(Editor’s Note: I have another special treat for you today, courtesy of SurveillancePort.com proprietor CIAD aka Erick. He took these photos and was kind enough to loan them to me. I hope you enjoy some nice, clean photos of a dazzling little speedboat.)
Tiger Force Friday is always a big thing in the GI Joe Social media world. Just check out the hashtag on Instagram. I don’t usually participate, both because I am a loner and a rebel, but also because I’m never prepared and always forget about it.
Today, I’m a joiner and a conformist. But in a good way!
Thanks to Erick from Surveillance Port, here’s a fantastic photo gallery of the 1989 GI Joe Tiger Fish complete with every angle you could ever want.
1989 GI Joe Tiger Fish Gallery
The Tiger Fish was released by Hasbro in 1989 (or possibly 1988). It’s a repaint of the 1986 Devilfish, done up in the Tiger Force standard colors of yellow, black, and white. It also has some very nice red hardware. I remember staring at the Tiger Force vehicles for hours as a kid, courtesy of a 1990 GI Joe catalog. I’ve never personally owned a Tiger Force vehicle, but the white-to-yellow fade on the front of each one always left me spellbound. It’s just such a nice look.
The Devilfish itself is one of my favorite Joe vehicles. It’s from well before my time, but since it was affordable for a long time, I got one several years ago. Longtime readers will know I’m fond of GI Joe divers, naval operatives, and watercraft– and the Devilfish is one of the best items Hasbro ever made in that category.
The Devilfish is another rare example of a GI Joe item I actually display. It’s always piloted by 1985 Shipwreck, along with Polly perched on one of the machine guns, and two 86 Wet-Suit repaints on the footpegs.
Honestly, I think the 1989 GI Joe Tiger Fish looks even better than the Devilfish. Orange and grey look good together, but there’s just no way to compete with that vibrant yellow, those black tiger stripes, the red weaponry and engine, and the white bow of the craft. You’ll see it pictured here with a nice factory custom Tiger Force Starduster, and he looks great with it. But can you imagine it with a Brazilian Exclusive Marujo (Tiger Force Shipwreck)? I don’t even know if it’s legal for something that beautiful to exist on this hell planet.
Anyway, here are the photos!
My friend Colin also posted a lovely review of the original Devilfish just recently, which you can check out here.
Thanks again to Erick, who has been a huge help during a difficult time.
What’s your favorite Tiger Force vehicle? Let me know in the comments!
The Dragon Fortress 
I’m not a huge fan of the Tiger Force vehicles. But, to be fair, that assessment is entirely based on the photos as I’ve never actually owned one. The Devilfish was a childhood favorite for a while and we had three of them. But, as they broke, I never bothered to replace them. Not sure why.
I think the TF vehicles were all made in Brazil or Mexico. Which is another odd example of Hasbro using their licensees to then produce toys for them, too. I think the story of how other companies got Hasbro molds for the Joe line and what they could or could not produce would be fascinating. But, I’ve never seen it come up in any interviews with old Hasbro people.
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The Tiger Paw, Tiger Fish, Tiger Sting and Tiger Fly were made in Brazil, which also explains why Recondo was the pilot. Estrela had Recondo’s mold, but not Wild Bill’s. That’s why the Tiger Sting is not really a VAMP MK2 repaint, but a Vamp with some of MK2’s attachments.
Tiger Cat, Tiger Rat and Tiger Shark were made in Mexico…like my radio. I bought a Mexican radiooooo….
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How you guys know all this stuff is beyond me. But I’m glad you do. I always like learning new things.
Great Wall of Voodoo reference, too.
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More things I didn’t know because I’ve never owned any, either. Thank you for the knowledge!
I just love the Tiger Force vehicle color schemes. They’re both completely garish and aesthetically pleasing.
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It’s wee fine boat, but why did Tiger Force need two water craft? Python Patrol got none, except the Swampfire in Brazil. Actually main line Cobra was getting water based items, while mainline GI JOE was not, so I guess it evens out..if recoloring classic Cobra’s mainstain water craft to GIJOE along with GIJOE’s mainstay water craft (the SHARC twice) vs the Battle Barge, Piranha, Battlefield Robot Hovercraft, Sea Ray and submarine tanks is even.
The Devil Fish is a sturdier toy than the Water Mocassting Raider Fangboat, though. Downside, Tigerdevil Fish holds less figures…really it only holds one…those deck pegs are odd.
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You’re right about the balance between Cobra and Joe watercraft being off. The repaints on either side do help, though, especially in the repaint era. I’m really glad Lanard and then some of the lesser 3 3/4″ toymakers have some decent watercraft available. That Kong: Skull Island boat I bought years ago is one of my favorite pieces in my collection, and fills the role of a medium sized boat better than anything Hasbro ever released.
And yeah, the footpegs are in a weird place on the Devil Fish. But I still use them because I hate the concepts of realism and vehicle safety.
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I had the tiger fly and some of the tiger force figures- I forget who exactly but definitely Pysch Out. It was the last GI Joe I got before moving on to video games in my teens.
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Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment!
European Tiger Force figures are so cool. Psyche-Out is definitely one of the coolest. I know we all get different toys around the world, but those figures are the ones I’m probably most jealous of.
I own two versions of the Dragonfly, so I feel comfortable saying you had some good stuff! Probably one of the best helicopter toys ever, if not the absolute best. And it’s only better in bright yellow, I imagine.
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I wanted the original dragonfly but it was hard to get until the tiger version came out on special offer. A lot of Joe stuff was going cheap in the UK towards the end of the 80s
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What do they say, “great minds think somewhat similar in coincidental ways”? Or some such. We both had this boat on our brains!
When Starduster takes the helm he is known as Seal-duster. Or possibly Starfish-duster.
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Thanks for stopping by, Colin! I was literally just updating this post to link to your Devil Fish review when I saw your comment. I love it when things sync up like that.
I’m fond of both Seaduster and Starfishduster. Waterduster also sounds good to me, for some reason.
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