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BTR Patriot Grizzly Tank w/ Hi-Tech


  Review & pics by Luke Ellison
 

“BTR building sets combine construction and action-packed play! With action features and cool detailed pieces, BTR is BUILT TO RULE!” –Hasbro Inc.

Subject: PATRIOT GRIZZLY w/ Hi-Tech

Driver: Straight from the Spy Troops animated feature, the Joes latest techie comes prepared for desert warfare in a sharp new color scheme. Hi-Tech came out in the first VvV wave last Christmas, and was met with mixed reviews. He is essentially the same mold only tweaked with the standard BTR flair of pegs and softer plastic. His regular mold is known for all the extra pockets and stashed gear that most hackers might need to carry electronic devices in the field. But given his new desert colors, this Hi-Tech more resembles a well-prepared combat specialist, complete with headset. His body suit is a dusty warm grey with patches of light rust. His shin guards and belt straps are a light olive drab. I have the VvV version of HT and notice that his head applications of paint are a little sloppy. This version however is a lot cleaner. Yellow eyebrows, white eyes with small blue pupils, and a clean thin microphone show dramatic improvement with the paint mask used. Kids who aren’t too familiar with HT will think he fits right at home with his tank. The pockets blend right in with his BTR pegs and give him a bulked up, ready for extreme heat combat look. The small, added detail of the paint make this one of the better BTR figures in series 2 so far.

BTR Hi-Tech

Vehicle design: As soon as you finish building the Grizzly, you immediately recognize its non-BTR counterpart. It’s a lot smaller than the original, but still a decent size tank nonetheless. Lots of detail work went into this thing. Vents line the outside, grates, rivets, and other small details are everywhere. The cannon turret sits high and rotates with ease. It has a spacious interior to carry lots of soldiers. There are all sorts of guardrails and pipes added for extra realism. The BTR team did an excellent job on this vehicle.

BTR Patriot Grizzly side

BTR Patriot Grizzly side

BTR Patriot Grizzly comparison

Features: The first Grizzly seated 2 men up front. This has been replaced with a driver’s station next to a pop-up missile launcher. I’m not quite sure what the pop-up action is used for, but it works and is a neat gimmick. The main gun is awesome. Not only does it fire, it rotates 360 degrees and rises to a 90 degree angle so you can fire straight up (a feature the original was lacking because of its rapid fire gimmick). The blocks used to hold the cannon up are very thick and sturdy, and click at various intervals allowing the cannon to be angled in 4 different degrees. The missile launchers fire semi-far, enough to hit nearby targets, but not powerful enough to hurt yourself or any kids that might be playing with it. The other great thing about this tank is another feature the original lacks: tank treads. These treads are huge and menacing. Its makes the PG roll a little slower than regular wheels would, but that just gives it all the more realism. The tank has about half an inch of ground clearance that are enough room to annihilate small COBRA vehicles and troops with its massive treads. The sides even have guards that flip down to protect the treads from debris and enemy fire.

BTR Patriot Grizzly launcher

BTR Patriot Grizzly hatch

BTR Patriot Grizzly tread

BTR Patriot Grizzly vs. BAT

Colors and graphics: This is a mix feeling on the color scheme. The basic colors are sandy yellow, gray, brown and black. The brown is what seems a bit out of place. I suppose it’s to help transition the lighter colors to the black, but its kind of a chocolate brown where maybe something closer to the sandy yellow (albeit darker) might have looked better. The painted on decals have the stars and stripes going down the front-right side. Danger signs are marked on the front, and a huge GI Joe logo is stamped on the back. The colors work as a desert combat vehicle, but camouflage would’ve been a lot nicer.

Play value: C’mon, it’s a tank. Kids love to run over stuff and smash things. What could be better suited to do that than a huge tank that you can build yourself? With 2 guns and 2 working missile launchers, the PG is adequately armed. The aforementioned tank treads allow for COBRA troops to get flattened with ease. Kids will love it, and it’s pretty rugged. It can withstand a 4-foot drop with only the smallest pieces detaching. Which is fine, because if a real tank were dropped from that height (scaled up of course) it wouldn’t make the drop either. With no electronics inside, kids can play with the PG outside, in a sandbox, or at the beach and clean it off with ease.

BTR Patriot Grizzly crew

Value to GI Joe collector: To a collector, you’re getting a better Hi-Tech than what’s been released so far in the mainline. The Patriot Grizzly really is a formidable tank with its superior main turret and treads to its predecessor. The extremely detailed design gives the vehicle a model look over a block toy, and can be used for cool desert dioramas. I would say this is the best BTR vehicle to try and integrate into the mainline that’s been released so far. This tank is big, detailed, and more realistic than the first Patriot Grizzly. If you purchased BTR sets from the first wave, this is the must have item from wave 2 to ensure Joes to victory.

BTR Patriot Grizzly back

Recap:

Figure: 7.5 out of 10

Vehicle design: 9.5 out of 10

Features: 10 out of 10

Play aesthetics: 8.5 out of 10

Overall value: 9 out of 10

 

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