 Here it is. This is the old Sears. What are we doing here? This is the place that sold all those GI Joe Sears exclusives. So we're here because you're feeling nostalgic? Yes. So this is where you bought the exclusives when you were a kid? Nope, not a one. My family didn't really shop at Sears. Then why are we here? This place is like GI Joe in a lot of ways. It has a legendary history, a legacy of success, but somewhere in the past it lost its way. Who knows if it'll ever come back? You're reviewing another Sears exclusive this week, aren't you? Yes. Three in one month? People will complain. Don't care. Wait. You're the cold open, isn't it? Yep, that's why I have the camera set up. This is the worst date ever. Hashtag CCIV. Cobra Commander 788 here. It's time for another Cobra toy review. But before we get started, I need to give a code name to another patron. Scott Miller added his support to the channel on Patreon. Let's see. Scott? Scotland? Destro? Iron Grenadiers? That's it. Scott, your code name is the Iron Grenamiller. Thank you for your support. We are deep into Cobra Convergence 4. All your Cobra Convergence content creators have been working very hard to bring you premium content every day this month. I hope you're following all of them. Welcome back to Cobra. And so far, the month has also been dedicated to Sears. That's because Sears exclusives are rare. And not only is this Cobra month, but on my channel, 2019 is the year of the rarity. I'm reviewing a lot of rare stuff this year. As with most other exclusives, the Crimson Attack Tank, or CAT, was a reissue of an older toy in new colors. It's another addition to the Crimson Guard. It was released the same year as the SMS that we looked at last week. I'm always thrilled to get rare items in my collection, and I'm happy to share them with you. Just because a toy is rare doesn't mean it's good. The CAT was a reissue of a flawed toy. We'll talk all about that. HCC788 presents the Crimson Attack Tank. This is the 1985 CAT. This vehicle was introduced in 1985. It was discontinued for 1986. And it was sold exclusively at Sears. CAT, or CAT, stands for Crimson Attack Tank. This is a designated Crimson Guard vehicle. It was released the same year as the Sears Exclusive SMS, which was also a Crimson Guard vehicle. As with the SMS, some boxes designated as a Cobra Command Weapon, while other boxes say a Crimson Guard Weapon. The CAT was a reissue of the GI Joe MOBAT tank from 1982. The colors were changed. The MOBAT was all green. The CAT is red and black. The MOBAT was a motorized tank. It was battery operated, and it would move under its own power. The CAT also has that feature, and I will demonstrate it later. The MOBAT was based on the Real World MBT-70, a joint project between the US and West Germany in the 1960s and early 70s. The MBT-70 project was canceled after budget overruns, and the funding was redirected to the development of the M1 Abrams. The MOBAT came with a driver, Steeler. The CAT did not include an action figure. The Crimson Guard was a legendary division of Cobra that served as an elite combat unit and a third column slash intelligence service. The Crimson Guard action figure was released in 1985. The mostly red figure was a big hit at the time, and it still has a lot of fans. The Crimson Guard was led by Tomax and Zamot. The twin figures also released in 1985. Even though the twins are supposed to lead the Crimson Guard, they're mostly blue rather than crimson. The Crimson Guard was reissued in 1989 for the Python Patrol subset. The colors were changed dramatically, and there was markedly less Crimson on the Python Patrol figure. A Crimson Guard elite trooper, the Crimson Guard immortal, was released in 1991. The standard Crimson Guard was already an elite trooper, so I guess the Crimson Guard immortal was double elite. In 1993, there was a Crimson Guard leader. It's unclear whether this Crimson Guard leader replaced Tomax and Zamot. The Crimson Guard was missing one important thing, vehicles. They didn't have anything for standard retail. To turn your Crimson Guard into a mechanized division, you had to shop at Sears. Between the SMS and the cat, there wasn't a wide variety of Crimson Guard vehicles. No jets, no helicopters, no jeeps. Having two types of tanks released the same year may be a bit redundant, but both of the tanks looked awesome. We've looked at a lot of Sears exclusives this year. 2019 is the year of the rarity on this channel, and Sears exclusives are rare. And I saved several of them for Cobra Convergence because this is a special event. The cat is an example of a GI Joe vehicle being reissued as a Cobra vehicle. This happened numerous times throughout the GI Joe toy line. Sometimes it even went in the other direction with Cobra vehicles becoming GI Joe vehicles. Some of these attempts were better than others. In the case of the cat, I really don't mind because I think the color change looks great, and because Cobra didn't have enough traditional tanks. The cat was advertised in the Sears catalog, but the colors were slightly different. Some of the parts that are black on the production toy are red in the catalog. They probably photographed a prototype. GI Joe didn't use motorized vehicles very often, but it had a few. In 1982 they had the MOBAT, and in 1985 they had the CAT, of course. In 1985 they had the Mahler MBT, another motorized tank for GI Joe, and one I look forward to reviewing someday in the future. In 1987 and 1988, GI Joe had the motorized action packs and motorized vehicle packs, which were wind-up toys, not really motorized toys in the sense of the MOBAT and the Mahler. In 1991, GI Joe had the battle wagon with both motorized wheels and a motorized gun. I have the instruction sheet and the blueprints for the cat, and I will be referring to it when I talk about some of the features on this vehicle. The CAT blueprints are similar to the MOBAT blueprints, and we will look at the differences. On the instruction side of the blueprints we have a little bit of instruction on how to assemble the vehicle, not very much because it was easy to assemble, but we have basically how to pull the cannon out and how to put the battery cover on, and then we have this section on how to operate the motor, and this part is basically the same as the MOBAT blueprints. In fact, both the MOBAT blueprints and the CAT blueprints have a picture of Steeler in that section. There are some significant differences between these instructions. The MOBAT instructions have a bunch of text here about Steeler. Of course, the CAT didn't come with Steeler, so it didn't need that, and the sticker application instructions are totally different on these two blueprints. The MOBAT used isometric angles for the sticker placement, and the CAT just has like a top view and the sides. There is a difference in this section where it shows how to put the action figure in the top turret. On the MOBAT instructions it has a drawing of Steeler, and on the CAT, of course, they move that to a different section of the instructions, and they've changed that to a drawing of a crimson guard. The artwork of the tank looks to be about the same between the two, but of course with the CAT updated with the Cobra emblems instead of GI Joe. But the MOBAT has this section where it talks about Steeler's helmet, and of course that is absent on the CAT blueprints. All of the numbered arrows for all the features appear to be in the same place on both drawings, but the descriptions of those features is different. Let's take a look at the parts and the features of the CAT, and as we saw earlier the CAT is a one-for-one copy of the 1982 MOBAT, with two exceptions that I can see, and we will take a closer look at them in a moment. The main body is all black, and it is hyper detailed with the same details as the MOBAT, and the details are amazing. We have some molded in treads here on the top, in case they need to repair the treads, they have some extra ones molded in there. We have a couple hatches that are too small to actually function, and they're just molded in anyway, which is too bad it would have been nice to have a way to put a couple extra figures in the vehicle, but the way this vehicle is constructed it just wasn't possible. Moving down this side we have a molded on toe cable. It looks like we have some tools here, a shovel, and some other things. We have some vents and a turbine here in the back swinging around to the other side. We have another tray with some tools, looks like a bolt cutter and a wrench, and just a lot of amazing detail. The detail was the best part of the MOBAT, and is probably the best part of this vehicle as well. The CAT has real rubber treads. It's one of the rare GI Joe vehicles with real treads instead of fake ones, and that's because it really rolls on these treads, which we will see when we demonstrate the motor. The treads are dark gray, and they have molded detail on them. They also have holes that run right down the center, and those line up with the teeth on the front and on the rear bogey. I don't know if this is coming out on camera, but the color on the MOBAT treads is darker than the CAT treads. The MOBAT treads are closer to black, and the treads on the CAT are dark gray. The CAT has red bogeys. It has five of these kind of free-rolling bogeys that don't have the teeth on them, and then we have the front one, which has teeth that line up with the holes on the treads. And then the back one, and I believe the back one is the only one that is actually powered, because the motor is in the back section of the vehicle. There is a red grate in the back, and on it is a red tow hitch. Cobra didn't have a lot of towed weapon systems, but in this case, there is a perfect pairing. The colors on the CAT go perfectly with the missile system from the SMS. In fact, it goes better than the sentry that came with the SMS. Cobra's most famous towed weapon system is the ASP, so I've hooked the ASP up to the CAT so you can see what it looks like. The ASP is nice, and I like the blue, but I just don't think the colors go well with the Crimson Attack tank. Atop the main body, we have the main gun turret with the main gun attached. The turret is all in black, and it can rotate 360 degrees. And like the main body, it has some impressive detail on it. It even has another molded-in hatch, which is non-functional, and it's a bit too small for an action figure, even if you could open it up. In the Sears catalog, the CAT tank is pictured with a red turret, but I think the black works much better, and the red pieces attached to it are not overwhelming. This is the main gun, which the blueprints call a Z68A, thin wall 55 round 140mm cannon. It is red, it elevates, it also collapses and telescopes out, and this feature, honestly, I think is just so it would fit better in the retail box by collapsing the cannon in. At least that's my assumption. Attached to the side of the cannon, there is this box with a nice sticker, and the blueprints call this the electro-optical thermociting system. On the blueprints for the MOBAT, this main gun is called something else. It's called a 130mm cannon slash sensor web. That brings us to the top turret. It is red. The blueprints call it a drive control slash observation bridge. This serves as the driver's position. It is the only space for an action figure. The drive control bridge is just a cup that holds one action figure. There's a small divider that goes between the feet of the figure, and the figure itself simply stands in the driver's position. There are a couple control joysticks on the top turret, and you can place the action figure's hands on them, but they are too short and thick to actually place in the figure's hands. As with the SMS sentry, the color match between the red of the crimson guard and the red of the cat tank is not perfect. It's acceptable, but I think it would have looked better if the reds were a little closer together. Unfortunately, the figure does not go all the way into the tank. This is an armored vehicle. It kind of defeats the purpose. If the one figure you can put in the vehicle is not protected by the armor. The top turret includes one machine gun. The blueprints call it a 50 caliber rapid fire machine gun. The machine gun cap is removable. It has a slot on it that fits on a notch on the peg. This is one of the few removable parts on this vehicle, and as such, this is the most frequently missing part. The turret will rotate a little less than 45 degrees, but this is also the control mechanism for the motor, which we will demonstrate after we're done looking at the tank. Let's flip the tank over and look at the underside. We have a couple points of interest. We have the battery cover and we have the date stamp, and you will notice the 1985 cat tank still has the MOBAT's 1982 date stamp. Comparing the cat to the MOBAT, there are two differences that I can see. The most obvious being on the battery cover. The cat battery cover has these three ridges, which are absent on the MOBAT. The other difference is these support ridges on the body of the tank in front of the battery cover. This is a molding difference that is not present on the MOBAT. Getting the battery cover off can be tricky. It attaches at the front and it slides into two tabs on the side, and it has a tab that slides into a slot on the back. So to get it off, you have to press down on the front, simultaneously pressing straight forward. Those extra support ridges mean you have to press the front down so it clears those ridges and push forward at the same time. Not easy to do. In fact, I find it quite difficult. So here is the battery cover. You have to keep track of these because they tend to go missing. It has one of the contacts for the batteries attached to it, and it has this random numbered sticker on it. I don't know what that's for, but the battery cover for the original MOBAT also had a numbered sticker. I noticed another molding difference. There are some extra support ridges and a couple extra tabs on the side of the cat battery cover, and those are not present on the MOBAT. The battery compartment holds two D-sized batteries. Just pop those in as instructed. And then you have the adventure of getting this thing back on. You have to make sure the tabs line up at the side, then you should be able to push it straight back and it should reattach. With the batteries in, we can demonstrate the motorized feature. The operation is very simple. Simply push the top turret forward and the tank will go forward. As you can see, it does not go forward very quickly. To go in reverse, just push the top turret back and it will reverse. You can make the tank turn. Just push forward and left and forward right. It looks like the right turn doesn't work quite as well, but you can make it turn. The tank will also turn in reverse in both directions. But how well will the tank climb? The answer is not very well. In the commercial for the MOBAT, it shows the tank climbing over obstacles. But in the commercial, they were very careful to place blocks directly in front of the treads. That's the only way it could do it. The tank will climb better in reverse. There it goes. Made it. Looking at how the Crimson Attack tank was used in G.I. Joe Media, well, it wasn't really. This exact vehicle did not make any appearances in the animated series or the comic book. The CAD, of course, is based on the MOBAT and the MOBAT did make some appearances. It was in the first animated series in 1983, but it wasn't used very much. It didn't make many appearances in the animated series. The MOBAT was in the first issue of the G.I. Joe comic book series published by Marvel Comics. It appeared a few times early on, but after a couple years it was phased out in favor of other vehicles with toys on the shelves. In that first issue of the comic book, Cobra had some tanks that were similar to the cat. They were blue, and they had a similar design. These were generic tanks that were used in the comic books before Cobra had toy vehicles for sale. Looking at the cat overall, it has all the same problems as the MOBAT. It holds only one figure. The figure can't sit in the vehicle. It runs on batteries, and it's not very mobile without the batteries. The motorized feature is kind of cool, the fact that it turns and reverses rather than just going in one direction is a plus. Unfortunately, the tank doesn't climb obstacles very well. It's missing some things that would become standard on later G.I. Joe vehicles. Removable engine covers, foot pegs, ways to carry more figures. For 1982, the vehicle was fine. G.I. Joe had not evolved into what it would become in the mid to late 80s. But in 1985, when the cat was released, it may have seemed a little limited on a shelf next to, say, the Mahler. The only thing it has going for it is the color change. And the color change is gorgeous. I'm a huge fan of the black and red. The predominant black looks even better than the mostly red SMS. It's like a night ops MOBAT with blood red highlights. The cat does one thing really well. It looks beautiful on a shelf. As a display piece, it is an eye catcher. If that's all you're going to do with it, the cat is perfect. Considering the drawbacks in functionality and features, the best I can do is put the cat in the middle tier. That was my review of the Sears exclusive Crimson Attack Tank. I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you again, Iron Grenna Miller, for your support. Coming up this week on Cobra Convergence 4, you will see a video today from Comic Tropes on YouTube. On July 27th, we have Kick Lee on YouTube. On July 23rd, we have Plastic Battles on PlasticBattles.net. On July 24th, we have Toy Palloy on YouTube. On July 25th, we have the Watts on Joe Mind podcast. On July 26th, we have Codename New Tube Vero 2 on YouTube. And on July 27th, we have Sanitarium Productions on YouTube. Check out HCC788.com for a full calendar of the event. Thanks to all my supporters on Patreon. If you like G.I. Joe and you like these videos, please consider supporting the channel on Patreon. You could get a special codename like the Iron Grenna Miller. Next week, we will not be looking at a Sears exclusive. In fact, it isn't even very rare. But it is a video I've been looking forward to doing for a long time. I'll see you next week. And until then, always remember, only Cobra is Cobra.