[Dake]

First off, I should say I've never watched an episode of Avatar in my life. So, everything I say is based on virtually zero knowledge of the property. With that in mind:

I was wandering about Target and saw they had put out the various Avatar movie toys. The figures... are kind of crap. They aren't quite Playmates Star Trek figure crap, as the aliens or whatever are somewhat interesting looking, but the human figures are not great.

The vehicles are a different story. I picked up the "AMP Suit" (Mech) and "RDA Grinder" which is a ski-mobile with wheels in the front, so a "wheel-mobile".

These are both pretty neat vehicles with plenty of detail and while I don't know anything about them from the cartoon, I thought they might fit into my Joe Universe. Interestingly enough, the packaging even says, "Fits most 3 3/4 figures".

Without further ado, here are some pics:



Grinder:





and in the best GI Joe tradition, the driver's position is made unpleasant at best should the weaponry be fired...



This is a pretty neat vehicle. The tracks are fake, but Mattel did a great job of making them look real. They are fixed solid, but there is a little roller wheel on the bottoms. I hope Hasbro actually takes a cue from this, b/c plastic, molded tracks are horrible imo, and this a a great compromise. They look fantastic, but you don't have to design in actual bogeys.

The front wheels do roll, but mine rub against the machine guns above the tires. I don't know if this is a singular packaging issue, or will be a problem with most of them. The missile racks are adjustable, so they can be moved up and down so as to cause greater or lesser stress to the poor sap driving this thing. The front end also is slightly articulated, so it can turn left or right a bit. My only real complaint (which may not be an issue if utilizing actual Avatar figures) is the seating position. The seat is very deep, so a modern-era Joe sits pretty far forward to be able to hold the handle bars and then it's tough to also keep his feet on the pedals.

Still, a very interesting-looking and fun addition to the 3.75 motor-pool.

[Dake]

And now, the Mech suit:



It's a pretty neat mech; pretty standard fare.



The cockpit will fit some Joes, but not the taller ones (for example, the Ace in pilot suit above does not fit).



The hands are not articulated, though they look like they could be. He has a giant knife in a sheath on the port side of the cockpit, but the left hand is molded too large to hold it securely. The right hand is molded larger still to hold the weapon, but it's still quite sloppy. The ammo belt is a nice touch, b/c it feeds from a slot on the back of the mech up to the weapon.



It's fairly poseable with shoulder, elbow, wrist, waist, knee and ankle articulation. My only real complaint is while the hips are ratcheting, the knees are not and consequently, it has a tendency to fall over if the weight is not properly distributed.

All in all, these are two fun vehicles that can cross genres quite easily. At 20 bucks a piece, the price is not too high and I think most people would be pretty happy with them. The packaging is an extra little bonus, b/c they come disassembled so in some ways, they are more like vintage GI Joe vehicles than current Joe vehicles (no stickers though).

[ARROW]

Avatar is not based on a TV show or any other property, as far as I know--its a standalone idea from James Cameron. It is NOT related to the Avatar: the Last Airbender cartoon.

Those toys do look VERY cool though.

[Dake]

ARROW, on 14 October 2009 - 07:21 PM, said:

Avatar is not based on a TV show or any other property, as far as I know--its a standalone idea from James Cameron. It is NOT related to the Avatar: the Last Airbender cartoon.

Yeah, I found out I was getting those two confused - didn't realize they weren't related!

[spystreak]

so theese do fit joe figures nice thank god the movie isn't related to that last airbender crap that amp suit would look sweet with my ROC viper or 25th anniversary destro driving it but i'll need to put COBRA and MARS decals on it the grinder would look cool as a joe vehicle maybe i'll have my 25th anniversary spirit be the pilot

[pesatyel]

I saw these, finally. The Grinder is $20 and the Scorpion is $28. Didn't see the mech suit.

I thought about getting them, but I figure if I haven't gotten the ACTUAL Joe vehicles yet, I'm not sure about those then.

Thing is, the box says "fits most 3 and 3/4 (of whatever body style the line uses) figures" which isn't exactly the same as 25th Joes, them being taller. I heard 25th Joes don't fit very well in the Scorpion, but RAH might.

[DRACOREX]

The vehicles are really the only thing decent about this line. Well, I guess the Sigourney Weaver figure would be good for a Ripley custom, however, for $10 a figure(at least at TRU), they will sit on the racks as far as I am concerned. I was actually surprised the vehicles were priced so low compared to the basic figures.

[PhoenixSword]

wow those are nice! any chance of you taking pics with arah joes/ cobras in or around them?

[Dake]

PhoenixSword, on 15 October 2009 - 10:40 PM, said:

wow those are nice! any chance of you taking pics with arah joes/ cobras in or around them?

I'll be out of town for the weekend, but I'll do that when I get back if no one else has.

[Dake]

Found the Gunship at TRU today, so I figured I'd pick it up.

It's... kind of neat. For starters, it's pretty small. The cockpit is especially tiny and will not fit any Joes at all without a slight modification. The mod is simple: cut off the armrests on the pilot's seat. Since I have no plans to buy any of the crappy figures, I had no problem doing this right away. With the armrests gone, this is still a craft for the ladies of GI Joe, ie narrow hips.

As you will see, Desert Ambush Scarlet fits fine, but pilot Scarlet does not b/c she still has a wide crotch (yeah, yeah). The Covergirl mold would probably also fit. I don't know if any of the male Joes can drive this thing though.

It also has some very thin plastic parts. The horizontal stabilizers at the tail are so thin there are actually translucent at the trailing edges. Many other surfaces are also pretty thin, so I predict breakage issues during any kind of hard play.

Now some pics...







Some size comparison pics with the old Dragonhawk (and my unpainted RoC Lady Jaye)...

[Dake]

In the end, while sort of neat, I think it falls a little short. I'm as big a fan of cool tilt-rotors as the next guy, but the way this is laid out means the rotors wash down right on to the giant wings, the thing would never be able to actually lift off. It has some nice details though, I just think it may have worked better as a straight helicopter.





Unlike the other two vehicles from this line which I think are a good value for the price, I'd recommend waiting on a sale for this one.

[Viper Hunter]

These have been very helpful review/pictorials! Awesome job on them.

I can't believe the difference in size between the Avatar gunship and the Sigma 6 Drangonhawk?

I believe I'd much prefer the Dragonhawk with some modifications for 1:18 scale over this puny thing.

The other two vehicles I beleive I may still look into, but the Gunship might be a pass now.

[CLAM]

awe man... I liked the jet thing... too bad its way small.

you would think that somebody at mattel would have some insight and say "hey, make this a little bigger so fans of other 3 3/4 lines might buy it"

cuz I would have.... but hey, it is mattel afterall

[obiprime]

Nice pics! That mech looks cool.

[punishment-101]

I'll have to keep my eyes out for the Gunship and Grinder I've already picked up the MEch suit, highly recommend it.

Thanks for the pics

[The Great Bandito]

I was in TRU today and saw the new Avatar line, which looks pretty lame overall IMO. But their Scorpion gunship looks pretty cool and possibly translatable into GI Joe. Has anyone thought of this or tried it out? The Avatar figures don't look too similar to the Joes, in terms of articulation but they are 3 and 3/4. I was gonna pick one up but decided not to b/c I wasn't sure it would work. What are your thoughts?

[Scotty97]

The Grinder reminds me of an updated Swamp Masher from the old RAH days. And thats a good thing, I loved that toy as a kid. The Mech looks pretty great, I'm still waiting to see if Hasbro does follow through and release that S6 Mech that never got produced. They said in one Q & A that they were looking at tooling it for ME/ROC figs.

And, as others have said: DAMN! I can't believe how small the dropship thingy is. I never bought the old Dragonhawk cuz I thought IT was too small. I'll be looking for a Dragonhawk and hollowing it out for 25th figs. Major fail here Mattel. FAIL YOU HEAR ME! Like every other toy line you produce.

[DRACOREX]

The mech is pretty sweet. Good articulation. The only drawback is that it does not hold its weaposn very well. Plus, not every joe will fit in it. Not sure about the other vehicles. I did notice that the female alien is naked underneath her clothes.

This post has been edited by JoeRhyno: 05 November 2009 - 09:24 PM
Reason for edit:: Mod Edit out the drama

[Cyber Bishop]

I am really digging that Mech!!

[JoeRhyno]

combined and edited the two topics, carry on...

[mako]

Not to hijack the thread, but has anybody tried out the SW Republic Gunship for the Joes?

[PhoenixSword]

i've seen people with the starwars gunships and joes. if you customize em a bit they'd make neat additions to the new movie line joes imo

[mako]

PhoenixSword, on 07 November 2009 - 07:58 PM, said:

i've seen people with the starwars gunships and joes. if you customize em a bit they'd make neat additions to the new movie line joes imo

Unfortunately, that's probably the closest we'll ever get to a Howler.

[Dragonrider1227]

I've used Lanard's tank from The Corps
http://manetoysmagic...hicle-tank.html

ARROW, on 14 October 2009 - 09:21 PM, said:

Avatar is not based on a TV show or any other property, as far as I know--its a standalone idea from James Cameron. It is NOT related to the Avatar: the Last Airbender cartoon.

Those toys do look VERY cool though.

Yeah, I think that's why the actual Avatar movie coming out is just called "The Last Airbender."