G.I. Joe RHINO (Rapid Heli-Integrated Neutralizing Offensive) Vehicle

Presenting the G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra Rapid Heli-Integrated Neutralizing Offensive Vehicle or RHINO. This particular version of the RHINO is a repaint/re-issue of the G.I. Joe Sigma Six RHINO (Which had a midnight-black paint-job instead of this steel blue look). In the G.I. Joe Sigma Six cartoon, would you believe that this was stored inside the G.I. Joe ROCC.  In reality, the G.I. Joe ROCC isn't big enough to carry the RHINO. But then even in the cartoons, the ROCC had size issues - sometimes growing in size to accommodate big vehicles such as the RHINO, and sometimes shrinking to accommodate maneuverability. 

My only other beef with the G.I. Joe RHINO is the name. In the Filipino vernacular, the name is what we calll "pilit" or forced unto the vehicle just so that it can have a cool sounding acronym. I mean they actually called it an "Offensive" vehicle. What does that mean? It stinks? It's morally offensive? Touching it gives you allergies? Well it is kinda "Fat" and it's got an ass that puts an elephant to shame, but that's not really offensive. 

But I suppose we can forgive the name because it's just really cool. 

At first glance it looks like a souped up armored car. What looks like an armored cock-pit dominates the front of the RHINO. If you grew up in the 80s, you might see some details that would remind you of the 1988 series the "Highwayman". Almost immediately you should be able to see a problem with the RHINO - namely it's so lowered that when taken off-road, you can imagine how much the RHINO scrapes the ground. I doubt if the RHINO can successfully directly traverse a road hump.

Looking at it from the side and you can see the outlines of the hatches of the G.I. Joe RHINO. You can also see two of its primary weapons - the G.I. Joe RHINO's weapons are modular and mounted on hardpoints (Which we'll discuss later) - a right mounted Gatling gun, a twin mounted machine gun up front and a twin pair at the back. I'm particularly fond of the "Death Race Tombstone" inspired rear of the G.I. Joe RHINO that practically screams "Go ahead and shoot! See if I feel it!"

Mounted on top is the primary weapon of the G.I. Joe RHINO, twin missile launchers - I removed the missiles because they looked like crap. They're the standard spring-mounted missiles, press the button and they launch. The Gatling Gun also had a sprint-mounted missile.

Both sides have pop open hatches. The one on the driver's side (The one with Heavy Duty below) opens up into a troop holding area that sits three. The one on the gunner's side (The one with Charbroil) has a trigger that not only pops open the hatch, it throws a small platform out. This feature I believe was meant for G.I. Joes carrying heavy weapons that can perform holding actions or break through barriers that the G.I. Joe RHINO cannot break through. The problem is that when the G.I. Joe RHINO was originally released, it had pegs installed for the older G.I. Joes foot holes to help them stand, HASBRO didn't bother to resize these pegs for the 25th anniversary or G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra figures which have much smaller foot holes. The pegs are useless. So half the time, if you press the trigger that launches the mini-platform on this side of the G.I. Joe RHINO, any modern figure loaded there will fly out. You can see the large pegs below between Charbroil's legs.  

You can sit three G.I. Joes in the left side troop area. But it's a tight fit as you can see below. On the right, you can see that the G.I. Joe RHINO has a mini ops-center built into it. You can't deploy troops from this side. The right side is also the medical bay of the G.I. Joe RHINO. 

You have to question the practicality of a vehicle that can only deploy three troopers. I reasoned that the only way I could justify this would be if the G.I. Joe RHINO deployed shock troopers. In this case, Duke and Ripcord in their Accelerator Suits. 

To the right you can see that there is an access hatch on the rear right-side of the vehicle where the rear-twin-mounted machine guns can be accessed. The funny part about this turret is that your field of fire is limited. Roughly 45 degrees to the left and right - so it really is just a chase suppressor. And more than 45 degrees and the gunner would have to clamber out of the hatch or attempt to fire the weapon while stretching to hold it from the side.

Aside from the troops in the back, the G.I. Joe RHINO carries two in the main cockpit, one in the driver's seat (The driver's name is Cannonball), and one in the gunner's seat.

Here's where the magic starts. Depress a small lever under the "Tombstone" in the back and you will activate the spring loaded launch mechanism which raises the G.I. Joe RHINO's helicopter. Note the position of the missile launchers. Depending upon what and where you add the weapon accessories of the G.I. Joe RHINO, you may have to adjust them to raise the Helicopter. The Helicopter blade folds and lowers onto the back when the chopper is being stored in the G.I. Joe RHINO. To re-deploy it, it has to be pulled-up, locked into place and rotated to form the Helicopter Blade. 

The Helicopter itself is attached to the G.I. Joe RHINO by a mounting peg underneath the Helicopter. Simply pull it off to remove the two or push down with the pegs aligned to both re-attach the Helicopter and return it to its "ready" stage in the G.I. Joe RHINO. When the lever on the back is triggered, a sealing panel raises along with the Helicopter so that the main body of the G.I. Joe RHINO maintains its streamline look. In fact, with the panel in place, the G.I. Joe RHINO is slightly reminiscent of the Marine Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) from Aliens - except that their panels slide to the side, rather than dropping down like a ramp. Too bad it doesn't have the same capacity. 

In terms of tactics, the Helicopter is clearly a trouble-making interdictor - someone who makes trouble for ground troops. The co-pilot also makes the Helicopter a nubile scout and probably a hard-to-hit ECM laden target. In effect the Helicopter either provides misdirection for a direct assault from the shock-troop bearing G.I. Joe RHINO, or warns it off from charging into an enemy that it would  not be able to handle. 

Now as mentioned earlier, the weapons systems of the G.I. Joe RHINO are modular. Everything comes off and can be mounted on hardpoints located around the body or swapped with other modular pieces from other G.I. Joe vehicles. To the right is the G.I. Joe RHINO without any of its armaments - which actually isn't so bad and still looks great. You can mount the weapons on other hardpoints on the G.I. Joe RHINO or on the Helicopter. 

I'd say that the RHINO is a must have for any G.I. Joe collector. It currently retails in the Filipino black-market for around PhP 4,000 to 5,000 depending upon who you ask. It's cheaper on Amazon (around PhP 2,700), but shipping will be hell.