Back in February during Toy Fair,
Hasbro released this pretty cool poster for their
G.I. Joe Classified line. The poster is also featured prominently on the back of the packaging for the figures in the first wave. We know the poster features images of how the five characters released in the first wave look. Those characters being
Duke, Snake-Eyes, Scralett, Roadblock and
Destro.
With that in mind, we figure it's a good bet that this poster also gives us a glimpse at future figures yet to be announced, and how they will look in the Classified line. Based on
retail listings that have surfaced online, we have a good idea that the second wave will include 6 figures, 3 of which will be based on the upcoming
Snake-Eyes movie, and 3 that will be non-movie. Other than
Snake-Eyes, we really don't know what the other 2 movie figures will be, but for today we want to focus on the 3 non-movie figures in wave 2.
Going back to Hasbro's poster, not only did it show the 5 figures in wave 1, it so happens to show three additional characters in the forefront. Those three characters include
Cobra Commander, Baroness and
Gung-Ho. Now this is just pure speculation on my part, but if I was a betting man, I would say those will be the three non-movie figures released in wave 2. So lets take a closer look at those characters from the poster so that we might get an idea of how their figures will look.
First we have
Gung-Ho. Overall he seems to be staying true to his original look. The biggest difference here is that he has decided to start wearing a shirt underneath his vest. I guess he got tired of being mistaken as a member of the Village People. The colors on his vest seemed to be toned down as well. We can't see his lower body, but my guess is he will feature some type of camo pattern pants. He also seems to be sporting some type of weird wrist gauntlet on his right arm. I wonder if the Marine Corps symbol that he used to prominently display on his chest as a tattoo will now be featured on the back of his vest?
Next up is
Baroness. Looking ravishing as ever in this poster with her long black air and glasses. Overall this look seems to be pretty much in keeping with here original toy look. The only real difference I can make out is, she now seems to sport cobra-like shoulder pads with gold trim. It will be interesting to see how that translates into action figure form.
Finally we have
Cobra Commander. This is the one I am most eagerly anticipating. From the poster it looks like Hasbro is going to start out with the battle helmet look, though it would be awesome if they also included an alternate hooded headsculpt. The blue helmet itself is a bit modified from the original version. The sides of the helmet now come down the side of his face, but he does still have the iconic silver faceplate. It looks like there also might be some type of added sculpting on the sides. Snake scales maybe with some gold trim on the bottom. He has the Cobra symbol displayed nicely on his chest like with the original, and this version seems to be sporting a cape which is a nice touch. The right shoulder may also have some type of epaulettes on it to help distinguish him as Cobra's leader.
Besides the 8 main characters featured on the poster, there a few other noticeable troop-builder type characters featured in the background for Cobra as well as multiple iconic vehicles for both sides. It's hard to say whether these were included just for looks, or if these are more hints by Hasbro of future things we might see for the line.
I found it strange Hasbro choose to include the
Cobra Alley Viper on here. Out of all the different variation of Cobra soldiers they could have chosen, the gaudy orange troops seems like an odd choice. If this is a clue for a future figure, it looks like they will be keeping their overall same basic look and design, including the large shields they are known to carry. The helmets have been modified, and in fact I think look much better than the original design.
The
Red Ninja is another odd choice to me, though I guess you can never go wrong with Ninja's. These guys also have nice updated looks over the original versions. The outfits look more armored and less pajama like. Makes you wonder what kind of updates they might have in store for Storm Shadow when they get around to making him, which you know they will sooner or later.
As for the vehicles featured in the poster, I don't think there is much chance these will show up in the 6" Classified line, but you never know. Anyway we will take a quick look at them
For Cobra, we have the classic
H.I.S.S. Tank which looks just like it did in the 80's. If G.I. Joe was ever given the Haslab treatment, I could see them doing a 6" scale H.I.S.S. with driver.
The
Cobra Fang Helicopter is also represented, and also looks very much like the original 80's version. This is one I think Hasbro could pull off if they ever decided to give us 6" scale vehicles. Also note pilots have been included.
The
Cobra Night Raven jet while awesome I think would be way to big for a 6" scale line. Would love to see a
6" Strato-Viper figure though.
The
Cobra Rattler is another awesome vehicle, but also I think two big to be practical for a 6" scale line. A
Wild Weasel figure would be cool though.
The
Cobra Trouble Bubble, like the Fang I think would work nicely for this line. This poster seems to have also given them actual pilots which would be kinda cool to see in figure form.
On the G.I. Joe side of things we have the
Dragonfly and
S.H.A.R.C. Both of which don't seem terribly likely for a 6" line. At best I would say that maybe one day we will get a
Wild Bill and
Deep Six figure in 6" scale.
Both the
Skystriker and
Conquest X-30 are represented on the poster, neither of which I see getting vehicles for this line. I am not even sure how much demand there would be for an
Ace and
Slip-Stream figure???
The tank shown here I think is supposed to be the
MOBAT, along with the
Bridge Layer and
Sky Hawk. Out of these three vehicles, only the Sky Hawk I think would be doable in a 6" scale line. I could see them doing a 6"
Steeler figure, more so than
Tollbooth.
Here we see the
G.I. Joe Wolverine and
H.A.V.O.C.. Neither vehicle seems terribly doable for a 6" line, but
Cover Girl is is a figure I think we could definitely see at some point. Not sure how well a
Cross Country figure would work in this day an age. I also have know idea why they have a Cobra Firebat jet with the Joes.
Shown here seems to be some modified version of the
VAMP Mark II jeep as well as the
Armadillo Tank. Both are vehicles I think could work in 6" scale, especially the tank. If we ever get a
Clutch figure, I wonder if he will have the green or beige colors on?
This looks to be the
Mauler tank. Can't see the tank happening due to size, but wold be cool to see a
Heavy Metal figure.
Finally we have what I think is either a modified
VAMP Mark I or perhaps the newer
Desert Striker jeep. The second vehicle I am totally unfamiliar with. Looks like some type of tank with a weird missile launching canopy that pops up in the back. If this is based on an actual Joe vehicle, it must be one of the more obscure ones developed later on in the line.
