GI Joe Classified Series AWE Striker with Crankcase review No. 171 (2025)
The AWE Striker is one of the better small-scale GI Joe vehicles. It got a lot of love in the cartoon series and was an easy way to transport three or five Joes depending on how cramped you made it. And it had a cool driver in Crankcase.
After getting the VAMP, I was hoping to see the AWE Striker to help pad out the Joe ground vehicle force beyond the RAM Cycle. Thankfully, the Classified Series team did not disappoint with the tease at last year’s New York Comic Con. While scheduled for a December release, it arrived early prompting a full upheaval of my Classified Series display.
Following the initial render and prototype reveals, some collectors weren’t as excited about it, but the AWE Striker was a must have for me. Let’s see if the Joes’ dune buggy is ready to rule any environment or needs to get lost in a sand trap.
Packaging: Hasbro went with the familiar vehicle packaging presentation — a rendered image for most of the front with a small plastic window to show Crankcase. There’s no exciting Easter Eggs here…unless you count the Bridge Layer in the distance.
On the left side is a larger version of the skill stats and the QR Code to Nowhere. Turning to the right side, we get a nice portrait of Crankcase in his classic look. Typically, the package art has shown the figures with their alternate gear. Since they included that look on the front, Crankcase gets his traditional look, which would always be my preference for the side art.
Over on the back is a breakdown of the accessories that come with the AWE Striker and Crankcase. And a better look at the skill sets for Crankcase. He scores a 3 in driver, 2 in anti-armor and environmental specialist-desert and a 1 in light weapons.
Likeness: Crankcase has a pretty cool look for a desert-oriented dune buggy driver. It’s always interesting to me which figures get a significant redesign for the Classified Series line.
Crankcase is essentially the same as his Real American Hero figure with one minor exception — his shirt wasn’t tucked in, which left a portion of it below his belt.
For his CS figure, Crankcase gets a more intricate harness with some extra pouches. He’s also got a sheath around his left ankle. Everything else, including the watch on his left wrist, carried over. It was a good design back in 1985 and it’s a good design in 2025 as well.
His portrait is solid with a focused expression. He’s rocking a classic Magnum P.I. style mustache. Crankcase wears a shirt with the collar flaring over his vest. His sleeves are rolled up to the bicep to stay cool in the heat. The vest has a textured pattern to it as well presumably made of some lightweight material to keep him from overheating.
Scale: As a vehicle driver, Crankcase doesn’t need to tower over anyone. He’s average height, which is ideal.
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Paint: Crankcase also had a sensible color scheme. He’s got brown/reddish hair that darkens up the straight up orange hair from his RAH figure.
I love the extra details with the paint as Crankcase’s face has a bit of red added to his cheeks to convey some windburn as he’s whipping around in the AWE Striker. That’s the special care to the characters and thought of how they would appear in a real-world setting — even in a wild one like GI Joe — that makes the CS line so stellar.
His outfit colors are mostly the same from the RAH figure. The shirt is tan and in a smart shift from the original version, the sleeves are also tan. His original figure had green sleeves to match the vest, which in hindsight doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Crankcase keeps his black gloves and has a darker brown belt with a gold buckle. The darker brown is the same used for his holster, sheathe and boots.
Articulation: Crankcase is a driver, but due to the AWE Striker setup, he needs to have fluid enough articulation so he can easily get out and get on the move as needed.
He’s got the usual, well-implemented articulation scheme so he can join Flint, Dusty and the rest of his wave mates as needed.
Classified Series Crankcase has:
- head
- neck
- shoulders (butterfly)
- elbow (double-jointed)
- wrist
- wrist hinge
- torso (hinge)
- waist
- hips (ball-jointed)
- drop down hips
- knees (double-jointed)
- ankles
Accessories: Although a vehicle driver, the CS team made sure Crankcase wasn’t arriving empty handed on the accessories front. He’s got a ton of gear.
First up, is his classic-skewing helmet. He’s got the modern “vintage” helmet we’ve seen with Roadblock and most of the OG13 Joes. His original helmet was more of a M1 “steel pot” style so this makes him look more in line with his teammates.
For an alternate look, Crankcase gets the motorcross helmet we’ve seen before with the Cobra Ferrett driver Scout with a tan and green color scheme.
Additionally, he’s got a cap with a visor that says, “Off Road.” To pair with that look, he’s got a set of goggles and a bandana and scarves to use. You can also pose them around his face and neck.
These are reused from Monkeywrench and make perfect sense for him. To help see beyond the dunes or other terrain, Crankcase has a set of binoculars that were originally used with Retro Duke.
Next, he’s got a knife for dealing with scorpions and Cobras. He also has a pistol, which fits in his holster. Considering the AWE Striker’s firepower, Crankcase really doesn’t need to pack a fully-kitted out arsenal.
Finally, to stay hydrated he’s got a drink cup with Yo Joe on it. That’s a lot for a vehicle driver!
Now on to the other attraction — the AWE Striker.
My immediate takeaway was the size. I’ve always considered the AWE Striker to be more of a lightweight, more compact Joe vehicle.
The CS version is big measuring out to be right around the same length of the VAMP.
With the 25th/30th anniversary versions of the vehicles, the AWE Striker was about the same width, but not as long as the VAMP. The VAMP remains taller though. The reason for the extra length is the inclusion of a third seat for a gunner to operate the 50-cal. machine gun.
For the RAH version, a cannon was positioned atop the roof directly above Crankcase and passenger. The CS AWE Striker has the machine gun placed a bit further back and it’s a got mesh plate presumably to catch the shells. Additionally, the CS team added two rocket launchers on either side for some extra firepower.
If the bucket seat weren’t included the AWE Striker would not need as much space in the rear and it could be much more complex. I get the CS team’s thinking by allowing for more Joes to pack onto it. The original AWE Striker could comfortably hold four figures.
With the extra space, the CS version can hold five easily. If you wanted, you could position two more Joes next to the bucket seat so it can be a fairly significant troop carrier and help out in saving shelf space. That’s not a bad tradeoff.
After the shock of the size, the AWE Striker is a pretty cool vehicle to take in although it’s not without some problems.
There’s been some online debate about the size of the front tires, which are not as big as the rear ones. They’re smaller to create a sloped effect with the vehicle in keeping with the original design although I’m not sure why the CS team couldn’t make that work in this instance.
The interior portions are nice with lined seats for Crankcase and his passenger. I wish the seats had more clearance specifically for the legs so Crankcase, etc. could sit down easier. It’s more of a challenge than I would like particularly with the bucket seat, which basically makes it so the gunner can’t sit flush into the seat.
That’s frustrating since this third seat is the main reason the AWE Striker is extended. I tried about five Joes — some fit better than others based on their outfits and if they had rear holsters.
I love the work on the dashboard, which includes a GPS navigation screen and another sticker panel display in addition to plenty of sculpted buttons and panels.
The steering wheel has some nice detail as well. Over on the shotgun seat is a smaller The CS made wider running boards so a figure can be placed comfortably without danger of falling off with every movement.
Another cool feature is a radio system handset complete with flexible cord so a Joe can stand outside the AWE Striker and still hold it. There is a place on the dashboard for it to rest in, but the tab isn’t deep enough to keep it locked in.
The paintjob is minimal since it was cast in green plastic, but Hasbro did include some tampo work throughout. These came out clean and there’s even a bit of weathering on the big star in front to show it’s been out on the field a bit.
For a little extra fun, a sticker sheet has been included with three different design options — a dog, a shark and a dragon/snake?
Like the VAMP, the AWE Striker has a retractable winch that extends about four Joes length at full extension. You can also lift the engine to play around with that section.
It has a toolbox that opens so you can throw a wrench in there from Clutch or Cover Girl. Additionally, there is a gas can you can move around.
Now for the main issue. The CS team opted to give the AWE Striker a suspension system, which is fun when you’re rolling it around. The downside is it doesn’t provide a strong enough base to plug in the various components, namely the roll cage.
It’s a two-part roll cage system — one for the roof section and the second for the bucket seat passenger. The issue is the peg holes aren’t deep enough for the cage pegs and frequently pop out. This is further complicated by the suspension not providing a firm enough base to really push them into the holes.
The idea is for the roll cages to be relatively easy to pop on and off so the passengers and Crankcase can get positioned into the seats with less trouble. This was a good idea in theory, but the execution needed a bit more work.
It also has a machine gun for the passenger seat. The gun is small and too short for the passenger to easily use. For the original AWE Striker, the passenger controlled the cannon from a small device. Lenny, Chris and the rest of the CS design team have had tremendous instincts in terms of what to retain and what to update from the RAH aesthetics. For the AWE Striker, most of the changes have not been improvements due to the execution.
Worth it? The AWE Striker was originally $99.99, a solid price for a $75 vehicle and $25 figure. When Hasbro raised the prices of figures, they bumped this up for everyone who didn’t pre-order it to $110.
Given the issues, I can’t say it’s a good value at that price. It’s going to need some work whether some blue tac to keep the pegs in tighter or superglue if you don’t care about the bucket seat roll cage. And depending on your preference for the vintage look, a replacement cannon as well.
Rating: 7 out of 10
I like the AWE Striker, but there’s too many flaws to consider it a top tier Classified Series vehicle.
Where to Get It? You can get Crankcase and the AWE Striker right now from Hasbro Pulse.
For more GI Joe Classified Series figures, check out Amazon or Entertainment Earth.
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