This is the original version of that toy, the 1996 Quest Porpoise, a sporty two-person submarine in Galoob’s Jonny Quest line. The Jonny Quest toy line ran from 1995-1996, parallel to Hanna-Barbera’s The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest cartoon (which itself was a reboot of the 1960’s Jonny Quest cartoon). The figures were ever so slightly smaller and squatter than ARAH Joe figures, but they still feel like 1:18 figures.
By 1995, I had already left collecting toys behind for several years and wouldn’t cycle back as an “adult collector” until the Stars and Stripes Forever Set of 1997. I didn’t have any awareness of Jonny Quest toys when they were new, so my first exposure to them was probably picking up a few pieces mixed in with GI Joe lots on eBay. The Jonny Quest toy line is wonderful in that it generated what are essentially “civilian” action figures plus a smattering of weird translucent figures (the Matrix-like “Questworld” figures) and some hammy bad guys. Many of the figures have an updated Adventure People feel, but with articulation and sculpt much closer to ARAH Joe. The vehicles are so good that I never would have realized that the Night Landing Craft and the Quest Porpoise were rebranded had it not been for yojoe.com pointing it out.
The Quest Porpoise and the Quest Wave Ranger were two vehicles Hasbro recycled as GI Joe/Cobra vehicles after acquiring Galoob. The Quest Porpoise became the Cobra Mantis Sub; The Quest Wave Ranger became the Night Landing Craft. Despite the slight scale mismatch between Jonny Quest and ARAH Joes, the vehicles would work just fine when repurpose for Joes 6 years later.
This particular Quest Porpoise is missing its antennae and part of its grabber claw, but you can still see the overall design. It looks vaguely dolphin-like, much like the real world Seabreacher vehicles, but those didn’t come in existence until 2009 or so. Galoob was about 20 years ahead of the curve with its sleek design.
Ignoring that it was destined to become a Joe vehicle, comparisons to the GI Joe Sharc seem inevitable. Both vehicles are submarines, although the Quest Porpoise isn’t a flying one (or I don’t think it’s supposed to be). The shape of the QP looks more natural and aquadynamic than the Sharc.
The bright colors capture the tone of the Jonny Quest line. Fun, carefree, and adventurous.
The QP’s cockpit could even hold two back-to-back figures (think Empire Strikes Back Snow Speeder). An ARAH Joe won’t fit in the rear-facing seat, so I believe there was some slight modification for the mold’s re-use as a Cobra vehicle.
The QP is decked out with features:
*Grabber claw
*Torpedo (sorry, no picture to show)
*Swiveling lights
*Periscope
*Opening canopy
*Two small side propellers and a large wind-up rear propeller
*Side mounted light array
*Underside hatch with line and claw
*Mostly hidden wheels
That’s a ton of details. Unlike early Joe vehicles of the early 90’s, the features on the QP feel organic to the vehicle, not clunky or randomly thrown on.
As this vehicle came from the Jonny Quest line, a quick look at the included “Deep Dive” Jonny Quest figure is in order. It’s not too deep a dive, because Jonny’s only wearing a wetsuit, not a full-on Deep Six style pressure suit. The wetsuit is banana yellow to match the QP. As a teenager, the Jonny Quest figure is smaller than the “grownup” figures in the line (as well as ARAH Joe figures). The body has 11 points of articulation, but suffers from having swollen elbows and inexplicably wide hips. If you’re not familiar with the bodies in this toy line, they are similar to ARAH ones, but lack lateral shoulder movement and the front/back is one piece from the bottom of the neck to the bottom of the crotch. There is no separate waist piece or o-ring.
The wetsuit features a dive belt, a dive knife, and un-zipped zippers at the sleeve and pant leg cuffs (a simple, but nice touch). Jonny has a scuba tank with a mask that looks more like a space helmet. And two flippers for his feet.
This is a great vehicle. It’s easy to see why Hasbro repurposed it. The figure, given that it’s not a Joe, isn’t too bad, either.
The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest came out when I was in my teens, as this was my 1st introduction to the Jonny Quest characters(Before, I never even knew about the original 1960's nore the 1980's cartoon series until later, as I would later see a decent number of episodes of the original series about a year later). I do know that 1 of the draws for me at the time was the then Early CGI Animation for the episodes that took place in the VR Quest World, but I also did like the episodes that took place in the real world as well. I do think think the theme music/tune of the 1990's series is a good update to the 1960's series as well. I also recall seeing some of toys at the time as well, and thought they were neat, especially the see-through plastic Quest World theme figures.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the Quest Porposie, I think it would be a good vehicle to repurpose as a approx 4" Adventure Team Sub thanks to it's yellow colours, since it seems that many Adventure Team vehicles were yellow. Granted, a more modern/futuristic sub than a 1960's-1970's style sub. Though I think if you wanted to use any of the 25th Anniversary style 4" Adventure Team figures(Which were a Convention Exclusive), you would probably have to open the vehicle up and remove the 2 seats and control panels inside(Which from 1 of Past Nastification's photos, looks like the inside is held by a screw at least).
I don't know if the original 1960's Jonny Quest served as an Inspiration to the 1970's G.I. Joe: Adventure Team or not(Along with Mattel's Big Jim to some degree as well I guess), but looking at the 1990's The Real Adventures Of Jonny Quest toyline from The Real World, I would say there is some Adventure Team and Big Jim inspired stuff going on with it.
I would also say judging from a quick glance at the 1990's The Real Adventures Of Jonny Quest toyline, that a modified Quest Ice Runner from The Real World part of the toyline could of also been neat to have been used by Hasbro in 2002-2003 if they felt they needed another Arctic Vehicle in the line. Here's a link from the Jonny Quest Wiki page to see some pics of the toy in packaging at least of the Quest Ice Runner:
- https://jonnyquest.fandom.com/wiki/Quest_Ice_Runner_with_Exclusive_Arctic_Rescue_Jonny