Thundertank variation

Couple years back, I bought a lot off of Ebay that included a Thundertank where the rear treads were attached to the body with pins and only allowed the wheels to pivot less than 90 degrees when it was in attack mode.

I have the one where the treads are not attached and can rotate a full 180 degrees.

What’s the background on these?

Funny you mention this I just posted the same issue with pics of both.