General Abernathy (2005)
By Past Nastification
Hawk (released as “General Abernathy”) got this spiffy ARAH treatment in 2005 as a comic pack action figure. Made of previous body parts from different Hawk figures, plus a great new head, this figure was intended to represent how Hawk appeared in Marvel’s GI Joe #76.
The colors are a bit bright, maybe because the colors in the comic book were already interpretations of the existing ’86 toy, and on this figure they were re-interpreted a second time just to put them back on another toy. It’s like playing “the telephone game”, but with color sets.
As easy as it would be to simply say that the colors are too bright, especially on the jacket, that would be missing the point. If Hasbro had painted this body to match the ’86 figure, what would be the point? That figure already exists. Putting Hawk in a lighter jacket is just fine, and gives this figure its own unique look.
But don’t worry about the jacket. Obviously the head, with its blonde flat top and gaunt face, is really the selling point of the figure. It looks like it’s as inspired by Herb Trimpe’s artwork of Hawk as much as that of Ron Wagner, who actually drew issue #76. Unlike the chestnut brown wavy haired ’86 Hawk, or even the ’97 re-release, Hasbro finally gave Hawk a proper comic-themed head with this figure.
Hasbro’s gimmick with the comic pack figures was to give them new heads, but for a comic pack Hawk, Hasbro could have easily just rolled out the original ’86 head. If that head were painted with blonde hair, it could have been passed it off as Hawk from an issue featuring Rod Whigham artwork. Hawk without super short hair didn’t feel right.
The figure came with a pistol, a rifle, a figure stand, and a helmet. The helmet doesn’t fit correctly, but you’d never put it on Hawk’s bad-ass blonde crew cut, even if it did.
It’s good that Hasbro put in the extra effort to create a new Hawk head. And unlike many of the other comic pack heads, Hawk’s noggin is properly sized. There’s nothing flashy about this figure, and there’s nothing really bad about it, either. It’s an average figure, but very much appreciated.
I really wish this figure’s skin tone wasn’t sunburnt. The deep pink hued flesh on most that era’s figures really drives me nuts now. If this amazing head sculpt had closer-to-vintage skin, I think everyone would have wanted to switch this head onto the 1986 Hawk.
Hasbro somehow lost the ’86 Hawk mold after 1997. So, they had to recast this figure. I would have preferred him in a black jacket like he originally appeared in either #49 or #50. This figure isn’t well constructed due to the new parts not quite fitting right and he kind of fits into this dud of a comic pack.
There’s a Midnight Chinese version of this figure where the full jacket is green. But, the arms are still tan. It’s something different and is about the most interesting aspect of this figure.
Great review, but, I don’t understand why wasn’t this figure’s helmet molded in the color that was painted on the top part of it. It makes the helmet look strange, or dumb, or both. By the way, have you checked if the 86 Hawk helmet fits nicely on this figure’s head? I would have liked to have seen a photo of this figure with that helmet on.
This is my 100% preferred head sculpt for Hawk. And this figure wouldn’t be bad, but I cannot stand those TBC Hawk legs! The arms get a pass, but I don’t like those legs on any figure. The thigh holster looks more like a Gameboy pouch and the knees are odd.
Echoing some other ripes with the figure. The pumped-up arms don’t fit the torso. Why is the torso painted khaki rather than molded in that color? And the sunburnt waxy looking flesh tone was never good. A bit of tweaking would made this one a real winner.