Review – Eagle Force Stryker and Goldie Hawk

In the summer of 1981 I had a friend who lived a few doors down. I was a Star Wars fan, as most boys my age were, but he was more of a Hot Wheels fan. It was with him that I really started to understand how much fun Hot Wheels cars could be and over the next year we became close friends, playing with cars, action figures, and anything else we could find. (Including sticks, which can hurt.)

At one point during the summer he showed up with a few new action figures. Metal action figures. We played with them, and each collected a few, but the phase passed quickly and I over the years I completely forgot what the figures were even called.

A few months ago, after stumbling across Robo Force (I reviewed one of the Robo Force toys here), I found myself staring directly at the Mego Museum Eagle Force page. Suddenly, as it all clicked, I realized exactly what those old metal action figures were. A little poking at eBay and I managed to score two figures — still carded — for a pretty low price.

Let’s look at them.

Goldie Hawk

Standing about 2.75-inches tall, Goldie’s pretty standard for the Eagle Force line. A solid metal body, with a plastic — almost rubber-like — head, Goldie is heavy. Really heavy. She’s got standard 5-point articulation — legs, arms, and head — like a classic Star Wars action figure, which is pretty good for a 2.75-inch tall action figure from 1981. Sure, this level of articulation is unacceptable in an action figure today, but at the time I didn’t even think twice about it.

Goldie’s joints are pretty stiff, but I’m not sure if that’s because of the age of the toy or if the joints were this stiff almost thirty years ago when the action figure was new. Another problem is her balance; the toy’s so heavy, and the joints so stiff, that she’s a bit rock-like and constantly tumbling over. With some work I can get her to stand up straight, but the slightest bump sends her over.

Goldie’s gun, identified as a CAR-15 Colt Carbine on the back of the card, is made of plastic and it’s tiny. Unfortunately, Goldie has difficulty holding the gun; she’s made of metal so maybe I can pry her hands into a better shape so that she can hold the gun, but she’s so old I’m worried that I’ll break her.

Stryker

The exact same height and articulation as Goldie, Stryker’s a very, very ugly action figure. His face is distorted and twisted, with the entire piece deformed for some unknown reason. Looking around online I found this page showing a different Stryker, so either I got a very bad figure or mine was played with hard before it was stuck back on the card (and the plastic taped in place).

(My Stryker does look like the one on this page, though, so maybe there were different designs under the same name. Hey, it was 1981 and Mego. Anything was possible.)

As a toy, Stryker’s not quite as good as an eighties-style G.I. Joe figure (they were released one year after the Eagle Force line, but he’s a step above plastic army men. My Stryker didn’t come with a weapon, but I assume that his gun would be roughly the same quality as Goldie’s.

Closing Thoughts

These were okay action figures in 1981, eclipsed by G.I. Joe the next year, but today they’re only semi-acceptable collectibles. The only people who should even have any interest in these are Mego fans, guys my age who somehow remember playing with these that summer in 1981 when they were available, and those who love owning obscure, ugly toys.

I wanted these when I saw them online, but now that I own a couple of figures in the series I’m done. Unless I find some Eagle Force toys very cheap — something like 2-for-$1 — I’ll pass. A vehicle, though, could be worth picking up just to see what they’re like (I never had a vehicle from the line when I was a kid).

If you want to dive deep into the Eagle Force line and its history, check out the Mego Museum. You can waste hours over there reading and looking at all of the toy photos.

Philip Reed would promise not to buy any more old toys based solely on memories, but then he would break that promise the next time some random thought or image triggered a memory.