HCC788 - 1988 Night Force TUNNEL RAT - Vintage G.I. Joe toy review!

[@HCC788]

ERRATA: The 1986 Special Mission Brazil set was a Toys R Us exclusive. I did not mean "widely available" to be interpreted as widely available at all retail stores.

[@glennrobbins2372]

My son had all 3 versions but they were all customized. V1 had Chuckles legs giving him an all olive drab uniform. V2 had v1 legs making him all black and I can't recall whose legs v3 had but it gave him the same color uniform as well. My son called them the Trouble Triplets, he said if they showed up, there was going to be trouble.

[@violagreene4643]

Why are so many people surprised by how Tunnel Rat is depicted as rather short in media? Real "tunnel rats" were often smaller than their squad mates. They crawled around in cramped, hand dug tunnels. The tunnels weren't made any bigger than they absolutely had to be. Smaller guys were perfect for these assignments.

[@TechnoGolem]

I know the face is supposed to look like Larry Hama but it looks like many other G.I. Joe faces to me. This is why I always loved the faces with some extra detail. A scar, facial hair, or a mask of some kind. Those characters felt more unique. Tunnel Rat falls into this category because of the bandana he wore and not because of his face.

[@MUMSUniverse]

Tunnel Rat is such a cool figure. I got the OG figure for my 10th birthday. Good memories. 🎂😊🎈

[@3DFamily76]

Tunnel rat was one of my favorite figures. My father was a Tunnel rat in Nam, so I always would pretend it was him and I would use hit n run for me. I'm 44yrs old now and he's 75, but still my hero.

[@dalesanteford7432]

Tunnel rat it's one of my favorite characters from GI Joe from the original GI Joe movie

[@adamverwolf9499]

Great review of a medium figure with a awesome heritage.

[@ginodescalzi6476]

Tunnel Rat v3 was my very first G.I.Joe toy and my favorite one. I like the fact the art of v3 card was a new artwork different than previous versions.

[@Imarida2]

What a time for nerds to be alive!

[@Savage209er]

Looks like the Night Force version of the machine gun has a number ‘7’ modeled into it above the trigger and the regular version has a ‘6’ modeled into it. Just a small difference I noticed.

[@n_explosion8199]

There are actually 4 versions. In europe we had a Tiger Force Tunnelrat with Blue pants,red shirt and orange bandana

[@magnuslauglo5356]

Nice review! Tunnel Rat is my favorite Joe but I never had this variant.

[@timf7413]

This is a good figure, but honestly it may be the only figure in the night force subline where I don't prefer the Night Force color scheme to the normal one.

[@Alverant]

There's also a key appearance when he infiltrated Destro's castle to confirm Megatron was there, kicking off the year-long Transformers Generation 2 comic.

[@cowpuddles4851]

I hated those flashlights. They are the exact lights we used for fireguard in basic. Bad memories, but a great review!

[@ROCKETJEFFMatejek]

Thank you for sharing! Tunnel Rat is my favorite! I hope they bring him into the next movie!

[@user-si9fx4xb6v]

While I missed out on the original Night Force action figures, I did get the 2004 ToysRUs exclusive Night Force five pack which included Tunnel Rat, Flint, Roadblock, Short Fuze, Beach Head and Action Man. Since the coloring is not as good as the original, I plan to customize them. Also I quickly replaced the accessories included in the pack since a majority did not fit the characters at all. I even found an H&K MP5A2 (with an molded in Surefire flashlight built into the forearm) from Blue Box international for Tunnel Rat. I just to track down the flashlight that Low Light version 3 from 1991 to give him. He also has a 9mm pistol, a knife, backpack, and his trademark machine gun. These are much better accessories that fit Tunnel Rat's MOS to a tee.

[@yeuaragorn9977]

The only Mexican Gi joe figure. i got one complete for many years and still One of my favorites . :D

[@agenttexx]

I kitbashed and original Tunnel Rat with the Sonic FIghters TUnnel Rat. It gave me a Tunnel Rat with OD Pans and Top. and the Sonic Fighter Version with Black pants and a red shit. I have the GI Joe Classified Tunnel Rat. One of my friend had a Crazy Legs figure that had him in camo with a parachute.

[@uhhuhhuh100]

Great review! I think they should've kept the body camouflage and painted the straps for the knife holster. I think this figure is okay, but the original version was so much better painted.

[@Jimalcoatl]

The camo/bandana combo is what made Tunnel Rat one of the coolest looking Joes. Without the camo it just looks unfinished.

[@FitnFire]

“It is called a satchel...Indiana Jones wears one” Tunnel Rat was easily my favorite character behind only Firefly. Since I have been shorter than most the people around me, I loved that short comic book/cartoon characters were portrayed; like Tunnel Rat and Wolverine. Great review.

[@hillbillyharper4008]

Another great video. I really like this version. But i also really like the first version so I'm thankful you showed both pros and cons

[@soterioncoil2163]

Tunnel Rat v.2 looks good though. The color of the bullets and their strap is strange but it fits into the color scheme. V.1 is nicer.

[@dalesanteford7432]

Thank you hooded Coco

[@freddyhat9796]

Thank you for another great review ! Is it just me or does anyone else see that Chuckles looks a lot like a younger version of Bill Merklein ?

[@JoeMotionVideos82]

I didn't know that your name is "Isn't Steve"

[@ReboottoysEllis]

JoeMotion Videos 82 bounce up

[@alderictardivel]

Great review ! The machine gun is inspired by MG34 for the barrel and the back half is taken from the MG3. For me, the color scheme of the Tunnel Rat V2 made it looks like a Viet Cong in fact. But I like the V1 and V2 equally.

[@Eviltot]

One of my favourites!

[@williamkincaid3465]

🤣 it's awesome to know I'm not the only one that put the bottom half of the regular Tunnel Rat on the Nightforce Tunnel Rat. I also included the head of the original because it had the Black Bandana and the warpaint.

[@matthewjlee101]

Wow what a great review!

[@KidApoc]

That grandma joke,I’m dead🤣 💀

[@adapedneau1114]

Who would have made a good new member of Night Force ???

[@haroldcarfrey4206]

That weapon is a M1919A6 which was 30 caliber

[@andrewphillips8341]

So his job is to climb into tight, highly complex tunnel systems *ahem Cu Chi*. Do we give him a compact maneuverable agile weapon. No that's just what they would be expecting. We will give him a massive, long heavy machine gun. Brilliant!

[@ROCKETJEFFMatejek]

Was Tunnel Rat a I mechanic? When I was a kid I used to pretend he was,when he wasn't on a Special Mission.

[@hgattwelve]

I almost skipped this review since I just saw the v1 review, but you surprised me with a gem about Bill Merklein. Well done. Quick question: did Merklein sculpt figures and accessories? Big-time respect to the guys and gals sculpting those tiny weapons, packs, and gear.

[@freddyhat9796]

check out the 7 part interview with Bill Merklein on the garrygoggles KZbin channel, the best G.I. Joe related interview ever .

[@cobraisland2594]

Hey Isn't Steve great review

[@ROCKETJEFFMatejek]

Please forgive me for my typing error. I was being attacked by a COBRA!

[@mgvillanmp478]

Nice work I like this one

[@lo1bo2]

FYI: Only Toys R Us America went away. Toys R Us Canada (a separate company) is still going strong. Along with other countries too, I believe.

[@Jimalcoatl]

It's still going in South Korea. You also have Toys R Us branding on the toy section of Lottemart, one of the big department/superstore chains in the country.

[@gijoburg]

Yep, TRU in Singapore is also going strong.

[@Jimalcoatl]

@@gijoburg Sadly TRU in Korea doesn't have Joes. It's mostly transforming robots, Beyblade, and Pokemon type stuff. Oh and lots of Power Rangers.

[@gijoburg]

I once saw a Masterpiece Nemesis Prime at a TRU in Seoul - now that’s something you’d never find at most TRU’s! But yes, this Joe drought is no joke!

[@KANENAS1979]

im from Europe and iv got also a 4th edition of tunnel rat tiger force and actually is my favourite

[@tomservo5007]

I wonder if Tupac Shakur got his name from being a GI Joe collector

[@steveangello6586]

Kinda looks like flint with the colors

[@fatfoxclown]

well each version is top tier in the sense its a matter of taste and availabity if you want one over the other boom tunnel rat and should I look at the reissues as a rip off, a 2nd chance or as varients also snake eyes v2 could have been reissued as 4 was lame super lame and 3 could have used his sword as an extra. I have seen the character in other shows not so much sigma six but renegades did made him a bit of a character wonder how larry saw his homage when he wasnt into bathing or holistic remedies? also sculpting a bird that small, wow now that is something and the sculpture was a master for his time.

[@alecaquino4306]

Wait... Tunnel Rate was in Sonic the Fighters???

[@cobra-emperor6starwars665]

the best sculpts ever made are the vintage action figures

[@ROCKETJEFFMatejek]

What do you think of the other TUNNEL RATS?

[@tenacejenkins5499]

Wait " night force was not tru exclusives " ..... Nf whuuur sold at kmarts, kaybee toys n other spots...Playco ect....n i believe sears cuz sears is whuuur i 1st saw the 2 pks

[@mrbluesteen]

how u seen the red tunnel rat figure?

[@nyquist75]

version 2 looks pretty good. not as good as version 1 but not too bad

[@Mlopez_602]

Great figure. I still hate the legs though.

[@ZBR_ProXP]

ladies and gentlemen... tunnel rat

[@haroldcarfrey4206]

M1919A6 Machinegun... Going out of service by the beginning of Vietnam

[@benknapp4166]

If he's in tunnels. Why does he need a huge machine gun?

[@antoniolazalafeliz8451]

I’m video did you put on it tv series GIJOE the caracter mever did was lob the caracter with the shirt red and pant green and the blue award, and way not doing this caracter😊

[@bigdaddy0614]

You do realize that most eastern asians have a causcasian skin tone. Take a look at Larry Hama. He's literally more white than me.. Asians aren't really yellow.

[@lostinspace1719]

Why ..