Blood for the Baron!

Hi all,

I just got an ATC in the mail (and for a really good price, too) from an EBay seller in the UK. In the auction description, it said that the arial had snapped off. I thought no big deal, as you never see one with it intact anyway.

However, when I received the item, it rattled when I picked it up. I looked in the footlocker behind the front seat, and there was a little antenna inside. I was originally ecstatic, thinking that I had picked up one with the arial after all....then I looked at the item and it does not match the one pictured on the box.

The antenna that was in my ATC was about 1/2 inch long and green (the same shade as the rest of the turret). The antenna pictured on the box looks to be about 1 inch long and red like the missles.

So my question (finally) is....what do I have? Is this some sort of variant? Does the toy just not match the picture on the box? Or do I just have a part that someone mated with the wrong vehicle at some point?

Any light you guys can shed on this would be much appreciated.....

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Congratulations !

you have found the holy grail !

the original antenna was indeed green in the same style as the SAS silent attack kayak.

the one pictured on the box appears to be a prototype which is red and a totally different style.

this is a picture of mine, which is a repro but virtually identical to the original.

I was wondering if the red one was a prototype, like the yellow-tipped missles on the Missle Launcher (although I understand those were actually used on another AF - pre-GI Joe - item).

Well, the good news is that I have an ATC with arial. It looks just like the one in your picture.

The bad news is that it was indeed broken....the antenna snapped off right at the junction point. Fortunately, the stub appears to still be in place in the turret. So, with a little patience and manual dexterity, I should be able to rescue it and repair it.

Now for the next question.....right behind the hinge on the turret, my ATC has a rectangular hole (like the one in your picture). The picture on the box seems to indicate that there is a little box-like attachment that goes there, but mine has none. Is this another photo issue, or am I missing a part? If I'm missing something, how difficult will it be to replace it?

Thanks!

if you look on the pic above mine has the same hole.

I dont think there is anything missing however.

all the same I will double check in the archives and find out !

heres a link to the archive instructions, seems as though nothing goes into that hole...

click on the image to enlarge..

http://www.bloodforthebaron.com/afonlin ... ier_02.jpg

never knew the rear pull out bumper was infact a carrying handle another trivia piece of action force infrmation digested

The Baron is now going to check all of his ATC footlockers...

Great stuff mate! Do you have the intact rocket launcher?

That's the great thing....other than the antenna, it's 100% complete and in good shape. I think this might have officially been my EBay score of the year....

I think we should photoshop the blueprints to show the aerial being placed on the carpet and then a cartoon Mum hoovering it up? Then they would be historically accurate? Possibly using a bit of Shake N Vac first, to make it authentic 80's?