They never released either the Flagg or the Terrordrome over here, so all we had was the original headquarters from the Palitoy days, and this from later. I always wanted this as a child.
My all-time favorite Joe playset. An older kid in the neighborhood gave me his old one when he no longer played with it. Had some good times with this thing.
My friends and I used shoelaces as cables in the hooks and used either a Dragonfly or Tomahawk to pick up the whole thing. We figured that it could go anywhere, so this playset got a lot of use as kids.
My 12th birthday in 1985 on December 10th yes I received this as well also shipwreck lady j the first three drednoks the trouble bubble and Flint That's not including Christmas but man there are so many cool figures in 1985 and the tactical battle platform,that was my biggest playset. So much play value.
Also since 1990 and the time of this comment, the GI Joe locust looks so good up there cuz that's what I have.lol. my skyhawk on 84 was such a letdown due to it falling apart . However, I love the details of it.
Great review. I wish I could post a photo of what I did with my TTBP. It was before my friend repainted one in Cobra blue. It was staffed by, all 25th anniversary, 5 Cobra Crimson guard (from a TRU 5 pack), and 3 Cobra Eel. One in the water (windows paint program, not real water). Next to the side ladder is the vintage Moray with 4 Cobra divers. And a Cobra Fang (re-release), on the heli-pad, with a Viper trooper pilot. Later, came that with a Cobra captured U.S.S. Flagg. I really wish I could post those photos on here. It turned out really well.
Wasn't lucky enough to get the Headquarters playset and had no room (or money) for the Flagg, but I did get this for Christmas that year. Played with it outside all the time.
Great review! I loved the use of this in the comics, the whole Cobra Island storyline was fantastic. My ten year old is watching ARAH with me, his idea, and he thinks my 25th and POC is great. My mom curbed all of my toys while I was retaliating for 9/11, what a homecoming present, huh! One feature you and Form missed. The ramp of the TBP could also lower to the water specifically for the Devilfish (launch and retrieval) or to retrieve the sled from the WHALE. The underside of the ramp lip is molded at an angle to fit flush on the "water" (floor) for sea or land operations. Check it out!
I've always thought this was originally designed to be a Cobra base. All of the features seem to work more naturally with the many Cobra water vehicles available at the time (MORAY, NIGHT LANDING, WATER MOCCASIN, CHAMELEON) and the helipad is scaled for the FANG helicopter. The coloring even goes better with the 1985 MORAY. I'm pretty sure Cobra had an oil well base in the comics as well and they desperately needed a base (not made of cardboard) in the toy line. I think Hasbro did design this as a Cobra base, then shoehorned it into the GI Joe team for whatever reason. My guesses are that Hasbro had designs ready for the TERROR DROME and were planning to release it the next year or that "hero" products just sell better.
if i had the set i'd put these Joes on it : Shipwreck Deepsix + SHARC * Wet-Suit + Devilfish ** Torpedo Leatherneck & Gung - Ho Topside Mainframe ( to sit in the chair ) as for the vehicles to add : Killer WHALE hovercraft Sky Hawk * ** P.S this set would also be good for a staging platform in a polar area ; to use some of the winter specialists and winter vehicles Snow Job Iceberg etc. i think the polar battle bear would even fit the ramp :)
Another home run hit HCC788! Thanks for your great review. I have this platform but i found it at a garage sale. So many of the parts were missing. And you are so right on trying to find them now! It's impossible.
I remember this playset very well from my childhood: in my country it was the only G.I.Joe base released, so it was the center piece in most promotional photos. In my country (Italy) G.I.Joe had a very weird release hystory: no toys from 83 while the 84/85 was very botched, missing most of the core characters. For example, the first Cobra Commander we got was the one in battle armor: something hard to believe.
This is a really awesome play set, I never had it as a kid but wow it is cool, I love the way it could interact with other vehicles and has lots of cool features, excellent review!!!
I too as well have a problem! As a child of the '80s my parents was able to buy me a small fracture amount of the toys I wanted. From transformers GI Joe's ThunderCats He-Man or my personal top four. As an adult in my late '40s I purchased first the ones my parents bought me. And then I purchased the one's I've always wanted as a child. Great review code name: HCC 488 from code name: Low Ride
Got mine on top of the central part of 83 HQ as a second floor area for more figures to stay in. Giving it more height as opposed to the 83 HQ having width. Also with that used Control Center part as HAWK'S office.
Great video! I really enjoyed this. Very in depth. I would agree that this was a nice consolation price to those of us who couldn't afford the flagg at the time. This is definitely a worth while playsets. That I'll be honest, I'm a sucker for playsets. I like the comparison to the headquarters as well. While they're different in many ways, they both give you different elements to work with as far as one is basically land based. Where as the TBP can be used for both. Also like the variety we get with the TBP. It has a little bit of everything.
the funny thing is the platform seems a lot cooler than the original GI Joe Hq, has a lot more options for land sea & air and I'm betting was cheaper than the Hq, like the smaller vehicles I bet this was a major selling point for the kids/parents.
The Devil Fish fits on the extension ramp too, that's if I recall correctly. The battle platform would be great in one of your short films. I just feel sorry for the Joe who is in the command center during a take off or landing.
I loved playing with this thing but sooo many pieces weren't secured well and would just fall off constantly. The clear shield, the radar, the ladders. I disagree it's flat = boring. There was so much you could play with. I still have mine bug the clear shield has warped and yellowed pretty badly.
Considering his troops codenames and base of operations, one has to ask, was Punished Snake impersonating a G.I. Joe? Perhaps to work with them to achieve a goal? I know that sounds ridiculous, but hear me out. Maybe he's a Fred clone. Cobra Commander did refer to himself as "Old Snake" in those Transformers crossovers, so maybe he's THE Naked Snake/Big Boss and Punished Snake is one of his Fred's just doing what needs to be done, even if it means giving up his old Fred life through even more therapies and surgeries. Of course this assumes Old Snake Cobra Commander turning on Cobra itself, but Cobra has had civil wars before, so why not? The Boss's original unit in WW2 had two different names, the "Sons of the Boss" and "The Cobras", so Old Snake Big Boss taking both names seems appropriate to me. You could even say he shortened it to "The Cobra" or simply "Cobra" after killing the other original members in MG3, thus becoming the "Cobra Commander". After all, somebody has to stop Destro/Skullface from selling those Metal Gears! Or maybe I'm just pulling this out of my backside because it's 4am and I need to sleep. You decide!
There's no reason to compare the Tactical platform with the Headquarters. They're both awesome in their own way. I only have the Headquarters thusly, and I love it. Think it's awesome. But, the Tactical platform is no slouch.
I don't understand why they didn't use this search light mold for the mobile command center, instead they used a very brittle plastic and a very prone to break clip...
+Kyriakos Vafiadis I don't have the MCC, but I understand it reused a lot of parts from previous vehicles. Odd that they didn't reuse the searchlight. Maybe they lost the mold-- that happens sometimes. Seems strange they would go through the expense of creating new tooling for a search light on a large vehicle/playset that was already going to have a high price point.
One of the two biggest Joe toys I had as a kid (along with the Skystriker). Loved it! TTBP acted as my full time Joe base since I never had the 83 HQ.
I had one. I loved this play set. I spent hours playing with it. It was my favorite GI Joe play set.
David Santos it's cool
They never released either the Flagg or the Terrordrome over here, so all we had was the original headquarters from the Palitoy days, and this from later. I always wanted this as a child.
I bought a nice complete one just yesterday. I had it in 1985. Love this playsets features!! YOJOE!!!
My all-time favorite Joe playset. An older kid in the neighborhood gave me his old one when he no longer played with it. Had some good times with this thing.
Awesome 👏
My friends and I used shoelaces as cables in the hooks and used either a Dragonfly or Tomahawk to pick up the whole thing. We figured that it could go anywhere, so this playset got a lot of use as kids.
got it for my birthday that year. I was the man when I got it. my friends were envious.
My 12th birthday in 1985 on December 10th yes I received this as well also shipwreck lady j the first three drednoks the trouble bubble and Flint That's not including Christmas but man there are so many cool figures in 1985 and the tactical battle platform,that was my biggest playset. So much play value.
Also since 1990 and the time of this comment, the GI Joe locust looks so good up there cuz that's what I have.lol. my skyhawk on 84 was such a letdown due to it falling apart . However, I love the details of it.
I had this as a kid and never knew about the extendable legs!
I got this on christmas day, played with it for hours, wish i had kept it, and the box it came in.
Great review! I had a friend give me a custom Dreadnok Tactical Battle Platform he made in green and black.
I had this as a kid and never knew the legs extended
My mum got me one of these 2nd hand randomly from a carboot sale... Jesus, I played for hours with it.
I remember this in the comics but had no idea there was a toy! I'm now down £40 after a trip to ebay.....
Great review. I wish I could post a photo of what I did with my TTBP. It was before my friend repainted one in Cobra blue. It was staffed by, all 25th anniversary, 5 Cobra Crimson guard (from a TRU 5 pack), and 3 Cobra Eel. One in the water (windows paint program, not real water). Next to the side ladder is the vintage Moray with 4 Cobra divers. And a Cobra Fang (re-release), on the heli-pad, with a Viper trooper pilot. Later, came that with a Cobra captured U.S.S. Flagg. I really wish I could post those photos on here. It turned out really well.
Great job and great memories! I had one and loved it 💯
I just bought this set on eBay. Can't wait to set my Joes up on it.
I hope you like it! I think it makes for a really nice display.
Wasn't lucky enough to get the Headquarters playset and had no room (or money) for the Flagg, but I did get this for Christmas that year. Played with it outside all the time.
Great review! I loved the use of this in the comics, the whole Cobra Island storyline was fantastic. My ten year old is watching ARAH with me, his idea, and he thinks my 25th and POC is great. My mom curbed all of my toys while I was retaliating for 9/11, what a homecoming present, huh!
One feature you and Form missed. The ramp of the TBP could also lower to the water specifically for the Devilfish (launch and retrieval) or to retrieve the sled from the WHALE. The underside of the ramp lip is molded at an angle to fit flush on the "water" (floor) for sea or land operations. Check it out!
TH-cam recommended I re-watch this... so I did. I love this playset.
I've been watching all of these videos...twice! I have issues...🤣🤣🤣
I've always thought this was originally designed to be a Cobra base. All of the features seem to work more naturally with the many Cobra water vehicles available at the time (MORAY, NIGHT LANDING, WATER MOCCASIN, CHAMELEON) and the helipad is scaled for the FANG helicopter. The coloring even goes better with the 1985 MORAY. I'm pretty sure Cobra had an oil well base in the comics as well and they desperately needed a base (not made of cardboard) in the toy line. I think Hasbro did design this as a Cobra base, then shoehorned it into the GI Joe team for whatever reason. My guesses are that Hasbro had designs ready for the TERROR DROME and were planning to release it the next year or that "hero" products just sell better.
drftgy67 interesante. gracias
The colors are pretty close to the terror drome as well. Just add some cobra blue and a slightly darker red in places.
Thank you again you helped us totally blind. G I Joe collector put this thing together. Almost can’t take her out where The antenna goes
if i had the set i'd put these Joes on it :
Shipwreck
Deepsix + SHARC *
Wet-Suit + Devilfish **
Torpedo
Leatherneck & Gung - Ho
Topside
Mainframe ( to sit in the chair )
as for the vehicles to add :
Killer WHALE hovercraft
Sky Hawk
*
**
P.S this set would also be good for a staging platform in a polar area ; to use some of the winter specialists and winter vehicles
Snow Job
Iceberg
etc.
i think the polar battle bear would even fit the ramp :)
Lego Forestman I could see this as a J.U.M.P. station too
Great review! I wish I had the space to set mine up!
I had this and the Base, played with this way more then the base growing up.
This is a great toy! nice review!
+Kyriakos Vafiadis Thank you very much! I'm glad you liked it. This was a fun one. It's a great playset.
Another home run hit HCC788! Thanks for your great review. I have this platform but i found it at a garage sale. So many of the parts were missing. And you are so right on trying to find them now! It's impossible.
Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying the reviews!
Outstanding review!
The way I could tell the guns apart very easily is that they came on a tree and when removed, they left a small "nub" on the stock and barrel.
I remember this playset very well from my childhood: in my country it was the only G.I.Joe base released, so it was the center piece in most promotional photos.
In my country (Italy) G.I.Joe had a very weird release hystory: no toys from 83 while the 84/85 was very botched, missing most of the core characters. For example, the first Cobra Commander we got was the one in battle armor: something hard to believe.
I always displayed the platforms ramp as a slide out with the decking facing up
This is a really awesome play set, I never had it as a kid but wow it is cool, I love the way it could interact with other vehicles and has lots of cool features, excellent review!!!
great review of a great play set
+james strickland Thank you! I hope I didn't miss anything.
I too as well have a problem! As a child of the '80s my parents was able to buy me a small fracture amount of the toys I wanted. From transformers GI Joe's ThunderCats He-Man or my personal top four. As an adult in my late '40s I purchased first the ones my parents bought me. And then I purchased the one's I've always wanted as a child. Great review code name: HCC 488 from code name: Low Ride
Got mine on top of the central part of 83 HQ as a second floor area for more figures to stay in. Giving it more height as opposed to the 83 HQ having width. Also with that used Control Center part as HAWK'S office.
I think the TOMAHAWK is strong enough to lift an 'empty' TTBP by itself, don't you?
Great video! I really enjoyed this. Very in depth. I would agree that this was a nice consolation price to those of us who couldn't afford the flagg at the time. This is definitely a worth while playsets. That I'll be honest, I'm a sucker for playsets. I like the comparison to the headquarters as well. While they're different in many ways, they both give you different elements to work with as far as one is basically land based. Where as the TBP can be used for both. Also like the variety we get with the TBP. It has a little bit of everything.
I want both, the TBP and the Joe base now!😁
Great review!
+AutoShermatic Thank you!
I would love to have this and display it as a Helicopter landing platform in a Headquarters display.
i had this, and broke every bit you said would break.
i could see the value in this what with all of the watercraft that were introduced the prior year and beyond
awesome piece here despite the shortcomings this is a nice piece ...awesome vid man
+mgvillanmp478 Thank you! The good definitely outweighs the bad on this one.
That lamp -- a similar one came with the Watch Tower, I guess.
the funny thing is the platform seems a lot cooler than the original GI Joe Hq, has a lot more options for land sea & air and I'm betting was cheaper than the Hq, like the smaller vehicles I bet this was a major selling point for the kids/parents.
The Devil Fish fits on the extension ramp too, that's if I recall correctly. The battle platform would be great in one of your short films. I just feel sorry for the Joe who is in the command center during a take off or landing.
I now have the TTBP, and it's superb. Still no reason to compare it to the Headquarters. Both are excellent in their own way.
Good Review. I especially liked your comparison to the Original Joe Headquarters. Hopefully you'll review the Terror Drome soon.
+sonic360 I would love to review the Terror Drome! I just have to get one first!
Awesome stuff man!
+Silent Wobby Thank you!
I loved playing with this thing but sooo many pieces weren't secured well and would just fall off constantly. The clear shield, the radar, the ladders. I disagree it's flat = boring. There was so much you could play with. I still have mine bug the clear shield has warped and yellowed pretty badly.
I NEVER adjusted my platform legs. By the time I got it done I had other things to do!
Great review and playset... I have two in Kreo form lol
+Brian Reese Thank you! I don't habve any Kreo. How does it stack up to the original? Did they manage to recreate most of the features?
It has many similarities... It's a very cool little set... I actually bought two and super-sized it with customization
Cool!
my mom made me a "sling" hooked all 4 hooks to one point so that it could be carried by one helicopter
phillip powers I bet it was the tomahawk cause had it been the dragonfly the skid's probably would have popped off
AWESOME! I say, why the hell couldn't HASBRO be as creative as your Mom?
would have made a good outpost or mooring station for all of the various watercraft
big ask brother .... mobile command center review?????? nobody has done one yet ..... another great review always informative and fun cheers
+David Tagilala I don't have the MCC yet, but I'll put it on the radar.
interesting. the rifle rack is usually what people like my most about the TTBP. I like your take on this!
Anyone know what the sticker price on this was in 1985?
great review now man up complete your Flagg and review it.
+Chris Michalec I'm working on it! Well, not really. I'm working on Steel Brigade. But when I'm done with that, I'll be working on it!
Do you even remember the GoBots and if so do you have any or have you ever had any of them??
Considering his troops codenames and base of operations, one has to ask, was Punished Snake impersonating a G.I. Joe? Perhaps to work with them to achieve a goal? I know that sounds ridiculous, but hear me out. Maybe he's a Fred clone. Cobra Commander did refer to himself as "Old Snake" in those Transformers crossovers, so maybe he's THE Naked Snake/Big Boss and Punished Snake is one of his Fred's just doing what needs to be done, even if it means giving up his old Fred life through even more therapies and surgeries. Of course this assumes Old Snake Cobra Commander turning on Cobra itself, but Cobra has had civil wars before, so why not? The Boss's original unit in WW2 had two different names, the "Sons of the Boss" and "The Cobras", so Old Snake Big Boss taking both names seems appropriate to me. You could even say he shortened it to "The Cobra" or simply "Cobra" after killing the other original members in MG3, thus becoming the "Cobra Commander". After all, somebody has to stop Destro/Skullface from selling those Metal Gears!
Or maybe I'm just pulling this out of my backside because it's 4am and I need to sleep. You decide!
Just found and ordered a 'complete' TTBP in eBay; so we shall see...
Personally, I think the figure TOPSIDE should be its commander...
Platform had ton of pieces to loose I just found a leg the other day lol
I'm sorry, this is not a criticism, but a bit funny. I watch this and see you being Vince the ShamWow guy...lol
There's no reason to compare the Tactical platform with the Headquarters. They're both awesome in their own way. I only have the Headquarters thusly, and I love it. Think it's awesome. But, the Tactical platform is no slouch.
V spell check The only thing I can’t figure out is where the antenna goes
can you combined this with the USS flag ?
I don't understand why they didn't use this search light mold for the mobile command center, instead they used a very brittle plastic and a very prone to break clip...
+Kyriakos Vafiadis I don't have the MCC, but I understand it reused a lot of parts from previous vehicles. Odd that they didn't reuse the searchlight. Maybe they lost the mold-- that happens sometimes. Seems strange they would go through the expense of creating new tooling for a search light on a large vehicle/playset that was already going to have a high price point.
Ahhhhh. Those stupid hook holes....Those holes were the reason the platform would sink if you played with it in water.
Does it float?
The question should be...(echoing voice) DOES A MODERN FIGURE FIT IN IT???
next on my list of wooden toys I'm going to try making for the boy!
Great review!