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... :) )

Sky Patrol

Sky Patrol is still a newer-to- me-addition to my collection. Back in the day in and around 1990, '91, and '92, I remember seeing these figures on the pegs, but since they had parachutes they made a price jump into a sort of "deluxe" figure price range. Or put simply, they were more expensive compared to mainline figures. Plus, I could buy a vehicle for a dollar or two more, and I found more value in that kind of purchase thinking.

I still don't have all the accessories to this "sub-team," but I have all the helmets and the figures themselves, and I'm happy with that. I think it was late 2009 that I finally got Airborne up there, and I paid a pretty good amount for the figure. For some reason he seemed elusive, and for whatever reason I liked that figure the most out of all of them-even before I got it.

I think I filled in most of the Sky Patrol figures at the GIJoe convention in 2005, but the first Sky Patrol figures I ever got (in the picture below in about 2004-early 2005) is when I got Static Line and Drop Zone.



I like 1990 as a product year quite a bit when it comes to GIJOE, and Sky Patrol really adds to that like. And it has nothing to do with the parachutes. I actually could care less about the parachutes.

With all the vehicles I've had over the years, I don't remember ever even seeing a Sky Patrol vehicle in person.

If you're reading this, you most likely know your Joe, and you most likely know that with the exception of new heads, these are all re-used bodies.

It's an interesting mix, too, in that it's former vehicle driver bodies that were re-used through-out. And that Sky Patrol figure got a removable helmet, which is really awesome.

On the ground, Backstop and Motor Viper donated to Static Line and Airwave. With the use of ground vehicle driver bodies, I really imagine these two Sky Patrol members being used in a ground role. Static line has a demolitions MOS, and the armor on top helps that guy feel that part, and the blue really feels like there's a sort of security (Like Law, Shockwave, etc.) flavor. And while Static Line might get his codename from that sort of airborne jumping method, it also makes me think of explosives for some reason.


Airwave is the "audible frequency specialist." That says communications specialist to me, and with his file card info, Airwave has become a part of my communications and technical specialists. With the riding armor a-la Motor Viper, Airwave feels like a figure that can field his expertise just about anywhere.

Two of the Sky Patrol figures are from jet pilots bodies. In my current thought process of moving my collection forward with fewer figures and missions, jet pilots are looking like they may become very rare. I suppose the Sky Patrol guys could become HALO jumpers, as Altitude is a recon scout, and then Drop Zone is a "weapons specialist." "Weapons specialst" is kind of vague as far as strong fuel for the imagination... it could be anything.
When I had more jets, I had these two Sky Patrol guys as almost exclusive pilots. With no jets, well, I don't want to make the excuse of "they're cool," just to keep them. However, I may employ an imaginary transport plane that can get these two and others into airborne-inserted action.




Then there is the helicopter pilot based bodies. The "leader," Skydive really seems like an older special operations guy that is type of soldier that would be fast-roping out of a helicopter, too. As far as future use in my collection, I feel real good about having Skydive present. He's got a nice pistol and rifle, and his helmet really feels more like those lightweight helmets that a person might see in real life. Well, in a dark black as compared to the toys silver color.

Now Airborne was the guy I wanted the most out of all of them over the years. I think it was mostly since thought he looked the coolest.
He's the "parachute assembler." That sounds boring, an important role for sure, but I don't think I'll have that play out in my imagination. On his secondary MOS, I just got reminded that he is a battlefield medic as I reference YOJOE.COM. In a team with potentially a lot less people, this imaginary point will add to the teams depth.
His overall color scheme is really nice, too. I think it would work in just about any place he's sent into, and his helmet is a little more "combat" feeling to me (as opposed to a jet-pilot face shield). Style-wise, the uniform doesn't feel like a jet-pilots G-suit feels out of the pilots seat, too.
It's interesting that both helicopter pilot-based bodies got the more "combat" style helmet. I wonder if the original design intent had more to it than us at the consumer end will ever know?



Airborne vs. Airborne

If you know your Joe, you know there's two Airbornes. For awhile, I was thinking of making Sky Patrol Airborne, "Rigger." An alternate codename so I can use all the figures. I've also considered using, "Six," as I've seen posts where this, or "Rigger," was used.

Going forward, since the original 1983 Airborne is so much more of a skinny figure and a swivel-head jointed one at that, I think the original is going to go away for sure.

Really, I have a lot of choices for paratrooper GIJOE figures across the board. And as I have been spending a lot of time lately contemplating my figure collection, I find I really prefer the figures from '85 and forward a lot more than the '82-'84. Don't get me wrong, but when it comes to just an issue of Airborne vs. Airborne on these two figures, the 1990 Sky Patrol figure is so much more interesting and detailed to me.



What do you think of Sky Patrol?
I have some parachutes I won't use if anyone wants to trade for them, too, just let me know.

Also, it's been asked before, but why do you think Freefall wasn't a member of Sky Patrol