| Sgt. Savage and his Screaming Eagles (G.I. Joe) | |
| Type: | Action Figures |
| Country: | United States |
| Company: | Hasbro |
| From: | 1994 |
| To: | 1995 |
| Slogan: | "From out of the past, to save the day!" |
Sgt. Savage and his Screaming Eagles is a line of military-themed toys produced by Hasbro that was sold between 1994 and 1995. It was intended to be a companion line to . Comic book artist Joe Kubert provided the packaging artwork for the toys and also drew the mini-comics included with certain figures. The line was short-lived due to the cancellation of the entire A Real American Hero line in favor of the Kenner-produced G.I. Joe Extreme series.
The main character is an imposing "hard charger from the greatest generation" as depicted in his various filecards.[1] Survivor of Omaha Beach and an infantry commander renowned for his skill, who after being frozen for over 50 years is resurrected and found out that he was subject of experiments made by the enemy. Now in the present, he possesses incredible levels of physical strength and enhanced reflexes. Devoted to destroying a "recently created" enemy team for the series called I.R.O.N. Army and its leader, General Blitz, Savage now joins forces with the G.I. Joe Team.
The Screaming Eagles figures differ significantly from their standard A Real American Hero counterparts due to the way Hasbro eliminated the O-ring hip system that allowed a figure to sustain the legs and provided the figure's hip articulation point, replacing it with a simpler vessel for a twist peg inside the legs' frame. The height for the figures was also changed from the standard 3.75" to 4.5".
The first wave of carded figures were numbered from 1 through 6. The numbering was abandoned for the second wave, which consisted entirely of repaints. The second wave of figures each included a secret coded message inside the figure card, which required a decoder ring that came packaged with one of the figures. Three vehicles were also produced, along with two small playsets.
A 12-inch Sgt. Savage action figure, marketed as Total Combat Sgt. Savage, was also sold as part of the sub-line. The figure came with a combat rifle with motorized recoil and other accessories.
A pilot episode for a Sgt. Savage and his Screaming Eagles animated series was produced by Sunbow Productions and Graz Entertainment and written by Lloyd Goldfine. The episode never aired on TV, but was released on a VHS tape included with the Commando Sgt. Savage action figure. A few characters from the A Real American Hero TV series appeared in the pilot to tie the two series together. While the onscreen title was "Old Heroes Never Die", the packaging gave the title as "Old Soldiers Never Die".
The episode starts with a newsreel from the 1940s detailing how Sgt. Savage, a war hero awarded with the Medal of Honor in the World War II European theater, dies along with his entire company in a failed raid against a German scientific facility. Later, such place is discovered by a news team in the middle 1990s, it turns out that Savage survived. His frozen body is discovered, and is given to the Joes for further research. A robotic trooper invades the Joes' scientific facility, but Savage awakens in the nick of time to destroy it.
According to Savage, the raid where all his company died was spoiled by a traitor amongst his ranks. Later, a scientist called Dr. Garret Stromm announces to the Joes that a new super advanced space platform is about to be deployed. Savage identifies the scientist as Lt. Garrison Kreiger, the traitor himself. Savage also learns that during World War II he was Kreiger's guinea pig in genetic experiments and now he possesses super strength and increased reflexes, these "powers", as his whole physical condition wanes from time to time. Savage is then introduced to his new team, a squad of 6 experts in different scientific fields, all well seasoned sergeants, but unable to follow direct orders, after a brief skirmish, Savage takes control of them, now calling themselves the "Screaming Eagles".
Kreiger is later seen communicating to Cobra Commander that the ties between their two organizations no longer bind, how he helped the Cobra Command formation and how he will destroy them if he interferes with his plans. At the same time, the Eagles are checking the invading robot's remains, and they realize that the space platform Kreiger, who now calls himself "General Blitz" helped to build is really a Doomsday device meant to control every computer system on the planet (aiming mainly at the Strategic Defense Initiative), so Savage and his team go forth to stop Blitz, his plans, and his new, completely robotic I.R.O.N. Troopers.