G.I. Joe Classified Series – Grunt review (87)
Grunt is a G.I. Joe that doesn’t get much fanfare due to his generic look compared to his more colorful fellow Joes, but I’ve always had a soft spot for him. It helps that I’ve been invested in G.I. Joe since the Marvel comic started and he was heavily featured in the early days. And then he also got a great spotlight in one of G.I. Joes’ best cartoon episodes.
I don’t remember in my order of grabbing the Real American Hero O13 that Grunt fell in, but I liked the fact he was the go anywhere Joe that was just a consistent, steady soldier.
Given the more aesthetically appealing Joes, I figured it would be a while before Grunt got his Classified Series figure, but Hasbro clearly has some love for the original lineup. Let’s see if the Joe’s logo gets as memorable and exciting a figure.
Package: I miss the windowed packaging, but I’m loving these cleverly thought-out featured images on the front. Grunt’s might be my favorite as it’s an homage to one of the chapters in Snake Eyes’ origin where Grunt, Rock N Roll, Scarlett and Snake Eyes are on a mission that goes terribly wrong and the crashing helicopter destroys Snake Eyes’ face.
That’s an incredibly deep cut and shows the love of the lore incorporated into the images and the figures themselves. The corner shows all the included accessories and a portrait of Grunt below. Your preference may vary.
On the skill chart code, Grunt gets a basic 1 on all categories from foot soldier, light weapons, hand to hand combat and artillery.
Likeness: Grunt uses the Stalker base, which is a cool nod to the original Joes basically sharing a few molds. This helps give him that vintage look with the ribbed collar and sleeve cuffs and basic boots.
His head sculpt is fine. I like the determined, focused expression that makes him look like he’s ready to do whatever it takes to take Cobra out.
Given the Stalker re-use, I really wish Hasbro went the route they did with Tripwire where you can swap pieces out to go for a more classic look. I like the idea of the web gear with the abundance of pouches and the data pad that flips down, but I would have loved if Hasbro also included the existing classic harness used for Stalker to go with a complete classic look.
This modern look isn’t bad, but I actually like that Grunt has such a basic and simplistic look. Grunt’s harness has plenty of detail with four magazine pouches, the Joe Pro, a sheath for his knife in an homage to the original look, a data pad that flips down and a file card with his rank E-4 and his last name of Graves.
Grunt has a separate belt that tends to spin around. You’ll know you have it facing the right way of course when the Hasbro H is in the front. Nice classic shout out. This places the holster near the back of his left hip.
While he has thigh straps and pouches like Stalker, they are different to mix the visuals up slightly. The right features a slightly larger pouch than the left one.
Paint: Grunt’s outfit didn’t lend itself to much stress for the paint crew, but the Classified Series team found some cool ways to provide some extra deco opportunities.
Grunt’s harness also has detailed paint with a dab of black on the side pouches. The American flag on his gear is tiny and the stripes are lined up better than I’d expect. Of course, there’s no stars, but that would basically be obnoxiously hard to do for something that the naked eye could barely make out anyway.
His pouches actually have some green paint for the buckles and zippers. That’s a nice touch. The gloves are two tones with some green accents to mix up the brown.
Finally, he doesn’t have any lipstick issues or wonky face paint alignment with tight applications on his eyebrows, eyes and lips.
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Scale: Grunt is the definition of the average Joe, so he matches up just fine with his fellow O13 Joes and looks up at guys like Gung-Ho, Roadblock and Sgt. Slaughter.
Articulation: Hasbro’s marching orders with the line was basically make the most fluid and easy to pose retail 6″ figure.
Grunt’s articulation is just as good as Stalker’s thanks to the harness not interfering with his mid-torso movement. This is something that’s been an issue with the line with Firefly ver. 1 and Beach Head so it’s nice to see that Hasbro addressed it this time.
Grunt 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: Grunt is loaded with plenty of accessories along with some measures to make him an army builder too.
He’s got a pistol that fits into the back hip holster.
Next up is his classic backpack. It’s not too complex and is just a basic holder for all his gear on missions.
This time Grunt’s knife is removable. It’s stored in the sheath on his harness.
To complete the classic look, Grunt has the standard helmet we’ve seen with Rock N Roll and Roadblock so far. I like the idea of a uniform helmet for the Joes and this one has enough detail to not look too dull.
Weapons wise, Grunt has some fun equipment. He gets his M-16 with a removable clip. The plastic on the gun is soft as the barrel was bent.
Finally, he gets another vintage weapon with the standard laser rifle from the cartoon. That’s a really great secondary weapon unless you plan on making use of the last accessory.
Grunt also has a Steel Corps-style helmet with polarized lens.
It completely covers the face making Grunt a viable Joe army building option.
Worth It? Grunt might be the best Joe value of the year as Target immediately had him for $11.99 instead of the dance where you have to wait for them to drop below $24.99.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10
Grunt is a really good figure with some nice additions to make him more than just a basic Joe along with an excellent price point that makes him an easy contender for Joe figure of the year.
Where to get it? For Grunt, the best option is Target, which has him in stores for $12. Failing Target you can also grab him from Amazon or Entertainment Earth.
As an Amazon, Entertainment Earth and Target affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.