By 1988, G.I.Joe had moved away rather considerably from being a strictly military line, at least in the basic appearance of the characters. A fairly wide range of uniform designs and color schemes had been integrated into the Real American Hero’s ongoing struggle with the forces of Cobra, which in 1988 would also be expanded to include Destro’s Iron Grenadiers.

So amidst colorful characters such as Lightfoot, Shockwave, Spearhead, and others, a highly military-looking figure such as Hit & Run was almost an anomaly in 1988.

Hit & Run’s specialty was a Light Infantryman. What I find interesting about this is that not long before Hit & Run came on the scene, the United States Army had been running commercials on television for their new Light Infantry. I am not a military historian. I don’t really know if these commercials represented an entirely new division in the Army that had previously not existed, or a revamping of an existing specialty. I am inclined, based on some information I found online, to believe the latter. Still, it’s interesting that the real-life United States Army was promoting their Light Infantry not long before Hasbro decided to add one to the ranks of the G.I.Joe Team.

Coming along in 1988, Hit & Run didn’t get a lot of media attention. The original animated series had run its course, and the follow-up series from DIC was still over a year away. I don’t recall the character getting much time in the comic book, either, which is a real shame, in my opinion.

Hit & Run had a good visual appearance, which no doubt pleased some of the more die-hard military fans who had become somewhat concerned over the direction G.I.Joe was taking with some of its designs. Hit & Run looked very authentically military. The figure was dressed in a light olive green jumpsuit with black camouflage painted on it. The uniform had a series of black straps and harnesses, and black boots. Hit & Run was wearing a darker green helmet, molded as part of the head and not removable, which also had black camouflage on it, and also bore the sole concession to brighter color schemes – the visor lenses were a very bright red.

Hasbro did something very distinctive with Hit & Run at this point. They molded the head in olive green, a somewhat different shade than the uniform. The lower arms were also painted the same color, and some black stripes were painted on the face and hands. This was clearly to indicate that Hit & Run took his job very seriously, and was willing to use as much camouflage paint on his face and arms as it took to blend into the environment.

Hit & Run also marks the first figure in the G.I.Joe line that I am aware of that had the whites of his eyes painted in. I am sure that this was to accentuate the look that Hit & Run did not actually have green skin, he was just very thorough with his camouflage paint.

The end result was a very authentic-looking soldier figure, who unfortunately never really got the media attention he warranted, but nevertheless is a popular member of the later years of the original run of the Real American Hero.

Hit & Run was well equipped. He came with a black assault rifle, a green knife, a two-piece black duffel bag, and a black grappling hook connected by a length of string to a black holder.

Despite a lack of media attention, Hit & Run would actually turn up a second time in 1988, with an extremely popular item. Target offered two exclusive G.I.Joe items in 1988. One was called “Ultimate Enemies”, and featured a two-pack, rather basic repackaging of newly released characters Muskrat and Voltar. Precisely what made these guys “Ultimate Enemies” is anyone’s guess.

Hit & Run, however, came with a working parachute pack! This was an item that had only previously been offered as a mail-order item. It would be used to great effect two years later as part of the very popular Sky Patrol team, but in 1988, the only way to get a working parachute for a G.I.Joe character – in any retail outlet, anyway – was to buy this particular set, which needless to say was very popular. Kids have been tossing toy soldiers into the air with parachutes since before even the original G.I.Joe was produced.

Hit & Run would not return to the G.I.Joe action figure line, at least not in the United States. He would turn up a member of Europe’s Tiger Force contingent, using the same molds, but outfitted in a not especially military uniform of blue shirt, camouflage patterned trousers, and an orange helmet and orange straps with tiger stripes on them. Interestingly, even this Hit & Run didn’t use a traditional color for his head and hands. They were sort of the same tannish-brown that had been seen previously on Native American character Airborne, and later astronaut Countdown.

Hit & Run’s file card describes him as one Brent Scott from Sioux City, Iowa, and the man had no shortage of tragedy in his family. He was orphaned at age three by a drunk driver, and remanded to the custody of a county institution, from which he regularly escaped by climbing down sheer walls and running across miles of open plains. When asked what he was running away from, he declared that he wasn’t running away from anything. “I’m practicing”, he said. He went directly from the custody of the institution into the Army when he was of age.

The file card comments that infantry soldiers don’t march. They run. They run to get to the battle, they run in the midst of the battle, and if need be, they run to get away from the battle. Army terminology doesn’t call this running. They call it “advancing”, “maneuvering”, and “disengaging”. Hit & Run calls it all running, and he’s one of the best there is at it.

Hit & Run is a very cool character, and an impressive figure, that I believe if he’d come along just a few years earlier, would’ve been one of the major players, at the very least in the animated series. He’s still a distinctive member of the G.I.Joe Team, and hopefully this profile has given him a decent amount of attention.