G.I. Joe A.W.E. Striker - G.I. Joe's All Weather / Environment Off-Road Vehicle
By: Karl Stern (@dragonkingkarl, @wiwcool, karl@whenitwascool.com)
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There are at least a dozen versions of this classic G.I. Joe vehicle - The AWE Striker. Originally released in 1985, I have that version and three others in my collection including an oddity- a reuse of the AWE Striker vehicle for another toy line!
From left to right: 1995 All Terrain cruiser from the Stargate movie line, 2012 G.I. Joe Ninja Commando 4X4, 1985 G.I. Joe AWE Striker, 2001 G.I. Joe AWE Striker. (The Stargate cruiser did not come with an action figure, I have the Dollar General Duke figure (or as I call him "G.I. Generic") posed for scale. The other figures are including with their versions: Snake Eyes (but with only five points of articulation), Crankcase, and Pathfinder.
The Stargate reuse of the A.W.E. Striker is a pretty good choice. This version actually has a firing missile on top and one feature that I actually like better than the others- it is a one seater where all the other AWE Strikers seat two. I like the one seater better as the figure has much more room and it is easier to get the figure in and out of the vehicle.
Notice the different stickers on the Stargate version of the AWE Striker. Also the vehicle is listed as "Air Force" along the side rails. An action figure is not included in the Stargate version.
I like the black and red color scheme of the 2012 G.I. Joe movie version of the A.W.E. Striker but that is about it. The Snake Eyes figure is essentially worthless with only five points of articulation and his all black paint scheme just disappears into the all black AWE Striker. The gun on top shoots a missile tied a string, which is fine, except for the gun has the least range of motion of any of the AWE Strikers. All the other top guns turn left and right and pivot up and down. The 2012 Ninja 4X4 only moves left to right. Also, the front tires turn the least of any version as the bigger push bumper limits their movement.
There is very little range of motion on the front wheels of the 2012 AWE Striker due to the width of the front bumper.
Snake Eyes just disappears into the black interior of the 2012 Ninja 4X4 reuse of the AWE Striker. The vehicle might as well be unmanned.
The original G.I. Joe A.W.E. Striker came out in 1985 and included the vehicle driver Crankcase. The gun doesn't do anything special except pivot up and down and turn left and right but this is a classic design and Crankcase is an excellent action figure to drive it. Also the clear lamp headlights on the front bumper is the best looking version of the front end of this vehicle.
The original AWE Striker also gets it right with the small width of the front bumper which allows the front wheels to turn further than any of the other versions.
Finally, here is the 2001 G.I. Joe AWE Striker. This one is a pretty straight forward repaint and if you like the vehicle black instead of green or want a "night-ops" variant this one is perfectly fine. However, instead of Crankcase, the 2001 vehicle comes with Pathfinder as the driver.
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