The Power of Packaging: Sky Shark
Sky Patrol is on most Joe fans’ minds at the moment (I wonder why) and I’ve already covered the original figures here, so it makes sense to dig up something different. How about an interesting variant package design from GI Joe’s European release history? While I love the painted packaging of the 80s and 80s era, there’s something inherently cool about a nice shot of the actual toy on the front of the box. I suppose this opinion stems from the days of the vintage Star Wars line, with its wonderfully fun box art product photos and later diorama shots (complete with excited kids hovering nearby). There’s just enough added magic in the form of airbrushed reflections, jet exhaust and a weirdly lit twilight sky to make things pop just a little bit more. Also, check out the slightly fancier chromed Sky Patrol logo. Very nice.
It certainly makes a pretty awful vehicle look better.
Sky Patrol was my only chance to get a Night Raven as a kid. I have no idea why I passed on the opportunity so many times.
I was given a ‘loved’ SHARC whn i was about 7. It was an ivory colour. The reason i could never find it on Yojoe or any other site was because it was the sky sharc version minus all its chrome
Chrome/vac-metal makes everything more exciting – even the SHARC! I kinda prefer the painting on the box, though; since vehicles usually had photos on the back, you had the best of both worlds. Interesting that Europe would recreate the box. Now, you’d expect Hasbro to just email the box template over for local printing.
My back hurts just looking at that pilot.
Nifty box though-the landscape feels like any number of 1980s “bad guy hideouts”. ????
I remember this one. Its like a recessed memory being let back out again…I also recall Sky Patrol. It was stocked in multitude at Toys R Us here in the UK…a time when they used to stock great toy lines that is…However, I wasn’t a big fan of this subset. In fact, I despised it. Sorry guys but there you have it. I guess I was tired of obvious repaints with new heads. True, looking at them now, the figures had great head sculpts but it all came across a tad corny for me…and they never had a direct enemy force to go up against…Hasbro missed a beat by not tying in the Air Commando’s Cobra’s as Sky Patrol’s Enemy…Tiger Force had Python Patrol whereas these guys had….? (insert Cricket chirping sound…)
Interestingly enough, and I, for the life of me know not why, Altitude had totally different card art. Done by the artist who re-did ALL the artwork for either vehicles or card backs that featured re-packaged figures like Ambush or Bullhorn or S.A.W Viper with different ‘spring fire’ weaponry…
ps, the Euro SKY HAVOC also had a photographed image similar in style to the SKY SHARC as well over here…
That is really cool box art, especially the figure posed inside the cockpit.
This box art kicketh the anus!
”The Sky Patrol Raven(1990),with its chrome color scheme ,was as popular, when it came out 4 years after, the original 1986 Cobra Night RAVEN S3P Black Jet Spy Plane.”