GI JOE - A Real American Hero (1987)
In 1982 Hasbro released GI JOE A REAL AMERICAN HERO. These are 1:18 scale or 3 and 3/4 inch action figures.
GI JOE was reimagined as an elite military unit dedicated to defending freedom against the evil Cobra organization.
In 1987, they released a Green Beret, Code name: Falcon.
Since Hasbro reissues action figures with different paint schemes or new molds, the YOJOE.COM webpage, identifies the 1987 Falcon as version 1.
On card
Back of card
What I like about the action figure Falcon aka Lieutenant Falcon, is that the entire design is the closest to real world military than possibly any other GI JOE action figure. He looks like a real world GI JOE. Falcon has a nice green and black tiger stripe paint scheme, unlike the ostentatious colour schemes used on other action figures
Falcon has a molded green beret with a flash on the front. However the design does not match the 5th SFGA where Falcon served as indicated on the file card. The flash is just plain black with a white border. Only during the Vietnam War the 5th SFGA adopted a variant flash with an added diagonal yellow stripe with three narrow red over-stripes (inspired by the flag of South Vietnam) from 1964 to 1970. After that they reverted back to the plain black flash. So in 1987 the yellow slash on the flash is just artistic creativity I guess.
Other GI JOE action figures released up to 1987 to wear a beret are the 1982 Stalker, 1985 Flint, 1986 Dialtone and 1986 Beachhead (sort-of).
Falcon's body is completely original - all new body parts. Falcon has a molded green and black tiger stripe shirt with rolled up sleeves, a green neckerchief, front and back khaki suspenders for his backpack and gear such as a brown knife and scabbard, a black microphone and wire that goes back to his communications backpack, a khaki pouch and an unknown black rectangular item .
There is a special forces arrowhead patch painted yellow on Falcon's left arm, which is close to the real thing except it is upside down (?).
There is a green watch molded on his left wrist.
The khaki web belt on his waist is nicely detailed and the pouches even have black coloured clasps, and one of the pouches appears to be for his shotgun shells.
The pants continue the green and black tiger stripe paint scheme with two large cargo pockets molded on each thigh with one pocket having a sculpted green MX991/ U angle head flashlight, two smaller cargo pockets on each calf.
The boots are painted green and black, similar to those jungle boots with the green canvas uppers used during the Vietnam War.
The tiger stripe paint scheme can be found on various Falcons with either thin or thick black stripes.
Included were these accessories:
- A black 12 gauge pump shotgun. It is a nicely molded shotgun with nice details such as the ribbed venting on the top of the barrel, resembling the real-life Browning shotgun or Mossberg 500 shotgun. A long grip was added so that Falcon could better hold the weapon as the figure's wrists do not swivel into the gripping position for a shotgun. It is not realistic such as the pistol grip shotgun that came with the 1988 Muskrat, on Falcon's shotgun the long grip is positioned well forward of the trigger.
- A black Bowie Survival Knife. The Bowie knife was originally designed by Jim Bowie in 1830. Falcon's knife has a serrated edge and notch wire cutter along the back edge of the knife . It resembles the survival knife that was popularized in the Rambo movies. One great feature is that the knife holsters onto the side of the communications pack pack with gripping 'teeth' for lack of a better word. This feature only happened on the late 1980's GI JOEs such as the 1988 Hit n Run and 1988 Shockwave also had this knife holding feature with their back packs.
- A green communications backpack with a removable green goose neck green antenna that fit on the top. In the GI JOE team, communication backpacks are only used by Communications Officers such as the 1982 Breaker and 1986 Dial-tone. Although Falcon is not a Communication Officer, as a Green Beret he must be able to use whatever resources necessary to accomplish his mission. Also unlike their communication backpacks, Falcon's appears more realistic and looks like it maybe based on the real-world AN PRC 77 portable transceiver. Also on the pack pack in addition to the "teeth'" used to holster the knife are some nicely sculpted details including two canteens, coiled rope and side pouch.
Usually the antenna and / or knife are missing when found on aftermarket sites like ebay and kijiji.
Falcon: file card
If you are having problems finding a loose 1987 LT. Falcon, it is probably because kids would create an army using the tiger stripe uniform body.
Variations of Lt. Falcon from 1987 to 2018
1987 Falcon (v1)
1988 Lt. Falcon (v1) Night Force
1991 Lt. Falcon (v2) Super Sonic Fighter
1991 Flint Chinese Tiger Force w Lt. Falcon head
2003 Lt. Falcon (v3) Operation Anaconda
2008 Lt. Falcon (v4) Comic Pack
2009 Lt. Falcon (v5) GI JOE Collectors Club (DTC)
2011 Vincent "Falcon" Falcone (v2) Marauders
2012 Lt. Falcon 1:6 scale Sideshow Collectibles
2014 Lt. Falcon (v6) Night Force GI JOE Collectors Club (FFS)
2016 Vincent "Falcon" Falcone (v3) Special Forces 3 pack
2018 Lt. Falcon Sonic Fighters (v7) GI JOE Collectors Club
1987 MARVEL G.I. JOE A REAL AMERICAN HERO #60
First appearance of LT. FALCON!
1988 MARVEL G.I. JOE A REAL AMERICAN HERO #73
Cover with LT. FALCON!
How does Canada pronounce Lieutenant?
If you're not up to speed with your old-colonial vernacular, here's the deal: Canadian English dictates the word “Lieutenant” be pronounced "Lefftenant", rather than "Lootenant".
Linguists explain that the “f” is a relic of the country's British imperial history, while the alternate pronunciation comes from the U.S.A.
According to military customs, a lower ranking soldier walks on the left side of a senior officer. This courtesy developed when swords were still used on the battle field.
The lower ranked soldier on the "left" protected the senior officers left side. Therefore, the term "Leftenant" was developed.