General Tomahawk (2000)
What’s in a name? Well, when it came to GI Joe in the 2000’s, added ranks, lost rights and odd new monikers. It was a dark time for those whose hackles were raised by characters’ classic names changing. Scarlett became Agent Scarlett, Stalker became Sgt. Stalker, and on and on. I guess name copyrights have some kind of magical “use or lose” qualities.
Hawk’s name metamorphosed like a butterfly over the years. First, just Hawk, then General Hawk. Finally by the 2000’s, his name fully flowered into General Tomahawk. Thankfully, things turned around later in the decade, and at least his real name was added to the mix.
The General Formerly Known as Hawk came to us in the collector edition two packs, a noble experiment not only in renamings, but also in new coloring methods. Tomahawk here has been subjected to some pretty horrendous paint wipes. I’m all for adding a little depth with a paint wash or wipe, but holy cow, the man’s uniform looks like a month-old chocolate bar.
At least there was enough forethought to include talking battle commander Hawk weapons. I’ve always been fond of the Dirty Harry manhood extension pistola (with scope!) Because a high-caliber hand cannon requires precise aim. You wouldn’t want to miss by even a micron.
That big bore revolver is awesome! That jacket, on the other hand, just looks moldy.
What about the pants?
And just why are the straps all blue?
ick
at least the skin tone on this figure is more human than the TBC version, that was all fake tanned orange.
You just coined a nifty one there, Rob. “Manhood extension pistola (with scope!)” I’ve always loved this version of Hawk going back to the original George Hamilton version. (I chalked up the tan job to a midlife crisis.) The thing I never liked was how Hasbro never fixed the back where the Talking Battle Commander pack used to go. I was okay with the paint wipes since the plastic being used was crappy enough already. The whole sordid paint wipe debate did nearly break my old USENET forum in half. I guess what I really like his head sculpt: It doesn’t get more “top honcho” than this for Hawk.
You just coined a nifty one there, Rob. “Manhood extension pistola (with scope!)” I’ve always loved this version of Hawk going back to the original George Hamilton version. (I chalked up the tan job to a midlife crisis.) The thing I never liked was how Hasbro never fixed the back where the Talking Battle Commander pack used to go. I was okay with the paint wipes since the plastic being used was crappy enough already. The whole sordid paint wipe debate did nearly break my old USENET forum in half. I guess what I really like about the guy is his head sculpt: It doesn’t get more “top honcho” than this for Hawk.
A minor correction: it’s not “copyright”, it’s “trademark”. Trademark laws are basically use-it-or-lose-it, so that’s why we got all the funky code names now. Add-ons to existing code names (like ‘Double Clutch’ and ‘Agent Scarlett’) is to strengthen the claim to a trademark name. Sadly, some names are too commonplace to claim a trademark, like ‘Rock & Roll’ or ‘Hot Rod’. Alas, we’ll never have a Joe driver code named Hot Rod. 🙁
Good thing I was not drinking my morning coffee when I read this review “holy cow, the man’s uniform looks like a month-old chocolate bar”
made me chuckle but “Dirty Harry manhood extension pistola (with scope!)” made me laugh loud enough that office neighbors noticed
My work is done here.
Nice face!