G.I. Joe Classified Series Shipwreck review

Maybe no other G.I. Joe had as drastic a difference between his cartoon and comic book portrayals than Shipwreck. While the cartoon prominently featured him as a likable slacker, Larry Hama wrote Shipwreck in the comic as a cantankerous grouch. He’s one of the few characters I prefer the cartoon personality over how he was written in the comics.

Of more importance to me Shipwreck was another member of the iconic 1985 roster. That squad had such a great variety of skills sets represented they could have been their own G.I. Joe team.  And they had some of my favorite designs including the Joe sailor. From the initial announcement and render, I’ve been looking forward to getting Shipwreck onto my display.

Let’s see if this salty dog ends up being one of my 2023 standouts or I’m just left salty.

Packaging: The Joe team really managed to work around the good intentioned, but poorly thought-out closed window packaging style. If the goal really was just to protect the environment, a little consideration for collectors would have been nice. Showcasing the figure with some deep cut imagery from the Joe mythos.

I feel like the rising rockets could be an homage to Red Rockets Glare, but maybe Shipwreck is just reacting to Cobra launching missiles from their undersea base? The funny bit is Shipwreck is on the deck of a submarine, but in the background is the red bicycle is from when he encouraged kids not to steal a bike in an episode closing PSA.

Did ‘Wreck nab it? He’s got a very brief bio on Hasbro Pulse: Whether swabbing the deck or sneaking into Extensive Enterprises Shipwreck is shipshape to the last detail.

As far as his skill sets, Shipwreck scores a consistent 3 in environmental specialist: water, infantry, hand to hand combat and naval combat.

Likeness: Shipwreck is basically a 6-inch scaled-up version of the Real American Hero figure. And that was absolutely the right way to go. Sure, the Joe CS team could have gone more realistic, but I want the classic sailor look with dixie cup hat and parrot sidekick.

Hasbro put more work into his beard giving Shipwreck more of a scruffy look. His head sculpt is full of personality. I read it like he’s about to start complaining about something or is puzzled someone isn’t laughing at his joke.

The attention to replicating the RAH figure is impressive from the mid chest area where Shipwreck quit on doing buttons. His gloves are angled to look a little sloppy and he’s even got the white wristband on his left arm for Polly to rest.

He’s got an extra holster to hold more of his gear, but underneath the belt with the gold anchor buckle is there. The right thigh holster is intact as well. Finally, his pants have that bell bottom flared visual as well.

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Paint: Shipwreck’s paintjob is largely indicative of most Classified Series figures. Largely clean paintwork with a few random areas that could have been touched up sharper. In his case it’s the bottom end of the short sleeves. It doesn’t look like any paint hit this section as it’s mostly the flesh tone.

His People’s Eyebrow isn’t completely finished either but that’s more a matter of looking for paint flaws.

I love the chest hair and the tattoos. The right arm features a greater detailed version of the one from his RAH version. On the left, he’s got a new one featuring a shark with a harpoon through it.

Another cool feature is his jeans have some wear to them so the thighs on both legs are distressed with lighter paint apps.

Scale:  Shipwreck is average height so he’s looking about eye to eye with Flint and Duke, but he’s definitely looking up at Gung-Ho and Roadblock.

Articulation: Don’t be surprised at this point. Shipwreck features all that top level articulation you should expect now from the Classified Series.

With a character like Shipwreck, there’s plenty of fun poses to hit.

Shipwreck 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: Shipwreck isn’t as packed with accessories as some of his fellow Joes. It’s hard to argue that Shipwreck is missing anything essential, and Hasbro did include some outside of the box extras.

Most importantly is Polly, Shipwreck’s loyal companion. Polly has a great sculpt with tremendous detailing on the feathers with different patterns on the chest and wing sections.

The upper and lower mandibles are nicely done. I was impressed Polly’s eyes were sculpted and not just done with paint.

It would have been nice if the Joe team went the same route they did with Freedom and either went with swappable wings or a wings-extended Polly.

Shipwreck also has a coiled rope that rests on his shoulder.

‘Wreck has a boarding hook, which is somewhat similar to the RAH version. The big difference is the older version had string connecting the hook to make for more of a weapon. Shout out to Action Figure Barbecue for the suggestion of using some of the interior package twists as the string for the hook.

He’s got a clever new piece — swappable hair to show Shipwreck if he ditched the hat. Sadly, there’s no separate hat piece to show him holding it.

Shipwreck comes with a standard pistol and also more of a decorative revolver. It can fit on either the holster on his back or the loop on his belt.

Worth it?  Classified Series typically clock in at $25 now. One of the good friends of the Lyles Figure Files channel actually sent him along so he was free, but I wouldn’t have regretted paying $25 for him either.

Rating: 10 out of 10

Where to get it? You shouldn’t have too much trouble finding Shipwreck online at least. He’s available right now on Amazon and Entertainment Earth.