Be glad that Hasbro doesn't make their toys smell, like the old Masters of the Universe did.
Gnawgahyde could have single-handedly decimated the herds of all the endangered species of Africa, if his fellow poachers hadn't railroaded him off the continent for cheating at cards, being generally obnoxious, and smelling bad. With the help of flatulent warthog Porkbelly and surly macaque Yobbo, he kept solvent by stealing furs until the Dreadnoks recruited him.
Hey, look who got his name back! There was no possible reason the Generation 3 Gnawgahyde needed to be renamed "Gnaw," so it's nice to see Hasbro's legal department pulled its collective head out of its collective backside long enough to realize that a unique, copywritable name with no other potential use or meaning is something you don't need to be a skittish about using. That bio is the opening line from the 1989 filecard, with the info about his animals being new (obviously).
Gnawgahyde is, basically, "what if Kraven the Hunter, but in a world that's military factions instead of superheroes?" Big guy, animal vest, toothy necklace... like most of the Cobras, we don't actually know anything about where he's from and the only name we've ever been given
for him was a clear alias, so it's not outside the realm of possibility that he's literally an alternate reality Sergei Kravinoff. Most of the sculpt is a repainted version of Gung-Ho, but it's kept from looking like a re-use thanks to the new add-ons: a sheath on his right shin, a new pad on his left knee, a belt with grenades, asymmetrical studded bracelets, an animal-skin vest, a band around the left bicep, dog tags, and a necklace made of bear teeth. These are all elements from the vintage figure, though with the details cranked up a little. His Aussie-style slouch hat is removable - if they could manage that technology 35 years ago, they'd darn well better be able to do it today, as well!
The 1989 Gnawgahyde was designed by Mark Pennington, who gave
the poacher a truly wild sneer. This new version isn't quite that expressive, but he does have his mouth open to show his teeth, so it's a reference at least. Back then, the character had a large handlebar mustache, but the toy's sculpt made it look more like the same kind of muttonchops Torch wears, so that's what the Classified figure gets, sadly. One cool new element, though? Three scars mar the top of his bald head, showing us he's been clawed in the past by some of the animals he hunts.
Another new addition is the big snake tattoo curving up over his left ear. He still has the anarchy Ⓐ he had in the '80s (though it sits a little higher on the arm thanks to differences in toy construction), but there's a new one on his right arm, a knife and arrow stuck into an animal skull while a small snake crawls behind it. This is one case where
extra tattoos doesn't necessarily make sense: Gnawgahyde's original filecard talked about how he wouldn't bathe for a month before going hunting so the animals wouldn't smell soap, and wouldn't eat processed foods because the chemicals in them would make his body chemistry too noticably human; he's not worried that tattoo ink wouldn't have similar things in it? Hasbro's actually spent the money to make sure all the sculpted details on his clothes are picked out with their own paint apps, which is always great to see, though the leopard spots on the front of his vest really seem a lot more crowded than the ones on his back.
Gnawgahyde gets a slew of accessories, all inspired by the original figure, but mostly reused. For instance, Shadow Tracker's bow, quiver, and arrow, or the sniper rifle and case that came with Low-Light. That's a pretty awesome piece, with a removable bipod, scope, and suppressor, and all four of those can be stored securely inside specialized niches inside the carrying case. You can tell the quiver wasn't
designed for him, because it's too small to fit over his shoulder the way it's meant to. The gun case can be carried by its handle or worn like a backpack, and there's a hole in the outside so the quiver (or other backpack) can be plugged in and worn with it. Of course, since the two weren't designed to work together, they kind of don't. He has a machete that's been modified to strap to his arm, just like the original had, and two daggers that can be sheathed on his right boot or at the rear of his belt. I don't know if the 1989 Gnawgahyde was the first action figure to ever have a functioning sheath, but he had the first I can remember ever seeing, so even if that's a commonplace thing today, it's still nice to see the tradition carried on here.
The '80s figure also included an animal - which I am only now realizing was probably not a little sidekick/friend for him, but rather something he was hunting. If you wanted that for G3, you had to look elsewhere, but Classified not only includes a warthog, it makes them a fully articulated toy and gives them an identity! A personality lifted straight from Pumbaa in The Lion King, but a personality nonetheless.That's new!
Similar to Timber and Junkyard, Porkbelly moves at the head, neck, waist, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, heels, toes, and tail. There's also a hinged jaw rather than an alternate head, though it will pop out of place if you open it too wide. The sculpted hair covers the entire body, and lest you think this is a wild animal instead of a companion, notice the silver earring, the cap on the broken tusk, and the spiked ring through the nose.
Naming a monkey Yobbo would suggest that Gnawgahyde
is Australian, because that isn't really a word anywhere else. There's no articulation here, putting Yobbo in the same category as Polly and Bucephalus. There's no specific spot where the monkey is meant to ride, but the pose of the limbs allows for a few options - sitting on the shoulders, sitting on the hat, holding onto the warthog's mane, etc. The face is sculpted mid-howl, and they're wearing a little eyepatch. This is the most sinister monkey since the little Nazi one in Indiana Jones!
Gnawgahyde was a pretty cool figure back in the '80s, and this release keeps everything that made that one good, and adds great new elements of its own. Classified Gnawgahyde may be one of the more expensive "deluxe" figures, but the price doesn't go to waste. I was lucky enough to order him from Walmart's site when they first listed him, and had him at the same $24.99 as the basic figures, which makes him even better.
-- 11/22/24
What kind of poacher befriends animals? Tell us on our message board, the Loafing Lounge.
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