Happy Happy Hawkman Flappy

I'm pretty sure this is the happiest Hawkman you will ever see.

Released back in 2007/2008, this Hawkman was a rather tough catch at the time.

The DC Superfriends line was coming to an end when Hawkman was announced, and Target had acquired exclusive rights to their distribution.

Well it seems someone at Target took exception to Hawkman's mace. They felt it didn't pass certain safety guidelines and was too likely to cause a kid to choke (even though the mace did pass government safety guidelines.)

This was all happening around the time Mattel was getting major flack for lead paint and other safety issues, so I'm sure there was a lot of extra nervousness floating around.

Anyways, Target decided not to sell Hawkman, and other figures in the set even had their packaging modified to show Hawkman was unavailable or canceled or however they termed it.

Here's the mace attached to this claw-grabber shield/jet sled type thingy Hawkman came with. The mace launches when you push that button up top there, and the claw grab mechanism on the flip-side grabs as you push the lever on the bottom left.

So anyways, a year or so went by and Target dropped the DC Superfriends line. Rite-Aid (in my area - maybe other stores in other areas) ended up with the line. And apparently Rite-Aid aren't as big a bunch of safety Nazis as Target, because they had no problem selling Hawkman. I don't know if there was a limited production run on Hawkman due to the original refusal to sell him, but he did make it into my hands - ironically as the only DC Superfriends figure I own! I don't even have a Batman from the line!

Here's that claw-grabbing part I mentioned earlier.

Hawkman was later released as a MattyCollector.com exclusive in a different color scheme (more Hawkworld-like) and without the mace.

But this JSA/JLA looking Hawkman is absolutely the superior of the two.

'An airshow AND a gun show! Don't ever let it be said that Hawkman doesn't deliver the goods!'

'And remember kids, a mace is a terrible thing to shove down your own throat. Now shoving it down the throats of your enemies...well that's a whole different story!'