Yo Joe June 2022 GI Joe Classified Series & HasLab Reveal Predictions

Yo Joe June 2022 is soon upon us and we are here with our GI Joe Classified Series & HasLab predictions ahead of Hasbro’s live stream!

YoJoe June is right around the corner and hopefully Hasbro has BIG PLANS to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the GI Joe 3 3/4″ O-Ring line. Up until now, they have released very minimal O-Ring product and have leaned very heavily into the Classified Series line with vintage inspired designs. Heck, they even started a GI Joe Classified Series Retro Card Back line after they quietly sunset and discontinued the Walmart 4″ Retro Collection. We are not optimistic that they will revealing any future O-Ring figures but possibly the Sunbow inspired Duke and Cobra Commander will go up for preorder. In fact, we could see other GI Joe Classifed Series figures go up for preorder that were revealed at the last GI Joe Fan First Tuesday Live Stream that was held back on April 26th, 2022. Here is the rundown of remaining figures that are left to go up for preorder!

The Joes include a Renegade homage version of Snake Eyes and Timber, Tiger Force Duke and the RAM Cycle, and Sergeant Slaughter!

The Cobra side includes retro Classified Series versions of Zartan and Storm Shadow and an Amazon exclusive Blue Ninja two-pack!

So where does this leave us for the future reveals of more GI Joe figures to ring in the 40th Anniversary? That’s where we come in as we’ve put together a wish list of predictions we would LOVE to see come to fruition and since Hasbro is focusing on the Classified Series we will be too! Since these are concepts we are getting inspiration from the customizing community and from previous GI Joe lines as they’ve provided the foundation for all future figures, vehicles, and playsets. We also are throwing in a HasLab prediction because…why not lol?

Troop Builder Packs

Since Hasbro introduced the concept of the Troop Builder packs for the Classified Series, which started with the Cobra Viper Officer and Vipers 3-Pack, we figured this opened the door to create more sets like this so here is what we would love to see in the Classified Series!

Snow Serpent

The Snow Serpents are Cobra’s cold weather environment specialists and can fight in sub-zero conditions. However, all that meanness didn’t come out of nowhere. They’re trained to it all from from trekking 50 miles all geared up with full gear to anti-tank tactics to airborne operations.

The inspiration for a GI Joe Classified Series Snow Serpent originates from the Devil’s Due comic and this custom comes from the talented Twisted Plastic. It would be so cool (pun intended) to see a couple versions of the Snow Serpent in a 2 or 3-pack. Accoding to Twisted Plastic:

Everything cloth with the exception of two ammo pouches was fabricated. The first version of the 3.75″ action figure included a backpack with a mortar/rocket attachment, snow shoes and a reserve parachute. The second version of the GI Joe figure featured a snowboard but also altered the look and feel of the character in a different direction. I wanted to select the good points of each iteration of the character design and include my own ideas with this figure. I wanted the color scheme to be a little more functional for an arctic environment than the original colors but still be similar enough to where the figure was instantly recognizable. My thinking behind the reserve parachute, a seemingly odd accessory, was its utilization as a wind sail in the tundra as well as emergency shelter material.

Custom Snow Serpent

As the vintage vintage figure had faux fur, a Classified Series could be designed with a real fur snow uniform for a commander in white and a lower ranking soldier in a light gray paint app. As the Classified Series has focused on Cobra Island, they need to switch environments to start to build out the global domination of Cobra across the world.

Tiger Force Tunnel Rat / Hit & Run

Tiger Force Tunnel Rat and Tiger Force Hit & Run were exclusive figure that were available in Europe and came out in 1991. Although not sold as a pair, the duo make up two of six European exclusive Tiger Force figures. Given that Hasbro has leaned into the Tiger Force deco for a new GI Joe Classified Series subline, Tunnel Rat and Hit & Run would make an amazing pair of Tiger Force figures that would follow suit to how TF Outback was introduced to the line. The Tiger Force Outback the Classified Series first introduced was the Euro variant with the orange shirt and white hair. The paint apps on both of these figures is what would make these really unique to see in the Classified Series and weapons and accessories pack outs would be amazing in this set! Tunnel Rat came with a black rifle, a dark green backpack, a dark green bag, and two dark green flashlights and Hit and Run came with a black assault rifle, a green knife, a two piece black duffel bag, and a black grappling hook connected by black string to a black crank.

Single Figures

The bread and butter of the GI Joe Classified Series line, we expect to see more reveals for the single boxed figures and historically Hasbro has been revealing 6 figures per live stream so we’ve put together a short list of 3 Joes and 3 Cobra figures we would love to see make the line.

Shipwreck & Polly

There have have been several versions of Shipwreck but the most iconic and well known version is version from the Sunbow cartoon series and vintage toy line. He featured brown hair and beard, a white sailor’s hat, a short-sleeved blue shirt with red chevrons on right arm, blue bell-bottom pants with black gloves, a holster, a hook on his waist to hold accessories. He also came with old-fashioned silver revolver with short strap, silver hook with string, and a green and yellow parrot named Polly. Through the years, Shipwreck has dropped his traditional Navy dungaree and white sailor hat look and has sported a more up to date sea dog look with a covert ops twist! Stronox Customs has used his amazing custom abilities on the latter versions of Shipwreck and although they most likely will release a vintage inspired Shipwreck and Polly, it would be amazing to see some other versions of Shipwreck make the line to capture his more updated look!

Quick Kick

Code name Silent Weapons, Quick Kick would be an amazing addition to the line as he is one of the more unique figures in the vintage line! His vintage style appearance is captured in a custom by our new friend of Toy Habits who goes by the name Butch! He took a Marvel Legends Shang-Chi figure from 2018 and used it as the base for Quick Kick, which looks absolutely stunning and how we could picture a Classified Series figure. This is a unique figure as you did not see many bare chested action figures back in the 80’s although the Dreadnoks were really into crop tops lol. Originally, Quick Kick came with a small, dark silver backpack, a silver sword with round hilt and silver nunchuks and Butch updated the figure quite a bit in that respect as he equipped the figure with a pair of gold / red nunchucks and gave him a more streamlined sheath to carry not only one but TWO Katana swords.

Blowtorch

Blowtorch was part of the 1984 series and cartoon and featured a very unique armor sculpt with orange-red pads on chest, arms, legs, and feet. The colors are what attracted me (Michael) to this figure when I was kid and he was my all time favorite figure in the so of course I would selfishly love to see him make the Classified Series! This custom concept comes from the talented YoJoeARAH customs and he captured what a Classified Series Blowtorch would like like perfectly! He has given him an updated flame thrower and tank design and added some red in order to differentiate various parts to his pack out! Integrating his yellow helmet, ace mask with hose, fuel-tank backpack with hole for cord, and his olive-green M-7 flamethrower with cord, this is exaclty how I had pictured a Classified Series concept for this iconic figure.

Battle Armor Cobra Commander

Hasbro is known for making variants of the same figure and Cobra Commander is no exception! They have made several figures of Cobra Commander for the Classified series that are more or less the same with differing paint apps and accessories, with the most notable figure being the Snake Supreme Cobra Commander that was a Hasbro Pulse exclusive. Sometimes it is hard to improve upon an original design! Introduced in 1987, Cobra Commander v3 was better known as Battle Armor Cobra Commander, he featured an elaborate suit of silver, red, blue, and black body armor and the coolest part was you actually got to see the whites of his eyes. The custom from D&D really captured the look of the vintage figure in 6″ scale but the 25th anniversary version is most likly what a Classified Series sculpt would look like. It will be fun to see how Hasbro might work in his breather hose and how they would do his armor as we would need to retain that original, angular design to the uniform and the backpack.

Eels

According to JoePedia, “Cobra’s Eels have some of the most rigorous training for underwater specialists. They are trained to operate in almost every aquatic environment, from shallow basins to lakes to shark-infested waters and even the frigid depths of the polar regions. In addition to the physical aspect of their training, they are expected to learn marine structural engineering and marine geology. Add ordnance training and underwater combat and you have some of the most effective underwater demolitions experts. When they’re not on assignment, Eels serve on marine outposts and also augment personnel on Cobra naval vessels.”

The Eels featured a grey helmet; black and grey diving shirt with a red chest and a silver Cobra insignia and the 25th Anniversary sculpt provides a fantastic blueprint for a Classified Series Eel! We would expect the Eels to come with a removable helmet and Stronox provides a glimpse into a more updated paint app that highlights some of the features you find on a 6″ scale figure. We would love to retain the shape of the breather / propulsion pack and, of course, the breather tube that is so iconic for this line. Like the Snow Serpent opening the door to more cold weather figures, we need the Eels to start building out the water environment soldiers on both the Joe and Cobra side.

Techno Viper

With the completely purple design of the Techo-Viper, he, like the Alley Viper, has one of the most off the wall paint decos of a Cobra soldier but it works and we wouldn’t have it any other way! Techo-Viper’s provide field maintenance support and combat engineer capability to the front line Cobra Troops. They can repair HISS Tanks, build bridges, and retrieve heavy machines from inaccessible places so they serve are a very important role in the Cobra Legion! Using the 30th Anniversary figure as inspiration for the Classified Series design, we’ve seen repaints of this figure in several varying purple and lavender tones. The helmet design and overall uniform and tools pack out make the Techo-Viper a fantastic candidate for the Classified Series as he originally came with a black backpack with three horizontal slots for tools. These tools included a Phase Pulse Plasma rifle with trapezoidal muzzle, a high-tech scope, a hydraulic clamp; a Vario-Wrench; a power sledgehammer, and two black hoses. Who would not want to see a splash of purple on your Classified series shelf?

HasLab

While we don’t agree with the HasLab concept itself, it has become common and a necessary evil in the collecting world as billion dollar toy companies have resorted to crowd funding special projects. We would hope that Hasbro at least pays homage to the o-ring line with a HasLab project and a the Skystriker needs a counterpart in the line and what a statement a Cobra Night Raven would make!

Night Raven

According to JoePedia:

The Cobra Night Raven S3P, or “Raven” as it is more commonly referred to, is regarded by many to be the most advanced, most powerful aircraft used by either G.I. Joe or Cobra during the course of conflict by both sides. The spy plane has a maximum weight of 160,000 lbs. and a maximum range of 3,250 miles. It has a maximum speed of Mach 3.2 and is capable of short sprints at Mach 3.5 (2,310 mph), in the film g.i joe:the rise of cobra it is said to do mach 6 making it the fastest conventional aircraft in the entire world, even faster than the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, on which it is based. The dual “Viper” XF turbojet engines, based on a ramjet design, only increase in power as the jet moves faster. The Night Raven is used for covert and intelligence-gathering missions as well as high-speed pursuit attacks.

Night Raven: JoePedia

A HasLab version of the Night Raven would be a similar sized vehicle to the Sky Striker and although most Joe Fan’s (we are making a generalization here) pair the Cobra Rattler with the Sky Striker, the Rattler would be too small for a HasLab project in our opinion and there is so much runway (pun intended) to create an amazing hasLab Night Raven with all of the features this aircraft originally come with. With its lowering cockpit, bays to hold its payload, and the recon jet, this would make the perfect candidate for an amazing project. Given that there are essentially 3 places to put a figure, this also makes a great case for a couple extra Strato Vipers to be included as part of the tiered unlocks. A very cool concept to introduce to the line, much like the Wayne Ruthel figure that came with the HasLab Sky Striker, would be to build out the Strato Viper air troops and introduce a brand new female figure to the ranks with a Custom Air Viper Commando concept. This would make a unique addition to a HasLab project as it was the intent for new and different figures to be made for these types of projects.

GI Joe Shopping Experience

While we wait years (literally!) for the reveals from previous Hasbro GI Joe live streams to get into out hot little hands, check out our GI Joe Shopping experience featuring the Classified Series and keep an eye out for our exciting new GI Joe Shop pages coming soon!! We will be sure to notify you new pages launch!