Saturday, June 20, 2009

Action Team Sea Wolf

Now here's a submarine I've had for a while. It's not the RSS Archer (see post here) but it has found its way into my home. This is a GI Joe Action Team 1/6 scale submarine named aptly Sea Wolf. I'd been eyeing an Action Man Sea Wolf but the Action Man version came in a very dull grey which I didn't like. GI Joe Action Team Sea Wolf submarine was all-white with nice decals and was first released in 1975. The Sea Wolf is a one-man operated submersible that could submerge or dive and surface by the use of a small pump that could regulate its buoyancy.

It was equipped with a camera at the front as well as a claw-like device for grabbing things

It even has a long oxygen hose with a face mask that allows GI Joe to maneuver around outside the sub. The dome-shaped clear capsule cover is really a nice touch and what makes this sub one-of-a-kind.

What has to be arguably one of the best of all the Adventure Team animals - the giant squid! Although I must say I quite like the 1/6 sled dogs from the GI Joe Rescue of the Lost Squadron set (see my post here)

Although only a few inches in length, the cephalopod posed a clear threat to GI Joe and his Sea Wolf sub as its powerful tentacles could crush the clear canopy and send him to his watery grave. Like all other cephalopods, squids have a distinct head, bilateral symmetry, a mantle and arms. Squid, like cuttlefish, have eight arms and two tentacles arranged in pairs.

Dive! Dive! Dive!

Down to the deep abyss of the ocean

Propellers and rudders propel and steer the U-boat under water

GI Joe wonders: "Now where's that giant squid I've heard exists in this part of the deep blue sea?"

I always think that's what happens when researchers search for all these sea monsters, including the Loch Ness monster known as "Nessie". They are just not looking in the right places.

Here's good old joe surfacing after a long day's dive and fruitless futile search for the giant squid! On April 1, 2003 the popular press was first alerted to the Colossal Squid, a.k.a. Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, although this species has been known to the scientific community since 1925, after it was described from two arm (brachial) crowns recovered from sperm whale stomachs (Robson 1925).

"Man, that was hard work. Now for some nice cold beer!"

Other 1/6 undersea-related stuff: Sideshow Sean Connery as James Bond MI6 Agent 007 in "Thunderball", Action Man Aquanaut, Action Man Deep Sea Mission, US Navy SEALs, Dark Copperhead 19 - Ultimate Deep Sea Diver, GI Joe Timeless Collection Deep Sea Diver Danger of the Depths and vintage Action Man Deep Sea Diver.

Playmobil also released some pretty nice underwater deep sea divers - one wearing standard deep sea diving gear and one with ADS (Atmospheric Diving Suit)

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