2002 seems so long ago! Most of the original new vehicles and figures that started coming out at this time did not have my interest ('02-'05 or so). A few vehicles made the cut during these "new sculpt" years in my collection, though. The NAC was really THE last of that crop of vehicles that stayed in my collection from those years. Of course, it is gone now, sold or traded, and I'm doing just fine with my Tomahawk.
The thing is really a nice toy, though. The action and sound features are really not my the big draw on the toy for me, but on this heavy chopper toy it really worked out.
The lower tail end is a handle, and there is another "flip-down" handle up front. This thing is very user-friendly in that manner (two-handled gunship!). With the trigger pull, the rather large multi-shot launchers would extend out to attack mode. Then with each trigger pull, EACH side's pods would fire some rockets until they were empty.
That was fun, I did enjoy that.
I also liked to spin the rotors with the tail trigger. The chopper really puts the user of the toy in control in that manner.
The details were pretty decent, too. I don't think the details were better than the Tomahawks, though. As I made my decisions on what to keep, I found there were some vehicles that filled a space between model and toy. While the details on the Tomahawk (and other ARAH vehicles) are a little more fragile, they weren't as "blocky" or "rounded" as the NAC.
I would say the NAC would easily last in one piece though because of its' "rounded" and solid construction.
And it's a pretty sleek mutli-role chopper. I think it fits closer to the gunship role more than any other, though. The chin-turret is very nice, but I didn't like that it was limited only side-to-side movement. But I very much did like the "sensor nose cone" with the light, it really looks like it belongs.
I know, I'm nit-picky.
And at first, I really disliked the rotor design. It grew on me, though. However, even as thick and rather sturdy as the blades were, one of them was stressed with just a few removals where it connects to the rotor hub.
Of course, the sound attack feature made it on board. I didn't mind the actual thing, and I actually liked the idea of customizable side weapons pods. But, there's only a few of these sound attack weapons that really looked good and made sense. (Scarletts' crossbow, for instance, did not make sense to me on here, even though it seemed like the side sound stations were meant to be used by the cockpits passengers in back; by hand; see that handle in the pic below?)
The cockpit was my favorite part, three figures, so it was a real crew. Even a joystick.
The rear compartment was the big let-down, though. This is where I think a GIJOE vehicle could have separated itself from the pack of other toys. Without the sound attack gear, and especially without the lower front "handle" that was hidden in flipped up position, this would have been one awesome unique helicopter. And the big wing pylons and rocket pods helped block access to the rear compartment some. (and the non-removable mini-rocket under the pylon didn't add anything to the vehicle for me)
The deal-breaker for me keeping the NAC was really based on the landing gear looking like an afterthought of design. The running board with the figure peg was alright. But essentially, the lack of "feet" swung the vehicle into my "trim" list.
Who was the pilot on your NAC?
I don't think I really picked out any one figure to take on the NAC as "owner." I guess, somewhat like Devils Due: Amercia's Elite, I did have Flint ferrying an elite team around on missions. And that really sums up the mission roles that I put the NAC out on, just simple raids and attacks.
Still, the NAC was a pretty fun chopper. I never did get either of the other variants, but nearly 10 years later, I wouldn't mind seeing a re-tooled NAC hit the shelves at retail again, with all the little things tweaked that I mentioned I didn't care for much. (it's nice to dream... :) )