skystriker – European Joe's

Time to write! Or draw or doodle…

I’m back with some G.I. Joe paraphernalia you don’t see every day. These notebooks came into my collection via a fellow collector.

Printed in 1988 in Italy, these notebooks recycle G.I. Joe art, but adds a bit of cloud cover to it. That and the addition of some of the European flags, make for an interesting look. By the way, the Belgian flag is missing! The cover is actually somewhat of a wraparound image. Not quite sure about the connection between the Crimson Twins and the SkyStriker, but hey, it looks cool! The flags are continuing here, but more flags from around the world this time.

The second one shows the SkyStriker again, but this time from another angle.

Can you guess what is shown on the back cover?

This notebook has the epic Rattler versus SkyStriker battle.

The last notebook I got my hands on, shows the A.W.E. Striker.

Maybe another strange combo, but here we get Spirit on the back of the notebook.

In case you’re wondering what the inside looks like. No more suspension, the pages are all little squares. Cobra Trooper for scale 🙂

I’ll leave you with a closeup of the manufacturer’s logo and the print date with the Hasbro patent lettering. If you’d happen to come across other of these notebooks, let me know!

Happy Collecting and YoJoe!

If it’s smaller, you can collect more!

For a while now, I have seen these Instagram and Facebook posts about a Hotwheels version of the G.I. Joe SkyStriker. I’d done a search a few times online, but wasn’t able to find one in Europe. Until today that is.

For a small toy, the details are quite nicely done.

Just a small update this time around. See you later, until then, YoJoe and Happy Collecting!

Controversial decision?

Since you visit this page, I guess you know that in the US and the UK, HasLab ran a fundraiser campaign to sell an updated version of the SkyStriker. I was surprised to see that it was made available for us European fans via Zavvi. I did make the bold decision not to pre-order one with Zavvi. Was that a mistake?

Personally, I don’t think so. Let me explain. First off, I have the original SkyStriker in pretty good shape. Also, the SkyStriker isn’t my favorite vehicle, it’s not even my favorite plane. Then there’s our attic (where I plan to build my Man-Attic to display my Joes) is still not finished, our contractor has huge delays and so we keep waiting on him to come and do his work. I know the plan is for Hasbro to deliver them somewhere in 2023 and the attic should definitely be finished by then, but still, I need to invest in the house first. This leads to the last point, the price. I honestly do think it’s overpriced. I was hoping that they would create something we hadn’t seen yet like the Cobra Transport Helicopter (ASPID). So I was a bit disappointed that they went with the SkyStriker. HasLab should be for something new and special, not for a plane they have released a few times over the years even though they changed it up a bit.

All these reasons have led to my decision not to support the fundraiser. An extra reason is the whole fundraiser thing. Hasbro is a multinational company, they should just release this to the big public through physical stores or even via an own online store. A fundraiser should be used for charity or for startups to gather funds for their idea, not abused by a big company to ensure they don’t make a loss. Put this SkyStriker at a fair price point, maybe with less figures and accessories in stores and I can guarantee you that the fans will buy them.

That’s it for now. The next post will probably be about something I did buy and added to my collection. Until then, Happy Collecting and YoJoe!