Packed with the SAS Silent Attack set, Beaver is a simple composite of two other SAS Force figures. The woollen cap head from Stakeout/Quickfire is married to the body of Chopper, and that’s it, really, the main draw of the set being the Silent Attack Canoe – the main objective is mainly to put someone in who has straightened arms, and an unobtrusive enough chest that the included lifejacket would fit cleanly.

However, Beaver (a Canadian) rocked the joint in the “Operation Claymore” storyline in the comic (in which the Red Shadows covertly invade Scotland, and for most of the story only Eagle, Stakeout, Beaver and a Scots trooper with the wonderful codename Haggis stand in their way; Beaver’s boating antics are vital to calling in reinforcements), and I don’t need much of an excuse to add to my SAS Force ranks anyway.

The Silent Attack canoe itself is fairly neat for what it is. It’s one of Palitoy’s most sensible self-devised designs, just basically being a one-man canoe with all sorts of interesting baubles grafted on. It fits the figure perfectly, and I especially like the rotating search lamp on the front and the little SAS Force flag on the back. The opening ammo cases on each side are a nice touch too, while there’s even a little hole to support Beaver’s gun. It’s nothing spectacular, but a good, functional vehicle that does what it needs to (it was reissued in 1985, packed with Recondo). The only real fault is that it can be a bit of a struggle for Beaver to accommodate the oar firmly in both hands.

While he’s nothing spectacular, Beaver’s a respectable variation on the SAS Force format and a worthy addition, though for my money he looks best with the lifejacket as the figure can look a little incongruous standing there in his flight suit. He works best in tandem with the nifty Silent Attack, though, and is the only SAS Force figure to go with it convincingly - and for that matter, is a better fit for Stakeout’s Boat Patrol boat tray thing to boot.