This week, we learned there is a General Hawk coming. I'm not excited. The reasons for that is that this new Hawk is not going to be better than the 1986 figure. He's not going to feature at least an attempt at a different look like this 1997 figure. And, he might not even be better than the 2005 Comic Pack figure. Hasbro's re-makes of Joes have gotten steadily worse since they were debuted. And, that's a near certainty to continue since we, as collectors, don't punish bad products. So, Hasbro learns they can give us crap and we'll gratefully gobble it up.
Which really takes me back to this 1997 General Hawk. The 1997 figures were the 15th Anniversary figures from the beginning of the vintage line. Now, they are 26 years old and all us old, adult collectors recall finding them as adults. And, at the time, we vilified these figures. Sadly, we didn't know how good we had it. The 1997 series is full of fun repaints that have aged quite well. Even figures like Hawk, which didn't deviate too far from the original figure's colors, is still a very nice update to the mold and gives collectors something different to add to their collections.
The main reason I enjoy this figure is that the colors are subtle. Even in photos, it can be difficult to catch all the various colors that comprise this figure. Lost in the dark jacket are some rich greens, subtle browns and some black. The grey pants help offset the upper body and are a nice diversion from the green camo of the 1986 figure. And, the details that are painted on the figure are convention level quality. To think, we got figures like this for $3 each. This Hawk, a completely repainted A-10 and an excellent Ace figure were sold for 1/4 of the price that two figures and a smaller vehicle cost today.
While the sunburnt skin isn't my favorite, it's light years ahead of the pale, painted faces of the 2022 and 2023 releases. It also gives some diversity to the skin tones of the Joe team. That and the figure's accessories are the only main complaints. The Battle Gear 1986 helmet works for this figure, though. And, back in 1997, it was both cheap and easy to find 1986 Hawk pistols. So, it was a lot easier to outfit this figure in other accessories than it is today.
Back in 1997, I wasn't too high on that year's figure releases. And, I passed most of them by to focus on vintage collections and POTFII Star Wars figures. But, in short time, that changed. And, in the ensuing decades, the year has grown on me and I now consider 1997 and 1998 to be among the best Joe years Hasbro ever produced. They are full of great character repaints, main and obscure characters and lots of nice army builders. It's unfortunate that the formula for success was never repeated. I just wish some of the lessons learned from the late 1990's could be applied to the Joe line today. But, that's just a pipe dream at this point.
Yep, the 1997 figures were pretty good. I was a freshman in HS when I found the Gung-Ho and Slugger set at TRU. I was too old for joes, right? Nope I picked it up and received a lot of the others for Christmas that year. I passed on the A-10 for some reason and only recently added a loose Hawk and Ace to my collection (The complete loose or boxed set is way too expensive now thanks to COVID collectors and toy graders!).
ReplyDeleteRose colored glasses. The actual production quality of the 1997 figures were amongst the worse of o-rings. Strange alterations to ball jointed neck molds. Crap plastic and oversized rivets leading to cracked shoulders.
ReplyDeletewhat new hawk do you mean?
ReplyDeleteRumor has it that Hawk will come with Optimus Prime that transforms into a Mobat.
DeleteI remember hearing about the 15th anniversary - was actually 15 at the time. Did not have a job yet or a means to get to toys r us and it was that awkward time when you are too old to play with toys. I missed out on the initial 1997/1998 waves despite wanting them but was able to collect the 2000/2001 RAHC stuff.
ReplyDeleteBack in 2017 when I get back into o-ring I bought up alot of the 1997 stuff including a MIB A-10. The plastic quality wasn't great as was the case for most things from those years (the stars/stripes figures were pretty poor in terms of QC. I do have the Slugger/Rage I think the softer plastic hold up better). Needless to say I parted with the A-10 after opening it and putting it together about a year after getting it. I held onto General Hawk though as I really did like this figure, thought he was a cool variation of the original. The softer plastic gives me a little less anxiety about issues with the figure breaking and I have not experienced any discoloration like with some of the 2000-2001 era figures.
Over the past few months as my vintage ARAH collecting has been winding down to a crawl I have decided to invest pretty much in new stuff only (with a few exceptions - ironically the 98 Conquest is one of them) - I am looking forward to the MOBAT crossover and the rumored Triple T w/ Sgt Slaughter and Leatherneck. I really like the Thunder Machine w/Zartan and Zarana. I won't lie as I am a blind supporter of Hasbro when it comes to o-ring. On top of that I have backed some of the kickstarters. I just think for me I can look at my vintage ARAH collection be 95% content with it with only buying stuff for repairs/completing vehicle projects I have. Investing in the 30-40 year old plastic of the inflated after market just doesn't make sense to me anymore.
The paint details on this Hawk's uniform are excellent. I sought him out for that reason alone. But the super red/sunburnt skin tone is off-putting. I thought about swapping an 86 Hawk head onto this body, but the hands and upper chest have the same red/sunburnt shade. No human has that skin tone. It frankly evokes the Martian skin tone from an old timey serial. Say what you will about Hasbro's 2021-2023 figures, but the skin tone is an actual human shade, much closer to the skin tone on the ARAH run of figures.
ReplyDeleteFor all the warnings about the plastic quality on this version of Hawk, I had no issues with mine. You can *feel* the lower quality of the plastic in hand, but he moves without issue and has never cracked or broke.