GI Joe Retaliation Eaglehawk

Presenting the GI Joe Retaliation Eaglehawk!

What we basically have here is light and fast troop carrying Bell UH-1 Iroquois married to a heavy lifting and slow Boeing CH-47 Chinook. Though I'm still of the opinion that had the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk been more popular after the Vietnam war, we would be looking at a far different design - albeit the UH-60 is only a medium lift vehicle and the GI Joe Eaglehawk is a heavy-lift vehicle.


To the uninitiated, the GI Joe Retaliation Eaglehawk is the 2013 upgrade to the 1986 released GI Joe Tomahawk. The GI Joe Tomahawk is an "all-weather, twin engine, twin-rotor heavy lift/assault as well as troop transit helicopter for the G.I. Joe team." (wiki) "it has a top speed of 175mph when fully loaded. Its turboshaft is fitted with heat/noise reduction and layered with bulletproof covering. 

While the differences between the GI Joe Tomahawk and the GI Joe Eaglehawk are largely cosmetic (Rotor detail, swivel gun detail, location of the winch wheel, etc...) - the biggest difference between the two is the ability of the Tomahawk to remove its seats - which is a nod to the Marvel Comics version of the Tomahawk which did not have any seats.

The GI Joe Eaglehawk's blister card reads: "On land, sea or air... the GI Joe team is there with the greatest battle vehicles of all time! The Eaglehaawk Helicopter is a heavily armed aircraft for battles, troop deployment and rescue missions. Expertly piloted by Lift-Ticket, this chopper enters the battle with guns blazing to pound evil Cobra forces!"


The GI Joe Eaglehawk comes armed with

• Six (6) 250 lb freefall "dumb" bombs - dang! Thought they were rockets.
• Two (2) air-to-ground/air missiles
• Two (2) swivel mounted crew operated 50 caliber machine guns.
• One six-barreled 20mm cannon - under the nose.
• And a crew operated laser enhanced night-vision system

The GI Joe Eaglehawk also comes with pilot Lift-ticket - who comes not dressed in his Green, Red and Tans (Actually thank God).

Engine Compartment Opened and Rotors stowed

What's to like about the GI Joe Retaliation Eaglehawk?

It's AWESOMELY large!!! And the detailing is to die for, the designers really want you to take a loving look all over the Eaglehawk's body and see not just awesome detail, but potential as well. I love the riveting all over the body, I love the engine compartment that can open and I would love the opportunity to custom paint this engine.

The GI Joe Eaglehawk sits five in the passenger compartment - on seats - plus two more in up front in the cockpit - which opens and closes. But, if you're patient enough, I do believe that you can squeeze in four more crouched - two in front and two in the back next to the loading ramp that opens-and-closes.

Both main rotors spin freely with little-to-no overlap or collision with each other and the blade can be folded to make the Eaglehawk storage/aircraft carrier friendly. The tail rotor.... rotates in place. Not quite sure if that's a real world thing, kinda doubt it. Looks interesting though.

The GI Joe Eaglehawk's bombs can be removed, missiles can be removed, the front cannon swivels a full 360 and the two side gunmounts are pretty movable.

The winch works, the location of the turning wheel is now on the side versus on the bottom as is the case of the Tomahawk. Note how short the rope is. This is not a rescue winch, it's a lifting winch for vehicles or cargo.


And the Eaglehawk is big! Look at that rotor-span.




I chose the GI Joe Retaliation Tactical Ninja Team to pilot my Eaglehawk because: a) They're soooo not ninjas - except Snake Eyes; b) Mouse is pretty useless what with those orange guns, and; c) Airborne shares the same body - literally as the new Lift-Ticket, so it only seemed fitting that he slide in there. Then I threw in Lifeline.

Here's a view of the sides of the Eaglehawk, the gun placements and the new fixed seats:



Now it does take some fandangling to get this host of characters into their seats. I found that the new leg/foot articulation of the figures helped because it allowed me to peg them into place with one foot. Note the head gear that came with the Eaglehawk on the two characters that allows them to communicate with the pilot. It's actually a very thoughtful add on from Hasbro that I've only previously seen from BBI.




Did you all see Snake Eyes crouching in the back?

Here's what it would look like from the rear with the loading ramp down and the "weird" tail rotor that swivels:

Note how both Sgt Airborne's and Mouse's feet are pegged to the floor of the Eaglehawk. I love how you can see all the way to the cockpit from behind. Also note the generous amount of extra pegs on board that should allow for more troops inside. I say 10 troops.

Onto the front of the GI Joe  Eagle hawk. It's quite an intimidating sight! I can imagine just how the Eaglehawk is supposed to be used. It comes in low and quiet, crests enemy defenses seeding chaos by dropping its dumb bombs, then it reeks more havoc up front by firing it's surface to air missiles and lighting up it's 20mm cannon. The Eaglehawk lands, shock-troops disembark under cover fire on both sides from the crew manned 50 cals. Then the Eaglehawk leaves under the cover of smoke, still spraying 50cal rounds and 20mm cannon fire in its wake - maybe dropping a few more bombs.




Here are two more views of the opened engine that would be fun to paint:




The GI Joe Retaliation cockpit flips open and, as mentioned, it fits two snugly. Check out the new Lift Ticket with the laser enhanced night-vision helmet. He looks more like something out of BBI than Hasbro and I'm pretty cool with that. The cockpit glass is also tinted versus the clear plastic of the GI Joe Tomahawk. Look at that panel that's just waiting for the customizer's touch.

What's NOT to like about the GI Joe Retaliation Eaglehawk?

I can only think of two things right now that's wrong with the Eaglehawk. First up is the cockpit. The joysticks are too far from the pilots. Note how they have to reach forward to hold them. It's pretty awkward. No they can't grasp the sticks with both hands and sit down at the same time. 

Another problem is with the side swivel guns. You can imagine the two gunners getting out of their seats and going back-to-back so that the guns can be aimed and fired a full 180 degrees. But posing the gunners like that is easier said than done. The two will keep banging into each other. This is not a Huey.




This particular GI Joe Retaliation Eaglehawk was purchased from Eric John A. Cruz of Cybertron Philippines. I really appreciate the favor he did. He sold it to me at the local retail price of P2,999.75 (Roughly US$ 70). It is not available on Amazon as of this time. Not even listed.

A must have! Thanks Eric!!!! :D