Design and Sculpt
And that's why it's sad to see that the figure's head sculpt doesn't really reflect that. His face and outfit are so generic, you can actually army build an entire platoon of General Hawks. This is upsetting, especially for someone like me, who has always liked the General Hawk design from the original series. The helmet with the goggles are there; the holster with the revolver is there, too, but the figure still comes off as a foot soldier. All they ditched was the brown jacket, but I guess that would've made the man.
Despite having looking like he de-aged about 20 years, the figure still manages to impress, at least in terms of sculpt. All over the figure, you'll see a lot of fine detail work, except probably in the boots. All those little touches, like the creases in the shirt and the texturing of the protective armor in the pants, add that much more value.
If you notice in the pic above, his left hand is sculpted in a certain way, which isn't typical for most figure. It's as if that hand has a specific purpose. I found that it made it easier for Hawk to support a rifle while his right hand holds the pistol grip. It's obvious that's how Hasbro wanted the hands to be used because of the way the fingers are sculpted - right hand has the trigger finger extended while left can hold pretty much anything. It also works great for carrying that laptop of his.
Another complaint would be the placement of the pocket on the right side of the harness. That's probably the least thought-out placement of any pocket ever. It sits right above the holster, where the pistol is supposed to go, and that really gets in the way when turning the torso.
Articulation
He's got the standard Joe articulation, though he's missing a couple essential ones that would've made the figure so much better. Let's start from the top - ball joint neck, chest, swivel and hinge shoulder, single hinge elbow, wrist twist, waist, t-peg hips, double hinge joint knees, ankle twist and hinge. Had he gotten the up and down wrist hinge like Snake Eyes, he would be able to hold all sorts of rifles so much better. As it is, he can only hold most of them as if he were firing from the hip.
The hips seem to have a very wide range of motion, so you can sit him down or kneel him quite nicely. Same goes for those knees. I find the ankles a bit limited, too.
Paint
I've only got a very minor complaint in the paint department - the color of the boots makes them look fake and plastic. A flat black would've worked better. No clue why they went with the gray purple shade. If you can look past the boots, then this figure is perfectly painted. Everything is clean - from the straps to the ridiculously small silver buckles. There's no bleeding or any overlaps that I can find.
Hm... maybe if the shirt was painted brown, it'd look a lot more like the General Hawk we all know and love, but the gray is a fine choice, anyway.
Accessories
Pursuit of Cobra figures have been known for the multitude of accessories packed with each figure. Thankfully, General Hawk is no exception. Let's list em' down.
1. helmet
2. goggles
3. web gear (Beachhead from Resolute)
4. holster sling with a revolver
5. walkie talkie
6. a backpack
7. pistol
8. Shock Trooper submachine gun
9. MP5K submachine gun
10. a long barrel rifle I cannot identify (a little help here?)
11. a laptop briefcase that can conceal the MP5K
That's a lot of stuff! The helmet and goggles really go together. You can't put the goggles on without the helmet because the strap would be too big for his face, and they'd end up resting by his mouth. The web gear and the holster are removable but they're a bitch to take off so I just didn't bother. On the right side of the harness of the web gear is a little hole and that's where you plug in the walkie talkie. There's another hole at the back for the backpack.
He carries the MP5K and the Shock Trooper submachine gun very well. I'd say those two weapons look best on him, even though he gives off a rifle-user type of vibe. He holds the pistol fairly well, but it doesn't fit quite right in the holster. It doesn't help that there's a giant protruding pocket right above it, too.
The rifle he comes with is pretty cool, actually. He can hold it properly, as if he was ready to fire. I just have no clue what it is, so I put it the box of forgotten accessories. Right now, I have him posed with the Marauders M16 with removable clip in his right hand and the laptop in his left.
Overall
There are setbacks that keep General Hawk from being the ultimate must-have General Hawk in the 3.75" scale, but it's a good addition to your collection if you're going for that pseudo-militaristic theme, like I am.
Now that I've got the General, I just need myself a Flint and a Roadblock. Let's do this!