Skydive (1990)
The Joe line has had many sub-teams scattered throughout the years, some being more popular than others. Tiger Force, Python Patrol and Night Force have seen releases in both the vintage and more modern series. All of them were known for a common paint scheme or style of decoration of uniforms. One of the sub-teams that doesn’t get much play is Sky Patrol. It’s not known for a color scheme for its figures, but rather for the vehicles, which were vac-metallized redecos of earlier Joe and Cobra craft. The chromed look was explained as a method of making Joe vehicles radar reflective.
The Sky Patrol figures represent the versatility of the vintage Joe line’s design. All of them were made up of existing molds with new heads, helmets and weapons. Each figure also included a working silver parachute!
Skydive is the leader of Sky Patrol, and is a hardnosed Ranger who believes in the value of intense training. Seems like the perfect guy to lead a crew of best-of-the-best paratroops who operate behind enemy lines. The body is based on the 1987 Gyro-Vipers, in my opinion the least interesting of the excellent 1987 Cobra drivers. A color change to blue, silver and grey makes such a huge difference, and turns a nondescript mold into the best of the Sky Patrol members. The new head is appropriately mean looking, and the new helmet fits perfectly without being bulky. The new weapon looks a bit out of scale, but it’s still nice to see another new accessory. It would be nice to see a version done in a ground combat uniform, like the recent Wet-Suit from the 2011 convention set.
This is easily one of THE best head sculpts in the line’s history. It’s the look of a seasoned vet, tough and determined, yet clearly aged in appearance. A rare thing when compared to other younger-looking Joe leaders such as Hawk, Stalker, Duke, and Flint. Skydive is my favorite out of the whole Sky Patrol sextet. It was cool to see him receive an updated version recently, but going with yet another face mask when you have his original head sculpt as a source of inspiration proved to be a major disappointment for me.
seeing this dude again here makes me want to replace the masked head of the 2011 “Skydive” figure with a plain mustached head so it better captures the spirit of the original Sky Patrol character.
hmmm…
I’ve never been a big fan of Sky Patrol, I love the figures themselves despite their zany over the top weapons, but I’ve just never liked the concept behind the team.
Skydive is easily one of the best of the group, only challenged by Airborne for that title.
his head sculpt is so great I even used it on a couple of Claymore customs.