GI Joe Classified Series Monkeywrench review No. 167 (2025)

Monkeywrench was part of the second wave of Dreadnok reinforcements joining Zartan, Buzzer, Ripper and Torch. His Real American Hero figure had a great design that blended in well with the original three Dreadnoks. It didn’t hurt that he had some great moments in Arise Serpentor Arise as well upon joining the crew.

After getting the original trio, I hoped Hasbro wouldn’t have us waiting too long on adding Monkeywrench, Thrasher, Zandar and Zarana. With Monkeywrench’s arrival, we’re now 3/4 of the way complete with the second round of Noks.

Let’s see if Monkeywrench goes boom or if I need to place him in the corner of the display where the big hairy spiders can surround him.

Packaging: Hasbro seems to be set on this packaging design, and no changes appear to be imminent. Monkeywrench is No. 167 in the line, and he’s got a window that shows most of his accessories. That bottom left corner hiding some of the accessories remains a flaw in the design to me.

One side has the smaller version of the stats along with the QR Code to nowhere. The alternate side has a very cool portrait of Monkeywrench fully geared up with the new equipment. On the back, he’s got the traditional Dreadnok backdrop of Zartan’s garage/headquarters with the drum kit, Cold Slither poster, a Springfield Theater sign and grape soda cans.

The Pulse website has a bio for him, which is the same as his original RAH file card: Monkeywrench was born in Rhyl, North Wales, where he built explosive devices indiscriminately for groups of local thugs and anarchists. He drifted to London’s East End where he developed rudeness and crude anti-social behavior to levels unheard of in the western hemisphere. Eventually, his wanderings brought him to Australia where he joined up with the Dreadnoks.

His skill sets are a 3 in bladed weapons, 2 in mercenary and explosions and a 1 in sabotage.

Likeness: Monkeywrench is basically an enhanced 6″ translation of his Real American Hero look, which was the right decision as he had one of the better Dreadnok designs. His head sculpt has plenty of personality with a snarling expression showing his gritted teeth.

His hair is style more like the RAH card art with a part down the middle and a strand of hair flaring out on either side. He’s got a stud on his right eyebrow and a nasty scar across the left side of his face. That kind of detail really does add a bit more to the figures.

Monkeywrench has his red leather vest has solid detail work with buckles, panels and zippers. In a very cool nod to the RAH design, Monkeywrench has exactly five grenades on his bandolier.

His belt buckle has the Dreadnok staple of a skull with wrenches in a fun continuation of his theme. The belt has chains on either side to evoke more of a heavy metal theme. The RAH figure had patches on the jeans, but the CS figure can spruce that up further with having rips and tears in the jeans although I wouldn’t have minded if one patch was still included. He’s got a holster on his right leg and his two scarves are at the end of each pant leg.

Monkeywrench has flared gloves with studs around the wrist. He looks like a very serious dude you wouldn’t want to cross.

Scale: Monkeywrench is typically shown to be the same height as the original three Dreadnoks. Like the other regulars, he should be looking up at Road Pig and Gwnagahyde. Instead, he’s a taller figure far closer in height to the two tallest Dreadnoks, which looks weird. This is my only gripe for Monkeywrench, but it’s a big one.

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Paint: Monkeywrench has a solid paintjob with some nice intricate detailing.

First, the stud on his eyebrow is clean as well as the work on his face scar. His teeth look like he should hit up the dentist soon. On his left arm, he’s got a big tattoo with a skull showing brains and wrenches making up the crossbones again. The right arm has a sword and some writing that I can’t make out.

My lone gripe with the paintjob is I wish his grenades were painted silver instead of green probably because I associate green as a Joe color not for the Dreadnoks. His gloves studs are clean, and the work done on his legs with the skin showing and the inner portion of the jeans visible from the rips are nicely done.

Articulation: Monkeywrench is fully capable of creating some major destruction thanks to the very fluid Classified Series articulation scheme. He can hit all of the reasonable poses you’d want/need him to be capable of accomplishing.

Monkeywrench has:

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

Accessories: Monkeywrench gets a ton of gear.

I suppose I should count his glasses although that’s part of his overall look. They’re a much better fit than Buzzer’s flimsy glasses.

He’s got his signature harpoon gun. It’s got some nice detail showing how it could actually work. Hasbro added in some paint apps to the stock and spring-loaded mechanism.

To add to his mayhem-causing capabilities, he’s got axes wrapped with wrenches.

That’s a savvy weapon for Monkeywrench and further leans into the gimmick. They’ve got a good amount of paint details as well. They fit into slots on the back of his vest.

He gets a separate set of fists and a scarf that can be positioned around his neck or raised up to his nose like a bandit mask.

Monkeywrench has a revolver with a black handle.

Finally, he’s got an alternate head with a cybernetic mask complete with tech’ed out goggles and a rebreather, which looks pretty cool.

Worth It? Monkeywrench is $24.99, a tremendous value considering all the accessories and the stellar work on the sculpt.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Monkeywrench is a fantastic figure that definitely feels like a contender for Best in the Line of 2025 were it not for his height. Still, he’s a great addition to the Dreadnoks and the overall Cobra display.

Where to Get It?  Monkeywrench is just now starting to show up at retail. You can get him from Amazon or Entertainment Earth.

As an Amazon and Entertainment Earth affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.