I've written about the Blackhawks before and any followers of this blog probably know how much I always liked them. I especially liked the blue uniforms with military caps. Then in June 1964, in issue #197 they changed uniforms to a more "modern" red and olive green without caps. I suspect sales were sagging and DC was looking for something to "punch up" the seven stalwarts. Once again Blackhawk had the hawk symbol on his chest while the rest of the team had a smaller version of the symbol on their belt buckles. They wore these uniforms until issue #228 when the Justice League intervened and accused them of being "junk heap heroes," and they were given gimmicky super hero costumes that all served functions, while Blackhawk kept the red and olive drab. This went on until issues 242-243, when they returned briefly to their old blue uniforms with military caps before the series folded altogether and wouldn't return until the mid-1970s with a totally new look. Like many Blackhawk fans I really liked the older uniform, but I also had a certain grudging fondness for the red and green. It wasn't a bad look and they probably needed to get out of uniforms that to many younger readers probably looked more like something from the Nazi SS than Allied fighting men. Doing the action figures I used the bodies from CHIPS figures, while giving them arms from the Black Hole Holland/Pizer figures. The heads included Kirk and Decker from Star Trek: The Motion Picture as Blackhawk and Chuck, respectively; Ponch and Jon as Pierre and Olaf, respectively; Charles Pizer and Harry Booth from Black Hole as Stanislaus and Hendrickson, respectively and a GI Joe figure for Chop Chop. The chest symbol and belt buckles were cut from card using different sized hole punchs and painted freehand.
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