G.I. Joe Pursuit of Cobra: Hawk (General Clayton Abernathy) G.I. Joe Commander

Presenting the G.I. Joe Commander General Clayton "Hawk" Abernathy from Wave 5 of the G.I. Joe Pursuit of Cobra series. My wife and I found the Pursuit of Cobra General Hawk yesterday evening in the same store that I purchased the Pursuit of Cobra Wave 6 set. It was again being sold as a set. Surprisingly my favorite toy supplier Victoyoyos called this morning and offered me the same set. He's offering the entire set of 6 for PhP 3,300 (PhP 550 per figure). I picked it up in Greenhills for PhP 3, 800 (PhP633 per figure), so go contact Victoyoyos instead. We first saw the Pursuit of Cobra General Hawk courtesy of a shared review taken from TNSi back in March. Since then the G.I. Joe Commander has gained/regained his trademark chest holstered pistol. I have to say I like this particular incarnation of General Hawk. He has a very modern look to him very reminiscent of the American troops currently deployed in the middle east. Initially I thought that General Hawk would be a figure assigned to the "Desert" scenario that the G.I. Joe figures are being molded for. Surprisingly despite the light camo, POC General Hawk is part of the "Urban Warehouse" Scenario along with Low-light, Snake-Eyes and Beachhead. 

General Clayton "Hawk" Abernathy's blister card reads: "The General is a West Point graduate with a list of special education credits as long as his arm. But he acquired the main body of his experience where it counts - on the battlefield. He's the type of commander who goes out and gets shot at like everyone else. Troops respect that. They know he won't ask them to do anything he isn't willing to do himself. That's why they're willing to do anything he tells them." 

The G.I. Joe commander still bears the rank of D-7 (Brigadier General) and not the rank of Major General as he was last portrayed in the Devil's Due Comic Series (This General Hawk also does not seem rabidly obsessed with capturing Cobra Commander and is not in a wheelchair so I suppose pushing back the clock a little doesn't hurt) Surprisingly POC General Hawk does not bear the new alias of General "Tomahawk" despite Hasbro's rumored failure to gain the patent for "Hawk" 

What's to like about General Hawk?

Well definitely the modern military look integrating the old-style General hawk trademark items - based upon the 1986 General Hawk most of us grew up with (Goggles, hard helmet, chest holstered six-shooter) - is a plus. It makes POC General Hawk relate-able yet modern and fun. 

POC General Hawk comes with the aforementioned helmet, goggles, a walkie talkie that you can attach to his battle harness so it hangs on his right shoulder next to his head; a tactical backpack, a battle harness, a MR-PR Medium-Range Propulsion-Round Heavy Rifle, a submachine gun, a tactical briefcase with another hidden submachine gun, a pistol and a chest-holster with a pistol. Unfortunately General Hawk's chest holstered pistol cannot be drawn.

Surprisingly, General Hawk does not wear the armor plated body-suits worn underneath the various flak-jackets and battle harnesses of the other G.I. Joes from the G.I. Joe Pursuit of Cobra series. I guess he's just that confident and wants to make an example of himself. I don't know if that's stupid or inspiring. But then again given the equipment that General Hawk has, I get the impression that he is not supposed to be on the front-lines per-se. I've always wondered who Low-light's spotter was in the "Urban Warehouse" scenario. I guess it's the G.I. Joe Commander. 

Which makes sense considering POC General Hawk's primary weapon which has a barrel that's almost as long as Low-Light's rifle. General Hawk also has enough ammo in his battle harness to remain in a sustained firefight.  Articulation is pretty wonderful even if he does not have the more modern hand articulations of the Shadow Tracker. 

And should the Cobras get too close, POC General Hawk can fall back on using either his loose submachine gun, his pistol or the surprise packaged submachine gun hiding in his tactical briefcase.

But most of the time, General Hawk should be busy playing Plants vs. Cobra Zombie Troopers on his tactical Briefcase. 

What's NOT to like about General Hawk?

 There are just a few things that I don't like about the POC General Hawk other than the inability of the chest holstered pistol to be drawn and the old-school wrist joints. Up first is the crappy helmet that General Hawk has. Pull down General Hawk's goggles and the soft plastic helmet tends to warp and wrap around G.I. Joe Commander's head like a skull cap. Also General Hawk is supposed to be advanced of age -  he's a Brigadier General after all. So either General Hawk is vain enough to dye his hair or he's a really young General. 

A definite must have if you're a G.I. Joe Collector. He's the G.I. Joe Commander after all.