Night Fox (2010)
I’ve generally not been impressed by the modern driver figures. Many have been repaints and parts swaps of existing figures, with new heads thrown in here and there. That’s a far cry from the 80’s and 90’s, when most drivers were all new molds, and exclusive to their vehicles. Exclusivity and newness of driver figures were brilliant marketing concepts from the glory days of small Joes. What an incentive to get a kid to bug his parents to buy a new vehicle. “But Mom, it’s got a new guy with it too!”
Seems that sort of thing isn’t a focus anymore, as most drivers have been uninspiring. The recent lines however have peppered in a few distinct driver figures that, while not completely new in terms of parts, are nonetheless interesting. Night Fox has rapidly become my favorite among them.
Included with yet another version of the AWE Striker vehicle (by the way, can we take that mold out to the shed and put it out of its misery?) Night Fox is impressive despite his hodgepodge nature. I’m not usually one to care much about parts recipes, but he warrants a comment simply because I’m impressed by how well it all comes together. I had no idea most of this figure comes from a movie Duke. Wow.
Maybe it’s just the mask, hat and scarf combo that draw me, or the number of weapons, but I find myself really interested in knowing more about this character. The look is very distinctive, and the gear allows for several different looks, including a helmet with night vision goggles. The accessories are to a level of the single carded figures, which I find refreshing. I’m not the first one to heap praises on this guy. JD covered him along with his vehicle in the Field Reports section of the site. Check it out, and check his custom version of the Retaliation Night Fox while you’re there.
I’ve seen customs of Rampart using this guy, and now I want to see people make a RAH-style version of Fox using Rampart (among other parts)!
I dig this guy, I like the mold since it’s something I don’t have in my collection since I didn’t really like any of the Channing Tatum Dukes and he’s got accessories coming out of his ears which is pretty unusual for a vehicle driver anymore…it’s just such a shame he came with such a bad vehicle.
I have no real hatred from the AWE Striker (heck, I bought the green one from Target), but what killed it for me was the mismash of colors. It’s like someone at Hasbro decided just forgot to change the plastic colors and when it showed up the just went “Screw it, we’ll have a multicolored AWE instead of fixing the problem.” I mean, had they gone with all black, I would’ve loved it and picked it up since I’ve always thought the Night Force stuff was good. I would’ve even taken an all tan one since I never pulled the trigger on the 25th one that came with Tan Leatherneck. But instead they also had to jam some tan and green parts on it and it just looked too unfinished for me to ever want to pull the trigger on it.
I really like Night Fox, especially the weathered webgear and the neckerchief. I did have several minor problems with him, though. 1) His holster sticks waaaay out (might be due to the fact that he’s packaged in a sitting position). 2) I had problems getting the helmet to fit on my Night Fox, but that could be me. 3) While I’m glad he came with alot of gear (including an heavy machine gun with tripod), there isn’t much room on the A.W.E. Striker to store it all. I have to store the heavy machine gun on top of the engine, which I doubt is a good idea in the real world. However, those little gripes are eclipsed by the good points that Night Fox has.
Speaking of the A.W.E. Striker, while I’m also suffering from A.W.E. Striker fatigue, I don’t want to see the mold destroyed. Maybe Hasbro could do what Disney does with their classic movies and put it in a vault for a few years, bringing back out for a limited time once every 5-10 years.
thanks for the plug, Rob, that means a lot!
for all the reasons you started, I love Night Fox. I’m his one devoted fan.
Another crappy driver with a ski mask.>sigh<
A great new action figure!
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