General Flagg, son of the original GIJOE commander, General Flagg. As well as being a "version 2" repaint that didn't get a splash of bright color like so many in the Battle Corps.When I was playing organizer and setting up shop for a big growing GIJoe team, General Flagg was always on the top of the list. Being an officer, and at the rank O-7 as GIJOE General, the only other GIJOE figures that were higher on the list were HAWK, Admiral Keel Haul, and GIJOE, himself!
As the number of my figures grew, General Hawk became a little more inactive, almost like a boss at the base. (Even Cobra Commander ended up more of an unused culprit that stayed in his own little base as more figures entered my collection...) Admiral Keel Haul had no U.S.S. Flagg to command here, but I found him very useful in my "sea squad," as the commander of those operations. I got GIJOE through the mail-in UPC offer, but over the years I just didn't use him, well, that I can remember.
As I look at my collection going forward with a goal of less but more all-around useful and fun figures characters, General Flagg hasn't really been a large player. He's pretty much been one of the top-four ranked GIJOE figures standing around a pretend battle table working out the finer points of missions to come.
He's a decent figure, has a decent removable hat, and a rather nice gun.
Below you can see the "clearance" sticker on the card. This is how I got much of my collection from the last couple years of the classic toy run.
I like the gun, but the like many of the Battle Corps, there is the "action accessory." In this case a catapult! The rocket is pretty big, too. Aside from just trying it out, this is something I never used. The launcher has some wheels styled into the form, so in some ways it almost looks like a trailer, with some fabric draped over it. 
As I'm looking at this guy now, I think it makes some sense to have someone "just under" Hawk to take over the GIJOE team. I wonder if General Flagg was going to be the new head honcho in the toy line, though, because in some ways the file card continued the Marvel comic story line with the original GIJOE commander, General Flagg. With this "son" figure, "dead is dead," actually stayed true to that once "concrete" rule idea that has since gone out the window. (which is just fine....)
Perhaps Hawk was going to be phased out?
On the file card, it states that this General Flagg had FIVE preceding generations in the military.
Now, even though it states that the U.S.S. Flagg was named after this Flagg's father, I wonder if it shouldn't be more of a family name as a whole? And while it says one thing, I wonder if the "world war II" style hat indicates that perhaps this Flagg's Grandpa (the original James Flagg) was actually the one that the Flagg was named for?
Well, maybe not.
Something else I wonder about now:So, here is mention of the U.S.S. Flagg, first mentioned on the 1992 file card, and carried over to the 1993 file card. Now, this is a 1985 play set, a HUGE play set.....and it is being mentioned on a file card SEVEN YEARS LATER?
????
Now, also consider that Admiral Keel Haul made an appearance back on the pegs in 1993.
Do you think Hasbro was thinking about putting the U.S.S. Flagg back out in the early '90s?
Well, either way, it makes me wonder. And at worst, I still have General Flagg III here to figure out!
Do you use this General Flagg?
Should Hawk be replaced?
Would veteran GIJOE team members accept a new commander like Flagg?
Will General Flagg simply man the battle-planning table?