1992 Rat
There’s been a wave of 90‘s nostalgia spreading through the Joe community as of late, which as a kid of 1990‘s, I want to warmly embrace. The 1990‘s was full of pieces from the GI Joe line that were excellent, but there was also the things we love to forget. And of the things that we love to forget, one of which is the Cobra Rat.
I’m not really enough of an expert to know why, but the 1992 and ’91 vehicles are a particular kind of terrible. It’s like almost everything from those years was cheap or poorly designed, save for a few examples the like the excellent Parasite or the Storm Eagle. The Rat is no exception to this and is one of the cheapest vehicles I’ve ever handled.
The vehicle is completely hollow with no bottom. In hand, you might think you’re missing half of the vehicle’s hull, but no: it’s totally complete that way. As such, the vehicle’s construction is very simple, mainly consisting of one body piece, with a bunch of smaller pieces that clip onto it. This inherently makes the vehicle feel cheaper than almost any other piece I’ve handled, to the point that I’d say it doesn’t even feel like a GI Joe toy.
Despite all of this, I have a very mild, mild sentimentality towards the Rat. The 25th Anniversary line really took my interest in 2007, which was during my early teen years. Since there was no vehicles until late 2008 for that line, collectors had to make do with what vintage vehicles could support the bulky and frigid articulation of those figures. Incidentally, the Rat has a generously roomy cockpit, helped especially by the fact that any figure’s feet poke through the bottom of the vehicle, so I ended up using it more prominently than I otherwise would have.
The vehicle has at least a few gimmicks, so I guess you could say that’s one of it’s redeeming features. First, is a launching rotor that tabs onto one side of the back of the vehicle, with a second that can be carried on the other side. There’s a pair of rotating saws that clip into the bottom of the vehicle, and lastly, two double-miniguns that can turn to the vehicle’s sides. Most of these gimmicks are pretty bland if you ask me, but I’ll admit the miniguns look cool, and I’ve imagined more than a few times what the fate of the Steel Brigade on the other side of them would look like.
Because of it’s obscurity, you don’t see Cobra Rat’s as often as other vehicles. However, make no mistake: It’s an almost worthless vehicle and practically nobody wants them. So, if you’re in the market for one, the good news is that you’re likely to pay more for shipping than you will the entire vehicle. Aesthetically, I could see how someone might think it looks good enough for display with some other 90‘s Cobra items, but it’s really a terrible vehicle and I don’t recommend it.
The Rat is strange in that it’s a terrible toy, but the overall look of it and design itself isn’t the worst. I can’t remember what happened to mine, but I sort of remember liking the HISS Driver as it’s pilot.
Still, as a toy it’s pretty awful, even for an early 90s single stamp vehicle. because like you said, it’s bottom is entirely hollow. Though it’s surprisingly well armed for a COBRA Vehicle.
A long time ago, an online friend of mine when discussing doing Figure Swapping as a form of Graffiti, suggested using a 1992 Rat in the packaging of the 25th Anniversary Firebat. To me that’s still the only thing that comes to mind when I think of the Rat.
The design isn’t too bad, but the lack of a bottom piece kills it. The canopy doesn’t make much sense, it provides no real wind screen and partially obscures vision of driver. The guns would require gobs of ammo (this a common problem). Why would it launch rotors it needs to work? Or are they false rotors to fool people?
Everyone’s right about how a water vehicle that cannot float is junk. (FLAGG aside, it was playset.)