GI Joe Classified Retro Series: Gung-Ho exclusive review

He blue.

Born into a large back-swamp Cajun clan, Gung-Ho won a reputation as a bare-knuckle brawler, joined the Marines at 18, and graduated top of his class from boot camp.

Oh, look at that, an actual bio that tells us (minimally) about the character and doesn't mention brain deformities, what a novel idea!

The Walmart-exclusive "Retro Collection" GI Joe Classified figures (seriously, they don't have any official name setting them apart from the normal line, so we're just borrowing that one from Marvel Legends) began with Baroness and Lady Jaye, two characters who desperately did and desperately did not need new releases, respectively. At the end of March this year, enough of those two pegwarmers had apparently finally sold that Gung-Ho could finally arrive. The entire body sculpt is identical to the mainline figure, with a new sheath on the boot, a new holster around the right leg, and a new, throwback-style vest with less pouches and padding. His tattoo is the same new, legally distinct design they created for the previous Gung-Ho, but it's gotten larger, now reaching down past his chest joint onto the upper abdomen. You know, because tattoos are famous for changing size.

This figure gets something the earlier ones did not, and that's a new head. Gone are the goofy little mohawk thing and the horseshoe mustache, replaced by a fully bald head and a lip-warmer that's still not regulation, but smaller. Being a digital sculpt means both faces can technically be the same without being the same mold: whoever did it (Jonathan Gilboa, who was paradoxically also responsible for the Falcon portrait) opened up the file, took a bit of hair off, and sent it in again. And if that weren't enough, they gave him the right kind of hat this time! Looks like Action Force Sgt. Slaughter is getting his cover back!

Retro Gung-Ho doesn't have the pads on his arms, but the new weapon holsters make up for that. Also the new weapons. Rather than any of the future-guns the older Gung-Ho carried, this one gets a knife, a pistol, and a vintage grenade launcher, plus a baby blue backpack that's more like the 1983 accessory and therefore can't carry anything. These carded re-releases all get a black stand, as well.

I picked up the first Classified Gung-Ho on a whim. Did the same for this one, and both times I've been pleasantly surprised. Gung-Ho is the only one of these characters to get any new parts so far, instead of just being a repaint with some different accessories. If the first figure had been more like this, we'd have been a lot more excited about him.