G.I. Joe Classified Series Gung-Ho figure review

It seemed to take an excruciatingly long time for the release of the GI Joe Classified Series figures, but with the release of Wave 2, my collection is starting to look pretty solid. This wave only adds one more Joe to the fold, but he’s one of the team’s “tanks” with everyone’s favorite Marine — apologies to the Leatherneck fans — Gung-Ho.

Gung-Ho was an early favorite from his debut in G.I. Joe #11 and writer Larry Hama kept him in heavy rotation going forward. There’s a certain amount of expectation I have with a Gung-Ho figure so let’s see if Hasbro meets them with his first Classified Series figure.

Package: There’s no change from what we’ve seen with Wave 1. That’s not a huge shock since Gung-Ho was also featured on the back poster. Maybe Wave 3 will at least reveal a new poster for the back with Wave 3 and 4 characters?

The package artwork conveys Gung-Ho like his no-nonsense demeanor. His stat breakdown shows his skill set are in environmental specialist (3), heavy weapons (2), hand-to-hand combat (2) and jungle combat (3).

And here’s his bio courtesy of gijoehasbro.com:

A tireless brawler who is physically incapable of experiencing fear, Gung-Ho punches first and lets someone else clean up the mess. A genetic anomaly that inhibits his fear response makes him willing to enter any situation, no matter the personal danger. His bayou roots make him a perfect selection for missions involving jungle or swamp terrain.

Likeness: I like the head sculpt Hasbro went with here as it’s the right kind for a Joe that Cobra Troopers definitely would not want to see coming for them. Even with that handlebar mustache.

He’s got a Mohawk this time around as opposed to a straight bald head. Maybe to make it easier for the colorists to not confuse him and Roadblock? Sorry, cartoon and comic joke.

There’s some annoyance from some collectors about his hat, which lacks the traditional points of his comic/cartoon iteration. I think Gung Ho hits enough of the essential elements to be easily recognizable as the character despite having some significant changes from the more traditional take. Mind you, I like this better than the Dress Marines, the headband and Valor vs Venom era attire.

Gung-Ho uses the Roadblock body with the addition of a wrist gauntlet for his right arm, an elbow pad for his left arm and his open vest.

Paint: Gung-Ho’s color scheme is more reserved than his Real American Hero and cartoon attire.

The darker military green with camo pants and silver accents isn’t bad for a toned down Gung-Ho. Still, his turquoise colors marked the start of more colorful Joes from the Original 13 and a brighter outfit would have been fine for him.

Gung-Ho’s chest tattoo isn’t as prominent this time making me very curious how many changes Hasbro would make if they did more of a classic RAH style version of Gung-Ho.

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Scale: Using the Roadblock body means Gung-Ho towers over most of the Joes.

That made sense for Roadblock, but not as much for Gung Ho, who was more of a regular height powerhouse and less of a giant. Some of it his vest is wider and gives him a broader and thicker appearance while Roadblock’s vest was more streamlined.

And Gung-Ho’s head is slightly scaled too big so he kinda looks odd next to the others. Even on one knee he’s almost as tall as Scarlett.

Articulation: Like every other figure in this line, Gung-Ho has tremendous articulation that allows him to hit a number of fun poses.

 

Unlike Roadblock, his vest doesn’t restrict his back and forth movement either. Score one for the Cajun.

Gung-Ho has:

• head
• neck
• shoulders (butterfly)
• elbow (double-jointed)
• wrist
• wrist hinge
• mid-torso
• torso
• waist
• hips (ball-jointed)
• drop down hips
• knees (double-jointed)
• ankles

Accessories: Gung-Ho rivals Beach Head with the number of accessories.

His hat of course is removable. Ditto for the elbow pad and gauntlet. He’s also got a backpack that holds all of his weapons.

Gung-Ho has what seems to be a modernized version of his old school grenade launcher. That’s likely going to be his main weapon.

Additionally he has two other guns of different sizes. I like these guns, but I don’t know if I need them for Gung-Ho.

One looks like a shotgun, which seems like a prime candidate for Flint if his weapon isn’t this cool.

Another is more of a machine gun style blaster. It also looks good and fits the motif of futuristic looking weapons fitting for the line.

This might be the start of my random Joe weapons cache to replace a blaster I don’t like that comes with other Joes. All of them are silver and lack the extra paint applications from the Wave 1 figures. I appreciated those extra color hits for the weapons so it’s a bit disappointing they seem to have been dropped.

Worth It?  For this scale, there’s not a better value at this $20 price point.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

On his own Gung-Ho looks great and is a fun figure, but next to the other Joes in the line he comes off scaled a bit too big thanks to the buck and the larger scaled vest and head.

Where to Get It? Unlike the Assault on Cobra Island wave, this one is a lot easier to find all over. A lot of folks have already found them at Target. I ordered mine from Amazon.