Not too many people remember the General Patch line. It was an obscure G.I. Joe knock off produced by the Galoob toy company. The figures in general were pretty terrible. The face sculpts were awful. And, the quality wasn't great. But, they made some vehicles, too. And, one of them is pretty awesome. It's also pretty famous. But, the fame comes from a later repaint of the mold in the A-Team line. In that line, the tank, missile launcher and trailer were redone in black.
As a kid, this was the way that I knew this tank. We got the A-Team tank one Christmas. At first, I tried to integrate it into my Joe team. But, in time, I realized that the tank worked better as a Cobra vehicle. For one, it was a nice complement to the Hiss Tank. Secondly, I didn't have tons of Cobra land vehicles at the time. So, having a new tank was nice. And, finally, the tank fits well with 1983 Cobra Officers and Troopers. And, as our Stinger had been beat up and wasn't really useful any longer, the Stinger Driver joined the team, too. With these figures, the tank became a tough opponent for Joes.
As a kid, I removed the cannon from the A-Team tank and managed to put the twin gatling cannons from the Thunder Machine into the slot. With this, the tank became an incredible anti-infantry tank. Cobra finally had a weapon that was more powerful than any Joe counterpart. And, since the tank was armored, it would stand up to VAMPs and AWE Strikers with ease.
I had no idea, though, that the tank also existed in green as part of the General Patch line. In fact, I had no idea there was a line called General Patch. It wasn't something I had seen. And, I didn't tend to look at any toy lines aside from Joe, Star Wars and, from time to time, Masters of the Universe. So, things like this tank tended to fall under my radar.
The green on the tank, though, is pretty nice. It would work well with Joes along with many of the Black Major Cobra Trooper repaints that have come out in recent years. But, the tank is hard to find. You don't often see it, even today. And, because of that, it can get pricey. Heck, even the A-Team repaint has gotten expensive in recent years. So, tracking one down is a pain. But, it's neat enough that it will fit with 1982 and 1983 Joes.
Yes, they are obscure and rarely seen. The A-Team jet and boat were also part of the series.
ReplyDeleteI sort of remember them...but from some alternate timeline. I'm kidding. I think. In the mid 80's I remember some 3 3/4" military guys with (wind up?) action features that I thought were called General or Captain Patch. I never owned any and thought they were worthy of mockery compared to GI JOE. I've NEVER seen any of them anywhere, not at a flea market, not in an auction. It's very strange, as they were at a mass retailer like Walmart, I think.
There's a lack of an archive of 4" military "knock-off"" lines, but that's not going to change. I mean, GI JOE fandom kinda sucks in regards to archives, even for official product. Yojoe.com is a dated site that cannot be updated apparently. 3D Joes is great but will never expanded past ARAH probably. No one else comes close.