I sit here, excitedly on the verge of PulseCon 2020, eagerly awaiting G.I. Joe news this weekend and have finally gotten some time to post updated reviews of G.I. Joe: Classified.
Wave 2 is my next target, featuring Gung Ho, COBRA Commander and Red Ninja! Another solid wave of fun figures with classic twists and awesome modernization. It seems like each figure is just furthering my love of this line, and something tells me that will only increase with whatever reveals we might see this weekend.
Once again a really fun time to be a G.I. Joe fan!
When it rains, it pours… I was starving for new Classified figures shortly after getting my hands on Wave 1, then I blinked and suddenly there were 4 new items from Target, Profit Director Destro, Amazon Storm Shadow, and Wave 2 all seemingly hitting at once, and suddenly, I had a review backlog!
Well, hopefully over the next week I’ll start digging through that backlog. The Target exclusive COBRA Island Baroness with COBRA C.O.I.L. motorcycle was first on the docket and that review is up now.
Go ahead and check out the G.I. Joe: Classified Review Page to take a peek, then keep watching over the coming week or so as I dig through the rest.
I don’t have my hands on Baroness (yet, but she’s coming… THANK YOU BEN AND MARK), but while waiting for her, I wanted to get reviews posted for the three figures I do have.
First and foremost, I have to give a HUGE thanks to guys like Ben, John, John, and Chris from The Full Force who have all helped me immensely in getting these figures in hand. Without a local Target store, it’s been a challenge to say the least, and without these great friends in the Joe community, I would have paid through the nose on eBay, which isn’t a fun way to collect.
Fair warning – I try to stay out of the grousing about Target schtick in my reviews (though it does get mentioned here and there). These are meant simply to talk about the figure execution and not the challenges, difficulties or hassles in actually acquiring them.
Well, look at this! Coming out of apparently nowhere, BestBuy.com has posted a pre-order listing for Operation: Blackout, the new G.I. Joe game slated to be released in October of this year.
The game is going to be available for PS4, X-Box One and Switch, and along with the listing, we get our first screen shots of actual gameplay.
Those screen shots include various Classified-themed characters including Destro, Duke, COBRA Commander, Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow, as well as some awesome vintage action with a Rattler in one shot!
Time will tell how the game play and “fun factor” shake out, but the screens at least look very G.I. Joe centric. I dig it.
Check out the images below, and see the listing over at BestBuy.com.
Well, today was the day! At 12:30pm Eastern Lenny and Roni from Hasbro hosted the first ever “Fan First Friday” event on Hasbro Pulse for the G.I. Joe brand!
I was fortunate enough to piggy back on The Full Force as we watched it all unfold, then posted a great Facebook Live video directly afterwards, running through the good, the bad and the ugly (spoilers — not much ugly, even with Destro’s leopard print cape.
Meanwhile, Hasbro representatives broke it down with a ton of details and images for Wave 2 of the G.I. Joe Classified line as well as the special collector exclusive “Regal” COBRA Commander (in light blue and gold), the exclusive Profit Director Destro, and the Amazon exclusive Arctic Storm Shadow (with a nice Ninja Force homage!)
Check out the full details and the images below!
For G.I. JOE fans new and old, the G.I. JOE Classified Series line of actions figures captures the pulse-pounding excitement of G.I. JOE in a 6-inch scale. Here is a list of G.I. JOE Classified Series actions figures that were featured today including pricing, timing and availability:
G.I. JOE Classified Series Cobra Commander Action Figure
(Ages 4 and Up / Approx. Retail Price: $19.99 / Available: November 1, 2020)
*Collectible package custom artwork from Dan Mumford
Pre-orders begin June 26, 2020 at 1PM EDT at Hasbro Pulse and participating retailers
G.I. Joe Classified Series Cobra Commander Regal Variant Light Blue Action Figure
(Ages 4 and Up / Approx. Retail Price: $19.99 / Available: December 15, 2020)
*Collectible package custom artwork from Dan Mumford
Pre-orders begin on June 26, 2020 at 1PM EDT at Hasbro Pulse
G.I. JOE Classified Series Gung Ho Action Figure
(Ages 4 and Up / Approx. Retail Price: $19.99 / Available: November 1, 2020)
*Collectible package custom artwork from James Paick
Pre-orders begin June 26, 2020 at 1PM EDT at Hasbro Pulse and participating retailers
G.I. JOE Classified Series Red Ninja Action Figure
(Ages 4 and Up / Approx. Retail Price: $19.99 / Available: November 1, 2020)
*Collectible Package custom artwork from Furio Tedeschi
Pre-orders begin June 26, 2020 at 1PM EDT at Hasbro Pulse and participating retailers
G.I. JOE Classified Series Profit Director Destro Action Figure
(Ages 4 and Up / Approx. Retail Price: $24.99 / Available: October 1, 2020)
*Collectible package custom artwork from James White
While most of us stumbled upon it last week, Hasbro officially unveiled GIJoe.com yesterday along with Official G.I. Joe accounts across three social media platforms, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Their Instagram account has already been busy, posting several awesome pieces of new artwork geared around their G.I. Joe: Classified line, and other accounts have emphasized a week full of reveals and news, culminating in a Fan Friday event at 12:30pm on Hasbro Pulse.
While my own schedule is unpredictable, I strongly suggest you closely follow both GeneralsJoes.com and The Full Force for the latest up-to-the-minute news and intel from Hasbro and G.I. Joe!
A normal Monday was interrupted today thanks to IGN revealing a first look at the next G.I. Joe: Classified figure, COBRA Commander himself!
IGN revealed an awesome looking rendition of the COBRA leader, complete with blue uniform and black trim. However, they also announced that sales app NTWRK would offer the figure up on June 18th.
What was interesting was that NTWRK showed a different version of COBRA Commander than was revealed on IGN.
What’s up with that?
Well, there are no answers yet, but it should be noted that last year, the San Diego ComicCon exclusive Ghostbusters Optimus Prime was offered in limited capacity through this same NTWRK app. So it seems possible (if not likely) that the brighter deco seen on NTWRK is in fact an SDCC Exclusive that may be available through their virtual convention as well as through NTWRK, or may just perhaps be offered through NTWRK and some other exclusive venue. It would be nice if Hasbro themselves would share some of that information rather than cause confusion about their products, but that seems to be their standard operating procedure for the Classified line thus far.
Meanwhile the darker blue is likely reserved for a standard retail release in September (according to the IGN article).
This is all hypothesis, but seems to make some sense. Big thanks to notpicard for the heads up about the Ghostbusters Prime figure last year.
Man, there’s just something awesome about reviewing a Vitruvian HACKS figure, and Gazoge is a truly awesome one to get back into after a short gap from covering these great toys.
Gazoge is a warlock aligned with the Knights of Asperity and is available exclusively from the Roma Collectibles eBay store this Saturday, June 13th at noon eastern!
Thanks to Roma Collectibles for providing a sample for review and you can check out the review right here, or check out the Vitruvian HACKS Review page.
And with this review, the first full wave of G.I. Joe: Classified reviews comes to a close. I know I haven’t posted reviews very often lately, mostly because there wasn’t really much to review from the G.I. Joe side, but also, to be honest, because I was getting a little burned out with the modern era format and the mindset behind most of the figures.
Here, for the first time in a long time, Hasbro seems to be trying something new, and anyone who’s been following me for any length of time knows that I LOVE new. Don’t get me wrong, I’m an old school G.I. Joe fan, too. A Real American Hero captured my heart nearly forty years ago and never really let go.
That being said, I’m all for new interpretations and in this case, Hasbro has really come out swinging. I truly hope this is a sign of great things to come, I’m excited to see what they have in store.
Oh, and Duke’s pretty neat, too. Check out his review right here and hit the link below to view all the other reviews as well.
