Ghost HAWK (2009)
The original Sky Hawk is by no means a bad toy, in fact it was my go-to small size Joe vehicle after I got it back in the 80s. I think I was mostly enamored of it by its presence in the opening battle of the Revenge of Cobra mini-series. Next to the Star Wars Snowspeeder, it was one of my favorite childhood toy vehicles. In comparison to modern toys however, some of the 80s vehicles can seem a bit fragile. My Sky Hawk had a tendency to lose its wings.
Some of the 25th Anniversary vehicles improved upon their predecessors. As much as I love the originals, the 25th remakes gave me new versions of old favorites that added detail. In the case of the Sky Hawk/Ghost HAWK, little annoyances like the frequently popped-off stabilizers were addressed. I can also give these vehicles to my son without fear of age-old brittle plastic, or expensive replacement costs. I suppose I shouldn’t say that too much longer, as the prices on the 25th vehicles seems to be creeping up as the years go by. Nevertheless, my son really took to this vehicle quickly when he saw it on my shelf. I guess there’s just something compelling about it, even now.
The details continue to the engines, the canopy (finally with some glass!) beefier skids, and even the interior. Speaking of which, since the remakes stuck closely to the originals in terms of scale, fitting the taller modern figures inside can be problematic. Oh well, what’s a modern Joe collector’s life without a little something to nitpick? I honestly don’t have many of the newer figures in the vehicles anyway. I’d much rather stick a vintage Flint or Duke in the cockpit and re-enact the epic Sunbow battle for the Laser Core. Oh yeah.
So what’s with the acronym? I know older GI Joe vehicles took time to spell out the acronym names, like the WHALE or the SNAKE armor, but I can’t find anything on the packaging that tells us what the heck H.A.W.K. stands for. In an effort to right that wrong, I’ve come up with a list of names, with some hopefully being as appropriately obtuse as some of the wackier classic 80s vehicle acronyms. Let’s go:
Hard Attack: Winged Killer
High Altitude Wandering Kinetoship
Heuristic Analog Wanton Kannon
Hindered: Atomic Warrior Kite
Highly Attuned Whoopie Kushion
I kinda like them all. What say you all? Want to make up your own? Let’s hear ’em in the comments!
The anniversary vehicles were both more palatable and highly infuriating as a vintage only collector. It was cool to see the updates and improvements. But, many of them now have limitations that affect vintage figures and their ability to interact with the updated vehicle molds.
It’s just so sad that Hasbro didn’t put that level of effort into vehicle remakes in 2001-2004 when the line could have easily supported them. Instead, we got the Hiss IV, etc. I think these anniversary style vehicles in the earlier time frame would actually have sold better to both collectors and kids. But, Hasbro missed the boat on that one for sure.
As someone whose only Sky Hawk experience was the Sky Patrol version, I’m glad to hear that someone who had the vintage says that this version feels a bit sturdier than the vintage one. I always chalked the Sky Patrol Sky Hawk’s flimsiness up to the vac metal plastic, but it’s good to know it wasn’t just that.
Also, my additions for what H.A.W.K.
High-Altitude Weapons Kit
High-speed Aerial War Killer
I remember getting my old Skyhawk in a thrift store with a bunch of other stuff. I didnt have it for very long until it was stolen. Though i only had it for2-3 days, i had fond memories of it. Thats why i picked up the POC version as soon as i saw it.
The Hawk is one of those vehicles we missed in the UK: the original didn’t come out here and the Sky Patrol version was never seen at the time (I saw one years later in a discount store) so I have no real childhood connection to the design.
In fact the first thing that springs to mind when I look at it, just like the ROC Cobra Gunship, is “Where’s the rotor blades?”
Iconic vehicle!