Hawk

It's the Fourth of July, and there may not be much to be proud of about being an American this year, but it still seemed right to review the most GI-Joe-iest GI Joe possible. But since we've already done Duke and they have yet to do a Joe Colton, Hawk was up! Hawk is a corageous, highly intelligent leader able to push already-elite operatives beyond the very limits of their abilities. Served in dozens of operation across the world, decorated multiple times for bravery and valor in combat. Willing to stand side-by-side with the people he commands, inspiring unshakeable loyalty, he is highly respected by subordinates, peers, and commanding officers alike. A tactical genius able to anticipate Cobra strategies and deliver victory after victory by helping those in his command summon the courage to reach beyond their potential and inspiring them to fight for something better. That long-ass bio is what used to be on the GI Joe site before they took it down. Now all we get is "Hawk was the original field commander of the Joe team before he got his General's star and was booted upstairs to honcho the entire G.I. Joe Operation. He's a West Point graduate and has a list of special education credits as long as his arm, but he still managed to get the main body of his experience out there where it counts - on the battle field" in the marketing copy. Thanks, Hasbro. Great change. The new parts of this figure were sculpted by trained missile and radar specialist reimagined for a future world Paul Harding. Harding has said Hawk was one of the last Joes he bought when he was a kid, so he was happy to get to update this old soldier. And "old" is the key word! He's got wrinkles on his forehead and grey in his hair, making him really look like someone who has the experience needed to command. When Hawk was introduced in 1982, he was just a boring blonde guy, but his 1986 version completely changed that. See, that's why we like the Classified figures that update characters instead of just making them bigger: imagine if 1985 Snake-Eyes or 1986 Hawk had only been rereleases of what had come before, instead of reimaging - and, let's be honest, reinvigorating - the characters. This figure was released during the period when Hasbro wasn't taking any risks, though, so what we get is a man wearing black boots, green camo pants, and a brown leather jacket with fur trim on the collar. His helmet is a separate piece, and (like Mutt) he has two different-sized pairs of goggles: one to fit around the helmet, one to fit inside it. While those have always been part of this design, making them separate and moveable is new. The parts Harding sculpted were the head, helmet, goggles, torso, belts, straps, and holsters, with the rest being shared pieces. Hawk's paint looks simple, but that's a bit deceptive. Not only is the camouflage on his pants very clean, the medals and ribbons on his chest are all detailed and crisp, as is the nametag on the right side. He has a GI Joe team logo on his right shoulder and a white American flag icon on his left. Add to that the subtle greying in his hair, and you've got a really nice-looking toy! There's a small surprise with the articulation. Like the other figures, Hawk has swivel/hinge ankles, swivel shins, double-hinged knees, swivel thighs, hips that are a balljoint mounted on a hinge, balljointed waist, hinged chest, swivel/hinge wrists, double-hinged elbows, swivel biceps, swivel/hinge shoulders, a balljointed neck, and a barbell head. If you notice there are no pectoral hinges in that list, that's not a mistake: he doesn't have any. Instead, he has balljoints with rings around them, like McFarlane Toys uses these days. I guess the idea was regular pec hinges would interfere with the sculpt of his jacket? It's an interesting choice, and we like to see them be willing to change things that are usually standardized when it results in a better toy. In addition to the helmet and two pairs of goggles, Hawk comes with two different pistols, a shotgun, and a grenade launcher. He wears holsters for the handguns, though they're both angled for his right hand: if he wants to dual-wield, he'll have to draw one, pass it to his left hand, and then draw the other. That seems inefficient. The long guns aren't part of his '80s kit, but they definitely suit a guy who's so hands-on when it comes to combat. I saw Hawk in a store one time, and wasn't able to get it. While I was able to eventually acquire Buzzer, who I'd seen at the same time, Hawk remained elusive. If I'd known how fun he was, even as a straight update, I'd have been sure to get him sooner! -- 07/04/25 Who's the best Joe leader? Tell us on our message board, the Loafing Lounge.