There's not a lot of boats in the world of G.I.Joe. At least, not that actually function as boats. I've never been entirely certain if the WHALE Hovercraft or the COBRA MORAY (or any of its alternate versions) are actually capable of floating, and I've never really quite had the nerve to find out.

Of course, the single largest G.I.Joe item of all time is technically a boat -- the U.S.S. FLAGG AIRCRAFT CARRIER. However, it is blatantly evident that this massive vessel is intended to be a land-bound playset. It's understructure is clearly not designed to float.

I suspect one of the reasons for the relative paucity of boat-like vehicles within the G.I.Joe line is because any such aquatic vessel, were it functional, would ideally require a special environment in order for its full function to be enjoyed. And for most kids, that would mean one of two things -- a swimming pool, which not everyone has, or a bathtub, which while most people have one, tends to be somewhat limited in size.

Try to take any G.I.Joe vehicle capable of floating to any larger body of water -- a lake or the beach -- and the odds of it surviving the experience are probably not very good. So there just haven't been all that many boats in the line over the years, and probably understandably so.

But there have been SOME, and some of these have indeed been designed to function in a reasonably sized body of water. One of the earliest examples of this came along in 1986, and was named the G.I.JOE DEVILFISH. While a name like this might lend itself better to a Cobra vehicle, it was nevertheless assigned to the G.I.Joe Team.

The Devilfish was a relatively small vehicle. Fully assembled, it is slightly over 8" in length -- counting the two outboard motors in the back. It came as a boxed vehicle, in the smaller size range. I believe it originally retailed for under $7.00. These days I doubt you could get it for less than $10, were it to be generally re-released in its original form. It did not come with any figures of its own.

Since 1986 was the year of the second season of the original Marvel-produced animated series, the Devilfish showed up on several occasions. One notable moment was when Leatherneck and Wet-Suit were -- as usual -- carping at each other while sitting in separate Devilfish boats on a patrol. Shipwreck (of all people) broke up the argument by driving his Devilfish between the two of them, more or less playing a bit of aquatic "dodge'em cars", and breaking up the verbal sparring match. If even ol' Shippy was tired of listening to those two...!

The Devilfish was clearly designed as a one-man attack craft. Anyone doubting just how much of a blast a one-man boat can be should head to Walt Disney World, and pay a visit to one of the hotels near the Magic Kingdom, either the Contemporary, Polynesian, or Grand Floridian, and rent one of the little one-to-two-man speedboats that they have to run on the massive artificial lake that these resorts surround. It's great fun.

However, these boats are not armed -- which is probably just as well. The Devilish most assuredly is. The very clear intention of the Devilfish is as a one-man, fast attack boat that's armed to the teeth. It's designed to enter an enemy area quickly, take out its target, and leave in a hurry.

The Devilfish has two-count-em-two outboard motors in the back. These are linked together, and really represent the only moving parts on the toy. They can be raised, lowered, and moved somewhat from side to side. They do not actually function. But two motors on a boat of this size -- it's going to be quick. In fact, the blueprints for the vehicle describe the motors as "Twin 110 HP 'Assault' Water-Jet Motors."

Then there's the armaments. This boat is armed to deal with just about anything. There are two guns on the center front of the boat, with labels near them marked "Auto Fire". Clearly these are machine guns. The blueprints describe them as "Twin 20MM Mk. 12 'Repeater' Cannons".

There are four small missiles mounted on the front of the boat. Although in real life, one might be concerned about the backblast from these when launched, clearly they represent a considerable threat to any target. The blueprints call them "Laser Guided 'Sea Phoenix' Missiles." And if that wasn't enough, there are two pretty good sized torpedoes on the underside of the boat, called by the blueprints "Wire-Guided Mk.78 'Captor' Torpedoes". If the missiles miss, or if the target is in the water, then this should take care of it.

The Devilfish has a somewhat unusual color scheme. The top of the boat is orange. Clearly it's not intended to operate as a camouflage vehicle. The underside and most of the sides of the boat are grey.

The Devilfish has always been a personal favorite of mine. I've always felt that the G.I.Joe Team (and heck, Cobra) needed more aquatic-based vehicles. I can understand from a toy standpoint why they didn't have more, but even so, one can't help but think of the fact that more of the surface of Earth is covered with water than with land, and anyone intent on either protecting or conquering the planet is going to need to take that into consideration.

The Devilfish is a good entry in that regard, as well as from a toy standpoint. It's small, so it can work in a bathtub. Heck, it can work in a big enough sink, for that matter. It would probably almost be overwhelmed in a swimming pool, depending on the size of the pool.

It LOOKS like a boat. Every so often a vehicle would come along that just didn't quite look like its intended purpose. Remember the SHARC? During kid testing, Hasbro discovered that kids thought that this intended submarine was a plane -- so it became a "flying submarine". No one's going to mistake the Devilfish for anything other than a boat. And, at the time of its release, it was inexpensive enough so that you could build a small fleet of them if you were so inclined.

So, here's to the Devilfish -- proof that cool things do come in small packages, including G.I.Joe vehicles. I hope you've enjoyed this look at the G.I.JOE DEVILFISH