2002 Night Rhino

When G.I. Joe returned in 1997, it was not just a figure line.  It also included a full array of vehicles.  Hasbro understood that vehicles were integral to the Joe line.  And, between 1997 and 2000, Hasbro was keen to get classic molds into collector hands, often in new colors.  Starting in 2001, though, the vehicles took a turn.  Instead of all classic remakes, Hasbro started interspersing some new molds from other toy lines and even took a hand at updating a classic mold.  Sadly, the results weren't great for sales.  And, the 2001 vehicles lingered at retailers throughout the year.  They'd eventually find their way to close-out and discount retailers for 1/2 their original price.  As the vehicles slowed, so did the figure sales.  And, Hasbro announced that the o-ring renaissance of that early collector era was ending in favor of an all new approach to G.I. Joe.  The final wave of ARAHC figures was cancelled at retail.  But, one final release did squeak out in early 2002: the Night Rhino.

The main reason this vehicle managed to get to retail was because it was a Toys R Us exclusive.  Toys R Us was a strong retail partner for Hasbro.  And, during this time, TRU was both a dumping ground for cheap, overstock Hasbro toys as well as collector themed exclusives that would drive foot traffic.  Toys R Us was the only retailer willing to take a chance on o-ring Joes in 1997 and 1998.  It was the success of these lines that lead to the broader retail presence in 2000.  Even then, Hasbro partnered with them on exclusives like the Hiss III.  And, their 2002 exclusive was this repainted 1988 Warthog.  

The Warthog was one of those rare post 1987 vehicles that was generally acceptable to collectors of the early 2000's.  If you go even further back, into the late 1990's, when anything made after 1985 was suspect, you'd still find the Warthog was an allowable vehicle for your collection.  (You just had to ditch the Sgt. Slaughter as he, at the time, was not cool.)  It had good colors, featured one of the last tow hooks in the line, was armed to the teeth and held a huge amount of figures.  It was everything you could have wanted from an armored vehicle at the time.

The Night Rhino is actually very square.  It is a rather tall vehicle.  So, in person, it's a bit blocky.  The shapes work for its purpose, though.  And, its that height that offers much of the Night Rhino's play value.  The main feature is the three person crew who each have their own command seats.  There is a slot for a driver.  One for, I presume, the commander and maybe missile controller.  And, one slot for a gunner.  Each features the two position seating option that debuted on the 1984 Slugger.  You can insert the figures all the way into the seats so they are completely protected.  Then, you can close all the hatches above them to seal them in.  The fun part is that the driver's door slides over his position while the other two have flip-up doors.  It's one of those little things that you don't really think about.  But, the engineering to make the three position crew work was quite amazing.  

The vehicle is armed to the teeth...kind of.  The main weapons are two huge missiles on the vehicle's rear.  They are massive, but work against the size of the overall vehicle.  There are 12 "smoke grenade" launchers on the vehicle's side.  As a kid, these would have been a devastating weapon.  But, also one whose usefulness would have waned in time.  I liked my armor to have anti-infantry capability.  Otherwise, it was too easy for an enterprising Viper to get up close and pop a grenade into the driver's visibility slit.  This is where the Night Rhino is just OK.  It gets a lone, mounted gun in the gunner's position.  Mounted guns like this weren't overly common in the vintage Joe line.  So, each appearance was something I loved.  But, this machine gun only swivels 360 degrees and does not move up or down.  It's also positioned where it's awkward for a figure to properly hold it.  But, the idea of the machine gun is enough and makes the Night Rhino a formidable weapon.

The third play feature is that the Night Rhino is a troop carrier.  Two bay doors open in the back to reveal a large, open area where you can store figures.  They can sit on the bench seats and are held into place with a seatbelt bar.  There's just enough room to carry a small squad.  You can easily get a fully accessorized crew of 7 figures into the Night Rhino.  And, you can probably fit a few more if the figures you choose happen to have a light accessory complement.  Joe hadn't gotten any sort of personnel carrier since the Whale in 1984.  So, this design filled a few holes in the Joe team's motor pool.

The Night Rhino also floats.  The wide plastic base needed to house the full crew and carrier compartment meant a wide, flat bottom plastic piece.  This allowed the Night Rhino to be amphibious.  In the water, the vehicle sits much lower.  And, the overall profile is much sleeker.  I'd go so far as to say that the entire vehicle looks cooler when it's partially submerged than it does when it's on land.  Any vehicle that was going to hold figures was likely to float.  And, Hasbro took full advantage of this in the 1980's.  

I only had one encounter with Warthog in my pre-collector days.  Around 1990, I babysat a kid who lived behind us.  His parents had just moved into the neighborhood.  He was fairly young.  But, he had a magnificent collection of G.I. Joe vehicles in his basement.  Here, I had my first and only encounter with the Hiss II, MCC and the Warthog.  His toy room was well put together, though.  So, I was loathe to get all the vehicles out for fear of making a mess.  I did look over the toys, though, and marvel at how much improved the 1988 and 1989 designs were from those I had stopped buying in 1987.  For a brief moment, I considered buying a Warthog.  But, that never came to pass.  I did buy a lone 1989 Night Viper that summer.  But, that was the last Joe purchase I'd make until December of 1992.

One of the great strikes against the 1988 Warthog is that is has turned very brittle in the 35 years since its release.  Sadly, the Night Rhino is following the same path.  Part of this is the cheap plastic that Hasbro used during the early 2000's.  But, the other part is that the Night Rhino mold features lots of small and precisely measured pieces that don't use much plastic.  And, these tend to be door hinges.  So, they are meant to get lots of use.  It's left me being wary of using the Night Rhino too much for fear of snapping off one of the rear, bay doors.  Every time I open one, it makes a cracking sound that leaves me certain I've broken the door.  

I couldn't remember when the Night Rhino actually appeared at retail: early in the year or late in the year.  Fortunately, my photo library answered that question.  The first photos in which the Night Rhino appears were taken on March 10, 2002.  So, it was an early in the year release that hit right around the same time as the infamous Wave V that was an internet exclusive.  I do recall opening mine in a cold, dark garage after getting home from work one night.  I couldn't wait to get it into action.  And, you'll see it among photos I took in 2002 and 2003.  

Today, the Night Rhino remains an oft used vehicle for my photos.  It's just interesting enough for people to spend time reviewing any photo in which it appears.  It has limitations on how it displays figures.  But, you can get some really nice photos of armor operators in action when they are positioned in the command positions at the vehicle's front.  It's more difficult to get good photos of figures disembarking from the carrier compartment in the back, though.  The steps are steep and the doors are high off the ground.  So, it's tough to get figures into a realistic looking pose.  The opening doors do provide a good support for figures to hold onto.  So, that helps getting one or two figures into a fun photography position.  That's where you'll still see it most often.  

The Night Rhino's one of the vehicles that, in hand, is incredibly useful.  But, had it not been released at retail during the repaint era, it's unlikely I would have one.  There were several vehicles that I really wanted to add to my collection when I first started being able to buy any Joe I wanted.  Sadly, one of the first was the Hammer.  The Hammer looks great in photos.  But, as a toy, it SUCKS.  It was brittle, impossible to use with figures and just a general piece of junk.  That soured me on spending time and money on further childhood vehicle desires.  So, I never actually bought a Warthog and it was only through the acquisition of this Night Rhino that the mold entered my collection.  I suspect that, had I acquired one at a late date, I'd have regretted not picking it up sooner, though.  As, in hand, the Night Rhino delivers pretty much what it promises.

The private equity planned destruction of Toys R Us has left retail devoid of any options to release toys like this Night Rhino.  Now, the sparse 3 3/4 vehicles are the domain of "Fan Channels" or crowd funding...if they exist at all.  Even the mighty Star Wars line has nary a vehicle as part of its retail presence.  It's a shame.  During the 1990's and even into the 2010's, Toys R Us was a reliable partner for major toy companies to release vehicles and playsets.  It offered the shelf space and was willing to let a high quality item sell out in time.  It's national presence meant it could afford to finance a full run of toys like this Night Rhino.  With TRU long gone, there is no place left to fill that niche.  Some larger online toy sellers have tried.  But, usually, those were with items that companies had already produced and needed to dump somewhere.  So, the days of fun, unexpected releases like this Night Rhino are pretty much over.

The Warthog had a few uses.  Hasbro's version was released in 1988.  In Europe, there is an exclusively colored variant of the Warthog with a slightly different green base color.  It was then lost until 2002 when it appeared as this Toys R Us exclusive.  The final use came in 2006 when a desert version of the Warthog was released as a convention exclusive.  This is the most difficult of the 4 versions to track down.  There was a decent amount of potential left in the Warthog.  I once said I wouldn't hate a Cobra colored version that was released as a new version of Hiss Tank.  But, every single version that was ever made was extremely well done.  So, you can't be too mournful for the lost opportunities.

During the upswing in Joe pricing, mint and complete and boxed Night Rhinos crossed $150 and sometimes even went over $200.  Now, prices have subsided quite a bit.  You can get boxed versions for $80 or less.  If the plastic is holding up, that's not a terrible price.  Original Warthogs will cost the same or more.  And, they are much more likely to be too brittle to use.  So, the Night Rhino remains one of the best alternatives for a version of the vehicle.  In looking back, I kind of wish I'd picked up a couple more when they were at retail.  It's a nice vehicle.  But, the more I think about it, the more I realize that one is probably enough.  The vehicle has some display limitations and the idea behind all the great play features remains a better idea than practical usage.  It remains a vehicle that's worth owning, though.  And, every collector should at least give a thought to adding a version of the Warthog to their collection.