General Clayton “Hawk” Abernathy (2009)
I still don’t quite know how I feel about Dennis Quaid portraying General Hawk in the Rise of Cobra. I suppose it shouldn’t be a big issue, considering the film in general strayed so far from the GI Joe cartoon, comic and toy fictions of the 1980s. This Hawk was not the leader of a lean American mobile strike force/anti-terrorist team, but rather was in charge of a large multinational military force. The movie Joe team’s roster just looked quite bloated, to put it bluntly. Heck, they even found a place on the team for Encino Man, for gosh sakes. There just seemed to be a metric crapload of Joes running around during the HQ tour scene. I know the comic Pit HQ had several underground levels, but the size of the movie version was insane. I can’t imagine the budget the Joes had.
General Hawk’s single carded figure is a very cool stripped-down, no-nonsense military figure, and it’s one of my favorites of the first movie line. The build is interesting in that it really resembles an older, leaner man. This is the type of mold that should have been used for Retaliation’s Joe Colton. Hawk here is not bulked out at all, and is proportionally one of the best “average” build modern figures available. For this reason, the figure is good custom fodder. The short t-shirt and holster lend themselves well to something like the Adventure Team, or even the earlier short-lived Adventures of GI Joe figures.
Thanks to the jet pack, there’s a bit of a homage to 1991 Hawk going on. The pack is quite sleek, and relatively unobtrusive. Overall, it’s very nicely done, and is a great inclusion in lieu of the usual movie figures’ huge missile launcher accessories. Hawk is also toting an impressive rifle, one that I don’t recall seeing before.
Even though it’s a movie figure, a little head swapping and careful removal of the movie’s chicken head logo can make it fit in with the later modern figures. Even the pants aren’t too crazy in their camo patterning. I’m generally not a huge fan of the modern construction style, but a figure with a varied build like this one really showcases what can be achieved with the new style.
Turned him into Flint
Made mine into Snake Plissken, popped an Anakin head on him.
Man, I hadn’t noticed the accuracy in depicting Dennis Quaid’s resemblance up to now. Much better than the way they failed to nail Willis as Colton. I ignored the stuff from the first film and have come to regret it on several occasions. This does look like a solid figure so I’ll place him on my want list just in case I find one at a nice price. He also reminds me a bit of Lt. Gorky from the Marvel comic so he might work out for a custom or two there as well.
Brendan Fraser played Sgt. Stone in ROC, right? Maybe Encino Man was collecting the Extreme line back in the 90’s and Stone was his favorite character? The HQ tour scene was such a wasted opportunity for throwing in all sorts of Easter eggs at us. Instead of all those generic characters, some effort could have been made to toss in vintage ones even if they were on camera for just a second. Having a few extras wear cheap sports gear to make them resemble Bazooka or Hardball wouldn’t have stretched the budget that much, would it? I guess we’ll never know.
@Clutch
I heard [not sure how reliable this is] that Fraser’s favorite character was Sergeant Slaughter but due to rights or something, his character became “Sergeant Stone” which was a coincidence.
In regaurds to the R.O.C film; can i offer anyone a pizzaroll?
Rob, I agree with you wholeheartedly! This is a good, solid, average base body that is great for customizing. I’m surprised it hasn’t come back in the line, it would probably look good with the Cobra Shock Trooper/Steel Brigade tactical vest or some of the other vests, and they would fit the slim build torso. It would make a good base for a figure in the Dollar General line, too, it’s just a good generic trooper with good gear.
I also agree that this should have been the body for the Retaliation Joe Colton figure. I probably would have bought one if they’d stuck that Bruce Willis head on this body. Then I would have grabbed some paint and fixed those crazy eyes…
Nice face expression!
I don’t know why, but this was probably my favorite Rise of Cobra figure. It shouldn’t be because I’m not a big fan of actor likeness figures and I love the 1986 Hawk homage the 25th Anniversary line did, but something about Hawk’s simplicity just really made me happy. The actor likeness was great (something that couldn’t be said for all Rise of Cobra figures) and his gear was great. I was drawn to it for the cool jetpack, but his really neat unique rifle kept me focused on him for a long time. He was such a favorite that after I attended Joe Con in 2009, he manned the stick of the International Heroes gyrocopter. I don’t know why, but he just looked so at home behind the stick that I couldn’t bear to separate them. I’ll admit, I was disappointed by his non-functional shoulder holster, but beyond that, he really exceeded all my expectations for him.