Night Attack Chopper

This is the Night Attack Chopper.



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... :) )

FANG series

The FANG series of choppers is as big a staple to me as the HISS is when it comes to Cobra. Much like the real world, air power for any force is simply a modern idea, and gives greater strike capability.

The 1983 F.A.N.G. is actually my very first GIJOE anything, that's what is pictured above, and that's why it looks so rough. This first F.A.N.G. got it done, simply put. Four good sized rockets, an very simply ball-mounted nose gun, and one rather good sized bomb. It could even carry two extra troops with all that under a VERY small frame with small engine. This toy is a work horse! Even in my imagination, though, more as an adult, too, is that I don't see this F.A.N.G. being super-agile in the sky. I does one thing in my mind, get the ordnance up with very little effort on a short distance in support of ground forces. The small size helps a lot of these swarm together for effect, and also for easy transportation and hiding; not to mention inexpensive.

The next hop into the sky was either in the Rattler, the Flight Pod, the CLAW, and even the MAMBA. Or even the Jet Pack. So, small things or big things.

FANG II came out in 1989. I found this one at a Ben Franklin in about 1993, though. I think it is a great little chopper, er, airplane,...er... tilt-rotor. An advanced idea in helicopter, the tilt-rotor. I think it is great. 6 rockets, much more stylized than the rather straight tubes off the F.A.N.G. and a much longer cannon on a rather interesting chin mount.
The tilt-rotor is where it's at for me, combining vertical helicopter capability with the speed and agility of a twin-rotor fighter plane! But, they kept it simple, too. Skids replaced with a landing wing, which adds to performance. Also, no need for a tail-rotor. The overall length compares similar to the F.A.N.G., too, as does the open weight and cost saving feature of NO CANOPY. In actual construction, I think the absence or the "control stick" really worked against the toy, as did no "figure clip," or at least a back peg, to keep the figure steady. The actual front fuselage is great in that any figure will fit, but I think it could have been more narrow than is really is.
The FANG II is my favorite small air vehicle, too. It really works for my covert Cobra forces with small size, but unlike the F.A.N.G., I would put this one up against a Dragonfly.

With the FANG III, I don't think "year" matters when the themed years started. It was full of a lot of stuff, and repaints followed closely behind. It's GvC if I remember that the III came out. Unlike the Strike HISS, I don't think this one got much forum chat. I think both staple incarnations equally weren't popular, though. Although, one should admit, this one came WITH A PILOT. T-Crotch or not, that was nice, even though the pilot isn't super-memorable to me, I did hang on to two of them, un-used though.
I think the FANG III was a step back in the FANG series. Sure, it was heavily snake-looking, but really it was just a blobby-bodied mini-copter with sort of less than the 18-year-old original. I totally appreciate the handles for control, and the rather nice snake head on the front, but from there it is kind of down hill for me. The one missile on the belly was nice, but the small skids that balanced back on the tail felt cheap. The twin mini-guns, while possible more useful than the previous models cannons, didn't blend into the body design-wise, and the switchable sound attack weapons also lacked design refinement that made them look cheap. The rotor head was thick, too. As a toy, pretty decent little helicopter. I don't like the sound attack ported weapons, and really felt let-down by this FANG incarnation.


I missed the 25th Anniversary F.A.N.G. I saw one box with it at a time when I was not as well-employed, so I passed, and didn't get one.... now I would kind of like a couple, rather than eventually finding some old '83 models. Anyone have one or more to spare? No pilot required!

On pilots, I dig the Gyro-Vipers for my FANG II's. I had one MAMBA that I found used, but it had a cracked wing at the back. The MAMBA is kind of neat, too. Inter-meshing rotor blades is another neat advanced helicopter design on top of tilt-rotor. Cobra was really on top of things when it came to vertical deployment back in the day (don't forget the Rattler and Hurricane VTOL!!). With the large size, my MAMBA left years ago. The Gyro vipers are suited up well for open cockpit flight, though, and the helmets and purple-ish should pads help them visually fit into the FANG II for me. I think the name fits, too, unlike a simple helicopter, the Gyro Viper would have to be a very skilled pilot to fly any non-standard craft. Especially one that will have blades spinning just a short ways from their pilots body, not to mention four close rocket launches!

I was hoping to see some kind of new FANG coming out at some point, but what would be the "next thing?"

I was thinking an inter-meshing single-seater, myself.

That one isn't too bad, this one is more mechanical looking.