Well, just in case it wasn't obvious before, it should be now...the centerpiece of this new 2.5" run of Sigma 6 items isn't the Mantis Mech. It's not the VAMP, the Thunderwave, or even the Firebat. Those things are all just trimming...the meat and potatoes of this first wave of these smaller scale figures and vehicles is, without a doubt, the now infamous Dragonhawk. When word first leaked out about a "Sigma 6 Dropship" everyone was wondering just how they were going to pull that off. A dropship for 8" figures?? What the heck? How was that possible?

Well, the reality hit some folks hard shortly thereafter as they saw exactly WHAT the Dragonhawk was, and what scale it was for...but while people lamented the fact that yet another size was making an appearence for their beloved Joes, I don't think I saw anyone complain about the design and execution for this piece of art. If anyone did, I think I probably would have slapped them.

Complaints about size aside, I don't think anyone can argue just how awesome this dropship is and how many stops Hasbro pulled out to really give us an absolutely amazing pseudo-futuristic aircraft for transport and assault purposes.

PACKAGING/PRESENTATION

As you can imagine, the box for this thing is HUGE. I mean, really huge. A lot bigger than you might think. Big enough so that when UPS dropped it off, I got a look from my wife that immediately said "what the heck did you buy now?!?". It's large, square, a little thin, but amazing well detailed and it looks flat out gorgeous. Even people who aren't G.I. Joe fans I think will stop and take interest in the wonder of the Dragonhawk box on store shelves. The art is pure beauty, the vehicle image on the box is actually embossed. Every corner of the metallic silver/gray surface just looks beautiful. Fantastic, fantastic work, not only on the box front, but the box back, and even the box sides.

The other Sigma 6 sets are immediately tied in perfectly, and every kid will be tugging on their parent's coat just begging to get the VAMP, Dune Runner, or Thunderwave to go along with their new dropship. The instructions and blueprints are done very nicely, too, and are huge. You'll have to excuse the crappy picture quality since these were way too large to fit on my meager scanner:

The Toys

As with the awesome VAMP and Firebat, I'm happy to report that assembly is required on the Dragonhawk! There's just something about building the vehicles that really brings you back in time. The main body was intact, but pretty much everything else (engines, guns, skids, tail section, etc...) had to be put on. It was a cool feeling to see it all come together, and then the stickers...wow. There were a bunch of stickers, and they look cool, too. I must advise you to be cautious of the yellow/black striping around the docking connector, it can tear a little easily.

Once this thing is built, it requires 3 AA batteries, which ARE NOT INCLUDED. Do not forget about those if you want the Dragonhawk to do all of the stuff advertised on the box. Luckily, I just happened to have a trio of batteries kicking around so when Brown dropped it off to me, I could get it rolling right off the bat.

But before I get into the features, let's just look at this thing. The overall shape of it is very reminiscent of the recent 3 3/4" offerings, which themselves seemed to draw some serious inspiration to sci-fi flicks and games like Aliens, Starship Troopers, and Halo. I could not be more happy with this, because I absolutely love how all of these movies and video games portray military hardware. That holds true here as well. The front cockpit is very nicely shaped and angled, and really draws some solid comparisons to the "Hawk" part of the vehicle name. A nice bright white bird-deco painted near the front (no sticker needed there for you to mess up) only helps this comparison, and the paint deco on the front really looks like head-feathers.

The body maintains it's sleek, aerodynamic look with or without a drop-cage attached, and the thick armored legs branch out nicely, keeping the Dragonhawk very well balanced, even with its long tail and twin skids. Flawlessly in fact. Everything from those aforementioned skids, to the movable thrusters, to the twin vulcans and the nasty nose cannon just screams "coolness".

But this thing isn't just pretty, it packs a punch, too. Between those twin heavy cannons, the front gatling gun, and the twin missile pods, each holding three missiles, the Dragonhawk definitely won't be caught unarmed or unaware when ambushed by COBRA Firebats. I do wish the front cannon was at least somewhat movable...it currently is frozen in one position. But it's still exceptionally cool, and there are enough other weapons sprinkled throughout this beast to make up for the lack of versatility with the single front one.

Of course the most obvious point of attraction for this monster aircraft are the twin turbines. These two massive thrusters are plugged into twin ratchet joints on each side of the main body and rotate flawlessly. The spin smooth (with the dial on top) into VTOL position as well as forward thrust. They stay securely in each mode and look pretty neat to boot. A nice and different mode of transport, and it makes a lot of sense for a dropship.

Even the tail section looks nasty on this aircraft, too. Long, slender, and dramatically angled, the rear stabilizers and movable tailfin all look state of the art and very, very nice. It's such a small part of the larger overall package, but it is done to perfection.

The overall shape of the aircraft is perfectly complimented by the intricate detailing throughout the layered armor and mechanical components of this larger than life dropship. Plates, screws, and other trimming are all faithfully sculpted and perfectly represented, making this look almost like an authentic weapon of destruction.

Play features are plentiful and nicely executed in this vehicle, as well. The most obvious is, of course, the docking system, which (thanks to some magnets and an easy to use top switch) moves seamlessly and interacts very nicely with the vehicles designed to use it. The top switch lowers the docking connector nicely, with the accompanying whirring, clanking and other appropriate noises (thanks to the batteries). Another really cool element, is if you hit the switch a second time (or just hit it once after you've hit another switch) the docking connector lowers and a small green light shines from below, to use as a "targeting" system. Each docking connector for the vehicles has a round almost "crosshair" piece on the connector. If you line up the green targeting light with that crosshair, you know you're in position to scoop up your cargo. It's very cool.

Next to the docking connector switch is a rotating dial, which turns the turbines into their respective positions. Turning this dial also activates the engine noise as well. There's a small green button next to both of those others, and that activates engine noise and machine gun sounds depending on what else is making noise at the time. Then, of course, there are your handy missile launcher buttons which send a barrage of rockets firing out from each rocket pod.

Along with these other activation features, you have the drop cage and Ninja Lightning cycle, with Snake Eyes on board. The bike looks great at this smaller scale, and is amazingly detailed for such a small little motorcycle. It's really pretty neat the way the cage works. When you engage the docking system and let the cage (or vehicle) rise back up, it holds the docking connector out a little bit, so it doesn't retract all the way into the Dragonhawk's body (where it normally rests). So once you have something in place, you merely need to press the switch the rest of the way, to bring the connector all the way back in, which will then disengage the cargo and drop it. If you drop this particular drop cage, it hits, and slowly lowers each side of the cage, then absolutely launches the motorcycle! I mean it flies.

You can see it live on video, where I captured it in action at the convention here. Trust me, the final production model is just as impressive!

Hasbro also did an excellent job really integrating the handle used to operate this craft perfectly within the design of the Dragonhawk itself. The handle works to near perfection, but is not obvious and does not really stand out a whole lot, so the general look of the aircraft does not suffer for it. There are just so many cool play features in this vehicle that actually accentuate the vehicle and don't take away from it. Very nicely done.

The two "figures" included with this set should probably only be 1.5 figures. Lt. Stone is a pretty simple straight forward figure that I actually find myself liking quite a bit. His permenantly attached helmet looks pretty cool, really resembling a flight helmet, but still maintaining a pretty neat overall look as well. The figure looks almost more animated than some of the other figures, with large, almost oversized feet, the exaggerated robotic arm and broad shoulders. But Stone still looks really, really cool, and I'm glad to have him...I really can't wait to get him in 8" format.

He's got basic articulation, with swivel shoulders and swivel hips, but no knees or elbows. It's about as basic as you can get, which works for me, because so many of the other figures are so specifically designed that they don't work for anything but what they come with.

Snake Eyes, for instance. Obviously, he was designed the ride the motorcycle and that's pretty much all he'll be doing. Sculpted in a low crouch, with no articulated knees, Snake Eyes will forever be riding his motorcycle. His shoulders do have some swivel movement, so you can decide where he's pointing his sword, but beyond that, he's pretty much immovable.

3 3/4" Compatibility

Well, if the immense size of the Dragonhawk is any indication, you'd think it would be made for 3 3/4" figs. Out of the box, though? Not quite. There are twin seats in the front cockpit, which means a larger figure just ain't gonna work, although it is oh so close.

In fact...it's close enough that ole Hawk here is going to take one for the team. I just got this fresh off the UPS truck from Wal-Mart.com, but because I know people will be wondering, let's see just what it takes to make this thing 3 3/4" compatible, shall we?

Step 1: There are four screws on the right hand side of this bad boy's cockpit:

I popped those four screws out and separated the two halves, though pay close attention to the knob on the light under the front gun mount:

I personally did not remove it, because I wasn't sure what was underneath. Without removing it, I was still able to get the halves apart enough to do what I needed to do, but it put a LOT of stress on this front connection, which made me kind of nervous. It also made it a lot harder to get the halves apart than it probably would have been had I just tried to remove the knob in the first place.

Regardless, though, I managed to get the front halves separated enough to pop out the seats:

I didn't really want to take the time to try and fashion my own single seat or anything...plus I don't really have those kind of skills, anyway. So I grabbed a nice, large classic sculpt RAH fig, Nullifier, and gave it a whack:

Result: SUCCESS! The large 3 3/4" figure fits in there seamlessly, with room to spare. I am fully confident that a larger new sculpt figure will fit as well, depending on how thick you make the seating inside. Even if you were to work some thin seating and controls into the cockpit, I think there would still be room for a 3 3/4" figure and some realistic cockpit detailing as well. Not only that, but the figure looks darn cool in there, too!

Now, I cannot take any responsibility for mangled Dragonhawks. I left some kinda scary white stress-marks on a few connectors, mostly from trying to cram the seat back inside when I was done. Yeah, the seat comes out a LOT easier than it goes back in, especially if you don't remove that light knob. It was hairy for a few minutes, but my Dragonhawk is now back to normal. So there you go. Don't ever say I never took a risk for my readers. ;)

I gotta say I'm really loving how this thing looks with a 3 3/4" figure. Am I loving it enough to buy a second one to modify? Not too sure on that one, but I think 3 3/4" fans who do drop the cash will find that this is not that hard to re-work, and the results are very satisfying!

Overview

I'm just not sure where to begin. From tip to tail, the Dragonhawk is expertly designed, perfectly crafted, and brilliantly executed. It is a fantastic looking dropship aircraft that could easily exist within the pseudo-fantasy world of G.I. Joe, and would serve a lot of purpose there.

The twin turbines...the angled, armored fuselage...even the assorted weapons. They're all pure coolness and in spite of the difference in size, this is one of the most singly impressive vehicles I've seen designed in a long, long time. I really can't wait to see it in animated format (or more than I saw at the Con, anyway) and to see it do battle with the Firebats. This is truly an almost perfect vehicle, honestly. If it were 3 3/4" compatible, well, it would probably get a "10". As such, it still gets a high "9" just because it rocks. With all of the play features, the various docking configurations, and the way it works with so many other vehicles, the Dragonhawk really deserves to be the centerpiece of the 2.5" line, and honestly it deserves a shot in your collection as well, no matter what scale you buy. It's just an incredible looking vehicle.

If you're a 2.5" fan, you're absolutely LOVING it. If you're a 3 3/4" fan, you should really be loving it, too, because obviously, it doesn't seem to take much work to get those to fit in here, too.