty cool when it works right. The only thing that enables them to hit is the safety feature that prevents them from breaking if they ever do hit, lol. Hasbro apparently didn't think much of the assembly skills of kids and parents back in the day.

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I can see that, though the lack of landing gear on the pods would make for some pants-crapping touch downs. And I prefer to think that the Gyro Viper is just a vindictive bastard with two giant "F you" buttons in the cockpit.

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They're angled, so that they don't hit one another. It's a real rotor configuration that has been used on a few real helicopters. It's just a variation on a twin rotor system. It's called intermeshing rotors.

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I agree. I've had a lot of fun making up my own tech, and stealing it from comics to explain things. My Skyhawks run off a version of Tony Starks Propulsion technology. Nick Fury makes Stark build weapons for the Joe team. LOL. Once all the joe scaled marvel stuff came out I've had a ball tying it all together. I borrowed the Generals idea of making my Joe team a sub team of SHIELD, so I get to swap all the techs out, and it makes for some fun afternoon daydreams.