why are there two different GI Joe Mountain Howitzer barrels

[aferguson]

there is this kind:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/GI-Joe-1984-Mou ... 1c1cc2f78d

and this kind:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/GI-Joe-Part-Acc ... 3368faf0c4

On the first one the end of the barrel is longer and thicker and doesn't taper. There may be other detail differences too. Why on earth would they make two similar but different barrels for the same toy? Anyone know?

[Jesse James]

A couple possibilities are...

-Different molds from different factories. A lot of this stuff had a couple molds. It's like the slight differences in SW figures from the vintage days. I think GI Joe has even more variety though.

-A change to the barrel because kids were putting the rounds in the barrel and they were getting stuck? I seem to recall that set having a removable breech and a loose round or three you could put into the tray, and I could easily see kids stuffing the rounds in the barrel on the tapered one and them not coming out easily or at all then and thus a change to a barrel that they won't get stuck in, OR... I can easily see them taking the larger less tapered barrel and tapering it so you cannot put a round in the barrel at all.

-Mold was worn or damaged, got replaced, and had some changes made either intentionally or unintentionally.

Just a couple possibilities... I'm not well versed on GI Joe variations, I just know they're pretty numerous, like vintage Star Wars stuff, and sometimes made sense, sometimes didn't really have a rhyme or reason to them.

[maritime96]

The actual barrel of the Mountain Howitzer was a seperate piece - it was pressed on over the front post of the body of the cannon. It looks from those pictures that the one cannon has this piece and the other only has the post. I believe that the early versions of this cannon had a smaller post than the later versions did. - That would explain the longer tapered "barrel" which is actually the post the actual "tube" barrel went over. - Hope this answers your question.

[aferguson]

ha......good answers.

i'm going to make a T19 halftrack custom out of a Bravo Team halfrrack and a Joe mountain howitzer and i wanted to get the cheapest barrel i could, but now i see that the cheapest barrel is actually incomplete, as it's missing the end piece.

[nooker21]

Yup, what maritime said...

http://www.yojoe.com/vehicles/84/mounta ... _iso.shtml

You can press down on the extra barrel part so it doesn't look as obvious as those above pictures...

[aferguson]

i've had a Joe howitzer for quite some time that i put new wheels and a shield on and have one of my halftracks towing. The gap on the barrel tip always bugged my but i had no idea it was a seperate piece, til now. I just pulled it off, shaved down the stubby part underneath and now it fits on great with no gap. Great tip guys.

I've just ordered a 21c halftrack and another Joe howitzer for making my T19. Going to do a Tunisia version with mud camo and American flags on the sides.