Toys · Kenner · 1987 to 1988

The Kenner line

LJN had made the ThunderCats figures and was the obvious house to make these, and it passed at the last minute, so Kenner took the licence and shipped inside a year of the show going out. What they shipped is unusual enough that it is worth saying plainly: every figure in the line came packed with a second toy, its own bird, and nobody had to buy the bird separately.

19 figures · 16 birds · 2 series

The birds are the reason this line is remembered, and they are also the reason it holds up on a shelf better than most 1987 tie-ins. Each SilverHawk in the show flies with a robotic Fighting Hawk that launches from the arm, scouts ahead, and comes back on a wrist remote. So the bird had a job most cartoon accessories do not. It had to hold its own on the shelf beside the figure, at roughly a third the size. Kenner gave each figure an action feature of its own on top of that. A single card now had to sell a figure, a gimmick and a second toy at once, and the packaging shows the strain.

Series 2 in 1988 did the thing toy lines do when a show has stopped: it repackaged three of the heroes in Ultrasonic Suits and brought in the second wave of characters the writers had seeded mid-season. Hotwing and Flashback had already arrived on screen to make room for it. Collectors tend to treat the Ultrasonic three as the difficult end of the run. But the hard things to find are the ones Kenner catalogued and never made at all: a Copper Kidd variant, and the Copper Racer.

Series 1 1987 12 figures

  • Quicksilver

    with Tally-Hawk

    Field leader, and the figure the line led with.

    From the back of the card

    Lower both arms to the sides. Press knees together to release arms. Bird can sit on either wrist.

    Tally-Hawk: Press bird's head in to make wings close in a scissor action.

    Find it on eBay

  • Steelheart

    with Rayzor

    The team engineer, and one half of the Hart twins.

    From the back of the card

    Lower both arms to the sides. Press knees together to release arms. Bird can sit on either wrist.

    Rayzor: Pull bird's head out and the wings follow.

    Find it on eBay

  • Steelwill

    with Stronghold

    The other half. Sold separately, which the show never did to them.

    From the back of the card

    Lower both arms to sides. Press knees together to release arms. Bird can sit on either wrist.

    Find it on eBay

  • Bluegrass

    with Sideman

    The pilot, and the only active hawk who cannot fly unaided.

    From the back of the card

    Insert guitar bird all the way into slot in the figure's back. Squeeze knees together to "fire" guitar bird.

    Find it on eBay

  • The Copper Kidd

    with MayDay

    The navigator, and the only non-Earthling on the team.

    From the back of the card

    Lower both arms to the sides. Press knees together to release arms. Bird can sit on either wrist.

    Find it on eBay

  • Commander Stargazer

    with Sly-Bird

    The bionic veteran who recruited the squadron.

    From the back of the card

    Look through special eye piece at the back of his head. Bird can sit on either wrist.

    Find it on eBay

  • Hotwing

    with Gyro

    The magician, sent in mid-season to seed a second wave.

    From the back of the card

    Turn upper body counter-clockwise 5 times; press knees together and arms go up as body spins, or manually move arms up. Push arms down to unlock.

    Gyro: By manually closing the wings the bird becomes a shield.

    Find it on eBay

  • Flashback

    with Backlash

    A SilverHawk from the far future.

    From the back of the card

    Lower both wings to sides. Press knees together to release wings. Bird sits on wrists or loops around either arm.

    Backlash: Twist and turn the strap connecting head and tail to form a loop for carrying.

    Find it on eBay

  • Mon*Star

    with Sky-Shadow

    The crime lord, in his transformed armour.

    From the back of the card

    Squeeze knees together to open chest, rotate spiked head all the way into chest cavity, release knees, chest will automatically close.

    Find it on eBay

  • Mo-Lec-U-Lar

    with Volt-Ure

    The shapeshifting hitman.

    From the back of the card

    Manually rotate head down into chest cavity. Arms, leg and weapon are all interchangeable.

    Find it on eBay

  • Mumbo-Jumbo

    with Airshock

    The robot minotaur.

    From the back of the card

    Squeeze knees together, head pops up; continue squeezing for head butting. Push head down to reset.

    Airshock: Pull head out and wings move back.

    Find it on eBay

  • Buzz-Saw

    with Shredator

    The sentient war machine.

    From the back of the card

    Raise and lower head to make shoulder saw blades rotate. Manually rotate wrist saw blades.

    Shredator: While holding tail, press head in to make wings spin.

    Find it on eBay

Series 2 1988 7 figures

  • Condor

    with Jet Stream

    The retired ally turned private eye.

    From the back of the card

    Press button under left arm to shoot talon.

    Jet Stream: Pin on bird fits into hole in figure's back. Bird head manually pivots down.

    Find it on eBay

  • Moon Stryker

    with Tail-Spin

    Cyclone propellers and a marksman.

    From the back of the card

    Visor manually pivots up and down. Turn belt clockwise till it clicks. Squeeze knees together and waistband turbine spins around.

    Find it on eBay

  • Windhammer

    with Tuning Fork

    The weather terrorist and his tuning fork.

    From the back of the card

    Wind up arm counter clockwise until it clicks. Push button down on back. Tuning fork strikes ground and figure emits a sound.

    Find it on eBay

  • Hardware

    with Prowler

    The Mob's armourer, who built the Quicksilver clone.

    From the back of the card

    Press button on backpack, the top opens and the bird flies out.

    Find it on eBay

  • Quicksilver Ultrasonic Suit

    with Tally-Hawk

    From the back of the card

    Tally-Hawk: Press bird's head in to make wings close in a scissor action.

    Find it on eBay

  • Steelwill Ultrasonic Suit

    with Stronghold

    Find it on eBay

  • Bluegrass Ultrasonic Suit

    with Sideman

    Find it on eBay

Some links on this page are affiliate links that support silverhawks.tv.

The characters these figures are of The modern Super7 releases