Figure Friday: G.I. Joe Desert Fox

Desert Fox was my favorite vehicle in the G.I. Joe line. And that's as personal as I'll get this Friday. Sure, I can come with arguments to why I liked it, but I find it rather universal. No one can not appreciate the way this armed off road car was presented.

I'll explain inside...



In 1988, Hasbro could do little wrong with the G.I. Joe line, and almost everything from that year is solid. But it's not necessarily as memorable as the toys that came the three years prior. 88 is in my eyes the forgotten year. It's still classic Joe, far away from the outlandish 90s, yet it's just not as massively awesome as 85-87.
Hasbro could probably have taken bigger risks, but at the same time it doesn't feel like they were playing it safe. After all, we saw weird characters like Road Pig and Voltar, and unnecessarily big vehicles like the Phantom X-19 and the Rolling Thunder.

But we also got sure winners like the updated "good guy" Storm Shadow, the deliciously detailed Budo, the insanely cool Hit'n Run, and the always popular Shockwave. In fact, no less than four 1988 figures ended up in my top 20: Destro V2, Astro Viper, Sector Viper and Iron Grenadier.  These are strong figures. Combine that with vehicles like the BUGG, the DEMON, the Tiger Force stuff and today's subject, the Desert Fox, you have a good line up.
The light, but heavily armed Desert Fox is definitely an underrated, but non the less classic Joe vehicle.

Desert Fox seemed like a no brainer. It had been a while since the Joe team got a light ground vehicle. 1982 we had the Vamp, 83 saw the Vamp mk.II and 85 saw the fantastic Awe Striker (which I will definitely feature soon). 86-87, on the other hand, no cars. Unless you want to count the Crossfire...
So Desert Fox was expected.

It got featured in an entire issue of the comic, along with its counterpart, the insanely cool Mean Dog. The Joes use the new vehicles in a chase after Star Viper who stole the black box from the Defiant. Exciting stuff.

Secto Viper and Firebomb

Desert Fox came with a driver, the unfortunately named "Skidmark". Now, it's easy to mock this figure, both for his name and for the colors of his uniform. But remember that these are toys. See those rockets strapped to the side of the car? That's not realistic. But it's awesome! As is the driver who would want to dress up like that, calling himself Skidmark. Toys are fun, Desert Fox and Skidmark are fun.

Sadly, Skidmark has no accessories, but he does actually have an impressive sculpt. It's clear he wears a tactical vest filled with tools and weapons. Now look at his wool undershirt. That's detailed sculpting there. Also notice the bumps in his helmet. This was a sculpt that always deserved a repaint, but never got it (unless you want to count the Bronze Bomber set, where my Firebomb comes from).

Desert Fox, as you can see has a rotating machine gun mounted in the middle of the car. It also has a communications post, ending in a very fragile antenna. The front wheels can turn, and all wheels will roll. It can even have a trailer connected!

The car can fit four figures if you are conservative, several more if you're a kid. This was a toy that was easy to include in play.
I know. My childhood Desert Fox eventually got played into pieces. Front axle broke, antenna broke, rocket mounts broke, steering wheel missing. I eventually turned it into a custom piece.
This second one I got from my buddy Runar, it was unassembled - Just the way I like my toys. Hoy.. I got personal. I promised not to. But who were we really kidding?

Enjoy your weekend, people!