Honestly, the 1990 Locust helicopter (released alone and packed with the General) is a more accurate representation of a one-man helicopter than the Battle Copters.
I'm not a fan of the battle copters but this figure is awesome. I'm glad I bought him and Heli-Viper on sale back in the early 90s. I had lots of fun with these guys.
I came here after watching the Interrogator one. This was the only Battle Copter I had and yes the tail on mine is missing. Apparently so is my launcher but I still have the zip cord lol
I guess this Ace could fly the water shooting jet that came out in the 90s (forget the name, but there was one for Joe and one for Cobra). I think the third Ace reverted back to the file name/birthplace from the original Ace figure, so maybe this can be a secret twin brother filling in or something.
I stopped what I was doing to watch you test the flight gimmick. First thing that popped out my mouth after that first test was "Yup, that's pretty much how I remember them 'working'." Lol
I would have gotten this for the Ace figure alone and goofed around with the Battle Copter until it broke. It might have been fun to shoot out of flight with an air rifle.
Nice review. I had the Major Altitude and Interrogator Battle Copter still have the figures but lost the copters. I picked up two for my kids and I remember them flying much better as a kid. I wish I would have gotten Ace, he looks cool. I never liked Major Altitude's head and helmet, it looks like a weird Star Wars reject.
Nice review of Ace version 2 and the Battle Copter. I agree with you that Ace does look good in this version and he should have gotten a new airplane instead of this Battle copter. Very good review.
Cool review but the Copters only ever teetered off the handle and hit the ground with me and never flew for a second. At the time these came out there was a show about how kinds were getting shorted by commercial products. In the show they showed the commercial in production and how the Copters were rigged with batteries and a motor!
Was this version of Ace sold separately? I dont think I ever had a battle copter, but I do have this Ace. I am curious if Hasbro in their reissue madness may have sold Ace individually.
I have to say, I'm a bit bummed to hear that you're not a fan of the Heli-Viper because, despite being just a reuse of parts, it's one of my favorite designs and color schemes from the entire vintage line, but as you always point out, everyone has their own personal tastes. That aside, these copters were a lot of fun as a kid. It was hard to get the copter lined up to stay on the handle and load the zip cord, but once you did, they really flew pretty well.
Great review, Hoodie! Do you think the heavier Spider-Man figure affects the function of the Battle Copter? May I suggest Howlin' Mad Murdock as a suitable replacement "pilot"?
Probably because they had Slipstream in S2, who was a new toy at the time and they likely wanted to prioritize a new pilot figure out in stores rather than one from a few years ago. (Ace being a 1983 release with the Skystriker plane).
Weird they changed Aces birthplace as well since he was originally from Road Island and Hasbro was making a lot of characters from Road island in the 90"s.
Even if, by some miracle, the figure stays on, there is no way the accessories do. And there is no way you finding that stuff in the grass. They should have painted that guy orange and put him in a crash test dummy outfit.
This was a fun episode. I wonder if it would fly better if you used the launcher from one of the other battle copters that maybe has a better working action. Keep up the great work Hoodie!
Love Ace, but GI Joe was in bad need of a Naval Aviator or two! Also given the flight of the Spider, those are more "Jesus Christ!" Bars not control handles.
Great review, that Ace does look good, but he definitely should have came with a jet. Fortunately they fixed that in the following years, same figure mold and all.