Instead of saying... "So & So came with a silver gun"
Will the archives be ever updated with the REAL NAMES of the rifles &
equipment used for the weapons?

I LOVED the fact that Sand Viper v1's rifle came with a link saying:
"Heckler & Koch G-36 Assault Rifle with Grenade Launcher"

anymods care to answer my question?

I thought that was cool too. It would lead to a lot less confusion.

Since so many guns are made up - or are similiar enough to real guns but yet different enough to avoid needing Hasbro to get a liscense for their use - I think this is a harder task than you think.

I know for a fact that several years ago one of the staff members looked into this and while MOST weapons are infact real the task of researching every single weapon and/or finding its nearest cousin would be an absolutely daunting task. One that would take so much time that it would keep us from improving the site and adding to the archives.

I think it comes down to priorities, and while it would be NICE, I do not think that right now it is absolutely CRITICAL for the archive.

How about asking for help from the boardmembers?
cuz, i noticed that there are a bunch of yojoe members know a lot about
guns, cuz some have either military or law enforcement background

one of you MODS can organize a yearly section Thread of some sort
lets say August 1st til august 7th, you guys can work on the 1982 section
take two weeks if need be
so if anybody out there can identify the real name of the gun of a figure
released in 1982 to just post on that thread, maybe even a link to a website
that showcases that gun as well

then August 15th til 21st open help for 1983 & so on & so forth...

I would say if it's not on the package, don't list a name. I'd like to see it for the earlier figures and the Battle Corps figures that actually listed the names of the weapons. As for the others, I think it's opening up a bag of worms that's just going to be argued.

"No way man, the MK-42 Pistol never had that sort of trigger so it can't be an MK-42, the trigger most closely resembles the Kitchenaide BF-44 Hand Mixer", etc.

Yeah, it's neat to see what stuff is based on sometimes, but not worth the hassle.

hehe... kitchenaide

and the little iron that psyche-out carries with him for the joes' clothes is cool too!

I think that's a great idea!!! As you can tell from my other posts, I'm a glutton for structure, and details in my Joe universe. I'm not sure if it's just having a lot of passion for my hobby, or just a plain ol' MENTAL DISORDER. :p But none the less, I think you've got something there Don, and I definately agree with you. :)

Since so many guns are made up - or are similiar enough to real guns but yet different enough to avoid needing Hasbro to get a liscense for their use - I think this is a harder task than you think.


Actually, the issue of liscencing is not an issue at all for Hasbro as long as they use the military designations for a weapon. Those names are in the public domain (as the military is a tax-payer owned and run institution).

So they can call a weapon an "M-16" all they want. They could only run into a concievable problem if they were to call it by its private/company name - the "Armalite/Colt AR-15."

Indeed, Hasbro ran into this problem with the Jungle Strike Humvee. They could have easily made the toy with its military likeness and name "HMMWV", but chose to liscense the more recognizable "Humvee" privately-held name instead.

If Hasbro made weapons similar to but not identical to real-life weapons, one can only assume they did it for creative or ease-of-production issues.

As far as YOJOE goes, I see no problem in calling these weapons by their real names, as WHOBIT provides their appearances anyway.

Actually, the issue of liscencing is not an issue at all for Hasbro as long as they use the military designations for a weapon. Those names are in the public domain (as the military is a tax-payer owned and run institution).

Hasbro said at one of the Cons (they all blur together after awhile) that they can't make some of the weapons look exactly like their real life counterparts because they would need to secure a liscense from the gun manufacturer. I don't remember which specific weapons/manufacturers they were having trouble with.

I don't pretend to understand the rules and laws here but I have to believe Hasbro is telling the truth about this.

Firstly; I have come to the realization that Hasbros weapons do not fit neatly into either a futuristic/fantasy genre or real world model genre. Its a cross. Unlike the other 1/18 scale weapons which are almost entirely based on real world stuff like the MP-5 series of Submachine guns, the M-4 Carbines, M-16 type rifles, M-249 Saw Machine guns etc, hasbro has added a bit of creativity. However, I have noted hasbro weapons as of late have really gotten realistic despite the fact that they rarely refer to the real names of the weapons on the packaging. For example, I noticed the newer Black Humvee has totally realistic weapons such as the Mark 40 Grenade launcher and 50 cal. machine guns. Compare this to the 1990 Hammer and those guns although not unbelievable are not real, or even the little lazor gun on the Warthog. I say leave it alone.

Secondly; something like grouping and classifying 1/18 scale weapons would be highly subjective. I mean can you imagine someone saying, "well that receiver is slightly to the right so its the AK-47 and not the AK-74" or "thats an AR-15 because it doesn't have a selector switch like the M-16 A2" ; it would get ridiculous. I think I may be familiar with firearms to an extent where I can recognize what something is by looking at it for my own purposes but I've seen arguments pop up on this board before over what some guy believes a gun is versus another. For pistols this would be even more daunting and confusing. I love guns but this is one thing I think will probably never come off efficiently enough to consider implementing on this site.

Thirdly; due to the fact that the other lines like BBI release sets that tell you exactly what their weapons are I personally see no need to try and go reclassify or classify another lines weapons into names or groups like Hasbro's. If you really want to find a 1/18 scale weapon chances are you will find it. Their is a shortage of Western Europe / Warsaw pact scale weapons but for the most part alot of weapons have been molded in the 1/18 scale. For instance, I think I may have at least 10 versions of the M-16 from BBI, Corps, Powerteam, and Hasbro. I think the original Grunt, Footloose, and Leatherneck came with versions of the M-16. Later figures were released with these same weapons however, the packaging no longer refered to the name of the weapon. It really is no big deal. From time to time many members of this board ask what a particular weapon is or could be and I have seen some rather brillant responses from the many other members and I have learned alot from these members passing on their knowledge too. But to try and archive all this is just to difficult, not impossible but then again not necessary. IMO

Eh. One thing I'd like to see is just a little more differentiating.

As opposed to "Two black guns," for example, say "Two black handguns" or "Two black rifles."

Another thing I'm dissapointed in is the apparent omission of WHOBIT for a lot of recent accessories. I find it a pity as a lot of times I really liked to see where a gun came from and who else has used it in the past.

. .

Hasbro said at one of the Cons (they all blur together after awhile) that they can't make some of the weapons look exactly like their real life counterparts because they would need to secure a liscense from the gun manufacturer. I don't remember which specific weapons/manufacturers they were having trouble with.

I don't pretend to understand the rules and laws here but I have to believe Hasbro is telling the truth about this.


If this is the case, then it can only be true of weapons which are not used by the US government and do not have a military (or other government) designation.

One such weapon (at least I don't believe it is used by any of the US services) is the H&K G36 rifle (the Sand Viper rifle). However, the Hasbro accessory looks EXACTLY like the real gun with a grenade launcher attached. Another is the South Aftican Vector rifle that was packed with some versions of the BAT (I don't recall which versions off the top of my head).

That said, I can easily understand why Hasbro would make fictional weapons based on real ones, be it for liscense or artistic/design reasons. I also have no problem with calling these weapons by there real names in WHOBIT if is helps folks better identify them. Take Snake-Eyes (v3)'s submachinegun - it clearly does not look exactly like an UZI, but I see no problem with calling it an UZI - in fact, that's what most collectors would call it anyway.