I'll say, the vintage G.I. Joe can't be beat.

OMG i still have this............one of the most beautiful toys ever.

@HCC788

8 жыл бұрын

+Sony Kroket It is certainly one of my favorites. Sleek and well designed.

I think this was the toy that really put the GI Joe ARAH line on the map, in 1983. Every kid I knew was talking about it and that was quite a feat considering this toy was competing with the Return of the Jedi toys from Kenner when it came out. I guess Hasbro knew that they really needed to pull out all the stops if they wanted to survive in the toy aisles that year.

What an awesome toy. I never had the Skystriker, but my friend got one, and the MOBAT for his birthday one year. We were more into Star Wars at the time, and didn't have much in the way of GI Joe until a little later. As to Ace's RIO, it was Steeler, because that was the only other Joe around.

Man that brings back a lot of memories.....i have two brothers and Christmas 1986 we all got one each....the following Christmas we got the air craft carrier....took all day to assemble and took up half our bed room....the aircraft carrier was built solid though....i was 9 years old and could walk on the deck with no problem....an a few times I even spread my blankets out on the carrier deck and slept on it....we were not rich but my moms boss helped her with the cost....i can tell you this much....when you had the GI Joe aircraft carrier you were the coolest kid in town....the neighbor hood kids would knock on our door all day long for weeks and begging us to let them come in and play with it or even just to simply see it....man I miss being a kid in the 80s.....we ended up moving and never set it back up and in the early 90s my mom thru it away....i heard a few years ago the the aircraft carrier sells for a huge amount of money these days.

I recently restored an '83 Skystriker myself, that was all original (what was there at least). It was missing just over half of the accessories. I found all of the accessories, except for the parachutes. I have a v1 Ace figure (with helmet) as the pilot. For the co-pilot, i took the body from a v1 Ace and the head from a v1.5 Short Fuse (with Ace's helmet), gave him the Lt. Wayne Ruthel name....and nicknamed him Joker. I had to take off all of the original decals because they were nasty, and had left black residue on the plane. I took wd40 and goo gone to the residue and was able to scrub off all of that. Then i filled a bus tub up with soap and hot water, scrubbed the plane and then left the plane to soak. It looked great after that process. I ordered all new decals from the Toyhax website and applied them. I'm extremely pleased with the end results. I tried using parachutes from the Sky Patrol figures, but those are too big it seems. One last thing....I had not understood all the detail paid to the rear engines, as well as the point of them having decals. You can't see that part of the engines once they are put in the plane. And i have not seen many collectors that take them out for functionality. Just my opinion. Great video & review for an iconic part of GI Joe!

I got a present for Christmas 1984 or 1985. I was 5 or 6 years old. I remember being very happy and playing with the parachute many times. I wanted an aircraft carrier of this series that was on the package or in the instructions (But I wanted Zoids next Christmas). After that, I had them buy the AH-1. I turned the propeller, moving the slider next to it back and forth. Grandmother saw the toy planes and She remembered the May 1945 airstrike in southern Tokyo. I should have listened to the story seriously. However, I was playing with the planes while listening. From the serious story of my grandmother I enjoyed playing with GI Joe's toys. from Japan Tokyo

Love it like I did when I got it from my birthday and 1983 December of 1983 best vehicle I ever had.b

Loved the story at the end of the video! Really nice touch!

Great review. Shakedown ranks with Silent Interlude as one of the best issues of the Marvel run. I knew nothing of the military when I read Shakedown, but the salutes at the end were more than what they seemed. In theory, they now have the highest level of respect for each other, and would no longer seek each other out in combat. There were only two Joe's whom would fly RIO: Snake Eyes, swivel arm Commando version and Ripcord, the real and actual Ripcord (or SPC Altitude in Modern Era toys). Interesting fact, the Phoenix missile system was exclusively carried by the F-14s and was retired from use with the final decommissioning of the last F-14 squadron. I loved the toy, mine had plenty of backyard crashes where both ejected, then Search and Rescue would have to go out and find them. Fun times!

My favorite go vehicle as a kid I used Ripcord as the rio a lot

I got mine in '83 and still have it! My brother spray painted the fins black almost immediately so it always has had the catalog look. One messed up thing was that mine came with 2 of the right sided engine panels and no left-sided one, so in essence, it was always incomplete until a few years ago when I bought the missing panel on ebay. My version came with the 2 parachutes and the better sculpted nose gun so I guess it was produced somewhere in the middle of those two variants! Thanks for the review!

Loved the short film!!! Now that's how big kids play with toys .

the cmmercial at the end is a master stroke....really adds to your videos....keep up the good work

I had this toy loved the retractable landing gear. Had the Cobra A-10 also, great stuff.

I always wish I had had this.

@HCC788

8 жыл бұрын

If you ever have a chance to get one, you won't regret it. It's beautiful.

@soterioncoil2163

8 жыл бұрын

You never know. I started collecting Joe right before they retired Skystriker. I did have the Night Raven and the Tomahawk, but would gladly have traded them for the Rattler and the Skystriker. The earlier Joe stuff was always the best.

@mattdawg83686

7 жыл бұрын

I had one back in the day. I was the only one in the neighborhood who had one and everyone wanted it. Thou shalt not covet my Skystriker! I just wish it had the black tail fins.

I love the old joes that look military semi acurate . It sucked when they went neon acid trip

I think the correct answer is right in front of us: Ace’s copilot should be a custom figure, “No-Step.” General Hawk is a pretty good choice for real figures. He had a similar helmet, and he even comes with jetpack to make up for the lack of a second parachute.

I bought a second Ace figure, replaced his head with a different Joe and created Ace's Copilot Wild Card. I loved frankensteining Joes and making my own characters.

@Dave-rf1zj

3 жыл бұрын

I did the same thing. I got a second Ace figure w/helmet and put a v1.5 Short Fuse head on the body, as that head was very close to the size of the head on Ace. I nicknamed mine, Joker.

@kaydenhank852

2 жыл бұрын

instablaster.

@christianbrix4311

Жыл бұрын

Isn't Wild Card a ball joint head and Ace not?

@robertwilson7843

Жыл бұрын

At that time, there was not a joe called Wildcard. I used one of the 82 Joes head and named my RIO Wildcard. Later, there actually was a character called Wildcard. I could change his name to Deuce.

@christianbrix4311

Жыл бұрын

@@robertwilson7843 Ah I see. Well Wild Card is a good name, and goes particular well with the name Ace!

Love this review! You're really stepped up your game in all aspects since the new year!

@HCC788

8 жыл бұрын

+Ben Penserga Thank you! I'm a-doin' the best I can!

The Grumman F-14 is still in service today but with the Iranian Air Force.

@ExUSSailor

4 жыл бұрын

They only fly a handful of them, not even a full squadron. They've had to cannibalize most of them to keep any flying.

This one, together with the Night raven, was the toy I've always wanted and never dared to ask for. Pure awesomeness!

@Tom_Van_Zandt

6 жыл бұрын

I wanted one...especially after my mom..uhh...I mean Santa Clause...got me the Aircraft Carrier for Christmas. I believe it was even re-released specifically for the AC. Unfortunately, even after Target or Walmart (I forget which one) clearanced it down to $20 I missed out on it. However, the one GI Joe vehicle I wanted more than any of them and never got was the Cobra Rattler. The A10 was my favorite childhood military aircraft, and I loved the look of the Rattler. Never owned one, though.

@KissMyConverseFool

2 жыл бұрын

The night raven was the last thing I ever got from "santa" and I literally spent 2 weeks or so just looking at it, not able to fully understand that I owned something that bad ass. I mean, it was a plane with a smaller, detachable plane!

Great review, awesome ending👍👍👌 go joe....!😁

Shakedown was my favorite issue of G.I. Joe. Absolutely incredible.

I'm surprised they didn't keep this out in 1986 with the popularity of Top Gun.

OH MY GOD I remember I got this for Christmas :) Loved that toy. I remember my father assembled it, put all the stickers on and that was HUUUGE. Actually thinking to get a used one. Great stuff!

Loved the bonus video at the end. I was waiting for Ron Jeremy to make a cameo appearance.

Ace, was not only the main man and GI Joe Tomcat pilot! Well now, we're just gettin started, cause he also sang the famous smash hit love song. "How long- has this been going on?" He could also speak three languages, and was a born again Christian. Finally retiring in the late nineties, After pinning silver wings upon his own son's chest! Now that's a great American! Yo-Joe!...

The rattler was my brother's favorite. And the A-10 is his favorite plane to date.

one of my prized possessions as a kid

Nice ending. Well done dialog and such.

the gi joe box art was the best

Dang... I had this toy as a kid. I loved throwing the guys off the roof with the parachutes!

This takes me all the way back to Christmas '83! I got this, and, the APC.

great review, I would think hawk or flint would be a great copilot for the sky stricker

It's on my list to buy. Great review.

I loved mine.

I had the same. Really awesome toy!

Guau!!! Mi hermano mayor tenia uno...como me gustaba ese avion!!!

alright man sorry I'm late with this man ..another awesome review I did not have this plane but my friend did and I used to "commandeer" it all the time ..it was Badass

@HCC788

8 жыл бұрын

+M.G.Villan Same with me. My friend had it and I played with it so much I thought of it as "mine." But he got to play with my vehicles, so it was fair.

i love this jet it's a so cool. oh Ace did lose once in the G.I.Joe cartoon the episode called money to burn

Great review, and great figure and jet! I was never into this thing as a kid. Too big for me, I guess. Out of my family's pricepoint too. Thanks sharing the video!

Dude, you really got me with the Tom Cruise impersonation...!

I bought a 2nd Ace, and painted all the red parts GRAY to match the Sunbow cartoon Ace. It looks great. Sunbow Ace is the pilot, red Ace is watching the radars.

VERY cool review. And very thorough. And, I have to admit: It was even funny in several parts even though you might not have meant it to be funny! Definitely love the short "film" at the end. VERY, VERY COOL! Congratulations!

Having the box is a big PLUS to me. It does make you want to buy it! But it furthers that nostalgic feeling for me with Joes or any toy from my childhood. I can remember seeing this up high on the shelves @ Toys R Us... at least they looked "up high" to me. Great Review. I never had this as a kid, but I might just have to get it now. 👍🏽 Thanks!

@HCC788

8 жыл бұрын

+Hector Canales Thank you! If you get one I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

HCC, thx again for this review. I referred to it while I was negotiating a deal on a Sky Striker. My friends at Gotham City comics in Mesa Az (shamless plug) are an honest group of guys. I still wanted to make sure we both came out on top. You are the man, GI Bro

totally enjoy your reviews

Great finish!

Memories! Dope review man!

@HCC788

6 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

Get the ace figure from the X16 Ghostriker. He looks like a real fighter pilot with a green jumpsuit and a removable helmet and Oxygen mask.

@HCC788

8 жыл бұрын

+yukoncornelius81 I would like to pick one up at some point.

Awesome review and it looks like Hasbro was listening because your recommendations have been incorporated into the new Haslab Skystriker. I missed out on this amazing toy as a kid but I backed this Haslab version and can't wait for it to arrive. Thanks for the video!

Love the video after the review!!! YO JOE!!!

great review

@HCC788

8 жыл бұрын

+Tim Kasa Thank you!

I had this bird, along with the Ratler, and the Conquest, also, I played with the Night Raven, and the Shadow.

I don't know if you'll be reading this since it's a 2016 video, but I'm writing anyway. I'm from Brazil, so we didn't get pilots on most of the vehicles and they were many times released as carded, but we never got Ace. I used my "Ripcord" as the pilot and my RIO often was my brother's Mutt. You said on the video that many people called the large pod as a bomb, and you called a ventral fuel pod. As a kid I thought it was a fuel pod, even the blueprints calling it a 30mm gun pod. The "view ports" on the pod always intrigued me though. When I grew up I discovered that existed a version of the Tomcat with a reconnaissance pod so I started to think that it might have been it, since Ace was an Intelligence Officer and his flight suit was similar of an U-2 or SR-71 pilot. Mystery solved, I thought. I even debated the possibility of the topic on Facebook pages. Then, at the beginning of this year of 2019 a friend presented a much more accurate version. It's a 30mm gun pod based on the same gun on the A-10 (GAU-8 Avenger), but shortened and with fewer barrels called GAU-13. The pod itself is called GPU-5. The funny thing is in the blueprints the pod is called Vulcan and makes you think that he have 20mm ammunition while the nose cannon have an improbable 50mm ammunition!! Anyway, if you read this thank you for the review, the patience to endure my text and for writing in many of your older videos.

The BattleCorps Ace (version 3) that came with the Ghoststriker, actually was a surprisingly realistic fighter pilot design for that point in the line. (and that was actually a pretty cool toy as well)

no doubt the best gi joe aircraft! i have a more modern one but its a one seater but looks a lil like the original (its more grey..its not like the bad ass black one u have!). but there is one serious flaw in the sky striker.....the cobra night ravens ;-) No matter how hard the joes tried...air dominance was the realm of cobra...not only did the night ravens > sky strikers....but in a fist fight..ace gets his ass handed to him by strato vipers no matter what hand he held in poker!!!! X-D

another great review. personally I made a custom for my RIO

@HCC788

8 жыл бұрын

+phillip powers Thank you! Did you give your custom a nickname?

@bgddyphil

8 жыл бұрын

Blackjack... in keeping with the poker theme

@HCC788

8 жыл бұрын

+phillip powers Cool!

I was also going to mention i always thought Ace's suit look more like an astronaut. Another great detailed review

@HCC788

7 жыл бұрын

Thank you, Lee!

@leegray99

7 жыл бұрын

once again im glad I stayed till the end as loved the air battle

A friend of mine used Countdown as the copilot. Of that was later on before Countdown came out he would put any joe in there. Being his only knowledge of G.I. Joe was the cartoon. I convinced him to read my comics after reading them he liked them better.

LOL I knew it was you the whole time!

I love the Skystriker. sweet review man.! I do have that issue you mention. My favorite story too! XD

@HCC788

8 жыл бұрын

+Project: [DARK Corp]! Thank you!

Great review as usual. I never owned this as a kid, but I always wanted it. For copilot I would pick Breaker. (Just cause I like him).

awesome review yet again and love the dog fight at the end!!! Really liking where the story is going.

@HCC788

8 жыл бұрын

+Chris Michalec Thanks! I may put this scene together with the last one for a single video.

@chrisnwi1209

8 жыл бұрын

That would be cool. And when you add more scenes to the story you could keep going with it till you have an epic adventure.

@chrisnwi1209

8 жыл бұрын

Oh and straight arm Hawk is the rio in my Skystriker.

@HCC788

8 жыл бұрын

That's an interesting choice!

Lady J should be in the 2nd seat. I Remember In the cartoon Lady J was shown piloting a Sky Striker pretty often. I really dont remember seeing the other characters other than Ace flying the Sky Striker as often as she did.

Great review!!!!! Hmmm. I just can't come up with a copilot. Lots of good joes could work.

Looking back, with the coincidences involving the parts of the Skystriker that had no obvious original purpose, I propose that maybe the aircraft carrier had been in the works for a couple years before it came out in 1985, and hence, it was built for those parts in anticipation of the release?

The aircraft carrier is basically two big flat pieces of plastic that sit on a bunch of Grey plastic gerters if I remember correctly and the back side of the super structure is open to walk your Joe's around like their members of the crew....my favorite Joe was the black cobra robot soldiers with the gears and shit in his chest....i used him or my late 80s storm shadow in white with the Grey check bars on his ninja suit and the red bar code on his arm.....my storm shadow wasnt much of a ninja but he was a hell of a pilot lol

Actually HCC788, The F14 Tomcat was around since 1974 and was designed to replace the F4 Phantom as a fleet defense fighter.

The Skystriker's backseat belongs to Ripcord, hands down.

Thumbs up and subscribed and because it was such a great review here’s a few more thumbs ups 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

I’d just repaint a damaged ace because nobody else looks close enough to ace to be a co-pilot type guy

I had one as a kid.

Outstanding review for an amazing Plane, its one I never had as a kid but there is no denying how awesome of a toy it is, I will one day try to add one to my collection. Also I love the end movie scene and how it connected to the Flagg review end scene, now to see if ace can help the boys at the Joe Base under attack by Cobras army of HISS tanks!!!

@HCC788

8 жыл бұрын

+TheSkullReviews You should think about getting one. It looks glorious on the shelf. I would like to keep this string of stories going, but only if I can tie it to the figure or vehicle being reviewed. It's been a lot of fun!

@TheSkullReviews

8 жыл бұрын

I do want one, I might try to find a complete one that's a fixer upper for another restoration project like I did on the APC. As for the movie scenes and connecting them to the review that's where it can get tricky, the easy answer would be the HISS tank but you already did the review of that. Ether way its all good, maybe you can tie it to a figure involved in the battle.

You should a lot of these vintage/modern comparisons.

Ripcord because of the 2009 movie

Had one ;)

Trust me, when it says no step, they mean no step.

i have 2 of these bad boys on preorder from haslab lol. cant wait

I myself, would have either Duke or Gen. Hawk in the RIO position.

The Phantom is cool. And so is the Night Raven. They're on par with the Skystriker. Don't sell them short. I think the Rattler is awesome too. And the Cobra Condor. GI Joe did planes tremendously.

I used Hawk cause since the Skystriker would be the lead vehicle in the early years naturally you would have the leader of the team at the head of the strike and since he's the rio he could relay commands to headquarters or any other vehicle with radio communications.

@HCC788

8 жыл бұрын

+Chris Michalec I like it. That's a logical train of thought.

Another great review! As for a co pilot for the Sky Striker I would say Slip Stream or one of the other Joe pilots. I kinda agree that any old Joe can't fly a Sky Striker it should be someone with experience and with enough since to wear an oxygen mask. I have four of the modern Sky Strikers. Yes four. But not the 1983 version. Eventually I'll get on and prolly toss in the 1998 gray version of Ace that came with the camo Conquest as co pilot.

Two thumbs up

@HCC788

8 жыл бұрын

+Booger fucker (boogerfuc) Two snaps in Z formation!

i liked the dog fight at the end will we be seeing more of that in the future ?

@HCC788

8 жыл бұрын

+no name here As much as I have time to do. I can't do it every week. It is very time consuming.

At 0:26 you can tell he isn't really Tom Cruise by a couple of telling features. One, anyone who is a "Cruiser" (a fan of Tom Cruise) will tell you that Tom Cruise doesn't have a mole on the front right side of his neck. Two, Tom Cruise wore a brown leather bomber jacket, not black. This is an obvious detail that should have been pointed out sooner. Three, and probably the most obvious, is at the 0:30 mark. He takes off his sunglasses and says "Fooled you! It's really HoodedCobraCommander788." I can't believe no one else noticed that detail before.

As a kid, I thought that fixed center piece was a bomb, my brother said it was a fuel tank. Years later I've read and watched other reviews saying that it's actually a big machine gun. Fuel tank and gun both make sense. And for Ace's REO, it could be anyone. We always stuck in Airborn, but Ripcord makes more sense considering he has the mask (I'm sure the mail-a-way parachute mask could work for anyone), and his 'chute sculpt would allow him to sit inside without issue.

I have two original SkyStrikers. I may break down and buy a modern one at some point. As for the copilot? Slipstream or Ghost Rider.

Ripcord

@GarfieldChunks

7 жыл бұрын

no

I would make custom co-pilot

I still have mine. for some reason my ACE fell apart not long after i got it. I didnt really care as a kid because i didnt think he was that great anyway and i had my other favorite joes.

They might have discontinued it because of licensing issues with using a real aircraft for inspiration. Good luck nowadays making models of most any commercial aircraft, probably less so military stuff.

At the time I was really into real military vehicles, and built a few models, so just the slight variations of realistic-based GI Joe vehicles like the Skystriker, the Rattler, and the Dragonfly bugged me. People who don't understand some of the popularity of "Top Gun" don't realize the F-14 was well-known to kids through GI Joe and in a way, through Transformers with Jetfire, and Robotech with the aircraft/spacecraft that inspired Jetfire. The F-14 was the air superiority fighter for the Navy, so there was nothing else that would have been used for "Top Gun" since the F/A-18 was not as common. I wish I would have gotten the Night Force version in 1989 instead of focusing on the Phantom X-19. I don't know what I was thinking.

This was the crown jewel of my Joe collection back in the day. It was actually quite flight stable and would glide pretty well with a little practice. My drop tank was always removable though. Maybe it missed gluing?

@KissMyConverseFool

2 жыл бұрын

you you *threw* it?

@JohnZeeX

2 жыл бұрын

@@KissMyConverseFool sure. It was just a toy back then. Not a valuable collectible item.

@KissMyConverseFool

2 жыл бұрын

@@JohnZeeX you ever put a new one together? If I put all those moving parts together and applied all those decals and my kid threw it like a paper airplane ...I might lose my shit lol

@JohnZeeX

2 жыл бұрын

@@KissMyConverseFool the originals came out of the box ready to fly except for the missiles and rudders. Very little assembly. But I put all my stuff together back in the day. No one would have been annoyed but myself. FYI, the Cobra Rattler wouldn’t fly at all. Way too nose heavy. The little single person Cobra helicopter did great though. You throw it straight and the blade would spin as you’d expect. Further FYI, the Joe Winter vehicle that had the missiles on skis…. Those skis would go like crazy downhill on packed snow. See, this is the kind of field data that all the “mint in box” collectors will never be able to collect for themselves. Kind of sad really.

@KissMyConverseFool

2 жыл бұрын

@@JohnZeeX We might have had two different runs of it then, the skystriker I had came in several pieces, I want to say nose and the top and bottom of the back, at least three, plus the wings, tail fins, and the missiles and engines and seats and other small parts, and had to be put together, and the stickers applied. I was also 5, so I'm sure my parents needed to do it "for santa," they wouldn't have turned me loose on the stickers in particular. I played with things, but we were pretty poor, so if I got something decent like that, my sense of the time it would until I got another one compelled me to be more of an Andy vs a Sid, if that makes sense.

Saw Top Gun in the theater

I seem to remember that Ace's helmet was not painted. Or at least the one I had. Just clear plastic

I need help. I have a 1983 skystriker. And the canopy is odd. Fully closed, there is a space beteween the back of the canopy and the jet fuselage. I think my 83 jet may have an 84 canopy. The box is an 84 box. Thats why im thinking this.

Love the modern version but the one seater is a real let down, vintage is perfect my favourite gi joe vehicle.

My roommate has an original page from the dog fight comic.

@sirkowski

8 жыл бұрын

👍👍

@HCC788

8 жыл бұрын

+sirkowski That is wicked awesome!

@SamGuthrie1977

6 жыл бұрын

G.I. Joe #34! It was my first comic book ever! I met the artist at Rod Whigham at HeroesCon several years ago, but he didn't have any original pages from that issue for sale. Would your roommate be interested in selling his page?

@kennethmalone4689

6 жыл бұрын

If you want the whole thing it only costs a couple of bucks.