#836 G.I. JOE – R.P.V. (EUROPEAN EXCLUSIVE) (1988)

I recall as if it was yesterday the day I got this vehicle. It was one of those rare (or well, not so rare) chances in which my mother bought me toys. It was one of the small vehicles from the 1988 line, and thus not very expensive, but it surely costed around 1000 pesetas (6 Euro). I remember opening the box while still on the car and trying to mount it on the back tray of the car (at the time children could travel with no security belts or whatever safety restrictions).

I never had many G.I.Joe vehicles, so the R.P.V. was part of many adventures and I played hours with it.

As you can see from the pictures it is a small vehicle that looks quite heavy and slow. I used to play that the Joes had to scort it from here to there and the Cobras tried to ambush them to steal it. I like the idea of an incredible powerful rocket in such a small vehicle, but, of course, this is quite ridiculous form the perspective of an adult collector.

Many collectors will recognise the vehicle, but not the colour, since this grey version is an European Exclusive item. In the U.S. it was released in some kind of light brown, kind of desert brown, which I think is a worse choice.

The tank had capacity for one figure. It has one side seat, which is something I dislike about it. In the box it is Hardball that drives the vehicle. From this seat, and attached to a long black flexible cable, there is a mini-radar unit, that I usually carried under the missile launcher, as I imagined this mini radar may be even slower than the tank itself.

Although I still keep the tank I got as a kid, I later could buy one new in box, although not sealed (the seals deteriorate and leave the box open after many years), but still unassembled. The artwork of the box is truly great, but actually “mirrored”. The back of the box displays the actual toy over a black background (later waves would use dioramized pictures, see for example #478, #624 or #714)

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: R.P.V. (EUROPEAN EXCLUSIVE)
• Toy Line: G.I. Joe (Wave 7)
• Year: 1988
• Company: Hasbro (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: 9,5 cm (3 3/4'')