General Abernathy (2004)
Over the years, the small Joe lines just haven’t had enough figures outfitted in some sort of dress uniform. Sure, there was Gung Ho, and later a comic pack General Flagg, but other characters whose look was primarily that of off the battlefield didn’t get their due. General Austin and Colonel Sharp come to mind, as does General Hawk.
Hawk, called simply General Abernathy here, went from a Colonel looking like the rest of the troops, to a general outfitted in a battle-ready uniform reminiscent of the second World War era. In Valor vs. Venom, the Joes’ commanding general was attired in yet another throwback type battle uniform, though this was was a bit more on the “just for looks” side.
As new sculpt era figures go, this one isn’t too badly proportioned, although almost none of the figures of the time totally fit in alongside the Real American Hero figures. That’s too bad, as I’d still like to have a dress uniform Hawk to stand alongside the field troops. Hawk’s head sculpt is particularly impressive from his headgear to his seasoned and determined expression. Like the 1986 version, the toy looks the part of a commanding officer who leads his troops into battle, although I hope he’s got a helmet at the ready somewhere.
In the Valor vs. Venom direct to DVD special, the general was captured and transformed by Dr. Mindbender (who else?) into Venomous Maximus, and set up as the leader of Cobra’s venomized troops. Oops, spoiler alert! Wait–never mind about the spoiler. The dang file card tells the whole story anyway.
This is one figure I know will be permanently on my display. What I’m going for is the Joe team in their most current as possible looks.
I really like this version of Hawk and keep hoping that someday we’ll get a modern version of it. The dress uniform looked great, but it wasn’t so fancy that you couldn’t see him wearing it out in the field like Dress Blues Gung-Ho. Hawk looked dressy but at the same time, still battle ready. It was a great look for him.
I was hoping Hasbro would have done a Marine Dress Gung Ho 25th style with a removable hat. It would have made a great army builder if sold at retail. Pick up a few Star Wars figures for the heads and you could have an impressive display.
Something wrong with my PC. I only just got this entry
He was on my VvV wishlist. His uniform does look a tad retro
Great face sculpt!
I wish this figure had come out during the vintage era. Same goes for the dress suit Hawk sometimes wears which was identical to General Flagg’s look throughout his brief tenure in the series.
Anyone else having trouble?
Trouble? Was the site down for you?
@Rob Yeah. Dont know what happened.
@Rob, Skymnate – same in the UK – thought you were having a day off 🙂
How about the Talking Battle Commander General Hawk? Between that figure and one of the “Tomahawk” Hawks, those were my “dress” versions of the figure.
These days, Hawk is much more the “in the field, leading…” persona than an old dressed up General at a desk.
Did this General Abernathy get an extra third star here for this figure? If I was collecting “Hawk” figures, I think this would be a great figure for this reason, how many other character figures have essentially gotten promoted with each version?