Not too long ago I added a total of three vintage, boxed G.I. Joe vehicles to my collection of the first wave that was released in Europe in 1987. As regular visitors to this site will know I try to collect all of the first couple of waves of  G.I. Joe figures and vehicles that were released in the Netherlands. Hasbro went all out with the introduction of their G.I. Joe line in Europe in 1987 by creating specific packaging and promotional material for each individual European country. So for example, the Netherlands got all Dutch packaging and France got all French packaging. Even Belgium, which is not your biggest European market, and which is a country where the predominant two languages are Dutch (in Flanders) and French (in Wallonia) got their own specific packaging, featuring Dutch and French!! How about that for commitment to their European market? The Dutch G.I. Joe figures and vehicles are some of the most hard to find. In fact, even though Belgium is a lot smaller than the Netherlands, G.I. Joe was quite big there and as a consequence it’s easier to find the signature dual-language French/Dutch G.I. Joe’s than it is to find the all-Dutch Joe’s.

“Cobra Hydrofoil (Moray)”

The first of the three big box vehicles that I scored is the Cobra Hydrofoil (Moray), which is pictured above. It’s a big ass hydrofoil boat with room for seven action figures. I remember wanting the Cobra Hydrofoil badly in 1987, but there was just no way I could afford it, because it was one of the most expensive vehicles of Hasbro’s introductory European G.I. Joe line up in 1987. Recently I spotted the Cobra Hydrofoil on a Dutch classified ads site as part of a giant lot full of loose G.I. Joe action figures and vehicles and to my astonishment the photo in question also showed the Dutch packaging of the Cobra Hydrofoil. I quickly struck a deal with the seller for just the Hydrofoil and its Dutch box and got them really, really cheap. When the package arrived in the mail I was pleasantly surprised to find that the seller had included a shitload of extras in various states of completion. Good times! Only problem was that the Cobra Hydrofoil and all the other goodies that came along with it were not exactly…. well, clean.

So after letting the Hydrofoil and all its parts soak for a while in the sink, everything came out nice and clean! I removed some of the really worn stickers. I might decide to order a set of repro stickers in the future. Here’s the all cleaned up Hydrofoil together with some Cobra action figures !

Much better! The original action figure that was included with the Hydrofoil is missing as are some parts here and there, but I really can’t complain, because I paid a very modest amount for this item.

“Transportable Tacticle Battle Platform”

I also scored the Dutch packaged version of the Transportable Tactical Battle Platform which was known here as the “Transporteerbaar Tactisch Gevechtsplatform”. Yes, “Gevechtsplatform”. You read that right. A total of six consonants strung together there in one word. Crazy Dutchies. I’m not even going to begin explaining how that is pronounced.

“Skystriker”

The Skystriker jet is one of the coolest vehicles of the initial G.I. Joe line up in Europe if you ask me. Although I wasn’t able to secure the all-Dutch packaged version yet, I did score the Belgian version, which features French and Dutch on the packaging. One of my best friends had the Skystriker in 1987. It was such a cool toy until we made it blow up a couple of years later by stuffing it full of fireworks, while throwing it out of a second floor window in a pathetic attempt to create a mid-air explosion. It fell straight into his dad’s small fish pond where it exploded under water (and probably took quite a few fishes with it….). In-depth features and photos of the insides of the Battle Platform and the Skystriker in a future article!