2001 Desert Striker

 

In retrospect my first blog post about my personal Joe collecting journey should have been the Desert Striker rather than the random 2010 Hiss I purchased on a whim a few weeks ago. I came across Mike T's write-up of the 2001 Desert Striker ( https://forgotten--figures.blogspot.com/2004/07/2001-desert-striker.html ) over the holidays and it became the catalyst for me to finally decide to take a stab at a blog of my own. Reading that post unlocked some real core memories for me from 2001 and it being very near the beginning of being an "adult collector" of GI Joe.

The 2001 Desert Striker was not my first purchase as an adult collector of Joes. In fall of 2000 when the Real American Hero Collection was launched I was 18 years old, working part time, going to school part time prior to going off to be a full time student during the spring semester. Needless to say I had some time on my hands and expendable income. I was able to track down some of the RAHC items - namely the MOBAT, Firefly/Undertow, Dusty/Law & Order and the Locust. What escapes my memory from these initial "joe hunts" are alot of the details. This is not the case with the Desert Striker which has unlocked some core memories. 

Fast forward to December 2001, I was home from school on winter break and it must have been after Christmas because I had some spare cash to go out and track this vehicle down. While I cannot recall if the Desert Striker was the driving force of this Joe hunt or if I just wanted to buy something from the line since I had been out of Joe collecting for most of the year. It was a Friday night, lightly raining and I remember listening to 98 Rock during the drive. I remember feeling awkward being a 19 year old buying a toy (a theme that was always present during my Joe hunts) and relieved once I left the store. Once I got home, I waited until everyone was asleep and then went into the backroom in the basement where my parents let me keep my Joes and assembled the Desert Striker. Once done assembling it I wasn't blown away by the vehicle however I did like and appreciate it. It certainly could play a role in me Joe Verse.

When I first acquired the Desert Striker I thought it was very cool that Hasbro essentially given us a VAMP. Sure it was modified but it fit in very well with the other vehicles being released at the time from the early years of the ARAH (MOBAT and Firefly). I do recall thinking it would have been better in the drab olive green but it certainly was not a deal breaker. The VAMP became heavily used in my early adult Joe verse days. It was versatile - Law used it as his patrol jeep, it was used as a light scouting vehicle and also served as a transport for injured Joes getting ferried back from the front  lines.

Looking at the design overall I thought Hasbro did a pretty good job with the Desert Striker. It is unmistakably a VAMP with a few modifications. The overall base design is classic, I don't think their is much debate that the VAMP much like the HISS is a very iconic vehicle. The changes from the original design was mostly good. I think that Hasbro did a good job with the additional front bumper, the ammo boxes and opening hood. The front bumper with the additional ammo or storage boxes always reminded me of the British jeeps during the North African campaign in World War 2. The removable passenger side machine gun was also a very cool switch up from the original VAMP. I think the roll bar was done decent but I have never been a fan of the removable missile launcher that clips onto it. To me that seems like Hasbro just trying to add an additional action feature that was not needed. I did like the back engine cover/flat area, as mentioned before I utilize this quite a bit. The barrels with the dropping spikes were a bit of an odd gimmick as well. Certainly not the worst because I liked the 6 black mines and the barrels were at least removable. The details in the plastic were scarce giving the vehicle a very smooth and undetailed appearance. 

The Desert Striker came with a driver, Flint. It was based off the 1991 Eco-Warriors version but in tan and black rather than the loud bright green and yellow of the original. I do actually like this re-release of the figure but even back then it did not make sense as to why it was chosen to be the driver. If anything the mold looks like it would fit in more as a pilot or paratrooper.  Hasbro did a good job with the colors to match up with the Desert Striker but the fact Flint came with no accessories really downgrades the figure. Even just getting a black version of the helmet from the Eco-Warriors version would have helped.

Overall,  the Desert Striker is an important vehicle to me. It's not the flashiest, it certainly does not seem very popular today. I have no recollection of it's popularity (or lack thereof) back when it was released. It plays a role both in my "Joe verse" and just unlocking some very vivid memories of me as a young man. I still have my original Desert Striker 25 years later. It's funny because I remember a few weeks after getting this vehicle I ended up a bit of my Joe collection I had acquired during my senior year of high school for beer money. A decision I somewhat regret! I am glad to still have this vehicle in my collection, it's still in great shape too.