One thing that's always gotten me with Joe stuff is how well the designers did incorporating stuff that's way out of scale without making it look too out of scale, such as the Skystriker or Night Raven. They're way undersized to be 1:18 versions of the base model plane they're based on, but they were done so well it's barely noticeable. The same goes for pretty much every other vehicle in the line with a real-world analog that's larger than a motorcycle. And while they may be undersized for true scale models, they work well on their own and with other vehicles.

As a counterpoint to how difficult it can be to make what should be a large vehicle smaller without ruining the proportions, just look at the Battle Hornet or Tigerhawk (or the Lanard copy of the Tigerhawk). While not based off of real-world vehicles, they're just too squat and stumpy to even pretend to be real.

So what is, in your mind, the best 'Joe-scaled' vehicle and what is the worst? For criteria, if the vehicle has a real-world counterpart, think about how well-proportioned it looks compared to the real one. If it doesn't have a real-world counterpart, how would it look scaled up to full size? Also, how does it look compared to other vehicles in the line? For example, the new Night Raven, I think looks fine on its own, but is small when seen with other vehicles or even with figures. The overall design is nice, and it's self-proportional, but that's it.

Also, I'm going to do two best and two worst; one from the original line and the "new run", consisting of 'new sculpt' and 'modern era' because I just don't think the newer vehicles can really be compared to the originals. They just don't have the same pizzazz.

Best:

Original - This is tough for me, but I'm going to go with the Skystriker. It was just really well done and while it's undersized for the scale, it just feels massive and seems like it is larger than it is.

New run - Kind of a cop-out, but I'll have to say one of the Humvees. They're nice sizes, and while a little small, not noticeably so.

Worst:

Original - I may get flack for this one, but I'm going to have to say the Flagg. It's a great playset, and there's no way it could've been any more in scale than it is, but it's just too small. Once you have one or two Skystrikers on it, it looks absolutely tiny. Then the conning tower overshadows the deck, making it more like a battleship than an aircraft carrier. I love the Flagg, but looking at it from a scale standpoint, it's pretty weak. The funny thing is the Flagg looks a lot better if you use the undersized offerings of the new run with it, such as the Skysweeper and the Ghost Hawk II.

New run - This one is difficult because there are so many that seem to fit. I'm not going to go with the Tigerhawk or Battle Hornet, since they were my examples above, so I guess my pick would be the Missile Storm/Tiger Storm helicopter. Small helicopters can be done well, such as the Fang, but this thing was just a mess. I'm not sure much could've been done to save it, because it doesn't seem to be in proportion even with itself.

What are your picks?

Weird topic but here goes...


Best original: Skystriker, even back in the day I knew that cockpit was tiny. But in hand that thing was a beast to fly around the yard.

Best modern: Night Attack Chopper. It is a giant Nerf gun with spinning blades. It has a good heft to it. big enough to be an imposing gunship. Small enough to fit on an end table.

Worst original: MOBAT, knowing what I know now, it all makes sense. That the original MOBAT mock up was kitbashed from model parts, but compared to the real deal, well, we still haven't had a really good main battle tank.

Worst modern: Sky Sweeper jet. I have seen an F-117 stealth fighter up close. This thing is an abomination of the awesomeness that it should have been.

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Call it an Honorable mention, because I'm a skystriker fan too, but the Dragonfly XH1 is out of proportion, the cockpit seems a bit larger than the original AH-1's compared to the rest of the body. It still looks and works really well.

One of the worst is the 2009 Dragonhawk XH1 which was supposed to be an Apache and just looks squished. I was surprised that they didn't use the RAH-66 Comanche as a basis model
Looking at Pluv's choice, it seems that Hasbro's designers went through a "squished" phase of vehicle design. Really odd.

I'm not well-versed enough in the full library of vehicles to make my own nominations, but I have observations of yours. First I agree on the original Skystriker, but what made it work so well, with the slightly smaller figures, was that you still had the 2 seat cockpit. To me, that makes the modern version fall somewhere on the "worst" list, as the single seat completely eliminates the illusion that it is accurately scaled.

Another candidate for best original for me would be the WHALE. I can't say there is a direct real world correlation it was based on, but it's of a size that seems completely proportional and completely bad ass.

The new Eaglehawk would be a candidate for best modern for me.

In terms of not a realistic vehicle, the RHINO (I only ever had the modern one) works for me too.

The thing that always bothered me about the MOBAT as a kid was the lack of any other working hatches. I know that was a trade off for the motorized aspect. But I cared more about that, than I did about the scale. In that respect I viewed it as the tank version of the FANG. It was a specialized type of machine, not necessarily meant to be a full size tank.

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What he said. Like most people on here, I'm not a fan of action features, but if you're going to have them, this is how you do it. Even the sound effects are cool on the NAC, which is strange because the whole sound attack gimmick was awful.

I have a few best from the original run... the VAMP remains a perennial favorite. I think it went on every mission when I was a kid. I also loved the Hydrofoil, strangely enough after Serpentor came out. I had a play-theme going where Cobra Commander, Lamprey (who was an individual to me) and Copperhead teamed up and started an insurrection to oust Serpentor as Cobra Leader. The Hydrofoil was their main vehicle they used to perform raids on Cobra Island.

For the worst... I'll leave out stuff I never had and stick to stuff I had and didn't like. Interestingly enough, as a kid I didn't much like the larger aircraft like the Night Raven. It seemed more fragile than the comparably sized Skystriker and didn't have a ton of missiles to take off of it and throw at stuff. And, because of it's size it was too large and unwieldy to store properly.

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Yeah, I couldn't really articulate what I was trying to get at, yet used way too many words in attempting to. It's just something I've always found kind of neat, because even though I knew that, say, the Dragonfly was out of scale as a kid because it was barely bigger than a, I think 1:24, model of an AH-1 I had as a kid. Comparing the two, I knew the Dragonfly was undersized, but looking at it on its own, or in context with other Joe vehicles, it seemed perfectly scaled. Some of the other toy lines I had pieces of here and there as a kid just didn't seem to do it as well, with the vehicles being weirdly proportioned or not working well with the other vehicles in the same line.

I'd nominate the hammer in the best catagory. I always feel weird trying to put a hammer in the same duo or display as a vamp or a awe striker because of the size difference.

For worst I'd say wolverine when you have a piece of armor that's the same size as a two seater jeep like a vamp I'd say there's some issues scale wise.

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For me, one of the best was the Crusader space shuttle. I loved the features inside of it and while not totally realistic, for a space craft I enjoyed it better than the fighter that was remade from the original Cobra red fighter.

Monster Blaster APC was the best trademark/copyright skirter ever made, save for the redo that came with the small chopper that lifts from the center when the button is pressed. I forget what the latter was called, but is gives all us ALIENS fans a decent facsimile since we aren't all going to be as talented as John in making his own rocking vehicle.

The DSRV on the Hammerhead. About the closest we got to a nice DSRV until Discovery started making sets to die for.

The Mortal Kombat MK-1 boat was nice. Even with the payload all around that thing.

For worst, it will always be their first attempt at a submarine. Soda tablet gimmick and everything.

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The WHALE was my all-time fave vehicle. I used it as a playset...Cobras were always trying to board and steal it. And I used it as an explorationary vehicle, too. Cutter and Shipwreck and Gung Ho and Torpedo were the standing crew. Doc was always below deck and they'd be at sea for weeks at a time. In retrospect, I wish that below deck area were bigger, but I never had that complaint as a kid.

Biggest disappointment had to have been the MOBAT, for most of the reasons already shared. Mauler was worlds better, but even the Slugger was superior to the MOBAT.

Worst:
Original Line: The FLAGG. I don't think it's a great playset, and it is way underscaled.

New Line: That pick up truck in the Spytroops era. I tried to remove the weaponry and make it useable, but it's still not a good Joe vehicle.

Best:
Original Line: The FANG. Sleek, deadly, and just a ton of small play value.

New line: I'm really enamored with the Eaglehawk currently.

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If this is a weird topic, then I'm weird b/c this is one of those things I've thought a lot about long before it was a topic

To me, it depends on the subject matter. Most aircraft are too huge in true 1:18 for play or display or my budget. For example, the Skystriker (F-14) is 3' x 3', and the Raven (SR-71) is 6' long in 1:18! Yet you hold a Joe Skystriker and it just feels like it fits. Most of the PTE jets (F-18, A-10) have that same vibe. The True Heroes (TRU line) F-22 is another gem in that category - it's probably closer to ~1:32, but I can squeeze a modern Ace fig in there and the cockpit area doesn't even seem abnormally large compared to the rest of the plane.

But for tanks, shrinking things like the mighty M1 Abrams tank into a dinky MOBAT just doesn't work for me. As shown by the Patriot Grizzly or BBI and FOVs M1s, truer-scale tanks can work just fine in 1:18, and they look a lot more big and mean that way!

The Joe Warthog is another big win - the real thing is a lot larger, but the Joe version still very comfortably holds 3 crew + 6-8 passengers! The Equalizer and Rolling Thunder also get a thumbs-up.

A modern fail to me is the ROC Cobra Gunship. While it is not a real-world vehicle, the "real" version in the movie was just so much more than the toy version. A modern win to me is the recent HISSes - small for a true main battle tank, but as fast recon light armor, they still give that visual appearance of packing a lot of ooomph in a small package.

My Favorite original vehicle was the dragonfly, still is then the Vamp
Fav new would be the Night att coptor or the joes version.
Not sure what's my least favorites

ARAH-era:

-Best: there are a lot of great ones, but I'd give the nod to either the FANG, the VAMP I and II, and the APC: all vehicles that can be easily moved around and maximize their footprint. The FANG is a phenomenal small vehicle and a pretty decent representation of a gyrocopter, scale-wise; the VAMP is a personal favorite vehicle, but it has so much play value for its size and looks about right, scale-wise, with figures inside; and the APC gives you a ton of space to play inside without sacrificing either appearance or utility.

-Worst: I hate to single these two out, because I really like both, but...the Tactical Battle Platform and the Cobra Toxo-Lab. The TTBP is a great concept and a cool-looking toy, but the small size really hurts it: there isn't a single enclosed area, which seems kind of necessary for something exposed to some pretty harsh weather conditions (where does the crew sleep? How do they get out of the sun? Getting stuck on TTBP duty must be a terrible assignment), and it feels even smaller when you put a few figures on it. Also working against it is the fact that a larger oil-platform-like playset would be super-awesome. The Toxo-Lab suffers mostly by comparison to that radical pre-production concept drawing of a much larger, more involved playset. The production version is a neat little piece, but it gets boring very quickly, and that's a shame considering how cool it could have been.

Modern:

-Best: I really like the modern VAMP, as well. The additional seating and rear cargo/gunner area add a lot to a nice-looking design.

-Worst: does the new-sculpt stuff count as modern? If so, all of it except the ROCC and the Rhino. If not, I somehow ended up with two of the RoC Dragonhawks, and each one is more horrible than the last. It makes the Sonic Fighters Apache look in-scale by comparison, and that's just depressing.

Best Classic vehicle is the Tomahawk, it's a bit over loaded with weapons, but the size works for me.

Best newer vehicle Patriot Grizzly Tank. I have a 1/18 scale M-1 Abrams and they're just about the same size

As far as the complaints about the MOBAT, a few weeks ago I hauled an M-47 Patton tank and honestly, I couldn't see a real MOBAT being much smaller than that thing. I think the MOBAT's down fall was the lack of hatches in the hull, but it's not too far off on size if you think of it like the SkyStriker

Worst classic vehicle, The General. Seriously, there is no way that thing could exist in real life. It's just too big, should be a base playset more than a vehicle.

Worst newer vehicle, RoC Night Raven. I can accept that the AVAC is taller than the Firebat, the real world counterpart of the Firebat is a small plane, but that Night Raven is just ridiculously undersized. Works well for the Sig6 figures, but not ME figures.

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Best Original - I guess I gotta say the Skystriker too. They obviously really couldn't do a full scale F-14, and they did great with what they had to do.

Worst Original - There are several but I want to stick close to the original release at the beginning. With that I have to say the Cobra Bunker really bugged me. Way too small.


Best Modern - There has been plenty of cool new stuff, but I will single out the the modern HISS. It is big and bulky, holds several figures, and prettybwell done.

Worst Modern - Also multiples here. While I almost would say that remake chameleon that came with Zartan, I will instead say the sky sweeper. Way off on scale and just looks weird next to other jets.

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