 Hello G.I. Joe fans, I am so excited for a lot of reasons. First, I'm always excited to join you every week and talk about G.I. Joe. Second, this week we get to crack open a new sub team. Third, we get to look at something shiny, and I'm most excited about the fact that I found a new use for my old Super Trooper costume. Commander 788 here, it's time for another vintage G.I. Joe Toy review, and this week I just wanted to say thanks. Thanks to you for watching this video. You really make this channel what it is. Week after week, you prove that people still remember and enjoy G.I. Joe. So thank you for that. This week we are reviewing a vehicle from a sub team that we have not reviewed yet on this channel, so we are breaking new ground. For this review I need to thank one viewer in particular, Lawson Allen, for sending this vehicle to me. A lot of toys are donated to this channel and many of them end up in reviews. So to everyone who has ever sent anything to me, thank you. We're going to look at a Sky Patrol vehicle, which means we are going to look at a shiny object. Last time we looked at a shiny object, it was Super Trooper. And back at the time I did the Super Trooper review, I was kind of having some struggles and a lot of you guys helped out. So thank you for that. I put the Sky Patrol Skyhawk up for patron's choice votes a couple times and it didn't win. So this is apparently the review that nobody really wanted to see, but it's one that I wanted to do. So thank you for your indulgence. With a grateful heart, HTC 788 presents the Sky Patrol Skyhawk. This is the 1990 Sky Patrol Skyhawk. This vehicle was available only in 1990. It was discontinued for 1991. That's because Sky Patrol itself was only on the shelves in 1990. Unlike some other subsets for GI Joe, Sky Patrol was broadly available at retail. It was not exclusive to any particular retailer. Sky Patrol was a sub team within GI Joe released in 1990 that consisted mostly of reissued figures and vehicles. I say mostly reissued, but the vehicles were entirely reissued. They were updated with VAC metalized chrome, making them all mirrored and shiny. The figures for Sky Patrol were mostly reissued. What I mean by that is they all used the bodies of earlier action figures, but with brand new heads. Only the heads on the figures and some of the accessories were new for Sky Patrol. The Sky Patrol version of the Skyhawk is a reissue of the original Skyhawk from 1984. Obviously the colors are quite different. The original Skyhawk was in green, implying it would fly close to the ground, providing air support for infantry units. The Sky Patrol version is mirrored, implying it was inspired by Liberace's piano. The Skyhawk in any iteration is a VTOL aircraft, with VTOL standing for vertical takeoff and landing. Sky Patrol consisted of six figures and four vehicles. The vehicles included the Sky Havoc, a chrome version of the 1986 Havoc, the Sky Raven, a chrome version of the 1986 Night Raven, I don't have one of those yet, the Sky Shark, a chrome version of the 1984 Shark, and the Skyhawk, a chrome version of the 1984 Skyhawk. For the names of the Sky Patrol vehicles, they just added the word Sky to the older vehicle names, but the Skyhawk already had the word Sky in it. So shouldn't it be Sky Skyhawk? None of the Sky Patrol vehicles came with action figures, even though some of the original vehicles did. It's worth pointing out, Sky Patrol came with one ground vehicle, the Sky Havoc, though the Sky Havoc did have an aerial sub vehicle. The Sky Skyhawk didn't come with a pilot, the original Skyhawk didn't either, but it's still a fair question, who should be the pilot? None of the Sky Patrol figures were designated as vehicle drivers. In fact, they were all airborne infantry. My favorite pilot for the Sky Skyhawk is none of the Sky Patrol figures. It's the 1988 Super Trooper. Super Trooper has chrome armor, which matches well with the Skyhawk. Yes, I know it's absurd, but if you're going to have a chrome vehicle, you might as well go all the way. The only problem with his helmet on, the canopy does not close, but that's okay. Who wants to fly around anyway? We just want to sit in the cockpit and look good. So why, why, why would they go with chrome? Maybe it's a camouflage thing, maybe they thought it would make it less visible in the air, but I don't think that would work. The mirrored surface, if you're looking at it from the ground, it would be reflecting the ground, or if you're looking at it from above, from the air, it would be reflecting the sky. So it would make it more visible. If you flew it at night, it would reflect every light source around it. It would still be more visible. It's shiny, shiny things are meant to be seen. There's another possible reason for the chrome. In the GI Joe cartoons, they used lasers instead of bullets. Mirrors would protect the vehicles from lasers. That would work for super troopers armor too. Check it out. In the animated universe, I would be invincible. Bullets would rip through it like tinfoil, but I'm safe as long as they're using lasers. It was a common practice in vintage GI Joe to reissue old vehicles for new subteams, but it wasn't always that way. In 1987, Battle Force 2000 had all new figures and vehicles. That team wasn't a success though. Starting in 1988, the practice of reissuing figures and vehicles as new subteams really began in earnest. We got Tiger Force, which consisted of entirely reissued toys. That same year, 1988 began Night Force, a Toys R Us exclusive set. And again, it was reissued figures and vehicles. In 1989, Cobra got into the game with Python Patrol. Reissued figures, reissued vehicles, new paint jobs. Also in 1989, we got Slaughter's Marauders. That subteam had partially reissued vehicles, but they were updated. They weren't just recolored like Tiger Force and Night Force and Python Patrol. They had new parts and features. In 1991 and 1992, eco warriors had some new figures and a new play set, but they kept the tradition alive by reissuing a couple old vehicles. Later in the 90s, GI Joe subteams shifted away from straight reissues of older toys. In 1992, Sonic Fighters got brand new vehicles, the Desert Apache and Fort America. In 1993, Mega Marines got a new vehicle, the Monster Blaster APC. Ninja Force had three new vehicles that year. For all its drawbacks, the 90s did freshen up the subteams with new material. It wasn't all new, though. They still churned out copies of 80s vehicles. In 1993, Star Brigade had updated versions of the Cobra Stellar Stiletto and the Pogo Ballistic Battle Ball. Dino Hunters had a reissue of the Desert Fox. Where does Sky Patrol fit in all this? It's closer to the 80s subteams than the 90s. We got no new vehicles, but the figures were a break from the straight reissues like in Tiger Force and Night Force. Though the bodies were reissued, the heads and the accessories were new. Sky Patrol is a transitional set between the 80s and the 90s. Let's take a look at the parts and features on the Sky Skyhawk starting in the front with these chin guns. They are linked and they pivot. The blueprints call these laser guided target acquisition machine guns. On the original blueprints for the 1984 Skyhawk, they were called Twin 20mm Thunder Clap Cannons. I guess that could be the same thing. The sticker on the bottom identifies these guns as 550 rounds per minute anti-aircraft auto cannons. On the top we have a canopy. It is black. It's a frame only. It doesn't have any windows. It is hinged at the back, so it can swing open. It swings up to reveal the cockpit. I think the black canopy offsets the shiny body very nicely. On the 1984 Skyhawk, there was a sticker that went right here that had some instrument panel gauges. There is no such sticker for the Sky Patrol version. Under the canopy we have the cockpit. It has a single seat with a backpack and it has a single control stick. This is much the same as the original Skyhawk, but the seat in the original Skyhawk was a very dark gray and on the Sky Patrol version it is an olive drab green. Another really nice subdued color to offset the chrome. I'm going to demonstrate how to put a figure in the Skyhawk by using an actual Sky Patrol figure. This is altitude because even though I like how Super Trooper looks in there, he doesn't actually fit very well. We're going to bend altitude's knees slightly and we're going to line up the hole in his back with the backpack in the seat. We're just going to slide him in there. Peg him in. We've got to be a little bit gentle with the pressure because these struts here are not very sturdy. So if you're pressing down on it too much you do risk breaking that or knocking off a missile. But you can peg him in there and you can close the canopy and he can fly the Skyhawk. Looking at the main body of the Skyhawk it is VAC metalized chrome and it is gorgeous. It is totally impractical for any military application but it is beautiful. It's a thick coating of chrome too. It does not feel like it's going to wear off. On each side of the fuselage there is a molded in gun, one on each side. They are fixed and forward facing. The blueprints call these side port master blaster cannons. On the original Skyhawk blueprints they were called fuselage mounted Vulcan 20 millimeter cannons. Well regardless whether they are Vulcan or not whatever you shoot at with these will not live long and prosper. Next we have the landing skids similar to a helicopter. They are in dark gray. They are connected with a single piece of plastic that connects to the underside of the aircraft and that plastic is really too thin. It's very easy to break. That common break point on these struts is a carryover from the original Skyhawk. It does look like they tried to beef up those struts a bit on the Sky Patrol version but it really isn't enough. There's still a lot of give there and it's still too weak. I would be very cautious about that. Watch out for breaking those struts. On each of the landing skids there is a foot peg. This is the same as on the 1984 Skyhawk and you can peg a figure on each of those. So a couple extra figures can ride along. It's not just a one-man vehicle. This is similar to the 1983 Cobra Fang helicopter but I would have to say riding on the outside of the Skyhawk in flight would be terrifying and very loud given your proximity to the jet engines. On the underside of the struts we have the missiles. They peg onto very narrow little pegs. They are olive drab green the same color as the cockpit and the blueprints for the Sky Patrol Skyhawk do not give these missiles a name. On the original Skyhawk those missiles were dark gray and on the blueprints for the original Skyhawk they were called signal processing air-to-surface rockets. They take out targets on the ground. This supports the idea that the Skyhawk is intended to provide air support for infantry units. It's not designed for aerial dogfighting. There's a problem with these missiles. They do not stay on very well. You can see how small the slots are for the pegs. They just don't have a lot of support and since they peg onto the underside of the struts they can be difficult to line up. Moving back from the main body we have the tail. The tail is in all that vac metallized chrome. There is some molding in detail and attached to the tail we have the engines and the rear stabilizer fins. These engines are what make the Skyhawk a vertical takeoff and landing vehicle. They are in olive drab green the same color as the cockpit seat and the missiles. Again that's a really nice color. I like that color. There are two jet engines. They are connected with a bar between them and that bar is clipped onto the tail of the Skyhawk and these engines can tilt. They can tilt up for vertical takeoff and landing and they can tilt forward for horizontal flight. This is all much the same as the original Skyhawk and I have to issue another word of warning. The clip for the engines can wear down and break and that would be a difficult break to fix. So do be cautious. This vehicle does have a number of weak points. Next we have what the blueprints call vertical stabilizer side planes. They are black. They have the GI Joe logo and the Sky Patrol logo. They friction in to these little wings that stick out of the tail and they do not fit in very solidly so they are prone to falling off. That problem is another carryover from the original Skyhawk. They did not fix that with this new version. Also since these side planes can peg in in any orientation and on either side it's easy to get these upside down or on the wrong side. Just make sure your logos are facing the right way and your molded in flaps are facing the back and you should be fine. Again I have to compliment the color. The black is just a really nice combination with the green and the chrome. I just think it looks great. And we finish off our look at the parts of the Sky Skyhawk by looking at the black rear fin that connects to this vertical fin on the tail that is also removable like the side planes. This one seems to fit on a little bit better. It's not quite as easy to knock off but it could still be removed pretty easily. So be cautious about that. As with the original Skyhawk all of these pieces in the back can get knocked off pretty easily which means they can be lost, they can be broken and that's definitely not something you want to happen with your vintage toy. I can't say the Skyhawk is based on any real vehicle. There are a lot of real air vehicles that can take off and land like the Skyhawk does but the design of the Skyhawk doesn't look workable to me. The engines are too far back which I would think would cause it to flip end over end rather than take off straight up. It doesn't have wings long enough to provide lift and control surfaces in horizontal flight. The Skyhawk is a fantasy vehicle. It is purely sci-fi but the original was made with a military aesthetic. The Sky Patrol version does away with the green but it still has a really nice combination of colors. It is chrome which is not realistic for military purposes but with the black and the olive green the overall look is more subdued than you would expect. Just for fun let's take a look at a modern version of the Skyhawk. We don't normally look at modern GI Joe toys on this channel but sometimes we make exceptions. This is the 2014 Ghosthawk and I have to thank a viewer who sent this to me. This came from Fragminion so thanks to Fragminion for this. The Ghosthawk is based on the original Skyhawk design but it has a lot of updates and it fixes some of the problems on the original Skyhawk. For one thing we have clear plastic on the canopy instead of just the open frame and we have a somewhat improved cockpit. Still a one-seater. The vehicle has a camouflage paint pattern, this gray camouflage and that looks really good. Paint on GI Joe vehicles was rare in the vintage era. It's nice to see it on a modern vehicle. It has an engine cover that's removable. The original Skyhawk did not have that. The jet engines in the back have some additional detail on them and they look pretty good. They're just kind of beefed up otherwise to kind of the same idea as the original but just a bit more detail on them. The struts for the landing skids are a bit more beefed up too. Not as much as I expected though. I actually thought these would be even sturdier than they are. They are sturdier than the original. There's no doubt about that. This is an improvement on the original Skyhawk. Those struts were very fragile but they do still have some give and they're just a little bit thicker than the original. This back fin is no longer removable. That's good. These side planes are removable but they peg in differently and they peg in actually more solidly. So those are less likely to fall out. Yeah, they go on pretty solidly. So there are some improvements. The missiles are a bit more beefed up but they do still peg on the underside of the strut and so it still has the problem of being not very easy to line up. There is a new feature on the Ghosthawk that was not on the Skyhawk. It has pegs for the missiles on the inside of the stabilizer planes and on the underside of the rear wing. So that's an alternative for pegging on the missiles so you don't have to put them on the struts. You do still have to line them up and it is still a very small slot to line up with those pegs but that at least gives you an alternative to placing the missiles on the struts. I do like the Ghosthawk. I think it's a nice update of the old Skyhawk design so thanks to Fragminion for sending it to me. Taking a look at how the Skyhawk was used in GI Joe Media the 1984 version of the Skyhawk first appeared in the animated series in Revenge of Cobra Part 1. In that series the Skyhawk was sometimes treated like a water vehicle. The skis were used over water as the Joes chased Zartan through a swamp. The Skyhawk had a fair number of appearances in the animated series. It seems like a vehicle that would fit well in the cartoon. It is impractical but fun looking. The Sky Patrol version of the Skyhawk even made some animated appearances in the Deak era of the cartoon. It first appeared in the episode Granny Dearest. In that episode it was piloted by Freefall who was not a member of Sky Patrol. It had the most screen time in the episode Bayak. Bayak is a Cobra artificial intelligence computer and fitting with the typical cartoon Cobra plan Bayak takes over all of the world's computers. Sky Patrol is featured very well in that episode. You get to see the whole team and all their vehicles. Bayak decides he doesn't like Skydive and specifically goes after Skydive. It's a very silly episode but I guess that's typical of the Deak era. The Skyhawk was less prominent in the comic book. It first appeared in issue number 24. It was piloted by Duke. Duke used it to chase down Cobra Commander after he escaped Joe Custody. Oddly, in the comic book, the Skyhawk wasn't given its green coloring. It wasn't colored at all. It's just white. Even though this comic book was released long before the Sky Patrol version, the Skyhawk in the comic book kind of looks like the Sky Patrol version. Since the Joes are in a snowy environment, maybe they used a white Skyhawk for that reason. I don't know. I haven't found any evidence that the Sky Patrol version ever appeared in the comics. If it did appear, I haven't found the issue. Looking at the Sky Skyhawk overall, it's a middle-tier vehicle and it is beautiful. This is not a military toy and you guys know I love me some military GI Joe. The Chrome is totally impractical for a real-world application but I think it looks just so pretty. And not just the Chrome. All the colors on this vehicle complement each other very well. The Sky Skyhawk doesn't make it to the top tier for the same reasons the original Skyhawk doesn't. It still has a lot of the same problems that the 1984 Skyhawk had. Looking pretty will get you far but it won't get you all the way. Sky Patrol has a lot of fans and it's easy to see why. A lot of us who grew up with GI Joe in the 80s may not be as familiar with Sky Patrol as we are with, say, Tiger Force because it did come out in 1990 and a lot of us were out of GI Joe by the time. But it's worth checking out even if you don't get any of the figures. Those vehicles in Chrome are just gorgeous. I put the question to you. If you prefer the military side of GI Joe as I do, are you tempted by Sky Patrol? Because there's one thing you can't deny. If you put a bright shiny object on a shelf, it will attract attention. And let's face it, a lot of us collectors like to show off. That was my review of the 1990 Sky Skyhawk. I hope you enjoyed it. And I have to thank you for your patience. This review was only barely done on time this week. I had to sacrifice some of the things I normally do throughout the week like the livestream because I've been sick again. And I've tried to put as much effort and energy into this video as I do every week. But I have to admit, my energy level this week has been kind of low. If you felt that this week's video was a little below standard, I apologize. And I ask you to stick around because next week we should be back to full strength. Thank you to everyone who has subscribed to my channel. We're almost up to 8,000 subscribers now. If you haven't subscribed yet, I ask you to consider doing that because I'm going to be bringing you a ton of really cool GI Joe stuff. Thank you to everyone who supports this channel on Patreon. Their support is vital to this channel, especially this year when we are reviewing a lot of rare GI Joe toys. It would not be possible for me to line up all those rare items to review without their help. I am deeply grateful for their assistance. If you like these videos and you'd like to support the channel in that way, please check out my Patreon. You can get some special perks and you can find out how to decode the secret messages you see in videos. That's all for this week. Next week will be something very special. I'll see you then. And until then remember, only GI Joe is GI Joe.